We all know that running can have huge health benefits, but have you ever wondered what 30 minutes of running does to your body? Running is a fantastic way to stay fit, not only does it help improve cardiovascular health, burn calories and stimulate circulation, but it can also improve mental health.
Whether you prefer to go for a run outside or like to track your running progress on a treadmill (if so, check out our guide to The best treadmills for home use. (opens in a new tab)), lacing up your running shoes every day has a host of health benefits, including better blood pressure and better digestion.
If you want to find out what running 30 minutes every day can do for your health, read on to find out how many calories you can burn and the various health benefits that come with it, from strengthening your bones to improving your mental health.
Burn calories
Working out is great for our health, and the good news is that hitting the sidewalks can give you a full-body workout. Running can also make you sweat a lot, and even if you keep a slow pace, you’ll still burn calories.
How many calories you burn will depend on a few different factors, including your height and weight, but you can burn around 220-400 calories by running for just 30 minutes.
the best fitness trackers (opens in a new tab) and smartwatches can be useful tools for monitoring how many calories you burn during your run (although their accuracy is unpredictable, so use them as a rough guide for things like calorie estimation).
strengthen bones
Regular runners will know that a brisk jog can be as hard on the legs as a strength-training session at the gym, but does that mean 30 minutes of running has muscle-building benefits?
“Running continuously for 30 minutes every day provides a fairly low stimulus to the neuromuscular system compared to other types of activity, such as resistance training, so strength gains are small at best,” he says. Richard Blagrove, professor of physiology at Loughborough University. “For example, in our training study with adolescent runners (opens in a new tab) who ran less than 30 minutes every day, there was no change in maximal or explosive strength in a group that only ran for 10 weeks.”
Richard Blagrove is Professor of Physiology at Loughborough University. Richard’s extensive advisory and consultancy work with long-distance runners provided the inspiration for his doctoral research at Northumbria University, which investigated the usefulness of strength-based exercise in middle- and long-distance runners.
However, that’s not to say that your daily run will result in zero profits, especially if you’re just starting out.
“These runners had training backgrounds. In people who have never run before and who start running most days, there will be some (small) improvements in strength in the first few weeks,” adds Blagrove.
Improve heart health
It’s no secret that running is a safe way to improve cardiovascular health, but a study from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (opens in a new tab) revealed that running, even 5 to 10 minutes per day, at slow speeds, such as 6 mph, is associated with markedly reduced risks of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease.
Not only that, but running is also a drug-free approach to lowering blood pressure. A study of Hypertension Diary (opens in a new tab) showed that 30 minutes of moderate exercise during the day can help lower blood pressure in overweight older adults.
better mental health
There are plenty of studies showing that running can do wonders for your mental health, but the most recent study from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (opens in a new tab) shows that even a 10-minute run can improve mood.
“Summarizes trials of regular, acute running interventions and suggests that a single episode of running between 10 and 60 minutes elevates mood and relieves anxiety in sedentary volunteers and existing runners,” says Clare Stevinson, senior professor of behavioral aspects of physical activity and health at Loughborough University. “Regular running interventions have often led to improvements in mental health outcomes in healthy adults and those with mental illness.”
Clare Stevinson is Senior Lecturer in Behavioral Aspects of Physical Activity and Health at Loughborough University. Clare has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology (Leicester University) and an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology (Exeter University).
Helps with weight loss.
Many people struggle to maintain their weight, but along with a healthy diet, moderate aerobic exercise like running can be a really effective way to maintain and lose weight (if that’s what you’re looking to do).
A study by the University of Copenhagen (opens in a new tab) showed that 30 minutes of daily training resulted in the same weight and body mass loss as training for 60 minutes daily. In the study, men who exercised 30 minutes a day lost 3.6 kg in three months, while those who exercised for a full hour only lost 2.7 kg.
better sleep
Some runners report that they sleep better when they incorporate a run into their day. Studies to support the link between better rest and your daily jog. In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (opens in a new tab) revealed that 75 minutes of running (or 150 minutes of walking) each week eliminates the consequences that lack of sleep can have on your mortality.
Researchers believe this is because moderate aerobic exercise increases the amount of slow wave, or deep sleep, that people experience. This is an essential process that helps the body and mind to rejuvenate, explains the John Hopkins Center for Sleep (opens in a new tab), which would account for the range of health benefits. However, avoid running too close to bedtime, as those feel-good endorphins that make you feel alert will affect your ability to wind down closer to bedtime.
