Australian Men’s Fitness – September 2019

“Yourmentalhealthcanbenefit

fromrunningjustasmuchas

yourphysicalfitness.”

6

RUNNINGPROVIDES

MOTIVATIONALTARGETS

Alltoooftenpeoplehave

admirablebutvaguegoals

inmindwhentheystart

exercising,likelosing

weightorgettingfitter,

whicharepoormotivators

if youdon’tseequick

results.Withrunning,

though,youcanforget

thoseandinsteadset

cleartargetslikerunning

5Kwithoutstopping,or

signingupandpreparing

fora halforfullmarathon.

Or,if you’reanexperienced

runner,youcanworkon

improvingyourbesttimes.

Inthecourseofhitting

thoseprecisetargets,you’ll

findthatthingslikeweight

losscomenaturally.

7

RUNNINGSHARPENSUP

YOURBRAIN

Thebrainsofrunners

havebetter-connected

neuralpathways

essentialforhigher-

levelcognitivefunctions

thansedentarypeople,

accordingtothe

UniversityofArizona,

US.Areasthatworked

especiallywellwere

thoseinvolvedinworking

memory,multitasking,

attention,decision-

makingandspatial

andvisualawareness.

4

RUNNING IS A GREAT WAY

TO MAKE NEW MATES

If your busy schedule
makes it tough to meet
up with people and stick
to your exercise plan,
then start convincing
your friends to join you
on a run. Or, if you’re short
of running buddies, join
a running club and you’ll
make a whole bunch of
new friends in record time.

5

RUNNING IMPROVES

YOUR MEMORY

Always forgetting where

you left your car keys?

Start running instead,

because regular aerobic

exercise increases the

size of your hippocampus,

an area of the brain

responsible for memory

and learning, according

to a study from the

University of British

Columbia, Canada.

The research found

that weight training

doesn’t have the same

beneficial brain effect.

SEPTEMBER 2019 MEN’S FITNESS 35