Vaping is so hot right now and no, I'm not talking about eJuice vapes—I'm talking about vapes that take dabs.
Vaping is steadily being incorporated into everyday routines across the spectrum of ages: Moms are reading and doing pilates while vaping. Grandpas are fishing and vaping. Dads are golfing and vaping, and Millennials (21+) are playing sports and vaping.
No longer must we mix sweat and tears in a jarringly sober, physically traumatic event three times a week. Now, we can vape.
Wait, what? Potheads are into fitness?! Hell yes we are. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to successfully use dabs to get your butt to the gym and make it a therapeutic experience.
It's healthier than smoking.
You can put all kinds of dabs in a vape with an atomizer like wax, oil, shatter, budder, crumble, live resin, hash, and honey oil (or BHO, a/k/a butane hash oil). I love having the freedom to take it with me in my pocket without anyone knowing about it or smelling it.
I don't go to the gym sober because then I'll do five minutes on the treadmill and leave. When I'm high, I'll stay and work out for over an hour and figure out what I want to do with my life.
Smoking herb gives me heavy lungs when I exercise, and I can get wheezy (as do many asthmatics), so vaping is the perfect workaround. I even vaped before my first 5k in Las Vegas and crushed it as a result. I literally had no idea I was running a race. Highly recommend!
I prefer the strain Super Lemon Haze because it is chock full of pinene, a terpene that is known to be a bronchodilator, meaning it helps open the bronchioles in the lungs for more oxygen intake. See, there's science behind this behavior.
Be sure to get good stuff.
Don't buy shitty dabs. How do you know if it's shitty? These days the buzz words you want to hear to make sure your dabs aren't shitty are solvent-free and winterized. These designations involve an expensive extraction process that fully removes whatever element was added to help liquify the dried cannabis (butane, nitrogen or CO2). Sometimes raw terpenes are added back into the mix for extra potency, smell and effects.
Reputable companies are transparent about their extraction processes, but many shops still buy dabs from homeboys who made them with ovens in their garages. The shoddy stuff will quite literally burn your lungs and throat if you dab it. Also, lots of these homeboys are blowing themselves up in the process.
You pay more for the good stuff because the equipment costs more, thus more overhead. Economics, baby. If the dab sizzles and pops on your rig, you've got some extra gunk in there that you don't want on your concentrates. Lipids, mite sh*t, etc. Shop carefully and spend more if you have to.
Remember, you can't always tell good dabs by look and smell; some strains are darker upon extraction and aren't necessarily filled with junk. Cartridges are a different animal entirely. While very discreet and handy, they are usually much less potent and don't give you the fast high that a dab hit will.
Get a good vape pen and/or dab rig.
What you use to take a dab is almost as important as the dab itself! My personal favorite for portable dabs is the Platinum by CloudV (comes with its own nifty case). The Platinum uses a ceramic atomizer on a battery design that fully melts your product.
You want ceramic in an atomizer because it conducts heat evenly, doesn't hold the flavor of the last thing you dabbed, and doesn't allow residue. You don't waste product or mix them when you add more, thus avoiding inhaling harmful retained particles. Stainless steel is good for convecting; so using it in a dry herb vape is sensible, but don't dab on stainless steel.
In a rig, domes should be ceramic or porcelain. Always wait a hot second after torching your nail before you put your dab on it so you don't burn out the fuel. May I suggest if you take a legit dab hit that you walk to the gym or ride with a friend? Vaping in the parking lot after you've already driven to the gym is much safer, in the realm of traffic accidents. Please be safe.
Treat yourself right, have a routine.
Like I said, don't take a huge dab and then drive. My trick is to drive to the gym (or hike or race) and sit in my car vaping for a minute jammin' out to some tunes before going in. About six hits and I'm good and ready to force myself up and start walking before I melt into my car seat.
If anyone tries to talk to me at the front desk, the interaction will be weird with a beard. I'm in between dimensions and can't communicate well when I'm dabbed out. I hustle up to a cardio machine (usually StairMaster or elliptical), put my headphones in and lose my sense of being as I become the music and do a minimum of 15 minutes of cardio without realizing it.
Sometimes I get so focused on whatever's in my head that I'll do too much. I know I'll be sore the next day. I drink water. A lot.
Then I move to weights (highly recommend you don't start with lifting! let your brain wander a bit during cardio first).
Remember there will be peaks and valleys as you come in and out of waves of euphoria during your workout. Sometimes an anxiety wave will hit me just after my pulse picks up. I'll be like, “Oh God why am I even trying to do anything with my life?!” A few minutes later, I'm fine and back into my rhythm.
Know it's coming, then you'll know you can get through it. Drink water. Eat afterward. Wait a while before you smoke again. Drink water. I find that the high-THC content and sativa terpenes prevent me from getting post-workout nausea like I do when I'm sober. After an hour workout vape routine, I'm left feeling energetic and accomplished and barely high. Get into it.
TL;DR: pick a good sativa strain, buy quality dabs, get a good vape, drink water, don't drive, pump some iron, drink water. Fin.
This post originally appeared on The Kind.
Citations: Why Vaping Before The Gym Us The Smartest Thing Ever (The Kind)
