Running For Beginners - A Free Way To Lose Weight Part One |
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By: Mike Livsey Posted: 2008-03-04 06:20:49 |
| If there is one way to start losing weight, and most importantly to keep the weight lost, then its running. Running provides many benefits other than weight loss and the best thing about it is its free.Running can be very intimidating for the beginner. A simple search of any popular search engine will convince you that you need to spend a lot of money and that running is complicated, and let's be honest running can sound like a lot of hard work.After reading this article you will be far more educated in what is involved, the benefits and most importantly you can decide for yourself if it's worth the effort.Firstly you will need a few basics and chances are you already own them.-1 pair of trainers / sneakers-1 pair of shorts or tracksuit bottoms-1 T-Shirt ideally long sleeved-1 lightweight cotton jumper or pullover-1 small plastic water bottleYou do not need to go out and buy any of these, use what you have to start. The water bottle I use is simply an empty spring water bottle that I fill from the kitchen tap.A Few NotesNever eat a heavy meal or drink excessive amounts of fluids before running.If you are heavily overweight then always see your doctor or physician before starting out with any physical exercise.Do not run on a public highway in poor light.Think about your safety and the safety of others.Take care using your iPod or mp3 player. You can not hear danger approaching you.Please use your common sense.The ProgramThe program that I am going to introduce you to is both free and simple and is suitable for everyone regardless of age.I recommend that you do not change your existing diet to start with. Ensure you drink plenty of fluids spaced out through the day and you will be fine. After week 2 of the program you will start to find that you really enjoy the sessions and the benefits will start showing as real improvements to your life. This is the time to start reviewing your diet and we will cover this in detail at a later date. The important thing to remember is taking things slowly, sudden changes to lifestyle don't often last very long.Week 1 -- Buildup Part IMon -- 10 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 50% effortTues -- Rest dayWed -- Rest dayThur -- 10 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 50% effortFri -- Rest daySat -- 15 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 50% effortSun --Rest dayWeek 2 -- Buildup Part 2Mon -- 15 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 75% effortTues -- Rest dayWed -- Rest dayThur -- 15 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 75% effortFri -- Rest daySat -- 20 minutes, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jogging at 75% effortSun --Rest daySo as you can see above in the first week we are only going to be doing 35 minutes of exercise. Of this, only half will involve jogging or running. The reason for this is that regardless of your weight and body shape we need to get your body used to running. Even if you feel that the program is too easy in the first 2 weeks, do not skip it as you will end up with injuries.50% effort is a very light a slow jog. We are doing this to get the heart used to small periods of slightly elevated activity, but mainly to allow the muscles and tendons in our body (especially the ankles) to get used to the impact of our body pounding down on them. 50% effort should mean you are only very slightly out of breath and are able to hold a normal conversation with only minor pauses for breaths.75% effort is increasing the pace a bit more. We are increasing the pace in week 2 as we need the heart to get used to the idea that it will be required to provide us with more sustained blood flow as we increase our exercise intensity. 75% effort means that you can hold a conversation but will pause frequently for extra breaths.If you struggle with the pace at this stage then stick to week one for an extra week. It is most important that you don't rush this, its not a competition and baby steps now will reap benefits in the future.BenefitsThere are many benefits of running, those associated with exercise in general and more specific ones.Future articles will go into more detail, but for now here is a general overview that is by no means comprehensive.-Weight Loss.-Weight Stability.-Improved body shape and lean muscle.-Improved confidence.-Improved ability to deal with stress in day to day life.-Helps prevent bone and muscle loss associated with aging.-Strengthens your heart and cardiovascular system-Reduces risk of stroke.-Reduces risk of breast cancer.All of these benefits are scientifically proven FACTS and not the opinion of the author.From this brief introduction to running I hope you can see that you do not need to invest a huge amount of time, and that running is not about hitting the track for 10 miles every day. Running is suitable for nearly everyone, its free and it will change your life. |
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