When I say running, I am referring to middle to long distance running at a slow to moderate pace (which most people can sustain for a considerable period of time, from as low as 15 minutes, to as long as several hours). Jogging may describe the activity better, but most people like to refer to it as running.
This is not to be confused with brisk walking, which is simply walking at a deliberately faster speed. Neither should it be confused with sprinting, which implies an all-out effort to run as fast as possible.
Running is an oft prescribed form of getting some cardiovascular exercise. However, I strongly believe that it should be approached with the same caution we would give to a business transaction. Namely, what are the risks and rewards of running. In other words, to ask yourself, “Am I capable of running safely?”
Some people are not capable of running safely. We will see some reasons as to why this is the case later in the post.
However, we can cite many examples of people who have managed to run on a very regular basis, sometimes daily, and for years on end into old age. Such people are capable of running safely and the results that they reap from being able to do so are pretty evident.
What this article covers
The average person could probably benefit from some running. Nonetheless, after a certain point, running more isn’t better, and more often than not becomes worse for your health.
This article thus is a look into the benefits as well as the problems of running, giving reasons for each. More importantly, I try to give some recommendations to find that healthy middle.
Positive
Let’s start with the positive. For one, running gives you one heck of a workout.
Anecdotally speaking, many people feel that they can push themselves harder when they run. Very often, the average fitness enthusiast cannot do the same with other types of activity. Outside of trained athletes, the average person doesn’t have the endurance in specific muscle groups to give themselves a good workout. For example, the quadriceps (thighs) may tire out much more quickly during cycling, or the arms and back may tire out too quickly during rowing.
What this means is that the specific body part limits the duration and intensity of activity. You may “feel the burn” in those body parts, but you certainly haven’t burned much calories, [1] nor have you given you heart a good workout.
This is unsurprising, since we evolved to stand on two feet. Running just seems “natural”. In terms of total calories burned, and the general metabolic impact on the body, running gives more results per unit time invested compared to activities like cycling. In other words, the average person is likely to get a much better workout from 1 hour of running as compared to 1 hour of cycling.
Other than that, the benefits are many-fold, and I think I don’t need to preach the many benefits of regular exercise.
Negative
Simply put, running is hard on the body, especially the joints. In this case, the joints most commonly afflicted would be the knee and hip.
On a related note, running 100m burns more calories than walking 100m; walking is more or less moving directly forward, while running leads to plenty of up-and-down “inefficient” movement. Where is this relevant is that this constant ‘bouncing’ puts much more strain on the joints as compared to walking. [2]
However, I said in the beginning of the article that some people are built to run while others are not. Let’s take a deeper look into that claim.
The problem usually stems from two related things: hip width and Q-angle (Quadriceps-angle). To make this easier to understand, let’s take a look at a diagram.
Image Credit: dynamic Chiropracter
As you can see, a larger hip width is often correlated with a larger Q-angle. A larger Q-angle then leads to a knee which is less tolerant to compression. For a more detailed look at the problem, I encourage this article at Dynamic Chiropracter.
Ideally, the type of structure most resilient to vertical compression is one where the shin and the thigh form a vertical line, thereby being at a right angle to the ground. In reality, it’s never a straight line. But here you can see that the wider the hips and the wider the Q-angle, the more and more you deviate from that straight line. The result is a lesser and lesser ability to deal with the downward force of compression.
Given that every stride leads to some form of compressive force on the knees, multiplied by the massive number of strides taken during running, and you can imagine why even a slightly increased Q-angle can cause so many more problems.
Many people can infer what’s coming: that women are generally less suited to run as compared to men, simply because women generally have wider hips. This is the unfortunate case in real life.
Arguably, there are many women who manage to run and continue to run for a long time. More often than not, you will realise that they possess two things. First, a body structure with narrower hips relative to that of the average women. And second, very fluid running technique.
We can probably add a third point, which would be a general awareness and practice of nutrition and recovery protocols. Such people are usually those who would ensure that they get adequate nutrition, do sufficient warmups, take joint supplements, construct proper training programs, etc.
The problem is that the average trainee often treats running as either a hobby or an obligation, neither of which garners the appropriate level of attention and care that keeps the joints healthy. Many people are ambivalent to or ignorant of the question of “how long would you like to keep running?”.
Hence, the next section talks about some practical advice that can be applied if it is in the interest of the reader to pursue the running commitment for a good time to come.
What to Look Out For
The most important thing would be to stop any pain-provoking activity. Now, muscle soreness is fine, and many people enjoy the “burn” they get when pushing themselves. But joint pain is bad, period. Don’t think that you can train through the pain either. Maybe you could when you were 18, but do it long enough and you’ll have torn up knees by the time you’re 40.
In other words: Take joint pain seriously.
Even if you are pain free right now, take some precautions. As always, slowly increasing the pace rather than jumping straight into your workout pace is wise. Adequate “cool down” protocols are also advisable.
One thing which many people neglect though is technique. If you watch a professional long distance runner, you will usually notice some key characteristics. Most importantly, an upright torso and hips that remain pretty square (don’t rock too much from left to right) during the running process. I’d highly recommend you do a search for tutorials [3] on running technique, as well as check out the guide here.
Good technique is in place for a reason: it facilitates efficient movement patterns. More to the interest of the casual runner, good technique can decrease the stress on the joints and thus reducing the chance of injury.
I would definitely suggest filming yourself (get a friend to help) running a short stretch of straight road and slowly correcting your technique. Remember that time will amplify all potential problems, and it is in your interest to lay down good technique if you want to be running for a considerable time to come.
My Preference
Personally, I am a commuter cyclist, and after a week’s worth of cycling, running is one of the last things that come to mind.
Eventually, it’s going to come down to the individual’s goals and circumstances. For myself, with a primary goal of adding muscle mass, I already get enough cardiovascular activity. However, if you have to run for a sport, then you have no choice but to run. For the majority of fitness enthusiasts however, I’d like to stay on the safe side; I’d advise starting off with brisk walking.
Usually, for the sake of fat loss, brisk walking is more than enough; the rest of the caloric deficit can and should come from your diet. In the case of running for cardiovascular fitness, the standard guidelines apply. Start slowly, and go for two 20 minute sessions a week.
However, people often think they can handle more training than they really can. Slowly scale up as your training by all means, but I’d advise against anything more than 4 x 45 minutes a week. More is not beneficial to health, and more is certainly going to increase the injury risk factor. If in doubt, stick to less.
It would be great to note that even elite athletes (we’re talking the Olympics) don’t train hard for more than 4 days a week (usually 4 workout days + 2 days active recovery + 1 day complete rest). More importantly, the point I made in the last paragraph bears repeating. Unless you are training for a very specific purpose, running more than 4 times a week is simply not necessary.
As a closing note, I’d definitely recommend that before each run, ask yourself and answer truthfully if you are able to run pain free. If during running, an uncharacteristic pain develops, stop immediately, your body doesn’t say sorry until it’s too late.
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Notes:
[1] Just for the heck of it, I plugged in my own values (i’m 185 lbs at the time of this writing) into the exrx.com calculator http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/Calories.html for calories burned during an activity. This is what I got for 1 hour of each activity:
Running at 8mph – 1166 kcal
Cycling (racing) – 862 kcal
Rowing (moderate) – 605 kcal
Walking at 4mph – 494 kcal
This is just one calculator and are simply estimates, but the pattern, whereby it’s much easier to burn much more calories running is still evident.
[2] For some added information, read Eric Cressey’s Law of Repetitive Motion part 1 and part 2.
[3] Note: I don’t recommend pose running
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