Can Running Help You Live Longer?
I’m not a fan of running. But I AM a fan of living longer and improving my quality of life.
So when I came across this research paper my interest was definitely piqued!
You can have a look at the summary of the research by CLICKING HERE.
The take away is that “Running, even 5 to 10 min/day and at slow speeds <6 miles/h, is associated with markedly reduced risks of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease.”(1)
When I googled the journal article title I also came across a great blog post HERE.
It does an excellent job of pulling out the relevant points in the article.
As a Physical Therapist (and as a person with a history of knee pain and arthritis) I am very aware of how hard running can be on your joints. And I commonly treat patients in my Arvada physical therapy office for running related problems. So I wanted to throw in some useful tips just in case you have problems or concerns about your knees:
1. Wear excellent socks (such as merino wool socks). Great socks provide protection for your feet and good shock absorption which can lessen the overall stress and strain to your joints.
2. Wear excellent shoes. The blog post mentions this… I’m just re-iterating. I get this question all of the time in my physical therapy practice: “What running shoes do you recommend?” My answer is (1) the best ones you can afford and (2) running shoes that you ONLY use for running and replace them as soon as you feel a difference in the quality of your runs.
3. Avoid pain. This sounds like a no-brainer but many people have a no-pain no-gain mentality. I tell my physical therapy patients this advice several times a day… If it hurts don’t do it.
4. Try kinesiology tape on your knees and legs. I wrote a blog post on 2 techniques I developed specifically for knee pain. I use this in my physical therapy office AND on myself! You can check out the blog post HERE. You can also get tons of cool taping techniques from the RockTape.com website video collection. Just click on the Lower Extremities tab on the right side of the page for specific techniques.
References:
1. http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1891600