Thoughts on Exercise

This post records some of my thoughts on exercise and rehab.

Warm-up and rehab

When I was doing my master’s at Columbia, I often went to the Columbia gym. After all, there really were not many free gyms in New York that were close to me. Because the gym was limited in size, with few machines and many students, I often could not follow my own plan. The biggest mistake I made was that, in order to minimize the time spent on each workout, I often skipped warm-up and stretching. Of course, the bigger issue was the flaw in my own mindset. I thought warm-up and stretching did not really matter, so I paid a painful price with knee and shoulder injuries, and even today I still have lingering issues from time to time.

In my own understanding, warm-up mainly has two parts: physiological preparation and neural/psychological preparation. Physiological preparation means that after the body warms up, muscles expand and joints secrete lubricating fluid, so physically your athletic performance is better. Psychological preparation is something like this: when we see a very heavy object, before we try to lift it, our cerebral cortex tells the nerves: this thing is really heavy, you need to be careful and use more force. Then we squat down and lift it carefully with a lot of effort. In contrast, when we see something very light, like a foam roller, we just bend over casually and pick it up.

So now I always warm up before lifting and running, and I also stretch and relax after training. This really helps me avoid injuries. At least my old knee and shoulder problems do not relapse much anymore. But it has also slowed down my muscle growth: now I may do more functional training instead of hypertrophy training. And while training, I would rather gain a little less muscle and make sure the exercise is safe. Maybe this is just my personality. Like Buffett or Munger said, if I knew where I was going to die, I would not go there. So I do not like extreme sports, even skiing and roller coasters included.

The advantages and necessity of warming up before exercise can be described briefly from the following aspects:

Increase body temperature and blood circulation: Warm-up can gradually raise body temperature and promote blood circulation, making blood flow to the muscles and increasing oxygen supply, preparing the body for high-intensity exercise.
Reduce injury risk: Warm-up reduces the risk of muscle strains and joint injuries by increasing muscle elasticity, joint range of motion, and nerve conduction speed.
Improve performance: Warm-up can enhance muscle strength and speed, improve muscle coordination, reduce muscle viscosity, and therefore improve athletic performance.
Mental preparation: Warm-up helps focus attention, adjust mental state, and prepare psychologically for the exercise that follows.

Benefits of exercise

According to Metaso, the benefits of exercise are as follows:

The benefits of exercise can be summarized from multiple angles, including physical health, mental health, social ability, and quality of life. The main benefits are:

Physical health:
- Enhance cardiovascular function: Exercise can improve cardiovascular function, strengthen blood circulation, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- Control weight: By burning fat and increasing muscle mass, exercise helps with weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight.
- Improve metabolism: Exercise promotes metabolism, improves the body’s use of sugar and fat, and helps prevent diabetes and obesity.
- Strengthen immunity: Regular exercise can improve immune system function and reduce illness.
- Prevent chronic diseases: Exercise helps reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperglycemia, and heart disease.
- Improve bone health: Exercise can increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis.
Mental health:
- Relieve stress and anxiety: Exercise can release “happy hormones” such as endorphins, helping reduce stress and anxiety.
- Improve mood: Exercise can lift mood, increase confidence, and reduce depressive feelings.
- Improve focus: Exercise helps concentration and improves brain efficiency.
Social ability:
- Expand social circles: Through team sports or fitness activities, people can make new friends and develop cooperation and team awareness.
- Improve parent-child relationships: Participating in exercise together can increase communication and understanding among family members.
Quality of life:
- Increase energy: Exercise can improve strength and endurance, making people feel more energetic.
- Improve sleep quality: Regular exercise helps regulate the biological clock and improve sleep quality.
- Delay aging: Exercise can slow the decline of physical function and maintain flexibility and mobility.

During my time in ATL, I often felt depressed, so I exercise every day. Of course, I may not have felt the physical health benefits clearly. I still get sick or injured from exercise from time to time. But my mental health has improved noticeably.

Different happy hormones

A summary of endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine: effects and triggering behaviors

Endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin are all happy hormones. My understanding is that endorphins require long-term and slightly painful behavior, such as exercise. Dopamine is the shortest-term hormone; gaming, exercise, and sex can all provide it. But in modern society, dopamine is also very easy to abuse. For example, video games and porn can make you happy very easily, but after the happiness ends, all that is left is emptiness. By contrast, the happiness after exercise lasts longer and feels more joyful. Although I know this many times, I still cannot control myself, because my current state is really not good and the pressure is very high.

1. Endorphins

Effects:

Pain relief: As a natural painkiller, endorphins reduce pain by inhibiting the transmission of pain signals.
Produce euphoria: They bind to morphine receptors, bringing pleasure and relaxation similar to morphine.
Improve exercise endurance: During exercise, they help hide physical pain and support continued training.
Improve immunity and sleep: They improve immune function and regulate sleep quality.

Triggering behaviors:

High-intensity exercise: Such as running, swimming, and lifting weights for more than 30 minutes.
Food: Eating dark chocolate or spicy foods such as chili peppers.
Emotional behavior: Laughing, such as watching comedy, and massage.

2. Oxytocin

Effects:

Promote mother-infant bonding: It stimulates milk secretion, evokes maternal love, and helps uterine contractions during childbirth.
Increase social trust: Known as the “love hormone” or “trust hormone”, it suppresses fear and defensiveness and increases interpersonal trust.
Relieve stress: It lowers stress hormone levels, such as adrenaline, and stabilizes blood pressure and heart rate.
Promote intimate relationships: It is released during intimate interactions such as hugging and sex, strengthening emotional bonds.

Triggering behaviors:

Physical contact: Hugging, kissing, sex.
Social interaction: Talking with family and friends, companionship, and participating in group activities.
Altruistic behavior: Helping others and expressing kindness, such as praise or donations.
Mother-infant behavior: Breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant.
Pet interaction: Playing with or looking at pets.

3. Dopamine

Effects:

Motivation and reward: It drives goal-oriented behavior and brings short-term excitement and satisfaction, such as the pleasure after completing a goal.
Regulate mood: A lack of dopamine may lead to depression, impulsiveness, or insufficient motivation.
Influence addiction mechanisms: It is closely related to pleasure and “addictive” behaviors, such as gaming or the early stage of romance.
Promote movement and learning: Through reward mechanisms, it encourages repeated beneficial behaviors such as exercise and learning.

Triggering behaviors:

Achieving goals: Completing small tasks and gaining achievements, such as in work or study.
Food and entertainment: Eating chocolate, listening to music, watching comedy.
Exercise and sex: Working out and sexual activity.
Social interaction: Gathering with friends and building new relationships.