Maintaining an active lifestyle is not always easy. It requires a lot of planning, dedication and willpower to consistently turn up at the gym or lace up your running shoes. But there are countless benefits to pushing towards an active lifestyle, including weight management through calorie burning, building bone and muscle strength, improved cardiovascular health, increased energy levels and mental well-being.
While those are naturally appealing things, for people who have largely led a more passive lifestyle, getting to the starting line can be extremely difficult. Many of us spend a lot of time in front of the television or doom-scrolling social media. Other common pastimes include using our devices to play everything from the latest video game releases to snapping up casino reload bonuses on licensed online gambling platforms. So, to the gamer, getting into an active running lifestyle may feel like an arduous journey to undertake. However, here’s a look at how you can safely start swapping the screen for the streets.
Walking First
While the ultimate goal is to build endurance and speed for running, all of that needs to be first stripped away because the first step to getting into running is to walk. There are huge benefits to walking, with around 10,000 steps per day being a recommended sweet spot.
You don’t have to start there if you are going from being a screen warrior to a runner. Start with manageable chunks, even if that’s 2,000 steps per day, or set yourself a minimum time, like 15 minutes of just pure walking. Being consistent with this will get your body ready for running by firing up the muscles and increasing blood flow.
Run-Walk
The intermediary step between walking and running is the run-walk stage. This is where you blend the two things, but initially with a greater emphasis on walking. A good example of this is starting with a two-minute walk and then breaking out into a 30-second jog. That sequence can be repeated as many times as you want in a session.
Adaptability is the key for this one, because as you practice this more, over time you can start changing the timing, maybe increasing the jog to one minute, then one and a half minutes and then an even split of walking and jogging. Gamers would probably compare it to leveling up. At first you grind through easy missions, but as you build stamina, you unlock longer runs that feel more natural. Eventually, you will reach the tipping point where your run segments will be longer than your walking ones.
Your Body Knows
People often think about speed when running, but it really isn’t of importance. Whether you can run a 5k in 15 minutes or 40 minutes, you will still have completed the distance, which is something to be proud of.
Running also doesn’t have to take up a lot of time. It’s a quick-out-the-door type of exercise, and that leaves plenty of time to still enjoy getting home and enjoying indoor things while recovering and resting.
It’s all about finding a lifestyle balance, and that’s true of your body. You will always get aches and pains in an active life, but if your body is telling you to stop a session because there’s a sharp pain somewhere, listen to it. Just like in long gaming sessions, where ignoring fatigue usually leads to mistakes or burnout, the same rule applies here. Take the cues seriously, and you’ll last longer in the run.
Increased Challenges
There’s always progress to push for with running, and it’s worth revisiting targets to see how far you have come. Once your body is used to jogging through the run/walk system, you can start doing full jogging sessions, and from there, gradually increase the total session time. Maybe it’s just an extra 5 minutes total per week, at least that’s still progression.
Progress comes from increasing time and not speed, because the core thing you are building is endurance. Naturally, as your general fitness improves, it will get easier to run for longer periods. Eventually, if you start targeting speed after you have laid a foundation down, interval training (jogs with sprint intervals) is a fantastic way to integrate it.
The Warm Up and Warm Down?
Don’t forget to warm up for sessions, especially through the early weeks, as your muscles won’t be ready for the task ahead. Gentle stretches, squats and lunges are great for this, as is some light walking on the spot. It’s not much different from the warm-up rounds in shooters like Counter Strike, where you loosen up before the real action begins. Your body needs the same kind of prep to perform well. Warming up gets the body in the mood, and warm downs at the end of a session, typically more gentle stretching, can feel great as well.
The Leading Choice
The great thing about running is that it doesn’t need any specialist equipment. Just a good pair of sneakers and comfortable clothes, and you can get out the door with no gym subscription required. Inclement weather can be a challenge, so that’s when treadmills can be very useful, but training outdoors on a range of surfaces and inclines is a much better overall workout for strength, coordination and balance.
When moving into an active running life from behind a computer, it’s always important not to bite off more than you can chew at first, to remain consistent and to celebrate the small wins.