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Being a stoner is often linked with eating a lot of junk, being sedentary, and sleeping a lot. Though this can definitely be the case, there are a lot of extremely active stoners around. This article is going to be aimed at those who usually lead an active lifestyle but would also like to smoke more weed. If you are just starting to increase the amount you smoke for recreational or medicinal reasons it can be harder to stay active and maintain your fitness. Those who find it easy to smoke and keep things moving usually have higher tolerances, those who haven’t built that up yet may struggle at the start. So this article is full of tips and tricks to stay active, eat well and find a fitness regime that works for you while still enjoying weed.
How Does Weed Affect Fitness?
Negatives
There are some extremely predictable ways that smoking weed can affect your fitness. The main one being for those who choose to smoke. Smoking reduces lung capacity and so can make cardio and active fitness more difficult. However, this can be pretty easily fixed by changing to a non smoking weed ingestion method such as edibles. We also know that weed alters the way that your brain functions while you’re high. This can make coordinated movements more difficult and can also just make it more difficult for those who struggle with motivations. If part of your fitness regime is sticking to a specific diet, then getting high can be a problem. This isn’t going to be an issue for everyone but for some the munchies are very real and can be very intense. A lot of the time the cravings aren’t going to be for salads and lean proteins but for crisps, cheese, pizza, sugar, basically all the foods that fitness trainers tend to tell you to eat in moderation. Finally there is a chance that the body is more prone to heart attacks an hour after consuming which might make cardio dangerous while high.
Positives
Surprisingly there are quite a few reasons that fitness nuts recommend weed as a partner to your workout. Many athletes use weed to increase their recovery after an intense workout as it is a fantastic painkiller. Reducing that soreness allows them to move around more during recuperation which is better for the muscles. It is also great for reducing inflammation, helping muscles to physically recover after working out and reducing the chances of injury. For hardcore fitness fans it can also work well for reducing painfull and potentially damaging muscle spasms. If we are talking about recovery then a lot of people use weed post workout to aid a deep and restful sleep. Many cannabis strains are fantastic for promoting sleep and helping those who usually struggle to get a good night’s rest. Finally, though we know that cannabis can cause a few issues for your brain and motor skills it can also increase mental acuity. It can really help you get in the zone for your work out and if you tend to struggle staying motivated weed can actually help you get through your exercise regime.
Can We Reduce The Negatives?
The good news is that if you have just started smoking and are suffering from a lack of motivation, over eating or are concerned about the health effects there are a few ways that we can make weed as fitness friendly as possible.
Smoking
This one is easy, if you don’t want to smoke weed there are loads of other ways to consume it. The most popular ones being vaping or taking edibles. Of course, we have no idea yet whether or not vaping is actually better for your lungs than smoking so if you really want to be careful stick to edibles and tinctures. Edibles don’t have to be brownies or cookies. If you want to make your own there are tons of easy savoury and healthy recipes you can use. Heck you could easily make cannabis protein balls. If you’re not much of a cook you can get all kinds of edibles online including low sugar gummies. Tinctures are another fantastic option because you get them in carefully measured bottles, it tells you how much you should take, and again you can add the tincture to anything you like or just drop it on your tongue.
Coordination and Motivation
If you struggle to stay motivated or are worried about using equipment when high then you have a couple of options. One is that many athletes don’t have anything until after their workout. Then it’s sort of like a lovely treat that, as I said earlier, is fantastic for recovery and recuperation after doing intense exercise. Your other option if you really want to exercise while stoned is to do something relaxed that will feel amazing on your body and push you to keep going. I would suggest doing some at home yoga or going for a long walk in a beautiful area. If you are new to weed maybe make sure there is someone there to supervise both activities.
Munchies
This won’t be an issue for everyone but definitely for some. I am terrible at saying no to my cravings when I’m stoned and I eat complete nonsense. I mean I don’t really care that much but I’m sure for those who are already doing a fitness will. The easiest way to deal with this is to pre-prepare healthy food that you’ll actually enjoy while you’re stoned. Make really yummy food with plenty of healthy protein, carbs, etc. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just better than your average snack food. It’s also a good idea not to have anything too tempting in the house before you smoke.
Heart Attacks
This one you can’t do much about but I will say that it is only a real threat to those who have pre-existing heart conditions. If you have any sort of heart trouble do not smoke before doing intense exercise. If you don’t think you do but start to feel chest pain or tightness while working out high then definitely go and see your doctor.
Written by Tasha Porritt
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