CBD oil for muscle recovery is cannabidiol which is a natural oil extracted from cannabis plants. It’s an essential oil, usually diluted with carrier oils such as hemp seed oil or coconut oil.
The CBD oil is used by professional athletes post-workout to relieve muscle soreness, reduce inflammation, ease muscle pain, relax muscle tension, and have many other benefits after a strenuous exercise or workout routine.
This article will discuss CBD for muscle recovery, its post-workout and pre-workout applications/benefits, how much CBD is safe, and so many more.
Benefits of the CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery
It Relieves Muscle Tension
When the pain is more acute than usual, it indicates that you have muscle tension which makes post-workout recovery slower.
Tension is triggered by injuries affecting the surrounding muscles. Therefore, CBD oil being a panacea for muscle soreness, is very useful, and it can help relieve pain during injuries or workouts. In addition, they aid in faster muscle recovery.
Some prescription muscle relaxants used when tension in the muscle fibres is resisting treatment include benzodiazepine drugs such as Valium. Medications such as this work via the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors- which are known for relaxing the muscles.
Such medications are effective, but their use is accompanied by multiple side effects such as depression, sedation, confusion, drowsiness, and even trembling. These are side effects that can be disastrous for a professional athlete.
CBD oil has a similar effect to benzodiazepine drugs on the muscles, but it doesn’t have side effects, making it even better.
It Reduces Muscle Pain or Soreness in Muscle Tissue
The greater the soreness in muscle tissue, the slower the muscle recovery. CBD oil is known to be a potent pain killer based on scientific and anecdotal evidence.
CBD provides symptomatic support for injuries in the muscles, which makes muscles recover faster. After all, you can easily get back to the gym when the pain is lesser, and the workout pain is hampering your activity.
It is Anti-Inflammatory in Nature
When it comes to muscle recovery, this is arguably the most important benefit of CBD. Usually, athletes tackle acute inflammation after an injury or workout by applying ice on the affected area.
Though popular, this method has been debated in regard to its potency for athletic recovery. It is unclear if ice aids in faster muscle recovery or not.
The process of inflammation is to basically facilitates the recovery of damaged muscles by triggering blood flow to the affected part and supplying it with vital nutrients and oxygen in the process.
Furthermore, the increase in blood flow to that region helps flush out impaired proteins, cellular waste, and lactic acid- a product of muscle contraction.
The process of inflammation also triggers stem cells in the muscle to create new muscle fibres. This helps in shortening recovery time after an injury and restoring strength in that area.
Muscle damage or injuries that take place after a workout session involves certain muscle regions. Inflammation can trigger collateral damage in these joint and muscle regions, meaning a slower muscle recovery.
The anti-inflammatory properties of CBD oil are of great benefit to athletes who can use it to relieve inflammation, which in turn lessens the damage to nearby muscles and joints.
Ice is often used after a workout, and medications such as Ibuprofen and Aspirin to mitigate inflammation. Still, CBD provides a better benefit and may be capable of lessening a large chunk of the non-beneficial inflammation without sacrificing its benefits in the process.
This explains how CBD can relieve inflammation in the muscle without it affecting muscle recovery. Its role in activating the differentiation of new muscle cells greatly influences its ability to heal a damaged muscle.
Enhances Sleep Quality and Duration
Some of the most critical aspects of the muscle recovery process occur when we’re asleep.
Some of these aspects include restoring damaged proteins such as actin, troponin, and myosin, removing cellular debris from damaged sections, converting lactic acid to glucose in the liver, and triggering stem cells differentiation to form new muscle fibres.
The deprivation of sleep comes with some negative aspects that make a recovery slower. Aspects such as reducing the insulin-like growth factor are one of the key stimulants for the differentiation process of new stem/satellite cells.
Another negative aspect is the increment of cortisol levels. When cortisol levels increase, it is bad news for the synthesis of protein.
It can also lessen the production of testosterone which helps in muscle recovery. CBD is capable of enhancing the quality and duration of sleep one can get. CBD also has a relaxing effect on the central nervous system.
What’s Responsible for Soreness in the Muscle after a Workout?
It’s a known fact that you’ll experience soreness and pain after working out. So it doesn’t matter if you work out often or not; you will inevitably experience the pain that comes with being fit.
Each time we exercise our muscles, we trigger very small damage to the uncountable amount of small proteins that lead to muscle inflammation. This is the reason behind the aches, stiffness, and pain that we feel after exercising.
Usually, this soreness starts the next day after your exercise. It’s referred to as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). It is an integral part of the adjustment process. It only occurs when we exert our muscles harder than we usually do or work out in a different way from what we normally do.
As you carry out the same activities regularly, you will begin to feel less soreness because the muscles have become stronger and more resistant to the current level of intensity.
Is the Usage of CBD by Athletes Legal?
While the use of cannabis by athletes is clearly illegal and attracts sanctions, the usage of CBD is not.
In the year 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency took CBD off its list of prohibited substances. The agency made clear that we can not compare CBD with drugs that enhance performance, such as hormones, illegal drugs, and amphetamines.
So the use of CBD by athletes is permitted and comes with no sanction. However, the fact that the World Anti-Doping Agency allows the use of CBD doesn’t automatically mean it is permitted everywhere.
The proper thing to do will be to check the regulations or laws applicable to your region to ensure that your country or agency permits the same.
Drug tests conducted on athletes are unable to pinpoint chemicals in the urine or blood unless you’re searching for a particular chemical. This is because drug tests don’t produce a full list of chemical compounds in the body fluid of the athlete.
The majority of the drug tests for marijuana make use of artificial antibodies to search for THC or the metabolites that our body produces after working on THC.
You won’t pass the drug test if you use a supplement that includes THC. So if you’re an athlete and you desire to use CBD, the best thing is to get the product from a reliable but externally tested CBD isolate instead of full hemp, which will definitely carry little amounts of THC.
Common Ways to Add CBD to our Supplements
- The addition of CBD oil to your protein and nutritional shakes.
- Invest in CBD capsules or chew its gums.
- Take CBD orally pre-workout and during recovery periods.
- Use a vaporizer pen.
- Use CBD oil directly on the affected muscle areas.
How to Maximise the Potency of the CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery
The recovery process involves different aspects, and for muscle recovery to take place faster between recovery and the workout period, You need to consider some factors.
Employing a number of measures simultaneously will significantly influence the speed of your recovery time, which will even be more than what CBD inherently provides.
Below are the number of ways one can maximize the effectiveness of CBD:
Drink Enough Water
The process of muscle recovery triggers the release of metabolic trash into the bloodstream, which the kidneys will eventually filter out. The consumption of a sufficient amount of water will keep the kidney in an optimal state to perform this function. The recommended minimum quantity of water to consume to boost this process is 3 litres daily.
Make an Appointment with your Physiotherapist
To ensure you apply and use CBD to the maximum, consult your physiotherapist to supervise or monitor your recovery progress and ask for professional advice.
Ensure you Stretch for a While After Working Out
Stretching after an intense workout session helps remove lactic acid (which is harmful to muscle recovery) and enhances the flow of blood to the affected muscle region.
Pay Attention to Your Body
Athletes should pay more attention to their body pre-workout and after a workout. The sensation of pain you may be feeling may not be DOMS. It may be something else. The best thing to do if you feel pain that’s acute and unbearable is to see your doctor as soon as possible.
Use CBD Oil in its Different Formats
You can take CBD orally and topically (applying the oil to the affected muscle areas). Doing this can maximize the potency of this oil in your body.
Your Sleep is Important
As discussed before, sleep is a crucial part of your recovery process, and it demands enough time. Therefore, taking proper rest after a workout session will help speed up your recovery and get you back in shape to return to the gym sooner.
Avoid the Usage of Low Quality CBD Oil
To get good results from CBD, you must avoid CBD products of low quality (which is everywhere). These fake products usually advertise what the bottle doesn’t contain. It might contain contamination agents such as heavy metals, which will hamper the process of muscle recovery.
Combine CBD Supplements with Other Kinds of Supplements
You can consume CBD supplements alongside other supplements which boost recoveries, such as B Vitamins, Vitamin C, magnesium, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA’s).
Take Balanced Diet with a Lot of Vegetables and Fruits
Good food is key to body recovery. A balanced diet contains the raw materials needed to help our body in the recovery process. For example, proteins help in building muscle structure alongside vitamins and trace nutrients.
