Running is the most versatile way to warm up in sports, which has both a healing effect and keeps the body in good shape without the use of various exercise equipment.
Running is very important for people who have a sedentary lifestyle. Even a non-professional athlete knows that when jogging, the muscles of the lower extremities, trunk and heart muscle become stronger. This article will go over the physiology of this activity and take a closer look at each muscle tissue involved.
Legs
In the legs there are many muscle tissues, large and small, which are responsible for human movement. These include such as:
Quadriceps muscles
They are also called quadriceps. Their function is to extend the leg at the knee and flexion of the hip at the hip joint. This group is very active when running uphill or up stairs.
Thigh muscles
They are located on the upper back of the lower limb near the buttocks. Their main function is to flex the knee joints.
Calf muscles
This group is responsible for bending the knee when lifting the legs and stabilizing the body. They also help absorb impacts on the surface while jogging, performing a shock-absorbing function.
Feet
Several muscle groups are responsible for running in the foot, such as:
- The long extensors of the first toe, responsible for extending and raising the foot. Refers to the group of the front of the lower leg.
- The long flexor of the first toe, which belongs to the group of the posterior muscle tissue and performs flexion and backward bending of the foot.
- The long flexors of the toes, like the previous ones, are located on the back of the lower leg. This group of fibers controls the movement of the foot, and with the help of the triceps muscles they make it possible to stand on the toes and press the toes to the surface when walking or running.
- The tibial tissue, both front and back, helps the foot work. The front ones perform the extensor function of the foot, and the rear ones - the flexion function of the foot. There are also both short and long peroneal muscle tissues, which are responsible for deflection and flexion of the foot.
Housing
When running, tissues are involved not only of the lower extremities, but also of the body, such as:
Gluteus muscles
While running, the gluteal muscles align and fix the trunk in the desired position. They also tend to turn the hip to the outside. With the hip in a fixed position, the gluteal tissue is responsible for tilting the pelvis to the sides.
Iliopsoas muscles
These groups are responsible for flexion and rotation of the hip joint. When you run, this muscle tissue does not feel as pronounced as other muscle groups.
Abdominal muscles
The muscle tissue in the upper and lower abdominals maintains an even posture, which is very important both to avoid injury and to maximize running performance.
When jogging, the spine moves, and the abdominal muscles provide stabilization of the upper body, and minimizes the loss of energy by blocking unnecessary movements. The abdominal muscle tissue works most effectively during long runs.
Intercostal muscles
They act as a running assistant. And they are divided into two groups:
- External - responsible for increased inhalation.
- Internal - responsible for rapid exhalation
Shoulder muscles
This group of muscle fibers carries out the extension of the forearm, movement of the arms back and towards the body.
Latissimus dorsi
The largest group is in the middle of the back. When this muscle contracts, extensor movements occur, as well as turns and bends of the arm. It also helps with deep inhalation and exile exhalation.
As it became known, when running, almost all muscle fibers of our body work, so if you are thinking about doing a professional jogging and achieving good results, you need to work on all muscle groups, and not just on the legs.
Muscle engagement with certain types of running
When running, a large number of muscles work, but under different conditions the load can both increase and decrease on a certain group of tissues.
Stair run
This variation has some benefits over regular running. Due to the upward movement, the load increases, which makes it possible for some muscle tissues to grow and increase in volume. The greatest load with this type of running falls on the hips, buttocks, abs and lower legs.
Sprint run
This discipline is very difficult and requires a lot of effort to achieve good results. In this type of running, the load falls on all types of muscle tissue, since in a maximum short time you need to run a short distance (from 30 m to 400 m). Due to the heavy load, this type of running can be used to burn fat.
Interval running
This is a variable view with a smooth transition from fast to slow running. You also need to take into account the factor that the fast one should not pass at maximum loads, and the slow one should not bring to walking. Thanks to this type of training, all of the above muscle tissues work, both for strength and endurance, which makes it possible to increase strength indicators.
For your own safety, you need to take into account that this type of running is suitable for people with existing physical training, because a beginner runner does not feel his body as well as an experienced one, which can lead to injuries.
On the jogging track
It doesn't matter where you run - on the jogging track or in the square, the load on the same muscles (lower limbs, thighs, buttocks) is almost the same, with the exception of some factors.
When you jog on a treadmill, your body moves in a straight path, without various turns, bumps and dimples, which reduces stress on your joints. And thanks to the flat surface without obstacles and bad weather conditions, you concentrate on your favorite pastime.
Does running affect muscle growth?
Among athletes who work on mass, you can hear that they are opponents of running, as it negatively affects the mass. Even in some cases, they try to avoid unnecessary movements so as not to burn weight by jogging.
But there is also a different opinion on this matter. Some experts claim that jogging is nothing more than a natural anabolic and promotes muscle growth. At the beginning of the 2000s, a study was carried out, and they came to such conclusions. To grow muscle mass, you need to eat well.
Many people understand by nutrition, the absorption of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, filling the stomach with them. But the experiments revealed that this is not enough, it is necessary in the body to create conditions for the assimilation of nutrients into the blood, and through it to the muscle tissues. This can also be explained in this way, we eat various foods, and our muscles are enriched with blood.
All those who were involved in jogging could pay attention to the fact that at a certain rhythm and duration, blood flow increases, and veins swell, almost like with power loads in the gym. This made it clear that research is on the right track. And if you correctly calculate the duration and speed of running, then it will be very good to help in gaining muscle mass.
Many athletes who have tested this technique are convinced that it helps not only to develop strength, but also to gain muscle mass. According to the calculations, the minimum run, from which the effect and blood flow to the muscles will be felt, will be from 8 to 10 minutes. You should aim to run approximately 20,000 meters per week, but muscle gain calculations can fluctuate depending on the number of workouts and hours of sleep.
As you know, a productive workout requires a combination of one hour of training and two hours of good sleep. But, even taking into account this nuance, try to run at least 10,000 meters a week. It will take no more than an hour for the whole week. But this does not mean that you can run the entire distance at once and not run all week, as it will not give results.
You need to distribute your workouts so that you can run at least two kilometers in one run. It will take it with an average interval of no more than twelve minutes.
If you run for less time, then the blood will not have time to saturate the muscles to the required state. Running doesn't build muscle like an exercise machine, but it does a lot in preparing good muscle growth.
Running is considered to be the simplest and most effective way for both health improvement and development in sports achievements. In addition to all of the above, running also strengthens both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, so stick to correct even breathing. In order to go jogging, you do not need a subscription or any other investment, just desire is enough.
