According to this professor, there is a psychological reason behind this.
Sports are good for people – for mental and physical health. In fact, we are all familiar with this, but in practice many do not yet use it sufficiently. We often prefer staying on the couch with a snack rather than waking up for an intense gym session. Why is starting a workout so hard when we know how good it is for us? research Who has a logical explanation for this, asked Professor Anton Schorenk. It’s all about our internal reward system and the way we handled energy in prehistoric times.
When we lie on the couch and snack on lots of sugar, our body sends a signal to the brain. From sugar we make dopamine, the so-called happiness hormone. This is also called the reward system: our brain rewards this relaxation and snacking with a euphoric feeling, which always makes us want more of it. As a result, it can often be hard to find the motivation to get off the couch and get into your gym clothes.
Then, according to Schwerink, there is another important reason that goes back thousands of years. In prehistoric times, man had to deal with food scarcity. After the meal, the ancient people had to use their energy as economically as possible, because the next meal could have taken a few more days. We now live in this mode of thrift almost constantly, because there is no real scarcity in the Netherlands: there is always food to be found somewhere.
This combination of our reward system and our low-energy body means that going to the gym, riding a bike, or putting on our running shoes sometimes feels like a chore. Fortunately, dopamine is also released during exercise: so always remember that you automatically feel good after a workout.
source | research
