Running Toward Health: How Aerobic Exercise Transforms the Body and Mind

Maintaining regular exercise means more than just staying fit - it's also about having a consistent, healthy lifestyle. Being physically active improves your mental wellbeing, regulates weight, reduces the risk of developing disease, and strengthens bones and muscles. Physical activity and exercise can be effective treatment for symptoms of both depression and anxiety. According to the CDC, “moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can improve thinking or cognition for children 6 to 13 years of age and reduced short-term feelings of anxiety for adults. Regular physical activity can help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It can also reduce your risk of depression and anxiety and help you sleep better.”

Regular exercise should not become a burdensome task. There are several different types of simple, yet effective exercises, one being aerobic. Aerobic means “with oxygen” and exercise refers to activities that produce and use energy. Cleveland Clinic defines aerobic exercise as, “physical activity that uses the body’s muscles [to move in a] rhythmic and repetitive [way to] increase your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses.” Aerobic exercises involve moving large muscles such as arms and legs, which can relax blood vessel walls, lower blood pressure, burn body fat, and lower blood sugar levels. Harvard Medical School identified that walking, swimming, jogging, cycling, basketball, soccer, tennis, dancing, and running are effective fat burning activities that lower sugar levels. The World Health Organization and the U.S. government reaffirmed this by releasing an “evidence-based Physical Activity Guideline, [that] recommended at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, or an equivalent combination of both,” according to Health.gov.

Running can be considered a low/moderate intensity aerobic workout that holistically improves the overall performance of the body. Running can be beneficial for our health by improving our cardiovascular health, building muscular strength, increasing bone density, managing body weight, and burning calories. Michigan University's Student Health Services also claims that running regularly can reduce stress, ease tension, manage anxiety, prevent depression, improve sleep patterns, and even lower the risk of disease. A recent article published by the University of Utah, stated that “running is an easy and inexpensive way to get and stay in shape.” Their findings show that running strengthens the heart; improves balance and stability; leads to new brain cell growth; improves memory recollection and can boost your mood and energy. Running can also be another outlet to just unwind and have fun and alleviate yourself from daily stress. While running, people can find a tranquil location to explore; run with a friend; listen to music; and wear comfortable clothing, while enjoying the fresh air.

The human body has several systems that are directly impacted by running. One such system is the cardiovascular, which ensures that the body gets a sufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients while still being able to remove waste from the body. Each minute of the day, the heart is continuously working. The cardiovascular system is made up of layers of a connective tissue and elastic fibers. Running is advantageous to the cardiovascular system since it pumps the heart, enabling it to improve the movement of oxygen around the body, while also lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.

The respiratory system is another important system that is directly affiliated with running. Running enables oxygen to enter us, while carbon dioxide is emitted. The respiratory system works when you breathe in and out your nose and mouth. The air passes through your larynx. The circulatory system is made up of the heart and blood vessels that support the respiratory system by bringing blood to and from the lungs. As we run, the heart and lungs work simultaneously to supply the needed oxygen for the muscles and lungs to become stronger.

The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and a complex network of nerves that sends signals to and from the brain, which controls the entire bodily function. It is surrounded by more than 100 billion neurons and is responsible for brain growth and development, movement, balance, and body temperature. The nervous system affects thoughts, memory, learning, and influences how we interpret what we see, hear, taste, touch, and feel. According to The National Library of Medicine, “Exercise stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and will induce an integrated response from the body; This response works to maintain an appropriate level of homeostasis for the increased demand in physical, metabolic, respiratory, and cardiovascular efforts.”

The skeletal system is a network of many different parts that will be able to move. It consists of bones, tissues, cartridges, tendons, and ligaments and serves to support the body, facilitate movement, protect the organs, store fats, and form new blood cells. The National Cancer Institute stated that “the living bones in our bodies use oxygen and give up waste products in metabolism.” The skeletal system protects soft body parts such as fused bones of the cranium surrounding the brain to make it less vulnerable to injury. Vertebrae surround and protect the spinal cord and bones of the rib cage help protect the heart and lungs of the thorax. Running does impact the shape of the bone and its density. The National Library of Medicine stated that “Exercise also promotes growth hormones and the level of plasma calcitonin, which is what increases bone mass.”

Running can improve longevity and promote the overall quality of our health. As mentioned previously, the cardiovascular system strengthens the hard and improves circulation, reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. Regular running is also an effective measure to regulate body weight. Running has been proven to burn calories, improve metabolism, reduce the risk of obesity, and prevent any other underlying symptoms from forming. This form of exercise has been proven to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and age-related muscle loss as a result of strengthened bone structure and muscle strength. There are lots of running risks. One example, running can reduce your muscle mass. When you run your muscle body’s instincts and it starts trying to rid itself of any unnecessary weight that might slow it down it includes muscle. It's important to consume a protein against the risk of muscle loss. Also, Running can cause Blisters that are caused by friction when the skin on your feet rubs against your socks or shoes.

Researchers have found that running has had several benefits towards improving our livelihoods, however there are also serious side effects as well. Running can put stress on your back and the heart tissue. You might pull a muscle when you're running. Excessive running can damage your knees as well. Up to 75% of runners get injured each year when they run too much. When people run and have asthma, they could experience shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and nausea. If they have a high blood pressure and run really fast, their heart could stop working.

Running affects the heart by pumping blood to your lungs and throughout your body. Running also affects the heart by lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, strengthening the heart and blood vessels and improving the flow of oxygen around the body. Engaging in these exercises can decrease the blood pressure because the amount of oxygen is increased, thus reducing the stiffness in the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely throughout the body. A person’s cholesterol is also affected by the running regimen since it builds cells and produces vitamins. Running increases the good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein HDL) and reduces the bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein LDL). People who suffer from depression often resort to running as a means of therapy. These activities can be enjoyed especially when being with a friend or a support group. Just spending time with them is enjoyable. Even if alone, people can listen to their favorite music or simply just enjoy the scenery. People who suffer from obesity can also run each day and can lose calories and improve their cholesterol. Obesity can lead to stroke and high blood pressure (hypertension). Running reduces the risk of cancer by 72%. Engaging in outdoor activities such as running or jogging can prevent muscle loss and build strength, this may reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. who exercise regularly have a 40% to 50% lower risk of colon cancer, women who engage in moderate to vigorous exercise for more than 3 hours per week have a 30% to 40% lower risk of breast cancer. Studies by the CDC shows that exercising can reduce the risk of cancer related cells forming including along the colon, breast, uterine, and lung.

In conclusion, regular physical activity can improve both the body and mind. Running can be considered a low intensity aerobic workout that improves the overall performance of the body. It pumps oxygen to your lungs and circulates the blood to your body. Running overall makes you a better person and in better shape. Running has several benefits on the body functions - cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous, and skeletal. This will help the skeletal system protect the spinal cord and bones. Cardiovascular systems help the body to improve balance and stability and lead to new brain cells that can boost your mood and energy. This low intensive workout can stimulate the mental state of people by allowing people to refocus their mind - reducing stress, tension, depression, and anxiety. While there are several types of aerobic exercises that can benefit each individual, running is a cost effective, low budget exercise that can be done anywhere. Regular exercise should not become a dreadful task - instead it should be something that is enjoyable knowing that it can improve the overall quality of one’s life.

The hazard ratio describes the relative risk of the complication based on comparison of event rates. The analysis above represents individuals who do not engage in running. All hazard ratios were adjusted for various factors, including baseline age (in years), except for sex, examination year, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, other forms of physical activity apart from running, and parental history of cardiovascular disease (whether present or absent). Unhealthy status was defined as having one or more of the following health conditions: abnormal ECG, hypertension, diabetes, or hypercholesterolemia. Heavy alcohol drinking was defined as consuming more than 14 drinks per week for men and more than 7 drinks per week for women.

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