How often should I run?
It's a common and sensible question, but you can't plan without knowing your goals. For example, health experts say you should achieve 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity weekly or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly. By spreading this time over the week, you can achieve a short-run 4-5 days a week. But this is guidance solely for your health and not if you aim to achieve a specific time in your running endeavours.
Exercise is excellent for your health but is not the only consideration. Some people are in perfect health but have incredibly sedentary jobs. For these people, the most important thing is to do exercise as they can. We all know how important it is to exercise regularly and how much of a difference it can make in your life. But, with our busy lives, finding the time to fit those long workouts is hard. Short workouts are a practical solution for those who are short on time or want to break up their exercise routine.
Going for a jog once a week may seem enough if you start with running. Running once a week keeps your body stagnant. Still, unfortunately, it is too long between sessions for your body to get used to it, making the start of each run as brutal as the previous one. However, upping your sessions to twice a week will at least get your body adjusting to the movements involved with running. Increased heart rate, breathing heavier, and pressure on joints can be a bit of a shock to a body. As you get used to running twice a week, your body will recover quicker but not completely relax.
Running has been proven to be one of the best workouts for your body. It's full of cardiovascular benefits, such as lowering blood pressure and improving heart health. Running is also a great way to build muscle, lose weight, and increase bone density.
If you can, you should try and achieve running three times a week. This is a great way to focus on your technique and posture and control your breathing. Over time this will quickly improve your runs and make them easier to do more often and for longer. Most experts agree you should aim for three to four days a week of activity with at least one day of complete rest and recovery. When you first get started with your workouts, try out runs of 20 to 30 minutes for beginners. This could look like a mile in the distance, up to three miles for the super-fast.
Studies have shown that the most optimum running schedule per week is 2.5hours a week, approximately 30 minutes, five days a week to enjoy the full benefits of running and recovery. Some enthusiastic individuals might try to run every day, but this is bad for your health. It increases the risk of injuries like stress fractures, shin splints and muscle tears from overuse. Rest is as important as the activity! The risk of injury increases for people who try to run every day. For those who want to maintain a healthy running routine, it is best to space out running days with strength training days.
If you work out your goal, then our app can work out the training schedule and amount of times a week you should be training to achieve that goal. This is a much easier process than choosing a time you would like to hit and flogging yourself to achieve it without any time for guidance or recovery.