How running can help boost mental performance in the workplace

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TBM Team

Man running at autumn during sunrise

It’s widely recommended by experts that if we’re physically able, we should aim to run for at least two and a half hours per week to remain in good physical and mental condition. The health benefits of running are widely known - but is it true that the regular exercise and a running routine can enable us to improve our performance in the workplace?

Chris Rees is the founder and owner of ReesLeisure which he set up in 2004. The Hampshire-based businessman is also a committed runner, cyclist and sailor - so who better to give us the lowdown on the interplay between mental focus and physical fitness? We had a chat with him to find out more.

Discipline

If you’re looking to install a running regimen into your life, the first thing you need is discipline. Fitting those training sessions in, five days per week (if you’re taking it particularly seriously) requires the discipline to get up and head out before work each day.

Rees says that it’s this kind of dedication that translates perfectly into the workplace - and he says managers looking to recruit staff would do well to look for running as a leisure activity on any applicant’s CV:

“It shows that they have the dedication to complete a project. If you’re working on a project and you need tasks completed, this is what athletes do as a matter of course. They find the end-goal and knock it down into shorter, manageable tasks. A marathon isn’t run in a day - there are thousands of practice miles that take you to those last 26 miles.”

Anxiety / depression

It’s well known that running is excellent for mental health - so it follows that any worker sitting down at their desk having trained that morning is going to perform at a much higher level than one who slept in or spent the commute snoozing.

“You get an endorphin boost, post-exercise.” Rees says. “When you’re running, you raise your heart rate and that means more blood is circulating around your body. Once you get that endorphin boost, it gives you that excited feeling - so if you go for a run in the morning you arrive at work in the right frame of mind.”

Mindfulness

Waking up in a panic isn’t the ideal start to the day - and Rees says that running is the antidote to those mornings where we wake up flustered about the coming day.

“You can’t check your phone or look at your emails when you’re running. You might be listening to music - but generally your brain is able to download and digest what happened the previous day and what you need to do today. It gives you a space where you don’t have any distractions for half an hour to an hour.

“There’s nothing but you and the pavement. When you don’t have to think about it and you’re just putting one foot in the other, it’s the perfect way to get away from the world.”

Mental Focus

Then there’s the element of distraction. If you’re trying to focus on a work task but have nagging feelings or emotions that are playing on your mind, your performance is going to be hampered. Running can fix that as you’ve opened your day with the accomplishment of a simple task - and that small success has a knock on effect in terms of concentration.

“If you’re out there pounding the pavement, your brain can go over any emotions you might have attached to certain things. If you get into a rhythm and a pattern, doing the same routes in your routine, you don’t have to think about distance or anything else - and when you get that endorphin rush, it’s a great way to change mood and it makes it much easier to process simple or difficult tasks”

Stress

Finally there’s stress - which can accumulate and cause serious health problems. We’ve all been there - glugging coffee and worrying about a deadline before it’s even arrived - but it’s not particularly helpful to go into work mode before we actually arrive at work. Rees says we can avoid this unnecessary load on our systems with a simple, predetermined half hour run.

“You don’t want panic or stress before you’re even in the workplace, so if you go for your run, the brain can figure out how it actually wants to approach any issues coming up in your day.”

TBM Team