Cannabis and sport, why use CBD? How do athletes use it?

Andrew Talanksy is an ex professional cyclist, who decided at the age of 28 to leave cycling and dedicate himself to triathlon.

In an interview with Gq he tells how his new sporting life has introduced CBD, using cannabis soft gels to reduce chronic pain, to favour rest and to alleviate competition related stress.  

Talansky is the latest sportsperson, in time order, who decided to use CBD in the field of his agonistic activities.  

CBD is one of the 104 chemical compounds naturally present in the cannabis plant and hasn’t got the psychotropic properties of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol).

Marcel Bonn-Miller, professor at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, has carried out a study which supplies growing proof of how CBD can be extremely useful in contrasting anxiety and sustaining recovery.

However, the scientist discovered, after having analysed a series of products on the market, which were said to only contain CBD, that many of these contained also a significant quantity of THC and hence could have represented a risk for professional athletes or for all those who could be subject to doping controls.   

How do athletes use it?

In the interview of Gq two other cases of sportspeople using CBD were mentioned.

Matthew Meyer, 26 years old, trainer of runners and competitive athlete, uses a product containing CBD to alleviate the ailments of an old fracture.

Some studies, in fact, demonstrate that CBD possesses anti-inflammatory properties and can help to favour a good quality of sleep, reason for which athletes like Pat Haymaker, take CBD after an intense workout, to improve recovery. “It helps to relax muscles and mitigate pain”.

It reduces the day-after stress

According to professor Bonn-Miller this is the area of application with the most encouraging proof, studies conducted on human subjects (not on rats) demonstrate the “potential of CBD to reduce anxiety” and the statement resulted more true than in the case of the other possible benefits.

The effect of CBD on Sport

"No available studies are able to measure the effect of CBD in sports” Michael Kennedy, Ph.D., cardiologist and clinical pharmacologist, who examined 15 studies published on cannabis and physical performance.  

The doctor confirms, however, that “CBD is without significant cardiovascular actions. "Different types of cannabis can have many therapeutic effect, but none of them will make you run faster or be stronger.”

CBD Oil and Sport

Hemp oil, with respect to any other natural food, supplies the highest intake of essential fatty acids (EFA).

Our organism isn’t able to produce them and the only way to take them is therefore through our food. In the therapeutic field these fatty acids favour the recovery of metabolic parameters, like for example, blood pressure, cholesterolemia, triglyceridemia and contribute to the protection against atherosclerosis, thrombosis and embolisms.

CBD is a nootropic, which means that it supports the cognitive function and hence the recovery in terms of attention and concentration in sports practice and could therefore help in terms of alertness and attention.