8 Tips to Prepare Your Body for Jogging
Spring and summer are the best seasons of the year for lots of activities, especially jogging. This kind of running in a leisurely manner is the choice of many people who live in the city, work in the office and want to keep their health in top condition.
Both running and jogging have a great number of advantages, but you should remember that even these, at first glance, harmless kinds of sports can bring sufferings, if you treat them with inanity or do something wrong. I’m not going to advertise super professional sport instructors or something else. Nowadays there’re a lot of free online lessons on how to run or jog properly. I just want the beginners to understand that all types of sports and physical exercises require pre-training, modern equipment, apparel and strong desire.
Every human being is individual in both physical and mental aspects. Someone can hit the distance with ease, because they’re more tolerant of exercise stress, while others usually lose their breath in a quite short period of time. If you’re not an inborn runner, you shouldn’t give way to despair, because nothing is impossible in this world. Here are some basic rules that’ll help to make your run safe, useful, positive and comfortable.
1 Consult your doctor
Jogging is a quite active physical activity that sets all the systems of your body in motion. You should be sure that your body is ready to face this challenge and take an advantage of it. But how can you do it? You should pay a visit to your doctor and ask them for a valuable advice. These consultations and different medical examinations will help you understand whether you have physical or mental limitations that can prevent you from running or not. If you think that pushing through pain and discomfort will solve the issue, then you’re mistaken.
Don’t listen to those who say that exercise can heal all diseases. Sometimes uncontrolled heavy and long-lasting physical exercises can turn an already ill person into an invalid, especially if some parts of their musculoskeletal system aren’t alright. By all means, dedicate time to this vitally important question, After all, it’s better to prevent than cure. As soon as you receive the blessing of your doctor, you’ll be able to make jogging a significant part of your everyday life.
2 Wear comfortable and breathable clothes
Nowadays people try to cut down their expenses in every possible way. Saving is a perfect willpower booster, but when it comes about your health and comfort, you should prioritize your emotional and physical well-being. One of the best ways to prepare your body for jogging and run is to go to specialized shops where you’ll have an opportunity to find and buy all the necessary workout apparel. If you’re hesitating whether to buy cotton pieces of clothing or synthetic ones, give your preference to light synthetic fabrics.
Pay considerable attention to the selection of jogging shoes, if you don’t want to suffer from the feeling of heaviness, pain and leg swelling after the run. If you take into consideration all these pieces of wisdom, your body will be truly grateful to you.
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3 Proper warming up and stretching techniques
I’ve noticed that I usually face numerous problems and challenges, because I’m used to run to extremes in everything I do. I either do absolutely nothing to keep fit and healthy or plunge into sports so deeply that my body becomes overly stressed due to heavy physical exertions. I’m sure that every day millions of people, unfortunately, make the same mistake.
Every runner, especially the beginners should know that all physical activities without proper warming up can provoke a terrible spasm and result in tension in muscles. It will certainly lead to chronic pain, discomfort in your body, sudden ligamentous laxity or even disruption.
If you want to become a professional runner in future, you should make it a habit to warm up before jogging and running. It’s as important as a prayer before meals for me. It usually takes me 15 minutes to increase the range of motion of my joints and warm up every muscle of my body.
4 Listen to your body signals
When I start running I usually feel physical and mental pleasure. Sometimes this pleasure can be replaced by negative feelings or even some kind of pain. No matter how healthy you’re, you should always pay attention to your body signals. If something is wrong during your jog or run, the body will certainly let you know by giving you some hints. Your task is to keep them in mind and tell your doctor about the problem as sooner as possible. Vigilance and alertness can help you and your doctor diagnose even the most elusive and torpid disease and avoid all possible aftereffects of illness.
5 Go from jogging to running gradually
Jogging is a perfect activity that helps people leading a sedentary life become more active. If you’re not a good runner, then it’s desirable to start from jogging, because it requires less effort. Wise people say that it’s crucially important not to undertake more than it’s within your power to do. The main point is to start and stop gradually, because your body needs some time to adapt to new conditions and exertions.
If you’re frightfully puffed after the run, you shouldn’t stop in any circumstances. Doctors recommend people to go at a good clip at least 5 minutes after an active run. Gradual change of pace will significantly reduce the load on your cardiovascular system.
6 Strengthen your self-discipline and willpower
I can state with confidence that physical training is often not enough, because the productivity of your jogging depends mostly on the power of your mind and mood. If you want to take an advantage of jogging, then you should run systematically. But how can you do it, if your willpower and self-discipline leave a lot to be desired? In this case you should start from boosting your willpower. Today it’s not so difficult since the Internet and libraries are full of psychological books and articles dedicated to personal growth and development.
Before going for a morning run, I usually watch inspirational videos that increase my self-discipline and bolster my resistance to different temptations. Moreover, the song “The Eye of a Tiger” by the band Survivor, makes me believe in myself and run regardless of anything. This song is the soundtrack to my favorite film “Rocky”.
Read also – 7 Exercises That Will Transform Your Body
7 Give your body a rest
Both runners and power lifters should take a break from physical activity for at least one or two days. These rest periods give your body a chance to restore, adapt to systematic trainings, and become stronger and healthier. People who neglect this rule will never achieve a desirable result, because constant exertion will quickly unbalance almost all systems of your body. The best way to avoid chronic muscle spasms and weakness is by creating your own running schedule. You should stick strictly to every point of your training plan and try to go jogging approximately at the same time.
8 Avoid talking when jogging
Only professional runners can take control of the process of breathing in different conditions. If you’re not one of them, then you’d better follow this advice. There’re different opinions about this point. Some people prove that talking during the run is useful, because it effectively develops human breathing system. Frankly speaking, I don’t support this point of view. When you’re talking during the jog or run, you unintentionally hold your breath and oxygen levels in your muscles automatically get low. You have a lot of time every day to communicate with your friends. When jogging, try to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings instead of talking.
Every type of exercise is a unique and useful in its own way. It can bring either joy, victories, good emotions and satisfaction or pain, discomfort and traumas. Everything depends on you, because you’re the master of your life. Go in for sports, but try to stick to the rules and requirements, because some mistakes can cost you your health. I hope these tips will help you prepare yourself for jogging and avoid any serious issues. Do you have any other pieces of advice on how to make your jogging session a safe workout? Share your experiences in the comments section.
