Are you looking for a good reason to take up running? Hesitate no longer, read on, and discover not one but five great ways that running can change your life.
Fitness
The most obvious way that running can change your life is by improving your fitness and health. Burning between 186 and 340 calories every twenty minutes, running can aid weight-loss and reduce the risk of illnesses connected with carrying excess body-weight. Running regularly will also tone muscles, reduce blood pressure and strengthen the respiratory system, as well as building stamina and heightening energy levels. These combined health benefits are something which runners will enjoy not just while training but throughout their life, making everyday tasks easier and more enjoyable.
The motivation for Healthier Lifestyle
One life-changing effect that many runners discover for themselves is the desire to make healthier choices throughout their lives. An improved sense of well-being linked to increasing fitness levels tends to make lounging on the sofa staring at the television into less of an appealing after-work activity. Eating fatty, heavy meals suddenly seems unappetizing. By allowing these natural urges to live better to guide you, running can have multiple benefits in all elements of your life.
Be Part of A Community
While running is a perfect workout to do alone, many people find that getting involved with the sport becomes a way of connecting with people in their neighborhood and beyond. The running community is world-wide, and when you start running, you’ll soon see others going out and doing the same as you. Start chatting with other runners, and you’ll soon have a group of supportive friends to encourage you as you train. You can also use your hobby of running to change the lives of others. Sponsored runs and charity races are a great way to draw attention and bring funds to good causes. Why not use your personal fitness goals to make our world a better place?
Goals & Challenges
Talking of goals, another life-changing “side effect” of running is the many skills you learn while aiming to reach yours. Setting challenges for yourself requires discipline and commitment, perhaps especially so when you are starting out and getting to the corner of the block feels like a marathon.
When you attain your goals, you get a sense of achievement, which, like fitness, you will carry through into your daily life, building your ambition to reach for bigger and better things. That lesson that working hard does bring results is one that many of us need reminding of from time to time.
Get Closer to Nature
Whether you live in the country-side or train in your local city park, running is a great way to get closer to nature. Spending long hours indoors can make us feel disconnected from the seasons and the world around us, so getting out there and feeling the weather, seeing the changes in the trees and the scenery throughout the year can prove an antidote to what is lacking in the modern lifestyle, as well as reducing stress.