Running is the king of all exercises. Running is the natural form of exercise. Our ancestors ran miles and miles to hunt and gather foods. It was an essential part of their survival. In my view and experience, you only need to run 5 times a week and 3 km per day, to have a long and healthy life.
Running gives you positive and balanced energy. You feel euphoric after a 30 minutes of regular running per day.
If we look at the human history, our ancestors didn’t lift weight and did the strength training either. However, they walked and run miles and miles per day.
When you lift weight you bulk up. Bulking up means you need more food. Your body is not efficient. This in the long term can cause hormonal imbalances, joint pain and other problems.
Our ancestors simply couldn’t afford to bulk up because food was hard to find during those times and it would not be a smart choice.
The difference between Running and other exercises like weight lifting and strength training is that running gives you balanced and positive energy.
On the other hand, weight lifting and strength training when done with higher intensity gives you too much energy and leads to hormonal imbalances which results in disrupted moods. The risk of injury is also higher.
Running is good for your hearth. Your heart becomes much more efficient after regular running. That means more circulation throughout the body and the brain.
Running is good for the Brain
Running decreases your stress levels. Running also increases gray and white matter volume in the prefrontal cortex.
Prefrontal Cortex is the part of the brain that is key to reasoning, problem solving, comprehension, impulse-control, creativity and perseverance.
Running also increases the functioning of key nodes in the executive control network.
It improves memory and thinking skills and has protective effects against aging, injuries, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons’. However, Strength training and weight-lifting doesn’t have the same effects.
“Exercise has a dramatic antidepressive effect”. “It blunts the brain’s response to physical and emotional stress.”
Running significantly increases serotonin production in the body. You need about 30 minutes to get the serotonin “high.” Other exercise like yoga, Pilates and weight-lifting increases serotonin, too, just not as much.
Running also increases the production of BDNF (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor).The BDNF gene provides instructions for making a protein found in the brain and spinal cord called brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
This protein promotes the survival of nerve cells (neurons) by playing a role in the growth, maturation (differentiation), and maintenance of these cells.
Running is also associated with increased gray matter volume in the hippocampus, cerebellum, basal ganglia, cingulate, frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, and insular cortices. Running in the long term also increases white matter volume in the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes.
Increased central circulation of neurotrophic and growth factors upregulate neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, gliogenesis, and angiogenesis. Through upregulation of gliogenic and neurogenic processes, runing increases white matter volume, while gliogenesis, neurogenesis, and synaptogenesis increase gray matter volume.
Summary
In my experience you should run more than you do weight lifting and strength training. It is much better for your health, if you run for 4 days per week and on the 5th day you can do strength training and weight lifting.
If you are a beginner, you must start slow. If you run a longer distance at a faster pace in the first day, then you will feel sourness in your legs and body.
Also , you won’t be able to run the next day. Instead, Run a kilometer in the first 3 days then gradually increase. Also run at a medium pace so that you will avoid major injuries in the long term.
