Why Men Are Turning to CBD For Competitive Edge and Stress Relief

For years, most surveys suggest women are slightly more likely to invest in CBD than men. A more recent investigation, however, shows that men of all ages use CBD products more consistently. In that cross-sectional study, the data also suggests men are more likely than women to choose CBD products to support overall health and well-being and alleviate activity-induced discomfort.¹

With minimal effort, you'll find numerous reports suggesting possible benefits for everyone from elite athletes² to high-level corporate executives and gamers.^3,4 Once you know what CBD is and how it works, it's much easier to see why men in high-stress professions are turning to high-quality CBD products to enhance their competitive edge. Should you?    

Mechanisms of Action: What CBD Is and How it Works  

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the most abundant of 113 potentially beneficial cannabinoids in industrial hemp. After the crops are harvested and dried, the cannabinoid-rich oil is extracted from the flower, distilled, and used as an ingredient in products with considerable health and wellness potential. Most experts credit CBD's many possible benefits to its ability to interact with more than 65 molecular targets, including the following examples.⁵

The Dopamine System Receptors 

Dopamine is directly involved in reward-seeking behaviors and the perception of pleasure and pain. Having too little dopamine circulating in your system can dull your motivation, cloud your thought processes, and lead to feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.⁶

The GABA System Receptors  

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) blocks the signals between nerve cells. This calming neurotransmitter is directly involved in tempering the overactive impulses initiated by the "fight or flight" response. Fatigue and chronic stress can make GABA work less effectively.⁷

The Serotonin System Receptors  

Your serotonin system helps regulate numerous processes, including your moods, emotions, and sleep cycles. The neurotransmitter produces an inhibitive or excitatory effect depending on the molecular composition of the message relayed to its receptors.⁶

The Endocannabinoid System Receptors  

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is the largest regulatory system in the human body – involved in everything from moods and memory recall to muscle movement. Experts believe supporting ECS function with CBD restores equilibrium (promotes homeostasis) when internal and external stressors threaten essential balance.⁸

Your Competitive Edge: Exploring the Nature of Competition   

Competition is an inescapable part of human existence – a dynamic force that fuels innovation and drives the desire to excel. Some scholars feel that "competitiveness" is a biological trait that co-evolved with the instinct for survival and became ingrained in our genetic code.⁹ Today, that primal drive continues to shape the actions and aspirations impacting numerous aspects of our daily lives. 

Athletes gain their competitive edge through physical conditioning, honing specific skills, and learning to adjust their tactics in response to unanticipated challenges. In business, on the other hand, developing a competitive edge could mean anything from leveraging connections to showcasing your unique strengths. Whether you're looking for efficient, effective ways to support your personal or professional edge, it's important to understand how internal and external stress factors into the equation. 

How Stress Responses Can Impact Your Competitive Edge  

Competitiveness isn't the only biological trait that co-evolved with human survival instincts. Your stress responses are also intricately linked to primal mechanisms that trigger the release of cortisol and adrenaline – the stress hormones that prepare your body to fight or flee. The alarm continues to sound until receiving signals that any threat to your physical, mental, or emotional well-being has resolved.¹⁰ 

Although a moderate increase in stress can sharpen your focus and temporarily boost your energy levels during competition, too much for too long can put you at a disadvantage. When elevated stress levels become your new normal, even the short-term effects on the following aspects of your life can have significant consequences. 

Athletic Performance  

The microscopic damage to muscle fibers during intense activity is essential for building strength and endurance. The specialized white blood cells sent to initiate repairs, on the other hand, cause free radical damage to surrounding tissues.¹¹ The physical, mental, and emotional stress of competition can derail your edge by increasing muscle tension, slowing your thought processes, delaying post-workout recovery, and increasing the risk of injury. 

Professional Achievement  

The road to professional achievement and advancement is frequently paved with stress-inducing demands on your time and energy. When unresolved stress compromises your ability to get the restorative sleep needed for optimal health and well-being, your brain is more susceptible to a type of "network instability" that can impair focus, concentration, and several other aspects of executive function that could compromise your competitive edge in the workplace.¹²

Personal Development  

Your brain is continuously processing information, including potentially distracting thoughts, feelings, and emotions. A mind in a continuous state of stress-induced turmoil can also affect your edge in various aspects of personal development by interfering with the "connections" impacting behavior and emotional regulation. The results of that interference can also make it difficult to keep sight of long-term goals like prioritizing sleep, improving physical fitness, and other aspects of self-care.¹³

Men & Stress: How CBD Could Help Support Your Competitive Edge  

Most men feel immense pressure to excel in their careers and achieve a certain level of professional, personal, and financial success. Navigating the complexities of workplace competition while also trying to maintain an acceptable level of work/life balance can take its toll – especially for men also striving to achieve specific fitness goals and nurture their relationships with family and friends. 

The unrelenting pressure can lead to stress-induced sleep difficulties, irritability, loss of focus, and increase the risk of developing an alarming number of health concerns. Although most of the evidence supporting the use of CBD to calm the impact of stress is based on lab results and a limited (but steadily growing) number of clinical trials, current evidence suggests multiple benefits for men focused on enhancing their competitive edge. 

Improving Sleep  

Poor sleep can negatively impact your edge in numerous ways. A report published in The Journal of Cannabis Research, however, suggests CBD delivers several possible sleep-related benefits, including a positive impact on sleep duration.¹⁴ Researchers in a similar study credited the cannabinoid's "calming" effect for the overall improvement in the sleep scores of 103 volunteers.¹⁵

Calming Mild or Temporary Anxiety  

Whether triggered by a workplace crisis or upheaval in your personal life, mild or temporary anxiety can impair your ability to maintain your perspective or find a solution. During a study of 24 volunteers, test subjects given CBD during a simulated public speaking event reported less anxiety-related distress and lower levels of stress-induced cognitive impairment than those receiving a placebo.¹⁶

Supporting Post-Workout Recovery 

Pushing through your workouts without sufficient time to recover increases the risk of developing a permanent injury. Activity-induced pain and stiffness can stall your gains. Although CBD's impact on exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is not fully understood, research investigating its impact suggests possible benefits for helping athletes return to pre-EIMD soreness levels faster.¹⁷

Promoting Relaxation 

The stress of any type of competition can make it difficult to relax and unwind because it takes a while for elevated cortisol and adrenaline levels to balance. According to the results of a 2019 CBDistillery® survey of 1,900 customers, most respondents report that CBD helps calm their minds, 82% prefer CBD over meditation for relaxation, and 76% prefer the effects of CBD over alcohol to unwind. 

Could Hemp-Derived CBD Help Support Your Competitive Edge?  

Hemp-derived CBD products are not habit-forming, and the World Health Organization reports "no evidence of public health-related problems."18 Side effects, however, are possible. Some CBD users report dry mouth, nausea, diarrhea, unexpected fatigue, or appetite changes¹⁹ – symptoms that often resolve with smaller serving sizes.

Most of our 1,900 2019 survey respondents report positive results using our hemp-derived CBD oil tinctures, topicals, softgels, and gummies for pain, stiffness, and inflammation after physical activity, relaxation, better sleep, and mild or temporary anxiety within 7-14 days of consistent use – results that could easily translate to numerous benefits for men looking for a natural way to support post-workout recovery, mental clarity, and overall well-being. 

If you're leaning towards trying CBD but not quite sure where to begin, consider taking our 3-minute CBD Quiz or scheduling a personal consultation. All CBDistillery® hemp-derived products are rigorously tested, quality-assured, made with 100% clean ingredients, and backed by a hassle-free 60-day satisfaction guarantee. 

References 

1. Moltke J, Hindocha C. (2021) Reasons for Cannabidiol Use: A Cross-Sectional Study of CBD Users, Focusing on Self-Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Sleep Problems. 3(5) J Cannabis Res https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs42238-021-00061-5 

2. Rojas-Valverde D, Fallas-Campos A. (2023) Cannabidiol in Sports: Insights On How CBD Could Improve Performance and Recovery. Front Pharmacol. Doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1210202. PMID: 37808192; PMCID: PMC10556669 

3. How CBD Could Benefit CEOs. (2021) Business First. 

4. Hemraj D. (N.D.) Can CBD Help Improve Your Gaming? Leafwell. 

5. Elsaid S, Foll B. (2020) The Complexity of Pharmacology of Cannabidiol (CBD) and Its Implications in the Treatment of Brain Disorders. 45 Neuropsychopharmacol 229-30 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0518-1 

6. Serotonin vs. Dopamine: What Are the Differences? (2023) Verywell Health. 

7. Maguire J. (2018) The Relationship Between GABA and Stress: It's Complicated. 596(10) J Physiol 1781-82. doi: 10.1113/JP275937. Epub 2018 Apr 16. PMID: 29524241; PMCID: PMC5978385 

8. Sallaberry C, Astern L. (2018) The Endocannabinoid System, Our Universal Regulator. 34(6) JYI 48-55. https://www.jyi.org/2018-june/2018/6/1/the-endocannabinoid-system-our-universal-regulator 

9. van der Linden S. (2015) The Psychology of Competition. Psychology Today. 

10. Chu B, Marwaha K, et al. (2022) Physiology, Stress Reaction. StatPearls https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541120/ 

11. Fitzgerald M. (2013) Is Inflammation Holding You Back? Active.com 

12. Suni E. (2023) How Lack of Sleep Impacts Performance and Focus. Sleep Foundation. 

13. Zhang W, Kaldewaij R, et al. (2022) Acute-Stress-Induced Change in Salience Network Coupling Prospectively Predicts Post-Trauma Symptom Development. 12(1) Transl Psychiatry 63. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01798-0 

14. Moltke J, Hindocha C. (2021) Reasons for Cannabidiol Use: A Cross0Section of CBD User, Focusing on Self-Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Sleep Problems. 3(1) 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-021-00061-5 

15. Shannon S, Lewis N, et al. (2019) Cannabidiol in Anxiety and Sleep: A Large Case Series. 23, Perm J 18-41. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/18-041 

16. Bergamaschi M, Queiroz R, et al. (2011) Cannabidiol Reduces the Anxiety Induced by Simulated Public Speaking in Treatment-Naïve Social Phobia Patients. 36(6) Neuropsychopharmacology 1219-26. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2011. 

17. Hatchet A, Armstrong K, et al. (2020) The Influence of Cannabidiol on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. 7(2) Int J Phys Ed, Sports and Health 89-94. https://www.kheljournal.com/archives/2020/vol7issue2/PartB/7-2-4-412.pdf 

18. World Health Organization. (2020) Cannabidiol (CBD) Critical Review Report. PDF https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/controlled-substances/whocbdreportmay2018-2.pdf?sfvrsn=f78db177_2 

19. Bergamaschi M, Mateus R, et al. (2011) Safety and Side Effect of Cannabidiol, a Cannabis Sativa Constituent. 6(4) Curr Drug Saf 237-49. https://doi.org/10.2174/157488611798280924