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I bike commute to work for a significant amount of time (about 1:15 each way) and most days I get out-of-the-blue ideas and solutions to situations/problems sta

I bike commute to work for a significant amount of time (about 1:15 each way) and most days I get out-of-the-blue ideas and solutions to situations/problems starting usually around 45 minutes in. It also often happens that I get a shift of perspective/viewpoint on something that is affecting me. If you are not getting any of this when working out may I suggest going longer? After all for most people the "runner's high" doesn't really happen unless you run for a significant amount of time (personally, same as for riding, it usually takes at least 45 minutes before it starts, for other people I know even an hour) I have to say that when I can't ride to work but have to take transit (when it's icy out) I am definitely less effective due to the lack of this 2x/day burst of additional creativity (which is helpful on the way back too, get home, fire off emails and note some plans for the next day). Note I have never taken drugs so I can't offer any comparisons.

saiya-jin 11y ago
That might be partly explained by it, my gym sessions/interval runs don't last more than 30-35 minutes. But I also do plenty of stuff in mountains - hikes, alpinism, ski touring, climbing etc. These are 3-10 hours activities (apart from short&intense burst while climbing), similar to slow running (sometimes actually pretty intense). These could be classified as some sort of "high", but more in a sense of euphory, joy of being in nature, seeing some amazing places, random meetings with animals etc. But nothing comparable to other "high" states from drugs. Just 2 very different worlds, both amazing but for different reasons.
- tetraodonpuffer 11y ago
  gym does not do it for me at all, as it's not really aerobic, and hiking in general requires too much brain power figuring out where to put your feet to allow me to get in the flow state plus in general it's not intense enough for long enough. For me it really seems like working out at a high enough level that you'd have to stop after 1:30 or so that does it, if I have longer rides (I have ridden up to 5 hours) it does not seem to be hard enough, while if you go shorter it's too hard, there just seems to be something about the hard-but-manageable-effort that does it for some reason Same deal with running, when I was marathon training and running for 2+ hours it did not happen as often as it did when I was half-marathon training and I was focusing on 1-1:30 workouts

saiya-jin 11y ago

That might be partly explained by it, my gym sessions/interval runs don't last more than 30-35 minutes. But I also do plenty of stuff in mountains - hikes, alpinism, ski touring, climbing etc. These are 3-10 hours activities (apart from short&intense burst while climbing), similar to slow running (sometimes actually pretty intense). These could be classified as some sort of "high", but more in a sense of euphory, joy of being in nature, seeing some amazing places, random meetings with animals etc. But nothing comparable to other "high" states from drugs. Just 2 very different worlds, both amazing but for different reasons.

tetraodonpuffer 11y ago
gym does not do it for me at all, as it's not really aerobic, and hiking in general requires too much brain power figuring out where to put your feet to allow me to get in the flow state plus in general it's not intense enough for long enough. For me it really seems like working out at a high enough level that you'd have to stop after 1:30 or so that does it, if I have longer rides (I have ridden up to 5 hours) it does not seem to be hard enough, while if you go shorter it's too hard, there just seems to be something about the hard-but-manageable-effort that does it for some reason Same deal with running, when I was marathon training and running for 2+ hours it did not happen as often as it did when I was half-marathon training and I was focusing on 1-1:30 workouts