“I would like to begin running. How do I get started?”
This is a question I get a lot, and it’s a loaded question. What makes it loaded is the variability of potential starting points and considerations for somebody getting into running depending on their physical make-up and athletic background. The key points to consider for the gym bro that wants to start adding in more aerobic work as a hybrid athlete and the mother of 3 that just wants to pick up a new hobby while losing some weight in the process are quite different. While both might be new to running itself, the regular body lifter is likely going to have higher general upper and lower body strength that will likely allow them to adapt to the demands of running better from the jump. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume a healthy 40-year-old with minimal past fitness activity wants to get into running. These are the primary things I’m looking at as both a coach and clinician with helping them get started:
A. You Have to Learn to Walk Before You Can Run
This common saying I take literally for new runner’s and return-to-sport athletes alike. If you’re looking to get into running but do not already do a fair walking or other activities that have you on your feet for extended periods of time, then that’s our starting point. Attempting a literal Couch-to-5k overnight is recipe for misery and likely injury. This is why:
- Each step when walking causes you to exert anywhere from 1.5-6x the force of your body weight through your lower extremity joints and soft tissues, depending on which study you look at. Running causes these forces to double at least.
- Wolff’s Law states that bones adapt in response to the demands placed on them. Similarly, Davis’s Law states that soft tissues adapt to the demands placed on them. However, if the demand placed on the bones and soft tissues are too great or too frequent without allowing for proper remodeling and adaptation to occur, then bone stress injuries or soft tissue strains and tears can occur from training-related causes. Walking for extended periods of time allows for the new runner, or athlete that has been immobilized for an extended period of time, to have time for the bones, joints, and soft tissues to adapt to the strain they’re being placed under in a progressive fashion while mitigating the risk of injury.
Figure 1: Demonstration of the Response of Bone to Loading Forces2
- The above principles are especially important to abide by for those wanting to begin running to lose weight. Being overweight is by far the greatest risk factor for developing arthritis in major joints such as your knees or hips. It is estimated that being overweight can increase your chance of developing arthritis by 4-10x. As you can imagine, running while overweight will only increase the force and demands on your bones and soft tissues, raising potential for injuries and early-onset arthritis. For these reasons, I encourage individuals that are overweight that want to lose weight to prioritize walking and non-impact cross-training modalities until their weight comes down and they are able to enjoy running more thoroughly with less injury risk in the short-term and lower chance of developing arthritis in the long-term.1
- The question may arise, “Okay, I have been working really hard and lost some weight. How do I know when it is safe for me to start running? Is there an ideal weight range or body mass index (BMI) I should aim for?” The best indicator when starting out is to let your body be your guide and make sure you’re giving it the proper nutrition, rest, and time to recovery between running sessions. If you are starting to experience a possible flare up or excessive soreness, one of these variables may off or telling you that something has to change in the training plan. There are a vast number of reasons why your body might be struggling to adapt to the demands, so I always encourage athletes to come in for a movement screening and training progression analysis if unsure so we can get to the root of the issue.
B. Age
- There are many physical changes that happen to our body as we age that both affects our ability to perform and stay healthy while striving to do so. In master’s runners (40+ years old) we start to see decreased bone mass, muscle strength, and flexibility. Taking into consideration bone health is especially important for postmenopausal women, and requires increased attention to training load progression, strength training, and nutrition to decrease prevalence of bony issues.
- Physiological changes are also seen in aging athletes such as a decrease in maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), maximum heart rate, and cardiac output.
- The reasons above indicate that there should be differences in how we train master’s runners depending on their exact age, physical fitness level and prior medical and athletic history compared to a 23-year-old post collegiate athlete. Here are a few things I like to emphasize and employ with the master’s athletes that I coach:
- A) Increased time for recovery. This means increased time between hard workout sessions via increased easy running or complete rest days if needed. Generally, the older, more experienced runner will have a more developed aerobic system and they won’t have difficulty managing easy running or prolonged cross training. But from a musculoskeletal perspective they will require more strength work maintenance and more infrequent interval or pure speed work to prevent the likelihood of soft tissue injuries. To allow for adequate recovery I will generally limit each week to 1-2 “moderate-hard” sessions over the course of a 7-day week depending on the athlete or consider up to 3 more-difficult sessions over a 9-10 day “week”. Days in between will have a mix of easy days, cross training days, or complete rest days. This allows us to prioritize consistent training while staying healthy without unnecessarily risking injuries.
- B) Increased strength training. For all of the reasons mentioned above, I’ll encourage strength training from my athletes 2-3x per week after runs or on rest days to help support their body’s ability complete the training and decrease chance of injury. This will also allow them to get more “bang-for-your-buck” and increase the muscle fiber pool that they have to use at their disposal without having to participate in high-velocity sprinting. While sprinting is a more specific form of strength training for running, it has much higher injury-provoking potential and lower utility for the master’s runner than heavy strength training with proper technique.
- C. Training differences. This goes beyond the scope of this course, but aside from increased time for recovery and fewer workouts, I will use hill sprints as probably the only form of true speed work for master’s runners. Hill sprints allow athletes to increase muscle fiber recruitment and as a result increase muscle fiber pool while decreasing injury risk due to the resistance created by fighting gravity up the hill. I will also go heavy on Fartlek and lactate threshold type work as a form of “speed-work” for master’s athletes. This is because for the average runner that is used to only running easy, these increased paces will seem fast to them and should raise both their ceiling and floor of what paces they can sustain in a race. All the while, they will get the physiological benefits with fairly minimal risk of soft tissue injuries since they’re usually only running at a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of around 7.5-8/10.
C. Past Medical History (PMH), Past Injuries and/or Surgeries
- Part of performing a holistic intake evaluation of all my athletes is asking about any relevant underlying health conditions that can potentially impact training intensity and any physical limitations before we get started. For example, I currently have an athlete with a prior heart valve replacement that has been given restrictions on duration of running and amount of lifting he should be doing. Understanding the runner as an individual and not just an athlete is key to understanding their limits and working within them so they can still train safely and continue to enjoy the sport.
- When starting to work with a new athlete I always ask about previous injuries or surgeries. An unresolved shoulder injury could limit arm swing on one side which could lead to increased compensatory motion of the pelvis and the opposing leg. A hip impingement or labrum issue could lead to decreased hip flexion on the involved side, requiring compensatory leg extension on landing which can raise likelihood of developing shin splints, stress fractures, Achilles tendonitis, and more. Everything is interconnected. I consider it important to understand how all of the pieces come together so we can predict when athletes might be susceptible to certain injuries and properly correct the mechanism causing the injuries when they do arise.
- Similarly, past surgeries can also highlight same potential issues that lead to the injury in the first place, or there may be other compensations in movement patterns or strength imbalances picked up after the surgery that was not thoroughly corrected.
Running is a demanding activity that requires a thorough workup and plan covering many facets of each person’s life to be able to do it safely and enjoyably. There are many topics to cover in other modules that I take into consideration, but these are my big, baseline topics I’m evaluating to get an idea as to where to start when helping somebody begin their running journey.
References
2“Wolff’s Law and Bone Fracture Recovery | Respire Physical Therapy.” Respire Physical Therapy, 2023, respirept.com/wolffs-law-and-bone-fracture-recovery/.
1John Hopkins Arthritis Center. “Osteoarthritis: Role of Body Weight in Osteoarthritis – Weight Management.” Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, 2016, www.hopkinsarthritis.org/patient-corner/disease-management/role-of-body-weight-in-osteoarthritis/.