Marijuana and Bodybuilding: The Scope on Dope
By William Llewellyn
Weed, herb, grass, green, bud, crops, hydro, dope, chronic; there are many names for the drug marijuana and seemingly as many opinions about its potential benefits, risks and therapeutic uses. Marijuana has been a subtly ingrained part of many cultures throughout recorded history and remains the recreational drug most widely used in most Western countries today. The debates over the illegality and use of marijuana are seemingly without end and are subjects I won’t attempt to cover here. Instead, I would like to look at the use of pot in bodybuilding – or more specifically, if and how the use of this drug may affect your ability to gain muscle.
I receive many questions about this and can see in reading them there are many popular beliefs concerning this drug and muscle growth. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to examine some of these beliefs and address them with the relevant medical research. In doing so, we’ll see that while some appear to have foundation in fact, others don’t. Pack a bowl and chill all you smokers out there – it’s time to review this controversial subject a little more closely.
THC and T
The best place to start is with one of the most talked about effects of marijuana – its supposed ability to suppress testosterone. Since testosterone is one of our primary anabolic hormones, suppression of its levels would obviously be an unwelcome effect when it comes to building muscle. We men like testosterone and tend to look for ways to increase levels, not suppress them. If weed is really a hormone killer, it would certainly stand to reason it could kill your gains as well. So where exactly does the research stand in this regard? Is weed really tantamount to smoked castration? There are three studies I want to highlight and I think they do a good job of tying things together.
The first study was conducted in the mid-1980s and involved four healthy male subjects (non-smokers) who were given different amounts of marijuana (one or two joints with 2.8 percent THC) to smoke on two separate days, after which point its effects on hormone profiles (prolactin, FSH, LH, cortisol, testosterone, free testosterone and growth hormone) were measured.1 The effects of this study were fairly clear. In these four cases, marijuana smoking caused a significant drop in LH and a slight, but not significant, drop in FSH, prolactin and free and total testosterone (they remained within normal ranges). GH and cortisol were elevated slightly. These results would lead one to believe that marijuana is a bad thing to do when it comes to testosterone and might not be the best for bodybuilding. However, we must remember that this study involves subjects who don’t regularly smoke marijuana. In our case, we want to know what regular smoking will do to you, not just smoking a joint one night at a party, as it would take regular use to interfere with your daily progress.
The next study shows the effects of regular use. It involved 25 healthy regular male marijuana smokers, who were all students at the sponsoring university.2 All of the subjects smoked marijuana at least once per week, with an average of approximately 5.1 joints per week each. The researchers here took blood samples from these smokers and compared their hormone profiles to those from a group of 13 similarly aged, non-smoking control subjects. The marijuana smokers were shown to have levels of plasma testosterone that were normal for their ages and the exact measures weren’t significantly different from the control group. No differences could be observed. The study shows us that the effects marijuana has on hormone levels seem to weaken with regular use. While the occasional user notices some discernable changes in hormone levels, these changes don’t seem to be found in regular users.
Lastly, there was another good study that looked at the effects of regular marijuana smoking on hormone production.3 The study has the largest population of participants, with 149 people (93 men and 56 women). The mean age was 23.5 years. The various subjects were stratified into groups depending on their level of marijuana smoking (frequent, moderate, infrequent). About half the subjects smoked no marijuana and served as the control group. When all of the blood work was compared, even chronic marijuana use was shown to have no significant effect on hormone concentrations, in either men or women, when compared to those of non-smoking controls. The bottom line, at least given the research we’ve seen so far, suggests that a single smoking episode might slightly lower certain hormone levels (and may raise others), but that these effects seems to diminish with any type of regular use, such that regular smoking probably doesn’t cause a real and lasting suppression of serum testosterone. If there’s any weak suppression there, it isn’t strong enough to show up with any statistical significance in these studies.
THC and E
Now on to one of the next most talked about aspects of marijuana – its inherent estrogenic activity. Everyone knows that smoking pot makes men cry during sad movies and grow breasts like they were stacking Anadrol with counterfeit Nolvadex, right? I won’t go that far, but marijuana being an estrogen is a persistent “factoid” that seems to pop up whenever someone broaches the subject. Although its being estrogenic wouldn’t necessarily hinder one’s ability to grow muscle (if anything, estrogen has a slight level of anabolic synergy with androgens), it definitely is an enemy to lean mass (estrogen tends to support body fat storage). The theory then stands that marijuana will make you fat and increase the likelihood of gynecomastia during steroid cycles. So, is this little factoid of the “weed estrogen” true? As we’ve seen with testosterone, the answer seems to be a little bit “yes” and a little bit “no.”
The first study was published in the journal Toxicology.4 It comprised a number of in vitro investigations, in which various rat cells were incubated with a variety of marijuana extracts in order to examine their biological activity. The effects these extracts had on steroid metabolism and cell proliferation were measured and discussed. Several enzymes involved in testosterone and androstenedione metabolism were inhibited by the extracts and additionally an estrogenic effect was found. This would seem to support the estrogen marijuana theory. We must keep in mind, however, this was an in vitro incubation study. We need to look at in vivo (live animal models) to get a better picture of what this actually could mean to human smokers.
A second study is perhaps more detailed.5 It was completed in two parts, the first being an in vitro examination into the receptor-binding capabilities of various (over a dozen) marijuana constituents. The study pointed out several cannabinoids that bound the estrogen receptor, a trait also shared by condensed marijuana smoke. To determine what, if any, was the biological significance of this, a second in vivo study was undertaken. It involved giving immature rats very large doses of marijuana extract and determining if any estrogenic effect became apparent in tissue growth patterns. During this study, no estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effect was shown. The investigators were left to conclude that while in vitro incubations show estrogenic activity inherent in marijuana smoke and certain cannabinoids, they don’t have significant biological effect in vivo. The fact that previously cited studies on hormone levels also failed to show any notable testosterone suppression (an effect of elevated estrogen) seems to strongly support this conclusion.
The Munchies
One fact difficult to dispute about marijuana is that its use tends to increase appetite. While countless Americans search for effective appetite suppressants to help them eat less and lose weight, many bodybuilders find themselves in exactly the opposite situation. They find the weak link in their program is their diet, namely an inability to eat enough food to grow optimally. For this group, an appetite stimulant can be an invaluable tool. At least for some, marijuana is that tool. Looking at the medical studies for figures, it’s easy to see why. One telling study was published in the late 1980s and involved a group of six male volunteers who were given marijuana to smoke while placed in a controlled laboratory environment for 13 days.6 Food intake was carefully monitored during the experiment. While the subjects were smoking marijuana, total caloric intake increased by a substantial 40 percent. The rise was due to the increased frequency of between-meal snacking and not increased consumption during normal meals.
Another study of relevance involved the gathering and comparing of data from a large number of smoking and non-smoking subjects.7 It too demonstrated that marijuana smokers consumed more calories per day on average than non-smokers. The odd thing here, however, was that the body mass index (BMI) values for smokers tended to be lower than those of non-marijuana-smokers (clearly the effect marijuana has on metabolism needs further investigation). There are numerous other studies we could reference, all pointing to the same fact we already know: marijuana increases appetite. At least to some bodybuilders, this is a positive thing.
Observations and Conclusions
The medical literature can help us a great deal and at this point has given us some important information. However, I believe this is a subject that needs the attention of anecdotal information as well. On this note I can say I personally have known many bodybuilders, some smokers and many others not. I’ve trained with guys that would puff bowls between sets and I’ve trained with the strictest of anti-drug advocates. I’ve smoked a joint or two of my own as well. In all my interactions, observations and experiences, I can’t say I’ve ever been able to notice anything specific about smoking marijuana that really was helpful or harmful when it came to gaining muscle. Indeed some of the guys I’ve known really were aided in their bulking by smoking and eating more. At the same time I’ve seen others lose motivation to train when they smoked too often. Aside from that, I don’t believe I’ve ever noticed it harm or help anyone’s physique much.
The subject of how this drug affects the body is a very complex one, and as of yet there’s still a bit of conflicting data and no general consensus among scientists concerning many of its effects and health risks. However, we do know a lot more today than we did 20 or 30 years ago and have enough information to answer some of our relevant questions. I hope I was able to do some of that here today. I know this is a very controversial topic and one that elicits many strong feelings on all sides of the argument. I will close saying simply that for the purpose of this post there is no right or wrong when it comes to marijuana and bodybuilding. I think it’s more a question of if it’s right or wrong for the individual: you.
William Llewellyn is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the use of performance-enhancing substances. He is the author of the bestselling anabolic steroid reference guide ANABOLICS and CEO of Molecular Nutrition. William is an accomplished researcher/developer in the field of anabolic substances, and is also a longtime advocate for harm reduction and legislative change. He built the website anabolic.org, an extensive online database of information on anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.
References:
1. Acute effects of smoking marijuana on hormones, subjective effects and performance in male human subjects. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 1986. June; 24(6):1749-54
2. Plasma testosterone levels in healthy male marijuana smokers. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse, 1975;2(2):269-75
3. Effects of chronic marijuana use on testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin and cortisol in men and women. Drug Alcohol Depend, 1991 Aug;28(2):121-8
4. Marijuana extracts possess the effects like the endocrine disrupting chemicals. Toxicology, 2005 Jan 31;206(3):471-8
5. Marijuana: interaction with the estrogen receptor. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 1983 Feb;224(2):404-7.
6. Effects of smoked marijuana on food intake and body weight of humans living in a residential laboratory. Appetite, 1988 Aug;11(1)1-14.
7. Dietary intake and nutritional status of US adult marijuana users: result from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Public Health Nutr, 2001 June 4(3);781-6.
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