+ 2 Marijauna and bodybuilding
So I just found an interesting artical on the effects on weed and bodybuilders. Now this is a copy and paste post but I am placing the source at the bottom. This came off my FB app and the app doesn't give you a link. If I have violated and rules please let me know.
Marijuana is a controversial subject. While it is illegal to buy, sell or consume it, for many people it’s a part of everyday life. But what effect does marijuana have on bodybuilding?
Marijuana and Health
Before we get down to the main purpose of this article, the first thing to say is that marijuana is still illegal. This article is not intended to promote the use of any illegal or elicit substances.
Despite marijuana being illegal, many people smoke it on a daily basis. Also known as cannabis, weed or pot, most people use it for getting high as a method of relaxation. While there certainly isn’t the stigma attached to it that there may be for class A drugs like heroin or cocaine, marijuana still has side effects that will affect the way your body works.
Marijuana comes from the cannabis plant. There are nearly 500 different components in cannabis, but only one active ingredient – delta-9-THC, or THC for short, which affects your nerve receptors and brain cells. THC is most effectively absorbed when you smoke marijuana, and has a fairly rapid effect. It circulates fairly quickly around the body, but in most cases will leave your system within five days, depending on the amount you ingest. Although with chronic users, THC is more likely to be stored in fat tissue around your body, which can take anything from 10 to 20 days to leave your system.
Marijuana is typically used for relaxation purposes and to heighten your senses of pleasure.
You become more focused on certain stimuli, which increases your appreciation and enjoyment of food, sex and music. It’s not unlike the feeling of being mildly drunk.
Weed has been associated with decreased reaction times, increasing feelings or paranoia and nervousness and impairing short term memory.
The effects of marijuana do vary greatly from person to person. One individual may find they get all the side effects of smoking weed to a high degree and become addicted to it, whereas someone else may find it does little for them or that they can smoke it infrequently, enjoy the experience and have a very relaxed attitude towards the drug, not really feeling any reliance on it whatsoever.
Clearly, while these effects aren’t bodybuilding specific, bodybuilders too function in the same way as those who don’t train. A bodybuilder who regularly smokes pot will find themselves susceptible to potential short term memory loss, decreased reaction times and a heightened sense of paranoia and anxiety, which not only effect your general health, but have a knock on effect to performance too. If you become reliant on the drug, you’re far more likely to skip sessions and under-perform in the gym.
But there are more serious side effects that can interfere with your future in bodybuilding.
Marijuana And Bodybuilding Issues
Testosterone
Testosterone is the main hormone involved in building muscle and shredding fat. Bodybuilders always want relatively high levels of testosterone to maximize performance and aesthetics, hence why many eat lots of red meat and eggs, which naturally boost testosterone, take testosterone boosting supplements, or rely on anabolic steroids, which artificially increase your levels of testosterone.
The results from studies done regarding marijuana use and testosterone levels are a little confusing – some seem to show a correlation with increased use of marijuana and decreased testosterone levels, while others show little effect, if any at all.
In animal studies, the results have been fairly clear – ingesting marijuana inhibits the production of testosterone and has a negative impact on Luteinizing hormone (LH) which is released by the pituitary gland and aids in synthesizing testosterone to help with building muscle.One study did show a negative effect on testosterone from smoking just one joint, however, participants’ hormone levels were back to normal within 24 hours, showing that infrequent consumption has little to no effect whatsoever.
Metabolism
Your metabolism relates to the speed at which your body digests and uses calories. A high metabolism means you digest food quickly and have a high rate of energy turnover from the food you eat. In basic terms it means you can eat more calories and still maintain your weight. A slow metabolism often requires you to have to severely cut calories to burn fat.Ideally, bodybuilders want a high metabolism, as this means when cutting for competitions they can eat more food and still lose fat quickly, and they can eat more still when building muscle in the off season.
Smoking marijuana has been shown to lower thyroid hormones in the blood, although no study has ever shown it to have an impact on thyroid function. This potentially means that your metabolism may be lowered slightly in the short term when using marijuana, but there are unlikely to be any long lasting ill effects.
Growth Hormone
Marijuana has, though, shown to impact your body’s production of growth hormone. Growth hormone has a similar significance as testosterone, and you want high levels of it to build muscle mass. Again, you can increase growth hormone through your diet and training, and also take supplements or ergogenic performance aids to get an increased growth hormone profile. Marijuana can lower your growth hormone levels, which will temporarily impact your muscle growth and recovery rate.
Calories
Weed doesn’t have calories, so in that respect, it doesn’t have a role in weight loss or weight gain. However, an extremely common side effect when smoking marijuana, even after just a few puffs on a joint is “The Munchies”. This relates back to the increased feelings of pleasure and relaxation that marijuana causes. Quite often you’ll find yourself starving hungry, andwill eat literally anything – most likely junk food. Bodybuilders know that this has a massive impact on health, performance and body composition.If you smoke weed regularly, and always end the night with a burger, some candy or fries, chances are you’ll massively over consume calories, which will have severely detrimental effects on your physique.
Mental Focus
As discussed, pot will make you feel more relaxed. While you may think that this is a good thing, as it reduces your levels of stress and helps you chill out, it can have the opposite effect. To train hard, you need a certain amount of aggression every time you step in the gym. Many bodybuilders use training as an opportunity to let out some tension they might be feeling from work or family life, but if you’re always really chilled out, you’ll struggle to find that motivation to hit the weights.
Cardiovascular Function
This may be more of an issue for endurance athletes, but marijuana can impair your cardio-respiratory function, by slowing down your blood flow and heart rate, meaning it takes longer for oxygen to get round your body. Bodybuilders may not be particularly worried about this. But weight training does involve a cardio element. A really tough set of 20 back squats, or a set of rest-pause deadlifts will leave even the fittest bodybuilder gasping for air. If your cardio function is impaired, you won’t be able to train nearly as hard.Marijuana may not have an all out disastrous effect on your bodybuilding progress, but it certainly won’t help you either. Refrain from smoking weed, and you’ll certainly feel the benefits in the gym and in your physique.
Source: BodyBuilding Lexicon.
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BigBmajThe article you posted is totally outdated and full of false information. The first paragraph saying it has 300 chemicals and only one is psychoactive is outright wrong. There are many psychoactive chemicals such as CBD, CBN, and many aromatics that have psychogical effects.
Some of the best bodybuilders I know use marijuana. It helps with sleep and appetite. It has not been shown to adversely effect test levels. It can actually cause some advantageous physiological changes.
It's anti cancer, the best antiemetic out there, great for pain, just to name a couple of the many uses for it.
It's obviously not for everyone, I don't use it. But the info presented is mostly incorrect. I read that article before and fact checked it, lots of incorrect info there.
Lol users will do their best to reject this article. It's quite funny. Good piece of info though
angusThe people who smoke weed will defend their actions to the bitter death and swear that it has no ill-effects, while there is great information in there, generally, it will not be well received. But I'll show some love for you hommie and hit you with a +1.
Where is the great information there? And I challenge you to use google to fact check it. It's not about defending using, it is about truth.
AnonMarijuana helps me sleep and eat. The only bad thing about it is the carcinogens you are inhaling. And maybe when your really stoned you get lazy haha.
BigBmajUse a vaporizer. And marijuana smokers have a lower incidence of lung cancer. Look it up.
i smoke everynight i go in to workout. in fact, it keeps me more focused. believe it or not, after i finish my workout, i am stone cold sober. so with that said. mj has no impact on my growth, and i dont get the munchies.
Another propaganda piece. Truthfully I don't care if people use or not, but the myth of it lowering test has been busted. I have not looked into whether it effects GH or not, but I would be suspect of this article. As far as paranoia and anxiety, it is much more about the strains of cannabis as it is the person. Either way, I stopped reading after I realized where it was going.