Step by Step to go from Sedentary to Running

I was checking out www.mercola.com and found this great Step by Step action plan to take you from sedentary to running. My advice to you if you're wanting to start running is to get a really good pair of running shoes and follow the plan even if you think you can do more. I'm the worst at this because sometimes I think I'm superman and don't need to build my body up.

When I was first introduced to running I did a group run for 1 hour which because of my fitness level I thought was easy, so I did it again the next day and again the next, then I could hardly walk for 2 months because my knees were so badly beaten up.

This myth that running will ruin your knees Is False. There are many other factors that contribute to knee issues, nutrition for example. For me in this case, it was going from never running to all of a sudden running lots when even though I was physically in awesome shape, my body still wasn't used to that repeated impact. The moral of this story is to follow the plan because it will ease your body into running without any damaging effects.


Step 1: Start walking. Try walking just 3 times the first week, and four times the second. The first week, you only need to do 20-25 minutes. Increase to 25-30 minutes the second week. After this, you can graduate to the next step, but if you’d like to stay in this step for a week or two longer, that’s OK. If you stay longer, walk 4 times the third week, 30-35 minutes each time. The fourth week, stay at 4 times, but increase to 35-40 minutes.

Step 2: Start run/walking. Do this step very gradually, just a little more each time. For this step, you’ll continue to exercise 4 times a week. Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Then do a very, very easy run/walk routine: jog lightly for 1 minute (or 30 seconds if that seems too hard), then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat these intervals for 10-15 minutes, then do a 10-minute walking cool down. Do this step for two weeks, or longer if you like.

Step 3: Lengthen the running. Once you’re comfortable running for a minute at a time, you’re ready to start running a little longer. Continue to exercise 4 times per week. Increase your running to 1 minute 30 seconds, with an equal walking (1:30 running, 1:30 walking) for 15 minutes. Do this a couple times or more, then increase running to two minutes, with walking for 1 minute. Do this a few times or more, then increase to running 2:30, walking 30 seconds to a minute. If any of these increases feels too hard, feel free to go back a step until you’re comfortable increasing. Don’t rush it. You should stay in this step for 2-3 weeks or more.

Step 4: Follow the Rule of 9. Once you start Step 3 above, you’re basically running with short walk breaks. This can seem difficult, but it’ll get easier. Commit to doing 9 running workouts in Step 3; after that, it will get easier. The first 9 running workouts can be difficult, but after that, it almost always gets better and more enjoyable. Don’t quit before the 9 running workouts!

You’re now a runner! You might be walking a little during your runs, but there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, feel free to keep doing walk breaks as you work on your running endurance. Some runners have been known to do a marathon with walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking 1 minute. That’s completely fine. Eventually you probably won’t need the walk breaks, but no need to rush.

Step 5: Take your running to new levels. In this step, you want to continue taking your running to new levels. There are a number of ways to do this:

• Gradually increase your running until you can do 30-40 minutes of running at a time, 4 days a week..
• Sign up for a 5K. If you can run for 30-40 minutes, you can complete a 5K.
• Once you have increased your running to 30-40 minutes at a time, designate one run a week as your “long run”. Try to increase this by 5 minutes each week, until you can do an hour or more.
• Once you’ve got endurance, you can add some hills to your program. Add hills gradually, by finding a more hilly course, and eventually adding hill repeats.
• After hills, do a little speed workout once a week. Do intervals of a couple of minutes of medium-hard running, with a couple minutes of easy running. Make these speed workouts shorter than your normal runs; if you run for 40 minutes, do 25-30 minutes for your speed workouts. Be sure to warm up and cool down with easy running for 10 minutes.
• Run with a group, or run alone. Don’t always run alone or with a partner. Mix things up.
• Find new routes. Don’t always run the same routes. Try running on a track, in a different neighborhood, on a treadmill, on trails.
• After you’ve done a few 5Ks, sign up for a 10K. Then a half marathon. Then a marathon. But do one step at a time.

Most of all, enjoy your runs!

My Favorite Way To Exercise!!

There are so many ways to exercise that it can be quite overwhelming. Do you think you should do zumba, pilates, circuit training, bootcamp, tabata or even start running? Most people want to either drop weight or gain strength from their workouts. Guess what? The type of training I'm going to tell you about will do this and more. This style of training will burn fat, build muscle, firm your skin, increase all the good hormones in your body, increase your metabolism. This will cause your body to keep doing these things for up to 36 hours after your workout! That's Nuts!! Not only will these things happen, but you will reach your fitness goals much faster than other types of workouts. So what type of exercise is it? Well...it has several names depending on who's telling you about it but they all mean the same thing. To me it's known as Interval Training, Surge Training, Burst training or Peak 8 Fitness, however, it is best known as Interval Training. It can be applied to any type of workout anywhere from running to weight training because all you need to do is change the way in which you do the style of workout you're doing.

So what is an interval? An interval is a high intensity spike in energy expelled, alternated with a time of recovery. I bet some of you are thinking that you can't do high intensity anything but remember that fitness is always based on each individual person. An Olympic athlete working at a high intensity is going to be much different than a 40 year old person exercising for the first time at their high intensity. That “High Intensity” is simply getting your heart rate into a certain zone, so don't be afraid of it. With that being said, there are a few things that will be the same for anyone who does an interval workout. First off, Your body temperature will rise and you will most likely start to sweat. Second, after each set it will be relatively hard to breathe and talk until you catch your breath. And Thirdly, lactic acid will increase which is why you feel your muscles burn.

Now the next thing you're probably wondering is how do you apply it to your workout? Well, there is one thing you need to remember when doing an interval...There is no right or wrong length of interval or rest. It's 100% individually based. If you are a first time exerciser you may only be doing a 20 second set followed by a 2 minute break while an Olympic athlete may do a 60 second set followed by 60 seconds of recovery. It completely depends on the person.
Let me give you an example of some progressions that I have done in past in my fitness classes.
Muscle groups: Chest/Back/Cardio

Level 1:
30 seconds Push ups
30 seconds rest
30 seconds Back Rows
30 seconds rest
30 seconds skipping
2 minute break
repeat 4x

Level 2:
30 seconds Push ups
15 seconds rest
30 seconds Back Rows
15 seconds rest
30 seconds skipping
90 second break
repeat 4x

Level 3
30 seconds Push ups
30 seconds Back Rows
30 seconds skipping
90 second break break
repeat 4x

This is a great workout that only lasts 12 minutes and causes your muscles to strengthen, fat to burn and so many other great benefits that last upto 36 hours after your workout!!
Here is another example, this time we're only going to do cardiovascular exercise. The exercise is a sprint(uphill) using the “Peak 8” style workout that Dr. Mercola teaches.
This is very simple to do.

Step 1: Warm up 2-4 minutes
Step 2: Start Sprinting as fast as you possibly can for 20-30 seconds
Step 3: Walk on spot for 90 seconds while breathing deeply to catch your breath
Step 4: repeat steps 2-3 eight times.

Easy eh? That's only 20 minutes!! Have you noticed what interval workouts have in common? They're fast. When you do it properly you don't need to do as much. When I introduced interval's into my runs my performance improved so much faster than with my previous method of running. Not only that but rather than feel drained, I feel energized!!
Intervals are the real deal. They're faster and more effective. Interval training is something everyone should be doing. I've had people in their teens all the way to into their 80's doing the exact same workout because it's do-able for everyone and it's effective for everyone.
Throw on your workout wear, put on your shoes, grab your water and let's go, it's a great day for a workout.
You're Created To Move!!!