Can CBD Help with Muscle Recovery?
- CBD and Health CBD Guides
Ksenia Sobchak- 0
- 7 minutes read
Muscle pain is a vital part of building stronger muscles. The importance of having strong muscles shouldn’t be overlooked, as it is essential to keep us mobile and on our feet. But sometimes that pain doesn’t happen when it should, and it’s something that can cause discomfort. Read this to know how CBD could reduce the inflammatory response and contribute to a faster recovery.
The necessity of keeping your body in good shape
Whether you’re a dedicated runner, a hobbyist weightlifter, or like to ride your bike to work instead of the car, your muscles play a crucial role in all physical activities. Therefore, it is essential that your muscles are in the best possible condition. Stronger muscles will not only recover faster, but it can also help us to be less prone to injuries and ultimately to achieve our goals of getting fit a little faster.
No matter what kind of physical activity you do, muscle pain is inevitable. Don’t worry; it’s not a sign that you are overdoing it (in most cases) or that you have weak muscles. Traditional remedies for muscle pain include a high protein diet, hot or cold treatments (a nice long bath is a favorite), and plenty of rest. For most people, the combination of these agents should be enough to support your muscles’ ability to recover and repair after a workout.
However, if you find that muscle pain is still a problem, no matter how long you spend in the bathroom, there are other options you can try. Before analyzing them, it is worth taking a closer look at what happens inside the body when the muscles feel sore.
Sore muscles are an essential component of becoming stronger
An example of the expression, ‘What doesn’t destroy you makes you stronger,’ is the development process. We produce tiny tears in our muscle fibers as we run, raise weights, or even stretch. When these tears are repaired, the affected muscle becomes bigger and stronger. Part of this repairing process involves inflammation, and while it seems like a bad thing unless it becomes chronic, inflammation is a good thing.
Our muscles, freshly strengthened, are better prepared than before, and we can keep working towards our fitness goals. Sometimes, however, that pain remains, leading to a condition called delayed muscle pain. Mild pain or tension that we feel in our muscles can appear even 48 hours after exercise. There may be some cases also where we push ourselves too hard, with slight pain turning into moderate and persistent pain. If you’ve ever done too many squats at the gym, you’ll know how you feel the next day, especially when you try to get up from your chair.
Although muscle pain is inevitable, it does not mean that we have to sit back and wait for this to pass in order to continue exercising. We’ve already mentioned some of the things you can do to support your body’s ability to heal and repair muscles. But as our knowledge of CBD increases, it becomes a fascinating candidate for muscle pain relief.
CBD as a recovery agent
A 2012 research showed that cannabinoids “significantly suppress chronic inflammation and neuropathic pain” by targeting specific receptors. Although a rodent model was used in the study, it provides encouraging evidence of the compound’s potential. In the same year, another review also suggested the therapeutic potential of CBD. The researchers indicated that CBD influences inflammation far beyond its typical antioxidant properties by affecting intracellular signaling.
The key to recovering from exercise is to promote a reduction in our inflammatory response. By decreasing the amount of inflammation that surrounds our muscles, we can decrease the pain and swelling we feel. This is where you get the CBD. Its efficacy lies in the way the endocannabinoid mechanism, a mechanism that researchers believe helps regulate inflammation, is activated and assisted. In a 2014 article on the endocannabinoid system, the scientists concluded that “it is becoming increasingly clear how closely related the endocannabinoid system is to the key processes involved in inflammation.”
The road to recovery has many stops
The effects of CBD on inflammation are many. By supporting the endocannabinoid production and modulating the activation of specific receptors, CBD supports our endocannabinoid system, the same system that plays a regulatory role in our immune system, and thus our inflammatory response. If you find that even light activities make you feel excessive pain, it seems that the benefit of influencing the endocannabinoid system should be a key consideration.
Pain is an essential part that ensures that the muscles are better prepared to deal with daily movement or mobility problems. Whether at the gym, it’s lifting weights or getting in and out of bed comfortably, healthy, active, and flexible muscles are essential. In circumstances where recovery is slow, or pains persist, CBD can provide additional support, at least based on the preliminary results above.
As always, keeping balance is the key to a healthy and active lifestyle, whether it’s balancing the endocannabinoid system, balancing our diet, or balancing our workouts. Knowing when to push ourselves a little harder, or when to brake, is crucial. Find out what works for you, but keep that in mind as we continue to learn, CBD could be a helping hand in faster muscle recovery.
Ksenia Sobchak enjoys blogging on fashion, style, lifestyle, love and CBD areas. Prior to becoming a blogger, Ksenia worked for a renowned fashion brand. Ksenia is a contributing author to leading fashion, lifestyle and CBD magazines and blogs. You can bump into Ksenia at her favourite cafe in South Kensington where she has written most blogs. When she is not blogging, Ksenia enjoys shopping (particularly at Harrods!), exploring the hidden gems of London, photography, jogging, yoga, fashion (she is starting up her very own swimwear brand very soon!) and traveling. Ksenia is a staunch advocate of CBD and its benefits to people. Ksenia is also on the panel of CBD reviewers at CBD Life Mag and Chill Hempire. Her favourite form of CBD are CBD gummies and CBD tinctures. Ksenia is a regular contributor at leading fashion, lifestyle as well as CBD magazines and blogs.
Interesting Facts About Ksenia Sobchak
Favourite Drink: Rose flavoured bubble tea
Favourite Movie: Trainspotting (the first one)
Interesting fact: I am a part time fashion and swimwear model
Where are we likely to find you on a Friday night: Probably enjoying a peach flavoured shisha at Beauchamp place in Knightsbridge
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