Taking up a sport is something that a lot of people around the world want to do but often decide against it due to a lot of reasons, right from expenses, lack of time to laziness. There is a large population that watches sports but only a fraction actually go out and play them. While there are some sports, like football, tennis and basketball, that require a bare minimum requirements, such as membership of a club/court, getting partner and equipment.
However, there is one sport that you absolutely do not need anything to take up and it is something that everyone should be doing – running. For ages now, running has been a part of the sporting culture and is a minimum requirement in almost all outdoor sports, be it football, rugby, basketball or hockey. Even if one cannot play any of these sports, he/she should take up running for a wide variety of reasons. Sportskeeda tells five reasons why you should take up running starting tomorrow:
#1 Affordability and Acceptability
Like mentioned above, running is a sport that does not require you to spend a miniscule amount of money. For those who cannot afford membership at a tennis club or manage to find people to football with, running is perfect. All you need is a pair of shoes and running short/track pants, following which you are set to go. Running is a sport with a wide branches, right from sprinting, hurdles, medium-distances and marathons, and one can choose any of these.
As far as acceptability is concerned, running is possibly the only sport in which you do not need to have any prerequisite qualification to participate. Anyone who wants to participate in a marathon can just register in many events that happen around the world and should he/she do well, getting recognition is not going to be difficult, as compared to a sport like basketball or football, where you need to get selected for a club.
#2 Health and immunity
At the helm of running, as a sport, is health, which is the biggest benefit of taking it up, even if you do not excel it at a professional level. Running, right from helping you lose weight, improving blood circulation and enhancing metabolism, is a sport that has unlimited health benefits. If a person is a regular runner, it immediately shows improvements in energy levels, skin quality and maintaining body shape.
Several scientific reports and research papers have determined how running is highly beneficial for physical and mental health of people. To put it in simplistic terms, irrespective of where you are and what you do, running will hold you in good stead in life. Immunity also gets a boost if you are involved in running on a regular basis as it accelerates circulation of protective cells in the body.
#3 Self-improvement and Inspiration
A large number of studies, reports and accounts of people, have suggested that running is a tremendous source of inspiration and self improvement. If a person is working in a modern-day urban settlement, things can get a little tough mentally and there are issues that one faces on a daily basis. Running goes a long way in helping people to deal with problems, both personal and professional.
Running gives a person’s body a tremendous upliftment and it offers several mental benefits as well. A lot of people, both famous and regular, have spoken about how they took to running in order to cross of obstacles and face adversities.
#4 Weight loss
Losing weight is one of the biggest benefits of taking up running and it is something that a lot of people want. Studies, research papers and several theories keep coming up on a daily basis to tell people how to lose weight. However, running is the easiest way to lose weight and if you run regularly along with a proper diet, there is nothing else required.
One can start running regularly and with the help of an expert, who creates a plan, and see the results with his/her own eyes. There are several dedicated mobile phone applications, magazines and journals published on how one can work their way to losing weight through running.
#5 Social benefits
Running events keep happening in countries around the world and participating in them opens up the possibility of interacting with different people in the society. Marathons, half marathons and ultra marathons are attended by people in thousands on a monthly basis and anyone who is regular at these events benefits greatly. While running a marathon, there is no differentiation on the basis of nationality, race, colour or ethnicity, something that makes it a really power phenomenon.
If a person is a regular runner, there is every possibility of developing and becoming part of a community that is based on nothing but the love of running. There are a lot of ways it also helps in improving the society and bringing in more awareness about fitness, health and confidence. Plenty of businessmen, celebrities and politicians, along with athletes, come together to run for charity causes and awareness campaigns throughout the world.
