CBD SPORTS user experiences

CBD is increasingly used by athletes. Much is written about the effect of CBD in the body. The endocannabinoid system is explained and the different types of CBD as isolate, broad spectrum and full spectrum are featured in many informative blogs. The results of many studies are added in and the benefits such as better sleep, less pain and faster recovery are widely acclaimed. The reviews for the various products show many enthusiastic reactions from users. "My life has completely changed", "Took a few drops and never slept so well", "My immunity is a lot better and the pain is totally gone" and so on. There are many positive reviews to be found on all CBD providers blogs. Still, it is wise to read all those positive reviews with a critical eye. The effect is certainly not the same for everyone and it depends very much on what you use, how you use it and the reason why you use CBD. In fact, starting with a random CBD oil can be very unwise to do and can have a negative effect on your training results.

CBDSPORTS has several years of experience with various athletes at all levels who have used CBD products for different reasons. We are happy to share these experiences per type of training and also provide an insight into what type of products have been used. Take note that these are personal experiences and not a hard claim that applies to everyone. All our CBD products are supplements and not medicinal cannabis. We get a lot of positive feedback, but there are also plenty of athletes who have experienced little or no effect from using CBD supplements. This may be due to the dosage, the type of product or an expectation of the benefits that the product cannot live up to. Of course we are enthusiastic about the products, otherwise we would never have started CBDSPORTS, and we have read and studied a lot of research results that also explain the positive effect. We now also know how you can benefit from the use of CBD products in your type of training. We hope by breaking down the various training types into Strength Training, Cardio / Endurance Training, Mental and Agility Training, Mobility and Flexibility Training and Rehabilitation Training to give you a guideline to add CBD to your daily supplements with a positive result on your physical and mental condition.

Strength Training and CBD

Strength training is obviously intended to get stronger by increasing muscle tissue. Strength Training can increase your speed and explosiveness, but there are also more benefits to gain. It lowers your blood pressure, strengthens your bones and reduces the risk of various diseases later in life. In addition, strength training is also suitable for weight loss. The increase in muscle tissue ensures that you burn fat faster, because muscles burn more calories at rest than fat tissue. Strength training is based on the principle of supercompensation. When your muscles are damaged by strength training, they recover stronger than before the training. In many cases this can be accompanied by muscle pain. With a very heavy load or overload, the pain can even last for days and affect your progression in a negative way.

Benefits of strength training
1. Faster metabolism. Strength training burns more energy. When you do strength training, you build up a relatively large amount of muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is very active in your body. As a result, you burn calories throughout the day. This is one of the reasons why strength training is recommended when someone wants to lose weight.
2. Better Homeostasis. Strength training is one of the activities that stimulates the hormones such as testosteron. In addition, strength training also helps against a cortisol and oestrogen surplus.
3. Strength training improves insulin sensitivity. This simply means that your cells respond better to the hormone insulin. So your body needs to make less of it to absorb the same amount of glucose from the blood.
4. Better posture. Strength training makes you stand and sit better. This is because the muscles in your back, abdomen and shoulders are better trained. As a result, you automatically adopt a better posture.
5. Better development of muscles and tendons. Strength training partly ensures that your body is more flexible. The risk of injury decreases.
6. Stronger Bones. Maybe you're not thinking about it yet. But you will certainly benefit from this later in life. Strength training increases your bone density. This reduces the risk of bone fractures.
7. Healthier heart and blood vessels. With strength training, you train the condition of the heart and it lowers blood pressure. This reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The experiences of TEAMCBDSPORTS CrossFitters, Bodybuilders and Strong Man athletes have taught us that various CBD products contribute to a reduced pain experience when an overload occurs. These are in particular the CBD products that are applied to the skin and work locally. That does not imply that you can now put more strain on your muscles by using a CBD ointment or gel. You should always avoid overloading. In some situations, muscle pain can occur more often due to your type of training, a muscle gel with CBD is recommended in this situation. The effect is immediate and recommended instead of using the drops. Some bodybuilders who were in their cutting period have indicated that drops even caused dizziness. This is an uncommon side effect of CBD, but can be explained by the large calorie deficit during their cutting period. The usual supplements during strength training such as protein and pre-workouts with BCAAs supplemented with CBD were positively experienced by the athletes. Pain and recovery is part of strength training. You recover by resting (sleep) and that works better if the pain does not affect your resting. If you want to use CBD drops, take target tinctures to improve your sleep and use the muscle gels, ointment or balm to treat the aches and pains. The ideal dose that you take, depending on your sensitivity to the cannabinoids, is somewhere between 25Mg and 100Mg daily. So carefully check the CBD amount in Mg of the product you are taking. For example, a scoop of the Myo Repair BCAA  with Glutamine holds 10 Mg CBD, but a GAIA Botanics Energy formula capsule 20Mg. Both are Pre workout products. The topicals are not be taken in the daily total of CBD Mg's. You do not have to add these in your total CBD intake because the CBD applied to the skin is not absorbed into the blood.

While doing strength training, athletes prefer to use muscle pain reducing, anti-inflammatory products and recovery enhancing products. You better avoid the stress-reducing and anti anxiety CBD products. This way you can experience the aforementioned 7 benefits of strength training and the benefits of CBD.

Cardio / Endurance Training and CBD

To ensure that your body gets used to exercise, cardio or endurance training simply means that you regularly repeat the same movement for a long time, such as walking, running, cycling and swimming. Your heart, lungs and mitochondria get used to the movements and strain and will start working more efficiently.

Benefits of endurance training
1. A better functioning cardiovascular system (cardiovascular system). Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
2. Faster metabolism. Endurance training has a positive effect on energy metabolism.
3. Increase in your VO2max. This is your maximum oxygen intake.
4. Better stamina. Mentally and physically.
5. Lower blood pressure, lower heart rate and lower cholesterol levels. This reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
6. People who often practise endurance training live on average 5 to 6 years longer than their people who don't.

Long distance runners have had the experience that they sometimes develop a flow or high while running. The experience is typically characterized by bliss and completely relaxed limbs and the lack of fear and unease after about half an hour of running. In the 1980s, sports scientists began to attribute this flow to endorphins after noting that the blood levels of the natural painkillers in people's bloodstreams rise when they run, but more recently other scientists have become skeptical. Endorphins cannot cross the blood-brain barrier because of their molecular structure. So even if runners' blood contains extra endorphins, they won't reach the brain and change their mental state. According to animal studies, it is also unlikely that the brain itself produces more endorphins during exercise. The substance that causes the high of flow in the brain is Anandamide. This substance is an endocannabinoid! One of two substances in the ECS.

The experiences of the TEAMCBDSPORTS athletes who do fitness, "endurance sports" or cardio training" such as Iron Man, Triathlon, Rowing and Swimming has taught us that taking a certain amount of CBD daily via drops or capsules works best to get the "runners high" faster and hold the high for a longer period. They avoid pre workouts and energy drinks and tablets with a high concentration of caffeine and taurine because of the risk to de hydrate, but for their recovery the CBD topicals are a valuable addition to their recovery. There are studies that ascribe a relaxing effect of CBD on tendons and a long distance runner may benefit from this.

Mental and Agility Training and CBD

Focus is the keyword in highly complicated technical movements training that aims to make a certain movement automatical so that you no longer have to think about the execution of the movement. Repeating the movement over and over again requires a great deal of concentration that you often see with Golfers, Darters, Tennis players, Archers, but also with technically skilled football players, hockey players and other team sports.

Being physically fit also helps maintain your cognitive ability. Even regular, moderately intense training can help protect your mental capacity. This reduces the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease at an older age. In addition, exercise not only has a positive effect on your heart and lungs, but also improves your balance and coordination. This may be due to improved blood flow to your brain, stimulation of growth hormones or expanding the network of brain blood vessels.

The feedback from our athletes has taught us that various CBD products contribute to a better focus. The explanation can be found in the blogs about the body's own Endo Cannabionide System that is responsible for your Homeostasis. Homeostasis is the process in which organisms keep the internal environment of chemical and physical processes in balance, despite changes in the environment in which the organism is located. The less distraction due to an imbalance, the better your concentration. Our athletes use CBD products that are specially enriched with other substances to maintain focus and concentration for longer periods, such as the PACHAMAMA oil and the Primal Health oil. Eliminating anxiety is also a common reason to use CBD. The CBDialed Anxiety is the favourite oil to take of our athletes.

Mobility and Flexibility Training and CBD

Regular mobility training can help you improve the flexibility of movements of your body during daily exercises and activities. Mobility can improve your posture. Sitting for long periods of time can cause you to get round shoulders and a lifted upper back, with hip flexors that are too tight.

Doing the mobility exercises can help correct and prevent annoying pain and headaches associated with poor posture.

Flex and Mobility Training reduce the risk of injuries. For every movement there are multiple ligaments, tendons and muscles, working together. When there is a reduced joint mobility, other ligaments, tendons and muscles often work to compensate, which in turn can cause injury to those muscles that compensate. The tight muscles can press on a joint and cause pain. A common problem today is knee pain that can be associated with muscle tightness in the quadriceps. You can use a foam roller to roll out the tightness in your quads, which can reduce pain and reduce muscle tightness, or a Roll On with CBD to reduce the pain.

Preventing and fighting pain is what many TEAMCBDSPORTS athletes do daily using CBD topicals. We have also received a lot of positive feedback on taking tablets or capsules daily. The prevention of muscle pain through the use of CBD and an improved overnight's sleep has already made many athletes a fan of our products. Although the result is often different for everyone, the improvement in recovery is probably the most received positive response about adding CBD to your routine daily.

Rehabilitation Training and CBD

The mentally toughest training by far is a rehabilitation training. Any athlete who has ever had a minor or serious injury will agree. The patience needed to do small exercises with minimal effort of strength and stamina that slowly contribute to your recovery is mentally tough. The pain can often be intense at the slightest movement and your patience will be severely tested. Will it ever be okay and will I get back to my old level? Uncertainty, stress, anxiety and pain are part of a rehabilitation and CBD can have many benefits here! The professional guidance of a Physiotherapist is indispensable in the process. We will devote more blogs to this together with the physiotherapists we work with.