Running for health and running for sport are two big differences. Light jogging, at a heart rate of no more than 110-120 beats per minute, is actively used even in rehabilitation after myocardial infarction – it is a matter of properly aligned dosages. Trusca is useful to everyone, from children to retirees, on one condition – if you do not make key mistakes. About this, as well as what will happen to your body if jogging becomes a daily routine, tells sports medicine and rehabilitation doctor Eugene Kadlubinsky.
The body can be thought of as a machine. The car has an “engine” (cardiovascular and respiratory systems) and a “body” (i.e. musculoskeletal system).
If we run without taking into account the peculiarities of our “engine”, we can get or increase heart and vascular diseases: coronary artery disease, angina pectoris, and so on. When we ignore the features of the “body”, it is fraught with injuries and joint problems, such as arthritis and arthrosis.
Check yourself
It”s a good idea to understand what stresses your body is basically able to overcome. To do this, three types of examinations can be recommended.
The first is basic. Get an ECG, EchoCG, measure your blood pressure – all these are available in any polyclinic under the MHI (compulsory health insurance) policy.
The second level is more serious. Those who want to run ten kilometers, 21 kilometers or more for the first time in their life need to visit a sports cardiologist. In addition to an ECG and echoCG, it will be useful to do functional testing on a treadmill. It will show you how to train effectively and without harm: for example, how the heart reacts to the load; where is your threshold of anaerobic metabolism (that is, the intensity of the load, when lactic acid levels become higher than the rate at which the body recycles it).
Level three is for those who want to run far and long (for example, 42 kilometers or more). Add to the examinations listed above a visit to a specialist in sports biomechanics. He will check your anatomical features, how your joints and spine work properly: this will help you avoid injuries during heavy loads.
In jogging mode
If there are no serious contraindications, you can run every day. The main thing is a small “dosage”: 30 minutes is quite enough. It should be a very slow run, during which you are able to breathe easily through the nose or laugh with the person running nearby.
How do you know if running is good for your health, not bad? “The criteria are very simple, ” says Eugene Kadlubinsky. – After a workout, you don”t have any pain and there is a good mood.”
What will change running
Any run is light stress, and that”s not a bad thing: in small doses, stress mobilizes the body.
The first changes you feel when you start running are a rush of vivacity and endorphins. Your capacity for work will increase, and this applies to both mental and physical workers. Memory, sleep, hormonal background, nervous system in general will improve.
Running will positively influence all body systems – for example, immune, visual, auditory, endocrine. It is even useful for the digestive process: it is a natural massage for the gastrointestinal tract; it starts the work of the intestines, cleanses the liver.
The joints and tendons begin to adapt to running immediately, literally in the first week. Muscles get a little tension and acquire a basic tone.
What happens after one month
After a month, all of these processes will become more pronounced. “If in the first ten days the good mood lasts for three hours, then you will notice that it accompanies you throughout the day, ” says the doctor. – “If there is excess weight, it will decrease by two or three kilograms, and in a natural way: precisely due to water and fat volume, not muscles. In this way, running ensures detoxification of the body.