The Easiest Way to Get Started Running: Mind Your Breath, Not Time

It’s a big transition, going from walking (or no exercise) to running or jogging. While many beginner running programs suggest doing timed intervals that cycle between walking and running, Runner’s World offers a simpler method.

In this learn to run program, you commit to three 30-minute running workouts per week over three months. The first and last five minutes are warm up and warm down periods. During the 20 minutes of running and walking, you follow your breath and run based on your body’s energy:

Run and walk by your body. Alternate running until you hear your breath, and walking until you catch your breath for a total of 20 minutes. No formulas or intervals—run by your body and breath. If you’re like me, you may start out with 15 to 20 seconds of running and 2 to 3 minutes of walking until you catch your breath. No worries. That may be where your body is at fitness-wise right now. Go with it, tune into your body, and avoid pushing to go longer.

The next workout may be close to the same as well. But a few weeks down the road, that 15 seconds will grow to 30 or 45 seconds or even a minute, and the time it takes to catch your breath will drop. That’s when it starts to get fun, because you feel the difference as you go.

By sticking with a plan that’s based on your body—not arbitrary time intervals or a certain pace—you might enjoy eveloping the running habitmore and the progress you’ll see each time you hit the road.

The World’s Simplest Learn to Run Program | Runner’s World

Photo by Lake Mead Imagery.

from Lifehacker http://ift.tt/1aBbXVX

Related Items