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Endorphins exercise values good enough, thanks for the discussion!
Doug Freyburger wrote:
The leads me to a question: If you've never felt any pleasure from exercise, how have you ever stuck to a plan? Or *have* you ever stuck to a plan? No matter what I attempt, I go about 4 months and get so bored I quit. It does not matter in the least that I do fine in those 4 months. I feel better, so? I can feel better by doubling my brocolli helpings. I stuck with the plan while I was training for soccer, but now I live in Chicago and even if I could find a 40's league it would only meet 4-5 months per year ... Luna wrote: I used to walk and jog for exercise, and I never felt a high from it, in fact I felt the opposite. I felt nauseated and I hurt everywhere and I was choking for air and I'd have a pounding headache for hours afterwards. I learned after joining Curves that the level of intensity I was used to was way too high, my heart-rate was off the chart the first time I worked out. I don't go strictly by the chart now, those numbers are just averages, but as long as I keep the intensity as high as I can while still being able to talk, I actually do get a high afterwards. I have tried various exercises that I did go overly intense and I did get pounding heart and so on. But when I was in training for soccer in high school I was in good enough shape that I could jog around the world without a pounding heart yet I got no pleasure until I was on the field and I think it was the competition or the game not the movement then. When I was in bootcamp the same situation was true by the end; I was in good enough shape that none of the exercises but a long run got me winded but there was no pleasure. So that's a pitfall for me but it isn't the whole answer. Robyn Rosenthal wrote: I do not enjoy lifting weights. I do not enjoy HIIT cardio. However, I dislike exercise far less than I dislike being weak & saggy & flabby. Okay. I guess it's a matter of scale. I'm in good enough shape that I don't break a sweat if I walk 3 miles in an hour. It takes at least 4 in an hour to sweat at all by the end of it. So while I constantly preach "walking really is exercise" and "you don't need to go to the gym for it to count as exercise" I'm in that trap a bit myself. M Shirley Chong wrote: Do you ever have an endorphin rush? Different people vary but almost everyone does. Is there any activity (not necessarily exercise) that makes you feel giddy, happy, exhilerated, raises your pain threshold and lifts your mood? Good point. Driving too fast (might be way I like ice skating, the wind in my face), certain head to head competitions where it's a game I like for its own sake, assorted activities alone with my wife. If you can experience an endorphin rush in any way, you can probably experience one via exercise. The trick is to figure out what type of exercise triggers it for you. So now I have a homework assignment. Chuckle. Thanks. For some people, the idea that they will be healthier as they age is motivation enough Yeah, it is a matter of degrees I think. If you learn well from books, an excellent resource is SELF-DIRECTED BHEAVIOR: Self-Modification for Personal Adjustment by David L. Watson and Roland G. Tharp. It's not about exercise, it's a book about how to motivate one's self by using self analysis and the principles of operant conditioning. It's not a difficult read although it is used on the college level as a textbook. I do learn well from books and this sounds like the ticket. Thanks for the second homework assignment. Amazon time! Roger Zoul wrote: Are the presence of endorphins thought to be related to some gene? Level not presence. I think. As M Shirley Chong's questions led me down that path there are some non-exercise related situations that trigger them for me. So the goal is to figure out how to mesh triggering situations with activity. Do you look better? Are you stronger and better? Do those things even matter to you? .... Sounds like a value system or lack of one, to me. If you don't find value in the benefits that exercise can bring, then you won't do it for very long. Good point. It seems to be a matter of scale. I'm in good enough shape that I can walk and walk and walk, so I'm in better shape than a lot of folks who still have lots to lose. But I'd *like* to be in *bette*r shape. So how much do I want to be in *better* shape that I'm willing to put in consistant effort for it? I deliberately park as far as I can in the parking lot at work and I take the stairs in the several transitions to get to my desk. If I was winded by the end of that 6-7 minute trek I'd be a lot more motivated to get into good enough shape. But I'm already in "good enough" shape for that. I walk 15-25 minutes per day just as a part of how I park and go from point A to point B. A lot more minutes at least weekely. Walking with my wife. If she sets the pace it does not matter how far or how fast. I will not sweat or breathe hard. If I set the pace about half way through she sits on a park bench and waits for me to return. I have to walk that much extra faster to be able to sweat or breathe hard walking. And that means I'm at a point where value systems are the issue. I have enough value on "good enough" that I'm in "good enough" shape. Now I'm at the point where I'm past the emotional do-it-or-else issues. Now I'm at the point were I intellectually think I should be in even better shape than merely "good enough". And I've tried to act on the basis of intellect alone and I've been able to maintain that for stints of 4 months each time I've made the attempt. I've spent 4 months moving from "better than flabby but not appearing strong" to looking strong. And without an activity that gives pleasure on its own, the boredom of the effort has outweighed the extra conditioning. It's a cycle I've been through numerous times. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion, folks. Doug Freyburger, on Atkins since 1999-06-21 |
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Endorphins exercise values good enough, thanks for the discussion!
Hey, Doug, I thought of something to ask you. I used to know someone who
claimed to have a medical problem (can't remember what she called it) where her body would not produce enough endorphins, so whenever she got hurt, even a splinter, it would be really intense pain that would last a long time. Does this happen to you too? -- -Michelle Levin (Luna) http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna |
#3
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Endorphins exercise values good enough, thanks for the discussion!
Luna wrote:
Hey, Doug, I thought of something to ask you. I used to know someone who claimed to have a medical problem (can't remember what she called it) where her body would not produce enough endorphins, so whenever she got hurt, even a splinter, it would be really intense pain that would last a long time. Does this happen to you too? I don't appear to lack endorphins completely as I have a high enough pain threshold. The level of release seems to be below normal because of the lack of exercise high, but not zero. Thanks for the discussion. Educational. |
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