Runners World Article

Start Running Now, And Continue for Years to Come

Whether you need to lose weight, or just get in better shape, running is a great exercise to take up. A lot of medical experts say that running is too hard on the body, and it can be under certain circumstances, but there are many senior citizens who run miles everyday, and have been for most of their lives, so if that were completely true, would someone that old still be in any kind of condition to walk around, let alone run miles each day? If you go about it right, you can run everyday of your life, with little or no negative impact on your body, the key is doing it right.

One of the keys to preventing injuries when running is to make certain that you give your body time to warm up first. You should walk at a good pace for a minimum of five minutes, and then take the time to do some stretches, especially leg stretches, which will further help prevent injury from occurring. Remember, don’t bounce when you do your stretches, as this will do you no good, and could even cause injury.

When you are running, you shouldn’t really worry about how far or how fast you run, but how long you run. Typically, the average runner who runs everyday for exercise and physical fitness runs for about thirty minutes. Of course, just starting out you won’t be able to do this, and that is okay, but that should be your ultimate goal.

If you haven’t been doing a good job of exercising regularly and are out of shape and overweight, as many of us are, you should first try walking, and gradually build up the pace to running. You may not be able to walk for a full thirty minutes at first, but if you keep at it, eventually you will. You should maintain a comfortable pace the entire time, and don’t worry if your aren’t the fastest on the track, know that you are doing what is in your best interest. If you start out trying to do more than you are physically able to do, you could injure yourself, or flat out just decide that it is too hard and give up, which will get you no where.

Once you are able to walk the full time, and do so fairly quickly, you may want to try running. You may not be able to run the entire time, which is okay. Run for a minute or two, and then walk, and when you feel comfortable again, run some more. The more you do this, the longer you will be able to run, until eventually, you don’t need to walk anymore at all.

Even if you are only able to walk, not run, you are still doing a great thing for your body, and your self esteem. You will get more benefit from walking at a decent pace for thirty minutes a day than you would from sitting on the couch eating bon-bon’s that is for sure.

Of course, if you aren’t physically active, you should talk with your doctor before starting a walking/running program, just to be on the safe side. Once you have your doctor’s go ahead, you will be well on your way to better health, and learning a new lifetime habit!