Bodybuilding can be tiring and difficult marijuana and bodybuilding. In addition to the aggressive training and strict diet, bodybuilders can also experience mental health issues like stress, anxiety, lack of incentive, and the pressure of competition.
Cannabis is known to relieve stress, so if you’re a bodybuilder, you may be wondering if incorporating cannabis into your workouts can improve your overall results.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabinoids like CBD and THC help with muscle recovery. They also act as extreme analgesics, relieving pain and muscle spasms. But can marijuana help you build muscle?
Cannabis 101
First, the basics: cannabis is an herb that has been used for spiritual and medicinal purposes for centuries. The plant originated in Central Asia, but today it’s cultivated worldwide.
Marijuana has psychoactive properties, meaning it affects brain function. This can include everything from mood, thoughts, feelings, and behavior marijuana and bodybuilding. This explains why we feel “high” when we consume cannabis products, especially those high in THC.
This effect is made possible by the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is a vast net of chemical signals and cannabinoid receptors that exist throughout our bodies marijuana and bodybuilding. The ECS regulates sleep, pain, temperature, and immune responses.
It is believed that when we smoke or consume cannabis, cannabinoids like THC interact with the ECS and cause feelings like euphoria, sedation, and hunger. Since the ECS affects so many parts of the body marijuana and bodybuilding, this explains why cannabis use can also relieve medical problems like pain, insomnia, and inflammation.
The Effects of Marijuana on Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is improving one’s physique through weight lifting and strict diets to achieve defined, toned muscles.
Nutrition is critical because the health of your mind and body is contingent almost entirely on what you eat. That’s why bodybuilders are so careful about what they eat. It’s also why some people may be unsure whether marijuana will help or hurt their progress in the gym. Here’s what we know so far.
Marijuana and Muscle Growth
Cannabis use doesn’t appear to have a direct effect on muscle growth. However, factors like appetite and hormones can have an impact, which can affect your bodybuilding journey marijuana and bodybuilding.
To achieve hypertrophy (aka muscle growth), you should follow a weightlifting program emphasizing progressive overload on all muscle groups, eating small surpluses, prioritizing protein intake, and focusing on adequate rest and recovery. Cannabis can help a bodybuilder achieve these goals by increasing appetite, promoting sleep, and promoting muscle recovery, which can help improve their muscles’ size.
Marijuana and Testosterone Marijuana and Bodybuilding
As we stated, the endocannabinoid system regulates many processes in the body, including testosterone production. This is important for athletic performance, as testosterone is a critical hormone for muscle mass structure.
There are not many human studies that have looked at the effects of cannabis on testosterone marijuana and bodybuilding.
However, one study suggests that cannabis use can increase testosterone levels in adult men. The study also found that men who had recently used cannabis had higher plasma testosterone levels.
Marijuana and Appetite
What we put into our bodies determines how we look and feel, so appetite is integral to muscle growth.
If you’ve tried marijuana before, you may know that it makes you hungry. Contingent on the dose and strain, cannabis can play a significant role in appetite by increasing food cravings and hunger.
Whether training for a bodybuilding competition or looking to improve your physique, you must eat to grow. This can be accomplished by overeating (i.e., intentionally “bulking” or gaining weight) or by eating at or near maintenance (i.e., “body remodeling,” although this is a slower process). Using marijuana can help maintain your appetite, which will ultimately help your muscles grow in size.
Marijuana and Performance
It’s still unclear whether marijuana improves athletic performance. Some believe the plant has adverse effects, makes athletes lazy, slows reaction time, and causes fatigue. Others, like many professional sports leagues, call cannabis a performance-enhancing drug and should be avoided in competitive sports.
Marijuana may not help a bodybuilder lift more weight or build muscle, but the plant has been shown to relieve muscle cramps, soreness, muscle inflammation, and pain. Marijuana can also help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Together, these therapeutic effects promote muscle healing and recovery after a workout marijuana and bodybuilding.
Marijuana and Inflammation
Inflammation is a natural phenomenon. When we exercise, we injure our muscles; when our body repairs them, it strengthens them. When muscle cells break down, they produce waste products flushed out through our body’s inflammatory response.
Inflammation upsurges blood flow to the affected areas, providing the muscles with the oxygen and energy they need to repair themselves. While inflammation has benefits, we also experience a soreness called “DOMS” (or late onset muscle soreness) after an intense workout.
Luckily, CBD, found in cannabis crops, is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, making it ideal for relieving exercise-related pain marijuana and bodybuilding.
Bottom Line: Should Bodybuilders Use Cannabis?
As you can see, marijuana use for bodybuilders has many potential benefits, including increased appetite, reduced muscle cramping, and pain relief.
Many athletes also find it a helpful muscle recovery aid due to its anti-inflammatory effects. It can also help motivate you to be consistent in the gym. Some studies show that regular cannabis users are more likely to exercise than those who do not use the plant. So, while studies do not show that cannabis increases performance or exercise capacity, there does seem to be some correlation between marijuana use and increased motivation to hit the gym marijuana and bodybuilding.
The scientific community needs more research to truly solidify the beneficial effects that cannabis can have on bodybuilders, professional athletes, and athletic performance in general marijuana and bodybuilding.
In the meantime, if you’re unsure whether marijuana is right for you, talk to your bodybuilding coach about it. You may be advised to use marijuana during a bulking phase to increase your appetite since you’re solely focused on muscle development, and you may not be advised to use marijuana during a cutting phase since you’ll be in a calorie deficit, making food cravings more tempting. You can also consult a cannabis doctor and ask them to explain how the plant can impact your bodybuilding journey in the short and long term.