MARCH 20 2 1 T3 47Running watches
unning has never been
unpopular but it saw a
huge surge in interest in
the last 12 months,
thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic
and the subsequent lockdown in
many countries. Despite all the
negativity that surrounds the virus,
the pandemic had a positive impact
on how people perceive fitness in
general and health-preservation in
particular, hence why all of a sudden
everyone you know seems to be
running every day.
Steady-state cardio activities
(SSCA) such as running have a range
of health benefits but they are best
known for improving heart health:
‘cardio’ stands for cardiovascular, as
in ‘to do with the heart and blood
vessels’. All forms of running are
beneficial, including brisk walking,
a great activity for overweight and
obese people but also the elderly;
jogging, a step up from brisk
walking and also extremely
advantageous for weight loss and
keeping the pounds off long term;
and full-blown running.
As well as being good for the
heart, running can also boost
metabolism, which can help get you
out of any weight loss rut you find
yourself in every now and then. The
body uses fat to fuel itself during
SSCAs, whether it’s dietary fat or
stored fat, which is great news for
people who are trying to lose weight.
The combination of a healthy diet
and regular SSCAs is said to be the
most efficient way to maintain
long-term weight loss.
There are other SSCAs too,
including cycling and rowing, but
running seems to be the most
popular of the available options.
Unlike running, rowing requires all
the muscles in the body to work in
unison in order to pull the oar
towards the chest over and over
again: tiring just to think about it,
hence why most people don’t
consider rowing a low-effort activity- not to mention, it requires either a
rowing boat or an indoor rower,
neither of which are too cheap.
Cycling is certainly not an
unpopular sport either. Much like
rowing, cycling requires some
pricey equipment such as bike lights,
a helmet and a bike: decent road
bikes can cost as much as a couple of
thousand pounds. Also, cycling
requires a lot of road and, despite its
cardio benefits, it is true that it
mainly works the lower body.
Running trumps all of the above
activities as it can be scaled up (or
down) according to your skill level
and requires very little gear, at first
anyway. Granted, you will need
some to get started: as much as it is
not impossible to have a jog in your
Dr Martens and jeans, it is advised to
get at least a decent pair of running
shoes and some sweat-wicking
running tops/bottoms to keep you
comfortable during your sessions.
Plus, of course, you’ll also need a
good running watch, to track your
runs (and boast about them on your
social media channels).FIRST STEPS
Running is not a complicated form of
activity. At the end of the day, a
beginner and the top marathonerR
Words: Matt Kollat Photography: Neil Godwin:DQWWREX\\RXUĆUVWUXQQLQJVPDUWZDWFK"+HUHLVRXUEHVW
DGYLFHRQKRZWRDYRLGFRPPRQSLWIDOOVDQGJHWDUXQQLQJ
ZDWFKWKDWèVEHVWIRU\RXUQHHGV
Running
watches
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO...