Dr Anna Lembke reveals what exactly happens to your mind and body after hard exercise and ice baths. #dopamine #icebath #psychology #psychologyfacts #doctor #didyouknow #podcasts #diaryofaceopodcast #stevenbartlett #expert #exercisetips #fitnessmotivation #fitnessgoals

If we intentionally press on the pain side of the balance, for example, with exercise or an ice cold water bath or intermittent fasting, those gremlins will hop on the pleasure side of the balance, and we will get our dopamine indirectly by paying for it up front. And there are studies in humans showing that when humans expose themselves to exercise, for example, dopamine levels gradually rise over the latter half of the exercise. And then when the exercise stops, dopamine levels will remain elevated for hours afterwards before going back down to the baseline level position without ever going into that dopamine deficit state. So it's a great way to get our dopamine indirectly because it's much less vulnerable to that compulsive craving phenomenon of overuse.