August 30, 2019 - TCO
Visual Guide: 5K Training Tips
First time running a 5K? Already have plenty of experience? We’ve partnered with Girls on the Run – Twin Cities to provide tips to help you train safely and stay injury free no matter your experience level.
1. Warm-Up
Cool muscles can lead to strain and injury. These warm-up exercises can be done on a small stretch of floor or in your driveway, 10 minutes before your workout.
2. Strength Training
Strength training helps stabilize your joints and reduces the risk of muscle and joint injuries. We recommend giving these exercises a try twice a week.
Lower Body
Chair Squats: 12 reps
Alternating Lunge Backs: 8 reps each leg
Glute Bridge: 8 reps
Single Leg Knee Drive: 30 seconds each side
Band Shuffles: 10 reps each direction
Upper Body
Incline Stair Push Ups: 8-12 reps
Bent Over Front Rows: 8 reps
Lateral Band Raises: 8 reps
Shoulder Press: 8 reps
3. Cooldown
Decrease the risk of muscle soreness and tightness, which can lead to injury, by doing the following stretches (even on the floor while watching TV) 15 minutes after your workout.
About Girls on the Run
Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program for 3rd-8th grade girls. Participants develop and improve competence, feel confidence in who they are, develop strength of character, respond to others and oneself with care, create positive connections with peers and adults and make a meaningful contribution to community and society. Each session is led by trained volunteer coaches that guide and mentor the girls. The ten-week program concludes with all participants completing a celebratory 5k event which gives them a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. What started as a small start-up serving 24 girls in the spring of 2012 has spread quickly across the Twin Cities and into southeastern Minnesota to serve 3,400 girls at more than 200 sites in the spring of 2019.