We often come across various articles about the benefits of running. And also about professional runners. But professionalism in this business often comes at a high price.
I personally know an old man who was a great runner in his youth. He took part in many prestigious competitions. Now he can even lift his leg up one step with someone else's help. And here you may have a question: is it possible to run in a way that brings only benefits? Trust my experience, it is possible. And what recommendations should be followed in this article, I will tell you.
Let me start with proper nutrition. Among people who start running regularly, many give it up after about a month. Why? Because their body becomes depleted. They don't get enough “fuel”. And that's why their vitality is gone, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath after doing the simplest everyday tasks, such as climbing stairs, appear.
Let's move on to the solution. And it's quite simple: you need to eat enough high-calorie food and quite often. And many people have problems with this. After all, with constant running, your appetite disappears. You feel light, and you don't even want to look at food. If this is relevant for you, try to create a strict meal schedule. This approach has several advantages.
Firstly, the body will digest it faster and spend less resources if the food is consumed on schedule. It prepares for each meal in advance. Secondly, this eliminates some hassle for you. You don’t have to painfully figure out what, how much and when to eat each time. You’ve already thought about it once – that’s enough.
Now some recommendations concerning the training process itself. How do most people go about their running training? They leave the house, plug their ears, and run. They take a lap around the neighboring yards, and as soon as they get to the house, they stop. When they get into the apartment, they drink a couple of glasses of water. This is an example of the wrong approach.
Now let's move on to the right thing. Firstly, before jogging, you should warm up, stretch your muscles, ligaments, and you definitely shouldn't start running “from scratch”. Just lying on the couch, looked at the clock, realized that you need to warm up, went out of the house and off you go…
Our body is a system that changes very gradually. Anything that happens abruptly is violence. And if you go from a calm state straight to running, it means a severe overload for all body systems. I already wrote in one of the articles that the body is capable of adapting to everything. And to this too. But not right away. The process of adaptation can be interrupted by a heart attack. So you need to go to running gradually. You need to start with a fast walk. You need to stop in the same way. If you stop abruptly, there is a sharp outflow of blood from the extremities, which again is fraught with a heart attack.
Listening to music while jogging? Yes, but you need to consider what kind of music it is. You shouldn't listen to music with a choppy or too fast rhythm. This disrupts your breathing and makes you run faster without noticing, which without proper preparation can lead to overload.
Drinking water immediately after running is very harmful. The heart has not yet had time to calm down, and it is additionally loaded with water that has entered the blood. The minimum interval after which you can drink water is 15-20 minutes. You need to drink in small sips, gradually. And not much. It is better to wait 15 minutes and drink more. But during long runs, drinking water is simply vital. Otherwise, the blood thickens and stops flowing through small capillaries. And the heart begins to pump it with difficulty. The rest of the recommendations are the same: small sips, long intervals.
How should you move while running? The body should be relaxed, only the necessary muscles should work. Breathing should be rhythmic and clear. You should not focus on it, it will be distracted. The foot should be placed on the ground gradually. The load should go to the muscles, not to the bones and joints. The arms are half-bent. The gaze is directed forward, in no case downwards. The back is straight. The palms are open.
Don't come home from running, immediately fall on the couch and turn on the TV. After all, running warms up the body perfectly. You can take a couple of dumbbells and do a few exercises. This will be more beneficial.
