Saturday 12th October
To honour Global Running Day on Wednesday 2nd of June, we thought we would discuss some of the most common questions we get asked about running!
Whenever we talk to people about running, there seems to be a divide. Either people are avid runners who bare all types of weather conditions rain or shine all year round, or people define themselves as “not a runner!”. There seems to be no middle ground. You’re either a runner or not.
But if there is one thing we know about health and exercise, is that being just good at just one thing is not going to help you thrive. Excelling at just cycling or just really good at yoga doesn’t help you lead the best health in everyday life. Research is showing that the more varied your exercise and the way you use your body, can help all areas of your body, ie. muscular strength, flexibility, cardiovascular health.
A study in 2014 showed that just 5-10 minutes of low intensity running a day, could extend your life by years! Not days… years! In 2017, another study showed that “runners” lived on average 3 years longer than non-runners.
Even with research like this which describes how running can improve our overall health and life expectancy, it is still very common to think that running is bad for us. Everyone seems to know someone who has been injured from running or someone who “used to be a runner” but cannot do it anymore. When you look into why this is, there are some very easy answers! Many runners run, run and run some more. With that much repetition, it’s no surprise that injuries will occur. With other complementary strength training, a lot of injuries can be avoided.
Knee pain and running go hand in hand, right? Wrong! This should be as clear as possible, so knee pain isn’t a reason to scare people off from running. Numerous studies have shown that runners actually have lower rates of knee osteoarthritis than sedentary people. One study showed that after following runners and non-runners for 20 years, x-rays of their knees showed that 32% of non-runners had signs of arthritis while only 20% of runners has signs of arthritis.
Running provides joint lubrication and improved mobility and strength in your joints!
When you run, you use your whole body so there are benefits to your whole body!
To get some benefits of running, you don’t have to be training for a marathon or abandon all other types of exercises. Just 30 minutes of running 3-5 times a week can be enough for your body to receive the health benefits that running can provide. If running for 30 minutes is too much to start with, build it up. Start with walking for 30 minutes then add in 30-60 seconds of running throughout the 30 minutes. A great tool we know has helped lots of people is the Couch To 5K app!
It is easy to forget that the benefits don’t show up after just one run. Whatever the exercise, consistence and persistence is key. If doing something everyday is not realistic for you, start with making something a habit every week.
