More good news for runners who enjoy cannabis.
Interest in cannabidiol, generally referred to as CBD, has grown significantly in the domains of sports and physical fitness during the last few years, and continues to do so today.
With a growing interest in the therapeutic efficacies of CBD and studies being conducted both on clinical and non-clinical populations, it is quite obvious why athletes and fitness communities are showing interest in learning how this compound could prove useful in enhancing performance.
Anecdotal reports are also widely available on how CBD could be the next big thing in athletic enhancement, through various social media sites and online forums, but availability of scientific evidence has been sparse.
A pioneering new study has sought to bridge this gap in our understanding by examining what effect CBD had on different aspects of running performance.
The study provides insight into how CBD might influence the mental and physiological factors contributing to athletic success, as well as physical performance.
The Study. A Closer Look at CBD and Running
It was a well-planned study focusing on the effects of CBD on the recreational runner.
This study involved twelve healthy adults and followed a cross-over design in which subjects were administered either CBD or a placebo on separate occasions.
This approach allowed each participant to serve as their own control, providing more reliabbarle results.
The subjects received capsules containing either 300 mg CBD or placebo (grape seed oil) on each test day.
They were then requested to remain idle for two hours, or the required duration for the effects of the CBD to kick in.
Other than this period of inactivity, participants were required to complete several other questionnaires.
These included a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire, a questionnaire on consumption of caffeine, and, to female participants, a questionnaire on the menstrual cycle.
During the last 30 minutes of the waiting period, several baseline measures were taken by the investigators.
These comprised anxiety levels as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability right into the measurement meant to give a comprehensive picture of the multiphasic state of being each participant was in before the running test.
The main event of the experiment was a two-mile treadmill run, in which all participants were instructed to perform as fast as they could.
Over the whole run, matters that are assessed routinely include heart rate, RPE, and blood lactate. Subsequently, 30 minutes after the run was finished, this battery of test measures was taken up again to continue following this course of recovery such performance measurement.
Surprising Results – CBD’s Impact on Running Performance
These results are quite interesting with regard to the potential benefits that CBD could bring to runners. Most importantly, the subjects reported feeling far more at ease and relaxed after CBD compared to after the placebo.
It increased the ratings of feeling calmness by 21% and feeling relaxation by 22%.
The results suggest that CBD may alter typical pre-race anxiety problems, which are often associated with anxious expectation.
It is interesting that within the study, there really were no outstanding differences in gastrointestinal symptoms, blood pressure, and variability of heart rate between CBD and placebo trials.
This suggests that most effects of CBD would be focused on the mental state rather than broad physiological changes.
Perhaps one of the more intriguing findings was associated with the rating of perceived exertion.
At the one-mile point, competitors who consumed CBD showed an 8% lower rating of perceived exertion compared to when they were in the placebo condition.
This might be good news for athletes because their performance depends on perceived exertion and, even more critically, so do events meant to evaluate energy economy.
Two-mile actual running performance produced an unimpressive effect which was not statistically significant. On average, subjects completed the two-mile run 3.1% faster with an active dose of CBD compared to placebo.
Although this improvement was not statistically significant, this is a remarkable trend that should be explored.
Implications for Athletes and Future Research
The findings suggest that taking CBD may have benefits for runners and perhaps other athletes.
By reducing anxiety and lowering the perception of effort during exercise, CBD might help athletes push themselves further and perform better in competition.
Note the point, however, that this was only an initial study in the understanding of the impact of CBD on athletic performance.
The sample size was relatively small, and the study was specifically designed around one single dose of CBD and one particular type of exercise.
In the future, it would be interesting to explore different dosages, different modes of enhancing athletic performance as well as determining the long-term impact of using CBD.
