There is a big topic in the sports and athletic world today surrounding the activity of long distance running. This seems to be an activity that people either love or hate, and there never really is an in between. Despite whether a person likes long distance running or not, the topic that this paper will be focusing on is whether it is beneficial to one’s health. After researching the effects that long distance has, I have concluded that it is a beneficial method to achieve physical fitness and improve health. Running has been shown to improve not only physical health, but also mental health, and though it is beneficial, there is an incorrect way to run long distances and that is where much of the argument lies. I will be explaining both the physical and mental advantages of long distance running as well as explain where the potential injury lies in the activity. Overall, I will be proving that the activity of long distance running is beneficial. The first part that I will be focusing on are the physical benefits of long distance running. One of the main physical benefits, and probably the most popular reason for people to run long distance, is the calorie burning. Running is an aerobic exercise that makes use of the oxidative energy system our body has. This prolonged exercise forces the body to produce large amounts of ATP to keep the body moving and it get this ATP from the stored fats in the body. When the body makes this energy, it takes from the stared
Surprisingly, about 5 million people in the U.S. regularly accept the burden of driving and using gas to get to a gym to run on a repetitious, monotonous machine known as the treadmill. This means these people are neglecting the overall simplicity of running outdoors. Clearly, the majority decides running on a treadmill with valid reasons. However, you will be convinced that the undervalued choice of exercise, outdoor running, is more advantageous than the treadmill. Running on a treadmill and running outdoors are both superb options for exercise to develop cardiovascular strength and endurance. They both involve running which is the most common way to receive a workout. Although treadmills are the new breakthroughs in the fitness industry and are considerably convenient, outdoor running should be the ultimate choice for exercise because of its numerous health benefits and various exercise conditions.
Exercise in general has been known to reep many benefits in health of the body, for example the seven components of fitness as mentioned in ‘ABC of sports and exercise medicine, third edition by Sir Roger Bannister’. (Edited by Gregory P Whyte)
When running, two feel good chemicals that are ejected into the brain called: Endorphins and Endocannabinoids. These chemicals make you happier and reduce risk of sadness and depression, this is why running is a great way to end a bad day (Fetters). Not only does running have many mind and mood benefits, it also has many other health benefits as well. For example, It's good for a person's muscles, brain, and even heart. The two main muscles that running helps are the core and the legs, and in some cases even knees. ¨A Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise study of nearly 100,000 runners found that runners are half as likely to get knee osteoarthritis than people who walk. Even running a short distance in a longer time frame, gives the same benefits that every runner tends to receive and more than the average walker¨, (Fetters). There are also two psychological benefits as well, one is mood improvement and the other is long-term self esteem improvement. Also, running is a great way to encourage creativity. Some runners have expressed that they get their best ideas when they are on a run (Harkins). There are so many more benefits that you can get from the act of running, including weight loss, immune system boosts, increase in bone mass, increase in lung function and the strengthening of the heart, which ends up reducing the risk of heart
Since 1990s, many scientists agree that exercise has positive impacts on people’s physical health and mental health (SIME WE, 1987). From Morgan and O’Connor’s research, people can reduce stress and state anxiety by doing physical activities; also gain emotional pleasure from the process (Morgan and O’Connor, 1988). Later in 1997, Landers states that physical activities can reduce people depression after weeks of regular and routine exercise. In addition, people can benefit from more
This paper perpetuates to expand fortifying major health benefits of conventional physical activity and exercise. However, there is withal a growing body of erudition that substantiates that physical activity withal amends psychological salubrity. The following literature attempts to review the various effects of physical activity and the mental health variables. It will especially focus on the psychological effects of exercise
Through running, runners realize a greater sense of self reliance and accomplishment [ego boost].Running fights depression, with the brain’s release of beta endorphins [substances created by the pituitary glands [small glands located below the brain in the skull base], they function as conductors of messages between nerve cells. Beta endorphins can boost a person's mood and create feeling of relaxation. These miracle compounds have 80 times as much pain easing effect as morphine”. Running is cool because it has been proved to work as a safe, natural remedy for mental illnesses that do not damage our mind and our body, but rather help
Running has many different aspects of workouts and forms of doing it. Comparisons a lot of people make is that cross country and track are the same thing, but those two sports are entirely different. Both do deal with running, but the differences are very major and they go much as to change the workouts done for the sports. More comparisons that are mostly said that if a runner enjoys long distance running then they also should go out for track since it has long distance events. Even though it has those events it doesn’t change the fact the two are very different.
Running has become a therapy for me. Whether to relieve stress or simply challenge myself to run, I eagerly chase my running goals. Like the careful planning and preparation of my diet and training, running in many ways has mirrored my path to medical school.
In the article by Gretchen Reynolds, Gretchen talks about how by just running an hour a day you are adding on seven hours to your life. Running is the best exercise you can do to improve your life expectancy. It doesn’t matter if you are a slow runner or you smoke and drink, you can still add up to three years to your life by taking the time to get outside and run. Research was done to prove this point. A study was conducted at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. Researchers found that even as little as five minutes of running a day could increase your lifespan. Of course running does not make you immortal but it does benefit your health in other ways as well. Running involves many parts of our bodies. The muscles in your
Not only does it help biologically, producing endorphins, but personally it helps to get out of your own head. When you’re running/exercising, all thoughts disappear except the action of
Physical activity has been proven to have phenomenal benefits on the human body and is an important part of a balanced lifestyle. Statistics have shown that regular exercise can prevent illness and lower one’s likelihood of being diagnosed with a series of diseases significantly. It has been ‘medically proven’ that regular exercise can reduce a subject’s chance of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease or stroke by 35%, type two diabetes by 50%, colon cancer by 50%, breast cancer by 20%, early death by 30%, osteoarthritis by 83% and a number of other life threatening illnesses. Regular exercise can improve a person’s overall wellbeing and immunity to common illnesses. During physical activity, a person’s heart rate can increase significantly and allow more oxygenated blood to be supplied to muscles. A person’s breathing rate can increase during exercise and supply more oxygen to the lungs. The increased blood flow during exercise allows the brain to function better. Exercise has many benefits to the human body and is a major factor of disease
Although there are some negatives with running, there are also many positives. Many people run because of the health reasons. It is good for the heart and lungs and people run in the fresh air. Running outside rather than inside is good for you too because of the fresh air. Running also relieves tension, by running, people can think about their problems without having to worry about anyone hearing them. They can think about whatever
The benefits of physical exercise in humans far outweighs the harmful effects associated with exercise. A prescription of physical activity has been known to delay the onset or prevention of many chronic diseases. An improvement in heart function, lower blood pressure and improve functional capacity is noticed after just a few weeks of exercising. Physical activity will also result in an increase of lean muscle mass, promote weight maintenance, increased flexibility, and a generally stronger more fit individual. Conversely, exercise when preformed strenuously or obsessively can counteract such positive effects, bringing up some issues like oxidative stresses, injuries, and
Moving from one place to another is a necessity for almost every living organism. Whether it be sliding, walking, jumping, crawling, or flying, movement is bound to happen sometime. Humans like to move from place to place quickly without doing any work. Since running is work, humans generally avoid it if possible. There tends to be some unfavorable expression like a grimace or a sigh accompanying the quote, “I think I have to go running.” Although hated among many people throughout the world, the positive sides of running can be enough to turn the lazy into the hardworking. Running is an excellent choice for physical and mental enhancement because it keeps one active, relieves stress, and is a good self-esteem booster.
Exercise may be one of the most important influences on your overall health to date. While the only benefits that are mainly focused on are the physical benefits, significant psychological impacts can also be linked to exercise. Although some of these benefits aren’t viewed with much enthusiasm, studies have proven that exercise can actually improve one’s quality of life greatly by increasing not only their physical health but their mental health as well. It is because of this that exercise is a