Run for it darling!
08.06.2016
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It's the running revolution. As the days are getting warmer and longer why not ditch the muggy insides of a sweaty, packed gym full of people trying any last minute desperate attempts to get their summer bodies? If not just simply for the fact that you are making the most of the warmer days you also save a shed load of money that you could spend on a holiday (and cocktails on the beach of course.) At the beginning of last year I was a real gym bunny and dreaded the thought of running on the treadmill let alone outside in public (shock horror.) Then, during a time where I had to save some money, I said goodbye to the gym and hello to one of my fears. For a girl that used to feel as if she was on the brink of a cardiac arrest running for the bus I was shocked at how liberating and good running in the fresh air felt.
Regular exercise, especially running, improves your immune system and decreases your risk of getting stroke, heart disease and cancer. As well as the benefits it has on your health, the improvement of your mental health from it is dramatic too. Really, the ability to run is ingrained in us from the cave man days, when the human species would have to hunt and catch food; over the years the constant developments of technology and transport mean that we are gradually gaining the means to be become a lazier race so we have to keep moving. The NHS state that some people, no matter how much they train, simply don’t have the ‘marathon gene’ so can’t run those kinds of long distances; it’s important for some to remember this so they don’t tirelessly train and get disheartened about not achieving something that is unachievable to them.
Another surprisingly good statistic published by Researchers at North Carolina University and the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans states that ‘running a maximum of 20 miles a week reduces helps you live longer.’ They tested 53,000 volunteers and found the runners had a 20% lower mortality rate than the non-runners. However, as with a lot of exercise, running does have its risks of injury; health blog Real Buzz states that ‘nearly 70 percent of runners will become injured.’ Common injuries that occur from running regularly consist of knee problems, heel pain, Achilles tendinitis and shin splints. To reduce the risk of developing any of these pains, buy a good pair of trainers that will support your feet properly and follow a good training plan, building your running time gradually.
As we are now in June it’s safe to say we are well and truly in summer so we better start working on those bodies. The NHS states that 150 minutes of low intensity training a week is enough to keep fit and healthy so you don’t have to over-do it. It can be hard sometimes to get the motivation to move your behind and go for a run, but once you start seeing the and, more importantly, feeling the results you’ll find that you’ll be able to get motivated more easily. There’s nothing quite like the liberating feeling of running in the fresh air and feeling your lungs opening up, giving you the energy to run for miles. The first step is the hardest to take, but I promise it gets better after that. “It’s not much that I began to run, but that I continued’ – Hal Higdon (American writer and runner.)