Running is one of the most healthy exercises for the average Human Being. Whether to increase endurance or get rid of some extra pounds, this can be a very effective and quite simple way of improving your life.

The average Human Being eats\drinks an average of 2500 Kcal per day without doing any kind of exercise. Our body will spent this “fuel” through the ordinary routines( sleep, walk, sit, eat, read, etc.) , being the the remain energy accumulated as fat . An adult individual needs on average 90 Kcal to run one mile, which gives us an idea of how much we van spend just for running a couple of miles perday.Beyond the fit-seeking allure of jogging, it is also probably the best exercise you can find and the reasons are truly basic:

-you can do it almost anywhere

-it promotes your cardio fitness and endurance as no other sport

-can be practiced whether you age is 9 or 99

-it is incredibly cheap compared to other sports

When I first decided to give it a more serious try about 3 years ago I found my self trapped in the classic beginners question: how do I start? After some research I ended up almost at the same point as the tons of information available seemed to confuse more than clarify things for me. That`s when I asked my brother, a former pro athlete in the 5,000m and 10,000m distances, for a basic instruction. Firstly he told me that the most important thing, prior to start running, was to have deeply rooted some notions within myself:

-know exactly the line beyond which my health can be compromised

-establish and follow as strict as possible a running routine

-give priority to the time not the speed or distance

-learn to enjoy the pleasure of running

1- Running is about health no injury

After consulting your doctor and hopefully being confirmed as a healthy individual, you should also know your cardiac limits ( maximum heart rate tolerated by your organism) and your muscle limits ( usually this is better asserted after the first running sessions and and hopefully will naturally evolve side by side with your training). There is plenty information at the web regarding this issue and the main rule to follow is: use common sense . Despite the “no pain no game” approach widely spread amongst sports culture, do yourself a favor and pause the game when pain arises-it can come from a different location that you thought and be more serious than you think it is. Believe me your body is your best friend here.

A good warm up and cool down must become a deep rooted habit so you can prepare your body for the exercise and bring it back to earth when the workout is over. I will post a hub later with a small pack of warm up and cool down exercises for you to use.

Another Key apect is choosing the right running shoes to prevent injuries and give you maximum comfort so that you can focus on what really matters: running. Every person has a different type of foot , however there are 3 basic types of feet and you can check you own here.

2- Running schedule for Beginners: routine yourself!

Before starting to run check your agenda and manage your daily routine so you can guarantee that for the next 4 weeks you have at least one hour to forget everything and focus your mind and body on your jogging session.

The 4 week plan I used for beginners is at the table bellow and it is quite easy to understand: Weekdays in the columns,week number in the rows,effective running time ( 30m,40m,..) and an extra information regarding what I call the fast series. The first one of these fast series appears at week 2 on Friday. Basically these are cool downs made of 6x 60 Yards sprints that are good after long sessions-they burn additional fuel, they give you additional cardio endurance, they help the muscles to relax after a continuous repeated movement.

This is a 4 week that actually lasted almost an year for me as I found it quite simple yet effective: I lost 15 pounds in the first 6 weeks ( my weight was 200 pounds before that) maintaining my food habits, and found myself running for 70 minutes at the end of the 4^th week.. not bad from someone that hyperventilated just for walking vividly for 2o minutes..

3- How fast? Wrong. How Long is the KEY

The best way to achieve a good form is to run slow and slowly increase our DISTANCE not speed. Why is that? Simple: the organism burns sugars for the short run and fats for the long run. Doing a 8 mph 15 m session at a beginning level will only cause fatigue,muscular pain and overwhelming cardiac stress to your body, which can put your health at stake..When I started this plan the thing I kept in mind was to always finish the time: didn`t care about the distance, the speed, or the style, just the time. The goal here is to finish it: whether running like a bullet train or simply walking. Find yourself a good rhythm at the first 5 minutes ( Being able to maintain a conversation while running is a good rhythm) and then stick to it even if you feel you are going too slow: this gives time for your body and muscles to build a strong base essential to evolve to other levels.

4-The pleasure of running

I use to practice and compete as a Swimmer at a semi-pro level during High School and first year at University, however I always hated running or any other sport outside water. At the first weeks of this beginner`s running program I found myself using mp3 and constantly looking at the watch . I Guess all I was trying to do was distract my mind not to pay attention to running, however after a while I took a different approach : focusing only in my breathing, on the surroundings, clearing my mind from everything during those minutes of exercise. Gradually I began to discover the true essence of running, the pleasure it provides me, to a point that can be healthy addictive. Give yourself a try..