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Vanessa Ortiz

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302-101

16 September 2022

Running Stimulating Productivity

Introduction

The discourse of running and exercising helping with productivity has been going on for

ages. It is a common question that goes through everyone’s head: does running for a certain

amount of time every day increase the productivity levels of an individual? Many articles

contribute to this study. For example, an article mentioned, “Moreover, evidence reported by

research literature reviews suggest a dose-response relationship and that any level of physical

activity seems to decrease the risk of developing depressive symptoms” (Stea et al. 2). This

supports the idea that if people run for 30 minutes or more, their mindset will lead them to

become more energetic, increasing productivity. If running stimulates a person’s brain and

motivates them to do work, decreasing depression, then it increases the production levels a

person endures. The research for this experiment emphasizes the importance that physical

activity, in this case running, has on the levels of work efficiency in school, work, or at home.

Methods

It is relatively easy for someone to conduct research for this study. It can be tested in four

days: Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. All a person needs is running shoes and a

nearby park if that is how they prefer to run. Everyone is different and can choose any time of

day they want to run; however, 6:30 pm was the time that was measured for the experiment

conducted. The experiment consisted of a 15 minutes increment each day to the amount of time
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the person was running. For instance, a person runs for 30 minutes on the first day, 45 minutes

on the second day, and 1 hour on the third day. On the last day, there will be no running or

physical activity. This is to demonstrate the effects that running for long periods of time has on a

person's mindset and physical nature. After running, the participant wrote notes down in a

journal keeping track of the work they accomplished and their productivity overall for each day

that the experiment was conducted. The investigation at the end shows the growth in production

after running, or jogging, over different periods of time.

Results

The results of this research were stable for the three days it was being experimented,

where running was involved. However, there was a decrease on the day without running. The

person seemed to procrastinate on all their assignments, whereas the days they would run, every

task was done, even leaving them with extra leisure time to read or watch tv.

Running time Breaks Work done

Saturday 30 minutes 2 Homework and extra

exercise

Sunday 45 minutes 1 Chores and

babysitting

Monday 1 hour 1 Homework and

reading

Tuesday No running - Very little homework

Productivity

Over the past three days, based on the data written down in the table, the productivity

levels were constant when running. Even though running is an excellent factor in a person being

more active, it does not show significant outbreaks each day the person runs. Nevertheless,
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productivity will fall if a person stops running and doing any type of exercise. In the article,

“Physical exercise at the workplace prevents deterioration of work ability among healthcare

workers: cluster randomized controlled trial,” researchers found that exercising for nine months

helped prevent a decrease in work ability (Jakobsen et al. 2). This demonstrated that work

efficiency improved when the workers in the field exercised for a certain amount of time.

Furthermore, the same article discussed that “Accordingly, performing physical exercise at least

twice a week may prevent the age-related deterioration of work ability, health and physical

capacity among workers with physically demanding work” (Jakobsen et al. 7). Not only does

working out help with productivity, it is also beneficial towards other factors like mental health.

Mental Health

Even though mental health was not being studied in this experiment, there was a drastic

change in it too. The participant experienced a boost of energy every time they finished running.

They also realized that it would somehow put them in a better mood. An article stated, “Physical

activity can also improve mental health and cognitive performance” (Manning et al. 1). This

supports the idea that being physically active is favorable towards mental stability and decreases

any symptoms of depression. Moreover, the article “Autonomy enhances running efficiency”

studied how different running speeds can affect a person’s mindset (Takehiro et al. 687). The

research suggested that by the change in speed, a person will be left feeling different and

energetic by the end of their running session. This information is beneficial to the experiment

that was conducted because instead of speed changing, the time did, allowing the participant to

run a greater distance each day. Signs of good mental health also are critical factors in

productivity. If someone has a lousy mentality, the motivation will also be affected in the process

by no work being done at all.

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Discussion

Overall, running has a positive effect on people's day-to-day routines. The data gathered

in the experiment demonstrated how productivity increases if a person is physically active by

exercising or running. Many articles contributed to the experiment as well. There is great

importance as to why people need to have physical activity in their schedules. Productivity might

be a key factor, but so are many others. For example, mental health is greatly affected and helps

a person have a better view of life. So many people use running, or physical activity, as a

distraction from complex life issues, which ties in with how their mental health improves. Even

though everyone's body and mindset are different, people should include running, or physical

activity, in their daily routine to have a big productive day.

Works Cited
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Iwatsuki, Takehiro, et al. “Autonomy enhances running efficiency” Journal of Sports Sciences,

vol. 37, no. 6, 2019, pp. 685-691. EBSCOhost

https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2018.1522939.

Jakobsen, Markus, et al. “Physical exercise at the workplace prevents deterioration of work

ability among healthcare workers: cluster randomized controlled trial” BMC Public

Health, vol. 15, no. 1, 2015, pp. 01-09. EBSCOhost https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-

2448-0.

Manning, Jeremy, et al. “Fitness tracking reveals task-specific associations between memory,

mental health, and physical activity” Scietific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 2022, pp. 01-12.

EBSCOhost https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17781-0.

Stea, Tonje, et al. “Association between physical activity, sedentary time, participation in

organized activities, social support, sleep problems and mental distress among adults in

Southern Norway: a class-sectional study among 28,047 adults from the general

population” BMC Public Health, vol. 22, no. 1, 2022, pp. 01-11. EBSCOhost

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12769-x.