How do you describe the exercise high? Really…let me know if you have a great way to convey it to people who haven’t experienced it.

I was talking to a friend who started doing Crossfit. She has trouble pushing herself really hard physically, but loves the feeling after a really intense workout. She hypothesizes that the reason she returns to Crossfit is for that glow afterward. Indeed, I suspect that’s part of Crossfit’s success!

I’m sure you’ve felt it too after an interval workout when you really pushed yourself.

It got me thinking about how to convey that feeling to people who haven’t experienced it? The catch is that you don’t get that feeling immediately when you start working out. Studies have shown that inactive people who walked 30 minutes per week – broken into 10 minute sessions with 1 minute high intensity during each workout (for 3 minutes total) experienced improved oxygen consumption, lower blood pressure, and increased insulin sensitivity in just 6 weeks. However, I bet that they didn’t get the great feeling exercise can bring, at least not in the first few weeks.

I came across a diagram referred to as “The Exer Cycle” in Jordan Metzl, M.D.’s book The Exercise Cure. My drawing below is a slightly modified version. I think this starts to convey some of the great benefits of exercise, and I think some will be fairly immediate for someone just starting out. Even if they don’t feel awesome exercising, there may be a feeling of accomplishment, and that could lead to healthier eating. Better sleep may be an immediate benefit, and before too long someone just starting to exercise will begin to find daily tasks easier, and they will likely feel stronger quite quickly.