At best, I feel completely energized and full of life.
At worst, I feel good that I worked out instead of not working out. I often regret staying at home or staying sedentary; I never regret working out.
I haven’t worked out much for some time now but found in the past that my warm up routine had a lot to do with how I felt afterward. I never was one to over do it very often. If all went well I felt energized for most of the day.
I chose ‘pretty good’, but sometimes it’s more along the lines of ‘I feel great!’. It depends on what the exercise is and how I’m feeling that day. 5 km sprint where I’m rested, ate well and beat a PR? I feel great both mentally and physically. 160 km temp ride mid-summer after a few months of training, I feel great mentally, pretty good physically. Finishing off a spring half marathon, no PR, it was work to get through? I’m pretty tired and sore, and questioning my sanity, but overall, I will feel pretty good about myself.
I enjoy exercise and appreciate that I have a body that can handle the physical demands I put on it. I also enjoy being out in nature. This is why I hardly work out in gyms unless I have to (i.e. middle of winter).
I’m a gym rat, my workouts are usually about 2ish hours intense weight training and about 20-30 minutes of cardio on the end. Of course I’m tired and sore afterwards, that’s a given with that sort of intensity, but I also generally feel pretty good, usually better than I did before, so that’s what I voted. By that, I mean, I tend to be more alert, in a better mood, etc. Being a little sore and even physically exhausted can actually be a sort of pleasant feeling, in that sense of having done something difficult and completing it and being able to enjoy a post-workout meal and relaxation.
That said, I do sometimes have workouts where I just drag, and I feel like a bag of crap afterward, but those are usually when I haven’t slept well or eaten well and I probably had a poor workout anyway.
…like I can be lazy with pride.
It’s not something to be underestimated.
Tired but in a good “I feel like I got something done” way. And relaxed. None of the answers quite apply.
None of the poll options fit, but several posters’ descriptions do. Smugness and deservedness, but most important to me, deep calmness, together with serious physical fatigue, as in, hard to lift one’s arm.
Fucking miserable and completely pissed off.
Holy crap. Am I the only one who doesn’t get this “feels good” thing afterwards??
I feel pretty good, but my workout isn’t terribly strenuous. I’m always very grateful that I don’t feel forced and I actually dread the day when I have to talk myself into getting it over with.
What do your workouts consist of?
As long as I’m not already tired before the workout, it leaves me with a ton of mental energy and feeling completely awesome for at least the next hour or two. This is pretty consistent for anything that has at least some cardio component (so elliptical or stationary bike at the gym, a run outside, playing sports, whatever). I usually work out in the afternoons or evenings, not sure if that’s a helpful data point.
First I feel like rubber. My muscles are still jazzed.
Then hungry.
Then sleepy.
When I’m busy doing other things during the day I find myself wondering why I want to eat so much, why do I feel like I could use a sound nap, then it’s an “oh, yeah, all that exercise” moment.
No, it’s not just you. I tried in vain to get the so-called endorphin rush. Not happening. If I went jogging/running I often felt like I wanted to kill myself afterwards. So I stopped that and started doing elliptical, and at least now I only feel tired or very tired afterwards. But a couple times in the past I’ve pushed myself to the point of nausea hoping for that great feeling everyone else claims you get if you really push it, and nada. I would just lay down at the end and feel terrible.
Exercising has never elevated my mood or energy. On the very best day I might come out feeling almost the same though.
Unless I did something really stupid like do 30 crunches after a year of doing no crunches, I don’t get hardly any pain or aches.
Well, when I was in worse shape than I am now, running made me want to die after 1 minute and the elliptical made me want to die after 2 minutes. So that was no fun at all. But walking felt good, so I walked. Then lifting weights felt good, so I lifted weights.
I still don’t run (bad knees), but I can get on the elliptical for 20-30 minutes now and feel good-tired afterwards, then continue on to do 45 minutes of weightlifting, and leave the gym with a spring in my step.
I’m still 20 lbs overweight and not in objective “good shape” but I’m a lot stronger and have a lot more endurance than I had before, so now workouts leave me feeling good.
If you tried running and fucking hate it, try something else! You don’t have to run. You don’t have to do any specific exercise – try a bunch of things until you find something you enjoy! Personally, I like the rowing machine most of all. It gives you a full-body workout and you do it sitting down. 
When you want to do cardio, there’s only so many choices. I’ve pretty much tried them all, on machine, off machine, and all of them make me feel exactly the same - tired, non-pumped - except running. No matter what, running has always made me feel like I want to die afterwards. Even after a solid year of jogging every other day. So now I just pick the lesser of…a dozen evils. At least with the elliptical I can put a tv show on my phone to watch and be entertained.
Back when I worked out a lot, I’d usually feel pretty cruddy immediately after the workout, but I’d get some water and something to eat after I left the gym, and I’d feel better, and by the end of my drive home (20 minutes), I’d feel terrific, if a bit physically tired/achy.
This pretty much sums it up for me.
My typical workout is a 45-minute ride on my horse, walk, trot and canter, both directions, with lots of changes of gait and direction. This involves the whole body (and the mind, which is the best part). The ride is preceded and followed by about 20 minutes of tacking up (or down): brushing, hoof cleaning, lugging the saddle in and out of the tack room, loving on the horse, and then a quick stall cleaning. I try to do this four times a week.
Cody is very wide so when I dismount after the ride, I usually hurt in my thighs and hips. (Imagine straddling a 55-gallon drum with your heels in a line with your hips and your knees no further forward than the ends of your toes.) By the time I’ve done everything and am in the car heading home, I’m feeling pretty good. The pain will have decreased significantly and I’ll be feeling smug about getting him out even tho’ it’s cold and dark. Yeah, I’m riding in a fully enclosed, lit arena, but it’s still kinda cold in there and I have to walk to and from the car to the barn in the dark. (Okay, I’m a wimp, I admit it). 
Pretty much this. I work out hard, so I’m completely exhausted when I get home. I crash when I get there, usually napping for 20-30 minutes. It’s the ONLY time I ever nap and/or ever feel good about it.