About the day I decided to start running (+ tips for you to do the same) –

I have never found running to be an attractive exercise. In fact, I even had a certain rejection of the idea of ​​running, mainly because, in my head, I was sure that I would be like Phoebe, from the series Friends: a loud and gangly runner who would be bad spoken by others. Something about sweating too much in public never struck me as interesting either. Anyway, I really wasn’t on the team that saw running as a cool idea.

Still, a few months ago I started to feel an uncontrollable urge to start running. Maybe it was an effect of the two years of the pandemic and too much time indoors, but the idea of ​​taking advantage of the outdoor exercises it seemed more and more interesting to me. Add to that a second uncontrollable desire to expend more energy and, presto, I thought about starting to run.

I’ll be honest with you: my beginnings were 100% amateur. The only thing I knew about starting to run was the need to take it easy – something I did way too much. My plan was simple: go for a walk a few times a week and with some running sprints. Running away, “out of nowhere”, seemed problematic for many reasons, but mainly because the fear of getting hurt was great.

So I went. Two or three times a week I would go for a walk around the neighborhood for about half an hour. In some moments of this exercise, when the terrain was flatter, I risked running for a few meters.

I say “a few meters” because I was always terrible with measurements and distances and defined my running time as “I go from here to there running”. It was always two or three sprints like that for the rest of the walking time.

At first I thought that all physical conditioning I achieved in the gym they were of no use, because running a little bit only tired me a lot and left me absolutely breathless after three or four “trots”. Over time, I began to understand not only that this was a “different” type of physical resistance, but also that my body began to get used to the movement, and with each new sprint I became less out of breath and could handle running a little longer than usual. Last day.

The idea of ​​running only a few times a week (and not every day) was also well founded: I talked to some friends who are personal trainers and physical trainers who advised me to give my body time to get used to the new stimulus and recover – just like we do at the gym, giving time for muscle fibers to regenerate.

Now, a few months after that first attempt and overcoming the shame and the self-centered idea that everyone is going to stare at me and talk bad about me while I run, I have begun to understand why running is so interesting: the mind is, in fact, clearer, I feel more energized and a lot livelier throughout the day – and I feel like expending more energy has done wonders for my sleep.

If you, like me, are thinking about starting to run, I took advantage of this hook to go after some important tips that can help all of us.

6 TIPS TO START RUNNING

1

First of all, get a medical evaluation

“The first thing you need to do is a clinical evaluation with a doctor”, he explains. Giselle Felix, lifestyle and wellness expert at WinSocial. “He will review your health history, order tests if necessary, and tell you if you are fit to start running.”

This is a precaution that minimizes risks and ensures a safe start to the race. Furthermore, only the doctor will be able to say whether you have any contraindications to this exercise or not.

two

Use the proper tools

For Giselle, running safely is the most important thing. And how to do it? Simple, having at hand the correct and suitable shoes for physical exercise, wearing comfortable clothes that facilitate movement and warming up before practice.

3

Escape comparisons

“Another important recommendation is to try not to compare yourself or do something that doesn’t fit your reality, as this can demotivate and harm your health”, continues the professional. “Participating in running groups can be motivating, in addition to having the opportunity to learn from the reports of people who have gone through different experiences in running. In general, in this exchange with the group, you get a lot of indications of what to do and not to do. But you have to be realistic about your personal limits and desires, as respecting your pace is just as important as running practice.”

4

Plan – and stick to your plan!

Planning and discipline are important for everything in life, and running is no different. When starting with practice, you can use a running sheet as a guide, according to your objective – and the ideal schedule is the one made for you, respecting your own pace and limitations, objectives and motivations.

“A good guide for this is to outline a SMART objective, that is: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound. When you are constant in training, you develop and maintain a solid base of physical conditioning and, from there, you can improve and divide the year into stages of progress”, he says.

In this plan, including training, running, recovery and maintenance cycles helps you move forward, with less risk of injury.

5

Pay attention to your body before moving on to training

“If your effort level is easy to moderate, you might consider including variety. For example, a workout that is longer, focusing on resistance, alternating with a shorter and more intense workout – interval training (one-minute speed intervals, for example), not forgetting to do the rolling workouts, which that’s what moderate workouts are called”, he continues.

In this way, you will perform long workouts for resistance, short, high-intensity workouts to increase muscle explosion, and rolling training to maintain training volume. Maintaining a weekly volume of practices is also important if you intend to advance to the next level, with constancy and discipline and, for that, it is worth recording your results using some technological resource on your cell phone, smartwatch or in a spreadsheet – this will help with analysis and decision making to move forward.

6

Pay attention to the before and after

We’ve already talked about the importance of warming up before starting to run, but it’s also worth considering stretching after practice, as a way to help the body relax and minimize pain.

Also, here comes your food: keeping the body well hydrated and a healthy diet is vital. “The food recommendation will depend on the purpose of the race (what are you looking for with the race? Lose weight? Get out of the sedentary lifestyle? Participate in street races?) and duration (5 km? 10 km? Half marathon? Marathon?), in addition to your individuality – for example, if you have any dietary restrictions”, explains Giselle. For this, counting on the follow-up of a nutritionist or a physical trainer makes all the difference.