It seems like I always hear about how bad running is for
you. Today I had a discussion about the aches and pains caused by running in
worn out shoes. Even with that someone
always adds their two cents about how destructive it is on the knees and joints
and they will tick off reasons as to why you should ride a bike or some other
lower impact exercise.
There are plenty of people who jog most of their lives
and never experience severe knee problems and on the flip side of that coin, I
had a friend who had a knee operation when we were in the 6th grade
and guess what? He never ran as a
kid. He didn’t even play a sport, he
just had bad knees.
Ever notice as well that the person who gives you those
reasons for not running always looks like they couldn’t walk a mile, let alone,
run one? With all the information out
there on the health dangers of running I thought I would address a few of the
benefits.
1. It
has been medically proven that running helps fight disease by reducing the risk
of stroke and breast cancer. Doctors
have prescribed running to patients who are at a high risk of diabetes, hypertension
and blood clots. Furthermore running
helps reduce bone loss in people in the early stages of osteoporosis and
increases bone mass and density. It also
helps with the elasticity of arteries since running causes your arteries to
expand and contract almost three times as much as normal.
2. Running
helps fight stress. It could be that the
time alone helps you think about your problems or simply escaping for a while,
but it has been proven to reduce tension and solve nagging headaches. Speed runs help you deal with anger and
aggression. The overall physical exertions
relieve minor body aches and helps with mental focus.
3. Needless
to say running helps you lose weight. According
to research 60% of runners start running to manage their weight. Running is one
of the best activities you can do to burn fat and with the exception of cross
country skiing, running burns more calories than any other type of cardio
exercise.
4. Running
helps slow the aging process. Regular
runners do not have the bone or muscle loss of non-runners. In addition it promotes the release of HGH
(Human Growth Hormone) which as body wide benefits from reducing aging in you
internal organs to giving you skin a younger glow. Running creates a higher
concentration of lymphocytes in the blood which is beneficial to the immune
system.
There are many other benefits as well but those are what
I could consider the most important. Your heart, mind, and body all experience
great benefits from running so why not start today and see what a difference it
will make in your life.
Daily Recap:
Matt: 38 minutes jogging. I went past the two mile mark
to the end of our road
Kelly: 1 hour with her personal trainer
No comments:
Post a Comment