> AFAIK the brain releases endorphins or something when you exercise
People tell me this all the time, but when I exercise I just feel tired afterwards?
Maybe it only happens to people who are fit who have a history of exercising regularly?
People tell me this all the time, but when I exercise I just feel tired afterwards?
Maybe it only happens to people who are fit who have a history of exercising regularly?
> People tell me this all the time, but when I exercise I just feel tired afterwards?
Okay, to normalize the discussion, consider stationary biking. For me I get the aforementioned high only when I exercise for atleast 30 minutes.
If I do it for just 20 or 15 minutes (instead of > 30 minutes), then as you said I just feel tired rather than good. I guess there's some threshold before you start feeling good, and this is probably different for different humans. Being the petrolhead that I am, I think of it like a turbo-lag followed by the turbo-kick.
> it only happens to people who are fit
I'm definitely not fit (though I'm not obese either) :)
> who have a history of exercising regularly? No there's a tolerance thing I think, based on what I read in [1]. So in the long run you need to exercise more to get that same level of feeling good.
[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/3025957/what-happens-to-our-brai... (I don't know whether or not the person who wrote this article is an expert.)
When I get to the gym and throw some iron around, my 'good feels' come from knowing that I got out and got some of my energy worked out, and helped improve my body/got enough exercise for maintenance. I think of it as a pleasure or satisfaction that I derive from knowing that I've done something good for myself, and not so much from the physical act of exercise.
The closest I get to getting endorphins is when I get a new deadlift PR. I get to turn off my brain and (mentally) go 'ooga booga', recruit my entire posterior chain, and put all I've got into it.
But I've also overdone it a few times, and seen stars/had blurry vision/wanted to lay down for a bit after that one rep, so maybe it's just teasing that breakpoint?
(for the record, my current all-time pr is something like 295, but I'm working back up from 275. Not winning any contests lmao)
Of course, don't listen to 120 bpm music to 'energize' you while you do it. And YMMV.
To elaborate: I’ve very rarely felt endorphins from exercise. I’m in good shape, I’ve exercised a lot in the past (less so now), I even ran a marathon (not quickly).
After a short workout I do feel more awake and I like the bodily feeling of having exercised, but I’ve rarely felt any endorphin release during exercise which has pushed me forwards.
For example, the marathon I did was pure type 2 fun (fun in retrospect). However most runners I talk to say running is type 1 fun for them (fun at the time). Definitely not for me, it was miserable at the time.
And some people get a huge rush - these are the people who start to do Ironmans, Triathlons and extreme running (100km+ runs)