Training principles & Injury prevention
Running can be one form of exercise that we all dread, but it doesn’t always have to be like that. Start slow, ease your body into it and you will learn to love it.
Running benefits the body by improving cardiovascular fitness, increasing weight loss and helps the body maintain a healthy weight.
As a beginner, running can be quite difficult! You have to start from where you are and not from where you think you should be… because if you run further or faster than what you’re ready for, your body can’t adapt quickly enough and you’ll get injured. Once running becomes a habit, exercise feels easier and you will begin to love it.
The best way to avoid injury is to start with a plan. For beginners, it’s best to start with a walk/run, walk to warm up, jog for a few minutes, walk again and repeat. It’s important not to do too much too soon. Do this 3 times a week and you will begin to build your running fitness and muscles up. You will eventually build up your endurance to running and be able to eliminate all walking breaks and aim to run/jog the entire time. It’s important to stretch before and after a run, your muscles will get quite tight as they won’t be used to the exercise; this also aids in injury prevention. When your body feels up to it, slowly start increasing the kilometres and the pace you run at, maybe even start running 4 times a week.
You may already have the fitness and strength to run, but may not particular enjoy it. If that’s the case and you want to get back into running, then start with a training guide and some goals. A great way to get back into running is by signing up for some fun runs, grab a running buddy and get training. Keep challenging yourself and your friends to run further and faster, take into consideration your body and injury prevention. Do the appropriate stretching and listen to your body if you need a break.
If you do happen to strike an injury, get in touch with your local health care practitioner (osteopath) who can guide you back to full strength injury free.
Download a good playlist, grab a friend and get running.
