When it comes to recovery time after a grueling workout or competition, athletes know it’s essential to give themselves a proper rest to keep their minds and bodies in the best shape possible.
But sometimes our muscles need a little extra push to get back to peak performance, and sometimes that push comes in the form of a CBD sports cream.
If you’re interested in trying CBD sports cream, but have questions about the benefits, we’re here to help. Read on to discover how CBD sports creams work and how you can start reaping the benefits of a topical CBD product after every workout.
Key takeaways:
- Topical CBD penetrates deep into muscle tissue and interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system to help alleviate muscle soreness and joint stiffness of the affected area.
- Many CBD creams incorporate additional ingredients that can help soothe the skin with heating and cooling properties, such as menthol, arnica, and eucalyptus.
- The benefits of using CBD sports cream for pain include reducing swollen and aching muscles, promoting muscle recovery, and improving skin hydration.
What is Topical CBD and How Does it Work?
Like its oral and sublingual counterparts, topical CBD contains CBD, which is just one of over 100 compounds derived from the hemp plant. Unlike its cousin marijuana, CBD doesn’t get you “high.” Rather, it can provide calming, restorative effects that greatly support general well-being.
As a cream or salve, topical CBD is applied directly to the skin. Put simply, topical CBD works by interacting with the endocannabinoid system located throughout the body to promote homeostasis.
When applied to help alleviate muscle soreness or stiffness, topical CBD penetrates muscle tissue to relieve the discomfort by interacting with the system’s two receptors. Although CBD sports creams often differ in terms of ingredients, you can typically find four components across the board:
- Menthol – Synthetically made or derived from the oils of various mints, menthol is valued for its cooling sensation, which can help relieve pain caused by sore muscles and stiff joints.
- Arnica – A powerful perennial herb, arnica contains an anti-inflammatory compound shown by some studies to alleviate pain and inflammation when applied topically.
- Eucalyptus – The leaves of the eucalyptus tree have been used for centuries as a natural pain reliever. This is because eucalyptus oil can provide the same cooling sensation as menthol while helping to combat inflammation.
- Shea butter – Derived from the nut of the African shea tree, shea butter contains pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also an effective moisturizer for softening and hydrating the skin.
For the best results, it’s important to find a CBD cream that incorporates most, if not all, of these ingredients. Resilience CBD Sports Cream contains a super-packed combination of each to help supercharge your recovery.
Benefits of Using CBD Sports Cream
When used as part of a recovery regimen, CBD sports cream can equip athletes with numerous health-promoting benefits. Let’s take a look at a few of the positive effects of using a CBD sports cream on sore muscles.
#1 Helps Reduce Aches and Soreness
When we work out or participate in high-level physical activity, our muscles and joints are asked to do a lot. Not only are they subject to microtears (especially when lifting weights), but they’re also prone to swelling caused by increased blood flow.
While these issues are rarely serious, aching muscles and soreness can cause serious discomfort and impede future workouts. The good news is that there have been many studies that have found CBD to help relieve physical discomfort.
More specifically, topical CBD is particularly effective at helping to reduce post-workout tension and soreness when it interacts with the endocannabinoid receptors located deep within muscle tissue.
More specifically, topical CBD reduces discomfort by interacting with the following:
- Cytokines – Small proteins that are activated when the body is under stress, cytokines may contribute to swelling. CBD has been shown to help alleviate this issue by disrupting the release of cytokines.
- Adenosine – One of many neurotransmitters in the body, adenosine can help reduce swelling and irritation. CBD promotes the release of adenosine, thereby activating adenosine receptors in the brain.
But the activation of swell-reducing receptors isn’t the only way CBD sports creams can comfort sore muscles. Some creams also contain menthol which provides a cooling sensation to soothe overworked muscles.
#2 Helps Promote Muscle Recovery
One of the main reasons athletes can physically bulk up is because, during consistent conditioning, our muscles can become stronger to take on harder and harder challenges.
However, with great challenges comes great responsibility. In this case, you’re looking at muscle recovery.
Giving your muscles ample time to recover can actually improve your performance and decrease your potential for injury. However, this doesn’t mean you have to take off the better part of a week to let your muscles recover (although in some cases, this may be wise).
Applying topical CBD can help promote muscle recovery so you can efficiently and safely meet your next fitness goal. To that end, there are two main ways CBD helps to promote muscle recovery:
- Cortisol regulation
- Sleep support
Cortisol Regulation
Whether you’re running up and down the soccer pitch or practicing parkour, strenuous exercise causes the body to release cortisol. Put simply, cortisol is a hormone the body produces in response to stress.
While cortisol is a necessary hormone (especially in life-threatening situations), too much cortisol can lead to the following:
- Muscle fatigue
- Decreased strength and power
- Anxiety and sleeplessness
- Lowered immune response
As such, too much cortisol can actually prevent muscle growth and recovery. Fortunately, CBD can help regulate the body’s cortisol production, speeding up post-workout recovery time.
Sleep Support
It’s no secret that sleep is absolutely essential to maintaining peak performance. That’s because, without a restful sleep, your muscles can’t adequately repair themselves.
Topical CBD helps improve sleep by soothing sore muscles and stiff joints, allowing for a more restful and REM-filled night’s sleep. As stated above, CBD sports cream also helps regulate sleep-disrupting cortisol levels.
With topical CBD, you can rest easy knowing your body’s getting the shut-eye it needs so that you can hit the ground running first thing in the morning.
#3 Helps Moisturize the Skin
If you’ve ever gone on a long run or worked out on a hot day, you know the feeling of being drenched in sweat. While this feeling is a sign that you’ve gotten in a great workout, it may also indicate that your skin is dehydrated.
Why? In short, strenuous workouts overheat the body, causing our skin to pull water to the surface where it’s lost to evaporation. Over time, too much water loss can lead to dry, cracked skin. While dry skin is not necessarily an issue related to performance, it can cause day-to-day discomfort that may affect your mindset when at the gym.
Fortunately, CBD sports creams can help moisturize the skin post-workout. What’s more, topical CBD can even cleanse the skin, unblocking clogged pores and fighting blemishes.
In addition to hydrating the skin and helping fight blemishes, CBD sports creams can also reduce the following:
- Sunburns and chapped skin – CBD sports creams that contain shea butter and aloe vera can be particularly effective when it comes to helping reduce the discomfort caused by sunburns and chapped skin. Not only can topical CBD help protect against sunburns, but it can also provide pain relief if a sunburn sets in.
- Wrinkles – Like dry, chapped skin, wrinkles aren’t necessarily an issue related to performance. However, wrinkles may be an indication that your skin’s not as hydrated as it should be. Many CBD sports creams contain antioxidants and other compounds that help combat wrinkles by increasing oil production.
More Ways To Recover Post-Workout
As any athlete knows, it’s not only what you do on the field that matters—it’s also what you do off the field. Failing to properly recover after a workout can often be the difference between pushing yourself hard the next day and staying in bed longer than you intended.
To set yourself up for continued success, consider doing the following after each workout:
- Stretch – While stretching before a long run or baseball game is beneficial, so is stretching after the competition. Stretching helps relax overworked muscles and increase flexibility.
- Drink plenty of water – After a tough workout, it’s important to drink plenty of water. Not only does drinking water help replenish what you lost through sweat, but it also helps regulate body temperature.
- Get quality sleep – As stated above, sleep is absolutely essential for muscle growth and recovery. Without a full night’s sleep, you won’t be able to give as much on the soccer pitch or golf course—no matter how hard you train.
- Use CBD sports cream – CBD sports creams come with many benefits and should be used as part of any recovery regimen. This is because CBD creams, including CBD foot cream, can help alleviate aches and promote muscle recovery.
For the Best in Post-Workout Recovery, There’s Resilience CBD
In short, when training for high-level competition, it’s best to be on. Even on your off days, incorporating top-notch recovery techniques into your fitness regimen can encourage top-notch performance.
Pad your on and off days with Resilience CBD Sports Cream.
Made with natural ingredients, our CBD sports cream is designed to help alleviate aches, moisturize the skin, and lessen recovery time so that you can pick up right where you left off—at the top of your game. For more information on how to make CBD lotion yourself, visit our website for a step by step tutorial!
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Sources:
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Healthline. The Cortisol Creep: Is HIIT Stressing You Out? https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/the-cortisol-creep
NCBI. Cannabidiol for Pain Treatment: Focus on Pharmacology and Mechanism of Action. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7700528/
NCBI. Effect of cannabidiol on plasma prolactin, growth hormone and cortisol in human volunteers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8257923/
NCBI. Potency Assessment of CBD Oils by Their Effects on Cell Signaling Pathways. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071207/
Papa & Barkley. Why a Topical CBD Oil Is Effective. https://papaandbarkley.com/learn/understanding-topical-cbd-oil/
