Before you will be able to take care of other priorities, you have to make yourself your first. Once you do this, it means you will be thinking about making fitness a part of your lifestyle and not just a short-lived resolution such as to lose weight for a special affair. It’s important to come up with a training plan to make running or walking a part of your routine or perhaps both. It won’t be impossible for you to join a 5k fun run after a short while. You can formulate a plan which is good for six to twelve weeks which enables you to complete 90 percent of the workout that you can simply integrate as part of your daily routine.
Joining the 5k fun run organized near your place is a celebration of your fitness goals and accomplishment of such. After you complete the event, you may need to follow a three-week routine. You can simply repeat the routine for weeks 13, 14, and 15. This will help you maintain your endurance. You can start your journey towards fitness by coming up with precise goals. Here’s an example of it.
- You have to schedule to walk or run three times every week for the next 6 to 12 weeks.
- At the end of the sixth or 12th week, you can celebrate the end of your fitness by completing 3.1 miles.
- Maintain the routine you made for the succeeding six weeks after you celebrated with the 3.1 mile run, walk, or run and walk.
Here are some reasons why you need to come up with a training plan: First off it is healthy for you to start on your fitness routine for only 10 minutes only on the first day. You also need to build up your running time for the next 12 weeks. You may also integrate days of walking and sit-ups. You also have to celebrate little successes you get on your way to achieving your long-term goals.
Don’t forget that you are doing this for a major reason and a number of health benefits. There are those who are so engrossed with losing weight or simply so used to exercising that they have already forgotten the importance of doing so. The Surgeon General has stated the following benefits especially for women:
Doing this lessens the risk of dying from fatal illnesses like diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and coronary heart disease. It also helps you to maintain strong bones, joints, and muscles. This helps in weight maintenance, getting rid of body fat, and helping you build lean muscle. You will be able to avoid the swelling and pain that comes with arthritis. It also helps in enhancing the effects of estrogen replacement therapy which aids in reducing bone loss after menopause. Running or walking also reduces anxiety and depression symptoms and instead enhances your mood and sense of well-being. Those who suffer from hypertension may enjoy having reduced blood pressure.
When you are a beginner in running, it’s important to remember that you are running for time and not distance. It is important to invest in a pair of running shoes that suits your stride and arch type. If you are not so sure of your type of shoes, you can simply visit a local running shop for the best fit. Good socks are also an equally important investment. Look for those that are seamless and those that can deal with moisture to prevent having blisters.
Before you start a run, make sure that you do a warmup routine. This includes dynamic stretching to keep your blood circulating. Dynamic stretching means doing butt kicks, straight leg kicks, walking lunges, high knees, and toy soldiers. This enhances your flexibility and at the same time prevents injuries by making your muscles and joints stronger. Walk briskly for five minutes after your dynamic stretching warmup. After that, you can start running on a pace you are comfortable in.
You can begin on building your aerobic base by following the walk/run plan. A good first week of running is doing 20 to 30 minutes of jogging, walking, or running for three times a week. Make sure that you space your training throughout the entire week to give time for yourself to recover and rest. You need not worry about the speed of your running. It will follow soon once you have increased your aerobic base. Just don’t forget to increase the duration of your regular runs gradually. Your first run has to be completed at an effort and pace which is comfortable and easy to sustain. It’s better to run too slow and finish feeling that you could have run longer of faster rather than feeling exhausted. A simple way of knowing your pace and effort is to listen to your own breathing. When you are not gasping for air and you can talk while you’re running then you are at comfortable pace. Don’t think twice of walking. Walking breaks the run into smaller and more doable actions. All these enable you to run longer and faster. Once you finish your first run, don’t immediately stop. Walk for another five minutes then cool down.
For beginning runners who want to enhance their total body strength must include core workouts as part of their routine. These can be done on days when you are not running. You need not to go to a gym or buy a workout equipment. You can focus more on body weight exercises such as ab routine, plank exercises, pushups, back extensions, and body weight squats.
You also have to know about the proper running form. Although this is unique to every individual, it can always be improved. The following are some general tips to consider:
Always run tall without any pronounced forward leaning. When you run don’t look down on your shoes. Instead look at the horizon. You may run faster and increase your stride each time but without overreaching for it. When you go uphill, you should shorten your stride and put more drive on your arms. When you go downhill, you can let gravity work naturally and simply slightly lean forward.