Running and Jogging Tips
Posted: Sunday, January 02, 2011
by Ross Middleton
Running and Jogging Tips
Working out how to run or jog can certainly be a overwhelming task as there is so much blurb and waffle to filter out. Follow these simple tips to make sure that you increase your likelihood of staying away from injury and meeting your potential.
You don’t need any elaborate equipment or pricy health club subscription to get started with a running plan, but there are a few recommendations which you can follow to make sure that you're both getting the most out of your running in addition to minimising your risk of long term injury.
Points To Consider Ahead of Your First Jog.
With regards to beginning any new sport it is best to consult a physician if you've any underlying health worries which you believe could either be irritated by jogging or could negatively affect your training..
For anyone with long term weight problems, you should consult your health care provider as a matter of course as jogging places a substantial amount of stress on weak joints and tendons which can already be fragile on an overweight person..
Finding the Right Trainers
Ensuring you have decent training shoes is a very important component of jogging. Whilst the majority of people shouldn’t need to spend the earth professional running shoes, you might want to think about the following issues:
Be sure that your running shoe deliver both padding and ankle support otherwise you increase the possibility of impact injuries such as micro fractures and joint and cartilige damage.
If you already know that you're flat footed or have flattened arches then you probably are what is known as a ‘pronator.’ This is when your foot moves too much to the outer edge when you are running and is quite common in runners of all levels. If you are a pronator then its not a problem at all, but you should really buy a pair of what are known as ‘stability shoes' which restrain the outward movement of your foot and lessen the stress to your knees and hips that running will cause..
Heading Out On Your First Run
When you are getting started as a new runner it is vital that you start off slowly in the first few training sessions until your body gets used to your new sport. Not taking things slowly might result in some kind of injury which will put your running plans on hold. Which is the last thing anyone would wish for!
Your first sessions should be more of a walk/shuffle/jog whilst you discover how your body copes with the new training plan. Begin with a decent warm up of five to fifteen minutes of fast paced walking after which try and jog at an even speed for five minutes. Following the five minutes of jogging, if you are really breathless then slow down and walk for two minutes before increasing your speed again and jogging for an additional five minutes or so. Follow this sequence a few more times, before walking for ten mins as a cool down. The intention of this iniital workout is for you to find out your aerobic fitness level so you can gauge how to approach your next session.
In following training sessions you will need to extend the time frame of the jogging periods as well as cutting down the amount of recovery time between each jogging cycle.
Running Style
Focusing on propper form is very important when you are starting to run or jog as if you learn proper running posture and running form in the early stages then you won't have to re learn anything when you are stuck in your old routine .
Good jogging form is valuable as it means you can run efficiently, meaning you can run for longer with considerably less exertion. Moreover, from a well being perspective, if you hold a good jogging form then you'll lower the danger of jogging associated injuries.
When you out jogging, you ought to have a relatively straight back and be bending ever so slightly forward from the waist without stooping forward. Usually, people have difficulties with this due to the fact they tend to look down at their feet - If you look ahead rather than down then your body should effortlessly line-up itself in the proper way. Jogging whilst bent over is not good running posture as you place a large amount of stress on your lower back, which can be very dangerous.
In regards to your running stride, you ought to move your legs almost like a cyclist, ensuring that you keep your feet reasonably in line with the direction you are jogging for the most effective stride.
This may be quite a bit to take into consideration when first starting to jog, over time you'll find that you establish an effective jogging style that will make running a lot easier in the future.
More Running Tips
This Article has been viewed 236 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.