"high" High-Intensity Interval Training (Or What I Can Hhiit)

Cannabis and high-intensity training seem antithetical to one another. On one end there is the aspect of breathing heated smoke into your lungs being unhealthy. If you factor out the smoking aspect and use a vaporizer (or ingest it) instead, the whole notion of cannabis being bad for your health flies right out the window. Still, getting high then working out seems antithetical to most people, since many people associate being high with a relaxed and lazy state of being that is contradictory to anything involving high-intensity. I, too, believed this until about a month and a half ago, when I went into one of my HIIT workouts after having just taken several hits off a fairly high-grade sativa with my vaporizer. I didn't know what to expect going into this session, but I did not think it would be a favorable outcome. To my surprise, I discovered that my "altered" HIIT experience -- which, unaltered, would normally be grueling and made me feel like my heart was going to jump out of my chest -- was entirely different. While each interval seemed longer than normal, I handled each 30 second burst with an ease never experienced while in a normal, unaltered state. Not only that, but I was going all out at an even greater intensity than usual. So this morning I Googled "marijuana HIIT" to see if any other people have similar experiences with HIIT while high, and I got multiple returns from people saying the exact same thing I have been experiencing with it.

These people sum it up perfectly:

http://forum.grasscity.com/general/314132-being-stoned-doing-cardio-any-other-lifters-discover.html

What he says about "separating yourself from the pain of running" is so true. It's almost like your mind is somewhere else instead of focused on the burn and windedness each interval creates.

http://tnation.t-nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_beginner/doing_hiit_while_stoned

The person above sums it up perhaps best of all, stating that "it makes HIIT suck a hell of a lot less."

I am almost positive no research has been done on it, but I would really like to see a study involving high-intensity exercise, particularly interval training, in conjunction with cannabis. It would open a whole new window to what's possible in the world of athletic performance with regard to its enhancement.

Before I was doing 8 sets of 30 second intervals on the stationary bike. Since I discovered the benefits of doing HIIT while using cannabis, I have upped my sessions to 10 thirty-five second bursts and 85 second rests (90 seconds previously).

Indica-dominant strains probably would NOT have the same effect, but it would appear that the more energetic sativa-dominant strains could be suited for various forms of high-intensity exercise, including resistance training.

This is merely my half-baked hypothesis, so feel free to laugh at it. Just don't knock it until you try it, especially since I am not the only person saying it.

 

seems logical. i don't think i ever specifically exercised while stoned, but i used to smoke before doing stuff all the time. if you smoke and then sit around, you get into a lazy frame of mind and don't want to do anything, but if you smoke and immediately start doing something physical, then you will be really into whatever that physical activity is. several years ago, i worked with at a pizza place a guy who generally had very little motivation to do anything, but then he would go smoke a joint and suddenly he wanted to clean the entire store.

 

wow that sounds pretty cool!

i have never worked out high because i always felt like it would diminish my high! so i never tried it. my usual routine is work out in the afternoon, drink recovery shake or meal, shower, and smoke to soothe the sore muscles. i think another great side effect is that you can eat massive meals more frequently, so thats good if you trying to gain weight like me.

im trying to gain weight so i tend to not do too much cardio. i run half a mile before working out and half a mile after, 4 or five times a week, do you think thats too much? i went from 145-160 in about a year, im 163 today, my current goal is to get to 170.

the reason i run before and after working out is because when i went to a cross fit gym with my friend a few times, the instructors would make us run a whole mile before and after working out. and they have the kind of body that im aiming for. i thought a whole mile before and after was too much for me, and its only half a mile from my house to my gym so thats how i worked that out.

how do you think it would affect weight lifting? ill try it out soon and ill post my experience on it. i hope i dont just end up with a headache!

 

You might, if you drop the weights.

 

oh also, just wanted to mention, my philosophy is, absolutely no powders or supplements, except for my daily multivitamin pill. i just eat alot to gain weight, my diet is high in protein and fat and vegetables, with moderate carbs. my "recovery shake" is usually just 2% milk, and whatever i have on hand at the time. my favorites are peanut butter, or other nut butters, bananas, oatmeal, honey or agave, yougurt, cottage cheese, flax seeds, berries.

 

Ya mon, good sativa make everything suck less. Ha Ha Ha!

 

If you're looking to gain weight I would stick only to weights while eating maybe 300-500 calories over maintenance.

The instructor was probably having you run as a warm-up / cool-down, but simple stretching before you work out will suffice. A few sets of light kettlebell swings are also good for warming up.

Protein powders and supplements are not necessary. I use whey, but only post workout.

 

u know why i dont like the idea of whey powders? i started off buying a big bag of it that would last me a few weeks. the list of ingredients scared me at first but i figured, hey, its just a bunch of scary sounding stuff but at the end of the day its just powdered protein. but then i started thinking, if i work out for the rest of my life, who knows how many of those 10lb bags of protein i will be putting through my body. buying like 6 or 7 over a year multiply that by a few years, thats a shit load of chemicals that you would have to put through your body. i dont like that idea at all, and who knows what unforeseen effects that might have over a long period of time. so i just decided not to take the chance. but if i ever join my friend at LA fitness and we hit the shake bar after ill still drink it if its every once in a while. i got some free samples of hemp protein im gonna add to my shake today actually.

 

Raw eggs whipped in whole milk blows those whey-based protein supplements out of the water when it comes to vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and food value in general.
And completely natural.
But rat thinks pasteurized milk is poison and most people can't get raw milk so, there it is.

 

cool never tried that, thanks for the recommendation. when i have the money i buy the more expensive milk thats from free range and doesnt have the hormones (still pasteurized though), but when im on a budget ill just settle for the regular publix brand. im not one of those people who absolutely has to have everything "organic" from whole foods.

 

I've never smoked then worked out, but ive worked out then smoked. Ill have to try it the other way around sometime

 

I'm 100% gonna try this out.

 

Ha ha, I remember the first time I got baked with my judo instructor, it was right before class. He was in world-class shape and took extra delight that session in working my ass to exhaustion as a judo dummy demonstrating for the class.... just to mess with me while I was stoned, the fucker, lol. fun times

 

Interesting post. Need to do some research

 

Well I used to smoke then do all my mid section, push ups, crunches and sit ups and weights and that "burn" you get of fatigued muscles actually feels pretty good rather than painful. It's like you want to keep pushing yourself. Under normal circumstances I can probably go about 50 crunches before that burn starts to wear me down. When high I can go up to over 100, 150 before feeling fatigued and the burn.