What Is Runners High?

What Does Running Do To Your Brain? Let’s find out!
Sarah and Mo sit down to answer questions about what effect running has on the brain. Where does the runner's high come from? What part of your brain does running improve? Stay tuned to find out!
↓↓ Have you experienced a runner's high? Let us know in the comments! ↓↓
What’s in this video?
00:00 What does running do to your brain?
00:45 What is the hippocampus?
03:11 True or False: Running Causes Stress?
05:35 Is running better for your brain than cycling or swimming?
08:20 What is the stroop test?
10:55 How long do you need to run for for the brain to benefit?
14:33 True or false: runner’s high comes about through the release of endorphins?
Studies referenced in the video:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
American Psychological Association: www.apa.org/topics/exercise-f...
Scientific Reports: www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
Journal of Sports Sciences:
shapeamerica.tandfonline.com/...
Harvard Health Publishing: www.health.harvard.edu/blog/w...
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[@vikroy3777]

Hippo campus is a hippopotamus at uni

[@jhmrem]

You have a point. Misbehaving younger students are sometimes punished by withholding recess. They need more physical activity, not less.

[@libradragon]

During my school years, we had to run around the track for as punishment for misbehaving; I was one of the good students, but I had just started running on the Track Team, so I liked that the "acting out" students got to see that running was a good thing! None of them joined the Track Team. Their loss.

[@ollieflj]

The first 2 km of any run I have the Runners Why. Why am I doing this, why am I hating this, why am I so bad at running. Then as I settle into the run, especially a long run, I start feeling good and really enjoy the run, air drumming and taking In the surroundings, then the runners high comes when I press stop on the watch. The eat, sleep, start running again and back to the Runners Why and repeat!

[@runningchannel]

Oh the Runners Why is a brilliant term!!

[@matildami5943]

I recently re-started an old childhood hobby: horse riding! I realize even better now how insanely good horses are for the brain (assuming you’re not nervous around them of course). Being around a horse just automatically clears your mind from everything else, it’s like a meditation and makes you feel so chill. So that’s my answer.

[@killerqueen9298]

As a triathlete get a similar feeling from both running and cycling. Great video again, guys. Well done 😊

[@meganhirschi6248]

I’ve never gotten the same from a good swim, but I have gotten a different feeling, like I can float forever.

[@jasonm8755]

This was the #1 reason I got into aerobic excercise and then fell in love with running! The brain benefits are unmatched :)

[@runningchannel]

So true 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@gazza2933]

Just run 2 miles today. Not a lot but haven't been running for about five weeks. Yes, slightly wrecked but an endorphin rush too. 👍

[@honor9lite1337]

Yeah😮

[@shanira99]

Great job!

[@runningchannel]

Well done for getting out there!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@gazza2933]

@@runningchannel Thank you 👍

[@gazza2933]

@@shanira99 Thanks very much.

[@hollyandersen9394]

I do not consider my bike commute to be “exercise” in the same way I think of running or strength training but I ALWAYS feel better and more prepared for the day when I get to work and more relaxed when I get home. I notice that I do not feel as good when I have to drive.

[@AlwaysForwardRunning]

A former cyclist and current runner. I found it very interesting . Love you guys! And you two, are wonderful "head to head". :) And your yellow nails sort of captivated me, early on....Runners high, normaly hits me, between mid and last part of a given run,. So around 30-40 mins in.... But then again , it differs on the distance...

[@AlioH89]

I get the biggest runners high from runs that I "force" myself to do or when I get past the harder first part of a run and settle in to a rhythm. A guy gave me a double thumbs up when I ran past him the other day (I think in a non-condescending way...!)

[@lttweety6397]

My high comes around the last 5-10 minutes and immediately after when I'm stretching. The muscle fatigue and knowing you've achieved something, anything does it for me.

[@josiegjackson]

I'm usually dancing on a run within 30 minutes of running but it varies on how I feel, sometimes I'm bouncing at the thought of going for a run and sometimes I don't get it at all! I do ultimate frisbee when I lived abroad and loved it alongside running and would take it up as a regular thing this time onwards but I need friends to fly frisbee with! Also the endorphins one reminds me of "explain your job terribly" to be "I shoot about people who release endocannabinoid for fun"

[@christiankolstad7685]

Yes, cycling in the spring and summer - time is simply amazing! Feeling the warm wind on your face as your are going downhill is better than runner's high

[@janet1792]

My runner's high isn't really a high. After the 1st 3 miles, the body discomfort I started with disappear. If I do a really long run, that feeling disappears and i feel discomfort again. I don't really feel high.

[@gofitmoms5907]

No better runners high for me than trail running!

[@JeePsSsS]

I like both swimming and running. But swimming makes me very relaxed, whereas running gives me a lot of energy but also stresses me out a bit, physically and mentally!

[@linnk89]

I do cross country skiing in the winter which gives me the same kind of feeling as running does, for me being outdoors is a big part of the experience that I really enjoy so struggling to run on the treadmill as it doesn’t give me the same kind of high at all. Curious how this works for other people, do you get the same high when you run indoors?

[@MattClarry]

I don't get to do it often anymore, but snowboarding out in the mountains gives me the biggest buzz. I don't know if I get the traditional runners high.

[@someusername789]

I used to do triathlons and would definitely get the same runner's high effect from Swimming. Nowadays I don't swim really but go on multi day bike trips. I get a nice high from the extended time in saddle cycling through the countryside, but it's different to the runners high from pushing yourself.

[@karinbroberg6683]

Great video, and good pronounciation of Karolinska! 👏👏👏👏 Much love from Stockholm 😊

[@pennysyogaexperience6959]

I have been telling people for years I run because I an afraid of doing real drugs. I enjoy riding a bike, swimming, yoga and dancing, however running has alway been my choice of drug. Thank you for the fun video.

[@ethanvance3834]

Cannabis and running, its like milk and cookies, or peanut butter and jelly! Gotta love those endocannabinoids and endorphins.

[@nicholaszeman4045]

It's so popular that some runners like myself are combining Cannabis with running. It actually helps me get the runner's high from the start of my runs and I can ride the wave the whole way through.

[@Jess-Rabbit]

The stress one confuses me. I have been exercising my whole life and I can't handle literally even the smallest problem in general life. Outside of exercising I'm barely functional

[@brannmacfinnchad9056]

Set your Garmin for 150 intensity minutes, and you'll be good for weekly amount of exercise. I have only ever experienced a runners high once, and that was from running through gale force winds (60+mph, and 20F base temp) in whiteout conditions.

[@Estertje93]

Not in terms of getting the 'high' but ballet is my true love, running is great but nothing makes me feel like hitting a combination right on the music. Also with ballet there is so much to think about it is truly meditative, whereas running gives space to (over)think.

[@rgb002762]

When Sarah talked about Beau Miles running. Two runners from a totally opposite ends of the sport . Mind blowing..

[@DrMachine6]

Golf is, for me, simultaneously one of the most relaxing and most frustrating sports I've played, and I love it. Would recommend. Not the most physically taxing, but if you walk 18, it's usually a 5-6 mile hike or so

[@patrickclarke1462]

My most intense runners high ive figured out.. starts about an hour and half at between 140 and 150 bpm and if i keep that same bpm last for an hour its so strong i really need to watch my pace as i can get really carried away with my speed😅

[@bobbybeard1497]

When I first started running I used to get it after 45mins but now it takes at least 1hr30 at threshold pace to get a decent runners high. The problem is I don't run that long very often 😢

[@nachot6592]

I get it until 40 minutes, too. Which sucks because by then I'm exhausted but the high pushes me to keep going even if I physically can't and I feel like dying afterwards.

[@ensambleconsultoriabarragan]

Huberman Andrew follow and see the protocol. Well done to talk about this!

[@boncartes]

Sarah, you should try playing Ultimate Frisbee! Lots of running and lots of fun 😄

[@andersonteo4879]

Interesting info. Anyway, running always bring about that good feeling... maybe except after a ultra-marathon. 😅

[@michaelrockow5461]

But they also said that people that did 10 second sprints had higher STROOP scores, so really, 10 seconds of running can boost mental performance.

[@ensambleconsultoriabarragan]

i like to do bundles, but ove to ride my 🚴 . That’s what I do when I’m recovering from running and combine exercises

[@joemoya9743]

Did you intend to post this video "flat" (or "'log")? Typically such video is color corrected with a LUT or manually to add back contrast, sharpness and saturation.

[@leearnasnell]

Try orienteering. I get a real buzz running through the forest whilst also trying to read a map, knowing that every second counts. Gives a real purpose to running

[@luncharm]

I've only ever felt runner's high after about 45 minutes of an easy run. Like a very slow recovery run.

[@styx85]

Don't forget the audio check, guys! 😅 Good video though, thumbs up.

[@maruf786]

Dragon Boating gives me the same high as running! 😊

[@miablom6335]

I get runner's high after my run. 😊

[@runningchannel]

You and Sarah 🙌🏻

[@samuelswayze]

I had read a while ago that the runner's high endocannabinoids target the same receptors as cannabis, hence the name. Anyway, this was a fun and interesting episode. I did my best to guess along.

[@Jaigarful]

I've never had this experience and I've run quite a bit.

[@Ryzi03]

14:15 Glad to see Beau getting the recognition he deserves. An absolute fucking legend!

[@Lottepign]

Dancing does the trick for me 😊

[@Estertje93]

Same!

[@alasdairdalton9735]

Rock climbing is great for an exercise high because it's a combination of mental and physical exercise.

[@Rosherrim]

The hippocampi are on the sides of the head (that’s where the temporal lobes are), not the front. Would have loved to have seen an actual neuroscientist featured in this one to set straight some of the wild speculation 😅

[@river9446]

Moe casually dropping the Yerkes-Dawson law of optimal arousal??? Kudos, man.

[@CatsAreTheBestPeople-mm1fo]

"Don't do drugs - go for a run." 🤣 Never a truer word spoken. Same goes for dealing with a stressful day with an evening of alcohol - we'll feel far better if we put the bottle down and go and pound the pavement instead. 🏃‍♀️👍

[@fastfiddler1625]

For me, I love cycling and mountain biking. But it is a lot easier for me to get the meditative benefits of running than it is on a bike. Mountain biking is NOT meditative for me because it's very adrenaline pumping... kind of the opposite of meditative. Pavement cycling though, if I'm on an empty path or road, maybe. But the stress of traffic and trying not to have an accident ruins that most of the time. For me, there is NOTHING quite like bad weather running. Snow, rain, cold. Everyone else stays inside while I'm splashing or crunching away on the trail alone. Kind of like mindfulness exercises when you concentrate on breathing or your body, this gives you other interesting things to be mindful of. It also gives me the high of feeling like a badass.

[@Jow2K]

I always thought I felt good and happy after a run because of endorphins 😅

[@lazzaboyman8003]

As a triathlete and a mountain biker I’d say both are good for brain function except when you crash the mountain bike!

[@scriptosaurusrex]

The audio on this was awful. It sounded like you forgot to mix in the lav mics, instead using in camera room audio.

[@Beat-Brugger]

The exercise that makes me slightly happier than running is: windsurfing!

[@runningchannel]

Oh wow. Should we get Sarah out on the water?

[@vikroy3777]

​@@runningchannelyes we need a guinea-pig 😀

[@Beat-Brugger]

@@runningchannel Oh yes, that would be great. By the way Zara Davis from Bristol is one of the fastest windsurfers in the world. You have a good windsurfing community in Great Britain ;-).

[@paulac1417]

Les Mills body combat leaves the same high as running

[@piplus2]

Same reason why some people can get addicted to running.

[@dinalli]

Never had a runners high, so am I doing it all wrong.

[@dominikschrott7412]

What it does to my brain? It definitely provocates my AD(H)D based tendence to adictive behaviour 😆

[@oli0808]

Colours seem off on this. Slightly grey and washed out.

[@rjgiddings]

Need better mics on them...very much a poor sound recording.

[@wendystrout4435]

I also take a boxing class

[@raoufannab]

That was a good video that was unfortunately ruined with a bad audio 🥲🥲