John Myers
It is a truism that sport is healthy for the body. But the psyche also benefits from running, cycling, swimming, and other sports. Why and how the so-called runner’s high occurs is explained below.
Fun and satisfaction through sport
Do you know that? After a stressful day at the office, you really exhausted yourself while jogging in the evening. Then a pleasant feeling of relaxation spreads: pressure, anger, and nervousness are gone. You are not alone in this feeling. It has long been assumed that sport makes people happy. Especially in endurance sports, runners report a runner’s high that they felt during long periods of exertion. What is meant is a state of absolute exhilaration that makes you forget the greatest exertion and puts the athletes in a state of “flow” – it runs almost by itself. Scientific studies attribute this euphoria to the release of endogenous substances. It has not been conclusively clarified whether these are opium-like substances such as endorphins or, in weight training, the enkephalins or the hormones dopamine and serotonin.
Regular movements during sports make you happy
Irrespective of which substances make sport happy, the rhythmic movements have a relaxing effect. “Clear your head” is one of the popular sayings that can often be heard in connection with the topic. Putting one foot in front of the other works completely automatically and you can switch off wonderfully while running and let your thoughts wander. Many people come up with good ideas when doing sports that they would not think of in everyday life. According to the same principle, cycling makes you happy and creative or swimming and dancing. With a balanced sports diet, you can take full advantage of the health benefits and do something good for your body and mind.
Less is often more
The harder you train, the more important it is to eat right after exercise. Because if you fill your stomach with hunger, you not only ruin the weight reduction you may be aiming for but also the relaxing effect of the sport. A full stomach can disturb sleep, especially in the evening. Excessive exercise can also have a negative effect. The conclusion “a lot of sport makes even happier” should be treated with caution, because regeneration should not be neglected. Anyone who is already very busy at work should not put themselves under additional pressure with a rigid fitness program. Make sure you have enough relaxation so that sport really makes you happy.
We have a special sport for you that can make you even happier. Read our article on plogging. If you want or have to do without sport altogether, you can read about how many steps a day you can take to improve your health.
