Endorphins are a natural "high" your body creates which lower anxiety and can lower pain levels. Doctors compare endorphins to opiates. As a woman who has struggled with depression and anxiety for many years, endorphins are one natural way to temporarily relieve some of that.
Although actually getting on my elliptical sometimes takes some convincing, once I have been on it for awhile I tend to feel a surge of good feelings (those are the endorphins). I will be sweating profusely and tired and then gradually I feel exceptional. Pretty cool right? This feeling prevents me from jumping off the elliptical before my work out is done.
My elliptical work outs this week tend to be a minimum of 30 minutes and at least 300 calories burned. Some days it takes me a few extra minutes to reach that 300 mark and I have been pushing myself to make sure I don't cut myself short.
Another thing to keep in mind when doing cardio is that if you aren't sweating, you probably aren't maximizing the time you are spending on it. If you are using the elliptical, make sure you aren't just doing a flat course. Your muscles will benefit from varying your incline. You also won't feel so bored mentally which is a big plus.
I may have only been doing cardio for the past 4 days but I am so proud of myself. That's 4 days more then I did last year! I was really dreading doing it knowing how hard it would be but I am doing it anyway.
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