How To Start Running

In one word: Slowly.

In many more words:

First of all, always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

Once Again, Start Slowly.

If you are new to fitness, overweight, or have led a sedentary life lately, proceed very slowly, be patient, and disciplined about progressing your training. Start with walking. Make plans to do a walking/running workout 3 times per week. Gradually progress from all walking to a combination of walking and running to all running. One example of a good progression is as follows.

Week One: Walk for 20 minutes.
Week Two: Walk for 22 minutes.
Week Three: Alternate 5 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for a total of 22 minutes.
Week Four: Alternate 5 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for a total of 24 minutes.
Week Five: Alternate 4 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 24 minutes.
Week Six: Alternate 4 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 26 minutes.
Week Seven: Alternate 3 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 26 minutes.
Week Eight: Alternate 3 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 28 minutes.
Week Nine: Alternate 2 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 28 minutes.
Week Ten: Alternate 2 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 30 minutes.
Week Eleven: Alternate 1 minute of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 30 minutes.
Week Twelve and Beyond: Jog until you need to walk, then take a one minute walk break for a total of 30 minutes.

Run With Good Form.

If you don't have a running coach, learn everything you can about proper running technique. Keep your head up, look at the horizon, not your feet. Keep your back straight, don't hunch your shoulders, but don't shrug them upwards either. Swing your arms in a straight line front to back, not across your body, keep your hands loose. Run with soft quiet footsteps, practice running smoothly. 

But Wait, There's More!

Strength Training

That's right, I said strength training.
Don't worry, you don't need to get pumped up like Ahhhnold. In fact that would work against running efficiently. There is, however, some strengthening to be done. Obviously you want your running muscles to be strong, but there are lots of stabilizers in the body that need strengthening as well. Some areas to work on are the legs (obviously), but also the core, upper back, arms, and shoulders. 

I just happen to have a great strength training for runners program that I teach at GT Fitness. It goes over all the strength training that a runner should be doing, but usually isn't. You can find out more by emailing me at franklinkungfu@gmail.com or call 270-776-6873. 

Bricks

I got up this morning with plans to do a brick workout (bike, then immediately run in preparation for triathlons)  before my wife and stepdaughter left for Nashville.

Once I was awake I had absolutely zero desire to get up and work out. So I took stock of myself. Was I injured? No. Have I been overdoing it? Did I need a rest day? No. Was I low on nutrition or water? Nope, and nope.

I was just low on motivation, so. . .

I got up, got my bike, put on my helmet, and rode 15 miles.

On returning to the house I mixed up a glass of gatorade, then realized. . .
I had zero desire to go on the run.

So I changed into my running shoes, grabbed my running buddy (Buddy the German Shepherd/Boxer) and went out the door and ran seven miles.

If you have a goal, whether it's a 5K, 10K 50K, or losing 5, 10, 50 pounds, or just having enough energy to get through the day, you've got to get up, get out there, and do whatever fitness program you've decided to do. If you honestly need a rest/recovery day, take it, then get back out there again. Just don't let your morning mood dictate your fitness plans.

I'm Fit, So Why Is Running So Hard?!?!

During my wife's first half-marathon she wound up running alongside a woman who was obviously fit. It turns out she was in fact a fitness trainer at one of the local gyms. She was also obviously struggling with this race. She looked at my wife and wondered out loud how this could be so hard when she was already fit. She reasoned that as good shape as she was in she should have been able to complete this race without this much suffering.

I've heard the question. I've even watched the question formulating in a runner's mind. I knew what they were going to ask before they knew what they were going to ask. "If I'm this fit, why is running so hard?"

The trainer's regimen in preparing for the half marathon included precious little running. She mainly participated in and led fitness classes. She thought that this would prepare her for the half marathon. There were two problems with her approach.

1. Specificity. If you want to train for a long run, you should do some long runs. It is obvious that weight lifting alone will not prepare one for a race, but it is less obvious with other exercises. Similar exercises are better, but exact exercises are the best.

2. Energy systems. Other than training your legs to run, you also must train the correct energy systems.

The first energy system is the phosphagen system. This system is lousy for distance running. This is the energy system used for short intense bursts. It lasts for about 10 seconds. This is the system used when lifting a heavy weight or a short sprint.

Second is glycolysis. It produces energy less quickly than the phosphagen system, but lasts longer. It is still not the best for distance running as it only lasts from 30 seconds to about 2 minutes. My suspicion is that the aforementioned trainer did a lot of interval workouts with intervals lasting in that range. She probably had this system well developed from her workouts.

The final energy system is the missing piece of the puzzle for someone who does a lot of fitness, but struggles at a longer run like a 5K (or sometimes even a mile). The aerobic system. The power of the aerobic system is that it can provide lots and lots of energy. It just takes does it more slowly, and unlike the other two systems, requires oxygen. It actually provides 18 times the energy per molecule of glucose as glycolysis does. Not to mention the main fuel source of the aerobic system is fat, rather than carbohydrates as in glycolysis. There is a rather limited supply of blood sugar and stored sugar in the body as compared to fat stored in the body.

Of course, the body is complicated, and it uses energy from multiple systems at once so the faster one is going, the more glycolysis starts to kick in. Even given the fuel necessary to keep the engine running, the chassis has to hold together through the duration, but the point of it all is this.

I'm still learning to swim in the aerobic zone.
This is what the upper limit of glycolysis
 looks like in a triathlon swim.

To run long distance the aerobic system must be developed. Working out with glycolysis as your fuel source is great it burns more calories in the same amount of time, but if that is someone's only way of working out what usually happens in a long run is that they try to run the way they workout.

It happens this way. Fit person is accustomed to a certain level of perceived exertion, runner is used to running long distances. Starting gun goes off. Runner takes off at an aerobic pace, fit person takes off at the RPE (rating of perceived exertion) they usually workout at. Two minutes later, runner is still going at the same pace, but the fit person has reached the limit of glycolysis and starts slowing down. At this point they either gut it out and keep running (albeit more slowly) and never really recover their breath, or they slow down enough to recover and do it again. Meanwhile, runner keeps going at steady pace.

So, it pays to develop all three systems. This means you too all you Long, Slow, Distance runners. Running uses all three systems to different extents so don't forget to train the other two systems as well.

Get Fit, Have Fun, Kick Stuff

KB500 Fitness as self defense. A 45-50 minute workout based on martial arts movements led by a certified personal trainer who also happens to have 29 years experience in martial arts. In this workout you could burn 500+ calories, and you get to kick things! This class does not require martial arts knowledge, but at the same time someone with a martial arts background can also get a great intense workout. As a martial arts instructor I know how to teach the fundamentals of the techniques to keep the class fun while minimizing the risk of injury. As a certified personal trainer I know how to program the class for maximum fitness gains.

I have been asked how fitness became such an important thing to me as a martial artist, and the answer is simple.

It is all self defense.

The idea of self defense generally conjures images of men in heavily padded suits being kneed in the groin by newly empowered women. It also makes people think about pepper spray and concealed carry licenses. When I started martial arts classes as a child it made me think of the bullies that were pushing me around and how I could finally find a way to stand up to them.

As I grew up, it became pretty obvious that if I used what I call "proactive self defense" I might never have to rely on a tiger claw to the face to protect myself. It was the difference between learning what to do if someone were to jump me in a dark alley and learning to stay out of the dark alley in the first place.

So what does this have to do with fitness.

The top ten causes of death in the United States:

• Heart disease: 597,689
• Cancer: 574,743
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859
• Alzheimer's disease: 83,494
• Diabetes: 69,071
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476
• Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,097
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2010, table 10 

Do you see anything on that list that can be prevented or lessened with a side kick to the ribs? 

Neither do I.

So this is how I became interested in the idea of fitness being a form of self defense. Things on this list that have been shown to be lessened, delayed, prevented, or cured by physical activity include heart disease, many forms of cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, alzheimer's, and diabetes. 6 out of 10 so far, but wait there's more! Developing a fit, strong, healthy body, along with improved body awareness and balance can lessen the likelihood and severity of injuries from accidents. Exercise is also an effective treatment for depression, which can also affect the intentional self harm statistic. 

8 out of 10 of the top causes of death can be alleviated by exercise.

Put Your Shoulder Blades In Your Pockets.

The best cue I've ever heard for how to prepare for many lifting, pulling, or pushing movements is to put your shoulder blades in your back pockets.

This is important because it gets your back and shoulders set and ready to do their job. On these movements, the arms and legs are what should be doing the moving. If you are doing a pushup and your shoulders are moving around a lot they are doing a job that isn't theirs. It is like a workplace in which somebody never does their job, and so the people around them have to pick up some of his/her responsibilities. Just as this leads to a dysfunctional workplace, allowing other muscles to take over the jobs of the prime movers leads to dysfunctional fitness.

When adopting a new exercise, or program it is important to know which body parts should be doing the work as well as to make sure that those body parts are actually doing the job rather than other parts.

A big part of my job as a personal trainer is to make sure my clients are doing their exercises properly. Doing the exercise correctly strengthens the right muscles and avoids injury from contraindicated movements.

How You Need To Train

How You Need To Train

Also known as, my philosophy on personal training.

The question comes in many forms:

If I want to lose weight, how should I train?
If I want to tone up my (body part), how should I train?
If I want to run faster, lift more, run further. . . how should I train?

A lot of people will give you "the" answer. Usually it is either, "Train the way I train," or "Train according to the method I am selling."

While I will be the first to say that there are definitely certain training modes that are best for achieving certain objectives, I'm going to say it's not so simple as just saying, "do intervals," "do crossfit," "tabata" etc.

Here is my personal opinion as a personal trainer.

There are lots of ways to improve your fitness. The best way to train, the way YOU should train, is unique, and if you haven't trained with me yet, I don't know what it is yet.

If a trainer tries to answer the question, "How should I train?" without asking lots of questions first, don't hire them. My goal is to find out your goals, to find out what sort of exercise you enjoy, to find out what has worked for you before and what has failed for you before. I'll need to know whether you like working out in the morning or in the evening. I'll ask about your family support system and if you have friends who are into fitness. I'll want to know which side you carry your child on. (It's important, feel free to ask me why.)

I need as much information on what working out is for you to find out what will work out for you.

I don't even own a cookie cutter, so you won't get a cookie cutter workout.