In times like these where the majority of us are working our office jobs from home, we can find ourselves logging onto our “Health” app on our iPhone, only to be disappointed with how many steps we got for the day.
10,000 steps a day. That’s what we should all be going for. Humans are not designed to sit around in a desk, with our backs hunched, and work on excel spread sheets all day. No, we’re designed to be out and about. We are designed to be hunters and gatherers. To scrounge for food and hunt for our survival. We are not meant to go to work, sit in traffic, go home and watch TV all night afterwards. No wonder so many Americans are overweight, have physical and mental health problems, and no wonder why everyone is so miserable.
Would you like some tips on getting more steps in your day?
Here’s one giant one to get you close to 5000 steps in your morning – go running!
Here is how you can go running – step by step. I really want you to start running if you’re not able to get any forms of exercise and if you’re overweight or out of shape.
5 Step Plan To Start Running In 2021
Step 1 – Wake Up Earlier
Take whatever time you wake up – let’s say 7 am. Now you have to wake up at 6:30 am. This shouldn’t even be too hard! Maybe at first – you might be used to waking up in the morning, going on your phone, checking your news feeds, your social media alerts, your text messages from your friends – it’s okay to hold off on all this stuff for a little while. It’s important to wake up early to get a fresh start to your day and to add more time to your day. We all spend 1/3 of our life sleeping approximately…do we really want to do just that, sleeping?!
Step 2 – Get Your Gear Ready
Might sound elementary, but it works – pick out your clothes the night before so you don’t spend decision making or computing power in the morning on a simple task like what you need to wear, where your clothes are, if your shoes are ready, etc. Make sure you get that taken care of first thing in the morning. If you had this habit since elementary school, good for you!
Step 3 – Go Run!
This is the hard part, but the fun part! Its where you take your butt outside and start running! Because we suggested you wake up 30 minutes earlier, than your normal time, taking into account you getting ready, brushing your teeth, we’re going to allocate a minimum of fifteen minutes for you! Depending on how much time you’ve factored for yourself, you’ll have between fifteen minutes and an hour.
If you haven’t been running, this first time is going to be tough for you. You have to push through it! I know you can do it! I really want you to go running! If you had to takeaway one thing from this post, is that I want you to start running! Running has insane benefits for your cardiovascular health, your mental health, and your overall well being. Running will work your heart, as your heart will need to work to pump oxygen to your muscles. You’re going to feel an endorphin high after you’re done running. Please please please if you take anything away from this – take away the fact that you need to go running!
Here’s a reality check – if you look around and see men and women in their 60’s, you’ll typically find them with hunched posture, lower energy, and in general, they walk slower! Especially in the work force.
Step 4 – Cool Down!
This is the next important step after running! Getting up and getting ready isn’t too hard, its just the process that gets you ready to start running!
This step is probably the easiest – especially relative to the kickass workout you just put in! I can’t stress the importance of a proper cool down! What we recommend after a run is a proper cool down – which consists of walking, stretching, and taking a nice warm shower.
Stretch for at least 5 minutes to loosen up the muscles. My favorite stretches are yoga poses – downwards dog, upwards cobra, childs pose, upavistha konasana, pigeon, and many many more. Basically, if you don’t know of basic stretches, take a yoga class! Find the stretches that you really enjoy.
Step 5 – Get Started With Your Day!
Now that you’ve gotten up early, gotten ready, went for a run, cooled down and stretched properly, you’re ready to feel off better than 90% of Americans who don’t stretch or don’t have the time and energy to get themselves in shape. We’re not judging on anyone who isn’t in shape – life gives all of us different obstacles to overcome, and for some of us, this means we don’t have the time or energy to pursue the best physical health we can.
But if you’ve been able to wake up, go on a run, get some stretching in, you’re solid and good to go. You’re going to have a nice day. You’ll 100% have an endorphin boost from your exercise, and your mental well being will be much clearer.