This is a trial program based on the simple 5×5 program. A cycle will go through 4 weeks and load will be increased gradually. All exercises part of the program done with 5 sets of 5 reps each. If a full 5×5 can be performed fully, weight will be increased by 5 – 10 lbs. There must be a gradual improvement every time the same exercise is performed.This program is a 3 day alternating program. For example, Monday Wednesday and Friday. All days in the middle should be used for running/swimming/ sports.

4 weeks cycle

Sample program is attatched below…

Week 1Session 1

First on the list is obviously a good pair of shoes as I previously mentioned. It might be confusing to walk into a sports store and find a wall of fancy shoes with hefty price tags and all of which claim to be the best. A good place to start might not be a sports store but a local running store where they can custom fit your shoe for you. It should feel comfortable when you first put it on and feel natural when you walk around in it. It’s a good idea to take the shoe to a treadmill and run a bit to see how it feels so you can exchange it if needed.

After you have a good pair of shoes, you need a good pair of socks. Now you might be wondering what’s wrong with your cotton socks. They are perfectly fine if they don’t cause you any problems but from experience, I find that they can cause blisters if too heavily padded and basically make your feet sweat like a sauna. Invest in a few good pairs of running socks or at least some moisture wicking ones. Keep them just for running and they will work wonders for you for a long time.

Now that we have the important stuff covered, take a look at what you are wearing when you run. Basically, for most weather, shorts are perfectly fine. If it gets too cold for you to run comfortably in your shorts, buy a pair of compression fit pants or even a well fitting and light pair of track pants will do.

Cotton is fine for most occasions, but if you are running long distance, you tend to sweat a lot. Cotton will hold all the moisture in and you end up running with a cold, wet sheet of fabric against your skin. Not the best thing. There are a number of options here but generally, anything that says “moisture wicking” is a good bet. Find a good fit and it’s a good idea to buy a short and long sleeve top to alternate them with varying weather conditions. Even if the temperature goes to about 2-6 degrees Celsius, if you layer the 2 shirts, you should be fine because when you run your body tends to heat up quite a bit after the first kilometer or so. Running in below freezing temperatures is another story and you need the proper jackets, gloves and warm headgear. If you are just starting out I would head for the treadmill if it’s freezing outside just to keep yourself safer.

To summarize, with a good pair of shoes and socks you should be able to put that extra edge into your training. Combine that with proper clothing, you can confidently take on and train for anything that comes your way!

Once you’re started a workout program or an exercise routine, one of your main motivations should be to increase performance.For a runner it is important to run farther and faster. Bodybuilders will want to add more weights to increase strength and muscle mass. For a slightly overweight person guess what it important? … many things but you get the point: efficient aerobic exercise, better diet, etc.If a better performance is not one of your main workout goals then you may be focusing too much on results, which are really lacking if your overall performance is lacking. Note this is not a science, but it is my opinion. You can leave comments and let me know what your opinions are!

Breathing

Enhanced exhalation while exercising can increase lung capacity which means your will be able to get more oxygen. With more oxygen in your lungs your heart has to do less work to keep your blood oxygenated. There is also a better muscle efficiency due to greater blood flow. Deep and conscious breaths can significantly help with improving heart and lung efficiency.Keep in mind that conscious deep breathing techniques don’t have to be done during cardio exercise or any other exercise only. It is a good idea do them while you are resting. This is in fact one of my warm up instructions from my trainer about five years ago.

Keep a variable pace during the workout

Having the same pace during the whole workout is not only monotonous, but may not be exactly make a well-balanced workout program. With aerobic exercise for example, metabolic pathways that are responsible for energy generation during anaerobic metabolism are not exercised properly. That doesn’t mean, however, that aerobic exercise is not efficient; aerobic exercise is probably highly valuable part of your program alone. Same thing goes for bodybuilding. Strength training and exercise sets until failure can be helpful.

Don’t ignore cooldown

After a long and intensive aerobic training you definitely want to leave some time for cooling down. It is not a good idea to stop abruptly. You want to have the blood continue to circulate and slow down gradually. This way metabolic waste that is build up during exercise will have time to redistribute properly. So instead of stopping to catch your breath, keep moving for another 10 minutes until you’ve cooled down.

Sleep

Sleep is important for recovery. Sleeping every night around the same time and getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep is an optimum. If you workouts or performance is not doing so well, maybe you’re not getting enough sleep.

Don’t overtrain consistently

If you are continuously doing aerobic exercise and your pulse is higher by 5-10 beats than what it should be then you may be overtraining. This is different from keeping a difference pace during workout. I would say this will not help if you are consistently overtraining. Overtraining can cause fatigue and your workouts are less desirable because they will be hard. Overall, you are not producing better results if you are trying to burn some more energy and get out of the exercise sooner.

I injured myself several times now while running. I thought, in order to prevent these injuries I need to understand why they happen in the first place. It is a bit obvious, since in a way I am torturing my body and a while ago I didn’t. Still, I started doing some research to at least find out how to minimize these injuries.

1. Wearing Proper Shoes - I actually went to pediatrist to check my feet and shoes didn’t seem to be a problem. I think this is a fairly decent shoe that I’m wearing, but I’ll probably get something a bit better. By that I mean making sure that if fits better and it’s easy to walk. This is common sense, nothing new.

2. Proper Stretching - Understanding what muscle you’re using is important to knowing how to stretch. This is probably true since I have a stretching routine after 10 minutes of running usually. I have never thought about whether this routine is good enough though. I googled the topic and sure enough, there are lots of stretching. This is definitely something I can work on. I will post more on this! Reading a few articles on about, I find these general guidelines:
- focusing on the muscles you’re using: stretching your hands is probably not going to help much
- warming up: a definite must before any workout
- starting slowly with the run: this will gradually losen up the muscles and you’ll probably last longer
- don’t overstretch: this can be painful and harmful. no details here…

3. Avoiding too much workout - Overtraining will almost always result in injuries. This always happens to me with weight lifting. One of my trainers said this is a good news and it means that the burn triggers muscle growth and its a sign that it’s working. However, you probably want to account for joint or other injuries. These injuries can take longer to heal.

4. Running on right surface - You probably want the ground to to absorb the shock. Trying to avoid concrete as much as possible. Its probably the worst surface for running, about 10 times harder than asphalt. Grass or gravel is probably the best surface for running.

Last 10k I think I might have injured my knee a bit. Maybe this will be okay by Wednesday, and hopefully all healed by Sunday, the race day I’m preparing for.

People take up running for different reasons…mostly to manage their weight, to compete in an event such as a 10k, or just to improve their general fitness level. Whatever the end goal, you will find that it is exponentially easier on your body and your spirit if you follow some key training principles. Having said that, I will also mention that there are few things that work for everyone. Running is a sport where you really need to listen to your body and really work at your own level. The only thing that’s universally true is to put one foot in front of the other. Following some of the advice below, you should be able to put that one foot forward hopefully with much more ease.

Patience and distance

Patience or the lack of is the single worst enemy of new runners. Many people give up running simply because they were trying to go too fast. Your body needs the time to adapt to the new sport and the stresses that come with it. You need to ease into your training especially if you are just starting off. Try running a few minutes a day to begin with and see how you feel. Only gradually increase the lengths of your run after you feel comfortable running a few K. The key is to gradually increase the distance of your run slowly without trying to run too fast. Having a watch with a timer helps a lot to keep track of how long you have been running. Treadmills are a good place to start too since all the information about your run is displayed for you to read but the best thing is to just get out there and run.

Have a plan

Training for a 10K is no different than training for any other sport. It helps if you find a good program to run with. Generally, running every other day for 15-20 mins a day is a good start. There are plenty of sites on the internet that offer good running programs for 10K, 5K or even a full marathon. As long as you pick one that can suit your lifestyle, it will probably work for you. It’s also important to remember that having a plan is not going to help you if you don’t stick to it so make sure you try and work running into your daily schedule. I find that if you can stick to a routine for about 2 weeks, it’s most likely to become a habit. Running should be no different than anything else you do in the day. Make it an activity you just have to do so you don’t skip it and you will soon find that you will be able to keep up with the best of them.

Buy some good gear

Most people make the mistake of just slapping on a pair of cross trainers, a cotton shirt and a sweatshirt to go out running. I say mistake because it’s fine if you are just doing it to run maybe 1 or 2K once in a while but if you are really looking to excel with minimum pain, you need some good gear. A good pair of running shoes, a few running shirts and a pair of shorts should pretty much set you up for running in any weather.

At first it might seem overwhelming with the variety of shoe choices and gear out there but if you visit a local running store such as “The Running Room”, they will be more than happy to help you find a good pair that fits you. Having at least 2 dry-fit shirts help as well. Unlike cotton, these shirts will not get heavy as you run and will not stay sweaty for long afterwards as well. The last thing you want after a run is to go home with a wet shirt and risk getting sick, preventing you to do any more running. Even on cold days, you really don’t need more than 2 layers of clothes and a pair of shorts to get through the run as your body tends to heat up quite a bit 10 mins or so into your run.

For beginners, it’s sometimes not a bad idea to look up some local running groups to join. You can learn much about gear and also some valuable advice about running can be picked up. Most importantly, it’s always easier if there is some peer pressure to stick to your routine. Good luck!

Goal must be attainable.
An important step to making a effective exercise program is to know and understand the outcome and results that you are interested in. Of course, you already “know”. The point, however, is to gauge your results and have the goal be specific. The efforts will seem more worthwhile that way. For example, it might be a good idea to plan a loss of 1 pound per week or improving your BM ratio by x%. Not only will you have a goal, but you are able to track your progress and see if you’re doing a good job or not.

Exercise goals written down
You may want to gain 5 pounds of muscle or lose 10 pounds of fat. Write it down. Being specific about what you want to achieve will give you greater chances of success.

Plan how will you reach your goal
If you are interested in losing weight then you should be doing cardio. If you want to gain muscle then you should be doing weights. To find out more about cardio or weight training routines check out the Exercise Guide. Basically, your goals have to be consistent with the workout program. This doesn’t mean that you should only stick to what’s in the program. However, you must make sure you complete those in your program regularly. For example, I often find weight lifting to be more entertaining that cardio, but cardio is what my program tells me to do.

Consistency is the key
One of the powerful secrets to exercise programs is being consistent with workouts and diet. Complete your workouts every time, every week, every month. Stick to a diet that is properly synced with your workout. If you need carbs have varbs and when you need proteins have proteins. If you are unable to complete exercises or stick to a diet, try to make up for it whenever you can.

Never give up
Take your exercise program easy. You don’t need to overdo it or feel terrible that you couldn’t do it either. There are many exercises out there that will take you time to get used to. Don’t worry about yesterday; you can’t change what already happened. Think about tomorrow and how you will reach your goal. If the workout program is impossible for you, change it but do not quit.

Try to change your exercise program often
If you’ve gotten good at some exercises but are terrible with others it’s time to change the program. This is very important (at least for me personally)! You really want to have a balanced workouts combination so that all your body muscles are well trained. Don’t be afraid to change the workout program every month or so. It’s important to understand your goal. If you are looking to lose weight or gain muscle, then throwing a new exercise that is hard and throwing out an easy one will do you good. Unfortunately, workouts should not be easy. You agreed to face a challenge, right?! Another reason why you would want to change workout exercises is that “Different workout exercises generally produce different results“. If you’ve been going on treadmill all the time and started doing some hiking later, you might still feel a muscle burn. This is a great job! Train all your muscles as opposed to a few that you usually do.