Athletes swear by ice baths and heating pads for managing muscle pain after the workout is over, but more recently CBD oil has stolen the spotlight.

Whether you’ve just upped the intensity of your workout or started a new program, it isn’t uncommon to experience the kind of muscle soreness that turns walking and sitting into real pain.

There are many ways to prevent muscle soreness, like warming up before ramping up the intensity of a workout, hydrating well before, during and after exercise, and avoiding pushing yourself too hard. Athletes swear by ice baths and heating pads for managing muscle pain after the workout is over, but more recently CBD oil has stolen the spotlight as an option for dealing with post-workout pain. Does soaking in this cannabis-derived product really reduce muscle soreness? Here’s what we found out.

Sore Muscles, Explained

The reason we experience muscle pain after a particularly difficult workout is because strength training and condition put stress on muscles. This stress can cause micro-tears, according to Runner’s World. This typically happens to those who are making changes to their workout, don’t work out frequently enough, or have overdone it by mistake.

With time, active individuals will experience relief from post-workout pain. It definitely shouldn’t be considered the norm and continued soreness might mean something needs to change. That being said, it is pretty common to experience from time-to-time and when that time comes, CBD might be a good option for getting some relief.

How Does CBD Help Muscle Pain?

The reason more individuals are turning to CBD as a way to manage muscle pain is because of this cannabis-derived product’s ability to improve pain and inflammation. The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis in the body, including reducing inflammation. The endocannabinoid systems performs this function on its own, but cannabinoids like CBD oil can be used to manipulate its anti-inflammatory effect.

For this reason, many individuals say that when they add CBD to their post-workout routine, they experience relief from pain. One Men’s Health writer boasts of its ability to speed up recovery after a workout. An athlete and writer for the same publication used CBD himself and reported temporary relief from pain during marathon training when using topical CBD products.

How to Try CBD for Sore Muscles

Curious if CBD will help you deal with muscle pain? It is definitely worth a try! There are a few different ways to utilize this product for pain-relief and topically is the suggested delivery method for this purpose.

A CBD body oil can be applied directly to the skin of the affected areas. Don’t be surprised if a body oil is on the expensive side, this Lord Jones Body Oil costs $65 for a one ounce bottle but the reviews for this brand are largely very positive.

Another popular option is to add CBD products to your bath, like a bath bomb or CBD infused epsom salts. This allows for a soothing soak in warm water while soaking in the anti-inflammatory goodness of CBD.

If pain doesn’t improve with time, it may not be that the CBD isn’t work. Instead, there might be something bigger going on, like an injury. Reach out to a doctor to get insight on how to manage pain and get advice from a personal trainer or physical therapist about moving forward with safer workouts in the future.