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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

#51

Post by dlo »

twoodfin wrote: post #46
dlo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Triathlon training really isn't just tacking together the training you would do for all three sports; this would be impossible. Instead, it is doing the same amount of training as you would do if you were doing one of the three sports exclusively. But in the same amount of training, you are training to perform three sports rather than one. This necessarily means that a triathlete is not performing to his/her ability…

> Just to add additional perspective, a good marathon time for an amateur runner is 2:30... That's not a good time for an amateur, it's an insanely good time for an amateur. The world record is currently 2:03:38. A 2:30 would have put you in 22nd place (out of 26,000!) in this year's Boston Marathon.

2:30 is an eternity away from 2:03:38.

I am not thinking of dabblers; many people will do marathons after having barely trained. The goal for these people is just to finish.

I think 2:30 is achievable for a healthy, moderately talented man who is not merely dabbling: someone who is training correctly and has put in a few years of sustained, injury-free effort.

2:30 is still very much an amateur time. For example, I think that even though 2:15 or faster is professional-caliber it is still nowhere near being competitive.

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

#52

Post by egonschiele »

After spending a couple of years exercising on and off and never really getting these gains, I have finally gotten into a routine where I exercise at least 3 times a week. I've been doing this for more than a year. Here's what I've learned from that experience:

1. Start small. It's much easier to talk yourself into exercising for 10 minutes 3 days a week.

2. Exercise at home. I hated going to a gym so I never did it.

3. Do something fun.

All of these made it much easier to exercise consistently, which was my goal. I stopped running and weight lifting and started doing yoga, cycling, rock climbing and boxing instead. I'm not ripped or anything but I have plenty of functional strength and more energy and happiness than I've ever felt before. I'd say yoga and biking give me the most long-lasting pleasure, whereas rock climbing and boxing give me a quick intense flood when I'm done with them. It's really great feeling like this...most days I feel ready to do something crazy and fun like bike to wine country for wine tasting, or spend time in a wood shop, or go to another country on a whim. Last year I felt like I peaked at going out to dinner with friends a couple times a week (and I barely had energy for that). I also don't miss the mid-afternoon lazy slump or the weeks where I'd feel like my thinking was foggy and there was no way to clear it.

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

#53

Post by kiba »

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…

If you do keep a detailed log of your workouts, what kind of actionable data does that information provide you? Do you refer back to it daily, weekly, monthly and try to optimize your workouts based on your previous history? If so, how?

I used it to run experiments for my self quantification project. I even have an work-in-progress essay about it too: http://kibabase.com/articles/self-quantification

Granted, I can't do much with a sampling of only 1 person, and I only finished one experiment after collecting 30 days worth.

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

#54

Post by nollidge »

recursive wrote: post #49
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…

There's a lot of personal (anecdotal) accounts that it's real. I don't care if it's placebo or something more sciencey. It works for many people, and it works for me.

OP never said it's not real, just that endorphins are not conclusively the cause.

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

#55

Post by twoodfin »

dlo wrote: post #51
twoodfin wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just to add additional perspective, a good marathon time for an amateur runner is 2:30... That's not a good time for an amateur, it's an insanely good time for an amateur. The world record is currently 2:03:38. A 2:30 would have put you in 22nd place (out of 26,000!) in this year's Boston Marathon.

2:30 is an eternity away from 2:03:38. I am not thinking of dabblers; many people will do marathons after having barely trained. The goal for these people is just to finish. I think 2:30 is achievable for a healthy, moderately talented man who is not merely dabbling: someone who is training correctly and has put in a few years of sustained, injury-free effort. 2:30 is still very much an amateur time. For example, I t…

Of course it's an amateur time: You're not going to win any serious marathons running a 2:30, and if you have no chance to win, you can't really be described as a "professional". But c'mon, 2:30 is an amazing time for an amateur. Obviously it's "achievable", since maybe a dozen "amateur" runners managed it in Boston this year, but it's well beyond "good", as you initially described it. It's well into the top 1% of amateur marathon runners.

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

#56

Post by desireco42 »

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…

See I never questioned this, yet this makes total sense now. Thanks for posting this, I am surprised I didn't know about this before. Kind of, opens my eyes.

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

#57

Post by desireco42 »

tomjen3 wrote: post #40
doublerebel wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My quality of life and health is much better due to regular exercise -- I don't think I could afford to not workout. It definitely has a positive impact on my business relationships as well as my motivation, and saves me a ton in healthcare expenses.

Hence the pill.

I love your idea.

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

#58

Post by sp332 »

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…

Simple logging could be part of a "Don't Break the Chain" motivational technique. http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-se...

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

#59

Post by zerostar07 »

3am_hackernews wrote: post #44
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…

As with most of the neuroscience research, there exists a counter evidence to this - Boecker, H., Sprenger, T., Spilker, M.E., Henriksen, G., Koppenhoefer, M., Wagner, K.J., Valet, M., Berthele, A., Tolle, T.R. (2008). The Runner's High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain. Cerebral Cortex DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhn013[ http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/11/2523.full ]

Other study shows that the effect is mediated through endocannabinoids not endorphins (But the effect is very real): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14625449

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

#60

Post by stdbrouw »

measuredincm wrote: post #21
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 u…

It took me about half a year of lifting to get where I wanted to be, and tracking was instrumental in achieving that. But now it's all just maintenance, so why should I track? Some people approach it like a sport (that you want to continue to get better at) and some approach it like exercise (to maintain a level of fitness) – both seem perfectly fine to me.
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