How To Run
How To Run - Running Tips for Runners

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

The idea of running for fitness and fun usually starts with thinking about what running can do for your figure. Many people start running because they want to lose weight or get into shape. But there is a great deal more to running than just getting into your skinny jeans again. Let’s take a look beyond your figure and see what else running can do for you.

Mental Benefits of Running

Participating in sports and fitness programs helps you stay young in both body and mind. Running is one of those sports where mind and body have to work together in order to become successful. We are going to start at the very top of the body – the brain – and talk about the mental benefits.

One benefit of running is that you will develop a more focused mind as you learn how to run and improve your competence and ability. Learning a new skill, any new skill, helps the thought process. Combine that with the physical benefits of running, and you’ll see how running offers whole-body benefits.

Along with the benefits of the learning process, the brain also needs a lot of oxygen to function while we’re pushing our limits. When you perform any type of endurance exercise, like running, you increase the available oxygen in the bloodstream. More oxygen in the bloodstream means more oxygen for your brain. And the more oxygen your brain gets, the more the fog clears and you can think more clearly. Now you are functioning more efficiently.

Why is brain function important? Let’s say that you’re feeling stressed at work. You have multiple projects and trouble with your boss. With a clear head, it is easier to prioritize your life, seek solutions to your problems and implement those solutions. Think of the struggles you have juggling work, community, kids, dinner, homework, etc. You know a clear mind helps with the chaos, and running helps clear the mind. Oxygen feeding your brain gives you that clear focus.

Another boost to the brain you will experience while exercising is the increase in endorphins. Maybe you have heard of the “runner’s high?” Even if you were in a melancholy or blue mood before you run, you could be in a spectacular mood afterward in spite of yourself. Endorphins are considered nature’s depression lifter. Run and enjoy this “high” as well as a drug-free mood enhancer

Physical Benefits of Running

Now that your mind is clear and filled with oxygen, let’s move on down to the body. Running affects your body in countless positive ways. Here are some of the highlights of what running can do for your body. Running:

• Improves oxygen consumption
• Promotes cardiovascular fitness
• Increases endurance
• Helps you lose weight
• Strengthens your core muscles
• Strengthens your bones
• Strengthens your lungs
• Improves sleep habits
• Reduces risk of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure

While you won’t see these benefits right away, they will develop over time as you begin to make a habit of the sport of running.

Are you looking for an exercise that has benefits for both the body and the mind? Put one foot in front of the other and get your body moving. Before you know it, you’ll be running for sport, exercise, and pleasure.

Keep it moving,

Ralph

The Benefits of Running – Mind and Body Working Together
Ralph