When considered together, these results indicate that CBD may have the ability to affect cardiovascular function. By converting neuroscience into metrics tailored for sports, these results provide a robust foundation centered on athletes for making informed choices regarding THC consumption. The significance of these findings in sports is evident, as effective field vision relies on spatial awareness, the ability to update multiple targets, and swiftly extracting relevant cues from distractions.
The 2011 research acknowledges that “considerable further studies are essential to ascertain cannabis’s impact on athletic performance,” while also highlighting that “cannabis promotes euphoria, boosts self-confidence, encourages relaxation and steadiness, and alleviates competitive stress.” Furthermore — the research recognizes that cannabis impairs coordination. Their ultimate aspiration is that these findings will contribute to discussions in various settings (from medical offices to sports governing bodies), which are on the verge of reassessing whether marijuana should still be classified as a “banned substance” due to its performance-enhancing potential. The relationship between cannabis and athletic performance is intricate and layered, presenting both possible advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is crucial to realize that the scientific community continues to explore the intricate relationships between cannabis and athletic performance. Adverse analytical findings (AAFs) regarding cannabinoids between 1998 and 2009 — as reported by the International Olympic Committee (1998–2002) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (2003–2009), emphasize the need for further investigation into how cannabis affects athletic performance.
First — the distribution of subjects per cluster was observed (intra-cluster homogeneity) and second, differences for the clustering variables were tested by chi-square to examine cluster separation (inter-cluster heterogeneity). A systematic analysis of sample sizes for cluster analyses reviewed 243 cluster analyses. We hypothesized that athletes use cannabis to effectively manage pain and anxiety. CBD is primarily known for its efficacy against seizure disorders and has also been shown to provide pain relief — anti-spasticity properties and can reduce anxiety 16,17.
Capability to Improve Performance
The effects of chronic cannabis smart end-of-year clearance shopping consumption on physiological parameters of athletic performance are investigated to determine whether chronic cannabis consumption negatively affects athletic performance; improves performance, potentially via enhanced recovery; or has no effect at all.
Abstinence-related recovery likely reflects partial normalization (e.g., receptor resensitization; restoration of excitation-inhibition balance), consistent with observed functional improvement following sustained cessation (31). While public discussion often centers on policy and detection thresholds, the scientifically salient question for athletes is whether THC compromises game-speed cognition or decision-making. Surpisingly — this heightened mood was even greater in the CBD group than in the THC group, suggesting athletes may be able to get some of the benefits to mood without the impairment that can come with THC. “The bottom-line finding is that cannabis before exercise seems to increase positive mood and enjoyment during exercise, whether you use THC or CBD. The study of 42 runners (published Dec. 26 in the journal Sports Medicine), comes almost exactly 10 years after Colorado became the first state to commence legal sales of recreational marijuana, at a time when cannabis-users increasingly report mixing it with workouts. The supplement was guest edited by Lawrence L. Spriet, who convened a virtual meeting of the GSSI Expert Panel in October 2020 and received honoraria from the GSSI, a division of PepsiCo, Inc., for his participation in the meeting.
1 Sleep and Anxiety
So far, most research examining the impacts of cannabis on safety and performance has primarily concentrated on recreational use, falling short in understanding the adverse effects when used under medical supervision, although such effects seem to be mild and well-tolerated. The complexities of cannabis’s influence on athletic performance present an evident paradox. Although there have been some minor initiatives to investigate the therapeutic benefits of THC for conditions like asthma (anxiety), and sleep, the potential medicinal advantages of cannabinoids have largely faded from scientific discourse.
While CBD is considered safe — THC can impair cognitive functions, potentially affecting performance and increasing the risk of injury. Additional articles were reviewed based on references obtained from initial articles. Over-the-counter CBD-containing “nutraceuticals” are now readily available in many countries and of increasing interest to the community . Factors that contribute to poor sleep among athletes include evening competitions and training sessions, pre-competition anxiety, use of caffeine, and long-haul travel , e.g. jet lag, travel fatigue, . Thus, studies investigating the effect of CBD (in conjunction with behaviour therapies) on pre-competition anxiety, as well as nutritional intake, energy expenditure, symptom perception during exercise (e.g. ratings of perceived exertion), and sleep in athletes who are negatively impacted by SPA are warranted. A number of studies have measured CV responses to CBD , 100–1200 mg, in humans and, overall, it appears that resting HR is unaffected (see Sultan et al. for review).
As this is a relatively new field of study, there were few studies actually on athletic performance. In 2017, the Journal of Sports Medicine published a systematic review of a decade’s worth of cannabis-focused science to determine if the plant had any impact on strength or cardiovascular fitness. For example (a team of Brazilian researchers published a study on CBD for social anxiety), as incited by a simulated public speech. Another area worthy of investigation for sports science is the impact cannabis consumption may have on sleep — mood, and anxiety. Today, only a small number of studies have dug into the acute effects of cannabis on exercise, and most were conducted decades ago.
The impacts of cannabis on behavior and cardiovascular health were assessed at baseline and repeatedly during the session.
In recent research, 20.8 per cent of 20–29 year-olds in the general Australian population had used cannabis in the last year compared to 3.7 per cent of 20–29 year-old athletes. In addition, for some people, cannabis use can cause increased anxiety, panic, nervousness and restlessness thus causing disruption to sleeping patterns. Prevalence and correlates of cannabis use among athletes-A systematic review. Acute cannabis consumption has been shown to cause an increase in blood pressure (specifically systolic blood pressure (SBP)), and orthostatic hypotension. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid (widely marketed to athletes for claimed effects such as decreased anxiety), fear memory extinction, anti-inflammatory properties, relief of pain and for post-exercise recovery.
The bronchodilation result aligns with findings from Tashkin et al. (1975), where bronchospasm was triggered in asthmatic patients through methacholine inhalation and exercise on different occasions. These investigations reveal a minor ergogenic effect on FEV1 due to bronchodilation and an opposing ergolytic effect on anaerobic performance, as evaluated by PWC. Secondary measures of interest (such as blood pressure (BP)), heart rate (HR), and lung capacity (often assessed by one-second Forced Expiratory Volume; FEV1), are utilized to capture isolated aspects of aerobic performance. In contemporary studies, peak power is generally assessed using the Wingate test. Long-term cannabis use did not significantly influence athletic performance. The strongest indicators of athletic performance — namely VO2Max and PWC, showed no significant differences among groups in any of the studies included.
Nevertheless, recent scientific advancements emphasizing the widespread endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS) and its receptors, ligands, and functional roles in various physiological processes further support the exploration of the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids derived from cannabis. The possible beneficial roles of cannabis in pain management protocols (including the mitigation of concussion-related symptoms), warrant additional investigation. This comprehensive review aims to identify and spotlight the challenges in interpreting data concerning elite athletic performance, while also highlighting significant research areas that require further exploration.
Measures of pulmonary function and VO2Max
Given the relatively frequent use of cannabis and CBD by athletes, it is evident that enhancing the scientific understanding of CBD’s impact on recovery and performance is imperative. CBD seems to possess anti-inflammatory (neuroprotective), analgesic, anxiolytic, and possibly recovery-promoting characteristics in athletes, yet more scientific validation is required to substantiate these claims. The comparison of CBD’s effectiveness against conventional medications needs to be investigated.
Specifically (CBD tended to normalise extracellular glutamate), d-aspartate, and γ-aminobutyric acid concentrations in the medial prefrontal cortex, suggesting a reduction in excitotoxicity. CBD attenuated the behavioural (e.g. anxious and aggressive behaviour, depressive-like behaviour, impaired social interactions, pain-related behaviours) and some of the cortical biochemical abnormalities were observed. Of course, it is important to recognise that EIMD and muscular dystrophy differ in their pathophysiology, and so the effects observed in MDX mice may involve mechanisms less relevant to EIMD , e.g. skeletal muscle differentiation, autophagy, . A recent study in which participants vaporised 100 mg of CBD likewise observed high blood CBD concentrations 30 min post-treatment . Both studies observed a large amount of inter-individual variation in pharmacokinetic responses 19, 170. The author(s) declared that financial support was not received for this work and/or its publication.
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