Doing Sports Helps us to Produce Endorphins
Among the many benefits that sports offer, the release of endorphins is one of the most cherished. This effect will make you happier. Learn in this article, how sports can become your key to happiness.
Endorphins are a substance produced by our nervous systems to create pleasant sensations. Practicing sports not only improves your health, but it can also make you feel happy without much effort.
What are sports endorphins?
Basically, endorphins are amino acid sequences that work as neurotransmitters. Their production originates in the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. Spicy food or chocolates, being in love or feelings of excitement may also produce endorphins.
Endorphins are not always present in our bodies, In other words, the body eliminates them gradually in order to maintain balance. If we always had endorphins in our bodies we wouldn’t be able to feel any types of ailments.
Likewise, they also act to relieve pain. Endorphins have an analgesic effect that promotes the feeling of well being. It can be said it’s a kind of “natural morphine” produced by our bodies.
Sports and endorphins
When we practice sports, several processes occur in our bodies and minds that are of great benefit. For example, blood flow increases, toxins are eliminated, muscle mass increases and of course endorphins are released.
However the amount of endorphins our body releases depends on the intensity, duration, and types of sports we practice. Aerobic exercises such as cycling, skiing, running or swimming usually increase endorphin release.
Likewise, it’s recommended to perform a physical activity that lasts for approximately 30 or 45 minutes. The body will release five times more endorphins when exercising than when we’re at rest!
Effects of endorphins on athletes
Besides putting you in a good mood, endorphins have other significant benefits on athletes that includes:
- Increase in performance: endorphins disguise fatigue and produce powerful moments of energy, ecstasy or euphoria during a workout.
- Analgesic effect: deletes negative feelings, reduces anxiety and helps with having a good night’s sleep.
- Natural analgesic: endorphins reduce the effects of pain, acting as a painkiller produced by the body.
- Achievement: the release of endorphins lasts several hours after the workout. It gives us a feeling of achievement, tranquility, and satisfaction after we work out.
Sports endorphins equal happiness
Sports can eliminate the blues, while it builds a healthy body that’ll boost your self-esteem. Many people love practicing sports. A great part of that love is credited to the effects that sports have on them. This in hand is due to the release of endorphins.
Therefore, any types of physical activities that you do and that make you feel well will give you the benefits produced by endorphins. Dancing, running, and swimming, among other activities, can bring out the best in you.
In the film Billy Elliot, the Royal Ballet asks Billy, “How do you feel when you dance?” He responded, “It’s as if everything disappeared and my whole body changed. It’s like I have a fire inside me and I see myself flying like a bird. I feel the electricity. Yes, electricity!”
All of these feelings are produced by endorphins. For many, the answer to why they practice sports is because it makes them feel good. Often, the feeling of utmost happiness, ecstasy, is hard to explain. Billy’s definition is one of the closest to this feeling.
Practice sports
The release of endorphins helps to fight depression and anxiety, so practice sports! You have so many options for working out such as Zumba Fitness, Pound Fitness, HIT Training, LISS, and cycling among others.
Sports can make you feel better about yourself, free emotions and help you to get to know yourself better. Likewise, you can get in touch with the way you express your emotions.
Sports are a healthy, beneficial hobby. Don’t think about it twice and take advantage of all the benefits that endorphin release has for you!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Harber, V. J., & Sutton, J. R. (1984). Endorphins and Exercise. Sports Medicine: An International Journal of Applied Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-198401020-00004
- Franklin, B. A., Trivax, J. E., & Vanhecke, T. E. (2012). Exercise and Depression. In Psychiatry and Heart Disease: The Mind, Brain, and Heart(pp. 211–222). John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470975138.ch16
- Leuenberger, A. (2006). Endorphins , Exercise , and Addictions : A Review of Exercise Dependence Release Endorphins : Endogenous Opioids. Impulse, 1–9.
