6 Best CBD Salves For Athletes To Soothe Muscles & Minimize Aches

Body discomfort often goes hand in hand with an active lifestyle, but the Cornbread Hemp Full Spectrum CBD Balm can help you manage. In addition to 8 mg of full-spectrum hemp CBD per serving, this salve includes organic arnica oil, eucalyptus oil, and peppermint oil—all of which have been shown to help with aches (In fact, even just smelling eucalyptus oil can help!). The formula also includes organic coconut oil and organic shea butter to help the balm glide over your skin with a moisturizing after effect. It comes in a twist-up stick for easy application and portability; you can throw it in your gym bag and go.

Sustainability & Packaging: Cornbread Hemp is based in Kentucky and uses only USDA organic hemp that’s sourced from local farmers. The brand maintains an official USDA organic certification for products and manufacturing, and packages all of its products in dark glass or plastic to maintain integrity of the ingredients.

Transparency: Cornbread Hemp uses a third-party lab to test all products for pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, microbial contaminants, and potency via a third-party lab. All COAs are available on the site.

Spruce focuses on natural, quality ingredients and this CBD Salve is a testament to that commitment. The simple ingredient list includes just five components: olive oil, shea butter, beeswax, coconut MCT oil, and full-spectrum hemp. While this salve doesn’t have active supporting ingredients (like arnica), it’s nourishing and soothing to the skin — a good fit for anyone that doesn’t like the heating and cooling effect that can come with other gels. It comes in two sizes: 0.87 ounces or 1,000 mg of CBD and 1.7 ounces or 2,000 mg of CBD.

Sustainability & Packaging: Spruce sources its own heirloom strain of hemp exclusively from two small family farms in Kentucky and North Carolina. The hemp is organically grown and extracted with moonshine, which results in a final product that’s high in CBD and terpenes, but low in THC. All products are packaged in dark glass bottles or plastic jars to prevent light breakdown of ingredients.

Transparency: All of Spruce’s CBD is third-party tested by independent labs, and the brand makes lab tests and COAs readily available on the website.

Joys Organics Organic CBD Salve has a fully organic ingredient list that includes hemp extract, lavender oil, eucalyptus oil, and beeswax. The hemp extract is broad-spectrum, meaning it contains CBD and other hemp phytocannabinoid compounds like terpenes, without any THC. Additions like lavender and eucalyptus add a fresh scent and enhance the soothing effects of the balm. 

The salve comes in two sizes: a one ounce jar that contains 500mg of CBD and a two ounce jar that contains 1,000mg.

Sustainability & Packaging: Joys Organics manufactures all of its products with proprietary strains of hemp that are grown on USDA-certified organic farms. The CBD is extracted from the flowers only, which contain the highest concentration, and extracted without harsh solvents. All products are packaged in dark glass or plastic bottles to block light.

Transparency: Joy Organics’ lab reports and COAs are available directly on the site. You can find each individual COA directly on the product page.

While full-spectrum hemp is considered the gold standard, CBD isolates are still a good choice if you want to avoid THC altogether. This CBD Relief Stick from CBDistillery combines 1,000 mg of CBD with menthol and arnica to soothe sore muscles and joints. It also has shea butter and coconut oil to help with absorption (and leave your skin feeling soft). It’s available in a no-mess stick that’s easy to throw in your bag or keep in your car, so it’s close by whenever you need it.

Sustainability & Packaging: CBDistillery was founded in Colorado in an effort to make high-quality CBD more affordable and accessible. The brand doesn’t grow its own hemp, but crops are sourced from natural farmers in the U.S. All products are packaged in light-blocking bottles.

Transparency: All of CBDistillery’s products are third-party tested for purity and potency and specific COAs are available on each product page. You can also enter a batch number for a product that you have to look up the COA.

Charlotte’s Web was one of the first companies to make CBD go mainstream, and it continues to set the standard for high-quality. This Active Sport Pain Relief Stick combines a handful of natural ingredients—600 mg of broad-spectrum hemp extract, camphor, menthol, clove oil, MCT oil, frankincense oil, honeysuckle oil, myrrh oil, and jojoba seed oil—into an easy-to-apply stick form. The formulation was designed specifically to relieve minor muscle aches, as studies show that camphor and menthol are particularly effective. 

Sustainability & Packaging: Charlotte’s Web sources organic CBD from its own small family farms in Colorado. After harvesting, the CBD is transferred to the brand’s facilities where it’s processed, manufactured, and packaged. Everything is packaged in dark or completely light-blocking bottles.

Transparency: Charlotte’s Web sends all of its CBD products to independent labs for third-party testing, and COAs are available on the website. They also follow current good manufacturing practices (cGMP).

The Populum Cold Therapy Hemp Rub combines full-spectrum hemp extract with chamomile, arnica, menthol, and aloe to provide a cooling sensation and instant relief for your joints and muscles. Each 3-ounce tube has 100 mg of CBD, and while Populum doesn’t say exactly how much to use, the brand does say a thin layer should do the trick. This paraben-free rub is made in the USA and all ingredients are non-GMO and vegan.

Sustainability & Packaging: All of Populum’s hemp-derived CBD comes from plants that are grown and processed in Colorado. The hemp is triple-tested for quality and purity to ensure that you’re getting exactly what you think you are. All products are packaged in dark amber glass or plastic bottles to protect the ingredients from degradation.

Transparency: Populum puts its products under strict in-house and third-party testing and makes all COAs available directly on the product pages.