
Scientists have discovered why running makes you happy - kungfudoi
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/01/scientists-have-discovered-why-running-makes-you-happy/
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dorfsmay
I'm another person who hates running but do it moderately as it's a very
efficient form of exercise.

I also do intermittent fasting, which also change you leptin levels. One thing
I've noticed is that I have less hunger pangs when fasting when I can do a run
in the middle of the day.

Also, I find it easier to find motivation to exercise when fasted than not. As
a matter of fact, I only run on days I fast these days. There was another
article earlier this week about this study which says exactly that and
theorise that it might be an evolutionary thing, if you're skinny and hungry,
you need to hunt, if you're satieted and fat, you're OK with just napping for
a while.

*edit: Adding the article [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=h...](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.science-et-vie.com%2F2015%2F09%2Fle-plaisir-qui-suit-une-bonne-course-depend-de-la-satiete%2F)

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yodsanklai
> I'm another person who hates running but do it moderately as it's a very
> efficient form of exercise

Interesting point of view! Many people run despite the harm it may cause (esp.
to their knees and back) because they love to run. But if you remove enjoyment
out of the equation, I assume there are other forms of exercises that are
safer and as "efficient" as running.

~~~
dorfsmay
Everything about running is efficient:

\- you can't cheat and ignore it, you run or you walk (you can coast while
biking, you can swim slowly, etc...)

\- you can open your door and star running. Mist other sports, you need to go
somewhere before you start doing the sport (swimming pool, mountain, dojo,
etc...)

\- no other sport I have done build cardio in a few weeks like running does.

Keep in mind that I don't try to promote running, I literally hate it, I just
enjoy the results given the low time investment.

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douche
Running isn't terribly efficient. I can walk at the same rate that most people
jog, and I use half as much energy.

~~~
kbenson
The assertion is that it's an efficient _exercise_ , not an efficient form of
movement. It's actually an efficient exercise because it's less efficient in
terms of movement than alternatives (which were listed).

~~~
douche
It's boring, painful, and promotes over-use injuries. Most people don't wear
proper shoes, or run with proper form, putting extra stress on their joints or
striking on their heels.

Endurance running isn't great training for anything besides endurance running
- any sort of sport-based activity includes lots of short sprints, lateral
changes in direction, back-pedaling, jumping, not extended straight-line,
moderate-pace running. If pure cardio is what you want, jumping rope is more
efficient.

~~~
dorfsmay
I think jumping rope is even more boring than running + you can cheat by
slowing down.

I have seriously looked into "running properly" and have tried to run barefoot
a lot (which forces you to not heel-strike etc...) but I'm in a cold climate
and it physically impossible ot run barefoot in the winter, and I never
managed to get used to pebbles!

I keep my distance to about ~ 21 km / week max (typically less), which I am
thinking is low enough not to do too much damage.

All other form of sports you are talking about require me to go somewhere,
etc... which burns a lot of time. I enjoy other sports (hiking, swimming,
skiing to certain extent, used to sail and do martial arts, ice skating) when
I can, but not as regularly, and I'll argue not enough, because of time
constraint.

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joshrotenberg
There are at least a few great shoes out there that will let you run with
(more) proper form and still give you some protection from the cold and rocks.
Have you given any of them a try? Admittedly, you'll never have as good form
in a shoe, but you can get close.

~~~
dorfsmay
Yes, I use slightly oversized Vivo barefoot running shoes.

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JacobAldridge
Yet another tale of mice and assumptions, as best I can make out. Of course,
I'm one of those runners who never gets this mythical (to me) high - even when
I was super active (3 runs of about an hour each per week) I hated doing it
(tldr - basic running is cheap exercise).

I know people who love to run and talk about the high because they take it for
granted all runners have it. Now they can blame my leptin levels!

~~~
bane
I hate running so much that, when I was younger and had to choose a more
agreeable form of fitness, I took up Chinese Kickboxing (Sanda). Yes, I prefer
getting kicked in the face to running, about the most intolerable form of
exercise I know.

I wish I could get that joy from running, but my entire body hurts, from the
inside-out, when I do it. It made it hard to get good cardio training when I
was training for a fight, I usually substituted lots and lots of swimming,
which I find far more enjoyable and seems to do a better job of training
cardio without injuring joints you'll need later.

~~~
mistersquid
I love running and agree swimming is better for the joints, but the cardio
workout I get from swimming is not comparable to what I get from running.
While I'm a very good swimmer, it's harder for me to reach the same level of
exercise intensity in water versus on land.

With the recent biking renaissance here in the US (which means easy
availability of high-quality parts and more widely-adopted standards for
equipment) and due to my consistently sustaining muscle injuries after 30
years of running, I've turned to biking to maintain cardio.

Cycling is much easier on the joints and easier (for a runner like me) to
achieve and maintain intensity, though it does have its hazards. (Accidents
will happen.)

Back on topic, I don't get the same kind of "high" biking as I do running. The
biking high feels more adrenaline-based, laced as it is with anxiety,
aggressiveness, and irritability. Running for me induces a more blissful
harmonious state of consciousness than does cycling.

YMMV

~~~
tmuir
What kind of cycling do you do? I don't like riding near cars, so I do almost
all of my riding in parks and forests. When I do ride around cars, I can never
maintain a good pace. I'm constantly stopping for intersections.

On the other hand, when I'm on a trail, The anxiety of contending with cars is
gone, and I can keep a high pace for much longer.

The best is mountain biking on single track. No cars, no sign of civilization,
just wilderness.

~~~
antod
I find mountain biking also is also a bit better for core and upper body
fitness than road cycling as there is a lot more variation in movements eg
obstacles, drops, grade changes etc. Apparently the extra bumpiness also help
avoid the bone thinning effects of road cycling - but that is probably
completely negated by full suspension bikes these days.

Alas due to circumstances, I've swapped MTBing for cycle commuting. I can no
longer say I enjoy riding bikes - but it still beats public transport or being
stuck in traffic.

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gauravagarwalr
"Your ad blocker is on." No I do not have a adblock installed. I have a hosts
file which removes the worst tracking sites over the internet.

On top of this, they have a Subscribe wall. Who exactly runs
washingtonpost.com? And why do they need to get personal with me?

Moreover is the content going to add to anything more than we know about
endorphins all ready?

~~~
slfnflctd
It's a very short article describing this preliminary finding:

"...people with lower fat-adjusted leptin levels, such as high-performance
marathon runners, could potentially be more susceptible to the rewarding
effects of running and thus possibly more inclined to exercise."

That's basically it. Some folks get more of a 'high' from exercise than
others. Big news, right? While I love the research, the way that page
redirects and all the ads it's serving up (21 just now) are complete bullshit,
and the information in the 'article' is not at all worth bothering with it in
my opinion.

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JoeAltmaier
Which also gives lie to the title, claiming that _I_ would get benefits. Until
I become high-performance _and_ a marathon runner, I get nothing.

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bitL
Long-distance running makes me feel absolutely horrible, with Tabata 4 minute
sprints after 3 minutes I can't feel my legs anymore and I can sleep after
drinking 5 cups of strong coffee - does it mean my body is wrong or another
scientific article is? I do running because my body needs it but hate it
profoundly, and together with long cold showers and weightlifting it's about
training my will to overcome unpleasantness to the point of torture. Only once
in my life I got runner's high, and it wasn't anything special.

On the other hand, how to change your body to get the leptin response
mentioned in the article? If it is genetic, am I out of luck and these kinds
of exercise will make me feel horrible all the time?

~~~
venomsnake
Anecdotally I have observed that there are two groups of people. Runners and
lifters. The one love all kinds of explosive strength exercises, the other low
intensity high volume. Sprinters are lifters btw.

~~~
sleazebreeze
As a lifelong exerciser, this squares with my observations as well. I'd
include biking in the running category too.

Personally, I get no pleasure from long runs and find them to be incredibly
painful and hard to recover from. Whereas being under a barbell in a squat is
my happy place.

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INTPenis
What about this
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14625449](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14625449)
...

and this
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22442371](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22442371)
?

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sqldba
Wondering if walking or other exercise triggers the same thing then.

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elorant
It does for me. But I've noticed that it only works if I go for a walk early
in the morning. There is a tranquility in the morning which I can't find in
any other time during the day.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
I find where I walk makes a big difference, it's much better if I can avoid
any traffic.

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z3t4
If you do not like "running" you could try sprinting instead! Or lifting
weights. I hate running, but love sprinting. Sure it feels nice when you jog
and it feels like you could go on for hours, but compare that to the "pump"
witch feels like an orgasm.

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tomcam
Not being funny, but no form of cardio makes me happy. I always feel way worse
afterwards. I have never experienced any kind of endorphin high that I know of
from exercise.

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orthoganol
For those with an ad blocker, just click the 'x' to stop loading the page
before it redirects and you can read the article.

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downandout
Interestingly, I clicked over from a Google search for the title, and got an
interstitial demanding my email that I could not dismiss. I am pretty sure
that's a violation of Google's cloaking rules since there is no way to dismiss
it. Here's hoping they get deindexed or at least penalized, but I won't hold
my breath.

~~~
flavor8
You can inspect element and hide the popover div. There's probably an
extension out there that does this automatically.

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kstenerud
I hate running. I've always hated running. I run 6 miles once a week, and I
listen to music just to distract myself from how godawful boring it is. But I
have to keep doing it or else I'll run out of steam halfway through a boxing
round and get my ass handed to me.

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Gravityloss
"It's not all in your mind - it's leptin."

I sense Descartes here.

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ck2
Um, we've known about running endorphines for decades?

first result for google is eight years ago

[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/health/nutrition/27best.ht...](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/health/nutrition/27best.html?_r=0)

scientific studies from 1996
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC474733/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC474733/)

~~~
xlm1717
Well, now instead of endorphins, they can say leptins.

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phaed
Open in incognito window.

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bad_user
Why?

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dlubarov
It's a quick way of temporarily disabling any ad blocking plugins, to avoid
being redirected to

> Your ad blocker’s on. But don’t block out great journalism. Subscribe today!

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adynatos
i thought it was because of elevated anandamide levels

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jimhefferon
Sounds pretty thin.

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thaumasiotes
related (ok, not actually related, but funny):
[http://www.savagechickens.com/2008/04/endorphins.html](http://www.savagechickens.com/2008/04/endorphins.html)

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jtaylor100
Articles that have titles like "Scientists have proven that ___ will make your
life perfect" I find are often misleading.

