Runner's High: How a Movement of Cannabis-Fueled Athletes Is Changing the Science of Sports.

BenGreenfieldFitness.com/runnershigh

I recently read the book Runner's High: How a Movement of Cannabis-Fueled Athletes Is Changing the Science of Sports.

As kind of a mash-up of Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind and Christopher McDougall's Born to Run  this immersive, investigative look at the hidden culture of cannabis use among elite athletes (as well as weekend warriors) reveals the surprising emerging science behind the elusive, exhilarating "runner's high" they all seek.

Author of the book and my guest on today's podcast - Josiah Hesse - believes that "pot makes exercise fun", or at least, easier or more productive. The link between performance enhancement and cannabis has actually been an open secret for many years, so much so that with the wide-sweeping national legalization of cannabis, combining weed and working out has become the hottest new wellness trend.

Why, then, is there still a skewed perception around this leafy substance that it only produces the lazy, red-eyed stoner laid out on a couch somewhere, munching on junk food? In fact, scientists have conducted extensive research that uncovers the power of the "runner's high" - the true holy grail of aerobic activity that was long believed to be caused by endorphins.

In an extraordinary reversal, scientists believe marijuana may actually be the key to getting more Americans off their phones and on to their feet. In Runner's High and in this podcast, Josiah takes you on a journey through the secret world of stoned athletes, describing astounding, cannabis-inspired physical and mental transformations, just like he experienced.

From the economics of the $20 billion CBD market to the inherent inequalities in the enforcement of marijuana prohibition; from the mind-body connection behind the "runner's high" to the best way to make your own cannabis-infused power bars; Runner's High takes this groundbreaking science out of the lab and onto the trail, court, field, and pitch, fundamentally changing the way we think about exercise, recovery, and cannabis.

Josiah is an author and journalist from Denver, Colorado, whose work has appeared in Vice, Esquire, Politico, and The Guardian.

Hesse casts a wide net in his journalistic curiosities, covering everything from science, crime and politics, to pop culture, the arts, sex and drugs. After a decade of covering the slow-burn legalization of marijuana, Hesse finally wrote the book we discuss today.

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