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What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

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Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#21

Post by measuredincm »

ZanderEarth32 wrote: post #8

Good post, but I think there is too much emphasis in general on tracking and logging workouts. I find the whole tracking and logging weights, reps and feelings while working out to be daunting and pointless. Maybe it's because I am not a "I'm going to start working out and dieting" type person, rather I just live a healthy lifestyle by design. I don't "diet", I just try to eat healthy in general. I don't have a "work…

Tracking your workouts is important for debugging later - if you're not getting the results you want, how can you figure out the issue if you don't know what you've been doing?

If your goal is "general health" and you're doing okay, you're lucky (or you should set harder / more specific goals!) But as an example, I thought I was eating well, but when I started tracking my calories for a few months, I realized I had underestimated my daily calorie intake by about 400 calories, and I was still eating way too many carbs for what I considered to be a "low-carb" diet.

I'm also on Fitocracy (was using spreadsheets before) to track weightlifting - tracking is a necessity for lifting IMO.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#23

Post by pdog »

nodata wrote: post #6
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #3

> If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. That's exaggerated. It's simply a reaction to increased level of effort. It's not always a full-fledged fight-or-flight response, unless it's a quite strenuous type of exercise. > The first 20 minutes of moving around, if someone has been…

>> all of those things come in in the first 20 minutes of being active. > Makes sense Does it? I'd say the last twenty minutes of exercise is what counts - it's the difficult part.

Mentally, the first twenty minutes matter most. Physically, it's the last twenty minutes.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#24

Post by Florin_Andrei »

nodata wrote: post #6
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #3

> If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. That's exaggerated. It's simply a reaction to increased level of effort. It's not always a full-fledged fight-or-flight response, unless it's a quite strenuous type of exercise. > The first 20 minutes of moving around, if someone has been…

>> all of those things come in in the first 20 minutes of being active. > Makes sense Does it? I'd say the last twenty minutes of exercise is what counts - it's the difficult part.

The last 20 minutes matter if your goal is performance, or muscular hypertrophy. Then yeah, those last few reps, done through clenched teeth and sweat dripping in your eyes, are the ones that matter.

If it's for health and well-being, it's the fact that you're doing anything at all - hence "the first 20 minutes" rule.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#25

Post by espeed »

krrrh wrote: post #5

The book Spark by John Ratey is a decent read for anyone who wants to go more in-depth on this topic. The big idea that Ratey tries to get across is a reframing of exercise as something that is essential to mental health, with positive physical side-effects. There's been a lot of work recently tying exercise to increased neuroplatisity that's covered as well.

Yes, I just read this book and wholly recommend it.

John Ratey is a famous Harvard psychiatrist who wrote Driven to Distraction. In Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-B...), he explains how intense aerobic exercise, like sprints or interval training, will generate the fuel that grows your brain and makes you smarter, and puts your brain chemicals in balance to improve learning esp if you have a history of partying, stress, anxiety, etc.

I have been running several miles a day for a few months, and then last week I started running sprints and noticed an immediate effect.

This is the routine I've been doing: I've been running in a field about the size of a soccer field. To start off I jog half the soccer field and then on the second lap I sprint the length of the field (about 50 yards) and then jog the remaining part. Then walk a lap to catch my breath. So one interval is three laps -- one jog, one jog/sprint, one walk -- at first I did that 4 times, and then increased it to 5, 6, 7, as you get better. When you sprint, just pump your arms and run as fast as you can. Do that 3 times a week -- every other day to let your brain and body recover. On off days, jog a few miles. He gives more details in the book.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#26

Post by gbaygon »

bazzargh wrote: post #17

Endorphins? Where's the link to the science? http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--1102-... quote: "I believe this endorphin in runners is a total fantasy in the pop culture," said psychobiologist Huda Akil, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan. The endorphin theory had several problems, the most serious being that endorphins are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier that border-patrols…

A sentense that begins with "I believe..." may not be the best example of science,

a better way to express himself could have been "[X] study has demonstrated...".

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#27

Post by Void_ »

bazzargh wrote: post #17

Endorphins? Where's the link to the science? http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--1102-... quote: "I believe this endorphin in runners is a total fantasy in the pop culture," said psychobiologist Huda Akil, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan. The endorphin theory had several problems, the most serious being that endorphins are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier that border-patrols…

It's one of those "life hacks" articles, I wouldn't expect too much science behind it.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#28

Post by jusben1369 »

mbesto wrote: post #7

A year and a half ago I started doing triathlons and moved all the way up to doing a full Ironman this year. Due to the amount of training involved it's an awesome motivator to get you in shape and control your daily plan. Highly recommend it (even if just doing sprint/olympic/half distance) to anyone looking for a structured approach to staying healthy. I also think it's a great way for entrepreneurs to exercise the…

OH: "You can be good at 2: Triathlons, Career, Spouse/Family - you choose". The single biggest difference between training for a triathlon and training for a single event (Marathon, Cycling century etc) is the sense of "false urgency" a triathlon creates to justify your need to sacrifice other areas of your life to train. Missing a day's training because you have to travel, attend a critical event for friends or family, or work all day on a critical project is problematic if you're training for a single event. However, when training for a Tri it's catastrophic because "That'll be 4 days from my last ride/swim/run!" That pressure is really the secret sauce of Tri's over other endurance sports. It's why you can sort of pick whom out of your exercising friends will go down the Tri route vs stay single sport dedicated.

I have no issue with folks dedicating themselves to do a triathlon. Maybe you do one a year and everyone understands what you're up to and supports you for 12 weeks etc. That's not how it often works though. I do think it's odd that society glorifies what is really obsessive/compulsive behavior that takes over much of the waking day for the participant and materially impacts their relationships with those around them. And no one who has actually done a triathlon here can honestly tell me it isn't the first thing they think about when they wake up and doesn't impact how they schedule their work and social calendar every day vs the other way around. Well(they can but that would be the denial part that comes along with the behavior.

Re: What happens to our brains when we exercise and how it makes us happier

#29

Post by Munksgaard »

trafficlight wrote: post #14
enraged_camel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use the Fitocracy iPhone app to keep track of the weight and number of reps for each exercise. It helps me push myself to get better. For example, if I deadlifted 300lbs for 5 reps last week, then this week I shoot for 305 x 5. I find that this type of tracking is the only reliable way to make progress. Plus, it's great motivation.

My wife is obsessed with Fitocracy. She hates missing a workout, and, because of her, I consistently go to the gym, too.

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