Cannabis users are often stereotyped as lazy couch potatoes satisfying their munchies with junk food. But a recent study from the University of Colorado pushes back against that generalization, highlighting how marijuana plays a role in fitness for some and how the plant can even be used as a motivational tool for exercise.

The study, published recently in the journal Sports Medicine, evaluated 42 runners and compared data points from their experiences exercising both sober and after smoking. Participants were able to choose whether the strain of cannabis they consumed was high in cannabidiol, or CBD, or tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC. The latter produces the feeling of being high; the former strain does not cause a high.

Runners booked three, 30-minute running sessions on a treadmill at the university — one to set a baseline, one sober and one stoned — and were asked questions about their motivation and pain levels, and the enjoyment and difficulty of the workout.

The majority of participants, 90.5%, reported feeling more enjoyment from the exercise after consuming cannabis, researchers found. Most also said it decreased pain (69%), increased focus (59.5%) and helped with motivation (57.1%).

Angela Bryan, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university, said the results aren’t surprising, given she recruited runners who already embrace cannabis as part of their workout routine. Still, she hopes the results will motivate others to get active.

“We have an epidemic of sedentary lifestyle in this country, and we need new tools to try to get people to move their bodies in ways that are enjoyable,” Bryan said. “If cannabis is one of those tools, we need to explore it, keeping in mind both the harms and the benefits.”

According to the study, folks don’t need to get high to reap the fitness benefits of cannabis. Participants who consumed CBD- dominant cannabis more often reported feelings of euphoria and the so-called runner’s high than those who consumed THC- dominant strains.

Even if runners had more fun while under the influence, pot did not strengthen their abilities. Less than a third (28.6%) reported that cannabis improved their performance, noting the workout felt harder and more intense. That supports findings from one of Bryan’s earlier studies, in which participants ran 31 seconds slower per mile after smoking weed.

“We know with 100% certainty that THC is not performance enhancing. If anything, it hurts performance,” Bryan said.

Experts previously believed endorphins caused the runner’s high, but newer studies suggest it could be a reaction in the body’s endocannabinoid system, Bryan said. That might be one reason cannabis enables runners to tap into positive feelings.

Bryan’s interest in cannabis and exercise dates back to the early days of legalization in Colorado. As a scientist studying how to get people to adopt healthy habits, she worried wider access to marijuana might lead to more problematic health outcomes.

In 2015, Bryan began culling existing research about cannabis users. The results shattered her misconceptions.

“From an epidemiological perspective, it turned out that not only were cannabis users not less healthy, they were more healthy. They had less incidents of Type 2 diabetes, they were less likely to be in a high BMI category. They had better waist-to-hip ratio, better insulin function — none of the things you would suspect,” she said. “When we looked more specifically into physical activity, it turned out cannabis users are more likely to meet activity guidelines than non-users.”

That inspired her to want to better understand the relationship between exercise and pot. This study is the first to measure the acute effects of commercially available cannabis on exercise in a controlled environment, she said.

Journalist Josiah Hesse said cannabis use among athletes has long been an open secret.

For his 2021 book, “Runner’s High,” Hesse spoke with more than 60 athletes about marijuana use and found it is common for professionals to indulge to enhance pleasure and vigor during training or to treat pain. Many said it helped them reconnect to their passion for sports beyond competitions and careers.

“I heard that from ultramarathon runners, who are running 250 miles through mountains for days and days, that they use cannabis in those experiences. Olympians, professional basketball players, hockey players, and they’re all telling me 60% to 70% to 80% of their fellow athletes are using cannabis,” Hesse said.

Those cultural norms have led to policy shifts in pro sports.

In 2019, Major League Baseball removed cannabis from its list of banned substances and as of 2023, players in the National Basketball Association will no longer be drug tested for the substance.

However, stigmas around cannabis use remain.

In 2021, running phenom Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended and missed the Tokyo Olympics after failing a drug test for marijuana. Though pot is largely understood not to be performance- enhancing, the World Anti-Doping Agency believes it “violates the spirit of the sport.”

“How is it that using a THC gummy before a workout violates the spirit of the sport and drinking a six-pack of beer doesn’t?” Bryan said. “It doesn’t make sense unless you think about the stigma that’s associated with cannabis that’s not associated with alcohol.”

Bryan said systemic racism has always been a driving force behind the stigma around cannabis and that its impacts are evident today.

Until recently, Bryan wouldn’t recommend using cannabis as an adjunct to exercise. But after someone pressed her about her position in the face of mounting data about the drug’s perceived benefits — medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2000 — Bryan reconsidered.

“I’ve changed my tune, I guess,” she said. “Now I view it as a potential tool in the toolbox.”

Bryan will continue studying cannabis in hopes of looking at various consumption methods like edibles and use in other sports beyond running. She and Hesse hope studies like this will encourage people to keep an open mind about the plant’s potential.

“Science like this goes a long way to eradicating those misconceptions,” Hesse said.