What Actually Happens When You Experience Runner’s High
The door closes behind you, leaving miles of pavement between you and your return home. Transitioning slowly from a walk to a brisk jog, a mantra brings rhythm to your steps: “one foot in front of the other.” But slowly, a new thought enters your head, “Why am I doing this?” Or, more accurately, “Why” (step) “am” (step) “I” (step) “do” (step) “ing” (step) “this?”
At the 30 minute mark, you feel something: a reduction of pain, a second wind, euphoria. Ah, yes, the runner’s high. And if you google, “What causes runner’s high?” The most cited cause is the trusty endorphin (and yes, it is tempting to quote Legally Blonde here, but I shan’t because that joke is easy and this is a science-y article, so I’ll work a little harder for my jokes).
But newer research published in The Journal of Experimental Biology titled “Wired to Run: exercise-induced endocannabinoid signaling in humans and cursorial mammals with implications for the ‘runner’s high’” notes that you can thank a different system in your body for the experience of euphoria after a long, hard workout: The Endocannabinoid system.
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About Jeana Anderson Cohen and aSweatLife
Jeana Anderson Cohen is the founder and CEO of asweatlife.com a premiere wellness media destination that creates content and community to help womxn live better lives and achieve their goals. Before founding health-focused companies Jeana earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison - and fresh out of college she worked on the '08 Obama campaign in Michigan. From there, she created and executed social media strategies for brands. aSweatLife fuses her experience in building community and her passion for wellness. You can find Jeana leading the team at aSweatLife, trying to join a book club, and walking her dog Maverick.
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