A Pot-Friendly Gym Is Opening In San Francisco

No, you're not high right now — this coming fall, there will be a place where you can enjoy both weed and weight-lifting. Power Plant Fitness will be the first pot-friendly gym in San Francisco, or indeed, anywhere. Dude, I know.

Members may consume cannabis on-site, and the gym will offer its own brand of concentrates and athletic edibles for pre- and post-workout, reports the 420 Games blog. Jim McAlpine, co-founder of Power Plant Fitness with Ricky Williams, told the blog, “It won’t be a place to get high and just screw around. We are focused on the athletic side, not the cannabis side.”

McAlpine is no stranger to the marriage of fitness and cannabis. He is also the founder of the 420 Games, an all-day aerobic event, that includes biking, skateboarding, and a 4.2 (get it?) mile race held in states including California, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington. Established in 2014, the website states that the games were created to show the world that cannabis users "are NOT lazy, unmotivated or 'stoners' and to de-stigmatize the millions who use cannabis in a healthy and responsible lifestyle."

Now, McAlpine is attempting to cultivate a new image of what it means to be a pot-smoker, changing the lazy stoner stereotype one barbell at a time.

Tech Insider reports that the gym will offer support to new members on how to best ingest their pot as to aid their focus during a workout or recovery after breaking a sweat. McAlpine explained to Tech Insider in an email that, "New members will take a 'cannabis performance assessment' under the supervision of staff to determine the 'most optimal ways to consume.'"

While recreational use of cannabis is legal in California, the gym members will not be able to hit a bong while pumping iron. California and San Fransisco law prohibits smoking of any kind inside any enclosed public places. Plans are in the works to create a smoking deck in the future, but for now workout buddies will have to make due with vaping and ingesting their bud.

McAlpine believes that marijuana's image is slowly but surely changing, and soon it will be a key player in the fields of sports and physical fitness: "People and society are starting to understand that marijuana is medicine. Marijuana, if you use it in a responsible way, accentuates the parts of sports that you love and helps you to do them better." While there have been quite a few marathon runners, skiers, and cyclists stepping forward to extoll the benefits of a hit or two on performance, actual scientific studies on the subject are limited.

Publications warn that marijuana can be dehydrating, may affect motor skills, and can decrease anxiety — which has both its benefits and risks on difficult physical training. Mary Jane novices should perhaps take it easy when first attempting to introduce pot into their workout regimen. Power Plant Fitness is in the process of finalizing their lease, and set to open their SanFran doors in November, and only then will we see just how powerful this plant can be.

Images: Scott_Webb/Unsplash, The420Games/Facebook