The Benefits of Running

The benefits of running are the benefits of exercising, and the benefits of leading an active lifestyle.

Masters Running - Benefits to Exercise

American philosopher and naturalist Thoreau said "A man thinks as well through his legs and arms as his brain. ... Do you suppose they were a race of consumptives and dyspeptics who invented Grecian mythology and poetry?"

It was the Greeks that invented the marathon, so that must prove they knew a bit running as well as poetry!

Benefits of Running

We can move beyond physical fitness as an isolated goal. We can make our active physical lifestyle part of an vital life - regardless of our age, abilities or limitations!

It's not that Master runners don't have limitations. There's age and the inevitable consequences of aging (better than the alternative, as Eisenhower remarked). We need to be Masterful in our running if we want to avoid annoying repetitive strains and pains.

Given our individual limitations we need to live our lives completely. Thoreau wrote about the benefits of an active lifestyle as he was suffering from tuberculosis. He clearly experienced limitations and ill health, but reaped the benefits of a full and active life. Let's take a look at some of the benefits of running.

Deeper and More Restful Sleep

How many people do you know have trouble sleeping? One of the most important benefits of running is relaxing deep sleep. Running is the best sleeping solution on the market! A runner and regular exerciser not only falls asleep more easily but stays asleep longer. Apply the cost of sleeping pills to that next pair of running shoes!

Running - Your Real Age Makeover

What about the way a Master runner moves compared to a sedentary person of about the same age? It begins to make a difference in the 40's doesn't it? What about the 50's and 60's? I've observed job applicants in their fifties shuffling their way to an early forced retirement because they just seem so decrepit. Moving youthfully is a running benefit.

Running is a weight bearing sport. Weight bearing activities like running increase bone mass. Numerous studies conclude running does not contribute to joint degradation or osteoarthritis - even after decades of running. One of the benefits of running is maintaining a strong skeletal foundation. This strength means runners look good walking! As we run, we can expose - and fix - 'early warnings' in our gait, our feet, our legs, joints and bodies.

Masters running makes the most out of the adult athlete. Greg Dawson has great marathon advice, and many master runners can really benefit from Greg's marathon training.

On the other hand, masters running can be pure enjoyment. The benefits of running as a master runner are long term, and the life long time benefits of diet and exercise continuing long after our last run!

How to Burn Calories

Weight control is a big benefit of regular exercise, running and cross training. Not many generations have passed since our ancestors were all endurance athletes - not from choice but from necessity! We are designed for the long run efforts past survival imposed. Those were the days of the real ultra distance and maximum effort events! Benefits of Running

The best way to burn calories is through exercise, and running and other cross training exercises use lots of calories! Seven 45 minute sessions of running use about the same energy in a pound of fat. In addition, running builds muscle which weighs a lot more that fat per cubic inch and looks a lot better! It's so much easier to manage our diet when we're active. Our extra energy use helps makes up for our little dietary "oopses" every week!

Beat Diabetes with Exercise

In 2001 sports medicine practitioner Dr. Mark Timmerman said:

"Exercise and weight control are key to preventing one of the most serious and common diseases today: diabetes. More evidence to that effect just came in from the National Institutes of Health, citing a study that found those at greatest risk of developing diabetes cut their risk of the disease by nearly 60% by dropping 15 pounds and walking more.

This is something all of us should pay attention to. As Americans become bigger and more sedentary, the incidence of adult onset diabetes has grown to epidemic proportions. When we're overweight, our body has trouble efficiently processing sugar. If we gain too much weight, any of us can develop diabetes and the damaging conditions it leads to.
Poor circulation, heart attacks, blindness and kidney failure are among the trials patients with diabetes face. The disease kills 180,000 Americans every year."

Now the adult diabetes epidemic is focused on our children and grand children. The key words Dr. Timmerman uses are "bigger" and "more sedentary". When we run we get more active and maybe even smaller! "Smaller" and "more active" are our big benefits of running.

Exercise Stress Relief

Master's running is relaxing is some profound way that a drink or a pill just can't touch. Life happens, work happens. If we live, we get stressed. If we live long enough we experience tragedy. There's an inevitability about life that we just can't escape.

Master's running and regular exercise are like tools in a toolkit we can use to survive and succeed. Running give us tools to build and maintain a successful life.

Running is a stress-relieving investment in ourselves. Investing in good running shoes is a lot cheaper than popping 'anti-stress' pills! It's another of the many benefits of running!

Life Long Companionship

Finding companionship can be a challenge. When we run we have an opportunity to get out and to meet others with similar interests. One of the best benefits of running is meeting new people in a relaxed social environment. We'll be meeting active people who are taking positive steps to improve their lives - just like us!

Benefits of Running

Developing Positive Attitude

It all comes down to Johnny Mercer's lyrics:

"Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don't mess with Mr. In-between!"

When we run we take control of our lives. In the crowded arena of our life we make a space for ourselves where we exercise self control and self determination. That's why running and exercising create a positive attitude and a brighter outlook on life.

That's what running does for runners, and these are the benefits of running! Enjoy the good benefits of running!

That's your benefits of running! And don't forget...