A new study found that cannabis consumption before exercise could lead to a greater “runner’s-high” and increased enjoyment. However, it was also linked to heightened feelings of exertion.
Researchers at the University of Colorado published a paper in Sports Medicine last week that found using marijuana before exercise “may increase both positive and negative experiences” of the activity.
The results were the same whether participants consumed CBD or THC products. However, CBD users reported greater enjoyment and less exertion.
The study’s authors believe that it is the first one to examine the acute effects of cannabis commercially available on subjective responses in a lab environment.
The report states that “our findings suggest that among individuals who have used cannabis for exercise, smoking or vapourizing cannabis flower before exercise may increase both positive (e.g. affect, enjoyment) as well as negative (e.g. exertion) elements of the experience.”
Participants reported higher levels positive mood states (e.g. enjoyment) while exercising under the influence cannabis.
The five-author group called the study an “important first step” in a field that is still developing and has consisted, up to now, primarily of cross sectional surveys and studies examining acute effects of marijuana on exercise and sport performance.
But recreational users, they said, “tend to use cannabis for non-performance-enhancing reasons (e.g., enjoyment, pain management) and generally agree that cannabis does not improve their exercise performance.”
Researchers recruited participants in Boulder, Colorado, who met certain health criteria and had used cannabis in the past while running or jogging without experiencing any negative effects. They also needed to be able to perform 30 minutes of physical activity.
Researchers conducted three visits: a baseline assessment and a cannabis-based exercise activity, as well as a non-cannabis based exercise activity. Participants were asked to choose between two cannabis flower products before the cannabis visit: either a CBD-dominant product (1% THC with 20% CBD) or a THC dominant product (24% THC with 1% CBD).
A researcher brought a “mobile pharmacological lab” approved by a university and federally compliant to the home of each participant on the day the cannabis exercise was scheduled. Participants were instructed to use the product in accordance with their usual usage patterns. Participants were asked to identify their preferred method of consumption, and then weigh the product both before and after using it. This allowed them to estimate how much cannabis they had consumed.
Participants were driven to an exercise facility where they warmed up and then spent 30 minutes on a treadmill. Their heart rate and other measurements were recorded. After completing a post-exercise survey, they were driven home.
The majority of the 42 participants who were included in final analysis reported using cannabis with running (32 people), cycling (17) and hiking (24)
The study states that “at baseline,” “most participants reported cannabis increased their enjoyment during exercise (90.5%), reduced their pain/discomfort during exercise (60.9%), improved their ability focus during exercise (59.5%) and increased their motivation for exercise (57.1%). Only 45.2% of participants reported that cannabis increased their enjoyment of exercise (90.5%), reduced their pain/discomfort levels during exercise (69.0%), improved the ability to focus while exercising (59.5%), and increased motivation to exercise (57.1%).
The study found that the participants who exercised with cannabis products reported greater enjoyment, whether they were using CBD or THC. CBD users, on the other hand, reported greater enjoyment than those who did not use CBD.
Participants reported significantly greater enjoyment during their cannabis-based exercise appointment compared to non-cannabis.
Researchers found that CBD users reported a greater improvement in their affect than those who used THC. However, both groups experienced a better affect.
The use of cannabis was associated with more runners’ high symptoms when exercising, and some participants reported experiencing the effect more than the CBD-dominant group.
Participants “reported significantly greater exertion” after cannabis use, despite the apparent benefits. The THC-dominant products users reported greater differences in exertion during the cannabis- and non-cannabis-exercise periods.
The report states that differences in other measures such as pain or affective arousal were not statistically significant.
The team wrote that the federal ban on cannabis placed some limitations on research. Regulations “prevented us from using a standard administration procedure which further limited our capability to pinpoint causal effects.”
The researchers continued: “Additionally,” “because federal regulations prohibited the consumption of state regulated, commercially-available cannabis products in a lab setting, participants were required to administer their assigned cannabis products ad libitum at their home before being driven to exercise facility in the Mobile Pharmacology Laboratory, resulting in an average delay of 32 minutes between cannabis consumption, and the cannabis workout bout.
Researchers couldn’t blind participants because they were using the products at home. The state law requires all commercially available products to be labeled with THC and CBD. Participants were therefore aware of the cannabinoid levels of their assigned products.
The authors also note that an overwhelming number of their participants (90.5%) already reported that they enjoyed pairing cannabis with exercise when the study began, and that the majority exercised regularly.
The researchers wrote that “this was an highlyactive sampling of regular cannabis consumers,” noting the fact that all participants “were healthy habitual exercisers who reported an average of 383 minutes of moderate-to vigorous intensity exercise per week which is far above the minimum guidelines.”
Men over 40, and women over 50, were also excluded from the study due to safety concerns regarding cardiovascular health. The report notes that “a significant portion of the sample was composed of non-Hispanic White males between the ages 21 and 40.” Future studies should “make an active effort” to recruit a more diverse sample.
The study is part of a growing body research on marijuana and its effects. Recent analysis by NORML indicates that researchers have produced more than 32,000 papers in the last decade.
Another study, published in July, surveyed 49 runners. It found that participants experienced less negative affect and greater feelings of tranquility, enjoyment and dissociation during their cannabis-based runs, compared to non-cannabis-based runs. Participants also reported more runner’s-high symptoms.
The runners’ positive experiences with cannabis are consistent with a study from 2019, which showed that those who use marijuana as a way to enhance their workout get more exercise.
According to a study published in 2020, older cannabis users are more likely to be physically active.
Researchers found that marijuana users are more likely to engage in physical activity than their non-using counterparts.
A separate study published last month found sports physicians “generally have positive views toward CBD and marijuana”, and support legalizing cannabis for recreational and medical purposes. The majority also agreed that marijuana should be taken off the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA’s) list of banned substances.
WADA removed CBD (cannabidiol) from its list of prohibited substances in 2018, but marijuana is still prohibited by many international and professional sports organizations, as well as the international body.
In September, an NCAA panel recommended that divisional governing body remove cannabis from the list of banned substances for college athletes.
After the U.S. Sha’Carri Richison, a runner from the United States, was banned from competing in Olympic events in 2021 due to a positive THC result.
After the suspension, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said that international marijuana rules “must be changed,” both the White House and Joe Biden himself indicated it was time to implement new policies. Congress lawmakers amplified this message.
USADA had previously expressed its sympathy for Richardson, and suggested that it might be time to reevaluate the marijuana prohibition. But the group went on to issue a statement in which they explicitly called for a change of policy.
The organization stated that President Joe Biden “described the way forward” best when he said “rules were rules” , but still suggested that regulations might need to be reviewed.
A study released last month revealed that states which legalized marijuana had significantly higher recruitment rates for college basketball teams, but they had lower results for football teams.
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