3377: [Part 2] How to Go From Sedentary to Running in Five Steps by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on Building a Running Habit

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Health Daily, How to Go from Sedentary to Running in Five Steps, Part 2 by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net and I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your narrator of blogs covering health and fitness. I read to you from some of the most popular blogs out there, with permission from the authors and with a bit of my commentary at the end. Today's post is a continuation from yesterday, so if you're new here, definitely check out yesterday's episode first.

[00:00:59] And with that, let's get right to part two and continue optimizing your life. How to go from sedentary to running in five steps, Part 2 by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. The five steps. Okay, here are the five steps to becoming a runner.

[00:01:22] There are some rough time frames in each step, but the real rule is to increase only when you feel ready, and no sooner. If you need longer for a step, take longer. There's no rush. But if you think you can do it sooner, I would suggest that you not. Step one. Start walking. Start out walking just three times the first week, and four times the second. In the first week, you only need to do 20 to 25 minutes.

[00:01:52] Increase to 25 to 30 minutes the second week. After this, you can graduate to the next step. Or, if you'd like to stay in this step for a week or two longer, that's okay. If you stay longer, walk four times the third week, 30 to 35 minutes each time. The fourth week, stay at four times, but increase to 35 to 40 minutes each time. Step two. Start running slash walking.

[00:02:20] Do this step very gradually, just a little more each time. For this step, you'll continue to exercise four times a week. You want to warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Then, do a very, very easy run-walk routine. Jog lightly for one minute or 30 seconds if that seems too hard. Then walk for two minutes. Repeat these intervals for 10 to 15 minutes.

[00:02:47] Then, do a 10-minute walking cool-down. Do this step for two weeks or longer if you like. Step three. Lengthen the running. Once you're comfortable running for a minute at a time for several intervals each time you exercise, you're ready to start running a little longer. Continue to exercise four times per week. Increase your running to one minute and 30 seconds with an equal walking for 15 minutes.

[00:03:16] So, it would look something like this. One minute and 30 seconds of running followed by one minute and 30 seconds of walking. Do that for a total of 15 minutes. Follow this interval a couple times or more. Then, increase running to two minutes with walking for one minute. Do this a few times or more. Then, increase to running two minutes and 30 seconds and walking for 30 seconds to a minute.

[00:03:45] If any of these increases feels too hard, feel free to go back a step until you're comfortable increasing. Again, don't rush it. You should stay in this step for two to three weeks or longer. Step four. Follow the rule of nine. Once you start step three, you're basically running with short walking breaks. This can seem difficult, but it'll get easier. Commit to doing nine running workouts in step three. After that, it'll get easier.

[00:04:15] The first nine running workouts can be difficult, but after that, it almost always gets better and more enjoyable. Don't quit before the nine running workouts. After the nine, try running with only infrequent walk breaks. Step five. Take your running to new levels. First of all, celebrate. If you've made it to step five, you're now a runner. You might be walking a little during your runs, but there's nothing wrong with that.

[00:04:44] In fact, feel free to keep doing walk breaks as you work on your running endurance. Some runners have been known to do a marathon with walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking one minute. That's completely fine. Eventually, you probably won't need the walk breaks, but no need to rush. In this step, you want to continue taking your running to new levels. There are a number of ways to do this.

[00:05:08] You can gradually increase your running until you can do 30 to 40 minutes of running at a time, four days a week. Do this increase gradually, as you should be mostly running for 15 minutes at a time by the end of step four. Just increase by five minutes each week. Or you can sign up for a 5K. If you can run for 30 to 40 minutes, you can complete a 5K. Sign up for one. They are still doing 5Ks that you can do from home.

[00:05:35] And participate with the idea of just finishing. Have fun doing it. Once you've increased your running to 30 to 40 minutes at a time, you can also designate one run a week as your long run. Try to increase this by five minutes each week until you can do an hour or more. This is your endurance run, and it is key to most running programs. Then once you've built up some endurance, you can add some hills to your program.

[00:06:03] Add hills gradually by finding a more hilly course, and eventually adding hill repeats, where you run, kind of, hard up the hill, then run easy down the hill, and then repeat three to five times. After hills, do a little speed workout once a week. Do intervals of a couple of minutes of medium hard running with a couple of minutes of easy running. Now be sure to make these speed workouts shorter than your normal runs.

[00:06:29] If you run for 40 minutes, do 25 to 30 minutes for your speed workouts. Be sure, of course, to warm up and cool down with easy running for 10 minutes. Tempo runs are good workouts when you're ready. Here we're talking about a 10 minute warmup, then 20 minutes or so of running somewhere between your 10K and half marathon pace. That means going the pace you think you can race for an hour, but only doing it for 20 to 30 minutes. You can also run with a group or run alone.

[00:06:59] Don't always run alone or with a partner. Mix things up. You can also find new routes. Don't always run the same ones. Try running on a track. Try running in a different neighborhood. Try running on a treadmill or on trails. And finally, after you've done a few 5Ks, sign up for a 10K. Then sign up for a half marathon. Then a marathon. But do this one step at a time.

[00:07:26] Most of all, enjoy your runs. You just listened to part two of the post titled How to Go from Sedentary to Running in 5 Steps by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you've been optimizing your diet, your protein intake, your sleep, you're already ahead of most people. But here's one thing most of us completely miss. The quality of the water we're drinking every single day.

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[00:09:51] Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Dr. Neal Malik here for my commentary. Leo outlined this process really nicely. As I mentioned yesterday, running was never my favorite activity. And it's still not my favorite. On cardio days, I would choose to do almost anything else other than run. But, again, as I mentioned yesterday, I've come to respect and appreciate running as a way to clear my mind.

[00:10:18] Now, keep in mind, this is coming from a person who, in gym class back in junior high and high school, couldn't finish one full lap around the track without stopping. But when I started getting into improving my fitness in college, I targeted this weakness. And as Leo mentioned, very gradually built up my stamina. Now, I am still not a great long distance runner. Running a 5K still wipes me out.

[00:10:43] But, a quick one mile run as a warm up before I hit the weights makes me feel accomplished. For me, it's a huge accomplishment. I was like a 12 minute, 13 mile kind of kid in high school. And now, to be able to run a mile in under 10 minutes as a warm up to a workout? To me, that's huge. I've learned that incorporating running into my routine also makes every other exercise easier. And vice versa. So, when you regularly incorporate running into your routine,

[00:11:13] you'll find that walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator feels a lot easier. Your high intensity interval training sessions won't feel as exhausting. You start to appreciate yoga more. And, vice versa. Meaning, when you change up your routines on days you're not running, you'll find that your runs might feel easier. So, I hope Leo and I have convinced you to at least give running a try. We promise it's worth it. Alright, that'll do it for today.

[00:11:43] I hope you're having a wonderful week. Thank you as always for listening. And I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits. I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait. For this week, we'll be ready. And you'll be right back here. And I'll wait. You're right back here. You're going to be right back here. I'll wait. Thank you.