NBC Connecticut is partnering with the Today Show for our #RunforToday campaign and highlighting the benefits of running, including how lacing up can help you mentally and physically.
“There’s a 2015 study of 55,000 patients over a 15-year period that showed a significant drop in death from non-cardiac and cardiac reasons and they show that even modest amounts of exercise during the week have a significant impact on the drop in death rates,” Seth Lapuk, a pediatric cardiologist and president of Connecticut Chapter American Heart Association, said.
You don’t need to be running miles and miles to get or stay healthy.
“It doesn’t need to be intense exercising -- even just moderate exercise, like brisk walking or cycling, and it doesn’t have to be done all in one block,” Lapuk said. “You can break it up throughout the day and have the benefits of the exercise.”
The benefits aren’t just physical, there are mental benefits too.
“Builds your self-esteem, self-confidence,” running coach Gino Caro said. “Because it’s something that’s for yourself, it’s something that you do on your own, so if you improve on your 5K time, I mean, you get a good feeling about that”
And the more you run, the easier it becomes.
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“Exercising also improves your oxygen utilization of your cells in your body, your muscles in your body. It improves the health of the vessels in your body so they can deliver better oxygen,” Lapuk said.
It might be hard at first, but if you stick with it, running can easily become part of your daily routine.
“Keeps you motivated and it’s good for you it’s great for cardiovascular. It’s great for the overall body,” Caro said. “So there’s a lot of good, good health benefits you can get out of running”
We want to run with you at our March of Dimes Run for Babies on May 1. To join the NBC CT team click here.
