Why do we run, is it good for you?

[jsmoke]

Serious question.

So you run 4km or so, your legs are burning as are you insides. You stop and spend 5 mins recovering convincing yourself that your now fitter and healthier.

Yes running builds your leg and a few other body muscles up but I could buy a step machine and build them even stronger at home.

So that leaves your heart and lungs, ofc your heart is beating fast when you run, is this a good thing does it make you healthier, it certainly gets the blood pumping and I think the red blood count goes up which essentially gives you a high similar to taking drugs. And then there's the lungs, they must be working hard but considering most people don't even breathe properly they breath from the chest and not from the diaphragm then the benefits are debatable.

You can do lung exercises at home with or without a lung exerciser like powerBreathe would this be as beneficial as going out for a run?

So all in all could we get just as 'healthy' at home doing leg and lung exercises as we could going for a run and as a bonus save our joints from wear and tear and potentially arthritis later on. Does running really make us healthier and are runners just seeking that adrenaline and blood count boost. Are we putting at joints at risk running?

Why do you do it, have you been convinced that running makes you healthier and will lengthen your life or are you just an adrenaline junkie?

 

[iamtheoneneo]

Endurance
A few km is a big deal when you start but then you realise you can do a 5km, then you want to try a 10km and so on...the act of running is only half off it imo, the other is mental fortitude and better appreciation of what your body can do and push past. What once felt impossible becomes possible.

The running scene is huge and the constant events drives you to train more. I'm a 'bodybuilder' but I still get out and do a 10km every 2 weeks. It helps me a lot on a physical and mental level.

Sure your impacting body parts but there isn't a single exercise out there that isn't tearing the body down.

 

[jsmoke]

Endurance
A few km is a big deal when you start but then you realise you can do a 5km, then you want to try a 10km and so on...the act of running is only half off it imo, the other is mental fortitude and better appreciation of what your body can do and push past. What once felt impossible becomes possible.

The running scene is huge and the constant events drives you to train more. I'm a 'bodybuilder' but I still get out and do a 10km every 2 weeks. It helps me a lot on a physical and mental level.

Sure your impacting body parts but there isn't a single exercise out there that isn't tearing the body down.

Well there's swimming and that's exactly why I took it up a couple of years ago.

 

[Silly Goose On The Loose]

Because it’s fun

 

[Maccapacca]

Not a lot of people actually run. Jogging on tarmac is awful for you in the long run (lol). Any repetitive movement will become a negative.

Jog off road is much better for you and you won’t have to declare you’ve done x miles on Facebook. Mix it up

 

[Cleisthenes]

and you won’t have to declare you’ve done x miles on Facebook.

I stopped running and started cycling to hopefully reduce the stress on my knees. I'm a tall and relatively skinny guy so didn't want to exacerbate any already present issues. I definitely agree about running off road though, definitely better on the joints!

 

[Somnambulist]

It’s just one form of cardiovascular exercise, perhaps the most basic and primal of all. The list of health benefits and positive adaptations from doing some form of cardio are pretty extensive and easy to read up on yourself.

 

[SPG]

You folk need to do Triathlon's

New runners always run to hard and fast and quit due to running to hard and to fast. It takes months to build up the supporting muscle's for running to become easier.

Best advice is buy a heart rate monitor and work out your zones and get running/jogging.

 

[lemonkettaz]

Because you don't learn anything by being comfortable

 

[Rroff]

As with most things in moderation - a good bit of cardiovascular workout does you a ton of good especially as you get older - if you are regularly pounding yourself into the pavement you are probably having a larger negative impact on your long term health.

Once you get your heart rate up for a bit there is very little gained health wise from pushing it further - incremental steps can/will help you to be overall healthier. Pushing yourself [to destruction] frequently isn't so good.

 

[neoboy]

Well I did some hiking before I started running and I have noticed quite a big difference in how I feel walking up fells in Lake District. Friend of mine who joins me has an active job and does a lot of walking in general but is starting to lag behind me fitness wise despite me still being much more overweight.

That and time, literally a case of squeezing a harder workout into a shorter space of time. Still hate running mind

 

[fez]

It’s just so god. Damned. Boring. It’s like people who go to the gym. Why?

There are so many sports and activities that are fun and exercise. I go climbing and mountain biking for my exercise fox and both are great fun and keep me in great shape. I’m in better shape than 90% of people who go to the gym and I get a good cardio workout from MTB as well as having huge amounts of fun.

Basically I don’t get why you would run over the alternatives.

 

[Uther]

It's so in past times cavemen could run from predators and catch the occasional mammoth. I have a car and get online shopping so don't need to do that any more. It's also terrible or your knees. Walking or swimming is much better as exercise.

 

[ic1male]

Interesting. Why is it so bad for our joints when it's what we're biomechanically designed for? I started really late - only two years ago at 44 but I thoroughly love it. I don't go far, 5km each morning is enough for me but if I don't go, I really wouldn't be active at all.

 

[Somnambulist]

I literally know zero avid runners over their mid-30’s who haven’t got injuries or are working towards dusted knees and hips or chronic issues from running. My old boss at work got told to pack running in and cycle instead unless he wanted a hip replacement before he was 50.

I believe this is for 2 reasons:
1) most people run chronically on unforgiving surfaces with shoddy technique
2) people who love endurance stuff tend to be masochists who will keep going through pain, think being able to ignore listening to your body is a good thing and will generally let niggles turn into issues and injuries rather than just taking some rest or doing non-endurance stuff to fix said issues.

 

[Somnambulist]

It’s just so god. Damned. Boring. It’s like people who go to the gym. Why?

There are so many sports and activities that are fun and exercise. I go climbing and mountain biking for my exercise fox and both are great fun and keep me in great shape. I’m in better shape than 90% of people who go to the gym and I get a good cardio workout from MTB as well as having huge amounts of fun.

Basically I don’t get why you would run over the alternatives.

People have different preferences, amazingly.

At my gym there are bodybuilders, powerlifters, people just lifting for general strength and looks, most enjoy it because they have objective goals and aren’t just exercising mindlessly - hitting certain numbers, technical perfection on certain lifts, achieving a bigger total - the same way as when you do indoor climbing you have the different grades which are like the levels of a game and if you did the same ones all the time mindlessly and didn’t work on getting stronger/technically better so they’d be easier and you could move onto the harder grades, that’d get boring too.

 

[Begbie]

It’s just so god. Damned. Boring. It’s like people who go to the gym. Why?

There are so many sports and activities that are fun and exercise. I go climbing and mountain biking for my exercise fox and both are great fun and keep me in great shape. I’m in better shape than 90% of people who go to the gym and I get a good cardio workout from MTB as well as having huge amounts of fun.

Basically I don’t get why you would run over the alternatives.

Because I can run from my doorstep, I need to drive to go mtb. Also from a fitness point, you get more for your time. There is something unique about being far from home under your own steam too.

 

[SoliD]

I do it to put some impact on my body as someone who cycles 12 hours a week and sits behind a desk for work, I don't want to go snapping a hamstring like so many people I know who cycle have when attempting something normal in human life. That and it's useful for my cyclocross racing in the winter when you sometimes have to ru with the bike because it's too muddy. Prefer a trail run to the road. Best thing about running is you need some trainers and shorts and t shirt. I've run all over the world when on holiday which is the best part of it.

 

[Begbie]

I do it to put some impact on my body as someone who cycles 12 hours a week and sits behind a desk for work, I don't want to go snapping a hamstring like so many people I know who cycle have when attempting something normal in human life. That and it's useful for my cyclocross racing in the winter when you sometimes have to ru with the bike because it's too muddy. Prefer a trail run to the road. Best thing about running is you need some trainers and shorts and t shirt. I've run all over the world when on holiday which is the best part of it.

Yep, I love cycling more than anything. But sometimes just throwing on shoes and leaving is so much less faff.

 

[SPG]

It's so in past times cavemen could run from predators and catch the occasional mammoth. I have a car and get online shopping so don't need to do that any more. It's also terrible or your knees. Walking or swimming is much better as exercise.

Its not terrible for your knees urban myth. The body compensates for whatever injury you have and backs and knees take the brunt of that.

What is terrible and bad for you is sitting in your car doing nothing