What Happens To Your Body If You Run Every Day?

A daily run can be life-changing. It’s good for the soul and can positively impact both your physical and mental health. Running is a full-body, weight-bearing workout and one of the best ways to burn calories. Expect improved cardio, strong glutes, and impressive legs just for showing up for a daily run. Yet running every day isn’t without its pitfalls. It’s a high-impact activity, and most runners, especially beginners, will benefit from taking a few rest days.

With the right approach, you can run every day safely, but before you lace up your trainers, find out what to expect, what happens to your body, and what are the results of the daily run?

1. Your Running May Improve

Practice makes perfect, as they say! If you’re new to running or currently run fewer than 3 times a week, running daily will definitely be an improvement, provided you run at a sustainable level. Daily running is about pacing yourself and being in tune with your body. You can’t expect to run flat out every day. Most of your runs will be at an easy pace.

You can expect all the positive body changes of a new runner:

Improved cardio
Loss of body fat
A stronger core and lower body
Reduced stress
Better mental health

Find out more about how running changes your body.

2. Running Injuries

All runners are different. Some can adapt to training every day, and others need rest from this high-impact activity. If you have a history of injuries, running every day is best avoided.

If you’re a beginner runner, it’s always best to build up your training load gradually and wait until you have at least 6 to 12 months of running experience before you try a daily run. Injuries such as stress fractures are caused by insufficient rest and high weekly training mileage.

3. You May Struggle To Hit Your Training Goals

There are certainly better ways of training than running the same distance every day. Most training plans include cross-training days, long runs, speed sessions, strength training, and recovery runs.

This running mix prioritizes active recovery so you can push during your hard sessions and improve your cardiovascular system. Running every day with sore muscles will stop you from training effectively. If you’re always tired when you run, your speed sessions won’t be effective.

4. It Can Help You Lose Weight

Weight loss depends on a good diet. Eat too much high-calorie food, and you’ll struggle to lose weight even when you exercise regularly. A daily run can put you in the right mindset to look after your physical health. Get up for a morning run, every day you’re proving to yourself that you can be disciplined. That effort is not going to be undone by a junk food binge later in the day!

5. A Daily Run May Help Your Mental Health

Improved mental health is one of the main reasons to run daily. Being in the fresh air can make you more alert, and it’s an effective way of reducing the symptoms of mild depression, anxiety, and even stress. A daily run won’t solve everything in your life, but it can certainly make trivial worries seem less significant.

Many runners struggle on rest days when they’re not getting their running fix, and it can be hard to get a good night’s sleep without a daily dose of exercise.

6. It Can Help If You Have Diabetes

Exercise helps with insulin resistance if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends daily exercise or at least not allowing more than 2 days to elapse between training sessions.

7. It Helps You Build A Running Habit

Some runners, especially at the start of their running journey, struggle to build a regular running habit. It’s a lot harder to ignore your running schedule if you’re running every day.

You don’t need to run far but just 2 miles or 20-30 minutes of running a day can make a big difference to your fitness. At the end of the month, you’ll notice the difference!

Should I Run Every Day?

Even elite runners take rest days, so don’t feel pressured to run every day. It’s a personal decision and needs to be tried with care and consideration. For the right person, a running streak can be good for you. For other runners, it’s a guaranteed way of sustaining an injury.

Tips For Running Every Day

So if you’ve taken on board the comments, assessed your risks, and still believe running every day is for you – give it a try! Some people swear by running every day.

For some, it can be life-changing. If you’ve never exercised regularly before, you will get fitter if you run every day.

Here are some tips to make your everyday running a success:

1. Start Slowly

If you’re new to running, those early runs need to be short and slow. Start by running a mile a day and leave your watch at home.

2. Gradually Increase Your Mileage

Don’t increase your running volume until your body is ready. Increases in mileage should be very gradual. Elect to run just one or two miles a day for the first month. If that goes well, increase to running 3 miles a day. You don’t have to run the same distance every day. Follow longer runs with easy short runs.

3. Run At An Easy to Moderate Pace

The majority of your runs should be at a Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) of between 3 to 4. Light to moderate running.

Push too hard and your injury risk increases.

As you adapt to running every day you’ll be able to introduce one or two harder sessions a week – but not at the beginning.

4. Focus On The Small Stuff

You may not be taking rest days but there are other ways to maximize your recovery between runs:

Rotate your running shoes to let the EVA midsole foam rebound.
Eat nutritious food to aid quick recovery.
Warm up before running.
Elevate your legs when you’re resting.
Gently stretch and complete mobility exercises to prevent stiffness.
Make sure you get plenty of sleep.