Running seems to be one of the easiest and quickest ways for getting into sports if you want to do it regularly but do not have time for going to a fitness centre or taking classes on other kinds of sport. Many beginners thinks that all that is needed is just putting on some attractive sports wear, turn on the music in your player and enjoy the run in the picturesque surroundings. Yet, in practice it usually turns out to be less pleasant. People who have not run for a long time can get unpleasantly surprised by various reactions of their bodies such as an increased heart rate, difficulties with breathing as well as additional pain in some of the body parts.
In order not to resign from your running sessions, it is crucial to start your practice in an appropriate way. You will find some crucial recommendations in this guide to running for beginners.
Do not rush into running – start with jogging
If the last time you ran was years ago and you are not particularly active right now preferring transport over walks, the best way for you to start running is jogging. This is also true for people with other health conditions, for instance, for those suffering from obesity.
It is suggested that you can set a particular number of steps you will be doing every day before you actually move to running. For example, make 10000 steps a day (note that this number is just a suggestion, you can choose a different amount of steps for yourself, it is just easier to start when you have any defined number). The preparation for running can take different time, however, you should do it at least for a week.
If you are already pretty active and enjoy long-distance walking, you can start running right away.
Make breaks in your running session
Unlike the impression many beginners have about running, it is not about having a session of an excruciating physical workout during which you are doing your best to reach the highest possible speed. As you can imagine, such a running session can be rather short even if you are a professional runner.
While you are running, you should keep a pace which will allow you to do it for a longer time building your strength and endurance gradually. It is especially crucial at the beginning when you are experiencing all of those unpleasant feelings I have mentioned before.
In order to minimise your discomfort and prolong the running sessions, the experts recommend making breaks during which you will be jogging or walking. For example, a good plan is setting a timer for 3 minutes which you will spend on running and then jog for 2 minutes. You can make 6 sessions like this during 30 minutes which will be enough for your first workouts.
Again, you should remember that the three minutes of running you are going to have should feel comfortable for you.
Some newbies are wondering which speed is really fine for running? Fitness bracelets are quite popular for monitoring your heart rate, however, experts are a bit sceptic about these devices believing they do not give precise results of measurements. In addition to it, there are no standard numbers for everyone. It is believed that the optimum speed of running is maintained when you can run and talk without break sat the same time. Providing you cannot keep running like this for 3 minutes, it is recommended to decrease the speed. You can even run for only a minute while spend four minutes on walking.
Do not make large brakes between workouts and do not run everyday
In order to maximise all benefits coming with running, you should set an appropriate plan for your workouts. This means a balanced ratio of training sessions and days without running which are needed for your body to rebuild its energy and strength. Actually, experts recommend beginners to start with three or four workouts a week. The best planning is to have a workout every other day. At the same time, you should gradually prolong running sessions.
One of the plans you can use for your running sessions starts from the three minutes of running and two minutes of jogging within thirty minutes. If you feel comfortable, you can add an extra minute to running the next week. Jogging has to be done for two minutes per session. The entire workout should take thirty minutes so it means you will just reduce the number of sessions per workout.
The third week of exercising can have a prolonged workout so as you will be able to run for 5 minutes and jog for two minutes per session. The next week, it is suggested to reduce the time of jogging to one minute whereas running time per session can be kept as five minutes.
Finally, starting from the fifth week, you can try running for entire thirty minutes without jogging. With each week, increase the time by five minutes reaching a workout of 45 minutes.
If it is difficult for you to stick to this plan because you feel exhausted before the end of your workout, in all likelihood, the reason for it is a too high speed of running.