National Fitness Day

The past few years have provided a sometimes painful reminder of the importance of health and fitness.  Both in America and across the globe, we humans are sicker and more out of shape than probably ever before. 

Thankfully, there’s an easy antidote for many health problems. It’s called getting fit! And on May 1st of this year, National Fitness Day will be all about it.  Indeed, there aren’t many things more important than fitness. If you have any doubt about that just check out these stats:

• Your heart is the strongest muscle in your body

• The average person walks ~70,000 miles in their lifetime

• Just 10 minutes of exercise a day has tangible health benefits 

• Your body burns an extra 50 calories for every pound of muscle gained

• People who exercise an hour a day are 40% less likely to die prematurely

Natural recovery-boosters

In this article we’ll be taking a close look at three different recovery-boosting substances: CBD, essential oils, and adaptogenic mushrooms.

CBD 101

CBD isn’t just for health problems anymore. 

While CBD really could be the antidote for your sleep problems or your pet’s inability to keep calm and carry on…

...the experience of thousands of fitness enthusiasts is proving it to be much more than that. 

In other words, CBD’s underlying effects don’t just magically stop at preventing health problems or addressing biochemical blindspots. The compound’s activation of the endocannabinoid system likely also helps athletes get faster and stronger than ever before. 

How? We don’t have all the answers about CBD’s impact on exercise quite yet — but that shouldn’t stop us from theorizing.  

Workout Routine, meet CBD. 

One of CBD’s biggest benefits? Its potential ability to reduce inflammation. If your parents are praising CBD for the pain relief they experience, this anti-inflammatory effect is probably why. 

If you’re an athlete, however, things get more exciting still. For you, inflammation means slower recovery from workouts, replete with lingering muscle soreness and annoying aches and pains. 

In the past, you may have resorted to conventional NSAIDS if placed in this situation. Yet the evidence is out: NSAID’s reduce inflammation too much. A little bit of inflammation is actually good for recovery; it signals to the immune system that damaged tissues need to heal. 

CBD is different than pharmaceutical alternatives. It doesn’t eliminate inflammation entirely. Instead it may help the body’s naturally produced endocannabinoids lower inflammation — but only if and when such action is needed. These gentle reductions equate to less pain, a healthier immune system, and improved recovery. 

Yet CBD does something even more important than reducing inflammation, something that often gets overlooked: it reduces stress. 

Why’s that so important? Because exercise itself is a type of stress. Good stress, sure . . . but still stress. Like any other stressor, an intense workout is a challenge the body needs to adapt to and overcome. 

This sort of adaptation isn’t always easy. It requires carefully balancing a slew of different hormones in order to gradually grow stronger and stronger. In a very real sense, one has to fight the weaker points of their biology in order to get fitter. 

A hormone called cortisol is especially tough to overcome — yet CBD might provide the perfect solution.  CBD’s ability to lower cortisol is so clear, in fact, that scientists have known about it since at least 1993. 

 Reductions in cortisol may help you feel calmer, happier, and just better in general. It may also help you sleep! Good thing, because sleep itself is pretty good for your fitness levels.

How to use CBD for fitness

Ready to take your fitness to a new level? 

If so, you wouldn’t be alone — so is your endocannabinoid system.

It’s true: the ECS could actually be motivating us to exercise. The system produces greater amounts of endocannabinoids after a tough workout, after all — you probably know this phenomenon by the term“runner’s high”. It basically provides a positive feedback loop that, if followed, would just make one fitter and fitter. 

With that said, let’s take a closer look.

CBD could be tremendously valuable as a pre-workout. It may increase the proportion of fat one burns for fuel, giving the athlete lasting energy and (potentially) improved body composition. Endurance athletes may find themselves with more ‘gas in the tank’ late in workouts.

Post-workout performance gains are available, too. Like we said, CBD powerfully lowers cortisol. Given that cortisol’s nature is catabolic (i.e, it promotes breakdown), it’s reasonable to think that CBD could set the stage for muscle gains. 

Pro athletes seem to agree: there’s something to cannabidiol. While CBD hasn’t made it into the sports science lab yet, it’s sure being tested on the battleground that is pro athletics.

Take PGA-tour golfer Bubba Watson, for example. He may have been skeptical of CBD at first, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a full-fledged advocate. Today he takes CBD for recovery, stress management, and sleep. 

Extreme-sports athletes stand to benefit, too. Just last month UFC fighter Nate Diaz smoked a CBD joint in front of fans at an open workout. Within the sport he’s not alone; according to UFC president Dana White, “for people who deal with chronic pain, it’s groundbreaking…”

Could the pros know something we don’t? If you want to improve your fitness, there’s nothing stopping you from joining them — even if only in your shared use of CBD.

Ready to use CBD for fitness? Doing so is actually pretty simple. While any CBD product could help, CBD topicals deserve a special mention since they can directly benefit sore muscles. 

Essential oils

Going beyond CBD oil, other oils may improve the results you see from a fitness routine, too. 

We’re talking about essential oils, of course! Most essential oils have powerful anti-inflammatory effects that make them perfect for boosting fitness and improving workout recovery. 

While essential oils possess their own unique benefits, research has shown that they can also amplify the benefits of CBD. 

Mushrooms

Adaptogenic mushrooms have some of the most powerful fitness-enhancing effects of any natural substance. They can increase muscular endurance, shorten recovery times, and promote full-body oxygenation. 

Once comprehensive review study put it this way: “More than 130 medicinal functions are thought to be produced by medicinal mushrooms (MMs) and fungi, including antitumor, immunomodulating, antioxidant, radical scavenging, cardiovascular, antihypercholesterolemic, antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal, detoxification, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, and other effects.”

Long story short, ‘shrooms may become your fitness plan’s best friend. 

Currently we carry two mushroom products: Beam Clarity powder supplement, and Brothers Apothecary Vitality 1oz Bottle. We’ll think you’ll find both products worthy additions to your fitness routine.