No no, I don’t have any drugs for you… but there is a way to get that feeling without “lighting up” plus many more benefits. We all have heard that running is good for us right? But do all of us take advantage of the benefits of the “runners high” our own body can bring us without equipment but just by exercising our cardio respiratory system. I understand that trying something new especially to do something that is literally meant to exhaust us is hard. Maybe after reading some of the amazing benefits that you can bring yourself, it will motivate you enough to try something new to benefit your lifestyle and quality of living. 

First off what is the runners high? For most of us it is the feeling of euphoria, feeling in the zone, or a flow state. If you haven’t experienced this you are missing out. Contrary to popular belief it is actually not caused by endorphins as they don’t even get past with the blood through the brain barrier. What endorphins do help with however is helping our muscles to not feel pain while in an activity. This “flow state” is very helpful for relieving stress as we tend to forget what is going on with “regular life” and instead focus on the singular activity we are doing in the moment. This reduces anxiety and produces a relaxed feeling because, at that point that’s the only thing that matters, your mind helps you to keep present and focused on the task at hand. Keeping you present.

Is this feeling of euphoria really even a “high” though. To answer this question we need to know what technically a high even is. Stated by Dictionary.com a high is the means of getting to a euphoric state induced by alcohol, drugs, or other external substances. Or a period of sustained excitement and or exhilaration. To me this definition makes sense. What if we didn’t need to put outside substances into our body to get this feeling though? What if it only took a little work with the added benefits of getting in shape. There have been comparisons to a runner’s high feeling like morphine, which is quite interesting, when in fact it is caused by endocannabinoids. Does that word sound/seem familiar well that’s because it is similar to what is found in cannabis but it is naturally produced in the body. Creating a feeling of reduced anxiety and relaxed feeling. So we get to that high or euphoric state without putting external substances into our bodies. Achieving this can be done by pushing yourself to a sustainable place like a 7 out of 10  so that you can keep it going for an extended period of time when doing steady-state cardio.

Besides feeling good as well as having that sense of achievement there are many other benefits to running like improving your cardiovascular health. A study done by the American College of Cardiology showed that runners had a 30% lower chance of dying from a heart-related death than those who did not run and on average lived 3 years longer. Doing cardio can also be a very useful tool when it comes to weight loss, how? Well to keep it simple weight loss comes from creating a calorie deficit, there really isn’t a shortcut. If there is a short cut burning calories through running/exercising would be that short cut. Wait! What is a calorie?! A calorie is a measurement of energy that we use when raising our heart rate, heating up our body, creating a thermodynamic effect by simply even moving or in its simplest form a quantity of food capable of producing a certain amount of energy.  How does running do this? Well, when you run you are burning calories because you need more energy by increasing your heart rate and creating a thermogenetic effect in your body using the calories we burn as energy.

I believe that we can apply the principles or mindset of cardio to many aspects of life as well. Teaching your mind and body that YOU can do something is huge. Pushing yourself to go farther than you previously thought was possible can be a great mindset to have in life. This can apply to almost everything. In my opinion, discipline is one of the most important traits to have in daily life, that can pay off big time in the long run. Running can teach you that discipline. Sure in the moment when you are breathing heavy, you’re being dragged down, and you just want to stop. It can be very grueling but you know in the end it will pay off. This can be applied to work, studying, other forms of exercise, and really anything that challenges you mentally and physically. When you finish that run your confidence soars, you prove to yourself you can push yourself past what you previously thought was possible, you are able to get past that quitting mindset. You think to yourself whats next? What else can I conquer? Pushing yourself like this will give you the confidence and discipline to keep striving towards what you want to achieve inside and outside of the exercise world.

This task is also proven to help improve memory, elevate mood, create new blood vessels in the brain increasing blood circulation, and have an antidepressant effect. Something I think that has been on a lot of peoples minds recently is the immune system. Is my immune system strong enough to fight off viruses, like COVID 19 and other external diseases? Well cardio also can also help you with that. Proven to increase circulation which gets our blood cells through the body faster attacking bacteria and other harmful cells. Raises our bodies natural core temperature helping our bodies natural immune cells work better. But sweating is gross right? Well, sweating is natural and important for releasing toxins in our body so don’t sweat it…

How to get started? Well, it is important to properly stretch before running because you do not want to pull a muscle ruining that experience for you and future experiences. We want to be able to create a habit out of working our cardiovascular system so staying healthy, limber, and healthy is important. Stretching will help your body take on the muscle contractions involved in running. There are many different ways to get in your cardio exercise some examples are; Steady-state cardio, LIIT (Low-intensity interval training), and HIIT (High-Intensity interval training). You can apply these methods of training to running, walking, biking, rowing, classes, and swimming.

The key to keep improving on your training is to keep challenging yourself with progressive overload. For example, run a little bit faster than last time, use heavier weight, and or run farther. This will ensure that you are constantly challenging your body and improving. I think it is important to also switch up your methods of cardio, keep trying new things! Some other things to help supplement your cardiovascular training can be having a partner or friend join you in your sessions, running apps like Strava or the Nike run app can help you keep track of your progress and route, fitness watches helping you time your sessions, music especially songs with high bpm (beats per minute) will helps to motivate you, focus on controlling your breathing, and drinking water as well electrolytes to keep you hydrated replacing fluids lost during a session. 

My personal experience with getting my cardio in has always lacked until recently. I’ve discovered how beneficial it can be. For me personally, running is very meditative and the carry over to other activities is huge. I never liked doing cardio until I told myself it is one of the best things I can do for myself. Now I just love the feeling of being in “the zone” and the feeling of accomplishment after

Running, in general, can be a great tool for distracting yourself from everything going on in our crazy world right now. I believe it is important to stay present and running can really help you escape from the outside world. Escape the stresses with exercise and you won’t regret the focus and health it can bring you.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684748/

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/calorie

https://news.umiamihealth.org/en/how-running-impacts-your-heart-health/