There are many side effects of running that are positive and maybe somehow unexpected. The muscles all over the body get strengthened and some find it far easier to flag the six pack we all have there somewhere under the fat layers on our stomach. Physical and psychological health issues tend to go together and you get far better at coping with stress in the daily life if you exercise.
The human mind seems to find it far easier to focus on only one isolated aspect of the big picture. Therefore I would probably be more successful by only writing about only one positive effect of running if I wanted to convince someone that it would be good for him/her to run.
I could of course write several hundred words about the fact, that male runners have less problems with erection than the average male. I am sure someone would buy that. But then, I am not a male, what do I know? Other than what I have read and heard my male running pals say. Not that they talk much about stuff like that.
If you are a female you might be interested in the fact that the muscles in the bottom region get stronger by running which diminishes problems with bladder control and uterine prolapse.
In a few words: The sex life gets better. Now, that IS something, isn't it?
By now I hope I have managed to erase the effects of my last blog post about the dark side of running.
There are countless myths about negative effects of running that can't stand daylight. Like the one that says women shouldn't run because they get prolapsed uterus out of it. It isn't true, quite the contrary. But then, if you want excuses you can always find one. Then it maybe doesn't matter if it is true or not, not as long you believe in it yourself.
Another myth is that runners have weak knees. Which isn't true. The condition named "runner's knee" isn't more common among runners than the whole population and running makes the knees stronger, just as it does to most other joints in the body.
The latest issue I have read about in the media is that ultra runners get scars in the heart muscle which definitely sounds dangerous. But when I read some of the research articles on that matter I found out that those scars were found among old males that had completed more than 100 marathons. Marathons where the strain on the heart is very vigorous all the time. Who does that anyway? Run hundred marathons. And I didn't see those older males compared to older males that lead a sedentary lifestyle. Well... I guess the other group would have just as many heart conditions, but their would have more to do with the coronary arteries etc... I am not a heart surgeon so I don't want to go further into this discussion. Overall, exercise is good for the heart.
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