This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.
The commonly held perception that marijuana users are largely sedentary is not supported by new data on young and middle-aged adults.
The cliché of stoners being couch potatoes, eating chips and watching television for hours was once what everyone thought of people who consume marijuana. But with the medicinal benefits of cannabis becoming more widespread, and as more people, start consuming the drug, the look of the consumer has changed.
More studies are emerging, revealing cannabis users are actually likely to exercise more than people who don’t. The latest study, which was shared in the journal Preventive Medicine, was conducted by researchers from the Brookings Institution together with the University of Miami. For the study, they analyzed the association between exercise frequency and cannabis consumption within the last 30 days to observe if they had increased physical activity.
“Marijuana users are equal to or more likely to exercise than non-users,” write the authors. They add that “the commonly held perception that marijuana users are largely sedentary is not supported by these data on young and middle-aged adults.”
“As additional states legalize the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana, perhaps its impact on exercise, one of the leading social determinants of health, is not necessarily a primary concern.”
Older Studies Support These Claims
In 2019, a paper that was released in Frontiers in Public Health found that in states where cannabis is legal for recreational purposes, people use it either before or after a workout. Many of the participants also added that they believe cannabis helps them feel motivated for a workout while enabling them to enjoy the workout more while assisting in their recovery.
As a result, they feel motivated to exercise more frequently since cannabis use helps them recover from post-workout pain more efficiently. “Our results suggest that prior findings of cannabis users being more likely …