9 Surprising Benefits of Running According to Science

benefits of running



Running is an activity that involves the heart, the muscles and the lungs. It will help you exercise these vital parts of the body for one person to be able to function better. You will notice that when you regularly jog, there are changes not only on your physical body but also in your emotional state. Running is scientifically proven to be helpful in many ways. If you are planning to achieve a healthier body, you need to integrate running to your daily activities. To further explain the benefits of running as backed up by science; check the list of what you can get when you start adding this to your regular exercises:

1. Improve your Cardiovascular Health:

If you are thinking about improving your cardiac health, you need to go for a regular run. This activity is proven to help you strengthen your left ventricle. This is possible because the heart is the main part of the body that benefits from running. When you run, your pulse rate slows down and your body consumes more oxygen as compared to the state when you are just resting. This is a great way to help in normalizing the pumping of the blood.

Since running is considered as an aerobic exercise, another target is to burn the carbohydrates and turn them into energy that the body can use up. With this, you will be able to eliminate unneeded fats in the body, especially in the heart. Studies also show that runners have healthier cardiovascular condition compared to the people who are not exercising at all.

According to a study on the cardiovascular aspects of running, running is an activity that is highly aerobic. It does not only convert carbohydrates but also fatty acids into energy. This is one o the best exercises that you can add to your regular activities. However, you should not think that this exercise can make you completely free from organic heart disease. Even if it involves the cardiovascular system, you still need physical examinations and rest. This is specifically true for older and middle-aged runners.

[ Read: Health Benefits of Walking Every Day ]

2. Strengthen Joints:

Is running better than walking? This is one question that can help you realize the importance of levelling up your regular exercise. Most people believe that a person who has a possibility of developing osteoarthritis should not be running. This is one of myths that you need to debunk. As compared to walking, running can be beneficial to your bones and joints because it can help not only in enhancing flexibility but also in strengthening the joints, the cartilage and the bones. As compared to running and swimming, it can be more beneficial to you.

A study published by Harvard Medical School concluded that running is not actually a contributory factor to arthritis. For older people who are experiencing this condition, you can be sure that exercises do not add nor worsen it. You are free to exercise regularly. In fact, running can strengthen your leg muscles and your joints. However, you have to make sure that you are not running with an injured leg. If you feel like a part of your leg is painful, you should take a rest and you can also consult your doctor to check if you can still continue running.

3. Burns Calories:

If you are into a weight loss program, you should consider running as one of your daily exercises. If you run, you will be able to lose more calories because it requires you to move most parts of your body. It should be understood that the amount of calorie that you will be able to lose depends on the frequency of your run and the intensity you put into the activity. For people who wish to burn more calories, the terrain and the pressure should be considered. Uphill climb requires more energy and it can be the best way for you to lose more pounds.

A research done by the National Weight Control Registry has proven the connection of regular exercise and weight loss. It has been concluded that ninety percent of their respondents who have lost a considerable part of their weight attribute their success to their regular exercise. One of the weight loss exercises that were mentioned in the study that has a positive effect to weight loss is running. However, you have to do it right in order for it to work positively for your own benefit. Here are some of the things that you need to consider if you are going to start running to lose weight:

  • Have a specific goal that you want to achieve. If it is to lose weight, decide about how much you should be shedding.
  • Always start with your right foot. Running does not have to be done on a constant fast pace.
  • Create a schedule for your run. If you are a beginner, you can consider running every other day. This way, you can give your tissues enough time to rest.
  • Add distance and change your pace slowly. You should not push yourself to an activity that will only let you end up tired. You should avoid over training and just work at your own pace.

4. Help Promote Weight Loss:

One of the main ways on how to lose weight is to speed up metabolism. Most people gain weight because their metabolism is not normal and also because of inactivity. Your diet is another reason why you gain weight. But there is a way that can help you control your weight; you just need to engage yourself in activities that will help you lessen the calories and fats. People who do not run or exercises are the ones who are mostly gaining more weight. With the body’s inactivity, the calories are not converted into energy and the body continues to gain more pounds. Regular exercise and daily runs in the park can be very helpful in maintaining your weight.

[ Read: Health Benefits of Deep Breathing ]


5. Reduce Cancer Risk:

Cancer only starts to manifest when the person’s immune system is no longer capable of protecting the body. This is why people who have history of cancer in the family are encouraged to engage themselves in activities that will be beneficial to the body. Aside from eating natural and organic food, you need to engage yourself to a daily exercise. Running is effective because it does not only help you lessen fats but will also help in strengthening the body as a whole. A person who is physically active is usually healthier compared to people who are not exercising.

Dr. Anthony Komaroff affirmed that exercises can really help reduce the risk of cancer as posted by Harvard Health Publishing. It has been noted that the higher the physical activity of a person, the lesser possibility of the risk of cancer to be developed. To relate it with running, it is one of the most common and the most famous exercise that everyone can do. Age does not matter if you really want to run and use it to improve your body condition.

6. Boost Your Memory:

There is a very interesting study conducted in 2016 that supports the connection of running and boosting the memory and your creativity. When the body is active, the person is more creative. So if you are experiencing problems that are connected to the memory, you can consider going for a run. This is scientifically proven by the fact that more oxygen is being inhaled by the person when he is running. The brain needs more of this in order for it to function well. Aside from that, it can also help you release yourself from anxiety and other stress. This way, you can easily become more creative and your brain can work more efficiently. Aside from that, another study proves that running can help produce hormones that enable the brain cells to grow.

A recent study also showed that regular exercise has a direct and indirect positive effect to the brain. It can benefit the brain in a way that it can reduce inflammation and it also ensures that there is growth of new blood vessels in the brain. With this, the survival of new brain cells is also being promoted.

7. Increases Your Stamina:

Do you ever wonder how seasoned runners were able to strengthen themselves and were able to maintain a strong body? The answer is through running regularly. At the beginning, of course you will see yourself having difficulty in breathing and you will also experience muscle pains. However, if you continue and make this activity a part of your everyday life, you will see the improvements. As you continue to put a little pressure on your routine, you will also witness how your stamina would be strengthened.

Your endurance depends on how many activities you are allowing yourself to do and sometimes, it is also dependent on your weight and body structure. With the connection between running and weight loss, it can be deduced that whenever you run, you are strengthening your body muscles. As you continue with this activity, you will notice how easier for you to do more activities as you become stronger. After few months, you will also realize that you can do so much more without losing breathe. This is possible if you continue to add running as one of your regular exercises.

8. Help You Live Longer:

As a person ages, he also gets exposed to a lot of factors that can cause disease and other unhealthy conditions that can cause early mortality. This is why you also need to think about running as a regular activity because of many reasons. It helps lessen the possibility of developing chronic diseases. It also helps in improving your sleep. With this, the body gets enough rest and the body cells will easily regenerate.

A recent study published in 2017 has affirmed that running is indeed one of the secrets for long life. In this research, they have proven that 25 to 40 percent of runners were able to avoid premature mortality as compared to those who do not run. This is connected to the different results of running that include the prevention of chronic diseases. As you continue an active lifestyle, you will notice how much positive changes are going on to your body. This is also true with running. You should consider this as one of the regular exercises that you should be adding to your health list.

9. Decrease Cravings for Unhealthy Foods and Substance:

There have been a lot of researches that asked participants to engage in running to measure how this activity can help in their diet. After running, it was recorder that the runners chose to eat healthier food instead of going for some junk food. With this, it was concluded that running can help you lessen your cravings for unhealthy food.

Whenever you run or do other exercises, you will notice how you become more conscious with what you are eating. For the beginners who are not eating the right food, it is noticeable that they easily get tired. This is because of the fact that the body does not have enough energy. If you really want to make running a habit, you have to make sure that you are eating the right food. As you embrace this activity, you will notice how you slowly change some other parts of your lifestyle including your eating habits.

Running for an hour regularly is really helpful to the body. The different benefits enumerated above are just few of the many benefits you will get from this exercise. If you are planning to embrace a new improved healthy lifestyle, you should consider running as one of your activities. This will not only allow you to lose weight and improve your physical health. Running can also ensure you positive effects to the emotions. So whenever you are feeling down, you can wear your running shoes and get some air as you keep yourself mobile.

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