Three Overlooked Benefits of Jogging Nobody Told You About
I’ll go on the record and say: I used to hate running for most of my life.
When I was a kid, my parents wanted me to join the Cross Country team.
I hated it.
I made a scene when my dad brought me to the first practice.
I barely made an effort all season long.
I stood by it then, and I’ll stand by it again now. There’s a lot of aspects of running that flat out suck.
But at a certain point later in my life, in college, when I was really deep into hitting the gym, something happened.
I developed a smoker’s cough because I was living like a degenerate.
I knew I had to get rid of it….so I started jogging for a few minutes on the treadmill, 2 or 3 times a week.
And the funniest thing happened — by my final year in school, I actually kind of liked it?
There’s a lot of unspoken benefits of jogging besides just increasing your stamina. Let’s take a look and see if you dig ’em too.
Improves Your Focus
This is one that people typically don’t think of when they think of running.
But it’s totally true.
After a jog where you break a decent sweat, you come out of it with so much more mental clarity than before.
Running is sort of like shaking the cobwebs off your brain.
You may go in distracted, or feeling “foggy,” but after a nice session?
You’re sharp.
Your thoughts gain a certain amount of clarity. Similar to a long walk, you may have increased creativity and ideas will flow like they don’t when you’re sitting around your house.
The science backs it up — running pushes oxygen rich blood to your brain.
And if there’s one thing about humans, we love oxygen. More than water.
Not only does this boost your cognitive function in the moment, but it’s been shown that running consistently boosts cognitive function over time.
And may even reduce the risk of diseases such as Alzheimers.
In addition to the oxygen rich blood component, running promotes the release of BDNFs — which I talked about here.
These BDNFs essentially promote the growth and health of neurons in the brain.
And strong BDNF activity is directly related to healthy brain function, staving off or even preventing Alzheimers.
On the surface it seems like the benefits of running are just losing weight and increasing stamina, but in reality, jogging once or twice a week can be a game changer for all sorts of health.
Running Improves Mental Health & Reduces Depression
Oh wow. Not only does this thing cure Alzheimers (*may prevent*), but it can also make you feel good?
The science says yes.
Not only is running a proven aid which can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, but it has been shown to be as effective as psychotherapy and prescription meds.
As effective.
The same amount of effectiveness.
That’s a pretty huge statement.
Instead of tuning to pills and other medicines that’ll mask the problem, running provides a natural way to help you out.
Basically, this comes in the form of a “runner’s high.”
When you’ve been running long enough, the body releases endorphins into the blood which increase “good” feelings. It’s basically a sense of relaxation and pleasure for the body.
Additionally, running for extended periods releases endocannabinoids into the blood.
These, unlike endorphins, can actually make it through the blood brain barrier, which protects your brain from pathogens.
This allows them to affect the brain directly.
If certain endocannabinoids reach the brain, including those released by jogging, they may cause feelings of relaxation, a feeling of calm, and even “euphoria.”
I’m not saying running has the same effect as taking molly, but it’s probably a lot healthier for similar results.
At the end of the day, there are noted mental health benefits associated with jogging.
If you have serious issues in your life contributing to negative feelings, you may have to fix those as well, but in the meantime?
Get out there and jog.
Lowers Blood Pressure
So it turns out, ahead of smoking boags, the number one risk to human health is high blood pressure.
Therefore, it follows that if you have lower blood pressure, you might be healthier.
Therefore — try getting out there and running for a bit !!
Now, disclaimer.
Seems like most forms of exercise do a good job lowering blood pressure.
The rationale behind this is, the stronger your heart is, the less effort it takes for your heart to pump blood, lowering your blood pressure.
But like any exercise, doing it regularly increases the rewards.
And jogging is a great exercise that’s easy to do regularly.
Unlike with weight training, where the muscles you’re building get torn up and need time to recuperate between workouts, jogging is jogging.
You can do it daily if you’re so inclined to do so.
Not that a daily run is something you necessarily want to do, but unless you’re an outlier case, there isn’t a technical physical limitation against it.
For that reason, jogging is one of the most effective exercise related ways to lower your blood pressure.
Like most exercises, this depends on the physical condition you’re already in, and it may not be recommended to just go out there and jog if you’re in bad shape.
But if you’re fine and are just looking to boost your health, there’s a number of great reasons to run every so often. Not just related to weight loss & stamina.
Although after awhile you’ll have the stamina of a horse. Must be nice.
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