Can a good book take the place of a revitalizing run?
We’ve all been there—sitting with a coach’s strict orders to take a rest day, but craving the relaxation and escape we think only a run can provide.
Dr. Katherine Gardhouse would never have you skip a rest day. To reap mental benefits similar to those from a run, Gardhouse, who is a clinical and health psychologist with Hamilton’s eFit Institute (which bills itself as Canada’s first mental health gym), recommends losing yourself in a good book.
“The act of running, and the act of reading,” she says, “engage the brain in distinct, yet overlapping ways.” The key is neuroplasticity, which, put simply, is the brain’s ability to form new connections. According to Gardhouse, because of the ways that both running and reading…
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Canadian Running (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024