Why Jogging Is Good for You, and HOW it can make you Happy

If you’re feeling rather tired, despondent and pretty much unhappy about the way you feel or even perhaps how you look for that matter, maybe something is missing that can seriously change your entire outlook on life AND your self-esteem  in as little as 30 minutes. 

Every time I’m feeling a little down myself, I would step out to the beach for a run (fortunately I live near the beach), and within minutes I’m not only feeling better, I find that my faculty of ideas opens up and before I know it, I’m in high spirits and working out my business and life plans to fruition. 

Sometimes you just need that little nudge to trigger what brings about a sense of wellbeing and purpose in life. This article will explore the feel-good factor in jogging and how that can make you happy.

Why jogging is good for you?

Aerobic exercises like jogging will improve your cardiovascular fitness and the ability for your body to deliver oxygen to your muscles. It also helps your muscles to become more efficient at using that oxygen. And so in essence, the more you exercise, the better your heart works, and needless to say, this reduces the risk of you getting a heart attack.

How Running Can Make You Happy?

The genetics of men, for example, have evolved to a high threshold for lactic acid over time, allowing our ancestors to chase the world’s most dangerous predators and strike them down for food. After finishing off their prey, they would drag pounds of meat back to camp for dinner. I’m sure you’ll agree, that’s an extraordinary level of superhuman fitness that fed thousands in their tribe. 

You’ll be amazed to discover that there is a link to high intensity physical exercise on a lactic threshold level, to the release of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins act as your natural "drug" that make a person more energetic, more awake and, yes, most definitely happier. 

Endorphins would usually kick in during a run, after a workout or both, and are generally referred to as a "runner's high."

The U.S. National Library of Medicine recently published a shocking article confirming that testosterone levels are lower in endurance running males than in guys who don't even workout. The Study also said endurance training can damage the male reproductive system.

So basically, if this report is anything to go by, it implies that you’re better off sitting on the couch all day and NOT running if you want to preserve your precious testosterone levels. 

Which brings me to my next point, that jogging or running for the sake of running doesn’t bring about the fitness results that most men would desire. 

I’ll summarize this very simply and quickly for you. 

When you look at the physiques of long-distance runners and compare that with 1,000 meter runners, you’ll observe that their physiques are completely different… the sprinter looks muscular and ripped, whereas the long-distance runner—for lack of a better definition, looks rather scrawny.

My Recommendation...

You’ll be amazed to discover that running to the lactic threshold for 30 seconds will increase your growth hormone by 530% with only a 16 minute run per week. To find out more on the benefits of anabolic running, click here! 

Anthony J. Namata

Freelance Creative Writer