Running!

Sprinting requires more effort. You work your body a lot harder. When I first started working out, I would jog at a fairly decent pace. I did a little bit of research and found out about interval training. Now, I sprint then slow down into a jog then sprint etc until I get at least 6 miles in.

For people that are new, the jogging/walking method is okay, but the jogging and walking should be advanced to sprinting/jogging. There's also other ways to work other muscles in your body. Go into full sprint and when you feel like you're too tired, stop and do 15 squats, or 15 lunges or push ups etc. The point of interval training is to ALWAYS keep your body working.

 

When I started running, I was advised against starting with sprinting/jogging intervals to avoid straining my muscles and other injuries. To each their own, but it made more sense for me to start slow and work up from jogging/walking.

 

I'd agree with this. I'm not opposed to throwing in a couple fartleks here and there though.

 

For anyone interested in running without risking injury to your knees and lower body joints, check out the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill.
You can also see videos on YouTube if you look up the name.

It uses NASA's Differential Air Pressure technology to unweight you so that you can weigh from 100% down to 20% of your body weight in 1% increments. You're fully supported by the air pressure cabin, and running at a low percentage of your body weight, there's virtually little to no stress or impact to your joints. This machine is used for rehabilitation, conditioning, weight loss, and training for anyone - from professional athletes to senior citizens. There's a medical model and a sports model of the treadmill.

You could try to find one of these at a physical therapy clinic or a fitness center near you. It's a relatively new product and is quickly reaching its way around the U.S. and around the world. Facilities who do have an AlterG may offer monthly membership programs. Give it a try and see how it can help you run, train, lose weight, or achieve whatever fitness goals you may have without risking any injury to your knees, ankles, and other joints.

 

Is it true that running barefoot is better for you? I hear its like a new thing people are doing now.

 

I can't imagine running barefoot.. So many sharp objects out there.. x_x

 

Alright a thread about running:icon_bigg! As someone who runs 80ish miles a week (gotta love xc) here are some things i would highly recommend.
1. Do not eat heavy foods before you run (you will be very uncomfortable)... fruits and other light foods will likely be ok.
2. Get a running partner/group. It really helps to run with others. Your group/partner will provide you with motivation, will help you pace, and keep you company.
3. Find the right shoes. Go to a running store and have a salesperson help you find a good pair of shoes. Things to know when buying shoes are pronation (over or under) surface youll be running.on, fot strike,.and shoe feel.
4. Run against traffic. I had a friend of mine almost get run.over on.a run.so run agsinst traffic.
Also i would recommend about 20 miles a week to start and you can choose (once you.get in.shape) to run a faster pace or bump mileage. However, since you are running to get into shape i would bump mileage.
If you want to know anything else about running feel free to ask, i can definitely get you an answer.

---------- Post added 4th Aug 2012 at 11:48 PM ----------

Also i would suggest against barefoot running/barefooot shoes. I run about 10 miles a week barefoot but it took me years to condition my feet. I would not reccommend it to.new runners also avoid barefoot shoes (vibrams,etc...). I have friends who.have run in them and hurt their feet. Lastly.i would find a good dirt trail, grass loop, or gravel road to run on. These are easier on the legs.

 

Breathe properly? In and out. That's it.

Generally speaking, yes you should breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth. However when you are running, just getting air in and out is more important than the pathway.

Concentrate on your running form first. You're more likely to get injured due to form than breathing.

---------- Post added 14th Aug 2012 at 09:51 AM ----------

The only issues I have with running on a track is that (a) it can get boring and (b) you will eventually do road races (assuming you catch the running fever) and those will be on streets.

A good running shoe will protect you on concrete. Someone else suggested a running shoe store and I highly recommend that. They understand running and feet and can put you in the proper shoes. Once you have shoes you like, you can buy them anywhere else but the first "fit" is important.

 

The only thing I can think of, is to regulate your breathing. Your body's quick tiredness often comes from not regulating your breathing properly.

When you do exercises, like running, take deep quick breathes, that usually should help, if you get to a better shape, you'll find that you need to breath much less while running than when you started and were out of shape.

Like for instance, if you doing push up, you breath in when going up and then breath out when going down. So just like with weights, with running/jogging there is an optimum way of breathing. But its more a question of the optimum time to breath out and in.

The more you exercise and regulate your breathing, the quicker you'll get to the right formulae for your body and lung capacity.

 

I congradulate you for wanting to take up running. I started about 6 years ago at 35 and have VERY slowly worked my way up. I still only go out for 30 to 45 minutes which works out to about 5km to 7.5km. I'm more about the time I'm out exercising and less concerned with the distance I'm covering.

I started out slow - walking for 4 minutes and jogging for 1 and doing that 6 times so I was out for half an hour. I very gradually shortened the walking time so then I was at 1 minute and 1 minute. Then I gradually lengthened the jogging time. This morning I walked for a minute, ran for 21.5 minutes, walked for a minute, and jogged for another 21.5 minutes - total 45 minutes.

I also learned early on that I benefited from stretching before and after. To stretch before I warm up a little - running on the spot and jumping jacks and the like for 3 minutes and then stretching my calf muscles, quads, ham strings and glutes. To stretch properly I bought a book entitled The Starke Reality of Stretching. (The author's name is Starke.) I found it really helpful, and it has allowed me to keep it up without injury. (Knocks on wood!) I also go to The Running Room to get my shoes. Now that I've found a pair that works for me I just keep going back to buy the same ones over and overa gain. I'm due again - I just haven't bothered to go it for them.

I prefer to not run with my music playing. I prefer to be able to hear the traffic (or the birds - depending on where I am). Plus, the beat of the music would throw me off my rythem.

And speaking of rythem, I tend to breath with my running. When I start out I exhale over about 3 strides and inhale over the same. But as I get warmed up and need to breath harder it's more like over 2 strides. Yes, ideally you'd breath in through your nose but I don't get enough air that way. I will when I start out, and then I'll partially breath through my nose but then open my mouth to take the rest of the breath. And when I'm going hard you stop caring and just breath any which way you can.

I don't think it's good to do it every day - just like any exercise. Every other is probably as often as you should. Consider taking up swimming too as an alternate cardio workout. That's what I do. And if you are really ambitious you can do resistance training on the days in between - to build muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you're burning by just sitting around, never mind doing cardio.

Good luck!

 

I started running at the end of last year and then was discouraged by the cold, i just started going back out again recently. I agree the c25k is great and i'll be doing that program again to get me back into running. I also agree that going to a store where they can hopefully do a gait analysis on you to help find shoes for you is a good idea. I love my running shoes, they are so comfy!

I would try to include some other type of exercise into your routine on days when you don't run. Ride a bike, do some yoga, go for a walk. It'll help keep you motivated.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

Are you wearing cotton clothing? Sweat adheres to cotton very easily, making you feel uncomfortable. Synthetic apparel is the way to go since it wicks off sweat. It can be expensive but worth the investment. You can hunt for them in clearance racks at stores like Kohl's, Ross, etc. I got lucky at Kohl's and found 5 polyester shirts that were $7 each - they were originally $35 each!

 

I will apologise in advance about being opinionated but as an ex international athlete and ironman I have certain views on running. Whether your doing it to run a marathon or just to get fit - these tips should help you improve.
First of all its a great way to get fit. As some people have rightly pointed out, start off slow and build up SLOWLY to avoid stress fractures and damaged tendons. Do not go and run your hardest everyday for the first week because even if you do not get injured you will probably burn out. It is very easy to do and you probably know people who have gone on health kicks, gone to the gym everyday for a fortnight and then done nothing for the rest of the year. This is not a sustainable fitness regime.
Variety is the key, short interval training is very good for a number of things VO2 max, fat burning, but its useless if you dont do the middle distance and slightly longer runs. Word of warning, running is never nice for the first couple of weeks and then when you get fitter and it is not so tiring to go and bash out several miles it becomes very enjoyable.
Cross train, so maybe do a leg weights session a week (also not neglect your upper body) and core exercises are key, I also found cycling to really improve my running endurance and speed. Stretching is also key as flexibility reduces the risk of injuries.
Shoes are a contentious issue, I have in fact (after a lot of research) moved to the barefoot style of shoe I use the Merrel Bare access and the trail glove and run barefoot when I can (I will never go back to normal shoes), but you can use any of the barefoot makes. If you are going to do this, do your research and again you must start VERY slowly. Your choice, either you can run naturally or try to use expensive shoes to cushion running gate inneficiencies. Definitely worth reading about the two sides. I will say that nothing beats running barefoot on grass - it is so liberating! Try to run off road as much as possible to avoid injury (dont worry too much if you cant - this is something I struggle with).
I notice that someone said to run in the morning - this is good and tends to set you up for the day. I find that running late at night i really nice when running but harder to get to sleep. Figure it out for yourself but I am an advocate for just before midday (I find early morning that my body feels stiff and the impact is not as nice). Depends if you have a job/other schedules.
Oh and for breathing - in and out. Relax. Dont think about it and let your body do what it was designed to do!
In terms of nutrition, just eat healthily, less meat - more fruit and veg, I actually found out today that almost 95% of people from asian descent are lactose intolerant to a certain extent (including me) so I have cut out lactose products. A blender is a great way to get a lot of nutrients in after a morning run (and tastes great.)

Sorry if its a lot of information and if I have come across as a bit of a zealot but I know what I am talking about........and finally the MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO HAVE FUN! The information above is just there in case you end up running for more than 2 weeks - and for anyone who stumbles across this thread and wants some more information. Hopefully I've helped someone! Happy running!

Let me know how it goes and if you have any queries.

 

I actually just started running recently. I haven't had a lot of exercise since high school when I used to play sports (lol sports). I only ran a pretty short distance and my legs were incredibly sore for like 4 days. I didn't feel like I really ran far enough to get a lot of progress, but if my body is sore that means that I must have gotten something out of it right?

 

Save for a very occasional walk, I for the most part have not done any sorta fitness related stuff for a good 15-20 years (no interest, and honestly didn't care about health/effects of doing nothing)

This spring I decided to get out and start walking. There's a nice park thats sorta on the way home from work so I picked that as the best place to go. It has a lake/pond with a path around which is just under 1.5 miles (seemed like a good distance to me).

So I began stopping by there & 'walking the lake' after work a couple times per week. I'll admit that first it was a bit of an effort to make it even that distance. bit with regular practice it got better/no problem at all so the 2x/week became 3x/week. (and sometimes twice around the lake)

Then in summer I decided to try jogging a bit 2x/week, and take it easy. I'd walk part of the way around, then jog (I could only do about 1/4th the distance), then finish off walking. figured that'd give kind of a warmup/cooloff periods. Eventually 1/4th became 1/3rd, then 1/2th...my goal became to eventually to be able to jog the whole distance. once I got to 3/4th I knew it was do-able...last week I finally made it the whole way (that said I still do the walk/jog/walk thing, I just go on some of the other walkways so I'm actually getting a bit more distance in too

A few notes:
* Yeah I know (after work) late-afternoon/early-evening is the hottest part of the day, not the best time to be out. but its what works for me plus also note where I live is almost desert-dry as far as humidity goes so its not so bad.
* I don't listen to my MP3 player even when I have it with me...
* I do walk/jog by myself (and many others I see out are doing the same)

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I actually did google to see if there was any sorta GLBT walking club around...but nope, doesn't exist (not sure I'd be comfortable joining one anyway just thought it'd be interesting to see if such existed) I did see a gay running club - if I was into running (but it was in the city anyway (some distance from me, which is both good and bad LOL))