If you ask any person Is it good to run, then I think the vast majority will say that running is very good for health, and especially for the cardiovascular system. It is believed that the benefits of running are undeniable, and it does not carry any harm to health. And in general, all those who run in parks or even in the gym on treadmills are great. They are sure to live long and healthy lives.
Unfortunately, I’ll say right away that the benefits of running are inadequate to the efforts expended on it. Running will not strengthen the heart, it will not save you from atherosclerosis, cancer and diabetes (namely, these three diseases lead to 95-96% of deaths – be sure to read about it in this article), and it will help to lose weight only if you follow the right regimen and diet.
It is very likely that the previous paragraph will cause a sharp rejection among runners. But I will not be unfounded. The explanations follow.

The benefits of running

1. It is believed that running strengthens the heart. And since more than 50% of deaths are deaths due to the fault of the cardiovascular system, then running the benefits of running are obvious.
In fact: The heart does not need to be strengthened (this does not apply to people with known problems, such as heart disease, etc.). Read more in the article about strengthening the heart. In short, each cell of the heart (myocardiocyte) every moment of time works at the limit of its capabilities.
The heart muscle is the most trained muscle in our body. It is impossible to make her even more trained.
2. Running is the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Those. if you run, you will be less prone to strokes and heart attacks.
In fact: Professor Seluyanov (if you don’t know who he is, read the article about how he turned out to be right) likes to use the famous running apologist Cooper as an example. Cooper ran, ran, and then he and his jogging friends began to die from strokes and heart attacks.
It turned out that in addition to running, you also need to go to the gym, work out with a barbell (why, read this article). In a nutshell, running (unless it’s a short sprint sprint) doesn’t release enough hormones to keep your blood vessels clean.
3. The benefits of running в том, что он помогает тратить лишние калории, а значит является профилактикой ожирения.
Reality: The calorie content of jogging is approximately 360 kcal/hour. At the same time, 100 gr. regular dairy chocolate – more than 500 kcal. What benefit will running (after which a good appetite appears) if you do not follow the correct regimen and diet?
If you spend 360 calories daily (that’s an hour of jogging), and eat twice a day, there will be no benefit from running.
If you run for an hour and eat up at night, then there will be no benefit from running.
If you eat more than you spend in a day (even running daily), then running will not bring any benefit.
And if it is the right diet and diet that are needed to maintain the desired body weight, then what does running have to do with it? You can not run, but everything can be solved only with the right diet.
4. Running promotes the release of endorphins (hormones of joy). In other words, it improves mood.
Actually: It seems to be so, only it has nothing to do with health. Well, like to run, a friend likes not to run. Each one improves the mood. One is the one that runs, the other is the one that does not run.
5. Running improves the functioning of the endocrine system.
In fact: Indeed, any run stimulates the endocrine system. But for health, the release of steroid hormones is very important, and their release occurs only when a state of mental stress is reached.
This state is rarely achieved with slow jogging, which is said to be good for health.
The benefits of fast running But to achieve a state of mental stress is quite simple when running with maximum and near-maximal effort for short distances (100 meters or less) followed by a long rest (5-10 minutes or more).
In the latter case, such a run is equivalent to dynamic exercises with a barbell, and can be recommended for people without signs of atherosclerosis of the vessels.
Conclusion: Running, as a physical exercise, certainly has benefits for human health, because at least something active is better than nothing at all. But as a means of improving blood vessels, running is generally not suitable, neither slow (because it does not lead to the release of steroid hormones), nor fast (because it can contribute to the breakdown of cholesterol plaques with a powerful blood flow). In addition, without following the right diet, running will not lead to getting rid of excess weight.

The harm of running

Unfortunately, most runners do not know that in addition to benefits (mostly imaginary), running also brings harm.
The harm from running is manifested in the fact that with this form activity, impact loads on the leg area inevitably occur. The most affected are the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the leg.
By the way, the main reason that marathon runners rarely run more than 5 marathons in a season is precisely the destructive load on the calf muscles.
To minimize this harm, you need to be very careful when choosing running shoes. It is important to select models with pronounced depreciation properties.

And if in youth this can still be approached through the sleeves due to good joint health, then older persons should protect themselves as much as possible from this type of shock loads.

What can replace running

1. If you already run, then it’s better to walk! This will help you lose weight (for more details, see articles about walking and Nordic walking), but there will be no destructive load on the muscles of the lower leg.
2. Callanetics is suitable for women.
3. For men, power static-dynamic exercises or a little-known but promising isotone are more suitable.
4. For young people without signs of atherosclerosis, you can pay attention to traditional strength dynamic exercises (with weights or own weight).
5. For those who want to lose weight, running can simply be replaced with a diet.