The notion of the runner’s high may be well known but a new book shines a light on many more mental benefits from the sport – including how it could make your brain bigger.
"Running is among the most powerful means for effecting a life change … if you are dedicated enough, you can do it anywhere, every day of the year. It’s that regularity that brings transformative benefits in terms of mental health.”
Scott Douglas, running journalist and best-selling author
Even if you are no more than an occasional student of running, you will no doubt have noticed the myriad mental benefits running is supposed to be able to deliver.
Magazines deliver a snippet here, a nugget there, but the detail is too often unsatisfying or superficial.
Douglas, a long-time Runner’s World contributing editor and former Running Times editor, has fixed that in his book Running Is My Therapy, which highlights up-to-date academic information and includes interviews with genuine experts.
He focused on the important topic of how running can help fight depression – a subject we cover in depth in another blog – but he also found there are lesser-known improvements from consistent aerobic activity.
Among the enhancements Douglas’ book said running could deliver are better memory, attentional focus, pain tolerance and brain processing speed.
“Regular running has as profound an effect on your brain’s health as it does on the body parts most people more often focus on,” wrote the co-author of New York Times bestseller Meb For Mortals.
Other claimed benefits include greater creativity, improved mood, and reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, thanks to the way running and similar exercise can slow or stop the age-related loss of brain tissue and preserve the underlying structure of key brain areas.
The really good news? Thirty minutes of moderate activity (high-intensity stuff wasn’t found to have the same impact) four or five times a week should be enough to make a difference. That’s only a little bit more than most couch-to-5k programmes.
I’m not going to get into the science of the mental benefits of running in any meaningful way here – the book is the place to go for that – but there was one stand-out piece of information for long-time runner and running journalist Douglas.
“That regular running causes structural changes in the brain is the most important thing I learned writing the book,” he wrote.
“It makes sense when you think about it: Why wouldn’t there be noticeable differences over time in the brain, in the same way that a chest X-ray shows that the left ventricle of my heart has enlarged over decades of running? But growing the brain by running isn’t something you often hear about.”
The research Douglas highlighted also pointed strongly towards the conclusion that running made the brain react in the same way that anti-depressants try to. The activity increases levels of something called brain-derived neurotrophic factor - known to many as the Miracle-Gro of the brain - helping to aid mood, memory and learning.
Another expert pointed out to him that such aerobic exercise has been shown to increase activity in an area of the brain that helps build resilience to stress.
Overall, Douglas suggested, developing a regular running habit could make people happier, better at prioritising and coordinating tasks, remembering things, and staying mentally sharp in later life, to name but a few.
He is a running enthusiast, of course, and aerobic activity is not solely the domain of our sport. But Douglas told Runners’ Mentor that the convenience of running in terms of cost, location and skills to learn put it at the front of the pack.
Whatever activity supplies your aerobic fix, academics seem to have little doubt about the positive benefits of a regular workout. It genuinely can make people healthier and happier, so follow in the footsteps of Douglas and spread the word.
If you want to get into running, or move on to the next stage of your journey in the sport, we can help with regular training planning and guidance. Happy running!
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