What Running Every Day Does to Your Body, Expert Reveals
One pretty magical form of exercise you can do to boost your health and overall wellness is running. We are here to fill you in on all the goodness running every day does to your body. If you don't already run, you may want to start! Keep reading to learn more.
Clocking in some run time is an excellent way to better your cardiovascular health, torch calories, and boost your mood.
Dr. Mike Bohl, the Director of Medical Content & Education at Ro and a certified personal trainer, fills us in on just how magical running can be. He explains that putting on your athletic shoes and clocking in some run time a bit each day is an excellent way to better your blood flow, cardiovascular health, and lungs. It's also an awesome way to lift your mood, torch calories, lose weight, improve your balance, and strengthen your bones and muscles. Another bonus? Running on the regular can help you sleep better.
Related: What Walking Every Day Does to Your Body, Expert Reveals
While running comes with a variety of benefits, it can also be taxing on the body.
While there are a lot of incredible benefits to running, Dr. Bohl explains, "It can also be hard on the body. Running essentially involves repeatedly pounding on the ground with your feet, which can cause microdamage to the muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments in the legs." He adds, "This can eventually lead to painful conditions such as shin splints, IT band syndrome, patellofemoral pain syndrome (pain in the knee), and inflammation of the Achilles tendon or of the fascia on the bottom of the foot." This is why it's necessary to know your limitations and be careful to not overtrain. It's key to take days off to give your body proper recovery time.
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Wear good, comfortable running shoes, and don't forget to do a warm-up!
If you enjoy running every day, Dr. Bohl suggests several things to do to prepare your body. He points out the need for good, comfortable running shoes. He says, "Before you begin your run, make sure you warm up, such as by doing dynamic stretching. As you're ending your run, have a cool-down period and slowly decrease your pace until you are walking. After that, do some static stretching and consider using a foam roller on your leg muscles."
It's also a good idea to switch up your regimen, planning some days to be less intense or shorter than other run days. In fact, taking complete recovery days is the ultimate situation.
Ease into running by sticking with the 10% rule.
If you're just starting to get into running, there are many ways to get into it. The 10% rule suggests that when starting out, bump up the miles you run by around 10% each week. Dr. Bohl adds, "Some say that it may be possible for beginners to increase their mileage even faster than this, while others say it's okay to stay at the same running length for a month before increasing. In reality, the 10% rule is more of a rough guideline and each person should be considered individually."
