Ok, so I’m not a fan of supplements. Ideally if you are eating healthy food in quantities that are reflective of your goals (Weight loss/gain/maintain) then you shouldn’t need to supplement. However, there are the odd exceptions to the rule and although it’s not a nutritional supplement, one of my exceptions is CBD oil.
Those of you who follow me would have seen the odd post on social media by me relating to CBD oil.
I hadnt really heard much about it but I was aware of the benefits of cannibis that were being promoted by various individuals and groups over the years but hadnt heard much at all about CBD itself.
Then oneday,one of my active retired members started speaking of how she was using it and found it helped her considerably with pain management and also anxiety.
Around the sametime I saw that Eddie Hall was promoting CBD Oil with proshot by CBD asylum. So my interest started to peak…
My first encounter wasn’t great. I was given a bottle from a brand that i shall call ‘x’ and followed the very limited instruction on the bottle.
I noticed no changes. It tasted weedy,kind of like wet tobacco ( I was a smoker once upon a time that’s how I make the comparison?)
So I stopped and said I’d have to do a bit more research.
2 weeks later at Ireland’s Strongest Woman at IMP I happened across a stall that was selling and promoting CBD oil, they also had proshot. This was where I met Gwyn O ‘Murchu of Boyds CBD oil.
And this is where I learned.. a lot.
Gwyn gave me samples and guided me on how to use it. He also asked me to give as much feedback as possible good, bad or indifferent.
Gwyn is an athlete himself (predominantly cycling) and had his own results as well as some of his fellow cyclist who were using it for post training recovery. He didn’t have a strength athlete though and was very interested in seeing how it would or would not help me.
I was only happy to be a guinea pig.
I followed his advice on dosage and timing. I also gave a bottle to a non athlete who was having sleep issues and had expressed an interest in CBD after one of my posts.
So here is a basic run down of what I did starting off and what I did in prep for Britains Strongest Woman with CBD..
Post Official Strongman Games: Ireland’s strongest woman..
1st 5 days- (100mg strength) 1 full dropper in the morning and 1 full dropper in the evening.Squirt under the tongue and hold for 20s (ish)
(Took the evening dose roughly 2hrs before bed, around 10pm and morning dose around 10am,keeping between 12hrs apart as recommended by Gwyn)
After 3 days I noticed massive improvement in sleep quality and actually feeling tired by midnight.
On Day 5- (post training)..added in proshot by CBD asylum 1sec squirt,straight under tongue.
Continued with this dosage everyday for 4 weeks.
At the end of 4 weeks I stopped for 2 weeks. It is recommend taking a 1 to 2 week break to avoid building a resilience to the cbd.
During the 4 weeks I noticed a reduction in muscle soreness and improvement in tendonitis in my elbow. Can’t be sure if this is due to possible CBD anti inflammatory properties, better sleep or combination of both for recovery.
Luckily, the 2 week break coincided with my prep for Britain’s, which also had my prep for ROI Strongest Woman in the middle of it. Training was heavy and fairly intense and I was post all Ireland’s at this stage. I started back following the plan as above for the 1st 5 days.
The change we made this time was as follows:
Day 6 – I upped my dose to 3 droppers a day for 3 days
Day 10 – changed to the 500mg dosage and took 1/2 a dropper 3 x day with proshot immediately after training.
I continued this until the final week of training when I took 2 x full droppers (1 in morning and 1 in evening and no proshot once deload started) and dropped of the 500mg dose and continued this until 3 days post comp. I then started my 2 week break.
By the middle of the 2nd week of the break, I began to notice that I was not as sleepy for bed and my sleep pattern was starting to get broken again. However, I was also dealing with a hip/leg issue which was exacerbated at night when I lay down so that wasn’t helping matters much ?
I also noticed that I was occasionally getting that tingling feeling of anxiety starting up again in my chest when faced with long days or difficult situations, which is something I think the CBD had really helped with.
Anyway, that’s my experience so far and for now I will definitely be continuing with it as part of my daily life.
I would suggest that people seek out a good brand, there are a couple of Irish brands on the market, Boyds being the one I use.
Also, do your research but know that it is not a miracle cure and what works for one doesn’t always work for the other.
Also 4 of our gym members are using it and have also noticed great improvement in their sleep and levels of anxiousness.
I know that some may say placebo but you know what, if it works then f@$k it placebo me up!
If the only thing I am getting from it is improved sleep, ill take it.
Lastly, I dont vape and nor do I intend to start, but a couple of lads I know who do vape were very impressed with the e-liquid (conatins no nicotine). They too noted much better quality of sleep even on shortened hours.
Anyone interested in trying CBD can purchase Boyds at Galway Strength and Performance. DM for details or just pop into us!