Wake and Bake: What Happens When You Smoke Weed in the Morning

Smoking weed in the morning, the classic wake and bake, can lift your mood and relax you, but it can also dull your focus and coordination for hours and speed up tolerance if you do it every day. How it hits depends a lot on you and the strain you choose. Here's what a morning session can do and what to think about before you spark up.

How weed affects men and women

Weed affects men and women in similar ways for the most part, though there are some important differences to keep in mind. In general, the effects of cannabis can include:

1. Mood changes

Weed can shift your mood in all kinds of ways. Some people feel euphoric and relaxed, while others may feel anxious or paranoid. These effects vary depending on the strain and how sensitive you are.

2. Changes in sensory perception

Weed often changes how you perceive time, space and your senses. That can show up as a deeper appreciation for music, brighter colors or a warped sense of reality.

3. More appetite

"Weed makes you hungry" is common knowledge. It can ramp up your appetite, aka the munchies, which often leads to eating more, and usually not salad.

4. Changes in coordination

Weed can affect your motor coordination and balance, which can make some activities, like driving, dangerous while you're high.

5. Effects on memory and focus

Weed can affect short-term memory and your ability to concentrate, which can make tasks that need a lot of attention harder to pull off.

Smoking weed in the morning: what you should know

If you're thinking about smoking in the morning, here are a few important things to consider:

1. Tolerance

Tolerance to weed can build over time, which means you may need more to feel the same effects you used to. Smoking every day, especially first thing in the morning, can speed up how fast that tolerance builds.

2. Responsibility

A morning session can affect your focus and how well you function. If you've got important responsibilities or activities that need attention and coordination, think hard about how weed could affect your performance.

3. Possible side effects

Some people get side effects from smoking weed, like anxiety, paranoia or dizziness. If you're prone to them, you might want to skip the morning session or pick strains with a different cannabinoid profile.

4. Interactions with other medications

If you're taking prescription meds or other treatments, keep possible interactions with cannabis in mind. Talk to your doctor if you have questions.

Smoking weed in the morning can affect your body and mind in a bunch of ways, and those effects vary by person and strain. Responsibility and moderation are key whenever you consume, at any time of day. It's always smart to know your limits and understand how weed affects your functioning before deciding when to use it. And of course, follow the laws and regulations where you live.

Exercise and cannabis use

A lot of people are surprised to learn that weed and working out are a popular combo. There's an assumption that cannabis hurts athletic performance, but the evidence doesn't fully back that up. In fact, some research suggests that people who combine weed and exercise report positive results.

Then there's the old stereotype of the couch-locked "stoner" who never gets off the sofa, but some data point the other way and suggest cannabis, instead of turning people into slackers, can actually get them moving.

A study published in Frontiers in Public Health in 2019 found something interesting about weed and exercise. The research focused on US states where cannabis is legal and surveyed about 600 cannabis users. Around 80% of them said they used weed shortly before or after their workouts.

More than half said that using cannabis before exercising gave them extra motivation to train. Nearly 80% said it helped with recovery, and 70% said it made their workout more enjoyable.

Cannabis may help reduce exercise-induced inflammation. People who avoid exercise because of joint pain sometimes use cannabis to manage those symptoms, since many patients report it helps with pain.

Using cannabis before exercising may also help you get in the right headspace before a workout and make it feel more enjoyable while you're at it. 70% of respondents said it also helped them approach their workouts with a positive mindset.

Smoking weed before a workout

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

In the study mentioned above, 40% of respondents said they had a higher-than-usual heart rate when they worked out after smoking. Choosing lower-intensity workouts is one way to avoid that. 

Cannabis is already catching on among endurance athletes. Several endurance runners say they use weed about 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 helps you recover after working out, but research does suggest that cannabis has anti-inflammatory effects. It may also help ease the swelling that comes with inflammation. Some studies suggest that using weed after training may help reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which could get you back in the gym sooner.

When it comes to cannabis and exercise, it's hard to draw firm conclusions, because there just isn't enough research on the combo yet. What we can say is that if you're going to use cannabis before or after a workout, oils or edibles are the better choice. Smoke from combustion is rough on your lungs and can drag down your performance. Smoking right after training isn't a great idea either, since you're breathing hard and pulling that smoke deep into your lungs. 

No matter when or how you mix weed and exercise, make sure you drink plenty of water. Cannabis can leave you with cottonmouth, and staying hydrated matters even more when you're sweating.