Moving from walking to jogging is an intuitive and natural step. Yet it can easily get overlooked.
By missing this step, you could easily wear yourself out, or even sustain a minor injury, by firing off on all cylinders, rather than building from a base of an established stable pace because you jumped right into the jogging aspect before you were ready.
Perhaps, and possibly even worse, is that without employing the proper techniques we're about to describe, you could very well convince yourself that jogging just isn’t for you.
So we have put together an easy to follow outline of how to use the walking to jogging method.
It's fit for almost everyone, at any fitness level, and almost every age.
Getting into the groove
Maybe you used to be an avid jogger and took a break to focus on other things such as playing music, making art, or taking all those vacations you’ve worked so hard to earn in your retirement.
Or maybe you've never jogged at all and want to learn how to start!
Using the walking/jogging method can help everyone, from beginners to veteran joggers, as it is proven to improve overall endurance on both ends.
Adding jogs to walks helps beginners get into the groove of adopting and even enjoying a quickened pace.
Adding walking intervals into your already established jogging or running routine can help increase your endurance levels. It can also add distance, or time to your best record because it actually helps relieve stress on stress points in your knees and ankles, decreasing your risk of injury.
So, whatever your reasons, walking/jogging intervals are a great way for you to increase your stamina by building up to longer distances at your own pace.
Learning how to jog isn’t a complicated task, and it starts like much of life: with baby steps.
What you need:
A watch.
A pair of running shoes.
Determination! (And a water bottle)
That’s it!
How to start?
Get your stretch on! Do a few warm up stretches such as: lunges, standing spinal twists, and a forward folds - to get the blood moving.
Go for a walk! Do this for a week and you will have activated the same muscle groups that jogging does, thereby preparing your body for a bit more steam ahead…
Set a time/distance goal. Start small. I recommend sticking to just 15-minutes, or about 1km, of walking/jogging, at first. Then begin adding 5 minutes, or approximately half-a-kilometer, to your routine until you meet your ultimate goal. With that in mind, remember that a marathon is 42km (26.2 miles) in length, and 4 to 5 hours is a good average time for high level runners. So unless you're preparing to run a marathon, choose a time limit or distance goal that makes sense for you.
Just do it! Get outside! Or, on your treadmill… and go for it!
Time yourself. Start with a 5 minute walk to warm yourself up, then move to 1 minute or so of jogging, and go back and forth between walking and jogging at your own pace until you've met your time or distance goal.
Pace yourself! Walking too slowly won’t elevate your heart rate enough to move easily between jogging and back, so keep a brisk pace and pump those arms so it’s easy to move between forms!
Go easy on yourself! Build your way to longer distances and blocks of time slowly and don't be too hard on yourself. Just keep trying.
Build on your success. Work towards increasing the amount of time you jog for while reducing your walking time. Before you know it, you’ll be jogging the whole time!
To learn more about How to stay fit at any age, check out our blog for fun, informative tips on everything from fitness to nutrition for Ageless Golfers just like you.
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