Running Every Day | When it's Okay, Harmful, and Beneficial

Last updated on December 1st, 2022 at 04:28 pm

Running provides great benefits in the form of cardiovascular health, weight loss, and confidence. It is only natural to try and maximize those benefits. For some, this leads to wondering whether it is possible to run every single day. Just because there are many benefits to running doesn’t necessarily mean that running every day is a good idea.

Running every day is possible if the runs are for less than 1-mile and are at a slow-pace. It is not advisable to run long or intense distances on a daily basis. Taking on long intense runs daily could increase the risk of injury, reduce muscle recovery, and cause more harm than benefit.

In the instance that you have become an everyday runner or are leaning towards it, there are a few things you need to consider for your health and durability. We cover all of these through the rest of this post.

Is Running Every Day Okay?

Whether it is “okay” to run every day is actually a very difficult question to answer. This is primarily because running is generally so good for you.

As with many types of exercise, the actual results from running may improve your life in ways completely unrelated to running. And because the results of running are far-reaching, its sometimes hard to take days off… I get it.

Since running is so good for you, there are of course instances when running daily is okay, BUT you need to carefully examine your routine to make that decision on your own. Effort exerted and your bodies need to recover need to be considered.

Low Mileage and Low Effort Running MIGHT Be Okay Daily

It is without question that exercise and running reduces your risk of many diseases including cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, asthma, diabetes, dementia, and depression to name just a few. The physical activity contributes significantly to the regulation of your blood pressure, serotonin levels, and weight.

However, extreme exercise every single day is almost never the way to go. If you find yourself compelled to run, doing low intensity and low mileage or 5-10 minute runs at a moderate pace is plenty. The benefits in relation to heart health have been noted to taper off around the 4.5 hour per week.

Running Every Day is Not Recommended (or Necessary)

Even if you are health conscious, it is not always necessary to run every single day and, in fact, it is often advised against as the risks generally should deter you. Just because you don’t run every day doesn’t mean you are taking your health lightly.

Overuse injury is commonplace among people who try to run much too often. Shin splints, stress fractures, tight muscles, and many other consequences frequently occur in over-trained athletes.

Why Rest Days Are a Good Thing

Many overly hyped athletes champion a “no days off, no plays off” attitude which is rarely born out of knowledge as much as it is fear of failure. The need for rest in the midst of your exercise is pertinent and allows you to improve.

Reduces Risk of Injury

As we alluded to earlier, not taking days off can lead to injury. Stress fractures in your foot occur as a result of repeated impact from your stride and are much more common than most people think but it is not alone.

Running too much can incur tightened I.T band issues felt in your knee, plantar fasciitis in the arch of your foot, strains, and many other injuries if you run every single day without allowing the time for your body to adjust.

Allows Muscle Groups to Recover Fully

It is important to know how muscle is built in order to understand how it can be affected by forgoing rest days. Muscles increase when they are challenged with heightened resistance or weights in a process called hypertrophy. This causes damage in the fibres of your muscles which is repaired by fusing them together, creating a bigger and stronger muscle.

By not taking any days off, your muscles don’t get the same opportunity to repair themselves using the proteins, testosterone, and insulin intended for the job. This is why rest days are essential. You are giving your body the opportunity to mend everything that you have broken down just the way sleep resets your system over night.

How to Benefit From Down Days

Our ever expanding knowledge of sports and exercise physiology has unearthed some great insights to behold. Cross-training being a major win for all of us that has come from the research. This is the pursuit of another sport that has ancillary training benefits to our preferred option. It can be compared to having the right cheese with a beautiful wine; you didn’t know how much better it could make the wine.

Cross Training

You may be an avid runner and that might never change but there are so many sports that may compliment your hobby when you opt for a “rest” day. For example:

Cycling: Quite often you will see runners cycling after a marathon to keep the blood flow circulating to the same muscle groups without the impact of a run.
Rock Climbing: It is not exclusive to thrill seekers as rock climbing works on flexibility and core strength which are vital components to an improving runner.
Lifting Weights: If you have ever visited a physio, they will often give you some weight bearing exercises to improve strength in underused muscle groups. Squats, cleans, and lunges help to mitigate muscle imbalance in your body caused by running.

Naturally, these are not the only exercises you can do to maintain your body and sanity on the days off from running. If you’re seeking some additional options, we have a post on 10 Cross Training Activities for Trail Runners that you might get some ideas from.

Regardless of the cross-training activity you choose, the main idea is to engage similar or complementary muscle groups, raise your heart rate, and build on the base of fitness from running.

While it sounds counterintuitive after what we have said about recovery, cross-training goes a long way in repairing your body and strengthening it for future wear-and-tear.

Practice Focused Recovery

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We mentioned earlier about keystone habits and how one good habit might have knock on effects such as exercise improving your diet. This can occur naturally or intentionally but either way, an improved diet can improve your recovery significantly.

High protein foods such as eggs, nuts, meat, beans, and fish help your body with what it needs for restoration but other foods can assist greatly too. Often muscle inflammation occurs with runners and anti-inflammatory foods such as almonds, blueberries, bananas, whole grains, kale, broccoli or spinach can be the saving grace.

Similarly and perhaps much less surprisingly, fluids are also imperative. Not only is it important to replace the fluids lost through sweating, it is important to stave off dehydration, muscle cramping and to regulate your body. If you are not sure how much to drink, try weighing yourself before and after exercise and aim to replace the weight lost from sweating in your recovery period.

How Frequently Should I Actually Run

How often you actually run is, of course, a subjective question. Your running schedule should follow a reasonably well thought out plan. If you are training for a marathon, your training will be greater than that of a person who simply wishes to maintain their heart health, weight and regulate their systems.

Consider your aims beforehand. If you run because it helps you decompress after work or allows you to refocus your mindset, I would suggest factoring in a different form of exercise throughout the week and enjoy a cross-training option.

If skipping a day of running is causing you some concerns for your health, it is worth noting that the benefits you gain from running won’t evaporate because you miss a single day (or even multiple days). The benefits of running are compounding over time.

What is most important to remember is that running every day without rest is not a great way to stay healthy (or injury-free). It might be an impressive commitment, but you don’t want to cause yourself harm and rule yourself out of running further down the line.

Whether taking a couple of rest days or deciding to do some cross-training, the main key is to listen to your body.

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