Anne says”My calf muscles are absolutely aching from my training this week, I thought it was suppose to get easier as I got fitter, Bob, do you have any advice on what I should do?
Bob says “Tell me Anne, what training have you been doing, are you sticking to the Couch to 5K training plan, you really shouldn’t be experiencing too much pain, the whole purpose of the training plan is gradually build up your level of fitness so that your body can adjust to the change in your routine”
Anne says “Well Bob, I have done all this weeks training, now up to Week 3 of the couch to 5K (and loving it), but I did decide to do a little bit extra training this week, on my rest days I spent about 40 mins cycling and also did some workouts at the Gym”
If you are anything like Anne, keen to get as fit as you can in as little time as possible you need to allow time for your body to rest, doing the Couch to 5K training is a great way to get in shape but you need to take it slowly and not over do it.
On your rest days make sure that you don’t overdo it with any additional training, the purpose of the rest day is to allow your body to recuperate and rebuild any damage to the muscles that you may have done during your training.
If you do like to do some form of excercise even on your rest days, the best approach is to go for a gentle walk and try not to exert yourself too much, a brisk walk is good, not too fast, you should be able to talk quite comforably as you walk, if you are having trouble talking as you walk, then you are probalby going to fast.
Rest days are just as important as your training days, so make sure you allow your body the time it needs to recover from all your strenous excercise and all the best with your training for a 5k.