Yes, Running Can Make You High

[RedEarth]

THE runner’s high: Every athlete has heard of it, most seem to believe in it and many say they have experienced it. But for years scientists have reserved judgment because no rigorous test confirmed its existence.

...........

The runner’s-high hypothesis proposed that there were real biochemical effects of exercise on the brain. Chemicals were released that could change an athlete’s mood, and those chemicals were endorphins, the brain’s naturally occurring opiates. Running was not the only way to get the feeling; it could also occur with most intense or endurance exercise.

The problem with the hypothesis was that it was not feasible to do a spinal tap before and after someone exercised to look for a flood of endorphins in the brain. Researchers could detect endorphins in people’s blood after a run, but those endorphins were part of the body’s stress response and could not travel from the blood to the brain. They were not responsible for elevating one’s mood. So for more than 30 years, the runner’s high remained an unproved hypothesis

But now medical technology has caught up with exercise lore. Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/health/nutrition/27best.html?ex=1207281600&en=9c35817cac23ff29&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY

Any type of cardio activity certainly gives me a "runner's high"...I feel better, sleep better and it makes it a whole lot easier to keep the weight off...I do cardio at least 20 minutes every day and have been for the last 30 years.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. How about running after smoking a doob?

:D

[Mabus]

2. I'd rather smoke a doobie and think about running

Then again I have bad knees and an arthritic back so running is painful.

However, smoking a joint is not a painful activity and it is an activity in which I would indulge in if I knew anyone in this fricking town.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. You should try bike riding...

...no stress on the knees (and it's fun to do when you're buzzed!):smoke:

[Mabus]

4. That involves coordination

and I'm coordinationally-challenged. The last time I was on a bike I had trouble keeping it up right. Then I got all tensed up in fear that I would fall over. Finally I ran into a parked car and fell over. Finally my husband stopped laughing long enough and came and took the bike away from me. Seriously. I have a severe coordination problem.

If you want to smoke a joint and watch me try to ride a bicycle you'll be well rewarded but your sides will ache for days.