You see people running every morning out your window. You’re wishing you could be that person. Well, you can!
Here are some tips before you begin your new running journey:
Ease Into It!
I learned my lesson in college when I set a goal for running 3 miles and achieved it in the first day. I wasn’t in the proper shape to be running even though I considered myself pretty active and fit. Injuries that I thought were in the past flared back up and postponed my running for another month. Lesson learned: ease into it!
Whether a 3-mile jog or a 30-minute continuous run is your end goal, take your time getting there. If it’s been quite some time since you’ve run, start with an interval walk/jog to allow your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems to adjust to the higher demands of running again. We usually recommend a walk of 2-5 minutes with a one-minute jog in between, depending on your current fitness levels. You can repeat this interval as many times as your body can tolerate, but this brings me to the next important part; listening to your body.
Listen to Your Body
We all have days where we feel great and some days where we feel a little run-down and tired. It’s important throughout your training journey to listen to your body to prevent injury, but also to make sure you are progressing properly according to what your body needs.
Let’s say you had a great day during your first interval training of a ten-minute jog followed by a five-minute walk and did that three times yesterday. You woke up today pretty sore from yesterday’s walk/jog. Listen to what your body is telling you and cut it down a little bit today then! Maybe today you cut those times in half, do just two rounds of the intervals, do a different type of cardiovascular or musculoskeletal training, or even take a rest day. No one person’s training should look the same because our bodies are all different, so make sure you listen to yours
Stretching: Before, After, and Before Bed
You hear it all the time; STRETCH! But how many of us do actually stretch twice a day?
If you’re getting into running it’s incredibly important to be stretching at least twice a day. Think about what happens when you’re running. Every muscle in your leg is contracting with every step you take, your arms are moving to help guide your momentum forward, your back muscles are helping your arms move, you’re looking left-right-then left again before you cross the road or a driveway, and your core should be contracting the whole time you’re running as well. Every muscle in your body is being used!
To prevent these muscles from tightening up and decreasing the range of motion your body can travel through, we have to stretch before AND after a run. Stretching before a run gives the muscles a little bit of a warm-up. It’s recommended to do both dynamic (stretching throughout a motion) and static (stretching while the limb is still) stretches before running. While after running, it’s recommended to do static stretches.
Examples of Dynamic Stretches
These stretches should be performed for about a minute, with a repetition performed each second.
- High knees – Stretch the back of the thighs and your bum (hamstrings and glutes).
- Butt Kicks – Stretch the front of the thighs (the quadricep muscles).
- Open/close the gates – Stretch the inner and outer thighs as well as part of the bum (the adductors, abductors, and glutes).
- Windmill reaches – Stretch the front and side abdomen muscles and the lower back (the obliques, transverse abdominus, multifidus, back flexors, and rectus abdominus)
Examples of Static Stretches
These stretches should be held for 10-30 seconds, 3-5 times each.
- Reaching for the toes (hamstrings)
- Holding the foot toward the bum (quadriceps)
- Holding the knee to the chest (glutes)
- Bending to the side (obliques and lower back)
Another stretching tip is to stretch before bed! Doing this allows the muscles to elongate again after a long day of sitting at work, sitting while driving, playing with and picking up the kids or grandkids, being on your feet all day, and even after days where you feel you didn’t do much at all. Our muscles tighten up often, so it’s equally as important to stretch them out.
If you’re looking to make running a goal of yours and feel you need a little more than these tips, schedule an evaluation with us. We can help you strengthen any weak areas, treat any nagging injuries, and more! Just simply give us a call at 703-450-4300 and we’ll set up an evaluation with you.
To schedule an evaluation give our office a call at, 703-450-4300!
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