Mathilde Lacombe

Some Pros and Cons of Running

Running has been in the limelight as an exercise to maintain your physical health and to prepare yourself for running competitions like marathons for centuries. Running offers a great many health benefits like losing weight, improving cardiovascular health, and warding off mental challenges, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea because there are many challenges that are associated with running too. It is the easiest and cheapest form of physical activity that is suitable for all age groups if done carefully.

It has the ability to enhance your physical and mental fitness besides torching more calories and giving a healthy weight. Although whether you are running on a treadmill, or running in the natural environment, you can avail yourself of all the aforementioned benefits, yet running in a natural environment is more soothing to the eyes and brain than doing this activity in the closed environment of a gym. Here are some advantages and disadvantages that will help you decide whether running suits you or not.

Some well-known advantages of running regularly:

Healthy heart and controlled weight:

Although all forms of physical activities are good for your cardiovascular health, yet the more intense the activity is the better the heart health will be. This is why the more intense activity like  jogging enhances your heart health more than less intense workout like walking. Running helps you increase your oxygen uptake which in turn improves your cardiac function, besides controlling hypertension, and reducing your diabetic chances.. This is why many studies have proven that those who run daily live nearly seven years more than those who don’t. Running is also very helpful in shedding extra calories you have ingested during unhealthy eating.

Improved fitness:

In addition to improving your cardiovascular and lungs health, running is an activity that is best fitted for your bone health. Additionally, regular running will enhance your physical abilities like flexibility, mobility, reflexes, and strength. Running will also control some mental health challenges like stress, depression, and anxiety.

Osteoporosis:

Regular physical activity like jogging in comfortable workout clothes like workout tops or workout shirts increases your BMD (bone mass density). Studies have shown that you don’t require running regularly to experience these optimized results. According to research, about 47% of joggers run not more than eight times in a month yet they have better bone density than non-active souls. This is why people say that those who don’t run are much more prone  to disabilities related to bones than those who run regularly.

Wellbeing:

A number of studies have proven that regular runners experience more mental, physical, and emotional benefits because of their active lifestyle. Exercise not only helps in dealing with emotional challenges but improves your mental abilities like cognition, memory, and learning. Also, a study has shown that jogging sessions of half an hour thrice a week significantly improves your brain power and cognition..

Most affordable exercise:

To start this great physical activity, you just need to have workout shorts and a pair of athletic shoes. You can run outdoors in your neighborhood, at local parks, or on a school track to meet exercise recommendations without the cost of a treadmill or gym membership.

Boost in self-esteem:

No matter if you are running a full track around the park, or spending an hour or more on a treadmill, running gives you a feeling of accomplishment once you are done with your daily jog.  It’s this feeling that often brings you to the running track or a gym every other time. Running improves your shape and enhances your stamina which in turn boosts your self-esteem to keep you motivated and you will continue your exercise routine.

Some disadvantages of running:

 

Osteoarthritis:

In addition to all those myriad benefits of running, there are some challenges too. Running is a risky physical activity but if you do this carefully, you don’t have to worry about any kind of injury. People of older age are more prone to this type of injury than those who are young. Carelessness like doing too much too soon can result in injuries.

Breast sag for women runners:

A study revealed that for female runners, running each mile results in the bouncing of her breast of 135m which results in breast sag. Sports bras can counter it and decrease this bounce significantly. When you weigh between the advantages and disadvantages of running, advantages have a clear lead.