Cannabis and Soccer: Can Weed Help or Hurt Your Game?

Cannabis and soccer have more in common than you'd think. Some research suggests weed can help players stay calm, focused and less fearful, which matters in a strategy-heavy team sport, but it can also blunt their competitive edge, and it's banned in competition by soccer's governing bodies. Smoking and working out sound like opposites, so let's look at where they actually overlap.

Here's what we know so far: soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and cannabis is the most popular drug in the world. So you might think that's all weed and soccer have in common.

Not quite. Some research suggests that cannabis and exercise can go together and may even help athletic performance, especially in team strategy sports like soccer. Sure, it doesn't exactly pump up your muscles or let you run for hours without feeling any pain, but its psychological effects can be just as powerful. 

How can cannabis help athletes?

Anyone who's played a team sport knows that mindset matters as much as muscle, and that's where cannabis may give you an edge as a player. Weed can help players get into a calmer, more focused, less stressed state while they train and play. That can mean better tactical decisions, more effective training, a better read on their own strengths and weaknesses and their team's, and playing with less fear. That last one has drawn a lot of interest in sports science in recent years.

When something bad happens to us, we develop a fear of it. That fear is a perfectly natural response, designed to keep the bad thing from happening again. It can also be really hard to shake. That means a player who broke a leg on a slide tackle may hold back on future tackles, no matter how much they consciously don't want to. Needless to say, that can take a real toll on performance. Cannabinoids may play an important role here.

What role does cannabis play in sports?

Cannabis may help switch off those learned fear responses, letting a player go all out without those nagging instinctive tensions getting in the way. That's not all, either. Some people speculate that the right amount of cannabis could help a player get more oxygen to their muscles.

On top of that, cannabis can act as a "bronchodilator." Put simply, it may reduce resistance in the airways, opening them up and letting athletes take in a good lungful of air. That could potentially boost endurance and cardiovascular performance. Some even believe that improved oxygen flow during a match could speed up muscle recovery.

Cannabis can make some people more aggressive, but most users will tell you it usually has a more "mellow" effect. "Mellow" isn't a word coaches tend to be thrilled about. Sure, a player needs to be calm and focused, but "mellow" signals a lack of competitive drive. 

A soccer and weed story

Portuguese police used exactly that to their advantage when English soccer fans, notorious for loving a brawl, showed up in Portugal to watch England play. After being told the police would crack down hard on alcohol-related trouble but turn a blind eye to weed, the England fans left the stadium in a mellow cloud of smoke and spent the rest of the night amazingly peacefully. On the pitch, though, that kind of chill isn't so welcome. To succeed, a soccer player needs drive, motivation and a competitive streak that lets them give everything against the other team. They also have to stay sharp and alert to where their teammates are. All the calm, focused thinking in the world isn't much use on an actual field if it doesn't happen fast. 

It's also worth pointing out that lowered inhibitions could lead to reckless decisions, or a cocky attitude that hurts the team. Either way, cannabis is currently banned in competition by the sport's governing bodies.

Smoking weed before a workout

If you're going to use cannabis before exercising for the first time, start with a tiny amount. Cannabis can raise your heart rate or cause tachycardia (an abnormally fast heartbeat). If you have a heart condition, using cannabis can raise the risk of cardiac complications, since exercise already pushes your heart rate up on its own.

In the research mentioned above, 40% of respondents said they had higher-than-average heart rates when they exercised after using cannabis. Users can pick less intense workouts to avoid this. 

Cannabis is already catching on among endurance athletes. Several endurance racers say they use weed 30 minutes before a training run.

Smoking weed after a workout

The main reason to consider cannabis after exercise is recovery. There isn't much data on whether weed actually helps you recover from a workout, but research suggests cannabis has anti-inflammatory effects. It may also help reduce the swelling that comes with inflammation. Some studies suggest that using cannabis after training helps ease delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). That could help you get back to training sooner.

When it comes to cannabis and exercise, it's hard to draw firm conclusions. There just isn't enough research specifically on the combo. What we can say is that if you're going to use cannabis before or after exercise, oils and/or edibles are the better choice. Combustion is hard on your lungs and can drag your training down. Some also argue smoking right after a workout is a bad idea, since that's when you're breathing hardest and deepest. 

However and whenever you mix cannabis and exercise, drink plenty of water. Cannabis affects how your body handles glucose and can leave you with cottonmouth, so hydrate often. 

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