There has been a lot of controversial information being passed around regarding CBD and sports. Most governments and sports federations remain staunch that CBD for muscle recovery is taking a shortcut to faster healing, but isn’t that what conventional medications do? Why not CBD? Well, that argument is still underway, but no one would dispute that CBD for pain has worked so far. With that said, let us take a look at instances where you might need to use CBD as a muscle recovery remedy:
- After a strenuous exercise in the gym
- After a sports match
- After a run
- After a fight
- After medical surgery
Causes of a Muscle Tear or Fatigue
One way to get your muscle torn is by taking your body through a session of different and vigorous movements. For example, sporting activity, a workout session, or even surgery. In the case of physical activity, as you push your muscles to lift or move heavy objects, there are microscopic tears that occur within the tissue. After that, the body reacts by swelling.
With this swelling comes soreness and eventual fatigue of the muscle – you cannot move it without pain. And here is where you ask yourself, is muscle recovery important? Without a doubt, it is; otherwise, that would be the end of your muscle. For you to get back to your normal body function, your muscles have to recuperate. After the healing process, the tissue becomes more robust through a process known as hypertrophy.
That is why a hard routine gets more comfortable with time.
How Muscle Recovery Works
The body has a way of building itself up after every unusual situation, and strenuous working out is right up that alley. But how does this happen?
There are muscle tears that occur during the activity which needs to be fixed. As any handyman who goes in to fix a broken pipe, the body sends its own handymen to do the fixing. The best-working time is while you sleep.
All the magic happens while you are resting, and here is how:
For starters, the damaged muscles are repaired, then there is a restoration of body hormones as well as the creation of new energy stores. After a workout, the immune system is at its best in the repair department because there are fewer movements, and all the energy is directed right there.
As you sleep, the body produces muscle-building hormones such as testosterone and Insulin growth factor in significant quantities. Concurrently, the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, are reduced. High levels of the stress hormone slow down the process of muscle recovery as it actively reduces protein synthesis, limiting tissue growth.
How to Initiate the Muscle Recovery Process
Many people would think that the healing process starts after a workout, but then again, you set the stage before you get to the gym. So how do you do this?
The first thing is to drink lots of water and eat right. Sports nutrition is essential as the food you eat will build your muscle after working out. Proteins and healthy fats are crucial in your diet. In addition, carbohydrates for energy and vitamins for healing as well. Remember, as you work out, you are using up your body’s supply of nutrients, including fats and energy that need to be replenished. So much so, hydrating and eating is vital before and after the session.
How to speed up muscle recovery? It will also depend on the things you do after the session. Things such as applying cold or hot press on the muscles that hurt can help. Stretching before and after your sessions will also help with muscle recovery. Lastly, the gentle massage of the flesh using muscle recovery lotion after the course has also proven to help with the healing process.
Another way to help your system heal faster and built muscles is by using CBD for muscle recovery.
How does CBD Oil Work to Help with Muscle Recovery
Well, besides the methods mentioned above, CBD benefits also extend into the rehabilitation of your body muscles. CBD comes in to help in aiding the body process of regaining its balance that has been thrown off in the workout session. CBD works through the endocannabinoid system that has quite an array of functions to maintain a balance in the body.
But you know what they say about a coin, it has two sides. And so, the following section will be divided into two parts, the pros, and the cons. Each will be having detailed explanations as to why it is so.
Pros of CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery
Through the endocannabinoid system, CBD for muscle recovery helps in the following ways:
Reduces Inflammation
CBD oil and other products come in handy because of the anti-inflammatory properties that help with the soreness of your muscles post-workout. The inflammation is a reaction to the microscopic tears, and it is a way of the muscles communicating to the body that it needs some healing.
Swelling prompts the body to increase blood, nutrients, and oxygen supply to the affected area. The blood flow helps clear out the dead cells that have been destroyed during the workout, while the nutrients and oxygen are the building blocks. It’s a chain reaction that works hand-in-hand to get the work done simultaneously. Damaged proteins and lactic acid are also eliminated among the dead cells. Inflammation, therefore, promotes new muscle fiber formation in the muscle, as the stem cells already in the tissue are stimulated. CBD just speeds up this process. You could use a CBD oil lotion application directly on the affected muscle for fast recovery.
Reduces Muscle Pain
Apart from the soreness, you are also likely to feel pain in other parts of your body besides your muscles. These may be joint pain and headaches. And CBD oil for pain can come to help you with alleviating these aches.
In such instances, CBD helps with the reduction of pain felt as it actively inhibits the transmission of pain in the spinal cord and the brain. It also reduces the pain sensitivity of your nerves through vanilloid receptors.
Reduces Muscle Tension
Our body muscles are elastic, and if you have ever been to a science class, you know that anything stretchy reacts a sure way to force exerted on it. Here, tension is the force applied to the muscle. While you work out, the weights you pull or the effort you put into running or swimming, create tension to your muscles. A CBD muscle recovery cream will, therefore, come in handy to help you lower muscle tension and reduce the pain caused by the tears afterward.
Improves Sleeping Patterns
As aforementioned, the best time for the body to heal itself is while you are asleep. With that said, a CBD dosage at night after a day of hitting the gym will offer you a smooth and mellow transition into the slumberland. Typically, sleeping, especially with body pains, may become a challenge. And so, you need a remedy for this, CBD for muscle recovery from CBD Shelters, or elsewhere is a perfect one.
A good night’s rest will help the body restore damaged proteins, the likes of actin, troponin, and myosin. The removal of cellular debris will also occur during this time. Additionally, as you rest, the lactic acid that accumulates in our muscles is converted into glucose in the liver. Lastly, remember the stem cells we mentioned earlier, they too get a chance to change into new muscle fiber as you sleep.
Mood Booster
If you feel grumpy and moody after a working session, then it may be time for you to take CBD as a mood booster. The CBD works to elevate the production of the feel-good hormone, which is suited for you before and after working out. It gives you the motivation you need to keep going. When to take CBD for muscle recovery and mood-boosting is the best solution, the dosage could be used both before and after working out. You could use edibles, capsules, or any other CBD product best for you.
Fewer Side Effects
CBD products are natural products. The oil is processed in a lab to divide the CBD from the other Cannabis compounds. However, the structure of the CBD substance is left unchanged. Therefore, it means that even if there are mixes, the effects caused to a person using are minimized ten-fold. Someone who is taking painkillers and other muscle recovery ointments and sprays could suffer from allergies and other different adverse reactions. Indeed, some people may still react to CBD products, but when compared to conventional medication, CBD is on the lower end of side effects.
Cons of CBD Oil for Muscle Recovery
On the flip side, the drawbacks of using CBD for muscle recovery are as follows:
Abuse
How to use CBD for muscle recovery? It can possibly be subjected to abuse by some athletes who are desperate for faster results. The exercise that might start nobly could quickly turn sour if the user has no control over their dosage. Abuse is particularly common in CBD products with a certain percentage of THC, which is the psychoactive component found in the marijuana plant. The high is what makes them abuse these products meant to aid muscle recovery.
Illegality in the Several States
Well, it is evident that not every government is open to legalizing CBD in their state. For this reason, any athlete who is willing to try the CBD medication for muscle recovery is restricted from doing so. Not only are countries strict to this, but a couple of sports federations all over the world still hold the use of CBD as a vice. This then forbids anyone who has used CBD for muscle recovery to participate because of the procedural drug tests before the competitions.
Drug Interference
What muscle recovery entails is discipline, although this treatment could interfere with some drugs. CBD oil interferes with certain medications due to the loss of the cytochrome enzyme. This particular enzyme helps the body break down and metabolize other medications. And since it is missing, the effectiveness of the drug is diminished, rendering it useless.
To avoid this, it is best to check with your doctor if your use of CBD muscle recovery balm will interfere with your prescribed medicine. Alternatively, research on the drug’s interference with your CBD product before use.
Self-Diagnosis
One of the most useful muscle recovery tips is not to self-diagnose when it comes to CBD products, what a lot of people still do. There are so many disadvantages that can come out of self-diagnosing or letting a non-professional do it for you. For starters, you may not get the dosage right according to the exercise you are partaking. Secondly, you might be practicing the wrong way of taking the CBD meds. For instance, it would be best for you to use CBD gummies for muscle recovery, but you have cookies instead. In such a case, the desired results may not be seen as you get high and lazy instead of getting the boost to work out.
Unhealthy Side Effects
This con is in direct relation to self- diagnosis where one ingests a CBD product with a higher percentage of THC rather than CBD. When this happens, the psychedelic effect of THC takes over, and you may become hungry, sleepy, tired, have dry mouth, and even vomit when you start working out. These go against everything you are trying to achieve, which is muscle recovery.
The Bottom Line on CBD for Muscle Recovery
Is CBD good for muscle recovery? Well, yes. And this is because the cons are mostly a result of human negligence. The one that is not caused by ignorance can easily be avoided. CBD sports water is acceptable to be used before, during, and after workouts as it will help you gain that mass faster and heal the torn muscles more quickly.
Your sessions will also be filled with energy, and you will get to see the results in no time. But beware, if you do not do it right, the treatment could do more harm than good. So, please, get your products from a certified vendor, use the CBD product as prescribed, and wait to see some significant progress. Remember, hard work pays, and CBD for muscle recovery will help you get there. How did you cope with the pain after a workout? Leave your comments or question below.