Chris Lindley is in the business of getting people high.

The former Army officer and Iraq veteran insists that a body in motion can create a better buzz than booze or drugs.

"Endorphins are the natural drug that's released when you exercise," he tells OFFduty. "My mission is to educate, empower and inspire people to move more — and through this movement to ultimately lead healthier and happier lives."

So when he decided to open a gym in Denver a few years ago, he dubbed it Endorphin.

Now with eight locations across the Mile High City, the gym's motto is: "Movement is our drug."

A top local magazine recently awarded Endorphin its coveted Editor's Choice Award for best gym in town — in a town teeming with fitness clubs.

But it's more than just a cool name and catchy tagline; at its core, Endorphin is all about community, Lindley says.

That's why his gyms focus heavily on group classes, with everything from yoga and indoor cycling mashups to high-intensity interval training and boxing — while also connecting members for everything from group hikes and skiing adventures to post-workout drinks at local breweries.

"I'm convinced mind-body activity is the best drug for combating a large list of lifestyle challenges and medical conditions — obesity, depression, anxiety and even PTSD," Lindley says.

While exercising together brings us closer to one another, exercising with friends also improves performance, according to a recent Oxford study published in the online journal PLOS ONE.

Photo Credit: Getty Images via iStockphoto

Work out with friends

He's onto something when he pushes community as part of fitness, say British researchers.

While exercising together brings us closer to one another, exercising with friends also improves performance, according to a recent Oxford study published in the online journal PLOS ONE.

In one experiment, rugby players who warmed up with a partner performed significantly better on a timed run than those who warmed up by themselves.

In other tests, researchers found that groups of rowers tolerated twice as much pain as those who rowed alone and also were more cooperative later.

In both cases, researchers credited an "endorphin surge" for the boosts.

Brothers Chris (left) and Dwight "Trey" Hearn are starting a "Float Spa" business in Florida to help others tap in to the power of endorphins.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dwight Hearn

Go dancing

In another Oxford study published in October, researchers found that even dancing together can increase endorphin production.

Researchers found that both dancing in sync with others, or just dancing hard on one's own, can produce results.

"As it's hard to measure endorphin levels directly, we used pain thresholds as an indirect measure. More endorphins mean we tolerate pain better, so measuring relative increases in people's pain thresholds can indicate whether endorphins are being released," says the study's lead author, Bronwyn Tarr.

The team studied more than 250 teenagers in Brazil. Groups did either high- or low-exertion dancing that was either synchronized or not. Before and after, the team measured the teenagers' feelings of closeness to each other and their pain thresholds. Synchronized dancing encouraged more bonding and provided higher pain thresholds, while the energetic dancers saw similar results.

"But combining high energy and synchrony had the greatest effects — which might explain why people love to flash mob!" said Tarr.

Laugh out loud

Don't just type LOL in texts, actually do it.

A study published in 2012 found that good hearty laughter — the kind produced by a gut-busting stand-up comic — provides three times as much pain tolerance than watching unfunny drama.

"These results can best be explained by the action of endorphins released by laughter," concluded the study authors. Other studies have shown how laughing promotes healing and recovery.

Laughter truly is a good medicine, says psychiatrist Paul Jacobson. He credits a well-tickled funny bone — and the resulting endorphin doses — with helping him beat back stage IV cancer and recover from a massive heart attack and stroke.

Now "swimming with the endorphins" is one his favorite prescriptions.

Endorphins are such a health super-booster, Jacobson coined the term "endorpho-maniac," which he defines as "an over-the-top renaissance individual, who consistently harnesses and self-regulates the body's natural endorphin system, in order to gain a competitive edge in the pursuit of success, and bounce back from adversity in business and life higher than a super ball."

Brothers Chris (left) and Dwight "Trey" Hearn are starting their own "Float Spa" business in Florida to help others tap in to the power of endorphins.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dwight Hearn

Go 'floating'

A little isolation can be an endo booster, too — at least the kind Air Force Reserve Capt. Dwight E. Hearn III swears by.

Hearn says he was amazed the first time he tried float therapy, inside a light and soundproof pod filled with 150 gallons of superconcentrated epsom salt water.

"Imagine being in a space of perfect tranquility, floating like a cork in water with a temperature that mimics that of your skin, where you don't experience the pull of gravity, sight, or sound," he says. "It's like rebooting your brain. It's amazing, and that feeling lingers for days afterward."

Proponents say regular floating sessions train your "endorphin muscle." A raft of recent studies find that flotation therapy helps relieve stress, anxiety, depression and pain, while improving sleep — all linked to endorphin production. A new study is underway to explore how floating can treat post-traumatic stress.

Hearn is so convinced that he and his brother — also an Air Force veteran — are opening a float spa in Florida in January.

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