Conor McGregor has been spotted puffing on a suspicious-looking cigarette, as if he were Dan Bilzerian or something, while partying in the south of France. This has raised concerns among fans as to how seriously he is taking his next UFC fight.
Rather than swimming in a river like Khabib or running in the hills like David Goggins to improve his powers of endurance, Conor McGregor appears to be preparing for his next fight Dan Bilzerian style.
What do we mean by that? Well, the 33-year-old star, after telling fans earlier this year he would give up alcohol to focus on his return to the octagon (after a horrific leg break and some poor results of late), was recently spotted in the south of France, in a club, lighting up a rolled-up cigarette (which some people reckon is a joint).
This came after picking up his new Lamborghini yacht and drinking whiskey.
Though some fans were happy for The Notorious, (“Enjoying the fruits of your labour… You deserve it… Champ!” one wrote) others questioned if this approach would lead to success upon McGregor’s return to the UFC (see: remarks like, “So i guess there goes the training camp”).
Another Instagram user said: “You are a living legend of MMA, but you can not continue like this drinking alcohol and smoking and expect to make a successful comeback and win.”
McGregor has indicated he wants to get in the ring with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his return fight, in the hope of becoming the first-ever three-weight UFC champion.
McGregor has lost three of his last four fights, however, slipping down to No.9 in the lightweight rankings. McGregor says that despite bulking up wildly over the last year he will fight at 170-pounds in his comeback fight.
Most evidence suggests that smoking weed, despite the fact that figures like Dan Bilzerian and Joe Rogan appear to enjoy it (sometimes even before or during a workout), is really not good (if your goal is optimum athletic performance), fitness professionals have told DMARGE.
“Smoking pot and hitting the bag is, to this day, one of my all time favourite things,” Joe Rogan once said on a podcast, calling it a “psychedelic” and “cleansing” experience.
He also said that, for him, he feels “balance when you’re high, you feel like, maybe if you got an injury, you feel it more. You feel when things are off.”
“For me, I feel my transfer of power better when I’m high, like certain techniques I really get the timing of when to turn the hip over, I feel it more when I’m high. I feel the connection with the tissue, I feel it all working together.”
Joe isn’t the only ripped public figure to enjoy getting ‘ripped’ while working out. The so-called King Of Instagram, Dan Bilzerian, who owns a Cannabis company, has also posted photos of himself enjoying a little “iron and soul.”
But what does this do to your body?
To find out, DMARGE spoke to David McIntosh, founder of the Synergy Performance Institute.
“When discussing cannabis, the two main active ingredients are the focus of the conversation – THC and CBD,” David explained.
“In 2017, a systematic review was published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. The findings were not favourable for things like strength training or aerobic performance.”
“A concerning finding was a tendency to develop chest pain due to poor blood flow to the heart (angina). In 2018, the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine discussed the use of cannabis by elite athletes and again, found no convincing evidence for increased physical performance.”
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“In 2020, an article discussed the potential benefits of the CBD component alone, and highlighted there was no good evidence at the time of the article for promoting CBD, but there were potential benefits such as being anti-inflammatory and calming.”
“Also in 2020, another review of the use of cannabis by athletes found no convincing evidence for enhanced physical performance.”
“This year, an article in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found a significant deleterious effect upon athletic performance, based on more contemporary research. This included less work capacity, increased cardiac workload (leading to relative oxygen depletion in the heart), and poor balance.”
“So, with science rather than social media as our guide, it would seem sensible for those with desires for maximal athletic performance to [re]consider whether cannabis is a good choice or best avoided.”
McGregor fans better hope McGregor was just mucking around then. By the same token, maybe we should stop losing our minds over every single little thing McGregor does.
In any case, McGregor’s results in the octagon will (somewhat) soon speak for themselves…
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