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What Are the Benefits of Running Track?
Running is an effective way to increase your cardiovascular fitness, lose weight, and even reverse bone loss. In addition to these benefits, running track promotes competition and encourages you to improve your running ability while promoting teamwork 1.
Healthy Habits
No one expects to eat three cheeseburgers and fries and then go out and set a personal record at a track meet. Coaches encourage athletes to eat properly before and after races. You perform better and feel better when you have proper nutrition during training. A healthy diet allows you to perform to the best of your abilities, so when you are running track you tend to have a more healthy diet 1.
- No one expects to eat three cheeseburgers and fries and then go out and set a personal record at a track meet.
- A healthy diet allows you to perform to the best of your abilities, so when you are running track you tend to have a more healthy diet 1.
Teamwork
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Track is an individual as well as team sport. How you perform affects the team, especially in situations such as relay races. All four members are equally important in the race. Each plays a role in the team's efforts to win. If even one runner does not perform at his best, the whole team may suffer or have to compensate to make up for his weakness. In addition to this team bond at track meets, friendships are formed during practices. Runners are expected to train daily and have to endure workouts together. This forms bonds that help make the team stronger.
- Track is an individual as well as team sport.
- How you perform affects the team, especially in situations such as relay races.
Fitness
Running improves your cardiovascular fitness, as well as decreases your risk of a stroke or heart attack. If these habits are started at an early age, then you are more likely to incorporate them in your daily activities. Running also burns fat and increases muscle tone. According to the CDC, "An estimated 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are obese." These statistics only reinforce that running through an organized source, such as track, can improve a participant's life, not just health 1.
- Running improves your cardiovascular fitness, as well as decreases your risk of a stroke or heart attack.
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References
- The Many Benefits of Running
- Childhood Overweight and Obesity
- Cantwell JD. Cardiovascular aspects of running. Clin Sports Med. 1985;4(4):627-40.
- National Institutes of Health. NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center. Exercise for Your Bone Health. Updated October 2018.
- Guiney H, Machado L. Benefits of regular aerobic exercise for executive functioning in healthy populations. Psychon Bull Rev. 2013;20(1):73-86. doi:10.3758/s13423-012-0345-4
- Hoveida R, Alaei H, Oryan S, Parivar K, Reisi P. Treadmill running improves spatial memory in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. Behav Brain Res. 2011;216(1):270-4. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2010.08.003
- Kalak N, Gerber M, Kirov R, et al. Daily morning running for 3 weeks improved sleep and psychological functioning in healthy adolescents compared with controls. J Adolesc Health. 2012;51(6):615-22. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.02.020
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- Boecker H, et al. The Runners High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain. Cerebral Cortex. 2008;18(11):2523-2531. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn013.
- Fernandes MFA, et al. Leptin Suppresses the Rewarding Effects of Running via STAT3 Signaling in Dopamine Neurons. Cell Metabolism. 2015;22(4):741-749. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.08.003
- Guiney H, Machado L. Benefits of regular aerobic exercise for executive functioning in healthy populations. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 2012;20(1):73-86. doi:10.3758/s13423-012-0345-4.
- Kalak, N, et al. Daily Morning Running for 3 Weeks Improved Sleep and Psychological Functioning in Healthy Adolescents Compared With Controls. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2012;51(6):615-622.
- Mota MR, et al. Effects of treadmill running and resistance exercises on lowering blood pressure during the daily work of hypertensive subjects. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2009
- Nokia, MS, et al. Physical Exercise Increases Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Male Rats Provided it is Aerobic and Sustained. J Physiol. 2016; 594: 1855-1873. doi: 10.1113/JP271552.
- Otto MW, Smits JAJ. Exercise for Mood and Anxiety, Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being. Oxford University Press. 2011.
- Sani SHZ, et al. Physical activity and self-esteem: testing direct and indirect relationships associated with psychological and physical mechanisms. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2016;Volume 12:2617-2625. doi:10.2147/ndt.s116811.
- Venckunas, T, Kamandulis, S. Interval Running Training Improves Cognitive Flexibility and Aerobic Power of Young Healthy Adults. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2016; 30(8): 2114-212. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001322.
Writer Bio
Kara Dickerson started writing in 2010, with her health and fitness-related articles appearing on LIVESTRONG.COM and eHow. She is a registered nurse on a cardiac stepdown unit, a certified personal trainer at East Tennessee State University and a fitness instructor. Dickerson received her Bachelor of Science in nursing from East Tennessee State University.