The cannabis component CBD “supports post-exercise recovery” for athletes “but does not directly enhance performance,” according to a new scientific review.
Cannabidiol “demonstrates efficacy in modulating delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and lowering concentrations of muscle damage markers (creatine kinase and myoglobin), particularly within the 48-72 hour window following intensive exercise,” the paper, published in the International Medical Journal, found.
Polish researchers with the 4th Military Clinical Hospital and the University Clinical Hospital performed a search of the PubMed and Scopus databases for previous studies published between 2021 and 2026.
They said that although it was a “key turning point” when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) moved in 2017 to officially allow athletes to begin using CBD without fear of being suspended from competition, many products on the market today are mislabeled and may contain THC—creating “a real risk of inadvertent anti-doping rule violations for athletes.”
CBD itself, meanwhile, is “a safe substance with a low risk of inducing side effects that could impair athlete comfort,” the review said.
While CBD doesn’t have a “statistically significant impact on improving performance in endurance tests, such as time trials, maximal power output, or running economy,” the authors wrote, it has been shown to improve pain sensations related to muscle soreness.
One study involving sublingual administration of 67 mg of CBD each day for 15 days “resulted in participants reporting significantly lower peak pain at rest and during movement 48 hours after induced muscle injury compared to placebo,” the review said. “The CBD group also demonstrated less impairment in muscle strength after 48 hours.”
CBD can also indirectly help athletes recover by “improving sleep architecture,” the paper said. “It is postulated that CBD may reduce sleep latency (time to fall asleep) and decrease the number of nocturnal awakenings, which translates into better psychophysical readiness the following day.”
“CBD may optimize athlete readiness by potentially improving sleep architecture and modifying exercise affect, which forms the foundation for so-called indirect recovery.”
Interestingly, the review found that CBD’s beneficial effect on athletes seems to be “highly dependent on the delivery format,” with oral preparations providing increased bioavailability and significant aid while topical applications don’r appear to be supported for reducing muscle soreness, according to the current evidence base.
“A significant finding of this analysis is the total lack of evidence supporting the efficacy of CBD creams and ointments in alleviating DOMS,” the authors wrote. “Despite theoretical premises regarding the presence of CB2 receptors and TRPV1 channels in the skin and subcutaneous tissue, topical application (even at doses as high as 1000 mg) did not influence pain thresholds or strength parameters. This suggests that the skin barrier represents a substantial obstacle for CBD, and the concentration reaching deep muscle fibers is insufficient to modulate the inflammatory cascade induced by eccentric training.”
More broadly, the researchers said CBD has potential to protect people against cognitive impairment and that studies highlight its “neuroprotective role in normalizing the heart-brain axis following mild traumatic brain injuries common in contact sports.”
“From the perspective of sports psychophysiology, the key areas of CBD action are neuroprotection, mood regulation, and the optimization of sleep architecture.”
The review concluded by noting that many studies to date used small samples sizes. There is also an ongoing risk of THC contamination in CBD products and a lack of standardized dosing protocols that “hinder the development of precise guidelines for athletes.”
A separate recently published review found that CBD “appears to have anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, analgesic, anxiolytic, and potentially performance-enhancing properties in athletes.”
“CBD appears to have beneficial properties for sports recovery,” it concluded.
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