[supportengineer]

I recently had an experience where I needed to do physical labor about 16 hours a day for two weeks, at the same time there was hardly any time to eat so I had to eat very small and simple meals. At the end of the two weeks I felt amazing.

[Lwerewolf]

Be careful with that feeling and don't underfuel, or at least keep it at "sane" levels. I feel pretty amazing and full after 62km/2700mD+ XCMs as well, as an extreme example... which is at least partially due to the immune system (and resp. inflammation/etc) being suppressed. Long, light/moderate efforts without adequate food intake and rest can lead to the same thing.

[jama211]

What are XCMs? 2700mD? Why would the immune system being suppressed make you feel good? I’m so confused

[Lwerewolf]

Stress hormones. Read up on cortisol's effects. XCM - cross country marathon (MTB race). 2700mD+ - 2.7km of vertical gain. A reduction of inflammation is a general effect of anti-inflammatory drugs, which tend to make you feel better. There's a LOT more than that (i.e. say, all the things that fall under the umbrella of "runner's high"), but the TL:DR is that significant physical activity / energy expenditure, combined with a lack of proper rest & nutrition leads to long-term undesirable effects that can definitely be masked and/or disregarded.

[karp773]

I fugure XCM must be cross country marathon, where 62km is the distance. But what is mD? Difference in elevation in meters?

[_zoltan_]

I have no idea what you wrote and you shouldn't assume people know some niece jargon.

[JJMcJ]

Did a major house cleaning a few years ago, got me out of the chair and the couch for a couple of weeks. Probably not as intense as your experience but I definitely felt better and was more flexible for about a month afterwards.

[xhkkffbf]

I think this works well for relatively short bursts, but if you made it a regular habit your body would start to break down after a year or two.