Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

Footwear

The most essential item is correct footwear. Why? Poorly fitting or worn sports shoes can lead quickly to injuries as they offer no support whatsoever. With such a high impact activity as running, you need all the help available. Initially, I recommend that you visit a reputable sports shoe shop where the staff will enable you to confidently purchase your first pair of shoes.

Note

Take any old trainers with you when you buy running shoes as this will give the sales assistant an indication of how you walk or jog. Some shops will ask you to walk or jog so that they can observe your running style. Having a well fitting pair of trainers makes a huge difference to your running.

Running Shoes

Some facts on Sports Shoes

Millions of pounds have been spent on research and development by all the major sports brands to produce a wide variety of sports shoes that are both light and have good shock absorbing ability. When you walk or jog, your body dealds with immense stress and weight.

Correct fitting shoes are essential, however, they do not last forever.Most manufacturers and shops will say your shoes are good for around 500 miles. However, some tests have indicated that by 250 miles, the shock absorbing capacity can be reduced by 30-50%.

The easiest way to keep a check on things is to put the date of purchase of your shoes in your training diary or calendar. Then work out your weekly mileage and multiply this to give you the date when you have done around 400 miles and put a reminder in your diary to be actively thinking about your next pair of trainers.

Running Top

Clothing

It is always a good idea to get kitted out with the correct clothing. The array of materials and styles can be quite daunting but you will quickly get to have your likes and dislikes. Most importantly it is essential to have clothing that feels comfortable and is fit for purpose in all weathers.

Heart Rate Monitors and GPS

Garmin

Heart rate monitors and systems such as Garmin show you how fast you are moving, the exact distance covered, and a multitude of other functions. The upmarket vertsion contain all the necessary functions in one unit. They fit on your wrist and are about double the size of a normal watch but extremely light.

Using Your Equipment

Why wear a heart rate monitor?

When you start walking or jogging your heart works harder to pump more blood to your muscles, delivering more oxygen in the process. The rate at which your heart works is one of the best ways of knowing exactly how fit you are.

Calculating your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

220 minus your age. From this you can calculate how hard you are working depending on the BPM recorded by your heart rate monitor.

Example

The MHR of a 50 year old woman is as follows: -

220 – 50 = 170 BPM (Beats per minute) = MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) = 100% MHR

Percentages of MHR for the 50 year old woman

• 90% MHR = 153 BPM
• 85% MHR = 144 BPM
• 75% MHR = 127 BPM
• 65% MHR = 110 BPM

Beginners and those returning to exercise should aim to train between 65 – 75% MHR, but remember these figures are only a guide.

Rate of Perceived Exertion

To compliment the monitoring you shoul also use the Rate of Perceived Exertion. This is a measure of how you are feeling, and before the advent of monitors it was the standard used in the fitness industry. From the table you can see that you should be working around 6-7 of RPE to begin. With experience you will marry this table with your heart rate to establish and record your progress to fitness.

Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

• At rest                                                              1     Non-exercise HR*
• Light Activity – sitting working                        2     Non-exercise HR
• Light Activity – walking at leisurely pace         3     Non-exercise HR
• Moderate Activity – purposeful walking           4     Non-exercise HR
• Moderate Activity – brisk walking                    5     Non-exercise HR
• Somewhat hard activity – jogging                    6     60% MHR**
• Hard Activity – running, breathing harder        7     65 – 75% MHR
• Very hard activity – running, conversation just possible                                                           8      80% MHR
• Very very hard activity – fast running, conversation difficult                                                            9      85% MHR
• Maximum effort – unable to speak                  10    MHR

*heart rate ** maximum heart rate

End of section.

Page 4

“Walking, Jogging, Running” Ebook devised by Steve Haywood. ©2008 All Rights Reserved.

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