Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
nytimes.com
Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
1–10 of 148 posts
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#2I miss running.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#3It'd be better if they started with control groups of people who don't exercise, and then measured the impact of participating in a running regimen. Pretty cool findings anyways.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#4I miss running.
I feel your pain.
Two running moments that stand out to me: (1) when I first got into a regular running rhythm and noticed how much clearer my thinking felt after runs, and (2) when I injured my foot and was out of commission for a few weeks and noticed how irritable and fidgety I felt.
Running is addictive!
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#5Man, NYT seems to run a piece about exercise and health, especially mental health, and especially running, almost daily. We get it.
Personally, I hate running. I like thinking.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#6I miss running.
I feel your pain. Two running moments that stand out to me: (1) when I first got into a regular running rhythm and noticed how much clearer my thinking felt after runs, and (2) when I injured my foot and was out of commission for a few weeks and noticed how irritable and fidgety I felt. Running is addictive!
I both lift weights and run, and I've experienced similar irritability even after a 3 day layoff. After a week my muscles start to "itch" and the only thing that provides any relief is exercise.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#7I hate how much the authors of this article imply causality.
>There also, interestingly, was less activity among the runners in a part of the brain that tends to indicate lack of focus and mind wandering.
Could it not be that people who have the willpower to run regularly also have the willpower to stay focused?
>In essence, the runners seemed to have brains in which certain cognitive skills, including multitasking and concentration, were more finely honed than among the inactive men.
"Honed" definitely implies that running hones those skills, when in fact having those very skills could be a confounding factor.
All of that said, I have yet to see a compelling argument against running regularly.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#8Related,
How Neuroscientists Explain the Mind-Clearing Magic of Running
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/04/how-neuroscientists-exp...
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#9I miss running.
I feel your pain. Two running moments that stand out to me: (1) when I first got into a regular running rhythm and noticed how much clearer my thinking felt after runs, and (2) when I injured my foot and was out of commission for a few weeks and noticed how irritable and fidgety I felt. Running is addictive!
Yeah. Went to a clinic because I couldn't put any weight on my left foot without collapsing. Referred to a podiatrist. "Peroneal tendonitis".
Flat feet. My legs are like >Doesn't really matter though. I've already developed arthritis in my knees and ankles at the age of 27, any sort of impact exercise is verboten.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport
#10As this described by the NYT (maybe the original paper describes it better?), there's all sorts of problems with this conclusion:
- A very small sample size
- Confounding factors: one group consists of collegiate runners (i.e., college students), and another consists of "young men" i.e., presumably men who didn't necessarily go to college. Even if both groups consisted entirely of college students, there might be other confounding factors that could explain the differences rather than running itself (eg: runners spend more time outside; runners' days are more structured; college runners probably drink fewer nights a week than average)
- The control group "said that they had not exercised in the past year" - could it just be that exercise in some form improves brain functioning?
I was a mediocre Division 3 cross country and track runner, so I feel like I'm qualified to say that while there are many benefits of running, improved brain function is not one of them.