For someone who has undertaken little or no physical exercise for a number of years the advice is to proceed very cautiously once you have made the decision to exercise regularly. Although any cardio-vascular activity is better than none, if you are overweight, or suffer any chronic conditions or illnesses, it is wise to take professional advice at this early stage and establish what it would be safe and sensible to attempt. Suddenly increasing your level of exercise can be dangerous or even fatal.
Assuming there are no medical reasons why you should not gradually increase the level of your activity, you should begin by walking at a comfortable pace once or twice a week. Even at this stage introducing simple stretching exercises will improve your mobility and flexibility as well as helping to prevent injury. There are many sources of advice about effective stretching and some links to relevant websites can be found at the end of this article. You will read that you should stretch before and after any exercise session – but beware! Do not try to stretch cold muscles. You will do more harm than good. Always warm up with a few minutes walking before you do any stretching.
Whenever you increase your activity level, especially when you progress from walking to running, you are likely to find that your muscles and tendons react to the new strains put upon them by becoming stiff and sore. This is quite natural and can be avoided or reduced by stretching. You will also find that wearing a pair of comfortable, well-cushioned shoes will minimise stiffness and soreness. On rest days (when you do not walk or run) it will help enormously if you find time to spend 15-20 minutes stretching – gently! Again, do not forget to do some warm-up exercises or a few minutes walking first. If you can make stretching a part of your daily routine, it will bring huge benefits as you increase the speed and duration of your runs.
Despite all the advice to build up activity gradually, once you have got the running ‘bug’, it is likely that you will overdo things, running either too fast, too far or too often. This is particularly true when you begin to take part in races. Most runners are tempted to push themselves to the limit in a race. A regular, effective stretching routine will help to overcome stiffness and soreness, but be prepared to take some extra rest days if you have overdone your training or taken part in a race. Application of an ice pack, alternate with a heat pack, along with massage of the affected area can also help to alleviate the situation.
If you are not running, you can always do some alternative exercise (swimming or cycling) that uses different muscle groups and places less stress on your joints and tendons. Trying to run on stiff, tired muscles is almost bound to lead to an injury, which might result in having to rest for several days, if not weeks. Injury prevention is always better than the cure.
If the worst happens and you have a muscle tear or strain, you need to apply an ice pack as soon as possible in order to reduce inflammation, swelling and pain.
Links to websites with advice on injury prevention and stretching:
Running for Fitness, Health and Fun
