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Not sure if it's autism specific, but my mood definitely gets worse if I have to sit around all day. I have a lot of spare energy, so I get wound up if it doesn't have an outlet. Google 'serotonin'.
I hate exercise. For years when I was a kid my mom practically used it as punishment on me for my weight. I am not a naturally active person and only get real pleasure, if any, from quiet activities such as drawing, reading, and doing crafts.
I believe that the dominant good feeling that comes from exercise is due to the creation (or release) of endorphins. It is related to a reaction from the brain when it knows your body is experiencing muscle stress or overuse. I don't believe it is connected to ASD in any way. It's a common phenomenon in people who workout heavily at a gym. The endorphins create a low level euphoria - generalized good feeling. I once read that it is also responsible for the "runner's high".
I hate exercise. For years when I was a kid my mom practically used it as punishment on me for my weight. I am not a naturally active person and only get real pleasure, if any, from quiet activities such as drawing, reading, and doing crafts.
There are also new studies out there on the positive effect certain environments have (ie. forest, beach). So its not all internal. Certain chemicals or substances in the environment are also at play, at least in certain conditions.
If you don't exercise, cortisol (the stress hormone) builds up in your system and over time this puts strain on your organs, muscles, etc. If it isn't expressed outward it's expressed inward. Your muscles could atrophy making the simplest tasks, very difficult. If you don't use it you lose it (in this case functionality) By exercising you basically lower your cortisol levels, lower your stress over time / increase your capacity for physical and chemical stress. It keeps your body running like a well oiled machine.
If you like, you can imagine cortisol as a group entity that's somewhat passive and harmless. However when it reaches high levels in your body it begins to attack you.
In relation to autism... hmm... Lets see...
Depends on the person and the symptoms they exhibit.
If one burns hot this could make them more prone to over heating or perhaps over time lower body temperature.
If our brains swell or we are usually inflamed then perhaps this could reduce inflammation.
Stagnation is death. Humans aren't designed to sit around like kings and do nothing physical. By exercising and being active you are in tune with nature and our design. We are meant to be moving, to be active it's what our physiology needs.
I think you'll have better luck just to continue digging into non specialized terms then cross referencing with what you know about autism or your own traits. The effects should still be very similar to NT's maybe only a few deviations.
Open up several tabs, each one being a different search engine. then copy and paste a search term into all of them and search. You can even use google if you like and notice how different your results are. Google isn't really any good at giving actionable intel....
Some more search terms you could try:
What goes on in the body during exercise
What goes on in the body during physical activity
What goes on in the brain during exercise
The brain during exercise
The brain after exercise
The body after exercise
the effects of exercise on hormones
the effects of exercise on the brain
the effects of exercise on your body
A scientific approach to exercise
the truth about exercise
Exercise and health
Cortisol and exercise
how to lower your cortisol
movement is life stagnation is death
movement is life
stagnation is death
key to health
alchemical processes from exercises
physiological need for exercise
biological need for exercise
Why is exercise important?
the brain during physical activity
This should yield more than enough where you can then take specific hormones and terms then plug them into new search results.
hormone[x] in the brain
hormone[x] and exercise
neuro transmitters and exercise
Endocrine system and exercise
How do we interpret hormones
what hormone[z] does in the body
what hormone [z] does for the mind
a detailed look at neuro transmitter [x]
a detailed look at hormone [y]
Could even plug in the new things you learned and add autism.
Cortisol in autistic individuals
cortisol and autism
[anything] and autism
[anything] in the autistic brain.
Rinse and repeat until you get the definitive answer you're looking for.
"Runner's high" is almost an identical feeling to many drugs, without the drawback of financial cost, side-effects, and withdrawals. I call it "getting high for free". When I first stopped abusing drugs, I ran a LOT. I ran so much, I decided to put it to use and ran a marathon! It was fun!
Not sure if it's autism specific, but my mood definitely gets worse if I have to sit around all day. I have a lot of spare energy, so I get wound up if it doesn't have an outlet. Google 'serotonin'.
This. I get extremely restless, bored and cranky if I'm sitting round the house and don't have anything to do. I also don't like sitting for long periods and want to move around, do something physical. It definitely affects my mood.
Although, I would add that not everyone get's a 'high' after exercising. I get a glowy feeling after yoga and want to hug everyone, but intense cardio can give me severe depression for about ten minutes during/afterwards. Then it just disappears and I feel fine (and pleased with myself for exercising). I'm pretty sure it's connected to blood sugar levels and/or circulation, as I get blue lips/nails at the same time. But other people on a couple of running forums I go to have also reported feeling low for a short amount of time during/after cardio. So that might be something to watch for. If it happens, it does go away quickly and having high intensity music to distract you helps a lot.
