Taking up running is one of the best things that you can do for your health. Even those early runs where you finish a short distance, exhausted, achy, and feeling a bit sick, go a long way to improving your cardiovascular health, boosting circulation, strengthening and toning muscles, and burning calories.
6 Lifestyle Tips for Beginner Runners
Running regularly and pushing yourself to go further and faster is also fantastic for your mental health. Knowing that you are taking such a positive step towards better health and decreasing your risks of developing a wide range of conditions can be a brilliant confidence boost. Running also gives you a chance to clear your mind, burn off tension, and even spot solutions to problems.
Getting started as a runner is the first step, and it’s a great one, but it’s hard. Those first few runs can leave you feeling like you’ve been hit by a bus. It does get better and can even become enjoyable, but it takes hard work and effort. Part of this happens during the run itself. But, there are actually plenty of lifestyle changes that you can make to maximize your workouts, improve your times, and make running easier.
Take Rest Days
You might be keen to push on, especially if you are trying to lose weight or have a specific fitness goal. But, running too often can damage your muscles and make injuries far more likely. Rest days between big runs are important for recovery, but also muscle growth.
If you don’t want to skip exercise entirely, practice yoga, go swimming, or even for a long walk on these days, just don’t push yourself too hard.
It’s also important not to be too still on your rest days or in the hours immediately after your runs. You might feel like sitting on the sofa all day, but this can lead to stiffness. Try to move a little, walk around the house, and get up and stretch when you can.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep is so essential to recovery and is probably what your body needs more than anything else. Go to bed early the night before a run so that you’ve got plenty of energy to burn. Then, after a run, you want to get a lot of sleep, making sure you get some deep sleep, which is when your muscles rest and restore the most.
Don’t Only Hydrate While You Run
You should drink water during your run and straight after to hydrate as much as possible. But remember, your body will require extra hydration while it recovers too. In fact, getting into good habits, like drinking water with meals and sipping throughout the day, even on rest days, will help to keep your body strong and healthy.
Practice Yoga
Yoga is excellent for runners. After a run, it can help stretch your muscles out, decrease aches and pains, and reduce the risk of injuries. Yoga can also help strengthen your muscles and improve your posture, both of which can make you a better runner.
Plan Your Before and After Food
What you eat before and after your run is important. Chances are you will be hungrier on run days, but you shouldn’t just try to eat the extra calories that you’ve burned. To aid recovery and boost your energy levels, you need extra protein. Eggs, oats, chicken breasts, and yogurt are all ideal.
Plan Your Week
Running is hard and certainly not something that we all look forward to. It can be easy to make excuses and put your runs off. You are less likely to do this if they are written down in your diary. Sit down at the start of every week and plan the coming days. Schedule your runs for when you have plenty of time, and then stick to it.
The more you commit to running, the better you will get, the easier it will become, and the more benefits you will start to feel. Committing to running often means creating a healthier lifestyle and routines.
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