Athletes are no stranger to using a variety of supplements to enhance performance. From creatine to protein powders to BCAAs (branched chain amino acids), there are innumerable products to provide an extra edge.

For any athlete looking to improve, there is a relatively new supplement on the market that can offer distinctive benefits for athletes: CBD. Thanks to how CBD impacts the body it may help elevate performances, hasten recovery, and reduce pain. Read on to learn more about how you can use CBD to improve your performance and your health.

Quick Recap: What is CBD?

CBD stands for cannabidiol, one of the more than 100 related compounds (called cannabinoids) that are found in the cannabis plants. CBD doesn’t produce the “high” caused by the other (most well-known) cannabinoid, THC.

CBD products are made from hemp, which by definition is a cannabis plant containing no more than 0.3 percent THC. As of the 2018 farm bill, hemp is no longer classified as a controlled, dangerous substance under federal law.

Why Should Athletes Use CBD?

Have you been researching CBD for athletes? Well, we did it for you. When you work out, you put pressure on your body to stimulate it to become stronger. By breaking down muscle fibers you prompt them to grow back stronger and swifter than they were before. But anyone who has ever pushed themselves hard while training knows that this undertaking can come with difficulties.

If you push too hard, recovery might take days and injuries are always lurking.

Even when you’re physically at your best, if you feel stressed or depressed it can be difficult to train or perform well. At its extreme, fatigue, despondency, or anxiety can keep you from getting out of the house, suppressing any improvement altogether.

There are a variety of ways CBD can be potentially beneficial for athletes including:

• Reduce muscle soreness
• Reduce and manage inflammation
• Reduce joint pain
• Improve sleep (which is a win-win since sleep is the best time for recovery)
• Improve mood
• Reduce stress
• Relieve pain
• Enhance blood flow
• Promote muscle relaxation
• Help with pain management

Fortunately, nutritional supplements exist that can help us take on all these challenges and be the best we can be. The newest performance enhancing natural supplement is CBD.

Five Major Advantages of CBD For Athletes 

With such a long list of potential benefits, it is not surprising that more and more athletes are adding CBD to their supplemental regime. Let’s look at five major advantages athletes that supplement with CBD have been known to experience.

1. BD May Speed Recovery and Fight Fatigue

Intensive training can lead to muscle soreness and inflammation surrounding the worked muscle. What’s more, it can lead to mental and physical fatigue.

By reducing oxidative damage, CBD may help athletes recover and perform better. The faster we recover, the more we can work out to reach new levels of performance.

2. CBD Might Help To Reduce Pain

Inflammatory pain is the most common that athletes experience. This is the type of pain when you work your muscle to the max. Inflammatory pain is traditionally treated with over-the-counter anti inflammatory drugs like Advil, Tylenol, or Aleve.

Unfortunately, long term use of these painkillers can seriously damage your health. Excessive use of these painkillers has been linked to heart attacks, strokes, internal bleeding, kidney and liver damage, and more.

Researchers are beginning to examine the use of CBD as a safer alternative for inflammatory pain. CBD can be a great option in your pain management regime.

CBD has been determined to be a safe compound according to a report from the World Health Organization. In light of the recent opioid crisis why wouldn’t we be embracing a safer alternative to pain medication?

3. CBD Can Promote An Optimal Mood

Most of us have struggled at one time or another with stress, anxiety, or depression. Depression and anxiety can be motivational disorders and research suggests that CBD may help. Even small scale studies have found CBD to help with certain forms of anxiety.

If you find pre-game jitters, anxiety, or a depressed mood negatively impacting your athletic performance, CBD may provide help.

4. CBD Might Help You Get A Good Night’s Sleep

Poor sleep hinders athletic recovery and performance. We need a full eight hours for our bodies to heal after a strenuous workout or competition. If your sleep troubles come from pain, anxiety, or depression, then CBD might be an answer.

Try CBD out for yourself if you have sleep troubles to see whether you find improvement.

5. CBD Could Help You Lose Weight

New research suggests that CBD may promote weight loss through alterations in our fat cells.

The idea that all fat is bad and leads to weight gain is a common misconception. Humans have two types of fat cells: brown and white. White fat is our so-called bad fat that leads to excess fat storage and weight gain. But you can actually change how your fat cells work by turning white fat into brown fat. Research suggests that the higher qualities of brown fat the lower your BMI is likely to be.

Per the findings of a few studies, CBD increases the browning of fat tissue. By taking CBD, you may find weight loss easier which may result in improved athletic performance.

Legality in Athletic Events

CBD was removed from the World Anti-Doping list of prohibited substances in 2018. But if you are a sportsman or sportswoman that will have to undergo a drug test, you should only use CBD products free of THC, as that compound is still on the banned list.

Tips on Using CBD

Ok, so you are interested in trying cannabidiol or CBD to manage pain or inflammation, or help with sleep or general recovery. But how do you get started? As with any industry, not all products are created equally. Lets look at some options for CBD for athletes.

There are high quality products and low quality products and just about everything in between. As an athlete, you only want the best for your body. As you begin to do your research on which types of products might work for you, be sure to also research which companies are providing the highest quality products.

Why You Should Try True Harvest Farm for Your Athletic Needs

A critical factor in your purchasing process is to make sure that you’re buying CBD products from a company that insists on third party testing from a reputable lab. That lab should provide a valid Certificate of Analysis report.

This will allow you to make sure the cannabinoid content listed on a product’s label is consistent with what is listed on the product’s lab report, that the product is free from harmful contaminants, and that it contains no THC (for athletic competition) of more than 0.3 percent.

At True Harvest Farms we provide a Certification of Analysis report for all our products and when we say THC free, we mean THC free! You can rest easy and concentrate on your competition.

Just as important as understanding the dosages in each product (whether a cream, tincture, or gummy) is knowing where the hemp is sourced, how it was cultivated, and what kind of CBD you’re buying.

Never worry with True Harvest Farm. We pride ourselves on being a “plant to pure product” operation. All our products are comprised of cannabinoids from hemp grown and processed locally at our farm. Everything we do is in-house, there is no middleman or supplier. Using our CBD products can put your mind at ease knowing that you are getting the best of the best.

Until the FDA comes out with strict regulations, many companies are largely unchecked when it comes to manufacturing, labeling, claims, and dosages. That is never an issue at True Harvest Farms.

Make Sure To Read Our Guide On CBD For Runners Here

How Can I Use CBD to Boost My Performance?

Now that you understand the potential benefits of CBD and why it has become one of the hottest supplements for athletes, you’re probably wondering how best to add CBD to your daily routine. 

There are two things that you want to consider: what kind of CBD to take and how you should take it.

For athletic performance and recovery we recommend the following True Harvest products:

True Relief CBD Muscle Cream

Isolate CBD Tincture 500mg

Isolate CBD Tincture 1000mg

All are THC free

If you are not involved in drug testing then you can look at our full spectrum CBD oils. And remember, WADA has only banned THC in competition, meaning it is prohibited if found during a post race drug test but is allowed to be present during a random, out-of-competition test. In contrast, EPO is banned at all times because it gives the user an unfair advantage in both training and racing.

If you are an elite athlete, you might want to land on the cautious side, but if you are more of a weekend warrior then a full spectrum might better meet your needs.

How Much CBD to take

There is no standard dosage for CBD. Your ideal dose will depend on your physiology and your primary purpose for using CBD. Start with the lowest dose suggested on the product. Then, if needed, slowly work your way up over time (increase your dosage every few days) until you find the quantity that works for you.

Always allow your body several days to adjust to the CBD and don’t be afraid to increase or decrease the dose incrementally until you find your sweet spot. And, of course, we are always here to help so don’t be shy about contacting us.

Time to Give CBD a Try

With all the potential benefits, it might be time for you to go out and see how CBD can benefit you and your athletic performance. You may find that you recover faster and play harder. You may even have less pain after working out or boost your energy levels and your mood. There are so many ways that a CBD supplement can improve your life and enhance performance.