Went and swam again today. As I expected, definitely no uplifted feeling. I did mostly the same workload - probably a little more - but with greater intensity than I did last time. I wonder if intensity is related.
I think I read somewhere that for extended workout activities you should aim, depending on age, a heart rate somewhere around 125-140. I never feel like I’m actually accomplishing anything at a heart rate that low, I’m usually 150-165 whatever I’m doing. I wonder if that’s the issue - if it’s too intense. I said earlier that swimming is more likely to produce the uplifted feeling than other types of workout, and swimming is the excercise where I tend to be slower and more deliberate with a lower heart rate.
Anyway, I’ll keep experimenting. Low intensity, high intensity, long, short, lots of stretching or a little, post workout whirlpool or not, etc.
I’ve lifted for years because I like lifting and I like the general positive feelings I get about myself from not feeling flabby/soft. But the euphoria stuff, while I’ve experienced it, is rare for me as well. I would imagine it’s just an intermittent type thing not everyone experiences.
In the documentary “Pumping Iron” Arnold says that he basically feels “orgasmic” after lifting such that it’s basically like he’s feeling an orgasm all the time, every day of his life. So Arnold obviously falls on a very different end of the spectrum from people like us, in that he seemed to get immense physical pleasure every time he worked out.
I workout on a regular basis myself and thought I would chime in.
There are 3 factors I keep in mind for working out properly:
1 . I need to have had at least 2 full meals prior to working out. I’m talking carbs (rice or potatoes) + protein (meat or meat substitute) + raw vegetables. You need good energy in your body.
I found a workout routine I genuinely enjoy. In my case, I blast my favourite type of music to enhance the whole experience. I also avoid listening to upbeat music otherwise and hence associate upbeat music with working out. At this point, listening to upbeat music while idle doesn’t feel right to me.
Of course, I can’t be dead tired because I haven’t slept enough or had a particularly big day.
As for the euphoric feeling, I only get that if I push myself to the limit. I won’t get it every single time, but I will get it on a regular basis.
I never workout if my body doesn’t want to. What I did was make the whole experience enjoyable and something I look forward to, rather than a burden. It’s as much of a hobby for me than it is maintaining good fitness.
Sorry for double-posting but I just want to emphasize this point - don’t try to make science out of this. Just find a physical activity you enjoy. This isn’t about the analytical mind, this is about the body gaining control and moving because it wants to.
I’ve started running, and I walk a few laps before jogging. At some point I get a little tingle of excitement that says “Go!”. That is the time to run. Kids get that all the time and as adults, we stop paying attention to that signal.
So if you feel it, feed it. Right then and there.
I’m finding that running is a series of head games. First “I don’t want to go to the gym right now”. Easy to beat.
You get there and the next wave is “I’ll take it easy today.” I beat this by having a plan of how many laps I will do, and nothing will stop me from doing the whole routine. Plans are not flexible, or they are not plans.
Next comes “I cant do this today.” or “My rhythm is off.” At this point I get mean. I think to myself “Fine. Now we do another lap, and I’ll add one for every negative thought.” Laps are 200 meters. If there is nothing productive in complaints, the complaints will cease.
So part way through the run I start getting, “I’m getting a cramp, I should take a break.” No. I’ll tell myself "I will finish jogging this lap and then we’ll walk for a lap. Its not far now. Another quarter turn.
Cramps pass. Just keep moving and breath deeply. I find that if I repeatedly expel all the air in my lungs, then fill my lungs, I work out the stitch in a few minutes.
I celebrate each lap. Rewards are important too. I think “Half way done! Good job! This is easier than it used to be!” It really helps.
I interval train. When I started it was walk 5 laps, jog one. I progressed to walk three, jog 2. Now I jog a lap, then walk one.
I actually jumped in my progression from 3/2 to 1/1 because after one lap of a double, I succumbed to a negative thought and broke my stride, out of breath. So I walked the rest of the lap, then one more, and told myself as punishment I had to finish that days schedule at 1/1, which meant more running overall, but less sustained.
I started my runs at half an hour, went to one hour for the 3/2 pattern, then up to 1 hour 45 minutes for the 3/2 and 1/1 laps. I currently run 60 laps. I’m aiming for 100 laps or 20 km.
Then I’ll try a 5 km race. And I’ll kick ass.
I’m mulling over going to 2/2 or 0.5/0.5. Both have their appeal. From 0.5/0.5 I can push myself up to 0.5/1(but not the same day). It seems easier, but that walked lap is when I get my breath back. Okay. That is tomorrows plan. I’m not doing it for 2 hours though. Half an hour will be my assessment. If I fail I will fall back to 1/1, and I have gotten the same amount of exercise.
I don’t count my warm up laps nor my cool downs in my total. The reason for this is so I take however much I need, and I don’t break my pattern. Breaking pattern warrants punitive action. I track my past work outs in a spreadsheet. I consider it important to see what I have done and where I might go next.
There are two of me out on that track. The whiner and the boss. I don’t care if the whiner does not like running.
Part of the later euphoria seems to come from the fight with self. You wont feel it till your breath is back and you have a quiet moment to listen to yourself. Take that time.
Injuries: an actual injury will stop me. Twisted ankles are real. Blisters are real. Minor ones are acceptable. Cramps are real but are not generally a reason to stop. No reason to aggravate them, I’ll walk them off. Stopping makes it worse.
Preparation: I eat carbs before I run, and I make sure I drink lots of water half an hour before I leave. If you do all your drinking on the track, you are chasing proper hydration. You’ll feel worse than you should.
I might be talking out my ass here but I have gotten very good at generating this “euphoria” that you speak of. I think it has something to do with pace, rhythm, and intensity. I hate working out but love to do physical work so I tend to approach all my jobs in a manner that allows me to set a pace and a rhythm with an ascending level of intensity and then once I start to tire a decending level of intensity but still maintaining a pace and a rhythm. Usually includes, fast walking, loading something by bending stooping and lifting and them more fast walking to destination point. I can’t see achieving this while doing heavy lifting and resting between sets. I can see doing fast treadmill for 5 min and then 5 min of 5 differnt excersizes done with light weights and no resting inbetween and then repeating this process over and over for about an hour.
Right, you cannot nearly kill yourself and expect to feel good later. However, I find it comes best if you do more than you did the day before. You have to go a little ways beyond your body saying “enough!”
I’m not even done warming up after 10 minutes. I walk 2 km to start before I’ll jog. I wouldn’t feel like I had done anything at all. Today was only my 7th trip to the track.
I read the link. Those are tiny little exercises and they would be lost in the daily activity of a man that works physically. I don’t, though I have in the past.
That is intense? 30 seconds 6 times is only 180 seconds, or 3 minutes spin time. Their rest time would be 1440 seconds, or 24 minutes. Assuming they hit 50km/h, they will have travelled 2.5 km.
You’d be in the gym for all of 30 minutes, and most of it would be spent contemplating your navel.
My first race will be 5km (which is a starter race), and I will be expected to finish it in an hour or so. Since I walk at around 5 km/h, it should not be a problem. I could do it today, and I suspect that is the point of it: to get dis-active people moving. If they say “Oh I did a race!” they are more likely to start training for something real.
That is twice as much work done as this “intense” work out.
Nothing is said about adjusting the friction on the stationary bikes of course, but in light of the other exercises, I have to be dismissive.