On the benefits of jogging

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." 

John Bingham quotes in his book The Courage to Start: Running for Your Life. This quote says a lot about someone, yesterday I started jogging as a way to get in shape for my holiday in summer. Whilst most people say they will jog, or go to gym, or even diet, how many of these people actually stick with it? Or even start?

It is said that losing weight is 90% in your mind and 10% in your stomach, this is the real reason behind people not sticking to their regimes. Yesterday I said I would jog at least three times a week before holiday, that is one day on, one day off. Now, it is down to me and only me to  prove that I can do it, I know I can run the distances it is just getting the courage to start. John Bingham is completely right, running is all in your mind, and getting in the right mindset will help to achieve your goal.

This doesn't just limit to running, but everything in life, be it a job, interview, exams (which are lurking around the corner). It is not your physical ability, or even how clever you are, but getting it right in your head that you can do it will help you achieve a lot in life. You must provide a form of motivation to do your work.

For example, I have just booked a holiday, and we all know what it is like to (sometimes discreetly) compete with the others around the pool or on the beach. Without even realising, when on holiday you try to look better than everyone else, after all, why else do we roast ourselves on a daily basis? It's not like we achieve anything but looks from burning ourselves, the evidence is clear.




So, I have set myself a routine, I am aiming to jog three times a week and am giving up alcohol until I go away in June. It is all in my mind whether I achieve this, it is a mental thing rather than physical. I believe if you want to achieve something you can with the right motivation and commitment. Jogging is especially helpful, not only to keep fit but many other benefits too, I have recently read an article showing twelve main benefits from jogging. It is shocking to see the many benefits from running, including reducing the risk of cancer!

I have also discovered that jogging cannot be all good, just last year Nicolas Sarkozy fell ill from jogging, whilst this was an extreme case due to his crash diet, dehydration and overworked body, it still caused some shock to myself and made me think, is jogging really that beneficial?

There are huge benefits to jogging, but many are short term and the long term damage is unclear, a comment on the article linked to above claims that somebody ran 2 miles everyday in his early 30's, then one day he was told he had chronic arthritis and must stop running, he can now barely walk. This just shows that running can have long term problems, but the benefits obviously outweigh the downsides. It makes your heart beat faster, and I once heard that we have a set amount of heart beats in our lives. An interesting article by Denied researched this and found it was somewhat true, although humans tend to break the trend. Although this may be due to our diets, healthcare and knowledge on the human body, animals don't have these benefits, but according to his research the average human should live for 27 years, not long at all!

So, whilst jogging has disadvantages, I am still willing to keep up my aim of three jogs a week, along with no alcohol, and see what kind of shape I am in for holiday. Here's to Positive Mental Attitude.