Archive for June 2011

Have you ever finished a workout, and even through you were exhausted, you felt like a million bucks? You can thank endorphins for that.

en·dor·phin

noun /enˈdôrfin/ endorphins, plural Any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of physiological functions. They are peptides that activate the body’s opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect.

Wikipedia explains what a “Runner’s High” is:

Runner’s high

A publicized effect of endorphin production is the so-called “runner’s high“, which is said to occur when strenuous exercise takes a person over a threshold that activates endorphin production. Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts, when the level of intensity is between moderate and high, and breathing is difficult. This also corresponds with the time that muscles use up their stored glycogen. During a release of endorphins the person may be exposed to bodily harm from strenuous bodily functions after going past his or her body’s physical limit. This means that runners can keep running despite pain, continuously surpassing what they once considered to be their limit.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, researchers in Germany reported on the mechanisms that cause the runner’s high. Using PET scans combined with recently available chemicals that reveal endorphins in the brain, they were able to compare runners’ brains before and after a run.^[11]

It is also suggested by many^[who?]that endorphins are some of the many chemicals that contribute to runner’s high; other candidates include epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine.

Previous research on the role of endorphins in producing runner’s high questioned the mechanisms at work, their data possibly demonstrated that the “high” comes from completing a challenge rather than as a result of exertion.^[12] Studies in the early 1980s cast doubt on the relationship between endorphins and the runner’s high for several reasons:

• The first was that when an antagonist (pharmacological agent that blocks the action for the substance under study) was infused (e.g. naloxone) or ingested (naltrexone) the same changes in mood state occurred as when the person exercised with no blocker.

• A study in 2003 by the Georgia Institute of Technology found that runner’s high might be caused by the release of another naturally produced chemical, anandamide.^[13][14] The authors suggest that the body produces this chemical to deal with prolonged stress and pain from strenuous exercise, similar to the original theory involving endorphins. However, the release of anandamide was not reported with the cognitive effects of the runner’s high; this suggests that anandamide release may not be significantly related to runner’s high.^[14]

I don’t know about you, but I’m grateful for endorphins. During a hard grueling workout or long draining run I’m very well likely to say to myself “I am NEVER doing this again!”… and then those beautiful endorphins kicked in and I’ve suddenly forgotten all the crazy pain my body has just endured and now I’m feeling strong and confident, and ready for my next race or workout. It’s crazy how we were designed, but it all makes beautiful sense, right?

So what workouts do you have planned this week? Any that you’re dreading? Just know that after that hardcore workout, you’ve got some awesome feeling endorphins that are going to flood your body and take away all those ill feelings towards your muscles.

Have you ever experienced a runner’s high? When was it?