Running is the best and universal exercise anyone can follow to have better health and body. Running every day has many health benefits. It is the easiest but effective to lose weight and to maintain a good posture. Various studies show that running for at least 5 to 10 minutes a day at a moderate pace can greatly affect the body. It lowers the associated risk of cardiac attacks and strokes. There is no need to run for like hours each day for a good impact.
Running improves mental health
Besides the physical advantages, there are many psychological advantages to running. Some of these psychological benefits are stress relief, confidence, mental flexibility, etc. While running, there will be an improvement in the cardiovascular system. So more blood will be transferred around the body and to the brain. Thus, it provides more oxygen to the brain cells and improves brain functions, which will also help release the natural mood-elevating compounds, thus making your mood better.
Exercises, such as running, help to train the body as well as the mind. It will help you get more focus, determination, and help to face the challenges in life strongly. It also causes changes inside the brain. According to various research studies, the runners tend to show more connections between the frontal-parietal network and other brain areas associated with memory power and self-control, which happens mainly due to the increased aerobic capacity and cognitive demands running.
Running also helps in the development of new cells in the brain. It is one of the key factors that help in the growth of new neurons in the mind. This process is neurogenesis. It also improves cell growth. Running increases your ability to do mental tasks more efficiently.
Mental health benefits of running
There are many health benefits from self-esteem to energy to the overall mood; whatever facet of mental health you’re looking to improve upon, there’s a good chance that starting a running habit can help you get there. Some of the mental health benefits of running are:
- Reduces stress and anxiety: Stress relief is one of the major health benefits of running. We are living in a busy world. Day – by – day stress issues are increasing. So it is good to go for running to reduce stress. Doing a run or a jog can improve your mood for the short – term by helping your mind o get off the trouble.
Running every day can also have a long term stress-reducing effect. Many researchers suggest that running while you are stressed can lead to greater resilience and make you more able to handle the situation.
- Provide better sleep: There is a direct link between physical activities like running and improved sleep. While doing exercises like running, your body is working too much, and more energy is utilized. So the body needs to take rest to compensate for the lost life. Running can enhance sleep quality and prolonged sleep duration. Studies suggest that more physical activity will help the insomniac patients to get more sleep.
- Improves self-esteem: Regular base running can help to enhance your self – esteem. It can help to have a good body and health. If you are a good body or posture, it can naturally boost your self–esteem or confidence. And if you have a goal to lose weight, then running is a good kick start. It will help to reach your goal.
Your self-esteem will improve if you win or be able to reach the goal. It is also seen that regularly going for running exercises leads to better perceptions of one’s fitness and improved body image. If your self–esteem is improved, your productivity also simultaneously increases. More confident people and self – respect will have more energy to do tasks.
- Improves your mood: If you are a person that constantly deals with irritation and mood swings, going for running may help you to overcome the problem. It can help to stabilize your mood. During a run or after running, there will be a rush of endorphins hormones within the brain and nervous system, elevating your mood. These hormones are peptides that can activate the body’s opiate receptors, thereby causing an analgesic effect.
Various studies show that acute exercises like running or jogging can cause multiple brain changes like increased secretion of endocannabinoids. The mood will improve and help in the regulation of physiological conditions and other various diseases.
- Boost the energy: For the beginners running for a long time can be exhausting and tiring. But if you run for a long time, it can help you to boost energy. Running can improve your stamina and your energy reserves. Running can provide you a healthy body and help you to remain in good shape. And runners who are in good condition are found to do more work in less time than those who don’t work out.
Since running can improve sleep quality, it helps the body take sufficient rest at night, thereby providing you more energy and making you more active during the day. According to the study of the American Council on Exercise, citing a 2008 University of Georgia study in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, people who exercise for just 20 minutes daily are less vulnerable to being nauseous and have fatigue than people who do not exercise.
- Improves concentration, productivity, and memory: Various researchers suggest that constant running can have more interlinks between neurons, important for memory and concentration. Thereby improve brain function and capacity. Regular running can also help to enhance cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility enables switching from a task you are currently doing to another job without losing focus, improving the ability to do different tasks simultaneously.
Studies suggest that runners and people involved in other physical activities are shown to have more cognitive flexibility. It also helps to do mind tasks like calculation faster. If you face a problem in concentrating a particular thing or easily forget everything, then it is good to add running to your daily routine. It also improves the cognitive functioning of the brain.
Running every day also reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems and even cancer. The researchers suggest that it must run for about 2.5 hours per week, 30 minutes, or five days a week to have maximum longevity effects. It can also improve sleep and mood. The surveys say that the mood, sleep, and concentration is tested to be more infrequent runners than in non-runners. You can also do other training exercises along with running. Cross-training or training with other forms of exercise other than running can be beneficial to runners. How much you run depends on your physical fitness level and has to plan according to it.