It’s no secret—running is great for you! However, that euphoric post-run feeling is doing more for your mental health than you might realize. Here are six fascinating ways that running improves your mental health.

1. Endocannabinoids From Running Lower Your Stress

Endocannabinoids—you mean cannabis? Not exactly. These biochemicals are similar to cannabis, but your body naturally produces them. They can easily pass through the blood-brain barrier, triggering relaxation.

So how does running come into play? Your body’s endocannabinoid levels increase during and after exercise. In fact, research is being done on whether endocannabinoids are responsible for the runner’s high. Regardless, running lowers your stress thanks to these nifty little biochemicals.

2. Exercise Helps Manage Depression and Anxiety

The fact that exercise helps manage depression and anxiety is one of the oldest and most well-known benefits of regular workouts, but that doesn’t make it any less important to mention. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems in the world, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Though these conditions are complex, certain healthy habits can help mitigate the effects. These habits include eating well, getting enough sleep, and—you guessed it—exercise. Though not a cure, exercise eases symptoms of anxiety and depression, making a running hobby an affordable, accessible way to stay on top of your mental health.

3. The Hard Work Encourages Healthy Sleep

Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night? Running could be the fix! Regular exercise helps people fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep. This is important because sleeping well is a cornerstone of mental health. The effects of poor sleep include lowered cognitive function, irritability, and even serious health issues, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and more. All of these concerns affect our mental health in negative ways.

Fortunately, running is one of your best allies in ensuring you get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling alert and positive. Be careful, though—running too close to bedtime could have the opposite effect!

4. Running Makes You Feel Capable and Confident

As you log miles, crush PRs, and commit to your health run after run, you’ll feel more capable and confident. In fact, simply getting out of the door can make you feel really good about yourself. That’s because committing to a running hobby is hard—you won’t always want to work out. But staying true to your goals can do wonders in improving how capable you feel, improving your mood by making you feel better about yourself.

Additionally, though I will never advocate for exercise for the sake of achieving a certain physique, running can make you feel better about your body, which also improves your mental health. Just knowing that your body is strong and healthy is enough.

5. Running Helps You Grow Brain Cells

Yes, you read that correctly! Though you might not feel like running is making you smarter, it quite literally is. So that mental clarity you feel after logging some miles might be more justified than you realize.

Neurogenesis is the fancy, scientific term for the growth of new nerves. In the brain, this development can assist cognitive function. But what triggers the phenomenon? Well, among other things, exercise can induce neurogenesis. Though more research needs to be done, it is a well-known fact that exercise is good for improved cognitive function, neurogenesis-related or otherwise.

6. Running Gets You Out in Nature

Finally, unless you’re perpetually bound to the treadmill, running gets you outside in the fresh air, cool breeze, and vitamin D-inducing sun rays. That’s great, because according to the American Psychological Association, being in nature supports your mental health in many ways.

But you don’t need studies to tell you that—anyone who’s spent time outside on a beautiful day knows that nature improves your mood. So lace up those shoes and get out the door!

Final Thoughts

Really, the list of ways that running improves your mental health could go on and on. Running is an incredibly healthy hobby with so much to offer your mental well-being. If you want to learn more, check out my post on the physical benefits of running to get a full picture of how this amazing sport supports your overall health.