Why Do We Run On Fridays?
By vishwa on Inspiration
January 14, 2011
Most of us would have lost the ability to run, for I would love to revive it. For the above stated reason, we have been practicing running at gym for few years. Most of my gym clients who join me on Fridays have very well found their ground back and are far better runners relatively, for most of them when they started sprinting where struggling with the supposed stride to be taken.
On a similar note, I have spoken to an elderly man (64 years old), who frequents the ground more often than us. As we know that some are fit and healthy because they run more frequently, for they treat running to be the means to achieve fitness. I don’t have any qualm against people relying on running to get fit, for it is also one of the best means to achieve fitness. But I am just wary about the redundant nature of the exercise and its supposed repercussion perhaps on the lower limbs. Now, coming back to the discussion about that elderly man, he not only jogs but sprints, which has amazed me. It is heartening to watch him sprint and feel young at his ripe age, for I have seen that running brings back the youth in you.
In addition, I would also wish to share a story, which is in context with the above topic of discussion. I vividly remember this incident which occurred nearby to my native town 20 years before. I was then in high school. From my native town I visited a village where a man named Pidde lived. This man used to visit my town and would perform daily chores whenever he needed money. And during monsoon he would plow his field and grow crops for his living. He had invited my cousin and I to his village. We had been to the riverside to enjoy the village ambiance. All of a sudden it started to rain. Since there are was no shade in the vicinity we had to run for shelter. My cousin and I were running with Pidde, who was at least 30 years older. To our amazement, pidde outran us and continued running for a very long distance, but we both were helpless to keep up with him. That was 20 years ago. Pidde is now more than 60 years old, and he still continues to toil in his field, and enjoys vibrant health even at this age. I can still bet on him that he can out beat many of us even now in running.
So we see that as long as we have practiced any discipline continuously we can enjoy doing that for a pretty long time. And this applies to physical exercise too. Consistency and willingness is what matters the most.
5 thoughts on “Why Do We Run On Fridays?”
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I agree Vishwanthar about the consistency part. But thats exactly what is necessary isn’t it to achieve anything in life? Consistency and the ability to be at it constantly will fetch anyone mostly everything. The same is true of exercise, I guess. Some peoples’ joints take kindly to the pounding caused by jogging and running; for many others they don’t. Even the body building and pumping iron exercises can cause damage that can take a toll. I know that Vishwanthar would be mumbling that lifting weights of properly done under the guidance of a coach can be of immense benefit with least damage. But then how many coaches actually are capable of such? I know many who claim they know everything but then………………………………………..
I believe moderation is the key. Weight training has been dated back from the late 19th century, Since then the routines have been fine tuned to a larger extent. Numerous researches have been done and are taking place.
I believe all forms of exercise will have its ups and downs. Moreover, we can continue to speculate on the efficiency of these exercises, or for the better at least try to incorporate them slowly and steadily in our daily life and reap the benefits. As I said, moderation is the key, and absolute care is taken in in charting out a plan. For example, beginners should not go overboard and lift heavy weights. It is not only the muscles they are training, but their joints, ligaments, and tendons are also being trained. It is known from research that the blood flow to the joint structure is much slower when compared to the muscles. So, beginners are advised to workout with light weights in the early months, for we also want the joints to be primed up. Later on, they can start lifting more weights without compromising their technique. So, we see that a lot goes into the structuring of routines.
We typically weight train three to four days in a week. On Fridays alone we practice running. And the remaining two days where we don’t lift weights, we work on the core musculature and also perform stretching. The routines are considered with absolute care. I personally weight train three days in a week, for I have seen that I recover better that way. Moreover, age does matter, for older individuals take a longer time to recover; whereas, a college kid will recover very soon provided his diet his good enough.
I hope I have been clear.
HI Sir,
Since you are talking about running schedule, I have a doubt. suppose a person is not weight training regularly what do you suggest, is it better to sprint everyday or just 3 to 4 days a week.
Anoop, if you are not weight training, 3 days would suffice. Ofcourse, it would depend on the individual’s age, recovery capability, and previous training experience. When I say three days, I mean three days of all out sprinting. When it comes to jogging, you can afford to do it everyday, or better every other day. But again it depends on the individual.
Thank you.