How People Are Combining CBD and Exercise to Cope with Stress

With the world rapidly changing, people are finding themselves overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious. There are tried and true ways for dealing with stress, things like exercise and nutrition, but we were curious: how are CBD users dealing with these changes?

Are they relying more on CBD or turning to other methods of stress relief? And who exactly is using CBD these days: the old or the young, the rich or the poor?

We conducted a survey of CBD users with nearly 3k respondents to get to the bottom of it, and what we found might surprise you. Keep reading to see how people are combining CBD with other stress-relief treatments to ease their minds and bodies.

Key Takeaways

• 80% of respondents are reporting higher levels of stress
• 70% of respondents are using CBD to cope with stress
• 60% of respondents are using exercise to cope with stress
• 83% of respondents find that CBD helps with recovery after exercising
• 44% of CBD users that responded are between the ages of 55 and 74
• 15% of respondents using CBD work in healthcare

Today’s stress levels

Stress is omnipresent and ubiquitous in the modern world: we all have triggers, problems, and nuisances that wear on us and nag at the back of our minds. But, lately, stress levels have skyrocketed to their highest point ever. Societies are undergoing massive transformations, and people’s lives are being thrown into flux.

80% are reporting higher levels of stress

And the above isn’t just conjecture: in our recent study of CBD users, a whopping 80% (4 out of 5) people are reporting higher levels of stress now than ever before.

⅓ are using more CBD to cope with stress

How are these CBD users coping with this new stress? Well, by consuming more CBD! After all, stress is one of the most common ailments that CBD users cite for why they use CBD, so it’s no surprise that higher stress levels = more CBD use.

How people are alleviating stress

With stress levels higher than ever, people are adapting their daily routines to help deal with it. Here’s what they’re doing:

60% report exercise is helping cope with stress

Exercise is widely known as one of the most effective ways to cope with stress, so many people are ratcheting up their exercise routine (or just getting started with one) to deal with the stress. With the widespread closing of gyms, that means more jogging, backyard workouts, yoga, and other equipment-free exercise routines.

70% are using CBD to cope with stress

As we mentioned above, CBD users often lean on CBD for stress relief. Our survey found that, as many people are using exercise for stress relief (60%), even more (70%) are using CBD to relieve stress.

76% prefer CBD over wine

Consuming alcohol is a very common way to cope with stress (especially in the US, where alcohol consumption is something of a cultural touchstone), but people’s preferences are evolving: our survey found that ¾ people prefer CBD to wine when it comes to stress relief.

83% report it helps deal with mild or temporary anxiety

With stress comes anxiety: they are often two sides of the same coin, so it’s no surprise that a huge majority of CBD users also report that CBD is an effective treatment for anxiety.

How CBD users combine CBD with exercise

Exercise is great for stress reduction, but it is a form of stress itself, and not everyone’s body can perfectly handle the strain. That’s where CBD comes in.

83% report it helps with pain after physical activity

Some sort of physical pain after exercise is common: knee pain, back pain, and other types of physical ailments can be aggravated when you’re active. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work out. CBD users have figured this out, and many use CBD in conjunction with exercise to maximize stress reduction and minimize pain.

Who is using CBD the most to cope with stress?

We asked respondents in our survey to identify their profession, age, income, and other demographics. Here are some interesting takeaways on who is using CBD.

1. Healthcare workers, who comprised 15% of respondents in our survey, and,
2. Teachers, who comprised 12% of respondents.

Considering that the heroics of healthcare workers are all the rage right now, the fact that they also comprise the largest cohort of CBD users by career is an interesting result.

Baby Boomers

So, what about age? Well, the baby boomer generation loves CBD, with nearly 44% of respondents falling between the age of 55 and 74. As a point of comparison, only 30% fall between the ages of 25 and 44. Since using CBD for physical ailments is one of the most commonly cited reasons for taking CBD, perhaps this is no surprise.

Middle-class suburbanites

Finally, let’s look at income: our survey found that over half of respondents (53%) lived in the suburbs and that CBD was most popular among those who earned $25k-$75/year (32% of respondents fell into this group).

Conclusion

Clearly, in these trying times, CBD users are relying on CBD more than ever to deal with stress and anxiety. CBD has entered into mainstream culture, and people are turning to it along with (or even above) more ubiquitous stress relievers like wine and exercise.

And who are CBD users? Nurses, doctors, and teachers; your parents and grandparents; middle-income earners and people living in the suburbs. More and more people are discovering CBD, and as the world becomes a more stressful place, perhaps this trend will accelerate.

Statistics are based on a 2020 survey conducted by CBDistillery™.