Does smoking weed break down muscle?

[trishia06]

Now this is just an observation, but I've seen guys have more interest in exercise when they're high. It seems like my husband can have a smoke and lift in front of the tv for hours. When we're dry...well, let's just say that's when he starts shrinking. People with weak stomachs too, smoking seems to help them keep it down more easily.

trishia06 Reviewed by trishia06 on 03-08-2006. Does smoking weed break down muscle? Hi im into lacrosse and bodybuilding. I play D which requires a fair amount of strength and quickness. I have been lifting for about 3 years now and just started smoking three weeks ago. I have heard rumors that smoking pot makes you weak and gets you skinny. Is any of this true? Rating: 5

[gramzzilla420]

...i have tried getting fat but with my physical genetics its immpossible for me to get over 70 kgs, I duno what kgs is in lbs...You bloody Americans with your maveric ways...

one kg. weed = 2.2 lbs x 70 kgs = 154 lbs ...

[MegaOctane12]

I thought weed can help with thing's like arthritis so why would it reduce muscle strength. I work out but just when I feel like it. The only reason the weed would affect your muscle would be making you too fucking lazy to do anything.

[IslandBabe420]

I've Been Smoking Now For 8 Years Constantly No Joke Give Or Take 10 Times Per Day. I'm An Active Person And I Stay Fit. I'm A Sophomore In College With Straight A's. Honestly, Its Different With Every Person. The Only Thing I Would Be Concerned About Is Lung Cancer They Say Pot Can Give You Lunch Cancer But Its Actually Genetic So I Would Advise You Not 2 Smoke If Someone In Your Family Has Passed Away From Cancer. Other Than That If You Feel That Your Muscles Are Weaker And Your Gaining Weight Just Quit. It Makes Me Chill And Relaxed. I Have The Worst Anxiety You Could Ever Imagine But I Don't Want 2 Get Hooked On Xanex So I Smoke Pot Instead. Hope That Helped Have A Great Day

[StickyfingahZ]

Yeah,just puff after your workouts,You'll get awesome rest,and we know rest is when you build muscle,AURYTE!

[daihashi]

Honestly I don't feel anyone here has given you an adequate answer.

THC binds to Estrogen and progesterone receptors in your body; albeit very low. Estrogen (above normal/in excess) in males is responsible for weaker bone mass which results in lower muscle mass since the amount of muscle you can maintain is directly proportionate to the amount of bone mass you have.

Estrogen is also responsible for decreased metabolism and making your body predisposed to storing food into fat cells rather than trying to utilize that energy (part of this is also contributed to lower metabolism).

In addition progesterone can aromatize into estrogen; which can be even worse. Ever heard of bitch tits.. well that usually happens due to hormones that aromatize in the male body. This sudden build up of 'female' hormone will create a lump in your chest/breast. This is breast tissue forming. The reason this happens is because just like females, males have the exact same glands in their breasts as women. Theoretically men can lactate and breast feed. Yep yep.

Marijunana has also been prove to shrink testicles (as much as I hate to admit it, mine have definitely gotten smaller since I've become a daily smoker). The testicles are the main part of the male body responsible for testosterone production. Naturally if you inhibit these then you lower your total free test. in your blood stream. This is very important in strength/mass gains.

This could be offset by something called HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) which is a hormone that is extracted from pregnant womens piss. However this is illegal without a script and I'll stop talking about this then. Basically it tricks the body into thinking your pituatary gland is releasing a hormone called luteinizing hormone (LH) which in turn signals leydig cells throughout your body to produce testosterone. *note* HCG is only beneficially in instances where your testes shrink and can only be prescribed by a doctor. Which I'm 99% sure won't happen as they typically don't prescribe it to men.

The reduction in testosterone production leads to loss of lean body mass as well as becoming predisposed to storing food as fat.

With all that said, The occassional joint will not harm you at all. Even smoking daily would not harm your strength and mass gains due to the amount of thc that binds to the estrogen and progesterone receptors in your body. Additionally if you're currently active and working out then you are off setting any negative sides marijuana has sine you're increasing testosterone production anyway naturally.

There are 3 things you need to have in check to gain mass/strength:

1. Diet. This is the key component. Diet diet diet. Muscle mass is about 70% diet and about 30% lifting weights.

2. Proper form. When working out lifting a light weight with proper form and proper eccentric/concentric timing is much more important than lifting as much weight as you can. I roll my eyes at idiots at the gym who go and load 400lbs on the bench press only to see them with their feet hovering off the ground and their back arched upward as far as they can. This is horrible form and just looks stupid to a trained person.

3. sleep/rest. Your body gains strength/muscle mass when you are sleeping and rest. This mostly has to do with D wave sleep and release of GH which in turn triggers the release of IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor -1). These hormones in combination of testosterone and several other smaller hormones that are responsible for muscle/body repair. Get about 8 hours of sleep a night (this is enough to compete about 5 cycles of sleep. 1 cycle, all the phases of sleep including rem, can be completed in about 90 minutes if memory serves me correctly). Try to catch a nap if possible too.. a 90 minute one is best naturally.

Good luck on your gains :thumbsup:

[daihashi]

I find that cannabis and excercise go hand in hand. The other post is right on. Eat Healthy. I eat about a bag of apples every two days, and i also eat a lot of peanuts,bananas, cashews, etc etc. It's good to also have a conatiner or two full of carrot sticks handy. Drink water and fruit juices instead of soda pop and other sugar drinks. When i go on hikes i take rice and help seeds and roll it into little balls to munch on. Great stuff and it makes good for a healthy turd.
dai*ma :dance: :thumbsup: :stoned:

Your diet seems very high in fruits and juices which are also very high in fructose. Fructose is a sugar which is not readily usable by your body. Initially fructose will be stored in your liver; however those stores are rapidly filled and the rest will be stored into fat cells.

This is all dependant on your bodies metabolism however since it's different on a person by person basis.

Ideally though if trying to gain *strength* I would not recommend a diet with so much fruit in it.

For carb sources green leafy vegetables are best in a diet geared toward strength gains.

[daihashi]

when you smoke weed, your body uses up a shit load of all your vitamins and nutrients to process the THC , i dunno if that would contribute to muscles shrinking, but this process causes "the munchies", so your best bet would be to smoke up, get the chron munchies that you would usually put on weight with, but then go to the gym and turn that fat into muscle...i have tried getting fat but with my physical genetics its immpossible for me to get over 70 kgs, I duno what kgs is in lbs...You bloody Americans with your maveric ways...

You can no more turn fat into muscle than you can turn water into wine (unless you're Jesus). That's a really bad misconception that majority of the world population shares.

To gain weight just eat everything insight.

Weight gain is easy... eat more calories than you utilize in a day.

Weight loss is a bitch. So many other factors come into play when you cut calories that inhibit your ability to burn fat effeciently.

[daihashi]

It's truely amazing, and I'm not trying to insult anyone and apolgize if I do, how misinformed and uneducated people are in relation to fitness and THC on the human body.

Really it amazes me that everyone here basis their opinion just on what they see instead of understanding the inner workings on THC and the body.

This leaves lots of room to hand out bad advice to people and keeping them from reaching their goals. Just something everyone may or may not want to think about before just blurting something out they don't fully understand.

Again I'm sorry if that came across as ass-holish.

:stoned:

[TheSmokingMonkey]

Couldn't find anything definitive, but there is a good disussion on this forum:

Cannabis / Weed / Marijuana and Muscle Building - Body Building

My instinct would be that as long as you were conscientious about your nutrition and workouts, it wouldn't have much effect one way or the other.