Adrenaline and Endorphins what are they?

Question

I hear you get adrenaline when your really scared and it gets you to see things in slow motion and endorphins come out when you excersice for a long time and it takes all the pain away and it gets you stronger for a while. Whats the truth I tried to make my endorphins come out one time by doing sit ups for 30 min. but nothing happened.

Answer 1

Adrenaline is a hormone and is a "fight or flight" hormone which is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency. When secreted into the bloodstream, it rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes (digestion in particular).

Endorphins are endogenous opioid biochemical compounds. They are polypeptides produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. In other words, they might work as "natural pain killers."

A widely publicized effect of endorphin production is the so-called "runner's high", which is said to occur when strenuous exercise takes a person over a threshold that activates endorphin production. Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts, when the level of intensity is between moderate and high, and breathing is difficult. This also corresponds with the time that muscles use up their stored glycogen and begin functioning with only oxygen. Workouts that are most likely to produce endorphins include running, swimming, cross-country skiing, long distance rowing, bicycling, weight lifting, aerobics, or playing a sport such as basketball, soccer, or football.

However, some scientists question the mechanisms at work, their research possibly demonstrating the high comes from completing a challenge rather than as a result of exertion. Studies in the early 1980s cast doubt on the relationship between endorphins and the runner's high. There were a couple of reasons for this doubt.

The first was that when an antagonist (pharmacological agent that blocks the action for the substance under study) was infused (eg naloxone) or ingested (naltrexone) the same changes in mood state occurred that happened when the person exercised with no blocker.
A second piece of evidence is much more simple. It turns out that scientists cannot make a runner's high occur in the lab with any certainty. This makes it very difficult to study, much less prove that endorphins cause the runners high.
In recent years, the connection between the "Runner's High" phenomenon and endorphins has been severed completely. A study in 2004 by Georgia Tech found that Runner's High was likely triggered by a release of another naturally produced body chemical, the endocannabinoid anandamide. Anandamide is similar to the active chemical THC in Marijuana. The body produces this chemical to deal with prolonged stress and pain from strenuous exercise, similar to the original theory attached to endorphins.

Answer 2

They are hormones.

For a more detailed answer...read the first poster.