What are the Key Benefits of Running?
Running is a way to improve health, increase muscle mass, and maintain a healthy weight. On average, a 140-lb person can expect to burn about 445 calories per hour by jogging. Running is an aerobic activity that promotes a healthy heart. It is also a great way to improve mental health by burning off stress from a long day and improving the quality of sleep. Let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of running.
Physical Activity
Running is an aerobic exercise that utilizes your entire cardiovascular system to fuel your body for the duration of your run. Running promotes heart and lung health and can build physical endurance. While running, you can expect to burn calories and build lean leg muscle. Running can even boost your metabolism!
Promotes Mental Wellness
Exercise can be used as a stress reducer. After finishing a long stress-filled day, getting on a treadmill can be the optimal way to reduce stress by bringing your attention to physical exercise and giving your brain a break to focus on running.
Completing a run and reaching your physical activity goals can trigger the feel-good chemicals in your brain, leaving you feeling happier, healthier, and accomplished for the day.
Consistent running is proven to promote a better quality of sleep. Better sleep is linked to countless physical and mental health benefits such as weight control, stress reduction, and a clearer mind.
A running routine leads to improved physical health and appearance. Running will improve confidence and self-esteem as you improve your physical endurance and meet your fitness goals. As you embark upon your running journey, goal setting, both big and small, is important and leads to feelings of accomplishment and boosted self-image.
Running on a Treadmill
Perhaps the greatest benefit of running on a treadmill is its convenience. No matter the time of day or weather outside, a treadmill is a dependable way to reach your workout goals. Treadmills can be used at your local gym or inside the comfort of your own home at any time of day.
Treadmills are dependable and offer consistent running surfaces with no surprises. Using a treadmill minimizes the risk of injury during exercise, with no surprise bumps, cracks, or potholes that can result in injury during an outdoor run. Be sure to invest in proper running equipment such as supportive running shoes to minimize the stress on your body. The predictability of treadmills gives runners the freedom to focus on other things such as immersing themselves in an audiobook, a podcast, a show/movie, or good music.
Treadmills eliminate the need to find different running routes outdoors by allowing you to customize the difficulty of your run. Choose your own pace and incline during your treadmill run using the customizable controls available to you. Some treadmills track important metrics such as heart rate, travel distance, and step count. Watch these metrics to see your physical fitness improve and use them to set specific fitness goals.