Thursday, October 24, 2013

How Can Running Save Lives?

It doesn’t take much to live a better and healthier lifestyle, again. Doctors and fitness experts around the world recommend running or jogging every morning to people who want to stay fit and slim down without having to spend money on complicated sports gear or too much time in the gym just to stay fit.

Jogging or Running?


The US Department of Health considers running and jogging heavy exercise, and both are enough to stay fit and healthy. There is a quota which you need to keep in order to meet the minimum running requirement: do at least 150 minutes of simple aerobics per week and 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (like running).

Start Slow

Don’t attempt to beat the speed of a cheetah on your first run. For starters, start slow, run at a manageable pace and try not to compete in your marathon for your first run. Doing so will only pose dangerous health risks to your body. The US Department of Health recommends finishing a mile in 13 minutes.

Run to Burn Calories

You don’t need a gym or a complicated set of exercise machines at home to stay fit or lose calories. Running, on its own, is already a good, effective way to lose weight and burn calories. Running at least 5 mph every day is enough to burn 600 calories per hour. Furthermore, running compared to walking and jogging, burns 50% more calories.

Need for Speed


Don’t be dismayed if your running speed is not fit for a marathoner. Humans can run an average of 41 kilometers per hour, slower than the speed of a rabbit, cat, and kangaroo but faster than an elephant, squirrel, and pig.

Keep Running: 5 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated

Keeping yourself motivated to run is a good way to maintain your hobby and make it a habit later on. Use these 5 easy tips to stay on the tracks and to appreciate the hobby of running even more.

1. Set mini-goals for yourself.

Never run a marathon, an entire course, or even pull a Forrest Gump unless you are 100% ready for it. If you are getting started with your running hobby, set mini-goals for yourself: run a 3-kilometer course, then a 5-kilometer course before you take on the bigwig. As they say,  great journeys, or in this case, long, fruitful marathons, start with small steps, short runs around the race track or around the neighborhood.

2. Join a local running club or start your own so you can run with friends or socialize with like-minded people.

If you haven’t found a good reason to stay on point and keep running, then find people to motivate you. By joining a running club, you can run with people you know, meet people with a similar interest as yours (running), and find yourself some healthy competition. Plenty of things motivate a lot of people: some get theirs from healthy competition, others from socialization.

3. Make running an excuse to explore your neighborhood. 

This works best if you have recently moved into a new city, but works just as well even if you have stayed in the same address for the past 20 years. Use running as a means to meet new people or to see new places in your area. Take a new route every day or go through old routes and try to memorize the features of the area.

4. If you are getting started, run with your dog.

Running with your dog is a good way to keep your best friend fit and a good reason to keep your speed. Dogs tend to run faster than humans and make ideal competitors. You can also make running a reason to spend time with Fido if you are usually busy and find almost no time to even take your dog out for a walk.

5. Run to stay fit or lose weight.

In other words, find a very good, life-changing reason to keep running. If you want to live a healthier lifestyle, start by running. If you want to lose weight, the easiest way to do so is by running a few kilometers everyday. Remember, other people can inspire you, but true motivation comes from you and within you, alone.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Running as a Passion: Where to Start

Running is, undoubtedly, one of the best sports to engage in. It requires little practice, background in other sports, and even expensive gear so you can participate. You can run just as fast a marathoner in your sweatshirt, muscle shirt, and even in your tighty-whities and start making it a passion regardless of your age, whether you are five years old, in your teens, or while struggling with mid-life crisis.

Running is easy to get into, but dedicating time and effort into it is not as easy. If you want to devote your time to getting healthier, becoming a faster runner, or to getting to know people through this simple hobby, here are a few things you should do.


Like most hobbies, running is best done with people you know. If none of your friends are avid runners, you could invite them and form your own running group or join an existing running club in your area. Running with people is a good motivator and a good way to maintain your running discipline.

Running is a skill we have all learned at a young age, but running long distances is different from running around the playground like you used to do as a child. Serious, marathon running, for example, requires warming up in order to prevent strained muscles and other body aches and pains.

Sweating during running is a good sign, but forgetting to hydrate afterwards can be dangerous to your health. When running a track, make sure to have a water bottle on you or at the end of the leg. Another way to to prevent excessive sweating (which poses health risks on its own) is to wear cooling gear. Ever seen professional runners look so suave on TV even after running around a 10-mile track? Cooling gear allows them to run longer distances without having to experience the discomfort that comes with excessive sweating.

Running for Starters: Tips for Running under the Heat

One of the main reasons why professional marathoners and avid runners, in general, highly encourage running at the break of dawn or sometime in the afternoon, just an hour or two before dusk, is to steer clear from direct heat of the sun. Running under strong bouts of heat or in humid temperature will only slow you down and cause you to tire yourself out sooner than when running under cool, comfy weather.

However, if you live in a moderately humid area all-year-round, simply can’t wake up early enough for a quick jog, or would prefer running under extreme temperatures, there are still a few things you can do to make your jogging or running sessions comfortable. Applying these tweaks and additions to your running attire or running gear should help keep you cool no matter the weather.

First things first, when running, wear a sun visor or a pair of sunglasses to keep direct sunlight from your face. When under extreme weather, you will need all sorts of shade you can get from-- be it from trees, from tall buildings, from your hat, sun visor or shades.

Bring a bottle of water with you all the time. This is pretty much a given especially during sports events. You need to stay hydrated throughout the whole course should you wish to keep running for a longer period.

Wear light-colored and light-textured clothing. The cloth of choice among runners has always been nylon, but wearing light cotton running gear would not hurt either. Or better yet, wear cooling gear to keep yourself from sweating too much. Avid runners highly suggest the use of cooling gear, so you stay hydrated and stay cool while running.

Although this is not a running-related tip, it would still be wise for runners like yourself to be familiar with the symptoms and first aid care in the event of heat stroke. Heat stroke grounds runners especially during marathons. Your basic knowledge in heat stroke prevention could save a life.