Besides just toning your muscles and reducing the fat in your waistline, running is immensely beneficial to the human body in many ways. Though rigorous initially, running helps you burn extra calories from your body, helps the heart, the brain, and other organs function optimally and keep you youthful.

So if running is so good, why do people frown at it? At the beginning, it may hurt their ankles, knees, hips, and lower back, resulting in the hanging up of your running shoes. And that's the crux of the matter. No one likes the hurting that accompany running. So how do you start running without hurting, straining or over-exerting yourself? Here are a few tips to help the average person cope with the rigours of running without tweaking a muscle or losing interest too soon.

Create time for running
This is the hard part for most Nigerians, especially the ones working 8am-5pm. All the commute hours leaves you little time for exercises but if you're able to walk for 20 minutes, this will be a cakewalk. You might want to keep the weeknights and weekend open for this. It takes about 12 weeks to develop a great running regiment, so prepare for that.

Start small
You might not even do any running in your first week, you'll start with walking. Let your feet and other parts get warmed up for what's coming over the next few weeks. Start with a 5-minute walk (4 minutes fast, 1 slow). Repeat up to 4 times (if you're not out of breath). Do this for a week.

Challenge yourself
When you found you're comfortable with the 5-minute walk, you're ready to start light running, so up the tempo. Run for a minute and walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 7 times a day. Do this for another week.

Keep upping the tempo.
When you realize your ankles and feet have adjusted, you can try running for 3 minutes and walk for a minute and repeat 5 times. You'll find out over some weeks you've adjusted to the rigours, you can take it up from there.

Remember the key is to work up some sweat and not over-exert your heart. By 12 weeks constant running, you'll notice a change in yourself, you might lose weight or some clothes would start having a different fit. You'll love the result.

Running isn't an expensive venture, all you need are a pair of good running shoes, socks, a towel and water bottle and you're good to go. However, before you start running, get checked out by a doctor, especially if you have any health risks, such as heart or lung problems, major diseases, pregnancy, or the like. Put a call through to our professionals at Afriglobal Medicare on 01-6291000 or visit http://afriglobalmedicare.com/shortcodes/appointment-box/. Good luck with the running.