Adding load

If your health allows it and you want to increase the load, you can take extra weight with you, but it's best to carry it on your back (in a backpack) rather than in your hands. First of all, this will load the spine correctly and evenly and will make you adopt the right posture. Secondly, it will toughen you up. However, when carrying extra weight, you must be very careful, because the bag must not press on your lower back, sacrum or back, or chafe your shoulders, otherwise you will then have to treat the chafing.

Never start running fast right away. If you have enough strength that walking alone does not give you enough load, walk at a faster pace and periodically, when you feel like it, switch to a light jog. Continue jogging for as long as you feel strong. When fatigue sets in and you start to get short of breath, slow down and switch to a fast walk. If your chosen distance is 3–4 kilometers long, I would recommend switching to running 5–6 times. But don't overdo it: don't run fast and don't lift your knees high. The difference in speed between walking and running should not be large!

Good to know!

Running differs from walking in its weightless phase. When walking, a person always has support. You only lift one foot off the ground once the other has touched it. When running, there is a moment when you are fully off the ground and flying. This flight time defines the quality of the run. When running with short, shuffling steps the weightless flight phase is very short, but when running with long strides, high jumps and powerful push-offs the flight time is long. From a health perspective, running with a smaller flight phase is better, because a high flight, so to speak, also has a strong landing impact.

Question & answer

• First difference — when running, the spine, bones and joints have to withstand a greater vertical load.
• Second difference — when running, movements are more intense, blood circulation is faster, you start to sweat sooner and tire sooner.