Back when the Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl running back Ricky Williams was suspended multiple times for cannabis use, few athletes were open about their usage. However, since then, many athletes have become cannabis advocates, relaying how the plant has helped them along their journey in sports. Famed UFC fighters and brothers Nick and Nate Diaz openly use cannabis throughout their careers — much to the dismay of the UFC. But their insistence has led to a more open dialogue about its benefits to mixed martial arts fighters, along with leveraging it as part of the Diaz’ personal brand for cannabis-related business endeavors. UFC Hall of Famer Frank Shamrock and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who many consider to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time, are also cannabis users.
While the herbal drug is used by athletes in nearly every sport recreationally and medicinally, in recent years, there’s been a noticeable trend of combat and heavy contact athletes growing more vocal about its benefits.
These are some of the reasons why the stigmas around cannabis are shifting and why it’s being taken seriously as a medicinal solution.
1. Eases Soreness and Pain
Cannabis alleviates pain. This is one of the more well-known aspects of the plant, which is why it makes particular sense that MMA fighters use it so regularly. In fact, as the opioid crisis continues to skyrocket, cannabis is viewed as a less dangerous, less addictive method of dealing with the pain that often gets people hooked on opioids to begin with. Americans are over-prescribed pharmaceuticals. The drug companies have pushed back against alternative medical solutions like cannabis for quite some time. But we’re seeing more and more individuals who have suffered injuries or endured surgeries turn to the plant for its THC or CBD to help them deal with the resulting pain without suffering serious side-effects.
2. Reduces Inflammation
Researchers have discovered that cannabis, especially the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD, can reduce muscle and joint inflammation. It’s speculated, and currently being further researched, that cannabis may also be an effective treatment for autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s Disease.
Athletes who have suffered from serious injuries like a ruptured Achilles tendon or chronic pain like tendonitis, CBD specifically, is an excellent anti-inflammatory treatment. Additionally, cannabis is effective at numbing tired muscles, which can allow athletes to train longer and harder. One of Jon Jones’ ex-trainers claims that before and after every training session, the fighter takes his team and drives around smoking marijuana. The gym Jones trains out of has a reputation as one of the fiercest, hardest-pushing gyms in the sport.
3. Improves Focus
High-level athletes are required to expend near-endless energy drilling the same techniques over and over again. Their precision and muscle memory can be the difference between winning, losing, and serious injury. Obviously, the training to perfect it, however, can be monotonous. Athletes, especially at the highest levels, find themselves peaking. A break in the monotony can also equate to a mental breakthrough. Many sports are inherently creative, and creativity is improved by absorbing patterns, which allows them to become intuitive — or second nature. Cannabis use can help athletes break the patterns of their routine.
Cannabis use is known to slow down the perception of time. The focus generated from the drug can give users the ability to perceive opportunities for adjustment and hone in on the micro-details. Long-held thinking was that marijuana is detrimental to cognitive function. While there is evidence that it can harm the developing brain, in developed adults it can have the opposite effect. According to a 2017 study, in low doses, THC restored cognitive function in elderly mice.
4. Improves Sleep
One of the more obvious and better-known benefits of cannabis is its sleep-inducing properties. Cannabis has been found to help people with sleep apnea and dream-suppression — a huge perk for people suffering from PTSD. CBD has been shown to reduce daytime fatigue and ease REM sleep disorder.
The caveat with cannabis is that its exact effects on sleep depends on the dosage. Too much can worsen fatigue, but the right amount can vastly improve focus and alertness. Similar to how it can replace the habit-forming opioids, marijuana can replace habit-forming traditional sleep prescriptions and the side effects that come with them.
5. Treats Muscle Spasms
Cannabis treats muscle spasms. Perhaps NBA player Tracy McGrady could have used the drug had for his back spasms had the NBA not been strict about testing in his era. Cannabis has shown positive results in treating diseases like multiple sclerosis as well.
Once again this ties back into cannabis’ effects as a muscle recovery treatment because of its anti-inflammatory elements.
Conclusion
As athletes have come out of the woodworks in retirement (because their employers — the various leagues — can no longer penalize them), mainstream medicine has been forced to acknowledge the benefits cannabis could possess for athletic performance.
Like anything, the early research seems to suggest that the key to maximizing the efficacy of the plant, is in moderation.
