How Does Running Improve Your Mood?

 Can Running Improve Your Mood?

If you suffer from anxiety, depression, excessive stress, or if you just have a bad case of the blues, then you may want to try running. Doctors have long recommended exercise, specifically running, as a way to counter the effects that stress and depression can have on your mood.

You’ve no doubt heard of the famous “runner’s high.” Well, the runner’s high is really just your body releasing a flood of endorphins in response to the pain caused by running.
So what are endorphins and how does running improve your mood?

How Does Running Improve Your Mood?

The ‘Happy’ Endorphin Hormone

You’ve probably heard of endorphins before. It’s a very well-known term that gets thrown around a lot online and on television. Most people also have a vague sense of what endorphins do, which is to make you feel better.

Simply put, endorphins are a special type of hormone. Your body releases its stores of endorphins in response to certain events or stimulations.

For example, various kinds of exercises are so vigorous that they can trigger the release of endorphins. The most notable example of this is running.

Free Report: Top Exercises To Help Your Mood

How Do Endorphins Work?

The way endorphins work is simple, they cause you to feel a variety of “good” feelings, which drown out the negative feelings of stress, pain, etc. It can be hard to describe exactly what an endorphin rush feels like. But, roughly speaking, an endorphin rush makes you feel very “bouncy.” You get a rush of energy and positive feelings.

The ‘Mood Killer’Cortisol Hormone

Stress, depression and other things that kill your mood can actually be traced back to a hormone called “cortisol.” Cortisol is a mood killer, to say the least. Whenever you feel particularly blue, the chances are high that your cortisol levels are higher than usual, which results in the negative feelings that you’re experiencing.

One of the ways that running improve your mood is by countering the negative effects of cortisol. Because running is such a physically exertive exercise, your body releases endorphins into the brain. Endorphins are basically the exact opposite of the cortisol hormone. Whereas cortisol makes you feel stressed out, sad, etc., endorphins make you feel good about yourself. Endorphins make you feel energized, happy, and just about every other good adjective that you can think of.

Running Takes Your Mind Off Things

Sometimes all you need to feel better is a good distraction. When you’re feeling sad or angry about something, running gives you a chance to get away from it. While running, you’re able to let yourself calm down and think more clearly, which often results in your mood improving.

Running Exposes You To The Outdoors

Assuming you aren’t running inside a gym or on a treadmill, then there is another way that running can help you and that is by exposing you to the outdoors. It’s a simple fact that most people simply don’t get enough exposure to the outdoors. Fresh air and direct sunlight have incredible health benefits, including improved mood.

In fact, the good feelings that endorphins trigger in people are so good, that they are actually addicting. Many people chase after “runner’s highs” because of how good the endorphins make you feel.

How Soon Will You Feel The ‘Runner’s High’?

When it comes to exercise and endorphins, it’s important to remember that they aren’t released instantly. See, when you feel pain, the brain gets triggered because it thinks that you are in immediate need of pain relief, so it releases the endorphins instantly.

But, when it comes to exercise, the body doesn’t immediately release them. You have to exercise for quite a bit before your brain gets the signal to release the endorphins. A runner’s high can take well over half-an-hour to achieve. In some cases, you have to run for close to an hour before the endorphins kick in.

Free Report: Top Exercises To Help Your Mood

When we’re under a stressful situation, the hormone cortisol is released into our system. The constant cortisol in our system can cause health issues like weight gain, depression, high blood pressure, low sex drive and fatigue to name a few. The good news is that it’s not only running that will help you to improve your mood. Download my free report, Top Exercises To Help Your Mood. When you control the cortisol, you can control the effects of it.