8 Running Tips for Beginners
1. Visit a doctor before you start
Safety first. Before starting running visit your doctor and/or physician. Especially in the cases of following conditions:
- Overweight
- Heart problems
- Breathing problems
- Chronic fatigue
- Age over forty
- Completely untrained
2. It is never too late to start running
It does not matter what your age is - exercising is good for your health and a regular exercise gives you the following benefits:
- You will sleep better
- Lose weight
- Decrease your chances of getting cancer and heart diseases
- You will have more energy
3. Use a running program for beginners
Ask your doctor or look up a program on the internet and define your individual running program. With a clear target it is always easier to keep on going.
4. Running and walking for the beginners
You should start slowly to avoid running injuries and health problems.
5. Check your pulse
Especially for beginners you should check your heart beat while running. Running is a cardiovascular activity. It trains your heart. Your heart pumps blood through your body. A result of proper exercise is that your heart will be able to pump more blood through your body with every heart beat. So it will need less beats to do the same amount of work for you.
6. Log your activities
For many runners, keeping a running log is an excellent way to keep track of their progress. In a running log you enter basic information about your runs. For example: running time, distance, kcal, average speed and fat burned. You can also be more comprehensive and regularly put in your weight, fat mass, muscle mass and blood pressure. Use OMRON devices to measure these values. It is extremely motivating to see your mileage increase and your weight and blood pressure decrease as your running program progresses!
7. Listen to your body
Of course, when you run you are bound to get tired and experience muscle pain afterwards. That’s fine. When you, during or after your run, feel dizzy, or when you experience pain in your chest area, your back or your legs, beware!
Immediately stop running and rest or walk for a bit until you feel better.
Cut back on your training load or stop it until the pain has ceased.
Check with your physician if you keep on experiencing pain or if you are feeling unsure about anything.
Take care of yourself. You only have one body and one life. Running is a great healthy activity, but in your enthusiasm (too much too soon) you can harm yourself. Follow your beginner’s training schedule to avoid injuries. Even then, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!
8. Regular workouts
Regular workouts are important to your progress.
When running to increase your fitness it is far better to workout 3 or 4 times a week.
