♪ Bob and Brad, the two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists on the internet ♪
- Hi folks, I'm Bob Schrupp, Physical Therapist.
- Brad Heineck, Physical Therapist.
- We're known as the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- And Brad, we're gonna talk about
seven running tips for beginners.
Enjoy running and avoid common injuries.
This is the time of year
that somebody might take up running again.
- Exactly right, Bob.
That's why were doing it.
- It was, uh, gosh, how long ago was it?
It was 20-some years ago that I picked up running again.
- Oh you did?
- Yeah, I stopped for about 15 years and then I.
- Well, a 15-year hiatus.
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(Brad sighs) Take it away, Brad.
- All right, Bob and I have both been running for years
and both enjoy running
and any time someone is interested,
we're ready to bring 'em into the group
because there's a lot of benefits to it.
- Come into the family.
- Right, exactly.
Or you know, stay out there, but whatever.
(Bob laughs)
Enjoy it, you know.
It's fun to enjoy it and stay healthy.
Some of the benefits are, you know one.
You can reduce some weight.
Go out and burn some calories. - Sure.
- At the same time reduce stress.
I think as an adult,
that's probably more of why I do it,
not that anything.
- It's a large part of it.
- Yep. - It is probably
the number one stress reducer in my life.
- Yeah.
- You know, when we had Adrian Lowe on,
the paying matches - Oh it's.
- You know, he said that,
I don't remember the exact details,
but he said that running like.
- You get the runner's high.
- You get the runner's high. - Right.
- It's like taking how many milligrams of morphine.
I mean it's. - Yeah.
But it's all natural.
- Yeah, it's all natural.
All good for ya. - From the pituitary gland
and you can get that runner's high.
You may not get it if you just,
when you get started,
but as you get into it more,
it gets more volume
The other thing is heart,
it's gonna improve your heart condition,
cardiovascular, blood pressure.
My blood pressure clearly went down.
- Went down. - Right,
I was at borderline high blood pressure.
I did not wanna take medication.
And I started running and sure enough it dropped.
- So I bring it up, - Yeah.
- And then running brings it down.
(Brad laughs)
- And another thing, you can,
it can be either done alone or socially.
You know, you can do it with your spouse, a friend, a group.
There's lots of running groups around.
And to me, doing something outdoors
is a big advantage.
- Yeah, that's great when you can get that Vitamin D.
I mean, it can.
- Yep.
- It can help set your circadian rhythms set it right.
There's just so many benefits.
- Oh, absolutely.
So, seven things, now this is what they've been waitin' for.
All this babbling. - Right.
- Now we got to the good stuff.
Seven steps for success.
And these are not necessarily in order,
so take a little paper and pencil and jot 'em down
and see what's gonna fit for you.
The first thing is set a goal, but not too hard.
I've had people say they're gonna run
a half a marathon in three months.
And they've never run before.
And that's the biggest scenario for a failure
'cause chances are - Right.
- You're not going to be able to do it
without some serious injuries, tendonitis, knee,
you know, whatever the problem may be.
So start out slow.
You're gonna run a mile in the first month.
Now if you've got a history of running,
let's say you ran in high school, like Bob,
you know 10 years off,
then you can set your goal a little bit higher.
- Although it was surprising, Brad.
It was really surprising.
A mile, I was dogged.
- Yeah.
- After a mile.
I mean I thought I was in pretty good shape.
I was playing basketball yet,
so it may not be.
I mean you may wanna start off, like you said,
a mile after a month,
but the first day you might wanna, you know,
you're gonna get into that aren't you?
- Right, and the next thing that falls into this
is don't set your goals too high.
You can always increase your goals
but if you got too high and you get injured,
that's when people just stop.
- Right.
- You know, they give it up
and say it's not for me.
Start easy and build into it.
A really good way to start
is do like one minute walk, kind of a warm-up.
And then a two-minute jog.
- Yes.
- And then a one-minute walk.
Or you can go distance like one block walk,
two blocks jog and do that five times
and see how you respond.
Don't run every day.
Go every other day
to give your body a chance to recuperate
and recover from the new activity.
- Yeah, that's interesting.
My brother took up running again at one point
and he just went right out and started it
and he tore his calf.
- Whoa!
- I mean, you know, again, I think if he woulda walked first
and warmed it up a little bit and then ran.
You know, I think he would've avoided that
and like Brad said, I mean, if you get injured,
you're set back, I mean, you may not go back to it.
- Exactly, right.
That, which leads me,
I'm gonna go out of my order a little bit, but stretching.
You don't have to go through a 20-minute stretch routine,
although you could if you wanted to,
but the most important thing in our opinion,
I think Bob will agree with this.
Is calf muscles, hamstrings,
and then just doing a general warm-up.
- Yes, the calves are really critical.
They're a common one that I've seen people tear.
- I'm doing one while Bob talks.
- Right, and the hamstring is another one I've seen,
although it tends to be more sprinting.
It still could be a problem area.
- Yeah, I would say, yes, particularly hamstrings,
you're probably not gonna pull them doin' a jog,
but you could calf muscles can get tight and ornery
if you go from walk to jogging.
- And that's why it's so important
to go into it slowly.
Every day I walk a bit first before I run,
even though I've been running for years, now.
- And then, you know, jumping jacks is a good one.
- Jumping jacks a great one.
- Just do 20 of those just to get things moving.
But if you start out walking,
and then go to running, do the alternate,
you know, that's pretty low-key.
You're not going too aggressive.
You're probably gonna be safe.
Shoes, people think, oh I better get a good pair of shoes.
A good pair, an expensive pair of shoes,
versus a good pair of shoes
are oftentimes two different things.
I used to buy the most expensive ones
when I first started running
'cause I thought I needed 'em.
And this was 20 years ago.
I spent 140 dollars on these Air Max Nike things
and finally I went to New Balance
and bought 'em for half price, 70 dollars,
and they were better.
My feet felt better on those
than they did on the expensive ones.
- Yeah, it's all a matter of fit, really
and how the arch fits your arch.
- And if you google Bob and Brad,
How to Select a Pair of Running Shoes,
we have a video on that.
- If you get seriously into running later on,
and that you are running every day,
they do recommend that you wear
a different pair of shoes every other day.
- Right.
- It just, the shoe recovers.
You know, it takes like 24 hours for it to recover.
- But that's not for beginners, Bob.
- No, that's right, this is for beginners.
- Let's stay on track, here.
Have a support group, family members, friends,
that are gonna say you can do it.
Get out there and run.
As opposed to, why do you wanna go run
and bang up your knee joints.
You're gonna need a knee replacements in a year.
- Yeah, right, right.
- So make sure you stay away from those.
- Positive people.
- Yeah, positive people.
One thing that works good for me
is have a buddy, a workout buddy, or a whole network.
You may join a group on Saturday mornings
you run as a group.
You find someone that runs your speed.
And you have a little social.
I personally have one buddy that every Saturday morning,
we do our exercise together
and kinda keep up with how our workouts
have been going throughout the week
and if we learned anything new
or sometimes we just talk about sports.
- Yeah, I find how important that was
when I was in college and I did weightlifting
and you know, some days you just wouldn't feel like it,
but then your friends would come by.
Come on, let's go.
And it's like. - Yeah.
- You always went.
- Yep, those days when you don't feel like doin' it,
sometimes you need a little push
or a little help from a partner or a buddy et cetera.
- 'Cause I found once it becomes a habit, Brad,
it's hard to shake then.
Then you don't wanna miss a day.
- Yesterday I did not wanna go out.
- Didn't ya?
- No, and I just did 'cause I knew
I knew when I get done, I'd be really happy I did it.
It ended up being my first mile was slow.
My third mile was really good and it's like
it felt pretty fun, you know?
You gotta just get up and do it.
Next, this is really important
and it's learn how to run relaxed.
- Yeah.
- One of my first things when I was a cross-country runner
in eighth grade or ninth grade,
our coach said don't run with tight fists.
He said let your fingers just touch.
And that made such a difference
because I used to run with fists, you know.
- Sure.
- And my jaws were tight and my fists were tight
and I was running really fast and really hard.
And a half mile later I'd just be exhausted.
(breathes heavily)
- Expending energy that you don't need to.
- Oh you're so inefficient.
So relax the arms.
Relax the jaw muscles, the face.
Let everything relax.
And just allow yourself to run.
- The other thing I'll mention, Brad,
it's really important your posture.
- Oh yeah.
- If you're running in poor posture,
the diaphragm can't work like it should.
(Brad grunts)
And it can't take in air like it should.
I've seen people get better just by,
I used to work with a cross country team.
Just by improving their posture,
their times got better.
- Oh yeah, oxygen in, carbon dioxide out.
That whole system is much better with good posture.
So, now, here's another one, Bob.
Do not get into this trap.
Do not compare yourself to anybody else.
- Right.
- You're out there for your reasons.
You're out there to get better.
All these benefits we talked about.
I didn't mention one thing about going to a race
and gettin' first place at a race
because if you have that attitude,
if you're a really competitive person,
you gotta set that off to the side.
You know, after a couple of years,
maybe you can get into it,
but when you're starting out, just enjoy it.
And also, don't increase your speed or your volume
too much too soon.
That can also either injury or psychologically
burn you out so just
enjoy the activity. - Exactly, some people
look at that.
Yeah, it's just that when you're, you're not,
I mean you gotta think about
that you're beating all the people
who are still on the couch.
(Brad laughs)
You know what I mean?
- Exactly right.
- It seems like.
- Which is about 90 percent of the population.
- Right, right.
So you're doin' so much better
than the people that aren't out there at all.
So that's, if you wanna compare yourself
compare yourself to them.
- Yeah, that's an alternative.
So there's seven steps.
You know, by now you have written 'em all down.
Take a look at 'em.
Sleep on it overnight.
Get up in the morning and get your warmup in.
- Go to it.
- Go for a nice easy run.
- Thanks, everybody, for watching.
- Enjoy.
(light music)