# Do you get (temporarily) stupid when you exercise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684 "2003-01-15T04:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/1 "2003-01-15T04:16:53Z")
Many times when I get in a good aerobic workout I get stupid for quite a while afterwards. It lasts longer than being tired and doesn’t actually happen if I get out of breath while exercising. I was wondering if anyone else has this happen? ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/2 "2003-01-15T04:54:04Z")
No, but I don’t excercise worth a damn 🙂 Seriously - get your hemogloben counted - you may be experiencing oxygen deprivation - the key is “getting out of breath” - when you do that, you start gasping, right? Gasping (tries to) super-saturate(s) your blood oxygen levels - thereby avoiding the effect. IANAD, no cites, analyze comments accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/3 "2003-01-15T13:04:43Z")
Well, see. I was trying to point out that it did _not_ happen when I exercise hard enough to get out of breath. ---
**Author:** ![Mith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mith)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/4 "2003-01-15T13:09:03Z")
what do you mean by stupid? forgetfull? confused? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/5 "2003-01-15T13:13:58Z")
I think a slight dip in the mental facilities is normal after a tough workout. I mean you are diverting precious blood away from the brain and your heart beat is pumping really fast. I read somewhere one time that if your heartbeat goes over 100 beats a minute you have trouble concentrating, the article was in reference to arguing though-but I think it applies here as well. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/6 "2003-01-15T13:54:59Z")
It is quite common when doing aerobic exercise to “get stupid” as you phrased it. It is, in fact, the “endorphine high” you may have heard about. It is nothing to worry about and extremely common for long distance runners, bicyclists, and the like. I used to run the three miles to my office and because of the “high” I would get (especially if I added a mile or two), my secretary would not let me make any serious decisions for as much as an hour sometimes. TV ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/7 "2003-01-15T14:32:25Z")
I get it all the time after a long run. Makes for a nice break in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/8 "2003-01-15T15:19:42Z")
I’m usually watching TV while exercising. Whether I get stupid or not depends on what I’m watching: A show on NASA-TV about identifying a star’s composition by using radio waves, or the Beverly Hillbillies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/9 "2003-01-15T15:23:25Z")
I don’t know if I’d call it “stupid”, but I do tend to get extremely focused on the workout itself, and it takes a while to get back to “normal” thinking afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/10 "2003-01-15T20:25:01Z")
Yeah, the long run can do it to you. When we’ve gone for real long runs getting ready for a marathon, it’s not uncommon to get real confused about your pacing. Going too slow? Too fast? Who the hell can tell? My math skills are shot! That’s why they make those nice pacing bracelets when you run a race. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/11 "2003-01-15T21:25:18Z")
errr… What’s most likely happening is that your blood glucose levels are dropping. The brain can ONLY metabolize glucose. So when you fast or excersize or anything else where you burn up large amounts of glucose your brain will start shutting down functions so essential parts of your brain will still have the neseccary amounts of glucose to function. The rest of your body functions just fine metabolizing protein and fatty acids. See reactionary hypoglycemia. My suggestion: Drink some poweraid after you get done working out. ---
**Author:** ![Doctordec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-temporarily-stupid-when-you-exercise/148684/12 "2003-01-16T02:51:22Z")
I’ve run a few marathons and it gets difficult to do simple math in my head after 15 miles or so. I think it’s related to blood sugar levels, as in trying to run your brain on half wattage. I’ve talked to other people during races that have noticed the same thing, my math skills come back after a couple of post-race beers. I’m on a low carb diet at the moment as an experiment and I’m curious to see how well I’ll race without carbs.