CBD is quickly entering the mainstream in the USA. With the recent advancements in cannabis legalization, users of all types and kinds have received a unique opportunity to embrace the medicinal benefits of a previously banned and demonized toxic herb, cannabis. Thus, people with anxiety, chronic stress, insomnia, and other health problems can try CBD to feel the herbal, gentle effect of herbs instead of a long-term addictive relationship with painkillers or antidepressants.
Since CBD is widely known for its anti-inflammatory and painkilling properties, it has become widely used in the production of topicals, such as lotions and rolls-on, widely applied to manage sore joints and muscles after intense workouts and sports-related traumas. Thus, CBD use is gaining popularity among athletes of all levels, from home amateurs to world-known sports stars. Here we talk about the use of CBD by American soccer players to show that this practice is largely ethical, non-illegal, and endorsed by international sports organizations.
Why Do Athletes Resort to CBD?
The first point that every athlete needs to decide for themselves is why they want to try CBD. This cannabinoid has a wide range of applications, such as:
- Performance enhancement. CBD has long been a vital element of athletes’ wellness and training regimens due to its ability to lift moods, improve vitality, and raise the person’s performance at the workout. The most popular form of performance booster is a CBD concentrate – you can read more about them at askgrowers.com/cbd/cbd-concentrates.
- Anxiety relief. It’s typical for athletes to feel the pressure of big sports on their shoulders. They train day and night to succeed in the competitions, win the cups for their teams and nations, and prove their superiority over competitors. There’s no second chance, and any athlete getting ready for a responsible battle naturally feels scared and hesitant, even if they are in excellent physical shape. CBD can help soothe anxiety and stress in such conditions by calming the athlete’s nerves and improving their emotional stability.
- Pain relief. Athletes often sustain traumas on the field, so they must address these issues quickly and efficiently to get back to the team. As a rule, traumas produce long-lasting discomfort even after the acute period is over; thus, it is essential to control pain and physical inconvenience. CBD lotions and cooling gels can help with inflamed muscles and joints by exerting anti-inflammatory effects, ensuring the athlete returns to normal physical activity way faster.
Is It Okay for a Soccer Player to Use CBD?
Many worry about the legal side of the issue. In this regard, we would like to reassure every athlete considering CBD use about the absence of legal problems around CBD use in any form. Obviously, it’s not reasonable to equate CBD with your regular vitamins, as this is a cannabis extract, so it should be treated with due caution in terms of dosing and time of use. Still, it is a fully legal substance that doesn’t show up in drug tests, doesn’t cause physical or mental impairments, and produces zero effects on your reaction. You can freely use CBD products before and after training and even before competitions without the risk of getting disqualified.
If we talk about the official organizations’ stance on CBD, it’s also largely positive. Major League Soccer has allowed the use of CBD by athletes since the moment WADA removed the ban on CBD. Thus, soccer players will have no issues with CBD use, even if CBD is detected in their organisms. In this regard, the regulations for CBD are much looser in the professional soccer sphere, with many other sports organizations still holding CBD under a strict ban.
Famous Soccer Players or Athletes Known for CBD Use
So, which soccer players are known for using CBD and not concealing this practice? Here is a list of world-known sports celebrities you might know so well.
Megan Rapinoe
Probably the best-known advocate of CBD among American soccer players is female footballer Megan Rapinoe. She has been promoting her family brand’s CBD products and encouraging the use of CBD among athletes for many years. Rapinoe’s sister owns a CBD manufacturing company, Mendi, which is pretty popular across the USA and enjoys great publicity due to famous athletes’ ambassadorship. Rapinoe herself officially names CBD as an integral part of her daily wellness routine and an herbal remedy accelerating recovery from intense training and traumas on the field. The athlete pointed out that she had managed to substitute the toxic and addictive painkiller Advil with CBD products, achieving the same level of comfort and pain relief that she could attain only with pharmaceuticals.
Rachel Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe’s twin sister, the owner and CEO of the Mendi brand mentioned above, is also an American soccer player. She started her sports career as a basketball player in college but quickly shifted to soccer. Rachel used to play with Megan in the Elk Grove United soccer team for some time in the past, and the team won the number one rating during that period. Rachel left the professional soccer arena in 2012 after a knee injury. Still, she went on to create and promote a CBD brand with a promise of health and wellness to professional athletes.
Eugene Monroe
A former NFL player and an avid CBD advocate, Eugene Monroe has been known by many as a CBD supporter since 2014. Monroe explained his commitment to CBD use with a large number of injuries sustained during his professional career, which became a permanent source of pain and discomfort for him. Thus, instead of being hooked to prescription opioids, Monroe chose a more natural and sustainable path for himself with regular CBD consumption. At present, Monroe continues advocating the use of CBD for the treatment of athletic injuries, as he believes it is a safe and less addictive alternative to painkillers frequently assigned even to top-tier athletes.
Final Word
If you take proper care of CBD product selection and have no allergies to CBD, you may enjoy the benefits of this compound for your general health and wellness. CBD is non-psychoactive and fully safe, almost impossible to overdose. Thus, you’re guaranteed a safe and rewarding consumption experience without legal trouble, even if you’re in professional sports. Look at the examples of famous American soccer players and do the same to improve your health, well-being, and physical performance during athletic activities. CBD can become your committed companion in these efforts.
The author of this material is Denys Svirepchuk, a full-time blogger at AskGrowers working on consumer education and safe CBD product selection. Denys combines his passion for sports and the cannabis industry by observing the lives and activities of famous CBD advocates among professional athletes. He shares his findings in insightful reviews and stories to show how CBD is getting increasingly accepted in the worldwide professional sports community.
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