At this time of year you tend to see a lot of people out running. Because after the festive season many of you gain weight from over consumption of food from Christmas/ Hanukkah. The main thought that come to mind for most id that you should start to run to lose the extra pounds. However, if you haven’t run of exercised in a very long time running can put a lot of pressure on parts of the body that haven’t had that pressure for a while. You are not in a running condition. Your strength might be laking to even go for a run. So follow the steps below and go through the process to running with confidence.
Step 1. Start with walking first
The first mistake people make is running straight away. If you just want to lose fat then all you have to do is increase activity and eat in a calorie deficit. However, most overdo the activity with to intense exercise which can lead to injury. The best thing to start doing is walking and change the variables by walking faster or further.
Step 2. Do some strength and core exercise
If you haven’t gone for a run or done any exercise for a while your body won’t be ready for running. The best form of movement for you will be low impact movements that increase the strength of the body. For example squats, lunges, RDL’s, press, row, push, and isometric holds like plans or balances. This is activity and will keep you in the game longer than just going for a run. You have to be strategic and consistent if you want to stay healthy for a long time. Once you have followed a strength/core program for 6-8 weeks and adding the walking in you will be ready to start adding in a little bit of running.
Step 3. Build up the running/jogging time slowly
Running with confidence starts with a gradual build up of time ran or length ran. By starting of slower or running a less time gives your body time to gain confidence with your ability as an individual. if you haven’t ran before and you’ve done the 2 steps above I would start off with a 10 minute run every other day. Once after the first 2 weeks but it up by 2 minutes every week until you reach a good running time for you. If you ran run consistently for 30 minutes, that is a great time keep this up and maintain it. If you want to run further or longer us the same strategy as when you started running.
Step 4. Don’t starve the body to try and lose fat quicker
I hear this a lot as a personal trainer “what if i don’t eat will I lose the fat quicker” and the answer is no. You can to train your digestive system the same way you train your body. You start of slow by taking some calories away but non of the essential foods. Teach your body to get it energy from food then if won’t need the use the fat on your body as much. Making you lose that fat in the process. However, when you train and run for example your body will need fuel for energy and it fill need nutrients for recovery. Think about this next time you go for a run or exercise.
Step 5. Stretch after each run
If you’re not used to training or running your body will become very tight. This is a reaction from the muscles because they have been pushed past there comfort zone. This is good but you have to push yourself gradually so that you get stronger consistently. Therefore, whilst you’re building up your running distance or time you want to have a stretch routine to make sure you bring the muscle back to their original state after exercise. In the stretch routine you’ll have to make sure all the muscle you work during your training or run are stretched afterwards. This means your workout will determine what stretches you do after a workout.