A story popped up in my Google suggestions from Men's Health about a man who tried to run for 30 minutes every day for 30 days.
I was interested to see the outcome, since we all know my obsession with telling you about sustainable fitness goals.
Here's the thing: he hadn't run regularly before, and from the video I can't see that he was doing any kind of warm-up or cool-down straight after his run (there is a small section showing him stretching while talking about injury but it doesn't seem to be after a run).
This is a very bad idea.
When you rock up to a 5k run and you haven't run in ages, you may still feel like you can have a crack and make it around the track pretty quickly.
And then what happens?
Your knees hurt, your ankles hurt, your back hurts.
And most people give up.
Here's an unfortunate truth about running - well all fitness really - things take time.
It is NOT a fast process. Understand that, and then set yourself some achievable goals that you can reasses in time and "move the goal post" to keep yourself moving forward.
Even when going for a run or a walk, PLEASE WARM UP. You need to lengthen your muscles to avoid injury. Also, understand that you will probably still feel sore depending on your fitness level, and that's normal. That's why you need recovery days!
This guy is really lucky he didn't permanently injure himself. It is a great thing, wanting to get fitter and eat better and start your fitness journey.
To ruin the video for you, he only made it to day 22 and had to stop because of injury. He did lose weight, which was his goal, and on one day managed 6kms. Three months on, he says he had stopped running completely after that 22nd day.
If he had gone a little slower at it and paced himself he may have been able to sustain his fitness for much longer and actually find enjoyment in running.
I don't want to discount his initial effort to set this goal and stick to it, which is amazing and should be applauded. There is a more sustainable way to do this, however, without risking injury.
- Warm up and cool down after every workout
- Start slow and build up your fitness level
- Take rest days
- Have the right equipment e.g. shoes!
- Make specific, realistic goals that you can measure your improvement on.
If you are looking to get into running, try my "Let's Get Running" challenge which is free and perfect for beginners.
Find it here: https://www.genkifitfitness.com/challenges
And I'm always available for a chat as well! Message the Facebook page or jump onto the app to send me a question.
View the video here:
https://youtu.be/JymfSQOzaik
Comments