Get Off the Couch to 5K Running in 6 Week From Now!

This video outlines the actions you need to take if you're going to start running and training for a 5k race. Following the video is a transcript of the clip.

“Hi there, my name’s Jago Holmes. I am a certified fitness expert and the author of 5K training For Beginners and the creator of the site couch to 5k dot com. 

It’s a site devoted to beginners of all fitness levels who would like to go on to run a 5k in the shortest amount of time possible. 

If you’re fit and active at the moment and do some form of exercise and you’ve done some running in the past, then running a 5k is very, very achievable, I do it with my clients all the time. It’s something that can easily be done.  

However if you’re a complete beginner and you do no form of exercise at the moment and you’ve never done any running in the past, then you’re going to need a little bit longer to get to that point, probably between 8 to 10 weeks I would suggest. 

Now Obviously at this point with this short amount of training, you’re not going to go on to win the race, but you’ll quite easily be able to complete one. 

Before you do get off the couch to 5k running however, there are a few things you need to do first. 

I would suggest that you go to a doctor. This would obviously depend on your age, your weight, if you got or have any health issues, to get yourself checked out to make sure you’re ok to do this form of exercise. Whilst you’re there, I’d suggest that you maybe get booked in to see a physio if you’ve got any injuries or niggles that you need sorting out because these could potentially flare up to be quite serious in the long run. 

The next thing you need to do is to buy a good pair of running shoes. Your running shoes should be the most expensive item in your running kit and something that you really need to take seriously. I would recommend going to a specialist running store because they will be able to test your running gait and style and select the right type of shoes for you.  

The next thing you need to do is do some research. You need to understand how your body changes and why it changes and why you should be doing the things you should be doing.. You’ll also learn how to push further, if you need to push further or back off if your body needs a bit of a rest. 

For beginner runners, I would always suggest that you start off by power walking, building up to gently jogging and then further down the line maybe running. 

Always take between 24 – 48 hours rest if you’ve had a particularly challenging workout. By particularly challenging I don’t mean just strolling. Strolling or walking you can do 2 or 3 times any without any problems at all. 

Ultimately we are looking to building up to running three times a week, no more than this. You’ll always look to having a couple of day complete rest and always progressing slowly but training consistently.