2019-10-01 Cosmopolitan

percent of people

have toked up

right before or right

after exercise.

SOURCE: FRONTIERS IN

PUBLIC HEALTH

82

It seeeems like a bad idea...but maybe there’s

just something we’re missing?!

By LAUREN DEL TURCO

Hello, and welcome

to the time in

which people get

high to work out

A majority of people

said using cannabis...

motivated them to work out.

hT

si

ac

lls

fo

rp

os

t-tr

ea

dm

ill

Do

tri

so

.

thought
weed was
for couching
and mun-
chies and
deep thoughts about
Michael Scott’s emo-
tional issues, but I
guess I was wrong. A
re c e n t s u r vey o f j a z z-
cabbage users living
in states where it’s
legal found that

69 percent of people

take the stuff before

they exercise. As in,

work out. As in, cardio

and other things that

require coordination.

Researchers were

also shook. “It seemed

like legalization of

marijuana would make

people less likely to be

active,” says study

senior author Angela

Bryan, PhD, a profes-

sor at the University of

Colorado at Boulder.

Instead, she and her

team learned that for

a majority of people,

using cannabis

increased their enjoy-

ment of exercise—and

h a l f s aid it eve n moti-

vated them. Um, sci-

ence, please explain?

Chillest

workouts ever

Heads up: Despite its

new legality in some

places, pot is still con-

sidered a Schedule I

drug (same as heroin),

m a k in g it h a rd f o r

experts to study in

depth. So yeah, there’s

n o t t o ns o f re s e a rc h o n

this topic.

That said, part of

the reason people love

stoned sweat sessions

may be because of

weed’s ~calming

powers~. “When I use

it before swimming, it

m a ke s it e a si e r t o re l a x

as I work out,” says

Larissa Greer from

California. “There’s

zero tension.”

And true, some

studies do indicate that

THC (the stuff in canna-

bis that makes you

crave Cheez-Its) inter-

acts with the part of

the brain that gives

people a “runner’s

high” when working

out. Meaning, weed

could make a boring

jog on the tread or a

downward dog feel

damn good before you

even break a sweat.

Other research has

found that the cheeba

can make pain,

like the kind inflicted

by your Pilates teacher

yelling “pulse it,” more

tolerable.

S c o r i n g a

focused flow

Pre-gaming the gym

could also help you

focus like it’s the

SATs. Colorado native

Courtney Smith says

when she’s lit on the

rock wall, she’s better

able to concentrate.

“It slows distractions

that creep up as I

climb.” (This may not

be quiiite as great as

it sounds. “We know

that people’s thoughts

go inward when they

use cannabis,” says

Bryan. “But if you’re

out in the world, you

need to be aware of

what’s going on.”)

Bottom line

for blazing

So as studies and

people who’ve tried it

suggest, working out

with the devil’s lettuce

might have perks—but

those upsides may not

outweigh proven side

effects like serious

space-outs (or clumsi-

n e s s o r m us c l e we a k-

ness). But listen, if you

live in a state where

it’s legal to blaze up

before yoga, don’t let

us k il l yo u r v ib e.

GE

TTY

IM

AG

ES

(^2

).

life

110 Cosmopolitan October 2019