www.psypost.org/2022/01/cannabinoid-receptors-in-the-brain-appear-to-play-a-key-role-in-the-euphoric-experience-known-as-the-runners-high-62404
Cannabinoid receptors in the brain appear to play a key role in the euphoric experience known as the "runner's high"
BiologyFinally, a placebo for these poor runners.
Been running for 15 years (not continuously), ran several marathons, and never once had this mysterious "runner's high". Stopping was awesome though, and that is about as close as I ever got to it.
Try cannabis sublingual strips before a run. The miles melt away and recovery seems faster too.
I got it when I went for my first run and did 2.5 miles on the treadmill.
I swear I was seeing colors walking to the water fountain.
Runners high is when you burn the thc stored in your fat cells
Woah there big science
Run a marathon or light a blunt….
Tough one…
Bluntathon it is then.
The fastest time to smoke 26.2 blunts?
Oooooor, we use the metric system.
42.195 Blunts then.
This is actually true! Imaging studies of marijuana’s impact on brain structure in humans have shown conflicting results. I should know, I’m a certified Bluntologist.
Ah yes, also known as my college experience
Do both and get twice as high.
I know this reads as a joke but it actually works.
ran a trail marathon high as balls once, and I just felt more sluggish
The trick is to dose moderately and to do it a while into the run rather than before it.
Warning highly recommended you dont not do this while playing airsoft. I shot my poor teamate 50 times from under 3 feet because he scared me.
You know those water stations along the route? There should be loaded bongs.
With a couch and cartoon’s for every runner. Throw in some snacks.
Eat an edible and go exercise. It feels great riding a bike with headphones.
I set a marathon course record for running high, 4 hours 26 minutes!
I bought a pair of running shoes from my weed dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day.
This joke has legs
Good one dad
I must be naturally deficient of cannabinoids. I have never had a runners high. So I top up as I can.
I always thought "high" is the wrong word. For me, it's just like a clarity. All of the sudden things just get real clear. Still feels good, though.
Sounds like a high to me.
Just when it feels good to sprint some easy distance at a nice pace
Have you tried running?
I used to be a runner in track and field and never experienced a runners high
What did you run? Sprinters or hurdlers would rarely if ever experience it but distance runners should from time to time if they are pushing themselves. I noticed it more often in cross country or in practice than in competition.
In weightlifting class I would spend cardio day on the treadmill majority of the time
You might not have been pushing yourself enough.
I have also never experienced a runner's high and I've pushed myself to the point of collapse.
Some people just don't get it.
For me it happens at relatively fast jogging, but almost only if I keep that pace.
Same for me. Has only happened when sustaining 80-90% for minutes longer than I normally would.
A runners high isn't achieved by pushing yourself to the point of collapse...
You arent in the neighborhood of experiencing a runners high unless you can run 10 miles with a controlled heart rate and without pain.
I get a runner's high from 3-4 miles. Never done over 5 at once.
I'm uncomfortable with quantitative definitions, though I both fit your (used to fit your) description and it was a consistent predictable experience for me. I think though it was more open, and as well being both distinct and hard to nail down, it seems likely that context factors were important as well. (Which is of course similar to a weed/flower high.)
Ive been there and done that physically and still never experienced a runner’s high. Just runner’s boredom.
I used to get runners highs from 5ks
that's unfortuante. a runner's high is better than opioids, IMO
Sounds like you weren't pushing yourself hard enough with the opioids.
That's true. I see a number of ex-sprinters and joggers hanging out on third avenue in Seattle.
Have you tried the good opioids tho?
Solution: Tread mill + heroin syringe tied to a stick
About 6 junkies disagreed with you
I only ever experienced it during my marathon training. I have never felt it on a run that was less than 6-7 miles. Usually around 8 I feel it.
I get it on 3-4 mile jogs. For me it’s actually easier to get it if I’m taking it easy and just enjoying the run.
I have never gotten a runners high from a treadmill, only from outdoor runs
Yeah, I got it all the time in high school doing 3 mile runs or cross-country. Got it multiple times doing a half marathon, it was the only reason I finished. My body just started feeling excellent even though I was dying to stop.
Long distance
Yeah it has to be endurance running not sprinting.
I think it has something to do with how we used to have to run long distances to hunt food and it our brain's way of rewarding us to keep going. Or something.
That’s…really not a bad theory.
And that’s where u/cote112 ‘s running went downhill
Good Recognition
That would explain the munchies
I actually get a runner’s high after running. Like 10-20mins after.
That's weird, I get a runners high after just like 15 minutes of any hard cardio session
I ran 3 miles per weekday and sometimes as many as 8 on some days when I was in the Marines. Definitely never felt a high. Nausea, sure. Horribly itchy legs every time, yep. A high? Never.
I've only experienced it strongly once during a soccer game and to a much less degree some other times. For me, it's on the other side of; "I feel like I'm dying." I think it was somewhere after the blood sugar was used up and a second wind kicked in. Most of the time I'd just slow down or stop and rest before that happened. When the runners high kicked in, I generally feel better and more energized than I typically would when I feel fresh. My natural tendency is to give in to exhaustion prior to that being necessary though. I would have to go through the whole "my legs and lungs are on fire." Whether that got more intense or led to feeling euphoric, which was extremely uncommon, wasn't a fun game.
Running? Nah who could be bothered with that
Only people who find walking too slow and sprinting too fast
Literally why I trail run! I like to go on long hikes and not see anyone but I don’t have 5h to carve out of my day so I run it and make it 2h
I did. My legs worked fine but I have a very bad neck and that was excruciating and probably damaging. I only felt immense discomfort.
How would that help?
You could run to a weed store?
Man, that would be an ultramarathon. Be so high when I got there I'd forget to buy anything.
It takes alot. I've only felt it on days where I push myself. It does really feel similar though, surprised me the first time.
I have crazy stamina. But too much pain for running. I could walk forever but that doesn't do it.
You just need to keep your heart rate at around 80% for 15 minutes or so. Literally a thousand ways you can do it.
That never did anything for me. Guess everyone's different.
Smoke before run. Weed high + runners high = v nice!
Running is long behind me now. Doctors orders. Just weed and yoga.
Also a neat combo
I used to experience a runners high until I started smoking after running to pair the two together and see what it would be like and I can no longer get a runners high no matter how much I run.
I didn't use weed back then so that's not it. It may be a neurological thing because my neck has always been way out of whack and my spinal cord compressed.
you have to run till your tired, then ouch through that till the 2nd wave if energy hits. Yeats when you get high.
Never worked for me.
you need to run long distance and slow enough that you feel like you could run for 2 hours, run untill you feel like you are hitting a wall and then push through that and you will get a great runners high.
Can't do it now and shouldn't have tried back then. Bad neck.
It doesn’t work for everyone. I used to run 15+ miles a couple days a week and never got it.
Surely you felt relaxed and endorphins? That is a low grade runners high. Probably not full on. But the feeling people get after exercise is a low grade runners high.
You need to let yourself accept the feeling. Maybe you just suppress it.
Extra glorious when stoned and get to about 45 minutes in to a run. That’s where the magic happens for me
It takes me about 10 mins, typically have to really push myself. It happens when my heart pumping, my breathing, and my stride become rhythmic. My mind just lets go, I forget about the pain and become focused on keeping the rhythm. Not really easy to explain.
I wish it was only 10 minutes for me. I gatta be running for at minimum 30 minutes to really get there for me. Usually 45 to be fully immersed
Don't you get bored after 35-40ish mark ? I usually stop just before that mark, cause I gets boring.
I trail run, so I do not(I will just not be feeling it some runs and call it short). But Between just being in nature, getting a rush of creative thoughts, feeling really good, and being stoned. I don’t really get bored with it
Yeah nature would do that . Should try stoned workout sometimes .
How can you still be stoned after 45 min of running , wild
Well I definitely have always had a low tolerance to pot in general. Specially concentrate which is what I usually smoke before running. Hell I’ve still been stoned after a 2 hour run
Can you describe
Yes, when I am stoned and run at the about 45 minute mark I feel my body is warmed up and I enter the flow state where my breathing is at a perfect rhythm and I just get in this groove and feel a certain type of bliss. It mentally feels fantastic.
I can get there not stoned too, but when I get stoned before it is just that much better.
I've never tried running while stoned tbh but I've got back into running this January after not doing it for awhile cause of trauma (trauma unrelated to running but fucked up my everything). Anyway literally today I managed to get un the flow again and it was great, about 25 minutes in and I just hit it. Didn't push too far cause I've only been running again for a few weeks and didn't wanna go further than 6k, but it was so relieving to know I could do it again
I call that the "I can do this forever" point. It only lasts a mile or two, but really helps get past the mid-point hump of a long run.
Is this why i smoke weed then jog???
Not sure if this is a joke or not but i literally smoke a joint and go for a run as part of my daily routine.
No joke, feels great.
Me too except I don’t run
Don't wanna hurt your joints
High Five, me too!
It’s the only way I care to mountain bike.
I feel like I wasted the joint if I do this. Running gets me un-high very quickly. Strength training is good and showering after is great but running doesn't work.
I smoke weed and then jog too! But without the jog part
No, it's because the police are chasing you!
I have a medicinal license- so no police chasing me. Worth every penny for a certification to never have that anxiety of being “caught”. That it helps with my anxiety in general :)
I've run quite a bit and never experienced a runner's high
Natural highs feed off each other, running on shrooms pushes the euphoria to carnival level. It's like running on air.
yeah it feels weird it is awesome.
User deleted comment
2.4y
I dunno. I've run a lot, just Saturday finished consecutive 50, 55, and 60-mile weeks. The only "high" I feel is after stopping - and that's only because it feels so much better than running. Seriously.
Don’t you feel relaxed, and have endorphins, and feel physically good? That’s a low grade runners high. The good feelings people get from exercise. Sometimes some people have more of them.
You keep assuming everyone experiences this in the same way. Many people only feel tired and nauseous after running.. for us, it's not a positive experience at all!
I like the comment, "Running feels pretty good, until you compare it to everything else that's not running!" But, of course, it does make the sum total of my day better, so it's worth it.
Well, that's true, I do feel relaxed and good afterwards, but I guess I associate that feeling simply with "getting it done", and the opposite of the pre-worry that I won't get it done. So, on balance, it seems a zero-sum-gain.
I mean, there is definitely joy in setting goals and completing them, but that's gotta' be balanced against the mental push of making oneself complete them. There's always the other side - being "goal-less and fat and happy!"
Maybe I'm expecting too much of a "peak" with endorphins - maybe it manifests as a spread-out feeling of general well-being for me.
Anyway - still worth it. Gonna' enjoy my low-mileage rest week this week!
Yeah, whatever. Over a decade in the Army running a couple miles a day and never felt a “runners high” ever. Just mostly boredom, pain, and a sprinkling of hate.
Running only makes me feel pain and nausea.. Genuinely the only cardio I can do is related to some fun activity, like sports or sex..
Been smoking for 30 years. The first 2 miles are tough, by the third mile I can breathe like I’ve never had a cigarette in my life! Then my knee gave up. I miss running.
Look up ATG training on instagram (kneesovertoesguy)
how about a prostethic?
So if i'm very prone to runner's high, does that imply something about how I would react to cannabis?
I don't get the "runner's high", so does that imply the opposite is true for me? Hmmm, we must get to the bottom of this question.
Time to burn one then go for a sneaky 5k, double my pleasures!
As someone who loves both jogging and smoking weed (not simultaneously) I could’ve told you this!
If you have never tried it, take a 5mg edible and workout. It's awesome. Especially for running.
Does thc tolerance, then, affect the incidence of the runners' high effect?
Love getting the runner’s high when doing a 50 km bike race, wish I could stay in that moment forever
I used to run 8 miles 3 days a week... I never experienced any euphoria. I attributed runners high to the point I'd get to after about 6 miles where I would sort of just zone out and run. That wasn't some like... pleasurable thing.
So I guess I don't understand what 'runners high' is.
So my science question is: for the people getting this runners high, what happens if you run while stoned?
known as Anandamide ( Bliss compound) ! N arachidonoylethanolamine , the Amine of Ethanol ... that is the " high" ...
when you read the biochemistry from GOV research into those types of compounds for anti oxidants and neuroprotectants ( # 6630507 ) the research show that plant cannabinoids such as Cannabidiol ( CBD) are that ... they also show Tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC) as providing the same effect however unwanted Euphoria in the test participants kept any further research from being performed ... I guess the participants just wanted to giggle and laugh and not be serious during the time of being tested ... for a dying person who needs neuroprotection and all the anti oxidant help they can get a euphoric moment would be a God Send .
we have already really researched two cannabinoid receptors so far - cannabinoid type one and cannabinoid type 2 and elucidated to third one however we have also predicted there are around 300 cannabinoid receptors not just two or three ...
in cannabis plant there are 150 phytocannabinoids , with about 70 of them being primary forms ... they all are metabolically active in the cells of the person
yeah i don't have those
So everybody out here says that to get a runner’s high you gotta go for miles and miles but I swear I’ll run like 2-3 miles and feel amazing afterwards. Like so relaxed and warm. It’s more intense when I’m running more consistently and stronger if I go longer, but it depends. If I’m not feeling it all the way through and started off feeling not right I won’t feel as good afterwards obviously. Same after weightlifting. So idk if it’s a “runner’s high” but I can guaran-damn-tee that I feel like a different person after a run. Better in general.
My runners high tends to be way better than my weed high. It's a different feeling though. Runners high makes me feel real good, like really good. But it doesn't last more than a couple minutes. Weed makes me giggly and horny. But it lasts much longer.
Don't have to tell me. Edibles and running is a fav combo of mine.
Haruki Murakami tells a great story in "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running," where he goes beyond a mere runner's high into an altered state of consciousness. Of course, to get there he had to run an ultra-marathon. Because he's Japanese, his story reminded me of the Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei.
Smoke before you run and then you are high and get a runners high....very fun.
I get so much more ripped when I'm on a steady workout routine
god i miss that feeling. i'm jealous when i seen people running and i can't because i ruined my knees
The only time I ever got a runners high was when playing beat saber. I use sword slashes and stabs instead of like the usual way to hit them so it was quite fun and exciting and exhausting! Then as I completed a very hard combo sequence while at my peak tiredness, I got this rush of eurphoria and I felt SO GOOD.
I have never duplicated this effect yet, running or otherwise but I believe this is what it is.
It's such an amazing experience.
That's not what it's known as
Is this the reason I both dislike smoking weed and also don't get the runners high?
Used to get bomb weed lollypops and go running for hours.
It literally would fool my endurance in pushing myself forward, all without burn out to my amazement-!
Those years, the exercise- riding fixies… All paid off, now a decade later and I can’t get fat if I tried.
You ran with lollypops in your mouth?
High?
From my couch too hahhaha
Sativa can help focus on chasing down the gazelle. Munchies happen because you are about to eat the gazelle you just chased down. Indica make you sleepy for recovery.
How much do you need to run to do it? I recently started running and my circuit is 3,5km (wanna try to do it in 15 minutes before moving forward) and don't seem to be getting high
To the edge of exhaustion. I couldn't ever get there running because by knees would be fucked but long bike rides I could feel euphoric.
There’s a chapter in “Hurts So Good” by Leigh Cowart about this, 10/10 would recommend
I feed my cannabinoid receptors both ways bc they are voracious.
Flow state baby. Best way to be.
Is this why I get winded after smoking weed?
Bob Marley recommended going for a run after smoking a spliff - to 'Lively up yourself'
I tried pretty hard for many years to achieve that “runners high”. Read books on the subject. Tried with headphones. Without. On treadmills and on roads. 5k, 10k, halfs, fulls. Never.
You know what did work? Smoking a bowl before going into the gym. Taking an edible when lining up.
I gave up pursuing “runners high” and instead decided to just get regular high and enjoy the exercise. And that’s game changing.
Does that mean my friend is immune to the runners high because his cannabinoid receptors built tolerance or are saturates by other means?
Ahhh yes, a photo of a runner’s knee after a run
I went from chronic weed smoking, to running and lost about 100lbs. I got hooked on that feeling, and it changed my outlook on health. Don't run anymore, but generally kept a healthy ish lifestyle.
Former College runner here, I’ve been saying this for years
Interesting. Probably why I enjoy riding my road bike and smoking.
This study has been reiterated/restated many times by now.
Couple of puffs before a big bike ride always works for me. It's when you get your second wind that it feels best
I experienced it when I was a distance runner. Tunnel vision. No pain. A feeling like you’re flying. Ecstatic afterward. I also experienced depression after I stopped running. I believe it was withdrawal.
So does anyone run on edibles? I need a report on this? Are we missing an opportunity here not combing the highs??
I got my Cannabinoid high today after my 10 mile run. Outside of vacations, sickness and injuries I’ve been running three or more times per week for the past 10 years. 8 or more miles for me during a single run and I get the “runners high”. It’s what keeps me running.
I thought runners high was when you get to the point in your running when… you can just keep on running, you dont get tired to the point where you need to stop and rest.
This always bugs me about these kinds of study headlines. GABAergic, gultamatergic, dopaminergic, and serotinergic, receptors probably all also have a key role in stuff like this. Brain is full of diverse networks.
Honestly it feels better than weed.
The cannabinoid hypothesis is actually far from being proven.. there are several other hypothesis for explaining the runner’s high such as the endorphin hypothesis (opioid receptors) or the transient hypofrontality hypothesis (not enough resources for higher cognition)
Anyone who smokes weed and likes to run could tell you that. I used to take edibles during college before going to the gym to run a 5k on the treadmill. It was a blast.
So….I’m reading that I should smoke a joint while I’m running- got it.
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