What is Couch to 5K? The Couch to 5K program is a specialized training program designed exclusively for beginners to get them off the couch and run for 5k (3.1 miles) in a period of 9 weeks.
Your goal might be anything—it could be that you want to do a 5K race, lose weight, or become healthier—this couch to 5k plan works fine for all of you, whatever your requirement might be.
You follow this plan on a treadmill and the best thing here is that you have a timer on the console right in front of you. But how does this help you with your plan?
The timer gives clear indications when you are required to start running/walking as per the plan.
Whereas, if you would be required to follow the same plan outside, you cannot start/stop running or walking without a timer, and you would also have to keep looking at it quite often to check the time.
Table of Contents
Should You Do Couch to 5K?
The Couch to 5K plan is suitable for any of you, especially ideal for beginners as it is a walk/run plan.
But, if this is the first time that you would be running for quite a long distance or if you have not run for quite some time, it is necessary to nurture your body for the activity.
The program is good to follow for runners of all ages and all abilities. Still, I recommend you to check with a healthcare professional before you start following the workout routine.
How Fast Should I Walk in Couch to 5K Running Plan?
Your walk’s pace entirely depends on your capacity, but generally, it is recommended to walk around 3mph or 4.8 km/h.
Walking is a great exercise and one of the best ways to stay healthy. The best thing about this exercise is that anyone of any age could do it.
If you plan to walk on the treadmill, I would like to make one point crystal clear. Whenever you start to walk on the treadmill, it should be a brisk walk.
The term ‘brisk’ has a unanimous meaning, but the intensity of briskness changes from person to person as each of us has a different body physique and capability.
For instance, if you are a slim individual in your 20s, your brisk walk would be relatively faster than many others.
Whereas, if you are an overweight person in your 60s, you will be doing a much slower brisk walk.
You can walk at any pace until it doesn’t make you go out of breath. Breathlessness is an indication that you are walking beyond your capability.
How Fast Should I Run in Couch to 5K Running Plan?
As with walking, even when you are running, your primary concern must be to avoid going out of breath. It is generally suggested that running around 5 mph or 8.0 km/h is a great start.
As a beginner, you might be too excited and hence, start running too fast. This makes you feel tired even sooner than expected, which is not good.
The ideal treadmill speed for a 5K plan is 6mph. Even if you feel that you are running slower comparatively, don’t worry. The foremost important thing is to get active before proceeding to look into speed metrics and likewise.
Couch to 5K Tips
You might think about doing any workout, you might be a beginner, intermediate, or advanced trainer, and you might get into fitness with any purpose in mind. Still, it would help if you always remembered that warming up and cooling down must be practiced mandatorily before and after every workout.
So, when you start training for the couch to 5k plan, you must never miss out on doing warm-up and cool down before and after your walk/run schedule. By doing this, you prepare your muscles for the exercise plan that lies ahead of you.
Though it hardly takes more than 5 minutes or so to warm up or cool down, many of you would neglect this activity and directly jump into the core workout plan.
This doesn’t seem right, and I suggest that you introduce this into your running right from the start to prepare your body for the intense workout sessions that lie ahead of you.
Though the Couch to 5k plan might seem trivial during the initial week, you start to feel the real challenge and intensity of the workout after a couple of weeks, during which the importance of a quick warm-up and cool down becomes undeniable.
The Tips Given Below Would Help You Succeed Better in Your Couch to 5k Endeavor:
- Staying hydrated is extremely important.
- The plan has been carefully designed to build you up slowly and gradually.
- Always have an eye on the console, noticing the time when running or walking starts and ends.
- Never miss out on your warm-up and cool-down sessions that take no more than 5 minutes.
- Remember, you are beginning a new journey here, and hence, there is no hurry to go too fast while walking or running.
- Don’t set an incline.
- Every week introduces a new challenge, and if you find any week’s schedule to be quite difficult to follow, repeat the previous week’s routine to improve your fitness levels.
- Don’t eat anything right before you start running as your muscles (not your stomach) need oxygenated blood.
- Make it a point to run a week thrice. It is advisable to take a day off after each run.
- Above all, enjoy every step of the plan by sticking to the plan strategies. After all, you have to enjoy what you do to reap greater benefits. I promise that you would feel exhilarating after a while
Couch to 5K Training Plan
Finally, we come to the part where I explain the nuances of the couch to 5K training plan, which would help you get a clear picture of what exactly it is.
Keep the treadmill ready and get geared up for some warm-up. As you start to walk/run, be double safe not to make any treadmill mistakes commonly committed by most individuals—such as holding onto the handrails.
During the initial days, the plan might seem too easy but don’t hurry to conclusions. You are going to face challenges in the forthcoming weeks.
When you keep track of the metrics, bother only about the exercise time, ignoring the distance covered or the speed.
This is because most of you would be performing the running/walking exercise at different paces, and the primary requirement now is nothing but to feel comfortable exercising.
Every workout that you do would be alternating between walking and running. This way, you would be able to recover from each run with a brisk walk. Day 1,2 and 3 can be any day of the week in this plan.
Week 1
- On Day 1, run for 1 minute and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 1 minute and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 1 minute and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- Run time should not be for more than 10 minutes in a day.
Week 2
- On Day 1, run for 2 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 6 times
- On Day 2, run for 2 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 6 times
- On Day 3, run for 2 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 6 times
- Run time should not be for more than 12 minutes a day.
Week 3
- On Day 1, run for 3 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 3 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 3 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 4 times
- Run time should not be for more than 12 minutes a day.
Week 4
- On Day 1, run for 5 minutes and proceed to walk for three minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 5 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 5 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 3 times
- Run time should not be for more than 15 minutes a day.
Week 5
- On Day 1, run for 8 minutes and proceed to walk for three minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 8 minutes and proceed to walk for three minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 8 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 2 times
- Run time should not be for more than 16 minutes in a day.
Week 6
- On Day 1, run for 11 minutes and proceed to walk for four minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 11 minutes and proceed to walk for three minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 11 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 2 times
- Run time should not be for more than 22 minutes in a day.
Week 7
- On Day 1, run for 14 minutes and proceed to walk for four minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 2, run for 14 minutes and proceed to walk for three minutes. Repeat this 10 times
- On Day 3, run for 14 minutes and proceed to walk for two minutes. Repeat this 2 times
- Run time should not be for more than 28 minutes in a day.
Week 8
- On Day 1, run for 22 minutes.
On Day 2, run for 25 minutes.
On Day 3, run for 28 minutes.
Week 9
- On Day 1, run for 30 minutes.
On Day 2, Run 5k (3.1 miles)
If you notice, your running duration increases each week, and by the end of the plan, you become a competent runner.
Couch to 5K Training Plan 2
Below, I’ve listed yet another strategy to achieve the same Couch to 5k plan. Choose whichever is suitable for you and proceed to reap benefits.
Week 1
- Workout 1: Run for a minute, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 8 times
- Workout 2: Run for a minute, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 10 times
- Workout 3: Run for a minute, walk for a minute. Repeat 8 times
Week 2
- Workout 1: Run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 5 times
- Workout 2: Run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 7 times
- Workout 3: Run for 3 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 4 times
Week 3
- Workout 1: Run for 3 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 5 times
- Workout 2: Run for 3 minutes, walk for 1 minute. Repeat 5 times
- Workout 3: Run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 5 times
Week 4
- Workout 1: Run for 5 minutes, walk for 3 minutes. Repeat 3 times
- Workout 2: Run for 5 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times
- Workout 3: Run for 5 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 4 times
Week 5
- Workout 1: Run for 8 minutes, walk for 3 minutes. Repeat 2 times
- Workout 2: Run for 8 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
- Workout 3: Run for 6 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times
Week 6
- Workout 1: Run for 10 minutes, walk for 3 minutes. Repeat 2 times
- Workout 2: Run for 10 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
- Workout 3: Run for 12 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
Week 7
- Workout 1: Run for 12 minutes, walk for 3 minutes. Repeat 3 times
- Workout 2: Run for 12 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
- Workout 3: Run for 15 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 2 times
Week 8
- Workout 1: Run for 20 minutes, walk for 5 minutes. Repeat 10 times
- Workout 2: Run for 20 minutes, walk for 5 minutes. Repeat 15 times
- Workout 3: Run for 5K distance at your comfortable and easy pace
What Is the Best Couch to 5k App?
With abundant apps available nowadays to assist you in your training routine, don’t worry about performance. Though running watches are advantageous, the best beginners’ running apps are an even better choice.
The Couch to 5K is the best and even has NHS-approved training routines. Endomondo and Runkeeper are two of the best free-to-download running apps, while a couple of other good ones include Runtastic, Nike+ Run Club, Map My Run, and Zombies Run.
Conclusion
Once you kickstart the Couch to 5K plan and achieve it successfully, what you do thereon is completely up to you. You could try running longer distances or introduce speed work in your runs.
Whatever you choose to do, remember that you now have a strong running foundation, and your body is ready for fitness challenges.
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