Ranked right up there with the perfect squat and the best blender for smoothies, the “runner’s high” is one of the most elusive yet sought-after myths in modern fitness lore. But is it a real biochemical response or just marathoners trying to justify spending their whole Saturday running? The anecdotal evidence is mixed: for people who get a runner’s high it’s not only real but amazing; but for people who’ve never had one it can seem like a whole lot of hooey. Fortunately a new study in The Journal of Experimental Biology tests this out and the results are very interesting!
Q: Is the runner’s high real?
A: Researchers measured endocannabinoids (a brain chemical that indicates increased pleasure) in humans, dogs and ferrets both before and after a run. What they found was that humans and dogs both experience a large increase in the endocannabinoids after a 30-minute treadmill run. The ferrets on the other hand experienced no increase. Because ferrets. Have you seen their ugly little mugs? I don’t think they enjoy anything, frankly. Ferrets are the Joan Rivers of the animal world. Actually the researchers postulate it is because ferrets as a species are not adapted to run, especially at high speeds or for long distances. The researchers conclude that the neurobiological “reward” for endurance exercise may explain why humans continue to engage in aerobic exercise despite the extra work and injury risks.
Q: Can everyone get a runner’s high?
A: Unless you are ferret, yes. It may just not be immediately. While we all have the same brain chemicals, the researchers found that there is a tipping point for achieving the pleasure response and that point has everything to do with the intensity of your exercise. David Raichlen, the lead author, explains, “Inactive people may not be fit enough to hit the exercise intensity that leads to this sort of rewarding sensation.”
Q: Does this mean less fit runners just lose out?
A: Raichlen says that he is confident “that inactive individuals can be helped to build up their exercise tolerance until they cross the threshold where they become motivated to exercise by endocannabinoids.”
Q: How do you train to get a runner’s high?
A: Two factors influence the release of the endocannabinoids: intensity and duration. It appears that for most people they need to run a minimum of 20 minutes before they start to feel the party start. If extending your run alone isn’t helping you achieve a high then increase the intensity of your run by mixing in short sprints or tempo runs.
Q: Can I get a runner’s high from doing other stuff like dancing and weight lifting?
A: The study didn’t specifically address this question (I wish it did – can you imagine the cuteness of ferrets and pugs in tutus?!?) but I’d guess that any cardio activity that gets your heart rate over that pleasure threshold would work for “high” purposes. When it comes to weight lifting, I couldn’t find any research but there are definitely plenty of people who say that weight lifting makes them feel amazing, sometimes way more amazing than they do with cardio. While I don’t personally get the same “high” feeling pumping iron as I do dancing, I can believe that other people feel it!
Q: Do you get high?
A: For myself, I do get a high when I workout — and it has nothing to do with living in Colorado, the pot capital of America. I feel especially awesome doing any kind of cardio but it does take me about 20 minutes of running (or kickboxing or dancing) before I stop thinking about how much pain I’m in and start feeling good. Back when I first started running I would force myself to go for at least 20 minutes because I knew that even though I hated every step at the beginning, if I could hold out I’d feel amazing by the end!
Although I do feel compelled to point out that the high can be addicting and I think this played a part in my compulsive over exercising. I felt so great working out – and so crappy when I wasn’t – that I began to crave the high of exercise. I used it to mitigate my anxiety and avoid facing my real issues. So, you know, don’t be me.
Q: Have you ever done anything stupid while on a runner’s high?
A: Yep! Mostly I get super chatty – want to know anything about me ever? Ask me while we’re running together and I’ll spill my guts. There are not enough posts to describe how many completely idiotic things I have said on runs. My friends have learned to expect my obligatory “I’m so sorry please never repeat any of that” post-run text. Also, I swear race promoters take advantage of that finish line fever because suddenly I want to sign up for all the races and buy all the stuff (and steal all the salted nut rolls).
Q: How exactly do they make ferrets run on treadmills? Are there teeny tiny ferret treadmills? Do they tie them on? Do the ferrets complain about the TV only showing CNN too?
A: No seriously, I need to know.
Do you get a runner’s high? Does it come from running or from some other type of exercise? Have you ever done anything dumb on a runner’s high?
Q: How exactly do they make ferrets run on treadmills?
A: It is the usual ways: Money – self explanatory
Ideology – personal and political beliefs
Compromise – blackmail, friendship or romance
Ego – self-explanatory
Q: Do you get high?
A: From exercise and life. The first twenty minutes have never been a problem for me unless I am injured. And my high starts with the first steps and increases. Same with the gym, first set, or the heavy bag, first few seconds, then increases.
Addendum – Your statement: “So, you know, don’t be me.”
Answer: Not nearly adorable enough to be mistaken for you. And I deal with my issues WHILE I run.
Q: Have you ever done anything stupid while on a runner’s high?
A: No. But I cannot actually back that up since I have not run with another person since the fifth grade.
The philosophical question would be: Does anything stupid ever really happen if there is nobody else around to see?
What cracks me up the most is that I was a photographer at that race last year. This isn’t my picture, but I have similar ones.
Seriously?? Want me to credit you on it? I just thought the dude in jeans with his SHIRT TUCKED IN is completely awesome. I love it.
I don’t think I get the classic runner’s high. But I do get something similar but it’s a bit more. . .sinister?
I started running during my lunch break at work. Mostly it was to take advantage of good weather/daylight (when will winter END?!) and because I have to do a marathon relay come May (tick tock!). I never got a runner’s high before (when I trained for other races just running in my neighborhood). I got a bit of a sense of accomplishment (when I ran longer than I had or some such) but running at work gives me a high and I think I know why.
I’m sticking it to my clucking hen co-workers.
Yup, my runner’s high is kind of an eff you high. How’s that for mean?
I have a couple of different co-workers who are the classic “office woman on a diet” types. Always talking about how fat they are but then never really doing anything to change it and then being overly concerned when others in the office are losing weight (and bring it up all the darn time). So when I just go about my business and do my afternoon run (without a word to anyone–it’s my business, not theirs) I can’t help having a wee smirk thinking about how it must irritate those bothersome co-irkers. And I noticed when I get about 20 minutes into my exercise I do get a wee high. But I know it’s not just from the running (because I don’t run 20 minutes all at once yet, I’m only up to two streaks of 10 straight minutes).
I love that you call that “sinister”! I don’t think it’s mean – I think that there are a lot worse ways you could “stick it” to your clucking hen coworkers frankly. Just keep taking the high road (literally)!
I don’t know if you would call it a high exactly, but I’ve been a TOTAL slacker for about 6 months. (I have been doing Trim Healthy Mama and didn’t want to mask any weight loss from exercise – wanted to know if changing my WOE was actually doing anything… It was/is! My dh lost 40 and I’m down 15 {darn thyroid} but this isn’t about that…) Anyhow, I’ve been a slacker. So this morning I set my alarm and did 18 minutes of T-Tapp. It HURT. And I wasn’t exactly loving it. But then came hoe downs at the end and with it, a BIG GRIN! Suddenly I was actually having FUN and enjoying it! Maybe because I knew it was the end, but also because those are just FUN! So, yah, I got a little high this morning. Don’t tell my Bishop, k?
Congrats on your progress! I’ve learned to never diet with my husband – it’s too depressing… So glad you had a good t-tapp workout! And your secret is safe with me;)
I completely get caught up in the runner’s high…I’m quite sure that’s why I love it so much. And crave it when I’m injured. It can be a dangerous drug!
Love this post! The picture at the top made me laugh. I’ve never been passed by a guy in jeans, but I have been passed by both seniors and preteens. Seriously?
I totally get the runner’s high. I do! I’m in such a great mood and bursting at the seams with energy when I finish running, it’s not even funny! I often get it from lifting weights too, but it’s not as intense.
The stupidest thing I do while on the high is just run some more! Like I’ll stretch at the park, then sprint home! haha
Oh the preteens! Nothing beats the high school track boys though. Those kids run like gazelles and make it look effortless. I remember getting passed twice by them on an out-and-back race. I kinda wanted to yell after them “enjoy the easy life now!!!”
I totally get high, but my high is aided by excessive caffeine and catchy tunes, so it doesn’t always take 20 minutes to kick in and tends to build up gradually, getting more and more awesome rather than an on/off kinda thing.
Like you, I turn into a chatty oversharing ass who will say anything to anyone, plus I dance like a lunatic and silently shout out words to songs and punch my fists into the air while on the elliptical or treadmill. It ain’t pretty. But it’s hella fun.
This seals it. We HAVE to run together someday.
I was just reading a book that deals with this very subject: Rise of the Supermen by Steven Kotler. He calls it a “flow state”, and the book is mostly about adventure athletes (kayakers, mountain climbers, BASE jumpers, etc.) and the reason they do what they do is they are chasing a flow state. There’s also a ton of scientific data explaining the flow state in the book.
I’ve actually been in the flow state a few times when I sparred in the blackbelt division in a Tae Kwan Do tournament. I was so freaking scared that I think I pushed myself into a flow state. It was awesome: everything moved in slow motion, I knew what my opponent was going to do before they did it, when I got hit I didn’t feel pain. I won both tournaments when that happened. (Tiny, dinky tournaments – but I sucked at sparring and I also hated it with a burning passion. Plus I beat a girl I didn’t like and made her cry, so that was a bonus.)
The weirdest time I’ve ever been in a flow state was when working cows. By “working” cows I mean sorting them on foot in a corral. Sometimes I feel like I have a mental connection with the cows – I can make them move just by pointing or moving my hands in a certain way, or using body language. It’s amazing, and the few times when it’s happened I didn’t tell anyone about it, because I thought they’d laugh me off the ranch. After reading that book, I realize I just happened to be in a flow state.
I think you can be in a flow state in pretty much any activity that brings you joy. I’ve had the runner’s high one time, I’ve also had it a few times lifting weights and a few times using kettlebells (it feels almost like a meditative state in those situations), and one time on the AirDyne.
Flow is a fascinating subject, and I’d highly recommend that book. Had I not experience a flow state myself I’d say it was crazy talk. But I believe in it, and I’m not one to believe in woo-woo stuff.
Very cool! I interviewed a sports neurologist recently for an article about the Olympics and he has scientifically observed the “flow state” in his lab. So I totally believe it! I would love to be able to move in and out of it at will though. I keep hearing mediation helps with that – I really need to get on board with that!
Thanks for the book rec – I’ll check it out!!
Great post – yes I do get runner’s high which is why I run, but I can’t run on treadmills. Now I know why! It makes me feel like a ferret, and I don’t want to be a ferret.
I think it’s worth pointing out that it is NOT endorphins that give us this feeling (these molecules are too big to cross the blood-brain barrier) but instead our bodies’ own self-manufactured pot. How cool is that? Next time someone asks you if “it’s the endorphins” just tell them your body is making its own weed and that’s why you’re hooked.
Question – is this also why we eat too much post-run? Or crave a cold beer?
Hahah maybe that’s why I hate treadmills too! And good point about the endocannibanoids! Not sure how that correlates to post-run snacking though… do I feel a double-blind experiment for this, lol?
I sure do. When running or dancing. It’s so nice when it happens to happen.
Now I want to pet a ferret…
When I’m done running, I feel so HAPPY and motivated to take on the day. I am NICER after a run. I am nice in general… but extra nice after I’m done running. 🙂 I don’t think I’ve ever done anything stupid while on a runner’s high… but it definitely makes me more bubbly!
I <3 runner's high. Sadly, it's not predictable. I can run 10 miles one day and feel absolutely bleh, and then run 10 miles another day, and feel AWESOME and PUMPED and OMG at the end. Also, I get get some endorphin love from swimming or biking, but it's never quite as good. If I'm injured and can't run, I REALLY get cranky even if I can bike and swim.
Probably the single reason I continue to run… runners high. At my age, there is no other appropriate method of getting high– I do want I can to get by.
Seriously, talking while running? I will sure end up in Hospital. I have serious example to prove that. My girl friend. she was doing the same and all in a sudden tripped on a stone and end up in hospital. I get the point of music but talking only on the phone focusing on the road.
That 20 minute threshold explains why the first couple of miles you feel like dying and not so bad for the rest of it!
I know I sure can get a high when doing a strength workout. I also get the same way with a good ski day. I think it’s because, as we exercise, we know how hard and rare it is to feel like all of the pieces come together. The weather, the energy, the focus, there are so many things that have to go just right. When it does it’s like a perfect storm of emotions, physical pleasure and enjoyment.
I don’t get what I would call “high” while I run, but I do get an incredibly calm, almost sedated feeling post-run. That is why I run. That endorphin-induced sedation, it chills me the heck out.
Now, dancing is another story. A good dance class or a night out dancing does give me a what I would call a high. I wonder there though if it’s not really about the exercise, but instead about the music and the exhibitionism, because I also get a high from Karaoke. Other people have to get high just to do Karaoke in the first place; for me, belting out a Madonna song in a room full of strangers is the high!
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The very first time I ran 18 miles I felt AMAZING at the end. Total runner’s high. In fact, I was in such good spirits that I agreed to accompany my husband on a search for some obscure tool that took us all over Chicago’s western suburbs. You should have seen me crash a few hours later.