Today there were more people in the park and at the swimming pool than during the year. It doesn’t matter whether you said to yourself on New Year’s Eve or at any other time that you want to finally start moving. It’s important not only to start, but to start correctly so that you don’t end up doing it just as quickly.
Many of you, whom I saw today for the first time running in the park, or who came to swim in the “public”, will unfortunately end up disappointed in a few days and I’m quite sorry. Mainly because you wanted to make a change for the better, you started, but most of you will end up demotivated because you expected something more from it.
The most important information you need to hear is that you need to overcome the difficult beginning, which cannot be avoided, and take the right first steps.
I know what you feel, because I’m experiencing it too. I know what most of you don’t know, because you’ve never experienced it before. The body needs TIME to change and that usually takes 3-4 weeks. Every new habit takes time for changes to take place in us and the activity becomes a habit. Those who endure it and perform regular and proper physical activity will feel the positive effects after a month at the earliest. It’s the same as when I can’t run for a long time and “start over”. The first workouts are difficult. I can’t do it, my legs hurt, I can’t breathe, I just feel unpleasant sensations. In fact, I don’t enjoy running at all at first! But gradually, as my fitness increases and my body gets used to the change, endorphins start to flow out, which trigger that “feeling of happiness” for which we do sports. Suddenly, we feel good while running, we enjoy it and after running we feel better than before. That’s exactly what non-athletes don’t understand. They think we’re crazy people who run even though no one is chasing us and we’re not in a hurry. And they’ll never understand it until they start doing sports themselves.
That’s why it’s important to persevere, not give up, endure the initial discomfort that all of us who regularly exercise have gone through several times (e.g. after an injury, illness…). Later on, you’ll miss exercise. And it doesn’t matter whether you start swimming, weight training or running.
So just be patient and consistent and you’ll soon become a “crazy” addicted to exercise like me 🙂
The second important thing is to know how to start so that it has the desired effect. And here I recommend getting advice from personal trainers, or reading wise books. This way you can avoid not only unnecessary stagnation, but also learn the right movements from the beginning to prevent unnecessary injuries. After all, you also want to exercise for better health, right? Another advantage is the acceleration of improvement and growth in fitness. The right trainer can also motivate people and thus prevent premature termination of your resolution.
A few tips:
If you are starting out with running (or any other sport), don’t try to run as fast and as long as possible on your first workout. You will usually “run out of breath” after 5-10 minutes, or sooner, and you will just walk home. And so you will not achieve the desired training impulse to improve your fitness. It should last at least 30-40 minutes, so it is better to alternate a light jog with walking, e.g. 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking for at least 30 minutes! Over time, extend the light running sections (e.g. 6 x 4+2, 4 x 8+2, 3 x 12+2,..) until you finally run continuously for 40 minutes. Then you have won and you can start enjoying running and gradually start alternating different lengths of running with different intensities and even participate in easy running races.
The mistake is to start running every day. Start every other day, 3 times a week. Only after a few weeks of training, increase the number of training sessions per week, otherwise your body will not have time to regenerate and gradually fatigue will only increase. You can end up overtraining and that would be a shame, because a longer break would have to follow.
Swimming breaststroke with your head above water is worse for your cervical spine than if you did not swim at all. (And probably even the doctors who recommended you to swim do not know this.) As for increasing your fitness, it is similar to running. Start with short stretches with a break, which you will gradually shorten and at the same time extend the distance you swim without stopping.
I wish you many fulfilled resolutions!
