Benefits of Running

Benefits of Running - An Ultimate Guide

The best way to spend time with yourself is running. It also helps to contemplate the meaning of life, and relieve stress. Running helps build empathy, keep you in shape, and even make you a better person. It’s also a free activity that anyone can take up. In this article we will focus on benefits of running.

Running isn’t just about getting into shape. It can be a form of stress relief, an escape from your daily routine, and the perfect outdoor activity when the weather is nice.

What does running do for your body? Who doesn’t want to be healthy, happy, and have more energy? Here are many benefits of running that will make you say YES MORE!

Top 12 Benefits of Running

Table of Contents

Does Running Build Muscle?

The musculoskeletal system is composed of joints, cartilage, bones, and other tissues. They work together to help your body move! Running strengthens the musculoskeletal system by increasing bone density and muscle mass. Running strengthens the muscles in your feet, legs, and hips. It also increases bone density, strengthens the tendons, ligaments, and joints.

Does running build leg muscle? Yes. It increases the blood supply to the musculoskeletal system and supplies the essential nutrients required for the development of bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. So, running helps to provide strength to your musculoskeletal system.

Is Running Bad for Your Knees?

Is running on a treadmill bad for your knees? No. It is very good for the health of muscles, but did you know it’s also good for the knees? Running is the most effective way to maintain the health of the knees. A new study shows that running is one of the most effective ways to protect your knee health.

Running is the best way to provide strength to your knees. It provides strength to muscles around the joint and improves circulation, which can help keep it healthy

Is Running Good for Your Heart?

Is running bad for your heart? No. It is the most natural and effective way to get your heart rate up and keep it there. Running is good for the heart. It like other forms of aerobic exercise, strengthens your heart and its ability to pump blood. You can start to get the benefits of running with a daily 30 min running.

A study that was published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology proved that regular running reduces the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Running for 30 minutes, three times a week, can reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack by up to 40%.

Running is a quick, free, and easy exercise. And the benefits are lifelong. You can start running at any age-even if you’ve never run before.

Running for Chronic Disease Prevention

Running is a cost-effective way to burn calories, improve overall health, and reduce the risk for chronic diseases.  Choosing to run is an important decision. It can help you stay healthy, be happier, and live longer. 

Is running good for diabetes? Yes. It prevents chronic diseases like diabetes type 2, cancers, respiratory disease, etc.

Research has shown that people who engage in aerobic exercise like running, can reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.

Running for Mental Health

Depression, a mental has a very bad impact on a person’s life. A depressive phase can be a symptom of other conditions like anxiety or chronic disease and can lead to suicide or substance abuse.

Your mood can be improved by the simple act of running. Running reduces stress and anxiety and promotes a happier disposition.

If you want to improve your mood, then running is the most effective way. The health benefits of running are extensive. A recent study has proven that a daily 30 minutes of running can reduce symptoms of depression by 45%.

Running for Cardiovascular Health

Is running good for cardiovascular health? Yes. One of the best effective ways to boost cardiovascular health is running. Running is one of the best activities for your heart. It strengthens your heart muscles and lowers your resting heart rate. A lower resting heart rate is an indicator of good heart health.

Running can lower your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart attack, etc.

Running for about 30 min per day can significantly improve the health of your cardiovascular health. It reduces the chances to die from heart disease by 50%.

Does Running Improve Sleep?

Can running improve sleep? Yes. Sleep is very important for good health. During sleep, our body repairs itself. So, it is very important to refresh us. Running is an aerobic exercise that stimulates the release of endorphins for reducing stress and pain.

Running is the best way to get better sleep. According to experts from John Hopkins, exercise like running has a solid connection with sleep. It helps us to fall asleep quickly and also improves the quality of sleep.

American Journal of Lifestyle Exercise also provides a strong connection between sleep and exercise. According to it, if you need quality sleep then you should spend your time for exercise. The more you will exercise like running the better will be your sleep quality.

Running Improves Memory

Does running improve thinking and memory? Yes. Running has a lot of benefits for our brain like, it reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke. It also improves the blood supply to the brain for new neurons formation.

Memory has a good relationship with running. A study published in the journal Cell Metabolism proved that exercise increases the production of cathepsin-B, a protein responsible for brain cell production. An animal study also proved the increase in cell production and memory due to running.

So, exercise improves the overall health of the brain. Aerobic exercises like running enhance the size and function of the hippocampus, a part of the brain involves in learning and memory. Ultimately, it leads to enhancing the learning and memory of your brain.

Running Improve Immune System

Does running improve immune system? Yes. Research has proven the health benefits of running for the immune system. A study was conducted on a group of runners, during 3 hour running period their blood was drawn at regular intervals.

White blood cells and hormones levels were tested in the blood. An initial increase was seen in white blood cells, adrenaline, and cortisol level. But after an endurance exercise, there was a reduction in white blood cells. This perturbation in the immune system within 24 hours was returned to back normal values.

The intensity and duration of running have an impact on immune system function. Moderate running for an hour at a normal pace strengthens the immune system. While running for 10 miles weakens the immune system temporarily. This deficiency in the immune system recovers within a few hours.

So, moderate running 5-days per week reduces the risk of upper respiratory tract infection by 43%. But, marathon runners showed a 6 times more chance to get sick with the common cold.

Running Helps In Weight Loss

Running is the best way for weight loss. As it burns extra calories and leads to extra fat loss. It reduces your appetite and calorie intake. It also reduces the production of hunger hormones and enhances the production of satiety hormones.

A 1-mile running burns about 100 calories. If you want to lose weight by 1 to 2 pounds, then a weekly 3500 to 7000 calories deficit is required. You can achieve this hard goal both by fewer calorie intake and run.

benefits of running

Running and Cancer

Does running reduce cancer risk? Yes. Running has a lot of health benefits, it also reduces the risk of some kinds of cancers. A report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association about exercise and cancer relationship. It proved that runners have fewer risks for about 26 different kinds of cancers than non-runners.

Another study has proved the reduction in cancers with regular exercise. 1.44 million participants were studied over 11 years. They studied that participants involved in a high level of exercise had 7% less risk to develop cancers.

Running for Anxiety

Does running reduce anxiety? Yes. Anxiety is a mental illness that impairs the quality of life. About 18% of American adults face this mental illness each year. Running reduces the chances of anxiety by;

  • Reducing the cortisol levels
  • Improving the mood
  • Reducing the feeling of discomfort
  • Increasing the mental clarity and memory
  • Preventing the cognitive decline
  • Controlling the heart rate

So, if you facing anxiety. Then start running today. It will help a lot to reduce the frequency of panic attacks by strengthening your heart. So, you can easily reduce the chances of panic attacks by a regular schedule of running.

The Bottom Line

Running has a lot of physical and mental health benefits. It can improve the immune system, heart health, depression, anxiety, diabetes, cancers, etc. Running can also improve sleep, memory, musculoskeletal system health and helps in weight loss.

Everyone wants to get the above-listed benefits. So, if you want these physical and mental health benefits. Then, running for 4.5 hours and 6 days per week is required to achieve your goal.

Also learn benefits of walking. Visit -> Walking for Fitness.

Nat Huang
Nat Huang

Founder of Keeswan.com. I love to write about striving forward and pursuing excellence, believing that hard work and pragmatism is the way to taste the manna of happiness and the fragrance of success in life.

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