Even though everyone has the will to get into perfect shape, somehow laziness gets into your way.
You might plan to get started this Monday, just like how you planned on starting on the first Monday of the last month. Whatever your reason, the first step is always hard to take no matter what you are doing. But as William Wordsworth says, “To begin, begin”.
Eventually, you will have to get started either today or tomorrow, so why not begin with developing a mind map? Here are some tips and tricks on how to get into running to ease your experience and help you stay motivated for a long time!
Keep reading the article below to find out what you need to start doing from today.
Running Tips For Beginners That Help You Get Started
It is often hard for a beginner to begin. As cliche as it sounds, it is actually very true.
Beginners not only need the motivation to start off, but they also want to know where to begin with, and how to begin. These questions keep them puzzled for a long time while the clock keeps ticking. In other words, it is merely a waste of time to get answers to questions so simple.
By now, who knows how much weight you might have lost had you started right when you first planned. Anyway, it is never too late to begin. Plus, we are here to help you begin.
Warm-up Your Body Before Maximum Physical Exertion
Even though you might feel energetic and ready to go, you can’t do that because your body is not ready. Everything starts off slowly and similar is the mechanism of a human body. It takes time for us to actually get started and get into shape.
To begin with, go for light stretching exercises and maybe a not-so-strenuous jog that only boosts your body functions, but prepares you for a more vigorous exercise tomorrow. You can consider doing a 10 minutes exercise on your first day. Gradually, you may increase the minutes over a week before you finally get into running.
Give Time To Your Body To Get Into The Routine
As much as one may like it, unfortunately, no one can twirl a magic wand and get things done.
Sad.
Allow your body to get used to the new routine. Now what you can do is to slowly let the routine make its way to your body’s mechanisms. Let running prepare your body the way it should prepare. Your body’s metabolism and functions can and will change according to your physical demands.
This way you can prevent many side effects just as sore muscles, joint sprains, strains because you avoid putting huge physical pressure on yourself. Let things flow naturally if you really want to see great results in some time.
Do Not Overwork Yourself
In the beginning, you may feel like you are not made for this. Remember it is always the beginning of everything that feels difficult because you are not aware of what you are doing. You may also feel everything is a bit too much for you.
However, that is not the case. It is easy to feel overwhelmed at the start. You may feel your body if not made for this after years of a sedentary lifestyle. You may feel under trained in the first few weeks. Trust the process, you are just a few weeks away to feel good about yourself. You will soon realise that it took a little time for your body to become trained. That is all.
Do not lose hope. Keep working till you feel like you are made for this, and you can nail your running routine.
Make Sure You Have A Routine To Follow
Fixing a new hobby in your busy schedule is a real struggle. You may never get time for something unless you have the will. Your motivation will make you create time for things that you neglected previously.
You will find a way to run each day even if you are extremely preoccupied with other things because you are determined. Therefore, you need to make sure your running routine finds its way in your busy day. Then, of course, sticking to that routine is another struggle.
However, once you have planned your day accordingly, things do become easier to achieve. You just have to strategically place every task and minimize wasting your time on social media, or watching series. These things only make you lazier while running is equivalent to a healthier you.
Allow Your Body To Get Some Rest When It Needs It
Give yourself the rest you deserve. There is no rush, and there is definitely no short way out. Your body is like any other machine that needs an equal amount of rest as the physical activity to stay fit and healthy.
Our bodies eventually become exhausted. We are humans, which is why we need to rest when we don’t have the energy to do more. Accept the fact that there will be some days when you may feel extremely tired to go on a run.
These are the days your body is demanding you to allow it to rest. Take your time off. You would still have plenty of time to focus on your routine, but always listen to what your body is saying to you.
Make sure you are not going over the line in trying to achieve a certain weight or fitness. It is not wise to make yourself do more than what you can endure. Overworking, per se, is not a healthy routine. Instead, it may make you lose your motivation, or even become depressed.
Only a good number of minutes will do you good. You do not even have to spend hours running.
Adequately Hydrate And Refuel Yourself After Every Exercise
A very crucial aspect of running is energy. After every running exercise, you have to get all that lost energy back. Do not starve yourself because you want to lose that belly fat quickly. This is not an ideal way of metabolizing calories.
Running serves a great purpose in reducing your weight, but you must also know that stepping over the line may only cause worse results. You do not have to take minimal meals and sun simultaneously. What you can do is to cut down on fatty foods, and switch to a healthier diet.
Consume a healthy meal, loads of liquids and water after every run. It will ensure that you are not compromising on your health. You need to strike a balance, which is achievable when you exercise properly and take proper meals.
In fact, increased intake of water aids in weight reduction. Taking more water would never do you any harm. It is best to stay hydrated under any circumstances.
Avoid Overhydration Before Your Workout
You do not want to keep running to the toilet, you want to run your marathon.
It is not advisable to chug a lot of water right before you are ready to sprint. What you should do is to carefully hydrate yourself. Your hydration habits should revolve around your running routine. If you go for a run at 4 o’clock in the evening then aim to drink water at least 30 minutes before.
Though you should hydrate yourself 60 to 90 minutes before the run. You definitely do not want to drink too much water after this time. Your correct drinking habits can really boost your energy during your run.
Get Some Friends To Tag Along With You
Taking the same path as others who are aiming for the same goal as you are honestly the best running tips for beginners. You should tag along with others, or have your friends tag along with you so you can keep each other motivated.
It is a great way to spend more time with your friends, and it becomes easier and more fun to run with people than to run alone. You guys can catch up with each other’s lives, or you can simply become good company for one another even if you do not want to talk too much while you exercise.
Also, a little healthy competition always brings great benefits. When your friends will lose weight with the same amount of effort, it will also provoke you into doing similar, or something better. Do not underestimate the power of involving others in your plans.
Who knows you may even perform better under peer pressure. Plus, sharing the same struggle with other people does reduce the impact of the struggle. Having more people in the group may make it easier for you to stick to your routine.
Keep In Mind The Goal You Have
It is always about the results that keep you going. You keep dreaming of that one day when you will become exactly like the picture in your head. You will finally be able to fit in a party, or wedding dress. Or, you may want to feel what it is like to live with abs and perfect curves.
The results are always worth the effort. When you keep reminding yourself why you started off in the first place, it subconsciously urges you to continue with your efforts. Little by little you do end up accomplishing your desired look or weight because over this period you refused to let go of your high hopes.
You become stern or resilient enough to not to give up before you get a taste of the rewards.
Practice Patience
Apart from practice, the other thing you need during this time is patience.
It will take time, and living through every day may seem hard but it is your patience that will maintain your calm. You can’t fast forward the process. When it is not in your hand then what is left is for you to patiently come out of this process.
Anything else may harm you mentally and physically. Plus, giving up after you have done so much, and after you have come this far would be completely unjust to you. Once you know it in your heart that your body needs time, your brain will ultimately digest this fact, making things much smoother for you.
In fact, you should feel happy about yourself for at least giving running a thought. Now that you have already made your mind, motivation and patience will find its way soon, too.
Running Form Tips To Improve Your Efficacy
It does not matter whether you are a beginner or an expert, it all comes down to how efficiently you run. Working on your running form can significantly help you with doing your exercise. You want to work more smartly than put in a lot of efforts.
On the flip side, with the right mechanics, you may also avoid a lot of injuries, or from anything that can potentially hurt you.
A proper running form essentially means how flexible your muscles are, and how much strength does your body have. Even though now you know how to get into running, you should still know some running form tips that will make your life less challenging, and more fruitful.
Keep Your Head Straight And Look Ahead Of You
A lot of people tend to keep their heads down while running. This is not how it works. You must look straight ahead. Always maintain a distance of 10 feet between you and the target you are looking at.
This will make sure your head is always in a steady position, not too high, nor too low. Your focus on the target ahead of you will facilitate you in keeping your posture steady throughout your run even if you feel tired.
It is mostly when people feel tired that they start losing their head posture, and look down. You want to make sure your ears are in the same plane as your shoulders.
However, from research, we know that it is not only your lower and upper limbs that play a vital role in running, but it is also the position of the rest of your body, including your head, that counts.
Press Your Shoulder Blades Against One Another
The position of your shoulder largely affects your running speed and efficacy.
What you should aim at during your run is to keep the shoulder blades pressed against one another to prevent a clumsy posture while running. It will help in keeping your spine straight, and your torso steady.
Check Your Breathing Pattern
When you exercise, your way of breathing matters a lot in uplifting your efficiency. You can either increase your running tolerance with a good breathing pattern, or you may decrease it.
A proper running form is achieved when you know how to inhale and exhale while you run. It is all about the technique. You have to take a deep breath through your nose, and then let the air out through your mouth.
It is the most efficient way to improve your performance while running, or else you may feel fatigued pretty soon during your marathon. As a person who is looking forward to achieving good results in the future, you must pay close attention to how you are breathing during your exercise, or if you get tired soon.
Practice breathing this way and you will notice how much of a difference it has on your running. You may feel like it is an extra effort to breathe this way, but know that it has a lot of health benefits in the long run.
Clench Your Hands In A Fist
You want to keep your hands in a fist while you run. However, you must bear in mind that you are not supposed to clench your fist too tightly.
What you are aiming to do here is to curl your hand in a loose fist without having to put a lot of energy into your hands. Remember, you want all the energy in your body to go into running. You can’t waste this energy in maintaining a tight fist as you exercise.
Keep your hands loosely clenched, and focus more on your running.
Keep Your Elbows And Knees Bent
The position of your arms and knees play a critical role in building the momentum of your body. Your elbows must always be bent at a 90-degree angle, parallel to the ground. At the same time, you should not let your arms cross your torso.
Having your arms crossed against your torso slows your speed. This posture will keep you from moving fast or moving efficiently. What you need to do is to press your bent elbows against your side, and keep your forearms straight.
Same goes for your knees. You must not bend them too much, just enough to keep them in the alignment of your feet and hip. A steady position of your knee will also prevent you from tiring out soon during your marathon.
Maintain Your Torso In An Upright Posture
Torso: the core of running.
The energy to run is generated from your torso and your spine. No one can emphasize enough on how important it is for you to maintain the posture of your torso. You have to keep it upright. A firm torso will propel your body in moving forward.
You should not hunch your back, neither keep it extremely stiff. Keep it relaxed, but steady to facilitate your running.
The Position Of Your Foot
The gait varies from person to person. No one can dictate anyone into how to strike the ground. Everyone has their style and preferences, and changing it into a certain style makes it difficult for people to practice.
As long as your foot is striking on the ground using the balls of your foot, you will have efficient forward propulsion. On the contrary, if you are using your heel or toes to move forward, you may end up hurting your ankle or your foot.
What Should I Look For In A Good Running Shoe?
A good running shoe reflects during your run. It can motivate you to run more, or prevent you from continuing.
Therefore, your running shoes must have:
- Extra Cushioning
It is to make sure your feet are always comfortable. It will enable you to go for extra miles than to stop you earlier because your feet hurt. You should feel as energetic towards the end of your run as you did in the start.
- Good Flexibility
Good flexibility means your shoe allows you to move whatever way you want to. You can make quick, swift movements, and propel forward without the feeling as that of a rigid shoe closing in on your feet.
- A Big Toe Box
A roomy toe box facilitates your toes instead of crowding them. When you move your toes freely, you minimize the chances of your feet hurting too soon. You should wiggle your toes to prevent them from tiring.
- Firm Grip
No one wants to fall during running because their running shoes failed to provide enough friction or grip that you can’t run steadily. A shoe with a good grip can greatly enhance your running experience.
Final Thoughts
Even though you are planning to start with your running routine, just know that you are on the right track and you can achieve a lot with the right mindset. You can read all the tips but the urge to start from today lies within you.
