I’ve made fitness a daily goal for a little over a year now. If feeling good was a primary goal, I would have given it up a long time ago. The only difference I feel is that my left shoulder hurts without daily exercise, but doesn’t with. Sometimes I feel a deep need to do some exercise right now too, but I am never left feeling better physically after a workout than before.
I read somewhere in a fitness magazine that the reason some people don’t feel the “runner’s high” is that they’re expecting it to be more than it actually is. It’s more of a feeling of well-being, relaxation, and accomplishment than some sort of euphoria. And, the intensity of the workout will affect the amount of endorphins released, so a spinning class compared to a leisurely bike ride will be noticeably different.
Others, who are not in great shape, will often feel worse after working out from the shock of it. I personally have thrown up a total of twice after particularly intense workouts that my body wasn’t ready for.
As for your son, EvilCaptor, it could just be that the overall fitness of youth is making it harder for him to feel the difference. I played sports as a kid, but didn’t notice any difference when I stopped working out in between seasons. I remember having a similar conversation with my mom where she claimed that exercise would make me feel better, but I said it just made me sweaty.
And Trunk, any sort of activity that gets your heart pumping a bit faster and your breathing a bit heavier counts as cardiovascular exercise, even if it seems easy. It’s how I dropped 10 pounds with no effort when I moved closer to work and school, so that I walked to both (about a 5 minute and 15 minute walk respectively). In a week I was walking for several hours, all split up to brief walks several times a day.
Obviously running or more intense cardio gives you quicker results, but knocking a bike ride or walk as forms of exercise is the reason a lot of people never get off the couch. They figure they’ll never make it through an aerobics class, but really just a stroll around the block a few times will do a lot of good.
It might “count” as cardio. I’m not saying the guy has to train like Lance.
But, he’s cycling back and forth to school on sidewalks. He’s not working out. There’s a reason that we ride bikes. . .it’s an incredibly efficient method of locomotion. It’s designed to make it easy for people to cover long distance.
If you’re just lollygagging along the sidewalk on a bicycle. . .well, it’s better than sitting on the couch, but I’d still forgo that extra donut if you’re looking to lose weight.
Well, you gotta start somewhere, but the point of the thread was that the OP’s son isn’t “feeling it”.
You’re not going to feel it if all you’re doing is toodling around a little. An old lady can ride her bike to the grocery store.
That sounds like it could be a blood pressure problem or some such (I’ve got low BP and gotten tunnel vision when exercising too hard and, once, when my BP went too high from coffee). IANAD but you may want to mention it to yours at some point.
If he’s willing to spend the time, he might consider walking. It will take longer to get to school and back, but it will probably expend more energy. I’m trying to go on regular walks myself. I live on a big hill and walk down and back up. If I have someone to talk to (either there or on the phone) it goes by very quickly.
I don’t know how ‘fit’ I felt when I was more active, if anything I was just able to do more before being pooped out. There was a local nickel arcade several miles from my house, and during summer vacation when I was 20 (at community college living with my folks) I would ride my bicycle several miles there, play DDR for several hours, then ride my bicycle back. The arcade was economical enough to do this regularly. One year my friends and I all took a weight training class at the local community college. We’d bike there, lift weights, do cardio, then bike to the nickel arcade and play DDR for some time. Going home, I felt completely normal, as if I hadn’t even worked out at all (didn’t feel extremely tired or sore). I kind of miss that, and I guess I’m trying to get back to that point.
Right now, if I work out after 5 or so days of not working out, it does feel good. Any later and I’ll feel very sore, but it seems like once every 3-5 days is ‘optimal’ for me.
…double-post :smack:
Sorry but other cyclists good name does nothing to heal my wounds or repair my bike. I agree in theory with what you are saying but the real-world experience I have encountered says to me to get my arse on the side-walk as much as possible when riding in the downtown area. (Which is where the bulk of my bicycling is done)
I have been hit by a cars 3x’s this summer, fortunately none of them more serious than minor bike damage and cuts/bruises to my body. I attribute the lack of more serious injury to me being exceptionally paranoid about the assholes in cars who pay ZERO attention to bicycles.
I’ll pay the fine and keep on riding right down the sidewalk whenever I can. My life is worth it more than the fine or your good name.
MeanJoe
I agree. I go to a yoga class once a week and sometimes the class I go to is very hard. It’s an hour and a half, and sometimes it gets really hot in there with all the people and all my sweat just rolls right off me. (It’s kinda gross, actually.) After classes like that, I never feel good. Part of it might be dehydration, but mostly it’s just that I’m not used to working out in those conditions. At the same time, just a short walk or bike ride also won’t give me an endorphin high. But an hour and a half yoga class where it’s not too hot and it’s more flexibility-focused with short cardio bursts does give me a sense of well-being afterwards.
Maybe part of the problem is that the endorphin high isn’t noticeable if you’re exhausted. I think the key is to work hard, so that you challenge yourself, but not so hard that you just feel exhausted afterwards.
I’m another one who thinks this has to do with age.
Now that I’m middle-aged, I’m very focused on my body (in a health and wellness sense, not so much an appearance sense) so I pay close attention to minor changes in how fit I feel, and get excited if I feel even marginally more fit.
When I was younger, both as a kid and then even into the teen and college years, I simply didn’t care, because I had never had that middle-aged “run down” feeling to use as a comparison. If he’s young and in general good health, he might not have enough context to mentally appreciate a change in his fitness, even if it is physically visible to others.
Just a suggestion, but when on the road, have you been riding close to, or in, the gutter? In my experience, if you do so, then people in cars ignore you and give you no space. The answer is not to ride on the sidewalk, but to ride right out almost in the middle of the lane, so that cars have to make a conscious effort to overtake you. You might get the occasional irritated honk of the horn but you will not get run off the road, and I speak as someone who cycles through central London on a daily basis.
Back to the thread topic: I think it’s a case of the exercise not being strenuous enough. Since the start of this year I have been riding about 15-18 miles a day on my bike during the week and don’t really notice any improvement in my general fitness or well-being. Sure, it probably does me some good, but it’s not enough to give any kind of post-exercise “high”.
But after a strenuous 45-minute game of squash, when the sweat is pouring off me and my heart is pounding up to 180bpm, once I’ve had a shower and cooled off I feel wonderful.
He started from using nothing but a game controller. I’d been riding sporadically in spring but started doing it regularly in June. We both started from a low level.
I’ve been in and out of shape, a serious athlete and a couch potato. I’ve never felt good after excersize. When I am in better shape I feel less bad, but I generally am always exhausted and hungry (or I feel nothing at all). If I push myself really, really hard, I get sick. I’ve vomited after races where I really burned water, so to speak (I was a swimmer).
Not everyone can enjoy exercise. I think it’s healthier to admit that this can be the case rather than letting those of us that don’t think we’re crazy (and give up and stay on the couch).
For some people it has no immediate benefits, it’s a just a chore you have to do to stay healthy or achieve whatever your fitness goals are. It’s not that big a deal-- I hate cleaning the cat pans, too, but I do that every day anyway.
Um, that’s me, Evil Captor, not TerrorCotta, who should be held exempt from all opinions opined by me on this board.
As for the sidewalk issue – these are sidewalks that see little or not use, in the suburbs, running along a major thoroughfare. On the few occasions when we encounter pedestrians, we ride into the grass or if it’s clear, out into the street, or if neither option works, we stop until they pass. Most days, we never have to stop and rarely have to pull out into the street or on the grass.
Essentially, the sidewalks here are unused bike paths, and since they all have been graded for wheelchair access where they meet the road, you can tootle along at quite a brisk pace on many stretches, thank you very much.
The ironic thing is, the few actual bike paths we have are associated with parks and are generally filled with pedestrians, often walking toddlers and small children and are much more of a bear to work up any speed on.
BTW, we are both overweight, me more than him, and I for one am sweating pretty good at the end of a ride and there are hills that get my heart up to rates that would alarm my doctor if he were around to measure them. It’s a hard workout for me and I suspect him as well, but he seems to bear up under it better than I. Youth, I suspect. I just want him to understand how much good it’s doing him, and I was hoping there was some subtle mental connection he wasnt’ making between exercise and feeling good. But it sounds like not everyone feels good after exercising.
woops X3. posts in this thread to date should be read as by Evil Captor, not Terrorcotta.
Fine vs Death. That’s a very, very easy decision to make.
You’re from England–perhaps you’re not aware of the “fun” game over here of “hit the cyclist with your car.” On purpose. These are the same people who torture cats and drive drunk. Before you might think “oh, that doesn’t happen that often”, I have a relative who was murdered by an asshole in a car and I have been personally have been purposely bumped twice.
When I lived in Europe, I wouldn’t have dreamed of using anything other than the street or designated bike lanes, but road rage here in America is so high that we “god damn pussies on bikes” who can’t go the speed of a truck get hit.
Seriously. I’ll use a bike lane every time if one is provided, but if there’s no bike lane, I’m on the sidewalk where it’s safe.
As to the OP, he may not feel much different. I’m 19 and the only thing I feel after exercise is sweaty and the only long-term difference I’ve noticed is that I can complete my morning run faster. It’s probably just youth.
Actually you are choosing fine and death. Statistics show riding on the sidewalk is more dangerous. That’s because most bike+car accidents happen at intersections and driveways; in those situations being on the sidewalk makes you less visible from car drivers.
I’ve been riding in Alabama every day for 3 years, always on the road. I have never experienced this. The key is to ride in the middle of the lane, or at least far enough into the lane so that car drivers are forced to do a proper lane change to overtake you.
Thanks for that. I’ll read it when I get a chance, but I’ll be a 100% convert if that link pans out (which I suspect it will. What you say makes sense.)
If you ride your bicycle on the sidewalk you are an asshole.
It is illegal for a reason, i.e. it is dangerous for pedestrians.