Looks like someone needs the motivation to run.
That is alright. Anyone can become lazy some days, and the other days you may have this sudden, intense remorse of not being physically active. Then there is the growing fat that haunts you. Let’s dive into the top ten reasons why you must start running right now.
If you are reading this, you probably want to weigh your benefits and see if it is worth the effort, after all.
Don’t worry. We have got you covered.
Why Should You Run?
1. If You Want To Give Up On Those Extra Calories, Running Is The Best Option
Who doesn’t already know this?
Since you are reading this for an inducement, let’s not forget to mention here the kind of body you have always been dreaming of.
You want to eat hamburgers, but there is a price you may have to pay for it by running a few miles more. However, it is worth it. You can enjoy good food yet stay in shape with the help of running. You want to go out there and wear all your favorite dresses, that too with perfect fittings.
You want the world to acknowledge your curves and fitness, and you want to keep those calories on your waist away from you. All these needs are your diligence and some labor.
2. It Is Good For Your Bones In The Long Term
Do you wonder why individuals who run regularly have little to no bony problems? They may not have to suffer from knee or back pain while most people of their age do?
It is because when you run, you are constantly triggering your bones and your muscles. You are forcing them to work. This is what your skeletal system is designed for. To keep them working. You have to use them for the reason they are made, or else it is all useless.
Imagine not using a machine for its purpose. You have not used it for so long that it has now finally rusted. The same is the case with your body. Your bones and muscles need to keep exercising or running to stay in shape for the longest time.
As for running, it puts continuous force on your bones, which stimulates the bone functioning. In other words, running also enables good bone functioning and bone formation.
3. Running Improves The Overall Fitness Of Your Heart.
Remember the last time you ran and how hard your heart was beating? You could actually feel the pulse against your chest wall. That’s how strenuous your heart was. And this is what your heart enjoys doing the most.
Your heart pumps blood around the body even when you are not doing anything, but you see, your heart is also made of muscles. Just like any other of the muscle in your body, your heart muscles also need some stimulation to stay healthy.
Harvard health mentions that when you run, your heart beats faster and faster to supply more blood enriched with the oxygen around the body to the muscles whose oxygen demand just increased after you started running. This makes your heart do its job more efficiently. When your heart does better what it is already good at, it means you are giving it a chance to improve its health.
You are preventing yourself from unforeseen cardiac events in the future because the heart of a runner also develops extra arteries around itself as a result of the increased demand and supply phenomenon.
So even if you suffer from a cardiac event in the future, you may be saved by these extra arteries in your heart that regular or sedentary lifestyle people do not have, and it increases their chances of a fatal cardiac arrest.
4. Go For An Extra Mile In Case You Are Looking Forward To Maintaining Your Weight.
You have worked all your life to gain the weight and the shape you are in at this moment. Nonetheless, this is not a hidden fact that you will have to keep working to stay in this shape for the rest of your life.
It should not be hard for you. After all, you are already aware of the effort that goes into losing your weight. Now you just have to maintain it, and this time your attempts won’t have to be that strenuous—just some running exercise for a few miles.
The fact that you do not want to go back to your previous body shape, per se, should be enough of a reason for you to stay active even after you reach your desired body weight.
5. You Can Actually Boost Your Immunity By Running
During running, almost everything in your body becomes ten times more active. Whether it is your heart, muscles, bones, blood circulation, breathing pattern, you just name it.
According to Roy Stevenson, the defense mechanism in your body becomes active and alert the minute you put your body under physical strain. As more blood circulating around your body, and your metabolism on the top of its game, it is not hard to guess that even your immune cells become active and start doing their job in a more regulated manner.
You will notice that your body can fight diseases better and that any inflammation or infection subsides pretty quickly.
6. It Helps Reduce The Risk Of Developing Cancers.
This is an intriguing benefit of long-term running.
Researchers at Live Science say that people who run regularly reduce their chances of developing multiple types of cancers by many folds provided that the element of smoking has been excluded.
The reason behind this really fascinates the researchers. It means you are better off with running than to not run at all, given the fact that it does have this excellent benefit for you. Plus, if you have a family history of any sort of cancer in your family, now you know what you have to do.
7. Running Facilitates Better Sleep.
The mechanism is simple. The more you work, the more the rest you need. Furthermore, rest is equivalent to a more productive and healthier you.
When you run, you return home all tired even though you do feel much energetic and good about yourself, but the element of tiredness remains constant. You want to get in your bed as soon as you can so your body can finally repair itself. You ought to give yourself some relaxing time for your body to refuel itself.
So, when you go to bed, you find it much easier to fall asleep after all the strenuous activity you had been through. This fact has also been proven by Hopkins Medicine.
8. If You Feel Depressed Recently, Running Can Help You Fight It.
When you run, you will notice that the adrenaline rush makes you feel zealous, and that time you can fight anything that comes in your way because that is how energetic you feel. At the same time, you also feel good about yourself.
You feel refreshed in ways that do not even compare with a good shower or a good night’s sleep. This is because when you run, you are increasing the blood that reaches your brain; thus, you are also improving the overall functions of your brain. Your brain also releases chemicals that make you feel dynamic and excited during your run.
All of this contributes to excellent mental health that keeps you safe from mental health problems like depression, anxiety, or even Alzheimer’s in the long run.
9. You Can Prevent Acquiring Diabetes Later In Life If You Run Regularly.
Running facilitates you with weight loss, and you already know this. But did you know that the benefits that come from losing your weight are unreal?
A major side effect of obesity is developing diabetes. All the fat makes you resistant to a hormone called insulin that helps in the better absorption of glucose after your heavy meal. With reduced action of insulin on the cells of your body, you are predisposed to the danger of developing diabetes.
However, if you run regularly, you are reducing those resistant fat cells in your body. Eventually, you are also reducing your chances of developing diabetes.
10. Running Also Helps You In Building Your Self-confidence.
There is an added benefit of running on you, and that is to boost your confidence. Running is an excellent way of taking care of yourself, so when you do this, you feel that you are at least doing something meaningful with yourself, and it has a significant positive effect on your self-esteem.
You feel like you are finally putting your time to some good use, and even though things might not be going smooth in your life, you at least have one thing that is going good for you i.e., your health.
Conclusion
It is needless to say how running regularly means you are improving your overall health. You just need to have reasons good enough to keep you active. After going through the benefits, you surely may have reached your decision by now. Better get those running shoes then.
