Yes! It's True. Running Keeps You Looking Younger

By K10 Patel / Nov 28^th, 2023

As we age, it is only natural that we gain weight and slowdown in all aspects. Aging also means more gray hair, appearance of wrinkles, losing muscle mass, reduced flexibility, reduced ability for the body to store water, weaker immune system, and physiological changes in the organs. These are just some of the things that happen as we age.

What can I do to stop aging?

Aging is natural so you can’t stop the process, however, you can slow the effects of aging (how you look and feel). Regular exercise such as running can keep your body in good shape and shave off at least a few years of age. There are many things you can do other than running to look younger, such as stop drinking, stop smoking, and eating a more balanced diet, but this article will focus on running and its correlation with looking younger.

There are many studies out there that all of you can peruse and see that cardio activities make you look and feel younger. This is true for running and many other regular exercises. Keeping that body fat at bay is an excellent benefit of running, otherwise, body fat is hard to lose as you age. Muscles recover at a slower rate as you age, but if you build a lifelong habit of running, your body will feel the effects and delay aging.

This may not describe you, but some people tend to get less sleep as they age. Running will help with providing more restful sleep. Getting good rest at night leaves you with feeling healthy and good the following morning.

Also, a quick lesson about fat. There are more types than two, but I like to think of fat in two forms: Visceral and subcutaneous. Visceral fat is the fat that you cannot see and resides deep within your abdominal organs (stomach, liver, intestines). The subcutaneous fat is the fat you can ‘see’ and resides just under your skin.

Skin is typically made up of three layers with the first two layers being the epidermis and dermis layers. The third and deepest layer is the subcutaneous layer. The vast majority of anyone’s body fat is subcutaneous, however, it is the visceral fat that is lost by regular running workouts. Losing visceral fat (‘invisible’ fat deep inside your body) gives you the feeling of being more alive and boosts your physical looks.

How Does Running Help Your Bones?

Contrary to a popular misconception, runners have stronger bones than non-runners. Just take a look at my blog about how running is great for your knees. For runners, bones (primarily on the foot, leg, and knees) take a beating, however, comparing a runner to a non-runner, the runner would have a higher bone density than the non-runner.

The higher bone density in runners is developed based on accumulation of more bone-building hormones which means a higher calcium concentration. Just for comparison purposes, cycling is also a cardio exercise, however, cycling has the opposite effect on bone density. At least for regular lifelong cyclers, it is known that cycling can decrease bone density.

Overall, I support the notion that a consistent runner can prevent or at least prevent the onset of osteoporosis or osteo-anything by making their bones stronger. If you have never heard of osteoporosis before, it is a condition caused by loss of bone density. Osteoporosis occurs more in women than men, however, men can also have this condition. Bone loss cannot be reversed, however, you can delay or reduce the bone loss that is occurring.

Can Running Help Improve My Skin?

Short answer is yes. Forget about the face mask. A lot of people tend to take collagen supplements as they get older. Collagen is 30% of your body’s protein. It provides structure and strength to muscles, joints, ligaments, and skin.

Collagen is the primary building block of your body’s skin; hence, the reason people take collagen supplements – To improve their joint and skin health. Well, exercise boosts collagen production. Specifically, cardio exercise such as running. Your skin elasticity will improve, skin tightness will improve, and those natural wrinkles that appear as you age will reduce.

Obviously aging is a naturally occurring process, but you can delay or reduce the effects of aging by simply running. Pores are located on your skin surface and while running, these pores open allowing the release of sweat. This is an important thing since it cleans the “garbage” out of the pores and out of your body.

Bottom Line

It’s not a secret. Running indeed keeps you looking younger. Aging is an inevitable part of our life, but we can’t stay young forever. Our bodies will lose functionality as we age, but we can reduce the effects of aging by developing running into our daily lives. It’s never too late to start running. If you want to look younger and have a healthier version of yourself, start running regularly. Your body will thank you for it.