Why I Stopped Running Every Day for My Brain Health

Deborah Kan is an award-winning journalist and founder of Being Patient. In this “Thought of the Week” column each Friday, she highlights one of the key stories shaping the future of brain science. 

Dear readers,

For years, I ran almost every day. It was non-negotiable, the one habit I never skipped. I can feel the benefits of a daily dose of endorphins. I write speeches in my head, sort out my daily checklist, and I truly think I remember things better if I run. With these benefits, I assumed I was doing the most I could do for my long-term brain health. But then I started looking into what actually builds a resilient brain as we age, and the research kept pointing somewhere I didn’t expect.

It wasn’t more cardio.

Muscle and the brain are more connected than I realized. Scientists call it the muscle-brain axis. When you do resistance training, your muscles release proteins called myokines into your bloodstream. Some of those myokines reach the brain, where researchers believe they support neuron health, strengthen connections between brain cells, and calm inflammation.

I remembered a conversation I had several years ago with Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist at NYU, who has spent 25 years studying one brain region in particular: the hippocampus, the area responsible for long-term memory. When I asked her what exercise actually does to the brain, she told me it stimulates growth factors that spur the birth of brand-new brain cells, specifically in the hippocampus. I asked her whether that applied to strength training the same way it applied to running. Aerobic exercise is probably the most important driver, she said, but there’s also growing evidence that resistance training helps too.

That distinction may extend into dementia prevention. The strength of your grip turns out to be a real predictor. In a study of more than a thousand women 75 and older, weaker grip strength and slower mobility were linked to a higher risk of developing dementia later in life, independent of genetics or lifestyle. A separate study following more than 8,000 women over two decades found that losing muscle mass with age was tied to a higher risk of cognitive decline.

What surprised me most was a Canadian study comparing two groups of older women: one doing strength training once or twice a week, the other doing balance and toning exercises. Only the strength-training group showed improved memory, sharper attention, and better conflict resolution. The toning group, despite staying active, didn’t see the same gains.

Probably the most astounding finding came from one study that found that just a single month of skipping strength training erased the cognitive and mobility benefits that six months of consistent training had built. That suggests the benefits can disappear faster than it took to build them!

That’s why I run three to four days a week now instead of every day, and I lift weights on the days I don’t run. Running all the time was competing with building muscle, and I’d decided that muscle mass mattered more for what I’m trying to protect.

In my view, we’ve spent years telling people to walk more and call it brain health. Walking matters. Dr. Suzuki said that cardio still leads but, at the time, she was delving into new research to understand how different types of exercise benefit specific areas of the brain. 

I’m not slowing down on running. I’m just no longer treating it as the whole plan. For me, cross training seems to offer the greatest benefits when it comes to longevity and aging.

With hope,
Deborah