Running is obviously one of the very best ways to get a lot of exercise, and it’s something that can be hugely beneficial for anyone. If you are thinking about getting into running, and you want to make sure you are doing so as effectively as possible, it’s important that you are keeping safe. Your safety is paramount if you are going to be running, as you are about to see, especially if you have not been running recently or for a while.
So in this article, we are going to discuss a number of things you’ll want to do and be aware of to ensure that you remain safe while running or jogging. All of the following are hugely important for you to bear in mind.
Take It Slow
If you are keen to develop your ability and your skills, you’ll want to make sure that you are taking it slow. There is a real danger with going too fast and trying to achieve too much at once, which is that you are much more likely to come to harm. As such, you will be safer and altogether much better off physically if you go slow, and gradually build up your skills instead. This is going to be a much better approach than trying to do it all at once.
Of course, many people find it a challenge to remember to do this. But as long as you can remind yourself that you should take things slow, you’ll find it’s easier to do, and that you can therefore keep yourself a lot safer. You have time to build up your abilities, so just take it easy and see where you go from there.
Develop Some Essential Emergency Skills
This is particularly useful if you are running with other people, because it means you can look after each other and keep each other much safer. If you develop and learn some essential emergency skills, that will mean you can help if someone you are running with has a problem. For instance, if they collapse, or they break their ankle or something like that, it’s good if you know the steps you can take here.
To that end, it may be worth finding a local CPR class and signing up. Just having the basic knowledge here could mean that you save someone’s life, or at least that you have some confidence in what to do in an emergency. Nobody expects an emergency to happen to them, but you never know, so it’s good to be prepared.
Wear Proper Footwear
A very important thing that all runners know about is the issue of wearing proper footwear. One of the main physical issues you can have when running is to cause problems with your feet, and most of that is avoidable if you simply use the right footwear. What does this mean? Essentially, it’s about making sure that the running shoes you are wearing are comfortable, that they fit properly, and that they are tied on as they should be, with no loose laces or otherwise to worry about.
It’s simple, but as long as you have done that, you’ll find that you are a lot safer when you run, and much less likely to trip or fall. It is well worth investing in a good pair of running shoes – and it will also mean you feel a lot more confident in your ability to run too.
Warm Up
Before each running session, it is important that you go through a warm-up routine. This is one of the most important ways in which you can keep yourself safe when you are exercising. A warm-up makes it considerably less likely that you will injure yourself, and it means that you will have a much better chance of reaching your exercise goal too. It’s also a chance to see if there are any obvious physical problems before they become an issue during running.
All in all, then, warming-up is really useful. It’s also simple. Just stretch out each major part of your body one by one, and spend about five minutes on this in total. That should generally be enough to ensure you are ready to run, and you’ll be so much safer as a result.
Cool Down
Most people know about the warm-up, but relatively few are aware of the cooling down process. Actually, this is just as important as the warm-up, and it’s more or less the same movements and exercises. The only difference is that you do it at the end of the session, rather than the start. Again, it should only take five minutes, so there is not much of an excuse not to do it.
You should warm up and cool down for every workout session. You are considerably more likely to be safe if you do so.
Listen To Your Body
In general, when you are running you should make sure you are listening closely to your body and what it’s telling you. Your body will give you signs when it is not feeling good or at risk of injury, and it’s something you’ll need to make sure you are aware of. The more in touch with your body you are, the better. Of course, this is a practice and it can take time to achieve, but generally it’s something you should be able to do easily enough.
By listening carefully to your body, you’ll know when you are pushing yourself too hard, and you can then ease off a little until you feel better. As it turns out, this is pretty much the main way to ensure you don’t come to harm when you are running, so it’s really important.
With those things in place, you should be able to relatively easily care for your body while learning to run and improving your practice. The result: a healthier body that is less likely to come to harm.
