# Explain 'addictiveness of excercise' to me. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795 "2009-10-14T15:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/21 "2009-10-15T01:50:26Z")
Back from my run and feeling good. Yeah, I’m not sure why some people like it and some don’t. A lot of people just talk about feeling tired and not really good at all after. I often feel tired–if I’ve pushed myself to go further or something, but it’s a nice, contended feeling. Even the muscle soreness, if there is any, feels good. Healthy, for lack of a better word. If I go early in the day, I may feel a bit tired right after but ultimately just feel better. This is going to sound uber cheesy but if I’ve run everything feels better. Sitting and resting, enjoying a nice meal, having a drink. It feels…right. Like, I feel at a balance. I’m not an addict–I don’t go ALL the time, and I don’t go to the point of injury, nothing like that. I do often think about what it would be like to hurt myself to the point where I couldn’t–like if I got crippling arthritis or was wheelchair bound, and I just think how horrifying. I’d feel really depressed to never run again, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/22 "2009-10-15T01:58:52Z")
I only get the endorphin rush if I do cardio for an hour. Any less and no rush, kinda sucks. But when I am able to go for a whole hour, it feels great and I can see how it could be addictive. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/23 "2009-10-15T02:16:14Z")
I’m with the OP. In my youth, I tried running. Did it regularly for several weeks at a time at least twice, but each time it just became more and more a pain in the ass and I stopped. Worked out for a bit in a gym; hated it. It never EVER made me feel good. I’m old and decrepit now and enjoying the privilege of falling apart with age. At least I’ll still have my knees! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/24 "2009-10-15T05:32:30Z")
I HATE running. I was trying to do some running early this year, but the plantar fasciitis derailed that plan. Stupid feet. :mad: The only thing that kept me at it was the knowledge I was getting stronger; I hated it the whole time. (Also my shins would start hurting first, and I’d have to quit before I got tired out. Anyone know how to make that go away?) ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/25 "2009-10-15T09:53:13Z")
I run three times a week. Some runs are tough, some are easy. But almost every one leaves me feeling like I’ve accomplished something. And almost every one puts me in an incredibly good mood for the rest of the evening. I’m not sure if its “runners high” or just being proud of myself for having done it. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/26 "2009-10-15T12:28:18Z")
Usually, I get the high from cardio. From stretching (I don’t do yoga but I do stretching) I get a sort of calm and balanced yet energetic feeling. From strength training, I get a feeling of accomplishment and confidence. Who doesn’t like feeling strong and capable? Working out certainly keeps me from getting depressed. I usually feel annoyed if I can’t work out six days a week for some reason. I often work out even though I don’t feel like it. However, if I’m injured or sick, I will take time off. I guess the fact that I won’t do it if I feel like it’s a bad idea on a given day means I’m not addicted. Heh. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/27 "2009-10-15T13:21:15Z")
I hate… and I mean _hate_ exercising. By that I mean any repetitive activity done for the sole purpose of sweating. Treadmill, elliptical, street running… I don’t care what it is, I spend the entire time thinking about everything else I could be doing during that time. I feel great afterward, and I never regret having exercised, but I really and truly hate every rat-on-a-wheel second of it. I had to take up a ridiculously esoteric hobby that consumes pretty much every non-work, non-family moment of my life, but gave me an excuse to go hiking 1-6 hours every day. I get my exercise that way, but it’s a totally incidental benefit. For the days I can’t go hiking, I took up hula hooping :D. I do wish I had access to a weight room–weight lifting I enjoy, but I **detest** mindless, repetitive cardio work. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795/28 "2009-10-15T13:57:17Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > maybe all this varies from person to person? I am reading some of these posts in amazement. I get that not everyone wants to do the same kind of activity etc, but perhaps we are all wired to respond to exercise differently as well (meaning that there are various responses to exercise within the range of normal for humans). Maybe this has something to do with obesity as well? Just idle musings. I’ve never been “obese”, but I’ve definitely been quite overweight. I’m 6-ft, and just before I turned 30 I had gotten up to ~225-230-lbs (same total chloresterol, too). When younger I had been a swimmer, very in-shape and almost no body fat. Once I realized how far I’d let myself go, I started working out and swimming again. I dropped ~50-lbs in about six months… but it was another six months or so before I was in-shape enough again to start getting that good exercise glow feeling again. Never _quite_ as good as when I’d been in _really_ good shape when younger, but I can still vividly remember that workout, even 12 years later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-addictiveness-of-excercise-to-me/513795.md?page=1)