Since the dawn of time, Running is considered to be one of the oldest and most complete exercise a human can do. It was used to measure the stamina making it among the most traditional and ancient discipline that is included in the Olympics. Because of its simplicity, it is the best cardiovascular exercise where it makes your whole body work, thus making your heart beats faster. According to HealthStatus.com an hour of moderate running burns half again as many calories as an hour of vigorous weightlifting. By this metric, running is superior as an exercise for weight loss than most, if not all, resistance workouts. 

According to Men's Health Magazine, running can raise the levels of good cholesterol while also helping increase the lung function and use. In addition, it can also boost the immune system and increase the overall level of health. When done on a regular basis, running is a great way to increase the stamina, agility, while also giving a runner a well-toned body and tremendous shape.

Contrary to popular belief, it may seem that when an individual runs, he only works the lower part of his body (glutes, hamstring, ankle, knee, hips, quadriceps) but in reality running actually requires the whole movement of several parts of the body which also includes the arms, shoulders, wrists, abdomens and many more.

I don't consider myself as a runner because I don't run religiously, but I can run between 15 to 32km on any given day (average speed of 6m20s per/km) even without warm up. As I hiker and an athlete, I use running to prepare myself for upcoming hikes, most especially for cross-country hikes where it requires endurance and lots of patience.

***It is important to warm up before running so that you can prepare all the muscles and tendons involved with the activity that you are about to perform or develop. Warm up the toes, feet, legs and stretching your self is an acceptable way of warming up.