There are people from all walks of life. Each of them have a different story. Each has a different fitness level. Some have body types that make it more or less easy to become (and stay) fit.
That’s why it’s important to remember that everyone begins somewhere. And, everyone continues on their path with varying degrees of success once they’ve begun.
No one starts out as a master of Kung-Fu. Noboy becomes a Leonardo da Vinci overnight. No one becomes Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan the moment they begin their journey.
Sometimes, kings and queens don’t become royalty without navigating an incredibly difficult path.
They had to learn to walk before they could run.
In fact, we wrote another article, where we talked about how it feels to go out and run just one mile, and the initial embarrassment of not being able to complete that simple run.
If you’ve ever felt the need to just sort of ease into a workout routine, and begin doing SOMETHING … well, this article is for you. It’s all about walking before running. Maybe you’ve injured yourself and you want to get back to being active. Maybe you’re an asthmatic and running throws you into a coughing fit.
Who knows? There could be a million reasons that walking RIGHT NOW, just might be more healthy for you than a more intense workout.
So together, let’s walk then run. 🙂
We want to start off with an article from Amy Stainthorpe, writing for fullstride.co.uk.
Walk Then Run
“Benefits of walking before running”
The major benefits of walking before running are:
Getting used to the ground – If you walk before running you will get to know if there are any surface problems on the ground you are walking on. This includes things like small pot holes, pebbles etc. which you may not know are there while running. You may fall due to any such problems on the ground.
Warm up – Whenever we do any exercise we have to warm up our body so that we do not get any jerks from sudden exercise. So, I’d advise a walk of around 15 minutes will make all your body parts ready for the strain of running.
Avoid muscle cramps – When we walk then run, we help our body to avoid getting muscle cramps which happen mostly due to sudden jerks or exercises done without proper warm-up.
Proper clothes – If you first walk then run you will know the outside temperature. You can get back to home to get proper or extra clothes, otherwise if you are starting running straight away you may get exposed to cold or suffer from excess sweating.
Aggregating thoughts – Walking is a good way to aggregate all your thoughts of the day.
Get together – One major benefit of walking before running is that you may schedule your early morning get-togethers with friends and neighbors while walking.
Sometimes running immediately will give you shortness of breath and you may not be able to talk! So walking will serve dual purpose of getting warmed up for running as well as getting to know latest things and news from your friends.”
To read the whole article and check out some of the links to other tips just click on the title or the image directly beneath it.
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Next, we want to share a video from Yuri Elkaim, an author, and former pro soccer player who worked as the strength and conditioning and nutrition coach at the University of Toronto for seven seasons.
Walking for Weight Loss: 2 Clever Ways to Walk Off 25 lbs in 30 Days
Next we’re going to lay out some walking plans from the good folks over at runnersworld.com.
Start Walking Plan
“This plan will help you get in the habit of regular exercise and will lay the foundation so you can become a runner. With this seven-week plan, you can build up to and beyond 150 minutes per week of exercise – the amount that experts recommend to prevent illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. Each week includes four workouts with an option to do a fifth workout. The plan starts with a 15-minute walk and builds gradually, so that by the end of the program you will be able to walk for 60 minutes without stopping.
PLAN LENGTH: 7 WEEKS
WEEKLY ROUTINE: 4-5 DAYS OF RUN/WALK, 2-3 DAYS OF REST
LONG RUNS: BUILDING UP TO A 60 MINUTE WALK
To see more of this article, and to grab some great .PDF files and plans you can put up on your fridge, just CLICK HERE NOW.
Now, we recognize that some of you are not able to get out and about. Maybe it’s super freaking cold outside. Maybe you’re reading this and you’re in Upstate New York, and there is a hundred feet of snow piled up around your (hopefully cozy) cabin out in the woods.
But, you still want to get your walk in.
Walking before running. That’s what this following video is all about. When you want to walk, but you don’t want to leave the house. This is for you.
Indoor Walking Exercise – Full Length 30-Minute Power Walk
That’s it for this article. Now go out and up your fitness level.
Become the next Servius Tullius as you walk then run on the path to fitness. 🙂
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