Marijuana and Training

[butkus]

Hello Rip,

I've been wondering what your opinion is on this and seeing your recent posts about the Reason.com blog article concerning "enforcement" of anti-marijuana drug laws I figured I'd pull the trigger.

Where do you stand on marijuana use and training?

In your experience, do you think it has a detrimental affect on performance and training?

Or do you think marijuana has an upside with respect to training i.e. increased appetite, sleep aid, no alcohol-like hangover, etc.?

Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's probably a break-even deal. Most studies have shown a depression in test levels, but most people would probably recover better if they ate more and slept better. Lots (perhaps even most in some sports) of elite athletes smoke dope. I didn't and don't like it that much, but it would be impossible to build a case for a lot of detrimental effects from the occasional use of marijuana.

[theuofh]

I have a buddy who played rugby in college and now plays for a couple Men's league teams at a fairly high amateur level.

He told me he stopped smoking it in season due it causing an impairment to his "killer instinct".

[bomb1977]

Up until about 2 months ago I would buy a half every 2-3 months and smoke one when I got home from my Mon-Wed-Fri weight sessions. I found that it helped with my recovery and the extra sleep didn't hurt.

The one thing that stinks is the short term memory loss and being a little cloudy in the morning, but the fish oil seems to clear that up

I am taking 2-3 months off at the moment to clear my head and so my tolerance isn't so high

No negative impact on cardio either, seems to be a pretty friendly "drug" in my opinion.

[philly]

Up until about 2 months ago I would buy a half every 2-3 months and smoke one when I got home from my Mon-Wed-Fri weight sessions. I found that it helped with my recovery and the extra sleep didn't hurt.

The one thing that stinks is the short term memory loss and being a little cloudy in the morning, but the fish oil seems to clear that up

I am taking 2-3 months off at the moment to clear my head and so my tolerance isn't so high

No negative impact on cardio either, seems to be a pretty friendly "drug" in my opinion.

I never understood why weed doesn't impair cardio. I've seen my buddies who are swimmers smoke a lot, they say weed doesn't hinder their swimming at all.

[cjangelo]

You all are missing the point. It's the best Performance Enhancer there is.

[MazdaMatt]

You all are missing the point. It's the best Performance Enhancer there is.

I can say I've had my biggest gains while doing SS and doing hill-sprints and 3k runs and smoking pot very regularly... but that's sort of irrelivent because I my recent stoppage (okay, slowage) of pot smoke has been at the same time as a few injuries.

If you're confused about weed not messing with your cardio ability, you're probably getting the notion that it should based on the effects of cigarette smokers. Just consider for a moment the quantity smoked by a regular cigarette smoker compared to pot smoker.

[gamedog]

I thing some people can smoke herb and probably be fine. I can't, because back when I was smoking, I was smoking way too much. And Eventually I got lazy and stupid as a result of it. So I had to put it down. For me it was more self-medication, than anything else. It made me calm, and helped me focus on my classes and stuff, at first. But eventually I just wanted to hang out at home, get stoned and watch Monty Python's Flying Circus all day long, so I quit.

[matclone]

I never understood why weed doesn't impair cardio. I've seen my buddies who are swimmers smoke a lot, they say weed doesn't hinder their swimming at all.

I used to know a guy in the Marines who could outrun any of us--15 minute something three miler--and he smoked cigarettes. Of course, he was about 20 years old. If you or your buddies think that weed (or tobacco) doesn't affect cardio, well, I would chalk that up to youthful exuburance. Everyone knows, when you're a certain age, that nothing can harm you.

[PVC]

If you or your buddies think that weed (or tobacco) doesn't affect cardio, well, I would chalk that up to youthful exuburance. Everyone knows, when you're a certain age, that nothing can harm you.

That, and a little thing called genetics. The same good genetics that make someone athletic enough to be on a varsity swim team also make them athletic enough to smoke and still perform well.