SMOKING weed is often associated with lazy stoners, munching junk food from their couch. However, endurance athletes are currently proving this outdated stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth.
People have long believed the “runner’s high” was the result of endorphins, but this isn’t entirely true. While the brain does release its own forms of opioid chemicals during exercise, it also releases endogenous cannabinoids called endocannabinoids.
Unlike endorphins, these endogenous cannabinoids cross the blood-brain barrier and act upon the same receptors that receive the THC in marijuana — the active ingredient responsible for delivering the psychoactive effect.
So with the brain’s endocannabinoid system responsible for the natural euphoria that long-distance runners experience, does smoking weed enhance performance?
Colorado-based ultrarunner Avery Collins certainly thinks so.
Running up to 240km per week in training and competing in four to five races a year — each around 160km to 320km in distance — Mr Collins said he is a large ambassador for bud.
“[Cannabis] helps me live right in the moment. It makes things very spiritual. You don’t think about anything except the run itself,” he toldMotherboard.
“I use it as a way to intensify and enhance the run. It makes the longevity of the runner’s high last longer because technically you’re already high.”
More than its ability to enhance the run, the ultra-endurance athlete said he eats edible or vaporises weed every day to help his body deal with the gruelling running regime.
“I’d be lying if I said [cannabis] doesn’t help sooth my muscles,” he said.
Founder of the Lifetree Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City Lynn Webster agreed with Mr Collin’s findings, suggesting marijuana use can block pain and reduce nausea.
“There’s good science that suggests cannabinoids block the physical input of pain,” Dr Webster told theWall Street Journal.
As testament to the growing acceptance of marijuana, the World Anti-Doping Agency raised the allowable level of THC for athletes in 2013.
The new guidelines mean athletes can smoke marijuana during training, with the amount required to would trigger positive result only found if they smoked during the day of competition.
A WADA spokesman said the reason it is not allowed on competition days is because of its perceived performance enhancement properties.
As cannabis has been proven to deepen concentration, increase tissue oxygenation, and decrease muscle spasms before, during, or after athletic performance, this might hold merit.
It’s not just runners who benefit either, with UFC commentator Joe Rogan talking about its benefits for fighters.
“I think it (marijuana) is a performance-enhancing drug. If it wasn’t, a huge majority of jiu-jitsu guys wouldn’t be using it before they train,” he said onThe MMA Hour.
“They don’t do it because it hurts them; they do it because it helps them.”
He also claimed to have seen the benefits first hand.
“I like to smoke pot and work out,” he wrote on his blog.
“Getting high and working out is one of the least talked about and least appreciated pleasures of fitness.”
“Lifting weights is fun when you’re under the spell, cardio is cool too, but for me, nothing compares to getting really high and hitting the heavy bag.”
Assistant professor of biology at Eckerd College Gregory Gerdeman agreed weed could help performance.
“The most obvious potential benefit to an athlete is controlling inflammation and some of the aches and pains that relate to injury. If you lower inflammation, you will raise the pain threshold,” he toldRunner’s World.
However, he likes to remind people smoking marijuana can create health issues.
“There are cardiovascular effects, like increasing heart rate,” he said.
“These may be minimal in young athletes or those with tolerance, but should be considered seriously by anyone at risk for coronary heart disease.
“Plus, there have been some studies that [suggest] it influences blood flow to the brain, which can influence the risk of stroke.”
Regardless of evidence pointing one way or another, Mr Collins said he will continue to smoke and run.
“Everybody likes to overanalyse it,” he said. “I’m not looking for any kind of advantage. I like being high and going on runs. It’s fun, it’s freeing, and it’s a good opportunity to escape from the rest of the world.”
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