“The trouble with jogging is that by the time you realize you’re not in shape for it, it’s too far to walk back.” – Franklin Jones (American Journalist).
Busy modern day people (myself included) often find the urge to run minimal, to say the least. This dislike or reluctance to participate in perhaps one of the world’s oldest sports becomes even more intense when the individual is less than fit. This proves unfortunate since these people need the unique benefits of running the most.
We find ourselves at a crossroad. To run or not to run, that is the question. Is the pain of running really worth the product? And how and where do we even begin?
One of my goals this New Year is to incorporate more cardio into my workouts, specifically running. I wanted something to challenge my endurance on a day to day basis so as not to become too used to one type of run. As an average 21st century teen I turned to the app store for the answer.
The Running for Weight Loss app came up first in my search inquiry. Even though weight loss was not the initial goal in the incorporation of cardio, I was curious and reasoned it couldn’t hurt. I downloaded the free app and began on the easiest of three levels.
This level assumed that I was a person who ran but who required a slower pace in order to build up greater stamina.
The app offered three custom directed workouts a week. Each workout operated like a High Intensity Interval (HIIT) session with running for one minute and fast paced walking for two. The app allowed for music to play during the workout (a major selling factor for me) and for the pausing of the workout. In addition the sessions came equipped with an adequate five minute warm up and cool down.
The app also connects with the phone’s GPS and maps your workouts, records total mileage and steps.
These first few sessions remained easy and basic (maybe a little bit too easy and basic). However, around week three the workout added 15 second sprints and subtracted time from the walking portion of the program.
This threw in a bit of a learning curve personally. I was forced to expect a bit more exertion from each workout. In addition every workout added a few more minutes to the overall time until the total stood just under 40 minutes. This slow progression on intensity helps the runner to build endurance and intensity without total exhaustion within the first few minutes.
Though the time serves to increase endurance, I am afraid the rising minutes will eventually cause a strain in my schedule. I would much rather the intensity increase than the duration of the workouts. By the last week of the workout the total time will average 46 minutes.
In addition, the workouts tend to become a bit repetitive. Granted running can only be so interesting but the flow of each workout seems very regular.
Still the app creates the structure and motivation for newbie’s and experts alike to go out and run. The great thing about running for weight loss is that the individual controls how much they get out of it. A person can put their workout in “cruise control” and get minimal results from the app. In the same way, a person can push themselves to run faster and sprint harder in order to increases overall calorie burn.
In addition to the running for weight loss, the app includes three other programs: walking for weight loss, 5k and 10k. This allows the runner to progress through months of planned runs at various difficulties.
There’s also an option to connect with other people who own the app and become involved in the larger community of runners. The app gives training tips as well on everything from time of day to run to clothes to wear.
A premium version of the app is available for $9.99 for every month or a prepaid $5 a month for a year. The premium version incorporates in workouts from five different coaches, adjusts the tempo of any song to the speed of the work out, unlocks further weight loss plans and removes all ads.
Personally, I don’t feel that the premium version is really necessary or worth the payments. The free app contains enough workout material for months by itself.
In all running for weight loss incorporates in a variety of useful tips and factors which aid beginner, intermediate and advanced runners. The workouts tend to become rather bland after awhile and the time requirements become steadily more demanding as the workouts increase. However, the apps positives outweigh the negatives and I would encourage anyone who is interested in improving stamina or endurance to give running for weight loss a try.
The choice is yours. Will you be nutty about health?
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @skylerklee and via Email: [email protected]
For last week’s installment of Health Nut read Health Nut: If you’ve made it this far, #resolutionfails.