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Running, like any is a great form of exercise, needs to be started and these guidelines will provide you with care. The best approach for many people is the core information to introduce running gradually, using an [[Introduction help you to Interval Training|Interval Training]]approach of mixing begin running and walking.=IntroductionWhy run?=Not surprisinglyThere are many ways of getting fitter, I'm so why choose running? Running is a simple and cheap sport, requiring nothing more than a big fan pair of shoes and the open road. There are also some other [[Is cycling or running better?| advantages to running over cycling]] as a way form of keeping fit aerobic exercise. As with any exercise there are mental and healthyemotional advantages in addition to the physical benefits. But starting to run is not easyHowever, I believe that running provides additional scope for relaxation and advice to 'just go out and run' can be counterproductivemeditation. Humans are built It may not seem like it when you first start to run, but there is as you improve you will reach a level of fitness required before running is practicalpoint where you can run will less effort and feel like you can run forever. At that point you can find '[[Stillness in Motion]]', where you can relax and think freely.=CautionsChecking with your doctor=If you have any concerns about the risks An annual medical checkup is an important part of exercisemaintaining your health. For many medical problems, talk early detection can dramatically improve the outcome and it's wise to have your doctor 's approval before startingany training program. An annual medical However, there is important another, more subtle reason for getting an annual checkup. Being healthy, both physically and mentally, has a lot to do with being in control of your long term healthlife, so rather than believing that you are at the mercy of luck or fate. The difference between having control and being subject to external forces is a great opportunity to chat to called '[Locus of Control]'. Having an annual medical is an aspect of taking control of your doctor about your exercise planslife.

This plan is intended to get I recommend you to follow the point where you can run 30 minutes comfortably and effectively. ==Baseline fitness==Before you do any running, you should start by walking. If you are unfit, walking can be sufficient training to raise your fitness level. First, check you can to walk 2 miles in about 30 minutes[[Beginners Running Plan| Beginner's Running Plan]]. This is based on the idea that walking is more efficient than running up to about 13-14 min/mile pace<ref name="Kram-1997"/>. So running slower than 14 min/mile pace is unproductive; plan gradually takes you are better off from walking. If you can't walk 2 miles in 30 minutes, focus on walking and building up to that pace. You should build up being able to walking at that pace over a few run for 30 minutes as a [[Warmup]]continuously.==Incremental How Often to Run/Walk=?=So, once you've reached the point of walking 2 miles in 30 minutes (or verified you can do it), introduce the I generally recommend running gradually. Start off with two one minute runs in the 30 minutes; walk 14, run 1, walk 14, run 1. Try to keep the walking pace around 15 min/mile paceonly 3-4 days per week, which is a fast walk. As that ratio of running gives your body chance to walking becomes comfortable, gradually shift from walking to running. Dropping the last minute walk can be hard, recover and is not criticalgrow stronger. You may prefer to extend the time rather than dropping the walkRunning more frequently increase your [[Training Monotony]] level, adding another 15 minute blockwhich reduces your rate of improvement. If you do extend the time, you should drop back the run/walk ratio, so go from 2x1W:14R want to 3x5W:10Rtrain more frequently, or whatever seems comfortable. DonI't forget to do a short d suggest [[WarmupHigh Intensity Interval Training]] before the 30 minutes, starting off (see below). Turning your exercise into a habit helps with a moderate walk and building up to the right pace over a few minutesmotivation. {| class="wikitable"!Warmup!!Walk!!Run!!Walk!!Run!!Notes|-|5||30||0||||||Baseline 30 min walk|-|5||14||1||14||1|||-|5||13||2||13||2|||-|5||12||3||12||3|||-|5||11||4||11||4|||-|5||10||5||10||5|||-|5||9||6||9||6|||-|5||8||7||8||7|||-|5||7||8||5||8||Crossover If you fit your run into your regular routine, you don't have to more running than walking|-|5||6||9||6||9|||-|5||5||10||5||10|||-|5||4||11||4||11|||-|5||3||12||3||12|||-|5||2||13||2||13|||-|5||1||14||1||14||Dropping this last minute of walking can be trickythink about if you'll run or when.|-|5||||30|||||||-|} =Alternative Plan=This plan uses a slightly different mix of running and walking, using 27 minutes total time{| class="wikitable"!Warmup!!Walk!!Run!!Walk!!Run!!Walk!!Run!!Total Running|-|5||27||||||||||||0|-|5||8||1||8||1||8||1||3|-|5||7||2||7||2||7||2||6|-|5||6||3||6||3||6||3||9|-|5||5||4||5||4||5||4||12|-|5||4||5||4||5||4||5||15|-|5||3||6||3||6||3||6||18|-|5||2||7||2||7||2||7||21|-|5||1||8||1||8||1||8||24|-|5||||||||||||27||27|-|}=Running Pace =The pace Instead it becomes an automatic part of your running needs to be fast enough to be smooth and efficientlife. It must be faster than the walking paceHabits, good and should be 12:00 min/mile or faster. Howeverbad, don't go too fast; it must not be a sprint, or even a hard running paceare powerful.

{{Main|Running Form}}While there is some controversy over the best running form, there are several components that are generally considered worth adopting. * '''Cadence'''. The [[Cadence| number of steps you take per minute]] is a key aspect of running form. A good [[Cadence]] will reduce impact, effort and overstriding. * '''Forward Lean'''. A simple way of learning to run is to stand still, then gradually lean forward until you have to start running to prevent falling over. This will naturally put your weight over the front part of your foot, rather than landing on your heels. This forward lean should come from your whole body leaning forward rather than bending at the waist. Keep your * '''Arm Position'''. Your [[Arm Position|arms high]]; should be high, with your hands near the bottom of pectoral muscle. The movement of your arms should swing naturally acts as a counterbalance to your running motion. You and you don't need to consciously drive with your arms; just let them . Instead they should move naturally and freely. * '''Run Tall'''. You should run with a relaxed, but straight back. Avoid hunching over. * '''Avoid Overstriding'''. Don't try to stretch forward with your legs to lengthen your stride, but have your feet land roughly under your hips. Your A good cadence will naturally help with this. * '''Foot Strike'''. Don't worry too much about how your [[CadenceFoot Strike| foot lands]] should be high; just do what comes naturally.=Rate of Progress=How fast should The only caveat is if you have problems with your calf and you shift from walking to 're running? Listen to your body; if on the level balls of stress is very low, then shifting to more running is good. Shifting to running more quickly may increase your fitness more rapidly, but it will also increase feet without your heel touching the possibility of injuryground. Remember that fatigue is cumulative, and it accumulates over much longer periods In that situation you may expect. The fatigue in want to modify your form slightly to allow your heel to land and take your body can be weight during the result stance phase of training you did 2-3 weeks agorunning. That means you can raise your level of exercise dramatically =Running and keep it up for a week or two, then suffer some level of failure. One rule of thumb with marathon training is Obesity=Running creates stresses that are proportional to only raise your mileage every two weeksweight. This can also apply to initial If you are too heavy then running as well; may put more stress on your lower body than it is better can cope with, causing an injury. I suspect that being able to walk 2 miles in 30 minutes will be cautious. If you have some minor [[Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness]] indicative of a body that's okay, but if it's more than a minor soreness then you should back of your training. =How Often can begin to Run?=How often should you run? Is you may know from previous posts, but I am a believer in 'less is more', recommending running four days per week. A lot will depend on your fitness level howevercould be wrong. If you are reasonably fit and just adjusting to runningsignificantly overweight, you may need to run more days per week, as the stress is not sufficient to require 48 hours recovery. Overall though, I would suggest you are be better off running 3 to 4 days/week focusing on walking and raising the intensity of the runs rather than weight loss before you start running more days. Including a little [[High Intensity Interval Training]] may be effective in improving weight loss.=Running with others?Others=Starting to run with someone else can make a big difference to your [[Motivation]]. However, remember that their level of fitness and their rate of progress might be quite different to yours. Try to find a group of people with similar goals and who are supportive. [[Training Log Comparison| Online communities]] can also provide motivation and support. =Starting to run if youRun If You're already fitAlready Fit=

=Running and ObesityHigh Intensity Interval Training=Running puts stress on the body, and if {{Main|High Intensity Interval Training}}High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is short bursts of high intensity exercise separated by periods of recovery. If you are too overweightjust starting to run and want to speed up your improvement or want to lose weight, your body then HIIT may not cope well with this additional stresshelp. For beginners, HIIT should be performed on a stationary exercise bike rather than running. I suspect that being able to walk 2 miles in Do a [[Warmup]] and then do repeats of 30 seconds of high intensity followed by about 4 minutes will be indicative of easy cycling. Start off with the high intensity being comfortably hard and work up over a body that can begin number of sessions to run, but I could be wrongan all-out intensity. If you are significantly overweight, you may be better Likewise start off focusing on walking with 2-3 repeats and weight loss before you start build up over time to 4-6 repeats. I would recommend running 3-4 times per week with 1-3 HIIT sessions per week interspersed with the running.=Comparison with Couch to 5KBreathing=Another popular and successful program for starting {{Main|Breathing}}When you first start to run , your fitness may be low enough that your easy running pace is the anaerobic. This will mean that you can't run for long without feeling like you can'[http://wwwt breathe enough and your lungs "burn".coolrunning.comDon't worry about this, but use the run/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml Couch walk approach to 5K]' programimprove your fitness. The Couch Take a walking break if you feel unable to 5K has worked for many peoplebreathe enough, and uses a similar approach to mineover time your fitness will improve. You will notice as your fitness improves that your breathing become easier, reaching the point where you can talk in brief bursts of words, using interval training then to incrementally move from walking to runningthe point where you can chat normally. The big advantage of couch key advice on breathing is don't force or attempt to 5K is the level of support for the programmodify your breathing, with organized groups, applications, forums, etcbut do what comes naturally., to =Massage={{Main|Massage}}Massage can help keep your muscles functioning well and feeling good. While a new runner. Howeverprofessional massage is great, there are some caveats to the program, which is why I use it's an alternative approach:* Couch expensive option to 5K does not have any baseline fitness requirementsfrequently. While I'd like to say ve found that anyone a few minutes a day with The Stick can start to runwork wonders, I think that for some people it is better to 'learn to walk before you as can run'time on the [[Foam Roller]]. Both are reasonably cheap and remarkably effective.* =Shoes={{Main|Shoes}}The rate choice of progression running shoe is rather less important for Couch someone beginning to 5K is fixed at 8 weeksrun than you might expect. You can choose to run barefoot, a practice which may be way too short for some people and too long for othersis gathering wider support. * The Couch If you do choose to 5K program uses time or distancewear shoes, which can cause confusionit's important that they fit well and are comfortable. I believe that Many running shoes tend to be a little small for most beginnersthe forefoot and toes, and are not shaped like your foot, focusing on time rather than distance is more effective.* After week 6 the Couch so make sure your toes have room to 5K moves from interval training to pure running, incrementally building up the distancemove. =ReferencesPain When Running=<references><ref name="Kram-1997">RWhile running can involve some discomfort at first, it should not be painful. KramIf you have pain in your feet, A. Domingolegs, knees, DP. Ferriships, DPetc. Ferris, Effect of reduced gravity on the preferred walk-run transition speedthen something is wrong., J Exp Biol, volume 200, issue Pt 4, pages 821-6, Feb 1997, PMID The simplest approach is to get an experienced runner to look at your [[http://wwwRunning Form]] and see if they can spot the problem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9076966 9076966]</ref></references>