They say that a brisk walk a few times a week can do wonders for your body.
Maybe you've tried to boost the cardio factor by turning your walks into runs.
With some work, you'd be able to build up some serious endurance.
But what if you ran for an entire day?
Let's do it!
Hour 1. Your body will immediately start using the
molecules we get from food for energy.
Within the first 30 minutes, you'll start burning any "bad" fat, since your body
uses this and glucose from food for additional energy.
While glucose is getting absorbed by your body, you'll really start to "feel the
burn" in your muscles.
Your heart will be pumping hard to send blood to your muscles in an attempt to ease that
burn.
By the end of the hour, you'll have boosted your metabolism so much that it'll be higher
for a day or so, and you'll have burned some fat!
Some of the immediate effects would be: bursts of energy as the body continues to convert
calories into energy, elevated mood as the brain releases "happy" chemicals, and
improved attention span.
Hour 3. The amount of exercise recommended for the
average person is two and a half hours a week.
So, if you're running for 3 hours, you're probably training for a marathon.
An extremely fit person could complete a marathon in 3 hours (which is about 26 miles.)
If you run for 3 hours a day, you could be risking a sports injury; but your heart will
be much healthier, you'll lose weight, your skin will look improved, and you'll have
much more stamina throughout the day.
Hour 5. It's possible…but at this point, you would
encounter some detrimental effects after running this long without experience.
Your joints, especially your knees, will be in pain.
But if you're training for a marathon, running 5 hours a day is a reasonable goal!
A "fitness runner" could definitely finish a marathon in 5 hours.
You'll see muscle tone and weight loss if you're running 5 hours a day on a regular
basis, and you'll feel happier and less stressed.
Just make sure you're maintaining a diet that's sufficient for this intense type
of exercise!
Hour 8. This might be nearly impossible to do if you're
not an experienced runner.
Let's assume that you're not.
If you ran or worked out for 8 hours a day, you would so-to-speak "hit the wall" if
you aren't getting enough calories and protein from your diet.
You would probably stop feeling those "happy chemicals," resulting in burnout, and experience
severe muscle cramps.
Even in marathon runners, recent research has shown damage to the right ventricle of
the heart, due to heart enlargement.
Here's the kicker, though: doctors found that the heart was healing itself from this
damage just a week later.
Hour 10. Unless you've been an experienced marathon
runner for years, running 10 hours at a time is definitely excessive.
If a non-runner just took off willy-nilly, we probably wouldn't have enough endurance
or muscle mass built up—we'd be very prone to injury.
At this point, anyone would really need to stop to replenish calories, or risk the body
breaking down.
Now, if you're a cross- county runner and you run a long distance while purposely keeping
a slow pace, that's different.
It gives an experienced runner a chance to fine-tune their form and work on their controlled
breathing.
Hour 12. Hopefully you're carrying a piece of fruit
or a granola bar with you to replenish some calories and glucose!
At this point, your lactic acid might be out of whack too; your muscles produce this when
you're doing an intense workout.
Abnormal lactic acid amounts in your body can cause an imbalance in your pH levels,
which tell you how acidic your blood is.
Too much acid in the blood can cause serious problems, including cardiovascular issues.
Too much lactic acid can give you really painful, sore muscles, or even cramps.
Hour 15. Only experienced runners in tip-top shape
should attempt to run for 15 hours.
Let's start looking at some negative effects that excessive running can have on the body.
A 15 hour run can seriously damage the cardiovascular and skeletal systems.
Plus, the body has to "burn" sugar, calories, and fat for energy, right?
When we burn all of our energy too quickly, it can cause plaque buildup in our arteries,
and something called oxidative stress; this is essentially damage to your body's cells.
Hour 20. Your feet, pro-runner or not, would be in
some serious pain right now.
There are both a mental and emotional aspect to this kind of endurance.
After a long race, experienced runners often feel a wide range of emotions: pure exhaustion
down to the soul, tears, happiness, a break in the iron-clad willpower, or a tangled-up
mix of emotions.
There are so many chemicals firing in the brain while running, that the emotional end
result isn't surprising.
You might also be crying because it feels like your legs, calves, and feet are on fire!
Hour 24. There's actually a special run held in Austria
that lasts 24 hours, known as the "ultra marathon."
Participants see how far they can run in a 24-hour period.
So humans are able to run for 24 hours, but the damage may outweigh the reward.
If you run for 24 hours, all the benefits of a normal running session—increased bone
density, muscle tone, increased lung capacity and endurance, elevated mood—will likely
disappear.
Not to mention the recovery time you'd need for your muscles, joints, and cell damage.
You would need a lot of sleep and time to replenish calories.
Now, between you and me, and 30 million other subscribers, what's the longest you've
ever run?
Humans were built to run from an evolutionary standpoint (think of our ancestors chasing
after their food), but that doesn't mean that excessive running is healthy.
There's no doubt that it's a good form of exercise, but moderation is the key!
A good diet is important to support your body for exercise, and everyone's fitness picture
will look different.
Your age, fitness level, weight, and pre-existing conditions should be taken into consideration
when coming up with a workout routine.
Considering all that, we humans have made some major achievements in running.
There's one recorded incident of a man outrunning horses.
In another instance, a 61-year-old potato farmer ran for 5 days straight.
That's what we call a Spud Stud!
French runner Serge Girard set a Guinness World Record in 2010 by running 16,784 miles
in 365 days.
In 2015, Camille Herron set a world record by running 50 miles in about 5 and a half
hours.
Xu Zhenjun ran the Beijing International Marathon in 3 hours and 43 minutes—backwards!
Keep in mind, only very experienced runners that are in optimum shape can run in extreme
intervals of time like these (such as an Olympian or marathon runner).
Running requires a lot of practice, in that it has a proper form and breathing technique.
Never set a fitness goal or start a workout routine without consulting your doctor.
As long as we train carefully and safely, there's really no limit to what humans can
achieve in the running world!
As they say "If you really want to know someone, run 24 hours in their shoes".
Then when you're done, you're 24 hours away, and you can keep his shoes….
Okay I'm kidding.
Hey, if you learned something new today, give this video a like and share it with a friend!
And here are some other videos I think you'll enjoy; just click to the left or right and
stay on the Bright Side of life!