Running: Benefits and Precautions

Running helps developing muscles and bone strength, and also keeps your weight in check. If you have a busy day or week, or are on a holiday, you should consider squeezing in jogging (or brisk walking) in your routine.

Running offers many benefits, including:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness, and burning of calories. It helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces risk of heart disease.
• It helps build strong leg bones
• It is great for Mental health and for Immune system

Running on Treadmill vs. Track: Which is Better?

There are mixed opinions when it comes to answering which option is better.

Some trainers advise outdoor running because it is more strenuous than running on treadmill.

When you run outdoor, the terrain may change with each step, be it a smooth road, a pebbled street or a grass path. So it stimulate more muscle fibres and enhances your balancing power.

Exercising close to nature also lets you take in more oxygen. Running in a park where there are a lot of trees (away from traffic) and high concentration of oxygen; it is more beneficial for your lungs and your workout.

On a treadmill, however, there is only one surface: the belt. The treadmill belt is well-cushioned and assists leg turnover, making it easier to run faster. You are also the master of your own slope on a treadmill.

However, some trainers beg to differ.

Some trainers believe that a good treadmill running session can work on each of your muscles.

“For uphill running, you can incline your treadmill, you can have an intense running session and a slow bouncy walk, all the while being safe from injuries that might happen outdoors”.

Wind resistance also increases the difficulty level while running outdoor but that can be compensated by adding a 1% incline to the treadmill.

Traffic congestion and pollution are other factors due to which trainers suggest running on treadmill. Hard, concrete floors are also an absolute no-no as they have the highest impact on the knees.

Running on sand, grass and treadmill belt is the best for people with joint problems.

Treadmill also allows you to keep count of the calories burnt while monitoring your heart rate. Having your performance chart in front of you helps you keep track of your fitness levels and stay motivated.

So, it looks like the opinion is divided!

I think one should opt for the best of both the worlds: Use the treadmill when the weather is bad and run outdoors when the weather is good.

Does Running Put Your Knees at Risk?

Running doesn’t ruin your knees, its a myth and not the truth says fitness freak Milind Soman.

Fitness freak Milind Soman (former supermodel) has been running for nearly one-and-half decade now, but never had any knee injury.

“It’s a perception (running puts knees at risk), but it’s not the truth. The truth is anything you do with wrong technique will cause you injury,” said the over fifty year old model cum actor.

And if at all you get injured, its because of poor technique. But that’s true for most other activities as well, be it dance and game, playing sports, etc.

So why do people get injured due to running?.

Here’s what Milind has to say:

1. In India, most take up running for health and recreation when they hit middle age. In a country like India with no culture of exercise, sports, and fit lifestyle, suddenly people have started running in the thousands, inspired by each other.
2. “So, what happens is everybody runs when they are children till the age of 10 or 11. Then they stop running for 20 years before again starting running at the age of 35. Obviously the muscles you need for the activity and also technique, every thing deteriorates.
   
3. “Your body has not been doing it for so many years. And plus your weight changes, may be you become heavier…All the balances change. So, when you start running or do any activity or sport, you have to start very, very gradually. And as your body becomes stronger, then you have to increase.
4. “What a lot of people do is they jump (after not running for 20 years) before they can run, and they run before they can walk. It’s important to give one’s cardiovascular system time to adapt, become stronger, be able to understand balance and coordination all over again.”
5. “Now, I have been running since 2003 and I have never been injured. I have always increased it very, very gradually. Whole purpose of doing endurance sport is to understand your body better, it’s not about timing, it’s not about competition, it’s about understanding your body, mind, potential”, says Soman.
6. People in India are today engaged in fitness activities, unlike 20 years ago. “In fact, when I started running, I saw no body else running. People said ‘Arey pagal daud raha he dekho’ (look, this crazy man is running)! Group of people, every body who ran at the time were ridiculed. But it’s now kind of become admiration. Now it’s wow…I wish I could do that. It has become aspirational,” he said.
7. “Every political party, rotary club, every college, school, all organisations organise running events. This is something that ignites the aspirations of people. People are beginning to inspire each other, and that’s how it grows,” Soman says.