Can Athletes Vape? Here Is The Answer
Sporting events are fun to visit. Even people who never engage in physical activity watch their favorite team play with excitement. But to be successful at any sport, a person needs to develop winning behavior patterns. A part of this is staying away from bad habits.
However, athletes are human. Some of them have unhealthy habits. Since vaping has become quite popular, many athletes want to know whether it’s safe for their bodies and sports performance.
Do athlete vape?
The negative effects of smoking are well-known. Those who don’t want to risk, choose pod vapes. In a smoking vs vaporizing survey from Tvape, 86% out of 700 people felt generally better after vaporizing as opposed to smoking Now, it’s difficult to find evidence of anyone in the sports world vaping in public.
Paul Pogba, a French soccer player, was once photographed vaping while having fun with friends.
Perhaps, Jimmy White vapes without fear of being caught because he’s a snooker player. “Superfly Jimmy Snooker” used to be a devoted smoker. He has switched to vaping to lead a healthier way of life. If we believe tabloids, he even competes in vaping contests.
A famous Spanish footballer David de Gea has been seen in public with an e-cigarette. The Manchester United’s goal-keeper shows that vaping doesn’t harm his athletic performance. Though David doesn’t talk publicly about this, photos prove that he’s vaping.
The list of vapers won’t be full without the names of fighters who don’t hide their vaping habit. They also tell people what kind of e-liquid they place in a pod mod vape and why. Keep on reading.
What do athletes vape?
Derrick Morgan, who is an NFL linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, is an active vaper, too. Morgan has advocated publicly the medicinal properties of marijuana. The football player believes it could be beneficial for NFL players, particularly in treating and protecting the brain against CTE, a disease that has afflicted many players. That said, it won’t come as a surprise to you that Derrick prefers CBD (cannabidiol) oil.
CBD turned out to be popular among fighters. Nate Diaz was hitting a vape pen at his post-fight press conference in 2016. When he was asked what he was puffing, he answered it was CBD oil that he believed helped him with the healing process and inflammation.
A UFC athlete Chris Camozzi was also candid about this issue on a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) in 2017. “I’m openly using Hemp CBD Oil to heal my injuries and improve my recovery,” Camozzi wrote.
When The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has lifted the ban on cannabidiol in October 2017, Gina Mazany commented on this “conspiracy theory.” The UFC fighter said that “there are so many ways that CBD can benefit everyone.” She vapes before fights to reduce her anxiety.
CBD oil is a natural remedy derived from the cannabis plant. As a cannabinoid, CBD interacts with the body’s native endocannabinoid system, which is a major regulatory network responsible for keeping the body and many of its functions in balance. These include metabolism, sleep patterns, energy balance, and immune response.
CBD oil contains high levels of CBD and low levels of THC. That means that a user can experience its healing effects without getting high. Perhaps, this was the reason why WADA later removed CBD from its 2018 List of Prohibited Substances. Cannabidiol is also not prohibited in the 2019 List.
Is nicotine legal doping?
We know that some athletes prefer the best pod vape from Vapingdaily to a tobacco cigarette. But the majority of e-juices contain some level of nicotine. The chemical is absent from the latest WADA Prohibited List. They don’t have enough evidence proving that nicotine can significantly improve athletic abilities.
Researchers from the University of Verona, Italy, found out that Snus (oral tobacco product) consumption before training gave only a 13% improvement in sports performance.
But many studies show that nicotine doesn’t enhance performance. Researchers from the University of Dijon (France) disproved the belief that nicotine leads to advanced performance. They stressed the risks of side effects, such as muscle cramps or Coronary vasoconstriction.
The majority of studies have come to the same conclusion: nicotine’s effect on athletic performance is neither good nor bad.
Is vaping bad for athletes?
So, vaping is not banned by WADA. Nicotine and CBD are not on the Prohibited List. Does that mean that athletes can use the best pod vape as much as they want?
The potential long-term health effects of vaping are still in dispute. There’s a lack of research on this topic. What health experts do know that vaping heavily within an hour or two before a workout leads to a short of breath, but it’s still deeper than after using a regular cigarette. An imbalance between oxygen demand and supply may stunt the recovery period.
Generally, vaping is considered a safer alternative to smoking. According to Public Health England (PHE), it is 95% safer. Given that tobacco smoke is a deadly mix of more than 4,000 chemicals, a vapor is devoid of more than 3800 of them. That’s why smokers that start feeling the negative health effects but are unable to quit decide to switch to e-cigarettes.
For people involved in sports, vaping seems to be a better option, too. Tobacco is one of the most harmful habits for a professional athlete. The effects include:
- less benefit from physical training
- lower muscular strength and flexibility
- imbalanced sleep schedules
- shortness of breath
- a cough (more often than non-smokers)
- slower healing after injuries.
Many athletes have been spotted with cigarettes or cigars. Some of them have or had a pretty steady cigarette habit. This is one of the things they don’t want to advertise. Like other smokers, they use an e-cigarette as a quitting tool. Vaping devices allow users to control the level of nicotine, making the transition smooth and quitting process more comfortable.
Being an athlete can be demanding. It takes its toll on body and mind. So, athletes do smoke sometimes. But given the latest evidence on vaping safety compared to smoking, they tend to choose the former option. To vape or not to vape? It’s only up to you.