Australian Men\'s Fitness - 09.2019

“Your mental health can benefit

from running just as much as

your physical fitness.”

6

RUNNING PROVIDES

MOTIVATIONAL TARGETS

All too often people have

admirable but vague goals

in mind when they start

exercising, like losing

weight or getting fitter,

which are poor motivators

if you don’t see quick

results. With running,

though, you can forget

those and instead set

clear targets like running

5K without stopping, or

signing up and preparing

for a half or full marathon.

Or, if you’re an experienced

runner, you can work on

improving your best times.

In the course of hitting

those precise targets, you’ll

find that things like weight

loss come naturally.

7

RUNNING SHARPENS UP

YOUR BRAIN

The brains of runners

have better-connected

neural pathways

essential for higher-

level cognitive functions

than sedentary people,

according to the

University of Arizona,

US. Areas that worked

especially well were

those involved in working

memory, multitasking,

attention, decision-

making and spatial

and visual awareness.

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