How to running Information

If you think you would enjoy jogging or running, here’s how to get started. First, check with your doctor and get a good pair of running shoes. Start out by jogging slowly until your legs feel heavy or hurt or you feel tired. Then stop for the day, even if you have taken only a few steps. Do this every day or every other day. You should be able to work up to the point where you can jog slowly for at least 20 minutes. If you’re happy with this program, you don’t have to go any further. However, if you want to improve, follow the training methods that competitive runners use.

On one day, start out slowly and gradually pick up the pace. When you start to feel uncomfortable, slow down. When you recover, pick the pace up again. On the next day, if your legs feel stiff, don’t try to run. If your legs feel fresh, run very slowly. Try to do these gradual pickup workouts every other day. Never do them when your legs are stiff or tired.

After a few months of alternating days of pickups and slow runs, you are ready to take the next step: intervals and longer runs. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, run faster. On Tuesday, try to run 220 yards fast (half a track length), rest and then repeat the 220-yard runs until your legs start to feel stiff. On Thursday, try to run two to five miles fairly fast, and on Sunday, try to increase your distance so you can run for at least one hour. On the other days, either run slowly, or if your legs feel stiff, take the day off.

Subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports — and the FREE Good Food Book — at http://www.DrMirkin.com

Share This

I see them almost everyday. They appear at the park where I meditate. Runners, joggers, or whatever designator you want to give them, they are there. They even run in the freezing cold winter months.

What are they running for, to stay fit and trim? Are they seeking a ‘runners high’? Do they simply want to experience the challenge of running? I don’t know. I am sure the reason is slightly different for each person. For the purposes of this article, we are going to presume that the purpose is fitness.

Those who run consistently do tend to be pretty slim, don’t they? Why is that? Some people talk about using up the short term energy supply stored in the liver. Sometimes they refer to it as your glycogen storage supply. However you want to refer to this supply of short term energy, it can run out. That’s the point, getting it to run out.

When the body’s short term energy supply burns up, it is time to start catabolizing. That’s geek speak for ‘breaking down’.
And what exactly does the body start to break down? Our fat supplies, we hope.

Once we start tapping into our fat supplies, we can burn fat. So now you see why those runners are so skinny. If they run on a regular basis, they burn through their short term energy supply and tap into those fat supplies consistently. For this type of person, it might not even matter what they eat. If they run enough, they will stay slender and fit.

As the saying goes, if you work out enough, it doesn’t matter what you eat. Well, there are other concerns such as health, proper nutrition, etc. That’s just a saying, but it serves to illustrate our point.

Ok, so what if you don’t want to run every day or even every other day? Well, when it comes to weight loss and getting fit, every body is different. Getting to know your own body and what works and doesn’t work is going to become part of your long term weight loss and fitness strategy. One important point is that if you are not going to be an exercise fanatic, you will probably need to pay attention to what you eat.

Some people talk about walking every day. And there are those that also say it takes a good hour of walking to burn through your short term storage and start tapping into your longer term energy supplies.

Walking is great. I prefer something else. I’m referring to a form of exercise that leaves the body feeling good, light and energized, unlike almost every other form of ‘working out‘.

I’m talking about the exercises of Falun Dafa which you can learn for free from the falundafa.org website. There are instructional videos there that you can download as well as a list of free volunteer instructors in almost every major city.

So what about those runners? I suspect they will keep on running. That’s what runners do after all. I’ll probably see them again very soon. The rest is up to them, and you.

Be sure to check with your physician before taking up any form of exercise or making any changes in your diet. This article is for information purposes only as not meant to constitute advice of any kind.

David Snape writes for To Be Informed. You can read more free weight loss articles or sign up for his weight loss emails there. To Be Informed is a site supportive of health, fitness and wellness.

Share This

My first tip of advice is aimed towards the beginners out there, but can also be applied to more experienced runners. Set yourself realistic and achievable goals, both long term and short, write these goals down, for short term goals, plan how many miles you would like to do that week, if your an experienced runner, it may be as high as 60/70 miles including 2 runs on one day. Whereas for a beginner, it may just be a gentle 2 mile jog 3 times a week. For long term goals, for more advanced runners, pick a race that you’d like to enter in a few months time and set a realistic target time e.g. 34 minutes in a 10km race. For beginners, it may just be to complete the race. I advise you keep a diary of your runs, this allows you to analyze how you have improved over the past months of training and you will find it helps keep you motivated and gives you pleasure as you see your improvements!

If you set yourself realistic goals in the short term and the long term, it will help you keep motivated and will lead to success, the secret is slowly building up, if you set yourself goals that are far fetched, and increase’s intensity and distance too quickly, and then you’re on a fast track for injury!

In conclusion, set yourself realistic goals, this gives you motivation and also allows you to keep a record of your improvement as you achieve your goals and continue to set higher and higher goals till you reach your pinnacle!

My second tip is to reduce the stress in your life and so perform to your full potential. It has been reported that over 50% of sick days off work are due to stress, it is a pretty established fact that it really isn’t good for you, and leads to several health problems. Firstly, stress leads to high blood pressure which in turn leads to heart disease, it also encourages strokes! Furthermore all young men should be aware that high stress can lead to impotence, as well as leading to depression, lethargy as well as stomach ulcers and indigestion!

So this is my second top tip, everyday, set about an hour of your time at least to de-stress, everybody releases stress in different ways, and exercise is an obvious choice at it helps you keep fit while reducing endorphins! Other methods could include hitting a punch bag, listening to music, having a relaxing bath, also perhaps just getting a few hours extra sleep a night; not getting enough sleep contributes to this!

By unwinding daily, you are likely to suffer less heart related problems later in life, as well as feeling much more energetic and improving your bodies capabilities for recovery, as well as making you much more productive at work!

My third tip is specifically aimed at the runners out there, rather than just running and running every week, do a new activity as an alternative e.g. biking/swimming. This is known as cross training, for example replace one run a week by an alternative exercise. This reduces boredom of doing the same old routines, encourages you to learn and develop new skills and hobbies. This allows muscle groups and certain body parts (e.g. knees) to be rested which usually get pounded when running and work other muscle groups that are usually ignored, this leads to improved overall conditioning! Furthermore as your usual muscles for running are being rested, it reduces the chance of injury as it gives those muscles much needed recovery time!

Follow these three tips to a happier and healthier life! Happy Running!

Victor Lensora - Owner of the New, Running to Win - Running Tips and Advice website offering helpful and interesting tips to improve your running! It’s a must to read for all runners or health conscious people: Running tips and Advice
For Health/Fitness/Weightloss Tips and Advice visit Health and Fitness Tips.

Share This