The best all-around drug on the planet.....

[lwien]

Just a bit of a reminder of the benefits of running in the hopes that it keeps us motivated as well as in the hopes that it can help even one person take control of their health, both mentally and physically.

If ya can't run.........walk. At the track I go to, there's this 90 year old man who has suffered a stroke. He is out there with his wife and nurse and his walker as he slowly shuffles around that track.

I was diagnosed with sever depression and have been hospitalized three different times and put on a plethora of anti-depressents. Since I've been running, which has been about 13 years now, I have not taken one anti-depressent and have successfully kept that demon at bay.

Sweating during a workout, in my opinion, is one of the, if not THE best drugs on the planet for just about anything.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Keep up the good work, Iwien!

 

[Receptor]

YOU....GO LWIEN!!
90 ??.....28 yrs....to-go...maybe...trying real hard.
Sweating =DETOXIFICATION.....yes

IF YOU CAN'T FLY...RUN
IF YOU CAN'T RUN...WALK
IF YOU CAN'T WALK....CRAWL
BUT BY ALL MEANS KEEP MOVING.
.....Martin Luther King Jr......

CANNABIS.....Cluster Headache....ReNew....Mission....Good to-Go!!

 

[grokit]

Sweating during a workout, in my opinion, is one of the, if not THE best drugs on the planet for just about anything.

It's actually the released endorphins, our body's natural opiates that make you feel good

 

[BuzzDanklin]

I am not a huge runner, but I do hike, bike, and ski. Exercise definitely seems to keep me level as well. When I have been exercising at least semi-frequently I am more motivated, less stressed, in better overall spirits, and I sleep and eat better.

 

[herbivore21]

It's actually the released endorphins, our body's natural opiates that make you feel good

Not to mention the endocannabinoid aspects of the runner's high!

With that being said, I'll take the phytocannabinoids over running (unless something is chasing me lol) - but we all have different ways to get enough endo/phyto cannabinoids flowing to ring our respective bells - whatever works. Glad to hear you're having success @lwien

 

[Dharma_Bum]

Great post @lwien!

I remember reading about some new research on 'runner's high' on the Google about a year ago that suggested that it could be due to endocannabinoids rather than internal opiates. For years it's been known that one of the problems with endorphins is that they do not cross the blood-brain barrier, unlike endocannabinoids which do.

Found the actual paper here at the PNAS. The full sciencey text is here.

A short version:

A runner’s high is a subjective sense of well-being some humans experience after prolonged exercise. For decades, it was hypothesized that exercise-induced endorphin release is solely responsible for a runner’s high, but recent evidence has suggested that endocannabinoids also may play a role. Here, we demonstrate that wheel running increases endocannabinoids and reduces both anxiety and sensation of pain in mice. Ablation of cannabinoid receptor 1 receptors on GABAergic neurons inhibits running-induced anxiolysis, and pharmacological blockage of central and peripheral cannabinoid receptors inhibits analgesia. We thus show for the first time to our knowledge that cannabinoid receptors are crucial for main aspects of a runner’s high.​

Further research is always welcome.

Stay high, don't stop running. Endocannabinoids FTW!

 

[grokit]

Thanks for posting the original research;
it's more accurate than many of the headlines it inspired

A runner’s high is a subjective sense of well-being some humans experience after prolonged exercise. For decades, it was hypothesized that exercise-induced endorphin release is solely responsible for a runner’s high, but recent evidence has suggested that endocannabinoids also may play a role. Here, we demonstrate that wheel running increases endocannabinoids and reduces both anxiety and sensation of pain in mice. Ablation of cannabinoid receptor 1 receptors on GABAergic neurons inhibits running-induced anxiolysis, and pharmacological blockage of central and peripheral cannabinoid receptors inhibits analgesia. We thus show for the first time to our knowledge that cannabinoid receptors are crucial for main aspects of a runner’s high.

Imho a key word in this quote is the word "also", implying that it's not an either-or situation. Opiates make an individual feel good as well, that's why they're so addictive. For many people, disconnecting from the tyranny of their cns promotes happiness. To put it in another way: you don't think happy, you feel it.

 

[rozroz]

Great post @lwien!

I remember reading about some new research on 'runner's high' on the Google about a year ago that suggested that it could be due to endocannabinoids rather than internal opiates. For years it's been known that one of the problems with endorphins is that they do not cross the blood-brain barrier, unlike endocannabinoids which do.

Found the actual paper here at the PNAS. The full sciencey text is here.

A short version:

A runner’s high is a subjective sense of well-being some humans experience after prolonged exercise. For decades, it was hypothesized that exercise-induced endorphin release is solely responsible for a runner’s high, but recent evidence has suggested that endocannabinoids also may play a role. Here, we demonstrate that wheel running increases endocannabinoids and reduces both anxiety and sensation of pain in mice. Ablation of cannabinoid receptor 1 receptors on GABAergic neurons inhibits running-induced anxiolysis, and pharmacological blockage of central and peripheral cannabinoid receptors inhibits analgesia. We thus show for the first time to our knowledge that cannabinoid receptors are crucial for main aspects of a runner’s high.​

Further research is always welcome.

Stay high, don't stop running. Endocannabinoids FTW!

so you're saying that THC provides similar results as runner's high?

anyway this is quoted form THIS article:

Dr. Mechoulam’s world-changing research discovered two main receptors, cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid 2 (CB2), that are keyed to both the endocannabinoids that our body naturally produces and phytocannabinoids (plant-based) like THC and CBD. Our bodies actually produce the ECs similar to how our body produces narcotic-like endorphins. Synthetic cannabinoids, like the ones found in Marinol, also fit the receptor sites but don’t work as efficiently as the natural ones.

 

[lwien]

btw, when I stated that sweating during a workout is the best drug on the planet, I was referring to the medicinal benefits that that graphic depicts rather than the "runners high" that it can provide but with that said, that "runners high" is really nice. Just wish it would last a bit longer.

 

[Enchantre]

I've also felt amazing when I've worked physically hard enough to sweat.

I do sprints, rather than chronic cardio.

My personal routine is to crank up the music, and dance my heart out for about an hour, several times a week. If I'm sweating, crying, laughing, and tired, it was a good dance.

Then, I paint.

 

[Receptor]

[Just wish it would last a little longer....]
It is....mind, spirit and body is very well presented.
Keep doing.....what you doing!!

CANNABIS......Cluster Headache....ReNew....Mission...Good to-Go!!

 

[Baron23]

I am a cardiac disease patient (among other things) and so I do cardio exercise very often. I also use cannabis to allow me to lie down and sleep at night with a pretty good lumbar injury and resulting neuropathy. I have also have life long dysthymia/depression and chronic anxiety.

I'm not mentioning this as if to make me out to be a very ill person or to garner sympathy...many on this board face much greater challenges than I and all in all I'm doing ok.

But most of my life I only wished that I could have the physiological benefit of exercise all day long in contrast to the pain killers (opiods), anti-neuropathy meds (e.g. Lyrica) anti-depressants, and tranquilizers which medical science wants to throw at me and which I no longer take.

What I have found is that from vaping for sleep late at night, my overall mood is well improved throughout the day as a side benefit of my cannabis use for pain/discomfort and is as close to the 'natural high' as I can get absent strenuous exercise.

I still exercise to the degree I can....cardio and gym...whether I like it or nor (well, I do like when its over for the day! LOL) for the obvious benefits. But, although completely subjective, I have found nothing that works better on elevating my mood generally than regular, moderate, cannabis consumption.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[StiltedLimboDancer]

What came to my mind when i read this thread is that excercising in any way leads to a reduction of the stress hormone Cortisol:

https://feedyourvitality.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/7-ways-to-reduce-cortisol-in-the-body/

Every time you experience stress your cortisol levels rise.

A person suffering from depression has also higher cortisol levels (experiencing a higher heart rate and an overall alert feeling for example).

So exercise is indeed an anti-depressant when it's reducing cortisol.

But also for the people who did not have a depression at least once in their life, yet (fewer than we might think):

In our today modern business life often without physical work but instead with lots of electronic media consumption we are experiencing constant stress.

So doing some kind of sport is increasingly import for reducing the cortisol level we are constantly building up.

 

[ataxian]

I am a cardiac disease patient (among other things) and so I do cardio exercise very often. I also use cannabis to allow me to lie down and sleep at night with a pretty good lumbar injury and resulting neuropathy. I have also have life long dysthymia/depression and chronic anxiety.

I'm not mentioning this as if to make me out to be a very ill person or to garner sympathy...many on this board face much greater challenges than I and all in all I'm doing ok.

But most of my life I only wished that I could have the physiological benefit of exercise all day long in contrast to the pain killers (opiods), anti-neuropathy meds (e.g. Lyrica) anti-depressants, and tranquilizers which medical science wants to throw at me and which I no longer take.

What I have found is that from vaping for sleep late at night, my overall mood is well improved throughout the day as a side benefit of my cannabis use for pain/discomfort and is as close to the 'natural high' as I can get absent strenuous exercise.

I still exercise to the degree I can....cardio and gym...whether I like it or nor (well, I do like when its over for the day! LOL) for the obvious benefits. But, although completely subjective, I have found nothing that works better on elevating my mood generally than regular, moderate, cannabis consumption.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

All my life was: SURFING, SKIING, GOLF, TENNIS, CYCLING, JOGGING, WEIGHT TRAINING, CORE TRAINING before I got sick!

SURFING SUNSET POINT - NORTH SHORE - OAHU
The guy (PETER COLE) 75 years old in a big huge gapping tube coming out and making it!

The smile on his face (20 years old) and soapboard stomach.
I dreamed to be as successful as him?

This THREAD makes be grateful to be a live!

 

[herbivore21]

Thanks for posting the original research;
it's more accurate than many of the headlines it inspired

Imho a key word in this quote is the word "also", implying that it's not an either-or situation. Opiates make an individual feel good as well, that's why they're so addictive. For many people, disconnecting from the tyranny of their cns promotes happiness. To put it in another way: you don't think happy, you feel it.

Actually, in fairness, that one is definitely not the original study. There are many, many studies that have looked at and identified this link. That study quoted above was published in 2015 and I know of sources at least as far back as 2003 identifying this (it may be older knowledge still!).

I encourage everybody to go to https://scholar.google.com and search "runner's high endocannabinoid" to see a whole bunch of such results. You'll be able to read the same kinds of summaries/abstracts from those studies as was shared above from the 2015 study

As you say (and the above makes it no less true!) it is always helpful to read the scholarly studies to get these kinds of fine details right

 

[Hippie Dickie]

Sweating during a workout, in my opinion, is one of the, if not THE best drugs on the planet for just about anything.

i have lived by this credo for the last 34 years - since the birth of my child.

30 minutes on the NordicTrack and i have a full body sweat. 5 days in a row and then i take a day of rest & recovery.

i had to stop for a year about 15 years ago when i got "asthma" ... much better now, so it couldn't have been COPD/asthma ... mind over matter/thoughts are things/new thought ... perhaps - i like to think so (lol).

 

[sixstringsmash]

I can't stress how awesome Yoga can be too. I had to stop doing the majority of my exercising a couple years ago when I found out I had HCM(Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) but since then Yoga has been a good friend. I might not be physically cleared to run, jog, jump, duck, dodge, or scuba dive but goddammit do I love putting my body in funny positions!

 

[ataxian]

i have lived by this credo for the last 34 years - since the birth of my child.

30 minutes on the NordicTrack and i have a full body sweat. 5 days in a row and then i take a day of rest & recovery.

i had to stop for a year about 15 years ago when i got "asthma" ... much better now, so it couldn't have been COPD/asthma ... mind over matter/thoughts are things/new thought ... perhaps - i like to think so (lol).

10 years ago I got ATAXIA?

CANNABIS saved my life?
BUILDING COILS and playing with MOD'S
CANNABIS OIL is helping me!

I have a spin bike that helps!
BOSU BALL works as well.

 

[lwien]

I can't stress how awesome Yoga can be too. I had to stop doing the majority of my exercising a couple years ago when I found out I had HCM(Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) but since then Yoga has been a good friend. I might not be physically cleared to run, jog, jump, duck, dodge, or scuba dive but goddammit do I love putting my body in funny positions!

Good for you @sixstringsmash. Ya do what you can do as long as you do it.

I've always thought about getting into Yoga, but as of now, when I bend down to pick something up from the floor, I consider that a MAJOR stretch.

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

Any type of cardio really. Boxing the heavy bag and doing jiu jitsu have become an indispensable part of my life now. And yoga is not only awesome, its mandatory for me!

 

[BuzzDanklin]

This is an intereting study: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...ts-both-physical-and-psychological-well-being

 

[C No Ego]

I work like a MF all day! guess it could be a drug LOL as I sweat it out- my daily cleanse. If I'm not smelly and sticky I was not doing it right LOL

 

[hippy tribe]

cool facts, whats even cooler is those effects are regulated by cannabis. half hour of mid to high level cardio increases the endocannabinoids in your system.. that fact is one of the reasons which got me to start working out everyday, which was to increase the number of cannabinoid receptor sites naturally ocurring on my bodies cells.. more endocannabinoid receptor sites on your cells means your body will be better at keeping your system balance.. external cannabinoid makes the endocannabinoids exponentially better in most cases too. running high on a runners high feels really good.

 

[DDave]

IF YOU CAN'T FLY...RUN
IF YOU CAN'T RUN...WALK
IF YOU CAN'T WALK....CRAWL
BUT BY ALL MEANS KEEP MOVING.
.....Martin Luther King Jr......

“Do not hurt where holding is enough;
do not wound where hurting is enough;
do not maim where wounding is enough;
and kill not where maiming is enough;
the greatest warrior is he who does not need to kill.”
― Stephen R. Donaldson, The Illearth War