Whether you like running or nor, you are probably aware that it’s beneficial to your body. In fact, if you run on a regular basis, even it were a 30-minute long jog through the park, you are helping your immune system, building stamina and losing weight all at the same time.
In fact, the full list of all the benefits of running is longer than any article found online but here is a short summary of why your body is thankful for all the running you do.
Regulating your body weight
Most runners believe that running burns calories in a way that allows them to solely shed extra kilos. However, running doesn’t only help you lose weight but it rather helps you regulate it.
You don’t have to sprint like Usain Bolt or run a full marathon to reap the benefits of running either. A light jog is more than enough to make you sweat, thus regulating your body weight in a natural manner.
Maintaining mental sharpness
Apart from the obvious physical upsides to running, there are mental benefits there as well. Several studies have shown that exercising regularly, running included, helps fight off mental illnesses that are associated with old age.
These don’t necessarily have to be Alzheimer’s disease but it relates to a mental decline that old age is synonymous with. This includes the loss of memory, task switching, and selective attention.
A happy runner
In general, physical exercise influences a person’s level of happiness. This rush is not an adrenaline one that you might feel at first, but a more lasting feeling.
Running can be used to directly combat depression and for a good reason. Regardless of where and how long you run, there must always be a finish line to cross, even if an imaginary one.
Such goal-setting does wonders for your psyche because it gives you a purpose in life. This purposefulness is precisely what you need to fight off acute and chronic depression.
Another short-term benefit of running is fighting off stress on a daily basis. For instance, taking up running after a long and stressful day at the office will help alleviate all mental hardships caused by a yelling boss or unsupportive colleagues. Running for just 30 minutes during the week for an extended period can help boost sleep quality, concentration, and prevent anxiety attacks.
Hooked to running
People who have been running for years might find running addictive. There is perhaps more truth in this statement than it might appear as first, as neuropharmacological studies have shown that running really does affect our brain in the way a drug would. Unlike illegal stimuli, running is a good drug to which you actually want to get addicted to.
Painless bones and joints
Running doesn’t only place stress on your muscles but on your bones as well. In fact, if you run often enough, you can expect your bone mass to increase and you are less likely to experience bone loss when you reach old age.
However, there are still going to be nosy parkers and know-it-alls who will tell you that running will hurt your joints, such as the knee. Feel free to tell them that science doesn’t corroborate these rumors but rather teaches is that running improves knee health.
In fact, knee arthritis is by no means directly related to a previous history of running, nor does regular jogging increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
A reduced your risk of cancer
The final health benefit of running has to do with one of the most dangerous diseases of today: cancer. No, running is not a miraculous cure for cancer but it can help prevent several types of it.
Lowering the risk of cancer is by no means unimportant, as millions of new cancers are discovered each year in the United States alone. Furthermore, even cancer patients can benefit from running as it can help assuage the negative effects chemotherapy has on their organism.
It should be clear by now how important it is to develop and maintain a running routine. After just a month of jogging through the park, your body will show the first signs of gratitude you took up running.