From couch to 5K and beyond: my runner's journey

   Running is one of the simplest way to get your daily cardio without spending a dime. Nice weather, a suitable route and a decent pair of shoes are just about what you need for a short run. But if you've never ran before, running aimlessly feels like this unachievable feat where you heart feels like it can explode at any second. Prior 2023, my only form of outdoor exercise was slow walks around my neighborhood. After starting my home workout journey and seeing running recommended as cardio, I decided to give it a try and jog around my house. Due to poor form and years of sedentarism I barely lasted four minutes jogging. I returned home utterly defeated, with severe shin pain and determined to improve no matter what.

Photo by Rinke Dohmen from Unsplash

    With a few Google searches I found out about Couch to 5K (C25K), the running program that serves as inspiration for the title of this blog. This wonderful program uses run/walk intervals to build up endurance and guide beginners to progressively reach the goal of a non-stop 30 minute run. The beginner Couch to 5K program consists of nine weeks of training, with three running sessions scheduled per week; shorter six week versions are aimed to runners returning from hiatus. 

Can't follow dance workouts? These YouTube channels will change your mind

   Dancing is one of the most popular workouts for beginners, following the choreography while keeping on beat is a great way to move your body, release endorphins and have fun. But, what if you struggle to follow along? Is turning the wrong way that bad? 

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Getting bored? Try these fun YouTube workouts and tips for motivation

  The biggest struggle for most beginners at home is not doing simply doing workouts but staying consistent. Things can get boring even if you're following a great workout program, occasionally switching things up certainly helps with fitness ruts. With home workouts you're missing on the social aspect of fitness for the most part, so you need to get a little creative to entice yourself to movement. 

   Gamifying your current routine is a great way to both keep accountable and stay motivated. Recording your fitness achievements and challenging yourself with realistic goals are some of simpler ways to keep your mind engaged. An example of this would be setting a step goal per day or doing an specific exercise for a step amount of reps/time per day; recording your plank hold time for a week is a prime option. My own personal gamifying challenge is to take the stairs every time, choosing to stand or walk during your daily routine can be also a nice daily goal. 

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Pilates on YouTube: choosing instructors, equipment and more for beginners

  Pilates is a form of resistance training invented by German trainer Joseph Pilates during the early twentieth century. Originally created to help war prisoners with physical rehabilitation, the Pilates method is based upon principles of controlled natural movement and breath work. With an emphasis on balance and precision, Pilates is meant to be a full body practice with a focus on mind muscle connection. With these foundational principles, Joseph Pilates designed a series of equipment known as apparatus to help bedridden patients with their recovery; the well-known Pilates reformer and others used springs and straps for added resistance for the limbs. The Pilates method has been popularized around the world for decades for its proven benefits: improvement of balance and flexibility, better body awareness and increasing core strength. Like many other practices, Pilates has evolved over time to cater to newer trends and audiences, currently being extremely trendy online due to misleading content about its supposed aesthetic results. 

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How to choose the right YouTube workout program for you

   One mistake I made at the beginning of my fitness journey was choosing random workouts, just picking randomly according how I felt during that particular day. While being consistent is important, following a structured routine can help to get balanced workouts and achieve better results. Overworking specific areas without rest can lead to muscle imbalance and eventually injury, therefore following a workout program with a balanced structure should be recommended for all beginners. 

   Most workout programs divide the body according to muscle groups: upper body (chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps), core and lower body (quadriceps, glutes, hips, hamstrings, calves). Exercises to target each muscle group are sequenced according to their specific agonist/antagonist role, then the routine is assigned to an specific day alternated with routines for other areas. Besides focusing on specific zones, full body routines are present in most workout programs, consisting of exercises targeting the full body and comprehensive training including specific muscle groups. Weekly programming usually consists of four to five active days, the remaining days being denoted as rest days for recovery. Regardless of programming, beginners should consider starting with two or three days a week in order to get acclimatized to the new routine.

Resistance bands 101: one of the best fitness prop for beginners

   Maintaining and building muscle mass is key to improving your overall fitness and health. Skeletal muscles are the tissue that allows voluntary movement of the body, permitting all sorts of motions and supporting the bone structure. Composed by fibers and connective tissue, muscles require movement and nourishment to prevent atrophy and upkeep their structure. Resistance training and strength training are the most effective types of exercise to reach muscle fatigue, which is crucial alongside proper nutrition for achieving muscle hypertrophy.  

   Resistance training and strength training both have the same goal of challenging the muscle; their primary difference being in that the latter requires using weights like dumbbells or barbells and is usually performed with the sole goal of increasing strength. On the other hand, resistance training is defined as any sort of motion in which muscle contraction is resisted by an outside element or force; this outside element can be the body's own weight, resistance bands, workouts machines like the pilates reformer or even sliders. Both types of training are effective for training and building muscle: strength training by using heavy weights and low repetitions and resistance training by pushing muscle to fatigue with more repetitions and frequency of the movement. The need for progressive overload; meaning the periodical increase of repetitions, weight used or frequency when performing specific exercises is also important for developing muscle no matter the form of movement used. In summary, resistance training and strength training play a vital role in improving muscle mass hence should be present in any ideal fitness routine alongside cardio.