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CANNABIDIOL (CBD) AND RESISTANCE TRAINING: DOES CBD ATTENUATE ACUTE PAIN?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Resistance training (RT) is a beneficial form of physical activity for health and performance benefits; these benefits are maximized when done strenuously. Strenuous RT can induce acute inflammatory pain which can lead to delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Common analgesics like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can block protein synthesis, so other alternatives are needed for exercise and athletic communities. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotropic cannabinoid with purported anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and analgesic properties. One of the main reasons for the use of CBD in exercise is pain alleviation; however, research in humans is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate two doses of CBD on acute pain after a single bout of strenuous RT. METHODS: Participants (n=15) will participate in a double-blind, crossover study for three weeks with a one-week washout between conditions. At the beginning of each condition, they will ingest either a placebo, low dose (2mg/kg), or high dose (10mg/kg) two hours prior to RT protocol and then again eight hours later. CBD supplementation will continue for 48 hours with two doses each day. Starting each week, participants will complete a strenuous RT protocol which will include four sets of back squats. Participants will follow a cadence of 4 seconds down and 1-2 seconds up. Pain will be assessed with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT) at baseline (before the first dosage), immediately after RT, then again at 24h, 48h, and 72h for each condition. Data for VAS will be analyzed using 3x4 repeated measures ANOVAs for condition and time, and 3x5 for PPT for condition and time. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Research with CBD and exercise is limited, but animal models have shown promising results. Although research on humans has been inconclusive, a recent pilot study with CBD and eccentric exercise (Stone et al., 2023) encourages more research to continue investigating this phenomenon. Implementing eccentric RT across a larger portion of the body and increasing sample size may allow for the detection of differences between conditions. Therefore, it is hypothesized based on animal models and limited research on humans, that CBD will attenuate acute pain after strenuous back squat protocol.

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