Five Reasons To Love Running

We know the common reasons for starting a running routine: fitness, weight loss, personal achievement. Here are the running4women team’s five favourite reasons to love running.

Reason 1 to Love Running: Beat Stress

Modern life is stressful for us ladies – work, finances, parenting, relationships and body image worries can all pile up leaving us feeling frazzled and overstretched. Running is a great stress-reliever. Not only does it give us that much-needed “me time” but it physically helps by regulating hormones which keep us feeling balanced and able to cope with life’s demands. So, next time you find yourself turning to an unhelpful coping strategy, go for a run instead (or at least plan your next run)! 

Reason 2 To Love Running: Be Focused

Far from making you too tired to think, running actually sharpens your mental faculties, making you perform better in mental tests, verbal communication and memory recall. What a great bonus from your favourite fitness pastime! 

Reason 3 To Love Running: Boost Your Mood

We’ve all heard of “runner’s high” – it refers to the way running floods our systems with endorphins, making us feel super-happy and sometimes super-human! So, next time you’re feeling down, stressed, sad, angry or wound up into a knot of tension… go for a run. Even a short jog will do the trick. Pair it with a playlist of uplifting tunes to really make the most of the natural high . 

Reason 4 To Love Running: Sleep More Soundly

Insomnia is more common that you’d think, with more than half of us struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep at some point in our lives. This is usually due to stress or the inability to unwind and relax. Running can help beat insomnia. Running helps release a host of helpful hormones including endorphins, whilst helping minimise others such as cortisol (the stress hormone). Make sure you leave at least two hours between running and bedtime and you should find a regular run helps you drift off.

Reason 5 To Love Running: Live Longer

Eating well and staying active adds up to five years to our lifespans. And who wouldn’t want to live longer when looking at an old age where you’ll be fitter, healthier, more mobile and more independent than those who weren’t active in their younger years? Add life to your years, and years to your life, by running. Definitely a top reason to love running!

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