Don’t you sometimes want to run a mile just to clear your head? Well, running has been proven to be one of the best forms of exercise. Anybody would agree that if you want to get into shape, then running would be the solution. Running often helps us view health from a completely different perspective. Running has many benefits including lifting up moods and preventing diseases. Not only is running extremely beneficial for almost every part of the body but also for relieving stress.
Now let’s delve into the 6 ways about why running is so instrumental:
Maintaining Good Health
Running provides a boost to the overall health level of our body. It has been proved by research that running keeps cholesterol levels in check1 and reduces the risk of heart diseases drastically. It not only leads to an increase in the level of good cholesterol but also helps the lungs by increasing its functional ability and use. Running can genuinely improve your immune system and as a matter of fact, can reduce your risk of growing blood clots.
Losing Weight
One of the main reasons people indulge in running is because they find it to be a great mechanism for losing weight. Running is dependable and a rational choice if you want to maintain your body shape or lose a few pounds. It has been proven to be an effective exercise for burning a few empty calories.
Reducing The Risk Of Diseases
Running cannot cure cancer but can help prevent it. Women can drastically reduce the risk of breast cancer if they indulge in running. Running is extremely helpful for people who are undergoing chemotherapy. It can increase the quality of their lives and also the duration, by 5.3 years. It can prevent chances of a stroke. Running strengthens your cardiac muscles and the arteries thus diminishing your prospects of getting a heart attack. Plenty of doctors recommend running as the primary exercise for patients with diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and most importantly heart patients.
Makes You Happier And Improves Your Confidence
Running does not only have physical benefit. It also helps in bringing about the emotional and mental well being of the runner. It leaves the runner with a greater sense of self-esteem and adds a boost to the confidence which in turn makes the person feel empowered and ready to achieve anything. If you have had a bad day, running will lift your mood. This is due to the release of the good feeling hormones known as the ‘endocannbinoids’. These hormones are what cause the ‘runner-high’. Thus running leaves you with a sense of satisfaction.
Helps In Battling Depression
Running can strike some serious chords in battling depression. When you are suffering from depression, your brain needs a change of mood and that can be achieved by running. When you run, the brain secretes the ‘endocannbinoids’ which make you feel good. Research has shown that there is no better way to treat depression than undertaking an exercise like running.
Reducing Stress
Running is shown to have affected the stress level of the person massively. If you run, the chances of you getting stress, headaches are diminished. Since running helps in reducing stress2, it indirectly brings back the appetite and helps the person to sleep better.
The benefits of running 3are not limited to only the above. There are much more and all of these points at how running is so benign for you. Running is extremely satisfying for the soul, body, and mind. Running fills us with a new dash of energy and enables us to deal with the world in a new context and with a better focus.
- Williams, Paul T., and Paul D. Thompson. “Walking versus running for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus risk reduction.” Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 33.5 (2013): 1085-1091. ↩︎
- Kannangara, Timal S., et al. “Running reduces stress and enhances cell genesis in aged mice.” Neurobiology of aging 32.12 (2011): 2279-2286. ↩︎
- Lee, Duck-chul, et al. “Running as a key lifestyle medicine for longevity.” Progress in cardiovascular diseases 60.1 (2017): 45-55. ↩︎
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