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Does CBD help muscle recovery after exercise?

Small trials have mostly found no meaningful benefit. CBD by mouth and CBD creams did not clearly reduce soreness or speed recovery, and none improved performance.

Facts checked 13 November 20263 min readHow we research

On current evidence, not clearly. The small trials of CBD for exercise recovery have mostly found no meaningful benefit, and none has shown that CBD improves performance.123 We grade the evidence for sport and recovery as not enough evidence, leaning towards no benefit.

What did the trials find?

Study Who and what Result
Australian pilot, 20221 9 endurance-trained men; 300 mg CBD by mouth or placebo before running No difference in time to exhaustion. The authors said CBD “does not appear to impair” aerobic exercise; the pilot was too small to show a benefit
After hard eccentric exercise2 Female college athletes; CBD by mouth No reduction in fatigue, muscle damage or inflammation, and no faster return of performance
After resistance training4 Single 60 mg dose Small effects on muscle-damage markers and squat recovery at 72 hours; no strong effects
Well-trained athletes, 20243 Short-term daily CBD by mouth, crossover design Lower muscle-damage markers did not turn into better performance
CBD cream or gel56 Two randomised pilot trials No meaningful effect on muscle soreness or recovery

An earlier study cited in the Australian pilot found that 150 mg a day for three days had no effect on muscle damage after eccentric exercise.1

What do these trials not tell us?

They are small and short. None tested the long-term daily use that many recovery claims imply. “Placebo” in these studies means a dummy treatment, and recovery feels different from day to day, which is why a comparison group matters.

Why don’t creams work better?

Very little CBD passes through the skin. A 2024 review said CBD’s strong attraction to fats makes it “an inadequate candidate” for passing through skin on its own.7 See do CBD creams work?

Are there risks for athletes?

  • A positive drug test. CBD is not prohibited in sport, but THC is banned in competition, and CBD products can contain it.8 See is CBD banned in sport?
  • Side effects. In trials of the registered CBD medicine, sleepiness, reduced appetite and diarrhoea were more common than with placebo.9
  • Legal status. In Australia CBD is a prescription medicine.10

For persistent soreness or an injury, a GP, sports doctor or physiotherapist can explain the treatments that have been properly tested.

Read the full guide: CBD and sport.

Footnotes

  1. Sahinovic A and others. Effects of cannabidiol on exercise physiology and bioenergetics: a randomised controlled pilot trial. Sports Medicine Open, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8891421 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Trial of acute CBD after strenuous eccentric exercise in female collegiate athletes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9222918/ ↩ ↩2

  3. Crossover trial of short-term daily oral CBD in well-trained athletes, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10997358/ ↩ ↩2

  4. Trial of a single 60 mg CBD dose after resistance training. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8469280/ ↩

  5. Randomised pilot trial of topical CBD for muscle soreness and recovery. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38980809/ ↩

  6. Randomised pilot trial of topical CBD for muscle soreness and recovery. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41877261/ ↩

  7. Lefebvre È, Tawil N, Yahia L. Transdermal delivery of cannabidiol for the management of acute inflammatory pain: a comprehensive review of the literature. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11172078/ ↩

  8. World Anti-Doping Agency. The Prohibited List (2026 list and cannabinoid notes). https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list ↩

  9. US National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) prescribing information. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩

  10. Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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