Fitness Strategies

Lesson 2: Warm Ups and Why Nots.

Featured Fitness Activity - Running/Jogging.

Walking is a good exercise for building muscle tone and stamina, but if you want to burn more kjs/calories, or if you want to increase your heart rate and improve your breath control, running is something to consider.

For ordinary fitness, affordable in time as well as money, running has two benefits besides the obvious one of getting fitter.

1. You can cover more ground, faster.

2. You can take advantage of days when you want a bit more challenge but haven't the time to walk extra distances.

Definition of "Running".

I'm using the term "running" broadly, to cover everything from a gentle jog-trot to a full out run.

Who Should Run?

If you're in good health, and have already been walking for a month without problems, you might like to try a bit of running. The main rules are to ease into it gently, and to do the kind of running that suits you.

Beginning

You should walk before you run. It really isn't a good idea to step out your door and break into an Olympic sprint. You are quite likely to end up with aching muscles if you do that.

Walk for about five to seven minutes, and then choose a goal. I used to use telegraph poles, which were between forty and seventy metres apart. You can use fence posts, signposts, trees or any other convenient marker.

If you're really diligent, you can drive the route ahead of time and use the car's tachometer to work out distances.

Walk to your first marker, and then break into a gentle jogtrot. About forty metres is enough for a start. When you reach your goal, drop back to a walk. Walk briskly until your hear trate has subsided to normal, and then repeat the procedure.

This alternate walking/jogging has the advantages of interval training, and it's much easier on your body than a sustained run.

Gradually increase the time spent jogging and decrease the recovery walks. You will find that your heart rate and breathing return to normal much more quickly after the first three or four weeks.

Warning

Don't strain yourself. If you find your coordination going, or if you are heaving for breath or getting dizzy, you have already run too far. Slow back to a walk, have a drink of water and don't run again until you feel normal. You should be able to run your "goal" and pull back to a walk in good order.

Finding Your Sustainable Jogging Pace.

Everyone capable of jogging has a sustainable jogging pace. This is something I learned by accident.

I used to jog with my husband and daughter, and they always pulled ahead. If our goals were 200 metres apart, they reached the 200 metre mark and slowed to a recovery walk while I still had 40 metres to go. By the time I caught up, they would be several metres into the walk, which meant I had to jog part of my "recovery" distance as well.

This annoyed me, so I did some research. I'm not a sports scientist, but according to what I discovered, it goes like this. Males have up to 20% more lung capacity than females of the same age. After the age of 25, lung capacity diminishes by around 10% each decade unless you exercise!

This gave my husband and daughter 20% more lung capacity than I had, because she is young and he is male. If our son, who is 23, joined us, he had a 20% advantage over his sister (he's male) and his father (he is young). He had a whopping 40% advantage over me.

It was my son who solved my problem. He taught me to use my breathing to find my sustainable jogging pace.

First, breathe in to the count of four. Then breathe out to the count of four. Do that until you find the rhythm.

Now start jogging. Keep that in 1,2,3,4, out 1,2,3,4 count going. If your breathing starts to go ragged, then you are jogging too fast. Don't drop back to a walk, but slow your jog until your breathing stabilizes.

Using my old gasp-and-pant breathing, I could jog 700 metres before reeling to a halt. The very first time I tried this 1,2,3,4 technique, I jogged an easy 1100 metres and stopped in good order. Since then, I've easily doubled that distance.

Finding your sustainable jogging pace (SJP) doesn't mean you have to stick with it all the time. You can still alternate walking, SJP and bursts of faster running.

Remember, jogging or running is harder on your feet and legs than walking. Try to find a good surface, and always work into any faster exercise very carefully. Don't run every day. If you're over forty, your muscles and joints will need recovery time.

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