I think I need to train more than 3 times per week. Is it ok?

[Cliff1805]

I am finding week 3 tough on the lungs rather than the muscles so I wondered whether it would be a problem if I trained 5 times during the week to give my lungs more opportunity to adjust. In other words how vital are the rest days?

[annasee Graduate]

I'm no expert but I think you will hear a chorus of "The rest days are vital" on here. It's not your lungs you will damage from too much training early on, it's probably all the other muscles and joints that are getting used to the unaccustomed exercise. I wouldn't go against what Laura says, personally...I don't think she's a woman to be trifled with. You have been warned I've arrived at the end of Week 8 by doing exactly what she says, bar a couple of extra rest days, and a couple of runs on successive days earlier on through force of work schedules (but always followed by a rest day)

[nomoresloth Graduate]

I also wouldn't say it's a good idea to train so often as the rest days are really necessary for your body to recover. not only your lungs but also your joints and muscles need time to adjust to the new challenge of running. If you skip the rest days, you might risk an injury which would keep you from running for much longer than just the one or two rest days between the runs and your lungs wouldn't be trained in this time either. It's ok to do sports on rest days but they should be of a different kind. Why don't you try cycling for example? It also trains your lungs but your joints and muscles are trained in a different way and thus aren't overstressed. There are also podcasts for strength & flexibility here on this side. They won't train your lungs but can help you to improve your posture which is also helpful for running.

Always remember that you've probably spend years on the couch and now, only three weeks after you've started the program, your body still might think things like "What the f*** is he doing to me?". Don't worry about this. It will get better as you follow the program. For many it takes a bit longer to adjust to running but it's ok. Keep going and you'll see the improvements soon. Just be patient with you and your probably shocked body

[runningnotwalking Graduate]

You might find that as you through the weeks of C25K and your runs get longer, your lung capacity improves. Stick with the program and if you want to exercise on your rest days try something different like a swim.

[swanscot Graduate]

The rest days should more accurately be called 'rest-from-running' days and they are important.

Your leg muscles need time away from running to develop. When you work a muscle, you do a little damage to it. It takes time for your body to repair it, while also making it slightly stronger. In other words, resting is when your muscles actually grow.

The best way to develop your heart and lung capacity and let your leg muscles rest is to cross train on alternate days. Cycling is good as, although it uses your legs, it uses some different muscles to running and uses some of the same muscles differently. Swimming would also be good as you can easily tailor that to give yourself a great cardio-vascular workout.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Hi Cliff, rest days are to give your muscles time to recover and strongly advised by the experts. However there is nothing stopping you doing another form of training. To help I would strongly recommend swimming, its a very good all over exercise, helps with breathing but there is no pounding impact on your joints from it. Staying injury free is the most important thing early on in the program too so take care and listen to your body what ever you decide to do.

[juju2208]

Definitely take rest days from running. I didn't, I ran 6 days a week and have just graduated with an injury that's so bad I can hardly walk let alone run. I stretch obsessively and midfoot strike so I thought I wouldn't get injured. I can't stress enough that no matter how careful you are it will get you if you don't rest.

J x

[heartbreak_star Graduate]

Do some strength training alongside running

HBS x