Running is popular in New Zealand and can become quite addictive. But running isn’t just good for the heart - read on to discover some of its other fantastic benefits. Then, grab your running shoes and head out into the fresh air!
- Healthy Heart: Running is an excellent way to give your heart a workout. Regular running improves circulation and reduces the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure, and stroke.
- Weight Loss: The average runner burns around 1,000 calories an hour during a training session, which can help you lose weight and run faster.
- Osteoporosis Prevention: Regular running strengthens muscles and bones, helping to keep your bones strong and reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
- Mental Health: A regular running habit can lift your mood, build self-esteem, and increase self-confidence as you reach fitness or weight loss goals. It can also help relieve mild depression.
- Better Sleep: Studies show that runners find it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep longer. Insomniacs, take note!
- Stress Relief: Running increases your ability to cope with everyday stresses and minor irritations.
- Happiness: Exercise-induced endorphins mean that runners are often happier than non-runners. The sense of elation during or after a run, known as the "runner's high," can improve patience, humor, ambition, and make you more good-tempered and easy-going.
- Reduced Anxiety: Runners generally have lower anxiety levels. One study suggests that regular training reduces the activity of serotonin receptors in the brain, which regulate mood. This might explain the positive effects of exercise on anxiety.
- Stronger Immune System: Regular runners tend to have a stronger immune system, leading to fewer minor illnesses such as colds, allergies, fatigue, menstrual discomfort, backaches, and digestive disorders.
- Improved Brain Power: Running boosts blood flow to the brain, enhancing mental functions by providing oxygen and nutrients, making you more productive at work.
- Better Complexion: Running improves circulation, aiding in the transportation of nutrients and flushing out waste products, which can result in clearer skin and a distinctive runner's glow.
- Fat Burn: Running builds lean muscle, changes body composition, and boosts metabolism. Lean muscle weighs more than fat but burns more calories even at rest, leading to gradual, healthy inch loss.
So, get out there and enjoy the myriad benefits that running has to offer!
