Win the race to fitness with a measured approach

You veer a little left of center to pass them. Glancing back in your rearview mirror, you see sweat glistening on their foreheads and study their posture, weakening with every stride. It looks exhausting, time-consuming—and actually quite crazy. But then, “I wish I could do that,” slips through your mind. You want to fight against gravity, and you want to feel great doing it. “But, really, I could never,” you think, and put it out of your mind.

But you can be one of those runners you admire. That doesn’t mean becoming the next Olympic gold medalist, but an expert shuffler, a swift walker or a devoted jogger. As the summer months approach, and 5K season unfolds, it’s your opportunity to develop the lifestyle of a runner. “People often underestimate the importance of both diet and exercise,” says Rochelle Nebel, registered dietitian at Jameson Health System. “So often, patients express how their carefully constructed diet plans aren’t working. But when I ask them about their exercise plan, they look at me like I’m crazy. Exercise and wellness go hand in hand. They’re both key.

“Yes, people are able to see improvements in their cholesterol, and even lose weight when they eat healthy. But, the exercise portion of the puzzle is key. I tell patients to treat exercise as medication—it’s completely necessary.”

To reach your fitness goals, incorporate any sort of exercise into your lifestyle. Begin with walking 10 minutes per day. It seems small, but you’ll see a big difference. The key is to slowly increase duration and intensity. “Take it slow. Know your body and what you’re able to handle,” says podiatrist Dr. Matthew Liwski, of Jameson Health. “I see so many people who are what I call ‘weekend warriors.’ All week, it’s the same routine—go to work, come home, eat dinner and watch TV. Then, the weekend comes and they’re outside, running around the football field with a group of friends. This is where injuries occur. If you don’t slowly work up endurance, you’ll create injuries.”

It can be easy to overdo it, especially in the current extreme fitness craze, Liwski says. But average Joes and Janes shouldn’t assume they can hit these expert fitness levels in one swoop, from their living room. “Right now, we’re certainly in the era of workout videos, with P90X and Insanity at our fingertips,” he says. “We witness trainers jumping into a workout, but what we don’t see is their years of training prior to filming that video.”

So, start slow. Get help setting slowly building stamina with a phone or tablet application such as Couch to 5K. This interactive program coaches couch potatoes to get 5K-ready in just eight weeks. The process is a combination of walking and running to slowly increase duration.