Every time I’ve slipped on some running shoes and taken myself out for a trot around the block, I’ve had a horrible time. I make a few more attempts, but my running journey always ends before it's really begun.
I've recently been wondering if there's something about my approach that's off, and when I got the chance to speak to Milica McDowell, a doctor of physical therapy and exercise physiologist, I asked for her opinion on why my attempts at running always seem to fail.
She explained that the concept of progressive overload, something I'm familiar with from strength training, applies to walking and running too, and that I might be biting off more than I can chew when I dive right in trying to run miles with no build-up and a low baseline of physical fitness.
"Exercise physiology principles say that if you're a deconditioned person we would add 5% more per week and if you're a well-conditioned person we would only add 10% more per week," says McDowell. So, by diving in with miles of solid running I was pushing myself well beyond even the 10%.
It seemed obvious once it was explained. I understood how to safely progressively overload my muscles when lifting weights, but never thought of taking the same approach with running or even walking. I’d been setting myself up to fail from the first step. But how should I have set myself up for success?
Milica McDowell is a doctor of physical therapy, with more than 20 years of experience in sports orthopedics. She served for nine years as a member of the university faculty in health and human performance at Montana State University-Bozeman and is an expert in exercise, fitness, walking, shoes, healthy habit stacking, behavior change, sports medicine, orthopedics, injury prevention, posture and gait mechanics. McDowell is also a personal trainer, gym owner, 13-time Ironman finisher, 50km ultramarathon finisher and a CrossFit level 1 certified coach.
How should beginners start running?
If you’ve resolved to start running this year and are a complete beginner, then you’re going to take it a lot more slowly than you think, doing walk-run intervals that build slowly over weeks. Couch to 5K plans are handy because they build slowly and safely.
"What we typically recommend for individuals transitioning from a walk to a run is to consider their walk-to-run ratio," says McDowell. Bearing in mind that the progressive overload principle of not increasing the pressure on your body more than 5% if you move very little, or 10% if you’re a reasonably fit person already at a time (be that speed, weight, incline or another form of resistance), then jumping in with even one mile of running is going to put your body under undue strain and increase your risk of injury.
"Walk for one minute, then run for one minute, or walk for two minutes and run for one minute to start improving your tolerance for running if you're switching from walking," says McDowell.
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