How Understanding Drug Addiction Can Motivate You To Exercise

Much has been made of the "runner's high," the euphoria attributed to pleasure-inducing neurotransmitter dopamine and other endorphins (the brain's endogenous opiates) being released in the brain during exercise. But the question is, if exercise causes the same brain changes as do other rewarding activities like, say, taking drugs, why, then, don't exercisers crave their workouts the way addicts crave drugs?

Addicts have no lack of motivation to seek the stuff they crave, but most gym-goers — even the most dedicated — have the opposite problem. They have to force themselves to work out despite the strong pull of inertia: "The bed feels so warm and comfortable," "I can't leave the office," "I just don't wanna!"

Now a new study led by Matthew Ruby at the University of British Columbia and published in Health Psychology explores the reasons for this lack of motivation and suggests that there may be easier ways to conquer it.

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