Read the transcript for this video:

Good morning and welcome to your Weekly Cup of Joe. My name is Joe King. I'm the owner of Physical Therapy Advantage in North Aurora. I'm here today to talk to you a little about starting a running program. If you've been exercising and you've been biking, been walking for a while, doing something else, maybe some other kind of aerobics work, which you've always wanted to get in on the running programs or start a running program, get out, enjoy the nice weather; we're going to talk a little bit about this. I am not a certified running coach first and foremost, but definitely going to give you a little basis on this and I'm going to give you some information. There's going to be links, to me different things below this, in the box to take advantage of and research even further. So give you some good resources for that. But most of the time, if you haven't ever run before and you want to start a running program, it's recommended to do a walk-to-run program where you'll be doing a walk jog or walk running type of program and where you’re incorporating walking, running, and kind of doing that intermittently for a while. As I said, I'm not going to tell you exactly how to do that as far as it goes, but definitely, you'll be running or doing your walk-to-run program at least twice a week, probably three times a week and sometimes even four times a week. And you may supplement that with some other types of aerobic activity besides some of your cross-training days, so I highly encourage you if you can, to find a walk-to-run program. 

So locally here in the Chicago land area, carars.org, it's the Chicago Area Running Association, Cara Group, they have a website, cararuns.org, and they can hook you up with groups, specifically in the Tri-Cities region, in the Fox river valley region where I live in Batavia. Dick pond athletics store in St. Charles, has a great group of a walk-to run-program as well, and I highly recommend that one. So that information and a couple of other links down below, definitely take advantage of that. The big thing is you will need to start slow. You need to make sure you're stretching daily; you need to make sure you're doing some self-soft tissue work at least every other day as well. Whether you're using a foam roller, you're using a rolling pin or a stick to try to work those muscles out, a cross ball, a tennis ball, whatever it may be. So you definitely want to be taking care of yourself.

The other thing is one of the big important parts is to gear up correctly, with socks, shorts, and shoes being supported correctly. So getting to a running store and getting fitted and having the right gear. Once you get fitted and get the right kind of gear, you obviously can order online at that point in time. But I definitely recommend you go into a running store to get some of that individualized attention and utilize their education, their resources, and their knowledge to get you started correctly. Hope this helps. If you have any questions regarding health or PT-related items as well, please don't hesitate to give our clinic a call at (630) 892-8003, love to hear from you, love to chat with you if you need to. And we look forward to seeing you next week for your Weekly Cup Joe. Bye.