Every Day Active with Couch to 5K
This is for those of you who want to be more active in your everyday lives, but struggle to get started.
We’ve all got to start somewhere, no matter our current fitness level but you’ve already taken the first positive step in deciding you want to do more. One of the biggest hurdles is knowing what to do next. So where do you start?
COUCH TO 5K
This simple initiative has seen great success across the country, having been adopted by the NHS as the perfect start for absolute beginners. It’s all about running and provides manageable weekly plans involving mostly walking to start with, building you up at your own pace until you feel able to run a whole five kilometers (5k) without stopping, at which point, there’ll be no stopping you!
It works because this tried and tested (by millions of non-runners) plan has realistic expectations and plenty of rest days so you don’t feel overwhelmed or overdo it, starting a fitness journey is quite literally a case of don’t run before you can walk.
KATIE & FAYE’S COUCH TO 5K
Katie is a mid-30 something professional female with a can-do attitude and is always busy but never exercises. Faye is her slightly younger sister, who has both a career and two children but managed to use her corporate gym membership to lose most of the pregnancy weight.
They decided Couch to 5K was something they could do together as “surely they were both fit enough to ace it quite quickly?”
“I downloaded the app to my phone to see what we would be in for before suggesting the idea to my sister”, Faye explained.
“I was a little surprised when she was up for the idea because I think I was secretly hoping she’d put me off! But, we decided that Monday would be the day we’d start our fitness journey.”
This is a key part of getting fit and often a barrier that stops people starting, many people feel they need to plan in advance, ready themselves and have all the kit. It’s fine to draw a line in the sand if it helps you to achieve but in many cases you shouldn’t over think it and just start walking. You don’t need any special kit to start.
“My 12 year old daughter decided she would join us for this first “run” so we cobbled together what we thought was appropriate clothing for the weather (a slightly too warm but overcast summer’s morning) and guessed a route from the house we thought might take us 20 minutes to run/walk as per the app plan. Unfortunately we were on the side of a valley so we prayed the walks would fall naturally on the uphill sections!
The delightfully dulcet tones of Sarah Millican announced our journey start and off we walked, to warm up (very important) you walk slightly faster than your normal pace for five whole minutes, a gentle way to get you going that doesn’t feel like exercise. Then the countdowns begin.
You’ll start your 60 second run in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1! Start running! Phone Sarah sounded more chirpy than I felt but a minute of running is totally achievable, right? It alternated with 90 seconds of walking then another 60 of running for a total of 20 minutes, by which time, I’m not going to lie, we were definitely feeling out of breath. Perhaps we weren’t as fit as we thought we were, but I’m glad we went together as the temptation to cheat was strong so we kept geeing each other along when the self discipline was weaker than our breathing techniques.
We totally underestimated how far we’d get in 20 mins so our route meant we arrived home with our 5 minute warm down still to do cue walking up and down the street much to the neighbours’ bemusement. Post work-out selfies were taken to mark our achievement but never quite posted to social media however we were really quite chuffed that we’d made the effort and felt safe in the knowledge that tomorrow would be a rest day, by order of Sarah Millican.
We found it easy to understand, plenty of exercise to start us off and satisfying to finish. Not a bad review for the start of a fitness journey by two sedentary office workers!“
ADVANTAGES OF COUCH TO 5K
It’s accessible
Exercise shouldn’t cost you money so whilst geared towards being a (free) smart phone app, it recognises that not everyone has the latest tech so the plan is available in other formats such as downloadable podcasts or straightforward written plans on the website for you to print (and pass on to someone without internet/printer access) or read and time yourself.
All abilities
This really does start from getting up off the couch and walking out your front door. The pace is set by you and you can easily repeat weeks if you don’t feel ready to move on to the next set.
Equally, seasoned joggers may find it useful just to set themselves a routine to stick to.
Bite-size
It’s broken down into achievable goals so it’s not overwhelming and keeps expectations realistic so you don’t get discouraged too easily.
No equipment
You don’t need to buy anything to get started, just wear loose/flexible clothing and comfortable, secure footwear.
Track progress
The app allows you to recognise how far you’ve come and how close you are to your end goal, and beyond! Very motivating as the weeks fly by and you’re running further than you thought you would.
ADVANTAGES OF COUCH TO 5K
There aren’t many but:
Lockdown
Unless you have a large garden, this isn’t suitable if you’re confined to home without specialist equipment such as a running machine. That said, it’s the perfect excuse to stop using the old running machine as a clothes horse!
Only running
This initiative aims to do one thing really well, and that’s to get you up and running a 5K goal. However, running might not be your thing and so you lose focus/motivation easily. You might find signing up to a dance class more your cup of tea.
Injuries
As with any form of exercise, you need to protect yourself from injury and running on hard surfaces can be quite hard on your body. There are plenty of things you can do to prevent injury in the first place but always speak to your doctor about existing ailments before starting Couch to 5K
Whirlwind support the Couch to 5K initiative as a great entry point to getting fit. We love the fact that you can take it at your own pace because everyone is individual and there is no “one size fits all” but if there was, Couch to 5K does a pretty good job at coming close to it.
Once you’ve committed to the idea of getting a little bit fitter and healthier, we can help support you every step of the way. We’ll be sharing hints and tips on our social media channels, sharing information on the blog and waiting for your questions to share our expertise and enthusiasm on everything from the Benefits of Exercise to The Right Shoe for You, Why You Should Sit Less to how to be more Every Day Active.
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