9 Scientific Health Benefits Of Running That'll Convince Anyone To Pick It Up

Despite the winter smog and the pollution most of us find ourselves engulfed in running is one activity that you cannot easily detach from. Ask someone who's hooked to it and they'll tell you about the lengths they go to get in their daily dose of running. While people will always argue that you don¡¯t really need to run to stay ¡®fit¡¯ because of the various other modalities we have to stay fit out there, they are missing the point.

Our bodies are naturally designed to move. More specifically, when it comes to running it can withstand longer distances due to its capacity to endure the strain we put on it.

While we often associate the running with improving our cardiovascular health, but it also benefits our body and mind tremendously in various ways that we don¡¯t often acknowledge. Here are some of the most notable ones:

#1. Running makes you happy and reduces your symptoms of depression

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Cardiovascular exercises, such as running are bound to uplift your mood more than others. In fact, just 30 minutes of running can alleviate someone who¡¯s been suffering from a major depressive disorder, according to the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. Studies have also revealed that it helps people suffering from clinical depression as well.

#2. Not only does running destress your heart it protects it in the process

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Research suggests that running can not only help the functioning of your heart but reduce cardiovascular risks associated with it. No, you need to maintain the kind of consistency you need to for running a marathon. All you need is a 30-minute brisk walk for five days a week to reap the innumerable benefits it gives your heart, including protecting it.

#3. Running reduces your risk of developing cancer and other diseases

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Running has proven to prevent, but not cure cancer. A large review in the Journal of Nutrition revealed that exercise, in general, can lower the risk of certain cancers. In fact, the National Cancer Institute reveals the running can, in fact, reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer. Furthermore, research also reveals that 30 minutes or more of aerobic exercise can further reduce the chances of people dying from any exercise.

#4. Running is one of the best ways to maximise calorie burn

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While it comes as no surprise that running is a real calorie scorcher, but did you know that a person who weighs 75-90 kilos can burn anywhere from 600-850 calories in an hour? Additionally, research has shown that the afterburn helps your body torch calories for hours after you stop running as well. Just make sure you¡¯re running at a decently high intensity (at least 70% of your VO2 max).

#5. Running can help you think more creatively and enhance your cognition

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Whether you're suffering from a writers' block or want to enhance your focus or better your multitasking skills, running can get all your creative juices flowing. One study revealed that aerobic activity can boost your creativity for two hours following exercise. Another study published in the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience revealed that running helped in forming more intricate connections in your brain, which is missing from the brains of sedentary individuals.

#6. Running improves your creativity and cognitive ability

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A study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience disclosed that competitive runners had numerous connections in the brain that aided in sophisticated cognition, which was missing in the brains of a healthy sedentary individual in comparison. The effect running has on your brain seems to be similar to solving a math puzzle. It requires sophisticated navigation skills, an ability to plan, assess and respond to environmental conditions alongside the act of running, which in itself requires a high level of motor activity.

#7. Running improves your knee health and bone density

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Research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, exercise science professors found that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running. In other words, researchers found that running can reduce joint inflammation. ¡°It flies in the face of intuition,¡± said the study¡¯s coauthor, Matt Seeley. ¡°What we now know is that for young, healthy individuals, exercise creates an anti-inflammatory environment that may be beneficial in terms of long-term joint health,¡± said study lead author Robert Hyldahl. ¡°This study does not indicate that distance runners are any more likely to get osteoarthritis than any other person,¡± Seeley said, adding, ¡°Instead, this study suggests exercise can be a type of medicine.¡±

#8. Running adds years to your life

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While research, such as one published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests, you¡¯re twice as likely to die of diseases due to lack of exercise, research reveals that running can add years to your life. A study published in Progress in Cardiovascular Disease revealed that just an hour of running can increase your lifespan by 7 years. This could result in adding years to your life if you run consistently over a period of time.

#9. Running can boost your sperm count

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Men who picked up running for at least an hour and half, three times a week have a much better sperm count, suggest a study. The researchers stated that men who consistently ran had more ¡±healthy swimmers¡± in them, according to the research in the journal Reproduction. But beware, this boost is only temporary as the effect began to fade when the men stopped running. Remember, too much exercise can also harm sperm production, so it¡¯s important to get in just enough running but not too much.