10 Best Strains to Enhance Your Workout

Have you ever sat down in your hazy apartment at 1 PM and decided to take a couple hits of weed before your personal training session at 3 PM? Did that couple of hits turn into an entire bowl, and did you get a text message from your trainer at 1:30? Did it read, “See you at 2!”

Have you never had such a fun, productive workout since?

Me, neither.

To all the aesthetic-obsessed bodybuilders, runners spending half their paychecks on shoes, and athletes looking to take home gold asking themselves, "Can marijuana improve your workout?" I present to you the best cannabis strains to enhance your workout.

Green Crack

It should come as no surprise that you would want to stray toward sativa dominant strainsif you plan on smoking weed before a workout. (Sativa dominant strains tend to have more energizing effects. Indica dominant strains are more relaxing.) Green Crack certainly fits this bill.

Arguably one of the most highly regarded strains to enhance your workout, Green Crack will leave you buzzed, bordering restless. Even smokers who don’t love the gym may find themselves ready to jump off the couch.

Sour Diesel

If you’ve smoked before, or even hung around with weed enthusiasts, you’ve heard of Sour Diesel. It is one of the most popular strains of cannabis, and for good reason. Medical marijuana patients often use it to treat stress and depression, citing its powerful effect on a person’s overall outlook on life.

Motivation ebbs and flows. On those ebbing days, Sour Diesel may be the strain to get you off the couch and into the gym.

Chocolope

Tempting for its name alone, Chocolope is known for its uplifting effects. If you’ve ever used weed to relieve stress, you know how much easier it is to tackle new obstacles with a clear head.

Perhaps there’s a new technique you’ve been meaning to learn, or a new exercise you want to try. Chocolope’s clear-headed type of high will make it easier to approach new challenges without being intimidated, but it also won’t be so psychedelic that you can’t focus on the technical aspects of working out without feeling like the gym security is conspiring against you. (Maybe they are. What do I know?)

Lucid Dream

If you’re looking forstrains to enhance your workoutas well as get you excited to attend gym sessions, Lucid Dream may be your perfect strain.

Known mainly for its energizing effects, Lucid Dream gives you an upbeat, lively mood. That positive outlook—one that encourages you to enjoy your workout rather than complain of how much pain you may be in—can only help you stay longer, work harder, and go farther.

Ghost Train Haze

Pre-workouts no longer have much effect on me. Jam-packed with caffeine and strange chemicals, the supplements give you a great kick the first few times you consume them. Unfortunately, much like with smoking weed, your body begins to develop a tolerance to these effects. To get those euphoric effects, you have to switch it up every now and then.

If you’ve built a resistance to pre-workout supplements but still crave that tingling, restless sensation, Ghost Train Haze may be the strain for you. Regularly listed on “strongest strains of (insert year here)” lists, Ghost Train Haze will set you straight into Beast Mode, potentially helping you lose weight just by shaking with all that energy.

Blue Wreck

Blue Wreck is another strain known for its intensity, and, while not quite as strong as Ghost Train Haze, it’s best to watch your dosage.

Blue Wreck’s effects tend to be strong at first, hitting you with a wave of inspiration and motivation—one the user would be wise to jump on and milk dry. Take advantage of it immediately, though, because the high comes with a crash a few hours after.

It may be a bit annoying at first to hear that Blue Wreck doesn’t magically grant you a lifetime of youthful exuberance, but consider how long an average workout typically lasts. About two hours should be more than enough time to drain your muscles. Afterward, you may be falling asleep, high or no high.

Harlequin

In addition to being one of the best strains to enhance your workout, Harlequin is a popular medical marijuana strain, used to treat chronic pain, depression, etc. One thing it was never meant to treat is insomnia, as it provides an immediate alertness that you may as well put toward athletic conditioning.

While it does tend to go right to your head, it does not tend to leave smokers loopy and off-balance. This makes it especially useful for athletes. Should you plan to smoke before a weight-lifting scenario, when it’s necessary to stay aware and alert, you’ll be less likely to let your mind wander from the task at hand.

Blue Haze

You may not be interested in being too stoned before a workout—as you probably shouldn’t be. This may affect your balance and/or mind-muscle connection if you’re not careful. It also might displease your coach/trainer/team if you work with one.

If you know you’re going to be in a group training session, or simply a packed gym, Blue Haze, a hybrid of sativa and indica, may be your perfect strain for figuring out if smoking weed improves your workout. Where other strains may shove you toward hyperactivity, the blue haze nudges, and you won’t have to worry about acting excessively strange in front of your team or other gym-goers.

Durban Poison

Durban Poison is considered a pure sativa. That alone should prove it’s one of the best strains to enhance your workout. It comes with a welcome sense of enthusiasm and liveliness that will have you racing into the gym with a high five for anyone you pass.

It’s theperfect strain for an early morning workout. If you’re still sleepy after just waking up, take a few puffs of Durban Poison to get you into a more alert state of mind.

Jack Herer

Named after the marijuana-legalization advocate, this strain of cannabis comes with a calm and capable sort of high. While it does not provide quite the rush that other strains may, it rids the mind of useless, negative self-talk. This paves the way for an especially productive workout mastering new skills, setting faster reaction times, and building more powerful muscles.

We’re all a bunch of unsatisfied overachievers searching for more ways to improve ourselves further, and anyone who thinks weed isn’t a potential tool is outdated. Using these cannabis strains to enhance your workoutwill help you bring your fitness game to the next level.