Sometimes I feel a rush, like if I were high in a stimulant, why?

Indigo · #1 (**permalink**) July 25th, 2007, 01:51 AM

Lately I've been exercising more than what I usually do. I've been doing Cardio 3 times/week and Weights 6 times/week (working only one muscle at a time).

Anyways I sometimes get this "rush", like if I were on drugs, something like ecstasy, but much milder of course and I feel light headed. Currently I don't do any drugs or drink alcohol, I've been clean for almost 2 years. It feels good, but I was wondering if there was any explanation for this.

It happens sometimes after exercising but it also happens in the morning/noon before I have exercised.

Thanks.

maleficent · #2 (**permalink**) July 25th, 2007, 05:22 AM

Endorphin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

Endorphins are endogenous opioid biochemical compounds. They are polypeptides produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. In other words, they might work as "natural pain killers." Using drugs may increase the effects of the endorphins.

The term "endorphin" implies a pharmacological activity (analogous to the activity of the corticosteroid category of biochemicals) as opposed to a specific chemical formulation.

The term endorphin rush has been adopted in popular speech to refer to feelings of exhilaration brought on by pain, danger, or other forms of stress,[1] supposedly due to the influence of endorphins. However, this term does not occur in the medical literature.

Quote:

Runner's high

Another widely 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 and begin functioning with only oxygen. Workouts that are most likely to produce endorphins include running, swimming, cross-country skiing, long distance rowing, bicycling, weight lifting, aerobics, or playing a sport such as basketball, soccer, football.

However, some scientists question the mechanisms at work, their research possibly demonstrating the high comes from completing a challenge rather than as a result of exertion.[6] Studies in the early 1980s cast doubt on the relationship between endorphins and the runner's high. There were a couple of reasons for this doubt.

* The first was that when an antagonist (pharmacological agent that blocks the action for the substance under study) was infused (eg naloxone) or ingested (naltrexone) the same changes in mood state occurred that happened when the person exercised with no blocker.
* A second piece of evidence is much more simple. It turns out that scientists cannot make a runner's high occur in the lab with any certainty. This makes it very difficult to study, much less prove that endorphins cause the runners high.

In recent years, the connection between the "Runner's High" phenomenon and endorphins has been severed completely. A study in 2004 by Georgia Tech found that Runner's High was likely triggered by a release of another naturally produced body chemical, the endocannabinoid anandamide. Anandamide is similar to the active chemical THC in Marijuana. The body produces this chemical to deal with prolonged stress and pain from strenuous exercise, similar to the original theory attached to endorphins.

Or in simple terms from the movie Legally Blonde

Quote:

Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't.

Indigo · #3 (**permalink**) July 25th, 2007, 12:35 PM

Thanks... but I've read that the runner's high is nothing scientifically proven...

Does it happen only *while* exercising or can it happen before/after?