Stress and anxiety are all too common these days. We all experience it in one way or another.
Between work demands and feeling over-scheduled, financial problems, relationship challenges and stress with loved ones, health concerns, world issues, and political tension, it seems like there’s often something in our lives causing tension, worry, and emotional distress.
Of course, no one likes to feel anxious as the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks are scary. Your heart races, you might have trouble breathing, it’s hard to focus on what you actually should be doing, you often feel hungry or nauseous, and you might even have trouble sleeping.
However, anxiety and stress are a state of mind, and there are various things you can do to reduce the feelings of stress and anxiety.
Can running help anxiety? We have some good news, it can. Numerous studies have shown that aerobic exercises like running can reduce stress and anxiety levels.
In this guide, we will discuss how running or any type of exercise affects your stress and anxiety and how to safely and effectively use running to reduce stress so that you feel as centered, balanced, and confident as possible.
What Are The Mental Health Benefits of Running?
Suffering from stress and anxiety are unfortunately common problems, whether you have a clinical anxiety disorder or mental health condition such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety, transient situational anxiety, or simply more nerves and worries than you’d like to feel.
Anxiety is thought to be1Tetel, M. J., de Vries, G. J., Melcangi, R. C., Panzica, G., & O’Mahony, S. M. (2018). Steroids, stress and the gut microbiome-brain axis. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 30(2), e12548. https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.12548 is a product of elevated cortisol, over-activity and disruption in the negative feedback mechanisms of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the primary axis governing stress in the body.
The good news is that many studies2Stonerock, G. L., Hoffman, B. M., Smith, P. J., & Blumenthal, J. A. (2015). Exercise as Treatment for Anxiety: Systematic Review and Analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 49(4), 542–556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9685-9 have found that aerobic exercise, such as running, can lower stress and anxiety.
How Often Should I Run To Help Manage Anxiety Symptoms?
Research suggests that meeting the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations to accrue 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity reduces depression and anxiety symptoms along with many other physical health benefits, such as improved cardiovascular health and weight loss.
Can Running Help Anxiety And Stress?
If you’ve ever felt like a good run helped you work out your nerves and decrease your stress, leaving you in a happier, calmer, more confident state, you’re not alone. I know when I’m having a tough day or have something on my mind, a run can make me feel calmer instantly.
According to the American Psychological Association,3American Psychological Association. (2014). https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/exercise. Www.apa.org; American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/exercise 62 percent of adults who say they exercise to help manage stress report that their workout is indeed a “very” or “extremely” effective technique to manage stress.
Even a single run can immediately decrease state anxiety. A large review4Oswald, F., Campbell, J., Williamson, C., Richards, J., & Kelly, P. (2020). A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 8059. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218059 reported that eleven studies involving testing mental health outcomes from a single bout of treadmill running found significant reductions in state-trait anxiety and POMS subscales of anxiety.
Similarly, three studies investigating a single bout of track running and two studies with a single outdoor run also demonstrated a significant reduction in anxiety and increased mental well-being.
In one of the outdoor studies, anxiety decreased, and mood increased after just a 10-minute jog.
In other words, even just running a mile or two—treadmill, track, trail, road—can provide stress relief and leave you in a better mood.
Consistent running can also work wonders for your mental health and provide stress and anxiety relief. Generalized anxiety levels have also been shown5Oswald, F., Campbell, J., Williamson, C., Richards, J., & Kelly, P. (2020). A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 8059. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218059 to decrease over the duration of longer exercise programs—in the 10-20 week range.
A study6Keating, L. E., Becker, S., McCabe, K., Whattam, J., Garrick, L., Sassi, R. B., Frey, B. N., & McKinnon, M. C. (2018). Effects of a 12-week running programme in youth and adults with complex mood disorders. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 4(1), e000314. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2017-000314 found that a 12-week running training program for adults and children with clinical diagnoses of various mood disorders resulted in significant reductions in anxiety, stress, and depression.
How Does Running Affect Your Stress and Anxiety?
Though anecdotal and experimental evidence seems to clearly indicate that running and other forms of physical activity can reduce stress and anxiety and improve wellness, the mechanisms of action aren’t as clearly well understood.
We used to believe that exercise reduces anxiety by releasing endorphins, feel-good chemicals better known as the short-term “runner’s high.” However, it seems that the release of these compounds during exercise may not actually cross the blood-brain barrier.
That said, the stress-busting effects of exercise aren’t all in your head. Findings suggest that regular exercise, such as consistent running, protects against the negative emotional consequences of stress, such as elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and circulating cortisol levels.
So how does running reduce stress and anxiety? There is various evidence and other theories as to how running can help anxiety and stress including the following:
#1: Running Can Help Anxiety And Stress By Reducing Cortisol
Cortisol is one of the primary stress hormones in the body. It is produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Exercise can lower cortisol levels, which reduces the physical and emotional manifestations of stress.
An animal study7Miller, R. M., Marriott, D., Trotter, J., Hammond, T., Lyman, D., Call, T., Walker, B., Christensen, N., Haynie, D., Badura, Z., Homan, M., & Edwards, J. G. (2018). Running exercise mitigates the negative consequences of chronic stress on dorsal hippocampal long-term potentiation in male mice. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 149, 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2018.01.008 demonstrated that exercise acts as a neuroprotective agent against the negative effects of stress on the brain. This may be partially due to the beneficial ways in which exercise can reduce the production and circulation of cortisol.
However, although moderate-intensity and low-intensity exercise, such as base-building aerobic runs, recovery runs, and easy runs, can lower cortisol, high-intensity exercise,8Hill, E. E., Zack, E., Battaglini, C., Viru, M., Viru, A., & Hackney, A. C. (2008). Exercise and circulating cortisol levels: the intensity threshold effect. Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 31(7), 587–591. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345606 including racing, speed workouts, hard runs, and other intense forms of exercise, can increase circulating cortisol levels.
Therefore, it’s important to balance your training by alternating hard workouts with easier runs in lower heart rate zones.
#2: Running Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety By Giving You a Break
One of the simplest ways in which running can reduce stress is simply by physically removing you from a stressful situation. Running gives you a chance to unplug, go outside, connect with nature, and turn away from upsetting news, demanding managers, fighting children, and piles of bills.
We all need a break from the various responsibilities and demands for our attention, time, and physical and mental energy.
Your runs are for you. It’s your time. It’s your body. It’s all your decision.
With that said, running isn’t necessarily a selfish act, as going for your run can help you be the best “you” you can be for the rest of your day in every other aspect of your life.
#3: Running Can Increase Your Emotional Resilience to Stress
Running can help build your emotional resilience9Childs, E., & de Wit, H. (2014). Regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to acute stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in Physiology, 5(161). https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00161 to acute bouts of stress. You can think of emotional resilience as a metaphorical protective armor you can wear against impending stressors. The more resilience you have, the less stress will affect you.
#4: Running Reduces Stress By Rewiring the Brain
Exercise appears to rewire the brain10Schoenfeld, T. J., Rada, P., Pieruzzini, P. R., Hsueh, B., & Gould, E. (2013). Physical Exercise Prevents Stress-Induced Activation of Granule Neurons and Enhances Local Inhibitory Mechanisms in the Dentate Gyrus. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(18), 7770–7777. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5352-12.2013 and help regulate anxiety by triggering mechanisms in the ventral hippocampus of the brain that inhibits anxiety. In this way, running helps quiet the cascade of anxiety that originates in the brain.
#5: Running Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety By Increasing the Production of Endocannabinoids
Rather than the mood-boosting effects of running being a product of endorphins, they are likely largely due to endocannabinoids,11Raichlen, D. A., Foster, A. D., Gerdeman, G. L., Seillier, A., & Giuffrida, A. (2012). Wired to run: exercise-induced endocannabinoid signaling in humans and cursorial mammals with implications for the “runner’s high.” Journal of Experimental Biology, 215(8), 1331–1336. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.063677 which are natural cannabis-like compounds produced by the body that reduce pain, increase feelings of pleasure, and induce a sense of calm.
#6: Running Can Decrease Anxiety By Increasing Self-Esteem
Many people feel anxiety due to self-doubt, fearing they aren’t worthy, capable, attractive, or so on.
Running can be a great way to dismantle feelings of “Imposter’s Syndrome” and reduce this type of anxiety because it can improve self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-efficacy.
When you feel fit and set and achieve goals, you feel better about your body, yourself, and your life.
Studies have found12Oswald, F., Campbell, J., Williamson, C., Richards, J., & Kelly, P. (2020). A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 8059. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218059 that marathon training increases self-esteem and psychological coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, and depression.
#7: Running Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety by Improving Sleep
Running expends energy and can leave you feeling tired and calm, so it can help you sleep better at night.
One study with adolescents found that running 30 minutes in the morning for three weeks improved sleep quality and overall mood.
Poor sleep can increase stress and anxiety and leave you in an emotionally depleted state to handle stressors as they come. Therefore, if running helps you sleep better, you can get the rest your body needs to maintain emotional resilience.
#8: Running Can Reduce Stress By Altering Metabolism In the Brain
Although complex to explain, running seems to alter the metabolism of fatty acids in the hippocampus of the brain, which seems to have an effect on reducing anxiety, according to an animal study.13Liśkiewicz, A., Przybyła, M., Wojakowska, A., Marczak, Ł., Bogus, K., Nowacka-Chmielewska, M., Liśkiewicz, D., Małecki, A., Barski, J., Lewin-Kowalik, J., & Toborek, M. (2020). Physical activity reduces anxiety and regulates brain fatty acid synthesis. Molecular Brain, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-020-00592-7
#9: Running Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety By Building a Sense of Community
Running can be a social activity where you can meet new friends and bond with others. Social connection can reduce stress and improve your overall sense of well-being.
#10: Running Reduces Anxiety By Giving You Something to Rely On
Anxiety and stress are often exacerbated by “what ifs” and the unknown. Running is something concrete and actionable that you can control. You decide when, where, how far, how fast, and with whom you run.
Running consistently, whether several days per week during your lunch break, every weekday morning before heading to work, or with your neighbor every evening when you get home at night, provides a stable routine or constant you can rely on in a life of unknowns.
Many runners find comfort in creating a running “habit” and enjoy the feeling of knowing at least one point of their day is going to be predictable and enjoyable.
Whether you enjoy running because of the many benefits of exercise or appreciate the ways in which it can reduce stress and anxiety, putting in the miles is undoubtedly one of the best ways to live your best life.
If you are looking to start up, read our Couch to 5k Training Plan and begin to reduce your stress and anxiety today!
If you feel as though you may be suffering from a mental health disorder or mental illness, contact your healthcare provider for medical advice and guidance.
