1) Improved Cardiovascular Fitness
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One of the first health benefits of jogging you will experience is
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improved cardiovascular fitness. Cardiovascular fitness (also known
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as cardiorespiratory endurance or aerobic fitness) refers to how
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efficient the heart, lungs and vascular system (the vessels that carry
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blood and lymph through the body) are at delivering oxygen to the
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muscles that need it and also how efficient these muscles become at
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using the oxygen. As your cardiovascular fitness improves your lung
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capacity increases meaning that you can take in more oxygen with each
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breath. Your heart’s stroke volume also increases meaning that with
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each pump it can transport more blood and oxygen through the vascular
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system to the muscles. Finally, your muscles become more efficient at
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absorbing oxygen meaning that they can take more oxygen molecules from
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the blood.
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The overall effect is that with each breath you take in more oxygen,
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with each pump your heart transports more oxygen to your muscles and
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finally your muscles are able to utilise more of this oxygen. With
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improved cardiovascular fitness comes further health benefits such as
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improved endurance, reduced risk of heart disease and reduced body
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fat. I will be discussing all these additional health benefits of
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jogging below.
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2) Reduced Blood Pressure
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Reduced blood pressure is another of the important health benefits of
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jogging. Blood pressure refers to the force with which your blood
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pushes against your blood vessel walls. If your blood pressure
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becomes too high it weakens your blood vessel walls which makes them
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more susceptible to aneurysms (bulging), atherosclerosis (the build up
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of fatty substances on the blood vessel walls) and hemorrhage
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(bursting).
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The overall impact is that the flow of blood to and from your heart
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gets restricted causing it to become weak whilst at the same time
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having to work increasingly hard to pump blood through these blocked
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or damaged blood vessels. Over time this leads to the onset of heart
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attacks and heart disease. High blood pressure can also cause
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significant damage to your brain, your kidneys, your cardiac muscles
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and your eyes.
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No one knows exactly what causes high blood pressure. However, there
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are a number of risk factors and one of these is poor cardiovascular
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fitness. Therefore, by improving your cardiovascular fitness through
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jogging you can reduce your blood pressure and avoid the associated
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complications.
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3) Increased HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) Cholesterol
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Another of the key health benefits of jogging is increased HDL
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cholesterol levels. HDL cholesterol (also known as good cholesterol)
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helps control your overall cholesterol levels by scraping your blood
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vessels for excess cholesterol and then carrying it to the liver where
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it can be processed and excreted. If this excess cholesterol is not
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removed it may form plaque on your blood vessel walls which causes
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them to harden and become blocked. This then restricts the flow of
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blood to and from your heart which (as discussed above) ultimately
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causes heart attacks and heart disease. Improving your cardiovascular
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fitness increases your HDL cholesterol levels and in this way
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exercises such as jogging support a healthy heart and vascular system.
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4) Reduced Risk Of Heart Disease
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By improving your cardiovascular fitness your heart becomes stronger
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and more efficient. A strong heart is more resistant to disease and
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is also under less pressure as it does not have to work as hard to
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pump blood around the body. Improving your cardiovascular fitness
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also lowers your blood pressure and increases your HDL cholesterol
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levels which further protects you from heart disease. Therefore, one
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of the further health benefits of jogging is a reduced risk of heart
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disease which comes from the improved cardiovascular fitness.
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5) Improved Endurance
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In simple terms, oxygen allows your body to release and use the energy
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that you get from food. The more efficient your body is at using
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oxygen, the more energy you can produce during exercise. As discussed
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above, improving your cardiovascular fitness increases the volume of
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oxygen you can take in with each breath, increases the amount of
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oxygen pumped with each heartbeat and increases the volume of oxygen
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your muscles absorb. Therefore, another of the health benefits of
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jogging is increased energy levels and improved endurance which allow
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you to jog for longer.
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6) Stronger Bones
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When your bones are placed under stress they are forced to adapt and
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this leads to an increase in bone mineral density. Weight bearing
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exercises such as walking, jogging and weight lifting all stimulate an
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increase in bone mineral density. The benefit of this is stronger
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bones that are less likely to bend, fracture and break.
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7) Reduced Cancer Risk
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One of the long term health benefits of jogging is a significant
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reduction in cancer risk. Regular cardiovascular exercise such as
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jogging is thought to reduce your colon cancer risk by as much as 50%
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plus it also lowers your chances of contracting breast cancer, lung
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cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.
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8) Prevention And Treatment Of Diabetes
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Another of the fantastic health benefits of jogging is that it can act
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as a great defence against diabetes. Although no one knows what
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causes diabetes a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight are two of
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the main risk factors. Both of these risk factors can be negated by
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jogging regularly. Pre-diabetes can also be prevented from developing
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into full type 2 diabetes by doing more exercise. Even if full
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diabetes develops exercises such as jogging are a very effective
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treatment tool.
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9) Stronger Immune System
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There are a number of studies which link regular exercise with a
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strong immune system. There are a number of reasons behind this.
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First, regular exercise is thought to stimulate the production of
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lymphocytes (white blood cells) and macrophages (cells which attack
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bacteria). Secondly, consistent exercise is believed to make immune
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system cells circulate through the body more quickly and also make
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them more efficient at fighting bacteria and viruses.
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10) Improved Mental Fitness
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Jogging does not just impact your physical fitness. Another of the
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brilliant benefits of jogging is that it improves your mental fitness
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too. First, it can build confidence and self image because you are
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constantly challenging yourself and changing the way your body looks.
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Secondly, it can help you overcome anger and stress by giving you an
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escape from the pressures of day to day life. Thirdly, it can boost
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your mood through the release of endorphins (hormones which produce a
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sense of happiness and well being). Finally, it can help you become
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more focused and determined as your will to succeed with your jogging
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becomes a skill that can be transferred to other areas of your life.
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11) Reduced Body Fat Levels
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Fat loss is one of the key health benefits of jogging. An average
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person burns about 150 calories per mile jogged. So if you go for a
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five mile jog four times per week you will burn approximately 3,000
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extra calories each week (750 calories per jog).
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Furthermore, cardiovascular exercises such as jogging can also
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increase the number of calories you burn whilst resting. According to
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this article you can burn up to 15% more calories than normal in the
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48 hours after you exercise. So if your metabolism dictates that you
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burn 2000 calories a day you can potentially burn an extra 300
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calories per day (2100 calories per week) from this post exercise
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boost.
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The overall impact is a notable increase in calories burned per week.
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Jogging can help you burn calories as you jog and whilst you rest.
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Provided that you carry on eating the same as you were before you
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started jogging this should equate to a reduction in body fat levels.
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12) Improved Sleep
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One of the final health benefits of jogging is that it may help you
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sleep better. According to this article, cardiovascular exercises
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such as jogging (particularly in the morning) can help improve your
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sleep patterns. The study suggests that exercising in the morning
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helps people set their circadian rhythms to be awake during the day
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and asleep during the night. Exercise also has a number of positive
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effects on your mental fitness (as discussed above) which are believed
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to help you relax and free your mind, making you ready to fall asleep
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at night.
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Regards,