A friend of mine always hated running, detested it, in fact, even as a child. At school, she would make up belly aches just to get out of class running exercises and she vowed never to put on another pair of runners when she finally left school.
When I met her years later and she learned that I was what she teasingly called, “a fitness guru”, she went on to lovingly ridicule my career. I responded by challenging her to sign up for a mini marathon promising her health and happiness. “Anyone can do it, just look up “couch to 5k” online and it will give you a nine week program and get you running that distance comfortably, you won’t even have to join my fitness program.” After a continued taunting and teasing match, she finally agreed to take me up on my challenge. She went home, looked up the program online and started on it the next day.
The Details
In essence, the couch to 5k program gets people running the gentle way by starting them off with a mixture of walking and running, gradually increasing the runs and decreasing the walks. You go out three or four times a week and run/walk for 30 minutes. The program is very simple and easy to follow, these days of course, there is an app to go along with the program, and it has worked for countless people all over the world. Provided you have no underlying health issues – it’s always a good idea to go for a medical before starting an exercise routine – anyone can learn how to run for 30 minutes in the short space of nine weeks.
My friend was completely taken by surprise. After starting the program very reluctantly and being certain that it just wouldn’t work for her, she slowly but surely go into it and when I met her for coffee as arranged precisely nine weeks later, she turned up in a pair of runners and asked to join one of my exercise programs. No, I didn’t nearly fall of my chair! I knew she would get into it, in fact enjoy it, but I didn’t expect her to get ambitious and ask me to prepare her for a mini marathon!
We went on to running several full-length marathons together and are to this day very close. She is ever so grateful that I got her off the couch and has found getting fit immensely enriching. She tells me that her overall happiness is much improved and that she can no longer imagine life without running.
All of my clients have similar stories and I love witnessing how someone with no confidence in their own physical ability can, within a relatively short period of time, see incredible changes. Confidence levels soar, overall well-being is much improved and every single client I have spoken to pays testimony to the fact that they do not just feel stronger physically, but also perform better at work, cope better with personal issues and overcome life’s challenges with a much increased ease.
Sitting on the couch may seem attractive for a while and you may even need to do so for some time, but when you do decide to get off and start moving, you won’t look back. You will be a different person and a happier one at that.
If you still don’t think you’ve got what it takes, enlist the help of a professional like me, let me hold your hand and show you that you too can walk, run, kick a ball, dance, swim or pursue anyone of your chosen sports and feel healthy and happy.
