Best Ways to Become a Runner

Mind is All

If you have wished you could be a runner but have gotten overwhelmed everytime you tried to take it up, you will benefit from these painless methods of building up to running. If you don't ease into running, you'll find yourself wearing out too fast because running is truly challenging exercise. The least painful way to go from walking to running is to walk, then run, and then walk, and then run, slowly increasing how much you run versus walk. These methods won't transform you into a runner immediately, but they'll help you build up to running in such a way that the workouts will never feel like they are too much.

Try the stopwatch method of working from walking to running. Your handy dandy stopwatch can be an incredibly effective training tool. When working out, start out by walking to warm up. Next increase your pace until you are running at a comfortable pace, running until you feel it getting to be too difficult to be enjoyable. Time how long you can run at that easy pace and still enjoy it. Don't feel bad if it's only half a minute. Just slow to a walk, and using your timewatch, walk for twice the amount of time you ran comfortably. Alternate running and walking in this manner, always walking double the length of your run time. As you enjoy subsequent run/walking workouts, you'll want to change your ratios such that you walk and run equal amounts, and later run double what you walk, working towards running without any walking breaks at all.

Another way to ease into running is to use a heart rate monitor as a trainer. The heart rate monitor will help you adjust your exertion level such that it's never too much for you, but is challenging enough. Calculate out what your fat burning zone heart rate is, and then set out for your workout by walking. Once your muscles are warmed up, start running, watching your heart rate monitor, pushign yourself until your heart rate is up in your fat burning zone. Once you hit the upper end of your fat burning zone, slow to a walk, allowing yourself to recover until your heart rate dips down under the fat burning zone. Then run untll your heart rate peaks, and then walk again, keeping up this pattern so you'll have a challenging but managable workout. Eventually you'll work you way up to running and staying in your fat burning zone for an entire workout.

These methods may not be the fastest ways to become a runner, but they are the least painful and are easy to stick with.