Written By: Dr Aashish Contractor | Updated : May 21, 2014 5:34 PM IST
The Mumbai marathon is around the corner, so its time to dust off your old running shoes and hit the road. But wait a minute while it sounds great to turn back the clock and get some oxygen roaring through tired lungs; do not succumb to the weekend warrior syndrome. This usually happens when after years of inactivity you suddenly decide to get physically active and directly hit the top gear, often leading to injury.
Several of you might be walking regularly, but running is a different sport altogether. While running, there are times when both your feet are off the ground simultaneously unlike walking. Now this may sound insignificant, but in practice one needs to build up to running in a gradual manner. Here's a step-by-step guide to get there:
Below is a sample six-week training schedule to help you run for 30 minutes.
| Walk | Run | Total minutes | Number of cycles |
1st week | 4 min | 1 min | 30 min | 6 cycles of walk-run |
2nd week | 6 min | 2 min | 40 min | 5 cycles of walk-run |
3rd week | 4 min | 4 min | 40 min | 5 cycles of walk-run |
4th week | 2 min | 6 min | 40 min | 5 cycles of walk-run |
5th week | 1 min | 5min | 30 min | 5 cycles of walk-run |
6th week | 1 min | 9 min | 30 min | 3 cycles of walk-run |
How do you know you're going overboard?
For safety, the intensity (how hard should you exercise) is very important. To obtain maximum cardiovascular benefit, you should exercise between 55-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. Therefore if you are 40 years old, your maximum heart rate is 180, and you should exercise between 99 and 119 beats per minute, which corresponds to 55 to 85% of your maximum heart rate. The lower end of the heart rate range is for older and de-conditioned people. As your fitness level improves you can start exercising at the higher end of the heart rate range.
If you do not want to actually measure your heart rate a simple way of monitoring exercise intensity is the talk test. If you are too breathless to carry on a conversation with someone beside you, then you are probably working too hard and need to slow down.
A third method is to use a system called Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Using this, you should exercise at an intensity which you perceive to be between 'fairly light' and 'somewhat hard'.
The author Dr Aashish Contractor is a renowned preventive cardiologist and the Medical Director of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.
Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
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