Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goals Physical Therapy. We help active adults overcome their aches and pains to get them back to their favorite activities without pain, medication, injections, or surgeries. Have you just started to train for a 5K and now you’re wondering what the best way to train for 5K is? Maybe you’re new to running and you’ve never trained before, or you’ve been away from running for a while and you’re trying to come back. This video is perfect for you.
We are gonna talk about what the best way to train for that 5K is. What do I mean by best? I wanna give you the tools that you can create your own training program that will enable you to not only not get injured on your training, but help you see consistent progress throughout your training. That’s what I mean by Best.
It’s the season for the Houston Turkey Trot. About 15 years ago, it was my first time ever running any race at all, and my friend convinced me to sign up for this race. I’m not gonna tell you it went well because I had just completed one of those downloadable start from nothing to 5K programs. I was actually a little bit injured. I remember that race was not comfortable. I had a lot of aches and pains afterwards.
The whole training process was a bit of a drudge. I did come out on the other side and I was super addicted to running, but I do remember that first time not being wonderful. Now, fast forward 10 years and lots of time in schooling and lots of time studying, running, and now I help people start off from nothing and get all the way to running without any problems, including myself.
I’ve been able to share the joy of running with my family. In fact, it was my son who reminded me it was time to sign up for the Turkey trot. I signed everybody up in the family and then I realized that I had not run in a while. I’m probably in a bit of the same position that many other people are. I like lots of things and I phase in and out of doing them, like biking, running, weightlifting, all sorts of things. I just go back and forth because I just love all sorts of physical activity. With that, I haven’t run in a while.
After I signed up for this 5k, I was like, “well, I better go run and see where i’m at.” I can’t make it five minutes, it was just not pretty. Now I will be doing many of the things that I’m gonna talk to you about. I want to be able to take this video and help give you the same confidence that I have gotten and be able to train for this and have a great time on race day.
The best way to train for a 5k. Let’s get started.
The number one takeaway I want you to have is do not spend all of your time running! I know that’s counterintuitive, and I’ll say it again. On your training program to your 5k, Do not spend all of your time running. I know that that’s contrary to everything else you’ve probably downloaded on the internet, because even when I was looking, I downloaded a form and it broke everything down by time, it told me to get used to running for 30 seconds on and off, and then it built me up to being able to run for 30 minutes.
No matter what I see online, that is some variation thereof, is what you get when you download programs for running. It broke down my time and I completely agree in theory that makes sense. You want to train running, you run. Unfortunately, what that ends up leaving you with is muscles that are sore, achy, joints that get uneven wear and tear, and rolled ankles. All sorts of things occur if all you’re doing is running.
I advise you that the best way to train is to also add stretching, strengthening and plyometrics in addition to running. That way you create a very well-rounded program and your muscles and everything have time to adapt and change and move.
We’re gonna go into that in a little bit more detail. Again because I’ve done it too, I am guilty that if I’m gonna run, I only save that amount of time because it just makes sense, right? I wanna get my workout in, I have time to get in, get out and, and that’s it. But if you create the habit that you are going to also add in the extra five or 10 minutes to stretch, that can be a game changer for your running routine.
There are two ways you can stretch, Active stretches and passive stretches.
Active stretches help you get ready for the activity that you’re gonna do.
An active stretch is where you’re moving through the motion thinking butt kicks or high knees. Lifting your knee up as high as you can and putting it back down repetitively and that helps get your blood flowing and get you ready to go run.
Then afterwards, it’s more of the passive stretches, so you just hold it for 30 seconds to a minute. Again, that would be like getting your foot to your butt and just holding it for 30 seconds or a minute. That would be the recovery afterwards. Passive stretch.
That habit alone helps make sure that your muscles are ready for the run, active stretch, but then that they are staying flexible and pliable while you’re running in consecutive days or like in the days to come.
Many runners lose their ability to run because their muscles are so tight and constricting that they cause uneven wear and tear on their joints, because the joints are being smushed together and then rubbed while they’re running and that causes arthritis and a whole bunch of other things. Some people end up with fractures. Stretching is very, very important, Okay? So again, stretching number one thing.
The second thing, strengthening, You should have at least one day of strengthening in your program. I would actually suggest, if you’re very new to running, that there should be at least two days of strengthening and it’s a full body circuit. It doesn’t have to be necessarily only legs. It can be it, it should be well rounded. Especially if you’re only gonna do it one day, a full body circuit to help make all of the muscles in your body stronger and able to absorb the impact of running.
I know that lots of people do not run or like to run because they do not like to do squats and other strengthening techniques. I would say let’s explore that a little bit more because really, being able to squat is a foundational move to being able to run. Your leg muscles have to be strong enough to tolerate all of your body weight while you’re running down the road.
If a one squat causes you a lot of problems, that’s something that should be explored because the strength that your body needs to help you run starts with being able to do things like squats and lunches and those foundational movements. One of the number 1 reasons people cannot run for as long and as far as they want is their strength is just not there. The muscle just doesn’t have enough ooph to help you keep going and you get tired, fatigued and you run out early.
Strengthening is very, very important. Spend that 30 minutes instead of running, doing a strength day.
The third thing that you should add is plyometrics. Now plyometrics is a fancy word, essentially it means to be able to jump well, you’re gonna leave the earth and come back down and that is key because it helps you learn how to absorb the impact of running.
I’m sure everybody knows at least one person who used to run who says that I don’t run anymore because of the impact on my joints. This is the exact exercise they need to help train their body, to use their muscles to absorb the impact and not their joints. That is what plyometrics do. The other thing it helps with is preventing ankle injuries. If you can land gracefully, maybe you wouldn’t take that misstep and just catch the edge of that rock or not see that little divot in the ground and once your ankle’s halfway gone, you’re over.
Plyometrics helps you train against that. That is why that is part of my training suggestion.
Now we cannot leave out running. You do have to practice how you get your pacing and getting used to running for a longer period of time. I will put a star in this because once you can get up to about 30 minutes, then the real fun happens. Then you get to really practice the skill of running. You’re not just trying to make it through that 30 minutes. Now you’re trying to clean it up and make it look smooth.
Lots of people burn out early and they could actually last longer except they spend all of this energy going up and down or side to side. If you spend all this time going up and down instead of forwards, you’re wasting energy. But again, that’s kind of one of those little, pay attention to it for later because if you’re still having a hard time getting to 30 minutes, just work on getting to 30 minutes because it’s too much to pay attention to.
There you have it, the four key components you need. You need to be stretching, you need to be strengthening your whole body. You need to practice plyometrics so that you get good at absorbing the impact into the earth. And then you need to practice the skill of running and getting you ready for your time.
Those are the best ways to train for your 5k.
Now if you really are new to running or maybe you’ve been a runner for a really long time and all of that is just super new information. It can be very, very overwhelming. Plyometrics, strengthening, all of that sounds like foreign objects and that’s why I created an online program to help runners get into running.
I have supplied the strengthening exercises that I think are key. Plyometrics exercises, how to do an active stretch, how to do passive stretches. All of that’s in there fully equipped with videos because it’s not gonna make sense if it’s just written down, right? I have videos for everything.
I have everything laid out on days that you would do them. How to even hit different achievement levels on your running, so that you know how to get to the next level safely. That you’re consistently making progress, either running farther or running longer. Feeling better overall, feeling more strong, your recovery time’s going down. All of these things, helping you consistently see these progress all the way until you can achieve your 5K without injury.
That’s what we really want to help with, I wanna get you there and have you feel strong at the end.
The other thing that I have for people is a running screening. And a running screening is an in person visit where we would spend time going over some functional movements. I get to see how you’re moving and how you balance and things of that nature. Also put you on a treadmill to see how you’re running so that I can guide you where maybe you should be training more or less, or specifically what your question is. I would be helping you answer that because most people are coming in with a specific question, but with that information I can help you guide you along your running journey.
I hope that this information has not been super overwhelming, but has been chalk full of knowledge that you find helpful, that gets you into running and into training. If you like this information or think that somebody else might benefit from it, please share this.
But until then, I hope you’re having a lovely day, Bye!
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