Runners

JULY 2018 RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK 045``````Run to...improve yourmemory as you age``````In a March 2018 study at BrighamYoung University, Utah, US, regularexercise was found to counteractthe negative effects stress has onmemory by improving the wayyour brain cells communicate.The cells’ ability to communicatewell is often diminished by life‘issues’ such as stress, lack of sleep,alcohol and a poor diet. When braincells stop communicating properly,memories unravel.Researchers divided male miceinto two groups – ‘runners’ who ranon wheels in their cages for threemiles a day for one month, and agroup that did not run at all. They``````The Transformation IssueHealthierRun to...improveyour mental healthMental health has been getting a lotmore media coverage recently, so youmay have read that cardiovascularexercise can be as effective asantidepressants in treating mild tomoderate depression and anxiety(and without many of the distressingside effects associated with somemedicines). A 2017 meta-analysis byBoston University, US, of 11 studiesthat looked at the effect of exerciseon depressive conditions confirmedsomething that many runners knowthrough experience to be true:that getting a sweat on helps yourmental health both in the shortand long term. The study authorsrecommended that exercise, whilenot a substitute for other forms oftreatment, should definitely be usedas part of the treatment process forpeople with mental health issues.``````PRESCRIPTION Being around friendsis hugely important, so try this fun,group-based handicap run: gathersome fellow runners of diferentabilities and do an out-and-back40-minute run. The outward legshould be for 23 minutes, carried outat each runner’s version of a steadypace. After 23 minutes, wherever eachof you is on the route, turn and runback at tempo pace, trying to makeit back to the beginning before the40 minutes are up. You should allinish close together.