Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше нервничать.

Бег is a noun meaning running. In this sentence, it works like the English gerund running:

• Бег по утрам = running in the mornings

Russian often uses a noun where English uses -ing. So instead of saying something like To run in the mornings helps me..., Russian naturally says:

• Бег по утрам помогает мне...

Using бегать here would not fit the structure of the sentence as well, because бегать is a verb, while Бег is the subject of помогает.

По утрам means in the mornings or every morning / on mornings in general.

It expresses a habitual, repeated time. Compare:

• утром = in the morning / this morning / in the morning generally, depending on context
• по утрам = in the mornings, morning after morning, as a routine

So:

• Бег по утрам = running in the mornings
• not just one specific morning, but a regular habit

This по + dative plural pattern is very common for repeated times:

• по вечерам = in the evenings
• по выходным = on weekends
• по понедельникам = on Mondays

Because in this meaning, по takes the dative case.

The base form is:

• утро = morning

Its dative plural form is:

• утрам

So:

• по утрам = in the mornings

This is a very common construction, so it is best learned as a set phrase.

Because the verb помогать takes the dative case, not the accusative.

So:

• мне = to me / me in the dative
• меня = me in the accusative or genitive, which would be wrong here

Russian says:

• помогать кому? = to help whom?
• мне = to me

Examples:

• Он помогает мне. = He helps me.
• Она помогает брату. = She helps her brother.

So in your sentence:

• Бег по утрам помогает мне... = Running in the mornings helps me...

Because Russian commonly uses this pattern:

• что-то помогает кому-то + infinitive
• something helps someone do something

So:

• Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше нервничать.
• literally: Running in the mornings helps me less to be nervous
• natural English: Running in the mornings helps me worry less / be less nervous

The infinitive нервничать means to be nervous, to get nervous, to be anxious, depending on context.

Other examples of the same pattern:

• Музыка помогает мне расслабиться. = Music helps me relax.
• Практика помогает лучше говорить по-русски. = Practice helps (someone) speak Russian better.

Меньше means less, so:

• меньше нервничать = to be nervous less often / to worry less

This does not mean not to be nervous at all. That would be:

• не нервничать = not to be nervous

So the sentence says that morning running reduces the amount of nervousness, not that it completely removes it.

Compare:

• Бег помогает мне не нервничать. = Running helps me not be nervous.
• Бег помогает мне меньше нервничать. = Running helps me be nervous less.

The version with меньше sounds very natural here.

Both меньше and менее can mean less, but меньше is much more natural in everyday speech here.

• меньше = normal, conversational, very common
• менее = more formal, more bookish, often used in written or academic style

So:

• меньше нервничать = the normal everyday way to say to worry less

Помогает is present tense, 3rd person singular, from помогать.

Why present tense? Because Russian often uses the present tense for general truths, habits, or regular effects.

So here it means something like:

• Running in the mornings helps me worry less
• Morning running is helpful to me

It does not have to mean that it is happening only right now at this exact moment.

Because the subject is Бег, which is singular.

• Бег = running
• it is a singular noun
• so the verb must also be singular: помогает

If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural. For example:

• Упражнения помогают мне меньше нервничать.
• Exercises help me worry less.

Here упражнения is plural, so the verb becomes помогают.

Yes, you probably could use волноваться, but the nuance is slightly different.

• нервничать = to be nervous, to feel tense, to get stressed out
• волноваться = to worry, to be anxious, to be concerned, sometimes to feel emotionally stirred

In many contexts they overlap. But:

• нервничать often sounds more like visible nervous tension or stress
• волноваться can sound broader and may include worrying about something

So:

• Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше нервничать. = Running in the mornings helps me be less nervous / less stressed.
• Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше волноваться. = Running in the mornings helps me worry less.

Both are possible, but нервничать fits especially well if the idea is stress or nervous tension.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it usually changes emphasis, not the basic meaning.

The original sentence:

• Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше нервничать.

Other possible orders:

• Мне помогает меньше нервничать бег по утрам.
• Меньше нервничать мне помогает бег по утрам.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the focus shifts:

• starting with Бег по утрам emphasizes the activity
• starting with мне emphasizes me
• starting with меньше нервничать emphasizes the result

The original order is very natural and neutral.

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• Бег по утрам = running in the mornings
• утренний бег = morning running / morning jog / morning run

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• Бег по утрам emphasizes the habit of running in the mornings
• утренний бег is a bit more compact and descriptive

Both are natural. The original version sounds especially good when talking about a routine.

A helpful version with stress marks is:

Бег по утрáм помогáет мне мéньше нервничáть.

Stress:

• бег
• по утрáм
• помогáет
• мне
• мéньше
• нервничáть

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Бег ≈ byek
• по утрам ≈ pa oot-RAM
• помогает ≈ pa-ma-GA-yet
• мне ≈ mnye
• меньше ≈ MYEN-she
• нервничать ≈ NYER-vni-chat'

The е in words like мне and меньше is pronounced with a ye-like sound.

Yes. The whole sentence is very natural Russian.

A learner-useful pattern to remember is:

• [activity as a noun] + помогает + [dative person] + [infinitive]

For example:

• Чтение помогает мне лучше писать. = Reading helps me write better.
• Спорт помогает мне лучше спать. = Sport helps me sleep better.
• Бег по утрам помогает мне меньше нервничать. = Running in the mornings helps me worry less.

So this sentence is a great model for making similar sentences of your own.