How to Start Jogging

Content Updated on July 24, 2007

If you want to start jogging, don't expect to walk out your front door and job five miles. You have to build up slowly, and it's easier than you think.

Always see your doctor first.

A basic physical exam should help you find out if there is any reason why you shouldn't jog. If your doctor feels that jogging isn't for you, s/he can advise you about what exercises are appropriate.

Get good running shoes.

If you don't have good shoes, expect a painful run. Incorrect shoes can cause foot pain, leg pain, and even back pain and various injuries.

Make sure you get shoes that are specifically designed for running and fit your feet well. (I'm a New Balance fan myself.) If you are an over-pronator (flat feet) or an under-pronator (high arches), make sure your shoes are designed for this, and even then you might need to buy additional inserts, like arch supports. If you have normal feet, don't buy shoes that are designed for over or under-pronators because they can actually cause you harm. The right shoes make a big difference between a miserable run and a good run.

Buy new shoes every 400 miles or when the don't give you the support that they used to. You can still use your old shoes for other things, but don't use them for jogging.

Get the proper clothes.

If you have breasts, you must get a supportive sports bra. If you have large breasts, you may even want to wear two bras. Get some comfortable pants (no jeans obviously) and comfortable shirts that allow your skin to breath and your sweat to evaporate. Light colored clothing is best if you jog before sunrise or after sundown or even in shady locations like a forest.

Protect Yourself from the Sun

Wear a hat. A baseball hat is a good start but something with a wide brim all the way around is better.

Don't forget your sunscreen. Even on a cloudy day, you'll be exposed to ultraviolet light.

Stay safe.

• Don't jog alone in the dark or in shady places. Have a jogging partner (a big, intimidating dog on a leash counts).
• Carry pepper spray, a whistle, and a cell phone.
• Wear reflective clothing. You can buy reflective tape and stick it on normal clothes or wear a reflective safety vest.
• Pay attention to vehicles. Chances are they're not paying attention to you, so avoid getting hit by staying out of their way.
• Change your schedule and your route frequently at irregular intervals.
• If you use a music player (e.g. MP3 player, CD player), make sure the volume isn't so loud that you can't hear what's going on around you.

Strengthen Your Muscles

Strong muscles are necessary to reduce and avoid injury. If you're knees, ankles, hips, or back begins to hurt when you jog, it's because your muscles aren't strong enough. Strengthen them by doing squats, lunges, balancing exercises on one leg, abdominal crunches, back crunches, and anything else that will strengthen your torso and lower body. Meanwhile, upper body strength training can help reduce back, shoulder, and neck pain associated with bad posture while running.

Choosing Your Jogging Location

Always run on a flat surface when you're starting out. Running downhill can cause knee pain and injuries (I learned this the hard way). Running uphill will tire you out so quickly that you'll feel like you aren't making any progress. You can incorporate hill training later, but even then you need to be extra careful about reducing the amount of downhill running that you do, and remember to slow down when you go up hill to reduce strain and exhaustion.

Start your jogging workout.

You need to be able to walk before you can jog. If you can't walk for at least 30 minutes, don't bother trying to jog. Get your walking stamina up first.

Don't worry if your first jogging sessions are only 10 to 15 minutes long and are mostly walking. What's important is that you build on the jogging endurance you already have. If you never jog, then you have little or no jogging endurance, so any jogging (even if its only a few seconds) is an improvement.

• Warm Up Those Muscles

  Walk for at least 2 to 5 minutes (5 minutes is best). This is like the switch that tells your body, "We're going to exercise now." This will help your body start supplying extra blood to those muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, arteries, veins, and capillaries involved with jogging. This is very important because it will help you prevent injuries.

• Try a Slow Jog

  Pick up the pace and start jogging. It may feel awkward at first, but it will eventually feel more natural. Don't be surprised if you can jog for only a minute (or in my first jogging session 10 seconds!). Stop jogging before you start huffing and puffing or feeling like you're pushing yourself too hard. This is because you are trying to introduce your body to jogging. You don't want to push it too far too fast, and you especially don't want to create an exhausting experience that's going to make you dread jogging in the future. When you feel like stopping, just bring down the pace and start walking again.

• Catch Your Breath

  Walk only long enough to catch your breath and rebuild your energy. This could take 30 seconds to 30 minutes depending on your fitness level. (I was in the 30 minute category when I first started.)

• Slow Jog Again

  When you're ready (and if there is time left in your workout), start jogging again. Jog until just before you feel worn out. Again, it may be only 30 seconds, but it's an improvement.

• Cool Down

  Walk for at least 5 minutes to slow your heart rate. This will also tell your body that it no longer needs to supply extra blood to those body parts involved in jogging. Instead it will redirect that blood back to the internal organs. Some people also say that cooling down reduces muscle soreness during the next couple of days.

• Stretch

  Thoroughly stretch out your muscles for at least 30 seconds. Stretching less than 30 seconds doesn't increase your flexibility sufficiently. Stretching more than 30 seconds doesn't do much to improve your flexibility (but it does feel good). The repeated contractions of the jogging will tighten your muscles. You must stretch them back out. If you don't stretch, over time you will become very stiff.

Rest!

After your workout, you need to rest your muscles. The workout shocks your muscles, and actually causes microscopic injuries. The rest period is when your body builds up its strength and endurance by repairing those injuries. If you don't allow yourself the necessary rest time, you'll actually see your performance worsen rather than improve.

When you first start your routine, you may need to wait 2 to 3 days before your body is ready to try again. If you're still sore after 3 days (whether that soreness be in your legs or lungs), you may need to rest longer, but consider seeing your doctor to make sure that you don't have significant injuries (e.g. pulled muscles, torn ligaments, etc.). You can spend those days doing other activities (like swimming or dancing) or just go walking instead of jogging.

With proper rest between workouts, you'll start noticing faster progress.

Things to Remember

• The best time to do intense strength training is after a short aerobic workout.

  You may want to follow your jog and stretch with some weight lifting because the jog warms up your muscles and prepares them for the training.

• Don't push yourself too hard.

  You're starting a jogging routine. You're not training for a marathon (that's a whole different how-to article that I'm not qualified to write...yet). Pushing yourself beyond your limits will only lead to injury.

• If it hurts, don't do it.

  If it hurts to jog, you're not ready to jog. Take up walking. Move up to speed walking. Then try jogging again. If it hurts to jog 5 minutes but you do just fine if you jog for 2 minutes, then feel free to just jog for 2 minutes and slowly add time to your jog as long as it feels comfortable.

• In cold weather, wear a scarf over your mouth.

  By breathing through a scarf, you're warming up the air and adding moisture to it before it enters your lungs. This will reduce lung pain and asthma associated with hard breathing in cold weather. (I have asthma and found that this did wonders for me.)

• Jogging and walking outdoors is much more fun than using a treadmill.

  Treadmills are good for exercising while watching television or listening to music. They're great for exercising when you just can't go outside for one reason or another. However, they get boring. When you exercise outdoors, you can say hi to your neighbors, look at landscaping and home design (to get ideas for your own place), pet the neighborhood dogs (the friendly ones), go up and down hills, jump in puddles, admire the landscape, feel the wind and rain on your face, etc. It's just more entertaining, so it stimulates your brain as well as your body.