Your goals in working out might be building lean muscle mass, burning unwanted body fat and increasing your stamina, but performing exercise on a regular basis has the power to alter your brain chemistry. What exactly happens to your brain during exercise remains somewhat of a scientific mystery, but research indicates that working out stimulates parts of the brain associated with happiness.

What Triggers Your Brain?

You may objectively workout to benefit your own health, but your body responds to exercise as if you were enduring a dangerous situation. Your body recognizes high-intensity exercise as stressful, thus causing a physiological reaction that mirrors “fight or flight.” As your heart rate increases as a product of exercise, your body physiologically responds as if you were fighting for your life. Even though you’re obviously not at risk while jogging on a treadmill, your brain cannot differentiate between healthy exercise and life-or-death situations.

Your Brain on Exercise

Your brain naturally releases endorphins as your heart rate increases as a product of exercise. Endorphins are defined as any group of hormones that activate the body’s opiate receptors, which cause a euphoric effect. Endorphins possess a variety of physiological functions; its chemical impact on your emotional well-being does, in fact, cause a rush of happiness. Your brain essentially harnesses groups of hormones to generate a drug-like reaction within your body that cause you to feel some sense of euphoria as a direct outcome of exercising.

Initiating Endorphin Release

It’s possible that you’ve realized the power of an endorphin rush during a workout. This is because it takes approximately 20 minutes of moderate- to high-intensity exercise for your body to initiate the release of endorphins from the brain. After endorphins are released from the brain, you’ll immediately sense a feeling of clarity and happiness. Even though this sensation is commonly compared to life-threatening drugs, like heroin or nicotine, the endorphin rush you experience from exercise is actually a good thing. Endorphins act as a de-stressor and ultimately serve as a welcomed reward for the hard work you put forth while pushing yourself to exhaustion at the gym.

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