So, you read our article on how it’s never too late to start running, no matter how late in life, and you are convinced. Or perhaps you are determined to push your boundaries after reading the truly inspirational story of Ms Gloria Lau. Either ways, you’ve got your head and heart in the right place, and now you’re looking for tips on how to start. Read on.

Starting from Zero

If you are currently leading an inactive lifestyle, with little to no physical activity, start with a visit to your health care provider. Chances are, you will be encouraged to exercise! Instead of jumping right into it, however, give yourself some time to get accustomed to the activity.

As the saying goes, you must learn to walk before you can run. Begin with a realistic and achievable 20 to 30 minutes per day; once you can maintain this for two weeks, you are ready to incorporate some running to your workout.

Start by replacing every fifth minute of your walk with a minute of gentle jogging, so you are walking 4 minutes and jogging one minute, giving you a total of 6 minutes of jogging time in this workout. Assess how you feel after each minute of running time – you want to be pushing yourself enough to raise your heart rate, but if you are completely breathless or if you feel pain anywhere in your body, you are running too hard. Keep your effort at a level 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 (being so easy you can last for hours) to 10 (being impossible to maintain for more than a few seconds).

As you progress over time, increase the number of running minutes per workout. First, start by decreasing your number of walking minutes between each running minute. Once you are able to comfortably run a minute for two minutes of walking (giving you 10 sets of walk-run), you are ready to lengthen your running intervals.

Your next step is to run-walk for equal amounts of time. Start with 90 seconds of running for 90 seconds of walking (10 sets of walk-run), and progressively increase to 2, 3, 4 minutes etc. As you begin to lengthen your running intervals, you may also find that you no longer need an equal amount of time of walking to recover from the effort. This is a sign that your cardiovascular system has adapted, and you can confidently aim for 20 or 30 minutes of continuous running without negative consequences to your health.

Aim to do this three times a week, while maintaining your 30-minute walks for the days you are not running.

Active Seniors

Are you already attending weekly salsa lessons at the local CC, or do you start your weekend mornings with a round of Tai Chi? You are definitely on the right track to good health. Perhaps you are looking for an aerobic activity to complement your yoga, or the running craze that has swept Singapore in the last couple of years has piqued your curiosity. Maybe you even received a challenge or an invitation to participate in a 5K with a friend or family member!

While you are already in relatively better shape than your sedentary counterparts, it will probably not hurt to pay a visit to your doctor for clearance to commence running. Your ability to transition from other sports to running will depend on how vigorous your current activities are. If you’re doing sports Pilates and golf, you may wish to start with the walk-run technique as outlined above.

If you currently engaged in more aerobic exercises like swimming, you have a much better developed cardiovascular system. There is a temptation to test your capabilities by running at a hard effort. Take note, however, that running taxes the system in several ways, and oftentimes, our cardiovascular system develop much more quickly than our musculoskeletal system. This means your heart may be able to take the strain, but your knees will not thank you for it. Resist the temptation, and you will avoid injuries.

Find a running buddy with more experience to guide you through the initial training period; they will have invaluable advice to offer, ensuring you build a proper foundation. Then set yourself a target, either running continuously for 30 minutes, or sign yourself up for a community challenge, as this will keep you motivated. Finally, become a running buddy to someone new, you are now ready to inspire and support!

Cover Image Source: straitstimes.com

Think running is only for the young and fit? Think again! Even if you’re officially qualified for a senior citizen’s discount, you’re never too old to start running. Case in point? Our own home-grown heroine, Gloria Lau, first Singaporean woman to complete a marathon in each continent, only started running at the age of 57. Contrary to popular misconception, running does not cause osteoarthritis, carrying excess weight does. In fact, running may even protect you from developing osteoarthritis in the first place.

Benefits of physical activity

Exercise is the closest thing to an anti-ageing pill that exists in this world. No, it won’t erase your wrinkles, but it just might do everything else, including shrinking that spare tyre around the middle. Yet, it is the invisible benefits of exercise that truly makes it a veritable fountain of youth.

Here’s how regular exercise can improve the quality of your life in your golden years:

• Loss of muscle mass slows the metabolism; exercise helps build, or at least, maintain muscle mass.
• Regular exercise burns calories, helping you maintain a healthy weight.
• Furthermore, it keeps your metabolic functions healthy, such as improving insulin sensitivity, lowering your blood lipid levels, thus reducing the incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
• Suffering from insomnia? Exercise helps you sleep better.
• Keep your brain sharp with exercise; the latest research shows regular activity is key to preventing memory loss, and reducing the risks of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The case for running:

• For post-menopausal women, osteoporosis becomes a real concern. Running is a weight-bearing activity which strengthens the muscles and the bones.
• Running improves your coordination and mobility, which help prevent the likelihood of accidental falls.
• A 15-year research conducted on 55,000 adults demonstrated that running can significantly increase your life expectancy.

Top 3 Running Advice for Seniors

Focus on Your Form

To run happily, you must run safely; thus, the main priority is injury prevention. You might be familiar with the advice to buy good shoes, warm-up, cool down and stretch properly, but more important than all these is maintaining proper form while running.

Run with a slight forward lean. Keeping an overly erect back can lead to lower back and hip injuries.

If you have weak knees, aim to land with a forefoot or a mid-foot strike, instead of a heel strike. This shifts the shock absorption to your ankles.

Take many small steps instead of big, long ones. Overstriding leads to landing with excessive force, which unnecessarily stresses your knees and joints.

Quality and Consistency

The beauty of running is that no matter what age you begin running, you will see improvements in your performance over the first seven years. Realistically, you may never beat your best 2.4km time from secondary school, but if you take up running at 55, there is a chance that you’ll be running faster at 60 if you train consistently.

This is the importance of injury prevention, for nothing hurts progress more than being out of action for a few months at a time. Better to gradually build a strong running base by getting your body comfortable with the sport, than shocking the system with an unaccustomed sprint or long distance run.

With age, you also require more rest and recovery after a workout. It is better to finish three runs a week feeling strong and happy, than five a week feeling weak and lousy. Those extra miles bring no additional benefit, and you are better off performing an alternative exercise.

Enjoying the Experience

Above all, enjoy the experience! You may find that your interest wanes after a few runs, in which case, it probably isn’t for you. By this stage, life is too short to do what you dislike. However, if the atmosphere of races, the conviviality of group running, and the thought of continuously challenging yourself excites you, then running is definitely going to be an enriching addition.

Proper nutrition is one of the cornerstones to improving sports performance and maintaining physical health. Most of the essential nutrients can be obtained from our everyday foods. However, with significant physiological differences between males and females, our needs subsequently differ. In this article, we will be exploring and analyzing the top 3 key nutrients for women runners, which are: iron, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids.

Iron

Iron plays an important role in our body as it is a crucial element required to form haemoglobin, a compound that transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body in the blood. This supports our energy levels and enhances muscle strength which affects the breathing and physical motion for running. However, women require more iron than men in order to make up for the amount of iron lost during their menstrual period, and even more so during pregnancy. While men require approximately 8 mg of iron in their daily diet, women need more than twice than that of men (18 mg, or 27 mg if pregnant).

As such, iron deficiency occurs more frequently among women as compared to men. Some symptoms of low-level iron include feelings of fatigue and depression and in the long run, insufficient iron can lead to anaemia. In order to make up for the loss of iron, women are encouraged to increase their intake of these dietary iron sources such as red meat, chicken and fish, leafy green vegetables, legumes and nuts, as well as fortified cereals.

Adequate iron intake can assist with faster post-workout recovery especially during periods of regular intensive workouts. It can also keep feelings of depression and lethargy at bay, making you a happy and motivated runner!

Calcium

Being the most abundant mineral in the body and a mineral necessary for life, about 99% of the calcium in our body is found in our bones and teeth. This mineral is essential in maintaining strong bones and healthy blood vessels by inducing necessary blood clots, sending nerve messages, and muscle contractions. It may come as a surprise to many that calcium can be lost daily through our skin, nails, hair, sweat, feces and urine. Calcium deficiency affects more women than men because the low level of estrogen production in women during early menopausal stages increases bone resorption and decrease calcium absorption, so women should take special care to meet the daily requirements.

Osteoporosis is a disease that results increased risk of sudden and unexpected fractures due to weakening of bones. Our bones are not static structures, but undergo continuous remodeling, through resorption and deposition of calcium into new bones. When bone breakdown exceeds bone formation, the drop in bone mineral density mass increases the risk of developing osteoporosis over time. Weight-bearing sports like running can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis, but this is only the case when one is not calcium-deficient.

As such, women are advised to maintain a good level of Calcium from young and it can be found in many natural sources in both dairy and non-dairy foods. Calcium-rich dairy products include Milk, yogurt, and cheese, while non-dairy products such as Chinese cabbage, kale, and broccoli provide this mineral as well. In addition. fruit juices, tofu, and cereals are also alternative food sources fortified with Calcium. Besides reducing the risk of osteoporosis, a research conducted concluded that taking a calcium supplement of up to 1,000 mg per day may help women live longer.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

A lot of women shun fats in fear of weight gain, but there is one type of fat to bring back into your diet. A polyunsaturated fat, omega-3 fatty acids are essential for numerous body functions including cell membrane construction in the brain, reduction of cellular inflammation, blood clotting.

Besides provides protection against heart disease and possibly stroke, this fatty acid has been included in many diets that aim to promote healthy weight-loss. Moreover, studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids may aid to increase calcium levels and improve bone density, hence reducing risks of osteoporosis. The fact that our bodies are unable to product omega-3 fats naturally, the only way to get them is through the food we eat.

Omega-3 fatty acids exists in 2 main types in our diets: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is found in some vegetable oils made from soybean, canola and flaxseed, some green vegetables such as kale and spinach and walnuts. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, which converts to DHA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are longer chains of omega-3s present in fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardine, bluefish and anchovies. Omega-3’s primary interest for runners is the proven reduction of joint inflammation in the joints, and a better alternative to painkillers.

Try making these modifications to your diet today, and see if you feel the difference!