Exercising has always been recommended, especially for people whose lifestyle includes sitting in the office for long hours on their chairs. It is a great activity to engage mental, physical and emotional health. The benefits are many if it is done right. The most basic of exercises is running. Now even though running is considered simple, many people still do it wrong.
We are moving more and more towards sedentary lifestyles and awareness towards fitness is dying rapidly. So if you are reading this article then you are taking one step towards a healthier lifestyle. So today, I am going to mention some of the tips and health benefits of running so that you can start too. Have a look.
Here are some Tips for healthy Running:
1. Choose Right Gear
Do not go running in too tight or too loose clothes. It will hinder your movement. Same goes for shoes. Choose the ones that keep your feet, especially toes comfortable.
2. Deep breathing
Before starting any kind of exercise that may put stress on your body it is always a good idea to prepare for it. Given that you are not acclimatized to exercising daily, it may be possible that you may feel discomfort if you straight away went for running. You can start by filling up your lungs with fresh air through deep breathing for 5-7 minutes.
3. Warm Up
After you are done with breathing exercises you can move on to a light warmup. It is good for waking up your muscles after a long night’s sleep. Warmup has many benefits including increase in flexibility of muscles.
4. Posture
It is not only while sitting and walking that a good posture should be maintained but also while running. If you are not standing or running with a straight back or neck, then you may welcome some unpleasant cramps and even injuries. So keep your shoulders relaxed, back and neck straight so that you can enjoy this experience. There are many health benefits of running but only if you do it right.
5. Slow and Steady
Even if you are running for the first time, try to maintain a slow and a steady pace. It will help your body to cope up easily with all the changes like increase in heartbeats, blood pressure, sweat generation, muscle tension, heavy breathing, exhaustion, etc. It will also help allow you to run for longer distances as compared to uneven pace.
6. Set Goals
Set a distance for everyday running and note down how much time you need to cover it. You can get a sports watch to keep track of time. Your goals should be to reduce that time while running the same distance or increase the distance to run without taking a hit on the time.
7. Avoid Running Downhill
Running downhill can disturb your movement and pace, resulting in knee and ankle injuries. It also reduces pressure on the body hence, reducing chances of growth in stamina. You should always try to find terrain that is mostly uphill or at least flat.
8. Don’t run with Music on
Working out while listening to music may seem to be the best combination but it is not. You may see a lot of people jogging or hitting the gym while their headphones are on. Though it may seem to pass the time with relative ease but it breaks the concentration. You will not even be able to run while being mindful of your steps and may even change your posture.
9. Sleep Tight
When you are working hard and putting stress on your body, allow it to get the rest with sleeping in healthy pattern. A sound sleep not only provides comfort to your mind and body but also allows them to grow. Body gets rid of toxins while the brain works on eliminating the dead cells and spinal fluid.
10. Lift up your knee
Most people while running just push their legs back. This results only in half or shorter strides. For best results, try to lift your knee up. This will not only increase the size of your steps but will also help you to cover more distance in less steps, increase muscle usage and will also increase your speed.
11. Soft Landing
Now this is something that you will have to notice. If you have extremely good and bouncy shoes then you may not even notice it but every step gives a jerk to your knees, hip girdle and also to your spine. Your motive should be to decrease the intensity of the jerk. Try running on your toes and you will suddenly notice the difference.
12. Eat Healthy
If you are going to run the next day, you will have to start preparing from today itself. Change your diet in to low fat diet, if you are hell bent on eating junk food. You will not be able to draw much energy from your body if you won’t eat food that is beneficial to your health.
13. Experiment
Now when you are running for a while you may get bored of running on roads and may feel like changing the terrain or the way you train. So you can try running on a beach full of sand, or up the mountain, etc. You can even try swimming to give your body a change of pace and a new challenge to overcome.
14. Give a break
Fitness Planning to run daily may be a good new year resolution but can be a bit harsh on the body. Your body, though made to move but also is designed to take a break once in a while. So if you are religiously running for five days in a week, remaining two days can be planned as a dedicated break.
15. Stretch
Don’t forget, after every workout session, stretch your muscles out. You can even get a running partner with you and him to help you stretch out. It is like slow closing exercises your body needs as it needs a warm up before beginning.
Find out the Healthy Benefits of Running
So what are the benefits or advantages of running? Quite a few. Ranging from directly affecting health and mood to indirect long term effects even on interpersonal relationships and increased mental prowess. Here are some of the health related benefits of running that should be reason enough to get you up and running.
1. Increased Stamina
Running can enhance your stamina and energy levels and you can actually work for longer hours if you are training regularly.
2. Reduces Fat
Running is a great way to burn calories. So if you are looking at losing some extra pounds then running a few miles every day should be your goal. It also reduces any unnecessary pressure your joints are facing, hence reducing the chances of injuries.
3. Good For Heart
Regular running is also good for the muscles of your heart. It provides a workout to the organ, decreases the chances of arteries clogging the route and cardiovascular diseases.
4. Brings your Body in Shape
If you are a fan of an aesthetic body too then you will love running. It not only brings your shape in legs but also reduces body fat which results in changing the outline of your whole body including jawline and abdominal muscles.
5. Kicks out depression
Running can directly affect your mental health too. Regular workout can direct your body to release serotonin. A hormone in the brain that makes a person feel good. It is considered to be as effective as therapies by psychologists.
6. Healthy Joints
It was found out in many studies that running can strengthen various joints and bones in your body. It reduces the risk of many diseases including osteoarthritis. You can even save hundred thousand dollars on various joint related surgeries.
7. Vitamin D
As our lives have become busy, we tend to stay at home more. It means that our exposure to sunlight has also reduced significantly. You can directly harvest Vitamin D from the cholesterol present in your skin by directing sunlight towards it. So get out, enjoy a good run and get some vitamin D.
8. Boosts Immunity
It was found out that people who are exposed to regular strenuous workout for most part of their week tend to develop more robust immunity. This immunity helped people fend off against diseases like common cold and respiratory tract infections.
9. Good for a healthy Spine
Running is an exercise that involves most of the joints. Our sedentary safe lifestyles have gravely affected our spines. We now tend to move them negligibly resulting in weak and unhealthy muscle and bone tissue.
10. Decreases Mortality Rate
Running regularly, in almost all the studies showed that the effects on body and mind were tremendous. It not only improved health but also decreased the chances of many infections, injuries, diseases like diabetes, stress, anxiety, obesity and reduced the rate of mortality.
So these were the 25 healthy tips and benefits of running that I wanted to share with you. Even after so many advantages of running people and organizations still tend to underestimate this simple exercise. I hope after reading this article you will surely decide to bring a healthy change in your lifestyle.
Thanks for reading!
Author Bio: Sophia Kaile is an active writer who loves to write about happiness, health benefits, anxiety, wellness and methods to fight depression. She likes to make an asynchronous connection with her readers. Her articles are published on website that is calmsage
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