The weather is warming up and those of us who forgot to make our summer bodies in winter, the clock is ticking! It’s about now as the sun’s up that bit earlier in the morning that many will start dusting off their joggers and pounding the pavements.
While we always applaud patients getting active, we also see many patients here in the clinic 2-4 weeks after their new-found enthusiasm for walking / running with niggly injuries from not easing themselves back into exercise.
Thanks to technology though, there are now many Apps available to help pace ourselves as we get our fitness back. One we particularly like here at SPHC is the Official Couch to 5k App by Active Network.
Couch to 5k is a 9 week program designed to take someone with the fitness of a couch potato to someone who can successfully run 5kms. It’s a graded program, and only asks for a commitment of 30minutes, 3 x week.
Week 1 starts with a 5 min walking warm-up, then you alternate 60 secs of jogging with 90 secs of walking for the next 20mins before a 5min warm down walk. So, in Week 1, of each 30min workout, you only have to jog for 8minutes. As the weeks go on, the interval type training continues but the amount of time jogging slowly increases until you don’t even notice you’ve been jogging for 20mins!
The App lets you select a Coach to help motivate you during your sessions, including a Zombie, Party Unicorn or Army Drill Sergeant. They cheer you along; let you know when it’s time to walk / jog as well as tell you when you’re halfway there. You can also access your own songs and playlists which can run in the background.
The App is available for a relatively small fee at both the Apple and Google Play stores.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT Couch to 5k: It helps people appropriately manage their running load to help minimise injuries. There’s nothing worse than starting a fitness regime only to be hampered by injury. Apps like Couch to 5k help keep people active by guiding them into exercise safely, minimising time back on the couch due to injury.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE ABOUT Couch to 5k: There is a cost for this particular App which may be a barrier for some. There are similar, free Apps available too, but we haven’t reviewed them!
FINAL WORD: With Apps like Couch to 5k, it’s easy to resume exercises safely and sensibly, lowering your risk of injury. If the cost puts you off, be sure to try one of the free versions and let us know how you go!