Do you run? Check out the advantages (and disadvantages) of this fitness activity
Running is a very popular fitness activity. It is one of the first things people think about when they think of losing weight. It is not the only way, and a lot of people would argue it is nowhere near the best way. I personally feel it is a good method that can be included in one’s routine. Of course we are all made up slightly differently, so take a look at the following pros and cons to decide whether buying some running shoes might be a good investment for you.
Advantages
It’s easy!
Put on some appropriate clothes, lace up your running shoes and you’re off – that’s all there is to it. It’s much easier than getting to a local gym, and even easier than most home workouts.
It’s rejuvenating
Breathing in some fresh air early in the morning or after a spending the day at work in an air-conditioned building can be as great for you mentally as it is physically.
It’s able to be done anywhere
It doesn’t matter where you happen to be, at home, on a work trip or on holiday you will always be able to run. You can’t take your bench press with you for your weekend away, nor can you take your gym membership! In fact running, along with other body weight exercises is the only type of fitness training that you can do absolutely anywhere. As portable as equipment (like dumbbells, chinning bars, kettlebells etc) can be, there will always be some circumstances were you won’t have access to it.
It’s easy to track your progress
How do you know if your improving? Just make sure you beat your previous day’s time. Once you get the time down you can increase your distance.
It’s effective
Have you ever seen an overweight runner in the Olympic games? If you continually do a lot of running while eating even just a moderately healthy diet, your body will eventually start stripping the fat.
Disadvantages
It’s bad on your joints
Knees, ankles, feet, back. Continuous running is going to eventually take it’s toll.
It’s weather dependent
This may not apply for all runners but many will rarely have the motivation to start running when the weather is bad (too windy, too hot, too wet, too dark… the excuses can go on and on).
It’s Monotonous
Running the same way in the same location can get pretty boring. A good way to counter this is by switching it up and changing the way you run (HIIT training for instance) and the places you run (beach, road, park etc).
Running tip: Getting past a plateau through variety!
One thing to watch with running (maybe more than other fitness methods) is hitting that plateau. You may run 5 days a week for a month and manage to really get your body fat percentage down, then as you continue running for after that first month you hardly make any progress – or worse, you gain weight! Our bodies are extremely good at adapting to new routines, in order to continue to make good progress with running (or anything for that matter) you need to mix things up.
As mentioned earlier, HIIT training is one way of getting through a plateau. With HIIT training you change the intensity of your training at set intervals. For instance you can go to a local park and run the length at jogging pace, run again at running speed, then sprint it. After this go back to jogging and complete for however many intervals. To add even more variety you can start and do push ups or crunches in between intervals. Once you have done HIIT running for a period you can go back to your previous run and see what kind of difference it has made. And of course, don’t forget to check the mirror!
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Comment by leanie
15 October 2009
this is right haha