Running for beginners

A lot of people wants to run but find it hard to stay on running continuously for a long period of time.

Before everyting else you need to make a physical assessment including a cardiopulmonary exercise test. This assessment can be done in a clinic, gym, club or through your doctor. This will assess a patient’s exercise capacity.

The key here is practice, you need to make your body adapt to running and you need do it gradually you cannot do it in an instant.

Adaptation - in this step you'll gradually accustom your body to physical activity, your body will leave the state of inactivity to start an active state. The intensity of exercise is very light and its progression is not very pronounced. Patience and perseverance are very important at this stage.

Periodized Training - “Periodizing” your training is the key. Instead of doing the same routine month after month, you change your training program at regular intervals or “periods” to keep your body working harder, while still giving it adequate rest.

Alternate walking with running like for example in your first week you can walk for 4 minutes and run for 1 minute to complete the whole 30 minutes workout. Then in the second week increase the running to 2 minutes, gradually increase the running every week.

1st week: 4 min walk/1 min run alternately to complete 30 minutes.
2nd week: 4 min walk/2 min run
3rd week: 3 min walk/2 min run
4th week: 3 min walk/3 min run
5th week: 2 min walk/3 min run
6th week: 1 min walk/4 min run
7th week: 1 min walk/5 min run
8th week: 3 min walk/7 min run
9th week: 5 min walk/10 min run
10th week: 5 min walk/15 min run/5 min walk
11th week: 5 min walk/20 min run/5 min walk
12th week: 5 min walk/25 min run/5 min walk
13th week: 5 min walk/30 min run/5 min walk

Try twice or 3 times a week. 

Benefits of Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot (wikipedia).

The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.

Benefits of running

Running has a lot of benefits, although there is a potential for injury just like in other sports. It is effective at making you healthier in a number of ways.

Weight Loss - Running is one of the best form of exercise that can effectively burn calories. It can definitely assist people in losing weight and staying in shape. Running also increases your metabolism.

Improve your overall Health - Running can reduce your total blood cholesterol and improve cardiovascular fitness. It will also strengthen your bones and improve your immune system.

Psychological benefits - Running can improve your self-esteem and emotional state, achieving your goals in running will give you a sense of empowerment that will make you happy.  Also many participants in the sport report feeling an elated, euphoric state, often referred to as a "runner's high". Running is also frequently recommended as therapy for people with clinical depression and people coping with addiction.

Word of caution, if you are gasping for breath or feels exhausted while running you need to slow down and do short distance running for a few weeks and it will improve gradually.