I've started running and an unexpected challenge is boredom. The running is challenging as is, but doing it for ~1h30m has been, for me, well, tedious. I guess that's a byproduct of always being within arm's reach of a phone.
It allows you to have solitude. I can't sit down and think quietly for an hour, because I .. just can't cope with the lack of stimuli. Running provides some baseline stimulus at least (plus I always set a specific goal, either a distance or a time goal so that I don't give it up), so I just need to survive the first 30 mins and then I get in the flow to some extent. Most of the good work I've done was actually done during long weekend runs -- then I have the week to actually do what I figured out during the run.
Even while using medication, running improves results on top of what I had been seeing. It also helps to have a physical challenge to complete every day in order to maintain a routine.
For my body, I need about 90 minutes of challenging physical exercise every day, or I start to seek stimulation in any form I can find, which is usually distracting from my primary goals.
I've switched to biking now which tends to help my restless mind much more. I'm moving faster, I have to lock in more because when I'm going 15 mph or higher I cant zone out like I do when I'm running, and I can see more/new places if I want to.
[0] I've heard my grand parents were also never ending workers.
I don’t think there needs to be any judgement for somebody who “needs” music to run. Music is great!
As somebody into heavy hands walking this is precisely my problem. Urban walking gets boring and tedious quickly.
Most people who enjoy these activities are basically looking forward to spending some time in solitude walking in natural spaces where there is much green, sunlight, wind and some scenery to relish.
I can't get over the fact that it's a painful way to get from A to A. Some optimizing party of me is always screaming WE COULD JUST HAVE STAYED AT A!
Now, if they're is a ball to chase and a game to win, I can run until I fall over...
Well, there's the solution :) Make a game out of it. Some find it helpful to reward themselves if they can reach some sort of goal (under X minutes per km) and not otherwise, then you have something of a game.
Otherwise, if you're a bit competitive, find another competitive friend and compete who can run for longest without giving up. Loser buys the other one beers for evening.
Even though they're complete strangers, there is some social pressure to keep going.
I'm sure a running group could also work for me.
So yeah, running... not for me.
I feel absolutely the same... about taking a walk. That seems incredibly pointless, as you say.
However, if I jog the same route, I burn X kcal, and after dieting for a while, I know how much X is, weighed in food. Very tasty food, this long into a diet. That makes it incredibly easy to instead go for that jog.
It's incredibly weird. I can also take a 1h walk no problem to go buy milk at a shop 30min away. That ticks a box, so it's a Job Well Done for my brain.
It is kind of a gamified running game, with audio clips and interactive elements. For example, at certain times zombies appear and you have to increase your pace for a bit. In the meantime you follow a story about a post-apocalyptic world, with characters etc. I tried it for a while, worked pretty well!
Though music or podcasts can be a nice way to break up the monotony if you are struggling
* Running through the city, there's the changing scenery, and also being very careful about constant tripping hazards, cars, pedestrians.
* Running on a treadmill or in an empty university track lane, you can hit a sustainable pace in which you can just zone out and think.
* The exertion, and trying to manage that and not be injured, while keeping going, wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't boring.
When a combination of fatigue and boredom did strike, on a track, I'd stretch the slow jog to the nearest lap mark, then suddenly sprint another half lap just by telling myself I could and this was the time for it, and then be glad everything worked and didn't explode. (I'm not sure this was a good idea, physically, but it was emotionally reassuring and symbolic.)
There is also a benefit to running without audio, in that you have a chance to let your imagination go wild, or try to focus hard on your breathing, cadence, and form, but I can understand that being challenging for many people to do for an hour or more at a time.
Make sure that you have 2-3 rest days per week for the first 60-90 days, then it’s okay to start ramping up by adding 10% more miles per week.
I researched and found a few helpful tips that helped eliminate the problem. One was to correct my running form. Overstriding will kill your knees; don't let your upper body lean back from your lower body. Your body should be vertically aligned, head to foot, with each landing (though a slight forward tilt of your torso is fine). Another tip is to incorporate lower body strength exercises. Lastly, be sure to do stretches after (at least half of) your runs.
These days I run almost daily and experience no knee pain. At my current rate I'm on track to finish 2000 miles for the year.
Walking doesn't raise the heart rate enough.
https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/personal-activity-intelligence#Bet...
Please see: https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/fitness/heavyh...
Basically use all your four limbs while working out, even running appears to be a dumb way of exercising since only two limbs are involved at any given time.
If walking is what you are happy to do, then use resting heart rate and maximum heart measurements to guide your effort.
This the full sentence. The cardiovascular workload of jogging is for sub 2 kg weights.
So it depends on the weights and pump levels your are using. 1 - 2 kg weights definitely has cardiovascular workloads of jogging. The >2 kg weights are a different deal altogether. In my experience running doesn't hold a candle to what happens from 3 kg onwards. In a 2 hour walk, you are lifting tons of weights as your are walking(with extra kgs of weight on your body), for like 2 hours straight.
It might even be unfair to compare it with running because this is really a very different exercise altogether. Only thing that I found somewhat comparable is swimming.
As a general rule never exercise with just two limbs alone. Its a poor return on investment for the time spent. This literally follows from logic.
https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/personal-activity-intelligence#Bet...
There are some more details in the above article.
The highest VO2 maximums ever recorded by a group of athletes were not registered by endurance runners, which is what he had logically presupposed before his investigations, but rather by Russian and Norwegian cross-country skiers. Why was this? He wondered. It didn't take long for him to come up with the answer: the skiers generated propulsion using all four limbs. The runners used only their legs.
While the majority of the aerobic world used two limbs, the legs, in their respective modes, the skiers were using four limbs to power locomotion.
The poundage possibilities were limitless. A person moving a pair of 20 pound dumbbells short distances for 10 minutes would net far different results than a jogger throwing 2 pound hand weights head high for 60 minutes.
Len's own transformation was mind-blowing and pointed out how effective the studies use of quad-limbed cardio exercise could be ...
(Followed by a table of resting heart rate details)
"The elite marathoner runs at approximately 75% of his maximum workload capacity. A Heavyhand user can generate 50% of leg capacity, 50% of arm capacity and exceed the marathon runner's 75% of maximum capacity using legs only. This is why Heavyhands feels easier. Lots of units, each doing less, add up to more."
The higher weights will be even better. It feels so obvious now that we see this, but it follows from common sense, with four limbs and weights the workload is far higher than a regular walk/jog/run.
There is no sense in going to back to regular plain weightless hand walk/run/jogs.
Its great you were able to walk with a 2.5 kgs on the very first try.
For me, having to deal with The Suck and be alone with yourself and your feelings is part of the challenge.
With weight lifting and higher intensity exercise I make a point to not listen to music to build up a tiny bit of mental toughness and be stuck with The Suck and also myself. Music is a crutch.