Can I/ How do I learn to run?

Question

I'm a 25 year old woman who's 5'4" and about 210 pounds.I've never been in very good shape and I'd like to start running, but I'm not sure how. Where can I learn how to run properly without hurting myself? and is it even safe? I'd like to lose weight, but my main goal is to have better endurance and just be healthier. Right now I belong to a gym and am mostly just doing stationary bike. Any advice?

Answer 1

First thing to do: get a good pair of running shoes, with thick soles.
Then, choose a surface that is soft, like grass, and/or eneven, so that the impact is not always at the same spot under your feet. That will lower the risk of overuse injury.

Go for half an hour: walk at a good pace for 5 to 10 minutes to warm up, then alternate jogging/walking for the remaining 20 minutes. Try with 1 min jogs and 1 or 2 minutes walk to start with.
See how you feel. If it's too hard, increase the walk periods, if it's not hard enough, decrease the walks, and/or increase the duration of the runs.
You should always be able to speak, if not you're pushing too hard and you'll be sorry the next day!
You will get pretty sore for a week or 2, but that's normal and you need to stretch a lot.
Only run every second day, if not less. If you want to do something when you don't run, lift weight.
Ease yourself into it, listen to your body, drink plenty of water and eat clean.

Answer 2

Start slowly - preferably on a treadmill because it will help you start slow, have the type of exercise you want to use (burn calories, lose fat, etc), and it will always add a cool down (walking for 2 minutes) afterwards. Also, sometimes I feel dizzy after a hard push for a second after running and its nice to have those bars there to grab on to for a second while my heart starts to slow down again.

Stretch your legs before, and remember to pace yourself. Go up to a light jog (or wherever you feel comfortable) and see how long you can go, cool down. After a week or so (depending on how often) kick up the speed or the distance (or time). Slowly build your way up - you may be amazed at how short it takes to slowly raise up.

If you are worried about injuries or anything of that sort, talk to a trainer or employee at the gym. They are there to help you and they can get you started. They may even work with you to help set up a running program.

Good luck and happy runnings

Answer 3

you might want to start with some cardio/aerobics before you start running. i just started running and it's much harder than i expected it to be. i was 5'4" and 220 pounds at one point and i know i wouldn't have been able run at that weight without getting discouraged.

if you do decide to start, just do interval training. Jog for a minute and walk for two, then jog for 90 seconds and walk for two and keep doing that until you're jogging more often than walking.

good luck!

Answer 4

the most important thing about running is learning how to breathe properly when running and stretching before you run.