Exercising and working out at fitness gyms are one of the important ways of achieving a healthy lifestyle. People who regularly exercise lower their risks of developing long-term chronic conditions such as stroke, diabetes, heart diseases and some cancer. Exercising can also boost our mood, energy, self-esteem, quality of sleep and reduces our chance of being stressed. Most people that go to the gym adhere to strict diets and taking supplements to achieve their dream body. Nowadays, fitness enthusiasts are more conscious and incline to use more natural supplements like hemp supplements, which is beneficial to our overall health and well-being. If you’re curious about the benefits you can get from taking hemp supplements before hitting the gym, continue reading to know its benefits.
What is Hemp Supplement?
Most hemp oil capsules contain full-spectrum hemp oil, and it has dozens of cannabinoids. The most substantial cannabinoid that is found in hemp oil is cannabidiol, also known as CBD. It makes up 90% of full-spectrum hemp oil. Its benefits range from slowing Alzheimer’s and heart diseases to the treatment of cancer and improving simple problems like acne.
It may also help to alleviate inflammation and manage skin conditions as well due to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) present in it, and these include omega-3s and omega-6s. Hemp oil is rich in Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA), a well-known omega-6s fatty acid that is crucial in regulating our metabolism, maintaining bone health and the reproductive system. On the other hand, omega-3 promotes healthy skin and reduces the risk of getting heart diseases. It’s also helpful to people who regularly exercise and go on a strict diet as its excellent in helping our body to lower levels of blood fat known as triglyceride, and it boosts good levels of cholesterol. Here are the other benefits of taking hemp supplements before you go to the gym that you should know:
1. Regulates Your Hormones
If you’re into fitness and muscle building, you might be familiar with anti-catabolic as well as an anabolic dietary supplement. Fitness instructors suggest taking anti-catabolic supplements for their trainees for muscle development. These types of supplements lower the output of catabolic hormones that leads to loss of muscle mass.
Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that causes the breakdown of muscle tissues. You might want to reduce your cortisol levels when you regularly work out to build muscles since, despite rigorous routines, you won’t achieve your goal unless the excessive production of cortisol is managed. Negative effects of cortisol can be regulated by taking full-spectrum hemp oil, and it’s recommended to be taken when you plan to do some work out to stabilize cortisol levels in the body.
It can also help with the development of anabolic hormones, which improves the production of protein needed for muscle gain. However, anabolic supplements can lead to muscle breakdown if you’re not working out regularly.
2. Manages Blood Sugar Levels
Energy is an essential component when working out. Full-spectrum hemp oils can help to manage the energy we use whenever we exercise by regulating the blood sugar levels in our body. The body burns sugar and fats to make an energy source and our blood sugar levels determine how much insulin will help our cells to take in glucose to be used as energy.
3. Enhances Pain Perception
A study conducted in 2004 concludes that exercise induces runner’s high with the people who regularly exercise. It particularly incites analgesia, also known as the inability of feeling pain, it also makes people feel very relaxed, and have a sense of well of being. It also showed that exercise increases concentrations of endocannabinoids in our body, which is the possible explanation for runner’s high.
When you take hemp supplements, it can enhance how your body reacts to pain induced by rigorous exercises. As mentioned earlier, full-spectrum hemp oil contains 90% CBD and CBD usually bind to CB1 and CB2 receptors. In this case, when CBD bind to CB1 receptors, it suppresses pain as CB1 receptors are located in the peripheral nervous system, which is where the nerves that sense pain is located.
The interaction of CBD with dopamine also shows that it affects the brain’s reward system, which makes people addicted to exercising. This results in an increase of anandamide level, also known as the responsible for the feeling of euphoria and relaxation. Therefore, the more you exercise, the more you’ll manage pain, and it will increase your dopamine levels, making you feel more relaxed.
4. Alleviates Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a result of tears in muscle fibres caused by strenuous exercise. The symptoms of DOMS are usually much painful 24 hours to 72 hours after the muscle damage occurred. The pain and how severe the symptoms are not entirely related to muscle damage.
The muscle pain that sets in is caused by inflammation. The usual remedy to DOMS is stimulating blood circulation in the affected area. Some do hot baths, massages, and some go to saunas to increase blood circulation. Using hemp supplements can be beneficial in alleviating the excruciating pain due to CBD binding to specific receptors that not only respond to pain but with inflammation as well.
How Much Hemp Supplement Should You Take?
People from fitness communities usually take 50mg twice a day, in the morning and the evening. This is to make sure that muscles don’t break down during a workout, and this allows the body to recover quickly. The typical maintenance dosage that works to maintain a healthy balance with most people is 25mg. This will usually depend on how much exercise you do. Furthermore, it’s best to consult a doctor if you’re in doubt regarding how much hemp supplements you will take.
Final Thoughts
Beyond just working out and staying fit, your body needs enough supplements to be healthy and to manage its overall wellness. Taking hemp supplements can be beneficial in many ways from regulating your hormones, managing your blood sugar levels for energy that you need when you exercise to helping you manage pain and delayed onset muscle soreness. It will be guaranteed that you will experience the benefits of using hemp supplements when you combine hemp supplements with proper diet and with the perfect exercise routine.
