One of the most controversial topics in sports is that of recovery. Whether it’s cold plunges, massages, saunas, or meals, there are tons of different philosophies and techniques targeted at maximizing the quality and minimizing the time it takes for an athlete to recover from the physical toll of their sport. While almost everyone agrees on getting plenty of food and good sleep, much of the rest is up to the individual’s preferences. With that said, where could CBD fit in?
Don’t Most Sports Drug Test? Is CBD Even Allowed?
Put simply, yes, CBD is allowed in sports. Interestingly, the World Anti-Doping Agency, an international governing body regulating doping in sports, has accepted CBD for use by athletes. This means that CBD is permitted for use by athletes, and that its potential benefits have already become known through the athletic community. Let’s look at how it could be of use.
How Can CBD Benefit Athletes?
As mentioned in the intro, one of the omnipresent concerns for all kinds of athletes is quantity and quality of sleep. Sleep can affect athletes during their preparation, it can determine how nervous or ready they feel on any given day, and of course it can help with recovery.
The same article linked earlier mentions that CBD could be helpful in sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep after an individual goes to bed), sleep continuity, and subjective sleep quality. CBD use for sleep has also been suggested to have a positive impact on reducing nightmares and symptoms of insomnia.
In addition to sleep, CBD is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties. Controlling and reducing inflammation is one of the primary concerns of sports recovery, so this seems like a natural pairing. Through this interaction it is hypothesized that it can help reduce inflammation at the molecular level among a number of other physiological processes.
One of the exciting potentials for CBD in sports recovery is that it shouldn’t interfere with most existing recovery techniques, and can in fact augment them seamlessly. It may help deflate muscles after they are damaged through use, and may also help reduce swelling. These symptoms are what techniques like cold plunges and steam rooms aim to alleviate.
CBD could also help reduce incidence of injury by allowing athletes to enter the field in a more relaxed state. Through alleviating tension caused by nervousness this could allow athletes to perform to the best of their abilities without hurting themselves through over exertion.
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The excitement around CBD has led to a market so saturated with products vying for the consumers attention that it’s next to impossible to judge quality from the manufacturer’s description alone. As with all supplements, assuring the quality of the things you put into your body is paramount and CBD is no exception. You can find top rated CBD oils and edibles here, and you can read about the latest CBD products we have tested here.
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