Smoke and workout: How weed is becoming the new fitness trend

The classic track “Because I Got High” by Afroman chronicles his hilarious difficulties of completing simple errands because of his marijuana lifestyle. Though the song is fun and catchy, it highlights just a fraction of what the plant can do.

Between strain, choice of rolling material, and just how you react to bud personally, there could be countless reasons why Afroman was so absent-minded. Yet that’s exactly what popular opinion has chosen to believe. Fitness and cannabis seem like an unlikely pairing because the stigma is well-established.

But the truth is they can, and do, coexist. Even as a usual workout supplement, hemp protein powder is already widely used as an all-natural type of protein.

Take California for example. While marijuana had been legal for medicinal use, it wasn’t until the Prop. 64 passed in November last year that it made it legal recreationally. Within that short year there’ve already been case studies proving the advantages of the plant.

Some yoga studios in San Fransisco even serve members vape pens and earlier this year, San Francisco opened its first “cannabis gym,” called Power Plant Fitness, which advocates getting high while raising your heart rate. Of course former NFL star Ricky Williams is a co-founder.

Co-director of UCLA’s Cannabinoid Affinity Group, Dr. Jeff Chen says a case can be made for smokers who do not have a preexisting condition. Chen told Vogue in May.

“Heart rates can increase after smoking cannabis, which could conceivably make [people] hit their maximum heart rates at a reduced workload.”

When you add this to the massive amount of evidence published that proves cannabis can also help ease the anxiety and pain of a strenuous workout, it’s no wonder why this trend is catching on.

Even artists like Wiz Khalifa, who’s as lanky as they come, admits his ridiculous weed usage is actually helping him as he just recently started working out and getting brolic.

Smoking a joint after working out and running a mile lets me know why all athletes deserve to smoke weed.

— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) January 27, 2016

Former NBA All-Star Al Harrington is leading the way for showing how cannabis can help NBA players.

After a knee operation led to a staph infection while playing for Denver in 2012, he began using medicinal weed in creams and ointments that he rubbed on his knees. While they didn’t get him high, they brought relief.

Even former Commissioner David Stern, when speaking to Harrington in his documentary with Uninterrupted said, “We’ve got to change the collective bargaining agreement and let you do what’s legal in your state.”

“I think it’s up to the sports leagues to anticipate where this is going and maybe lead the way.”

Because marijuana is allowed for recreational use in only a few states, it’s important to look at legal states for their innovation in how best to utilize cannabis.

But without a doubt, California sets all the trends in cannabis for the rest of the country. Who’s to say weed workouts aren’t the new yoga or Soul Cycle in the next 10 years?

If cannabis can alleviate pain while not compromising severe health complications, then it only makes an even strong case for its national wide legalization.