Acute Effects of Cannabidiol on Maximal Aerobic Capacity and Time to Exhaustion in Healthy Adults: An Experimental Pilot Study

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on peak oxygen consumption (VO 2peak ) and time to exhaustion (TTE) in recreationally active adults. Methods: Fifteen subjects performed a maximal treadmill test to exhaustion with gas exchange as part of a randomized, double-blind crossover design. All subjects completed a supplement (CBD isolate: 150 mg) and placebo (PLA) condition separated by a minimum of 7 d. VO 2peak (mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ), TTE, time to estimated anaerobic threshold (AT), and heart rate at estimated AT were recorded for analysis. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to determine if there were significant differences between CBD and PLA conditions. Results: Fifteen subjects (male = 10, female = 5; median [range] age = 24 [20–46] yr; height = 172.7 [149.9–182.9] cm; weight = 78.9 [57.2–126.1] kg) completed the study. There were no significant differences observed between CBD and PLA in VO 2peak (median [range] = 51.3 [36.8–64.0] mL·kg −1 ·min −1 for CBD vs 51.8 [37.0–63.3] mL·kg −1 ·min −1 for PLA; P = 0.89), time to estimated AT (549 [450–690] s for CBD vs 499 [420–660] s for PLA; P = 0.49), or heart rate at estimated AT (171 [153–201] bpm for CBD vs 171 [151–197] bpm for PLA; P = 0.53). Although there was a trend toward reaching TTE earlier following ingestion of CBD (716 [540–840] s for CBD vs 759 [570–828] s for PLA; P = 0.09), the difference was not significant. Conclusions: CBD had no effect on VO 2peak and TTE in recreationally active adults. With rising CBD use for pain control, anxiety, and sleep, this data helps clarify the potential effects of CBD on aerobic performance and calls into question any ergogenic properties of CBD.