Running with my Problems…

​My last blog answered some questions about using exercise to balance out the everyday stresses, but didn’t quite answer them all.  If you ask a runner, they will say that they feel better post-run; it relieves their stress and the endorphins make them feel better.  They will tell you that they get stressed out when they “can’t” run especially if it is because life or injury gets in the way.  And I also brought up the fact that our autonomic nervous system cannot identify the difference between physical stress and psychological stress.  Which got me wondering how exactly does exercise improve the mental state and, of course, what does the research say?
 
One of the first articles I found went through the differences between the stress responses when running alone versus in a group. I will save you from the original article here, as it dealt with mice and wheels and is not the easiest to translate directly to humans. The basic understanding of the article is that we are less stressed with exercise in a group environment than in a solo environment. I found this incredibly fascinating because while running is a solo sport, many runners find comfort in training in a group environment and most will say they have faster runs during a race because they are surrounded by other people.  Of course in the scenario of this research article the exercise is forced on the mice, but the general concept that we are less stressed when we are with others is a pretty important thing to consider.
 
What about when studying humans? Obviously the same type of trials cannot occur (yes, even in physical education class…).  I found a research article that looked at the effects of exercise on brain chemicals and how it would influence those with mental health concerns.  Based on anecdotal information and my understanding of stress on the physical realm I expected the results to be supportive of exercise for improving mental health just as it does for physical health.  From a chemical standpoint, this was not statistically true.  The reality is that exercise is not a panacea.  It won’t cure everything, mental or physical.  For someone with a chemical imbalance, exercise alone is not enough to overcome biochemistry. So the research should not have surprised me as much as it did.  
 
The direct link could not be made… but… what about indirectly?
 
Exercise is one of the many tools in the toolbox.  Things that we do know… exercise, sleep, hydration, proper nutrition, these are ways that we can take care of our physical body but they also can influence our mental state.  Proper sleep and nutrition can help us feel more alert and ready to take on the world’s challenges.  The more prepared we are to take on the world, the better we overcome challenges and the better we feel about ourselves.  And maybe the more we have the desire to start an exercise program. Or once we start an exercise program, we decide to make nutrition changes to match what we are asking of our body.  The physical may improve how we perceive things and hence adjust the mental aspect. The mental may influence how we act physically, such as feeling energized enough at the end of the day to workout or getting enough sleep in order to get up early and hit the gym.
 
Creating physical stress helps the body adapt and grow.  Creating mental stress, such as through learning, can also help us grow. Combining the two can create for better growth as a person.  So maybe exercise is as good for the mind as it is for the body after all.