Running Program is No Easy Feat!

 Embarking on running program is no easy feat—especially if you’re really out-of-shape...

Guest post by David Dack a runner and author

In fact the chances of suffering from an injury or a burnout are very high for the overweight person. As a result, most fitness enthusiasts shy away from running and regard it as a harmful activity. This is reasonable since the high impact nature of running can cause a myriad of injuries and health problems.

Nonetheless running isn’t solely to blame for the mess; how you start the activity and the way you exercise determine the kind of results you are going to get. If you start the right way, you’ll able to keep injuries at bay while getting the most out of your training program. The reverse is true as well.
Therefore, if you want to start a running program while steering clear of injuries and setbacks, here are 2 training guidelines that can help.

Build Gradually

The most common pitfall that the majority of running beginners fall into is trying to run too much too soon without respecting their bodies limits. This is what is commonly known as overtraining. And can lead to serious troubles and health problems. In fact it’s the reason why so many beginners can make it through the 2nd week of training without being cogently stopped by pain and sometimes, a crippling injury. However, there is a way to avoid all that.

The best way to approach a running program is to start slowly and build the intensity up gradually. For instance, if you’re really overweight, you may need to walk first before you even consider going for a run. As you get fitter, you could introduce the running into your training by following a walk-run-walk pattern. This training strategy consists of alternating between running sets and walking breaks for recovery.

The length of each interval depends on you fitness level. As a beginner, you may need to first start with 30-45 seconds of running intervals while taking one full minute for recovery. As the training progresses forward, your endurance level will improve. Therefore, you need to keep lengthening the running intervals, while walking for less and less until you’re able to run straight for 30 minutes without much trouble.

Check Your Heart Rate

Your heart rate is the most important measuring tool to how hard you’re working out. It can tell if you’re really heading into the right direction or actually overdoing the exercise, and thus run the risk of overtraining. For starters, as you get stronger, your heart will toughen up as well, so it’ll need less beats as it used to do to perform the same cardiovascular functions for you (mainly pumping blood to your body and working muscles). Therefore, if you take notice of any heart rate drop, you should embrace it. That’s a sure sign of progress and improvement.

Secondly, regular heart checkups will help you spot the looming illness and the effects of overtraining before it gets any worse. For instance, if you’re regular heart rate is unusually high—6 to 12 beats per minute—then its normal pace, then you may be over-taxing your body by applying too much stress. As soon as you start hit this ceiling, burnouts are just around the corner. In this case, you may need to back off on your training load and resume the training when you feel fully recovered.

If you follow these training guidelines, you’ll definitely stay in your comfort zone, while gradually stretching your fitness level. Nevertheless, this is only possible when you start taking action and making practice a priority. Speed of implementation is what will allow you to develop the best stamina ever. So start now and remember to stay within your skill level.



About the author
David DACK is a runner and an established author on weight loss, motivation and fitness.
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