summary: A study of 42 runners found that using cannabis before exercise boosted mood and increased enjoyment. This study shows that both THC and CBD can enhance the exercise experience, with CBD outperforming THC in several aspects.
However, THC can make exercise seem more difficult by increasing your heart rate. Although cannabis may enhance enjoyment, it is not considered a performance-enhancing drug, so its use should be done with caution.
Important facts:
- Cannabis (both THC and CBD) can enhance enjoyment and mood during exercise, making it more enjoyable.
- CBD in particular has shown significant benefits in enhancing the exercise experience without causing the impairments associated with THC.
- THC is not recommended for performance enhancement, as it can increase heart rate and make exercise seem more difficult.
sauce: University of Colorado
Eating a little cannabis before a workout can boost your motivation and make your workout more enjoyable. However, if performance is your goal, it may be best to skip that joint.
That’s the conclusion of the first-ever study to examine how legal, commercially available cannabis affects the sensation of movement.
Study of 42 runners published Dec. 26 in the journal sports medicineIt’s been almost exactly 10 years since Colorado became the first state to start legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana, and in that time more and more cannabis users are reporting that they’re mixing it into their workouts. ing.
“The ultimate finding is that consuming cannabis before exercise, whether using THC or CBD, appears to increase positive mood and enjoyment during exercise. However, THC products specifically, may make exercise feel easier,” said first author Laurel Gibson, a research fellow in the Center for Health and Addiction: Neuroscience, Genes, and Environment (CU Change) at the University of Colorado Boulder. he said.
The findings, and previous research by the research team, overturn long-standing stereotypes linking cannabis with “couch locks” and instead raise interesting questions about whether this plant could play a role in transporting people. It seems like it is.
“We have an epidemic of sedentary lifestyles in this country, and we need new tools to get people moving in fun ways,” said Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and co-director and lead author of the journal. Author Angela Bryan says: CU change. “If cannabis is one of those tools, we need to study it with both the harms and benefits in mind.”
“Unprecedented research”
In a previous study of cannabis users, Brian’s research group found that a whopping 80% had used it before or immediately after exercise. However, little research has been done on the intersection of these two.
For the study, Brian and Gibson recruited 42 Boulder-area volunteers who were already running while using cannabis.
After a baseline session in which researchers obtained fitness measurements and survey data, the researchers asked participants to go to a dispensary and purchase either a designated flower strain that primarily contained cannabidiol (CBD) or a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-dominant strain. Assigned to receive.
THC and CBD are the active ingredients in cannabis, with THC being known to be more addictive.
In one follow-up visit, volunteers run on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a moderate pace and answer questions periodically to find out how motivated they feel, how much fun they are having, and how hard the workout feels. We evaluated how quickly time seemed to pass. their pain level.
On another visit, they repeated this test after using cannabis.
Federal law prohibits the possession or distribution of marijuana on college campuses, so the runners used marijuana at home and then were transported to the lab in a mobile lab, also known as a “CannaVan.” .
Runners also wore safety belts on the treadmill.
“It’s not a performance-enhancing drug.”
Across the board, participants reported feeling more pleasurable and experiencing a more intense euphoria, or “runner’s high,” when exercising after using cannabis.
Surprisingly, this mood elevation was even greater in the CBD group than in the THC group, suggesting that athletes may be able to reap the mood benefits without the impairments that can accompany THC. doing.
Participants in the THC group also reported that running with cannabis felt significantly more difficult than running sober, even at the same intensity.
Brian says this may be because THC increases heart rate.
In a previous study conducted remotely, she and Gibson found that while runners felt more enjoyable under the influence of cannabis, they ran 31 seconds per mile slower.
“It’s clear from our research that cannabis is not a performance-enhancing drug,” Brian says.
Notably, a number of elite athletes, including American sprinter Shakari Richardson, have been banned from competing in recent years after testing positive for marijuana.
An NCAA committee recently recommended that it be removed from the list of banned substances.
A different kind of runner’s high
Why does cannabis make exercise more comfortable?
It has long been believed that natural pain-relieving endorphins are responsible for the famous “runner’s high,” but recent research suggests this is a myth. Instead, naturally produced brain chemicals known as endocannabinoids are at work, and are likely to come into play after long-term cannabinoid intake. Exercise to create a sense of well-being and alertness.
“The reality is that some people never experience a runner’s high,” Gibson points out.
By ingesting CBD or THC, cannabinoids that bind to the same receptors as cannabinoids that our brains naturally produce, athletes can take advantage of their high levels during short workouts or enhance them during longer workouts. She said it may be possible to do so.
Athletes considering cannabis use should be aware that cannabis may come with risks, including dizziness and loss of balance, and is not suitable for everyone.
According to Brian, it doesn’t make much sense to use it in advance for someone aiming for a fast PR for a 5k or marathon.
But for ultrarunners looking to overcome the daunting task of double-digit training runs, it may be doable.
As a public health researcher, Brian is most interested in educating people who have a hard time exercising at all, whether it’s because they don’t feel motivated, because it hurts, or because they just don’t like it. What kind of impact could it have?
“Would there be a world in which taking a low-dose gummy before going for a walk would be beneficial? It’s too early to make broad recommendations, but it’s worth considering,” she said.
Why do people mix cannabis and training?
When the researchers asked the study participants, they answered:
90.5% more fun
69% less pain
59.5% Improves concentration
57.1% Motivation increases
45.2% Time passes faster
28.6% better performance
About this psychology/exercise research news
author: lisa marshall
sauce: University of Colorado
contact: Lisa Marshall – University of Colorado
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Closed access.
“Acute effects of discretionary use of commercial cannabis products on the subjective experience of aerobic exercise: A cross-over studyWritten by Laurel Gibson et al. sports medicine
abstract
Acute effects of discretionary use of commercial cannabis products on the subjective experience of aerobic exercise: A cross-over study
objective
This study aimed to examine the acute effects of legally available cannabis on the subjective responses of regular cannabis users to exercise in a controlled laboratory environment.
background
Given the stereotype that cannabis is associated with extreme sedentary behavior, there are concerns that legalizing cannabis will further exacerbate the inactivity epidemic in the United States. However, despite these concerns, there has been significant public interest in cannabis use in recent years. at the same time Involves exercise (such as running).
method
In this study, we investigated participants’ exercise experience without cannabis and exercise following acute ad libitum use of one of two commercially available cannabis flower products: a Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-dominant product or a cannabidiol-dominant product. We compared our experiences. participant (N= 42) were regular cannabis users between the ages of 21 and 39 (mean = 30.81 years, standard deviation = 4.72 years).
result
Although participants reported more positive affect (p< 0.001), enjoyment (p< 0.001), symptoms of runner's high (p< 0.001) reported doing more exercise during cannabis (non-cannabis) exercise appointments (p= 0.04). The pain level was very low and did not differ from appointment to appointment (p= 0.45). The effects appear to be partially dependent on cannabinoid content. There was a bigger difference in enjoyment (p= 0.02), the difference in momentum becomes smaller (p= 0.02), between cannabis exercise reservations and non-cannabis exercise reservations in participants in the cannabidiol (vs. Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) condition.
conclusion
To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the acute effects of commercial cannabis on subjective responses to exercise in a laboratory setting. Our findings indicate that among regular cannabis users who use cannabis in conjunction with exercise, pre-exercise cannabis use may lead to increases in both positive and negative subjective exercise experiences. It suggests that there is. Studies using diverse samples, exercise modalities, and methodologies (e.g., placebo-controlled trials) are needed to establish the generalizability of these findings.
