I want to start a running program to get in shape?

Here is what I am thinking but have some questions along the way...


To start...


Run 1 mile every day.


Gym Monday-Friday working on my muscles. I alternate upper body/abs then lower body so I am not working the same muscles every day. I also use the machines for most of this - Are free weights better or are the machines ok?


As my stamina improves I will add distance - I will be running outside in my neighborhood so can add two blocks at a time.





Ideally, I would like to be doing 30 minutes of running every day, probably with Fridays off.





Any tips/suggestions would be much appreciated. Dietary advise also welcome.

I want to start a running program to get in shape?
Starting a running program is an admirable goal. There's no better aerobic fitness activity than running. First, if you haven't run before, I would suggest not starting with any preset distance goals. When I first started, one lap around the track made me feel like my legs were about to fall off. It took me several weeks to build up to a mile and a few months to build up to running 30 minutes continuously, so don't be discouraged if it takes some time to reach those goals. I would recommend running every other day at first instead of every day to allow your body to ease into this new activity.





At first, I would suggest a run/walk program, where you alternate short periods of running with walking breaks. The length of time you run will depend on your fitness level. It may be a couple minutes of running followed by five minutes of walking to recover, it may be only 30 seconds of running....whatever you can handle is ok. Once you catch your breath and feel up to it, start running again, and repeat. What this will do is allow you to ease into your running program with less stress on the body. It will also allow you to extend your workouts beyond what you could do with just continuous running. As your stamina improves, you'll gradually increase the length of your running intervals and shorten your walking breaks until you're running continuously.





Using the gym in parallel with your running is a good idea. It will help to develop the lean muscles that will improve your running and will also help to strengthen those areas of the body which are not heavily utilized in running, such as the upper body. Free weights will generally give you a more complete workout because you have greater range of motion and the surrounding muscles need to work harder to stabilize the weight. However, if you're new to strength training, I would suggest starting with machines because they're easier to work with than free weights.





Definitely alternate muscle groups while strength training. Have days where you focus on upper body, core strength, and lower body and rotate them so that each muscle group has a day or two to rest and recover between workouts. Remember that your muscles get stronger on rest days....work days are where the muscles are torn down, rest days are where the muscles are rebuilt stronger. Bear in mind that running is going to put stress on your lower body, especially your knees and quadriceps. You will probably want to avoid strength training the lower body on days where you also run.





Most important, take it slow to avoid injury and let your body adapt. Don't be discouraged when first starting out....if you stick with it, your stamina will improve steadily. Also, I'd suggest checking out some good running-related websites for more training information and tips. Here are my two favorites....





Runner's World (www.runnersworld.com)


Cool Running (www.coolrunning.com)





Good Luck!
Reply:Run 4 days a week, do a slightly longer run on the weekend, I would suggest a run/walk for 2 miles 3 days a week and a 3-4 mile run/walk on the weekend. Make sure that you have at least 24 hours rest before the long run. If you were to do it on a Saturday, don't exercise at all on Friday, take it easy.





With a run/walk - run for 8 minutes and walk for 1 minute.





Machines are great to get started with wieghts, remember low weights higher reps. Do 2-3 sets.





Good luck and have fun.
Reply:Marcus 75 answer is right on. I started my running program to far to quickly and ended up with shin splints. ummmm SUCKS lol. Now im thinking about changing my pattern to his.
Reply:if you are starting the most imporatnt is runnig during especific time at a comfortable pace , 30 minutes its okay,, you can run easy runs comfortable pace tuesday, thursday and saturday, the wednesday you can make some workout tempo runnings, speed sessions, i recomend rest fortwo days, or playing some basket or soccer like x-training, start in gym doing some abs 3 series of 20 and increasse every week five abs more, do some pushups, and work with weight doing leg extension , curl extension , bench press and shoulders the wigth must be half of your own wigth, if wight 80 pounds start with 40 pounds





feel free to contact me at elr23@rocketmail.com