Ever wondered how often you should run? Is running every day ok? How many rest days should I take? Beginners and experienced runners alike frequently ask these questions and wonder if there’s an ideal amount of running they should be doing. Join us as we take a look at How Many Days A Week Should I Run.
Here’s a question most runners, beginner or experienced, ask. How often should I run?
Answering this important question requires us to understand the two extremes. What is the least amount of running we should do to achieve our fitness outcomes, and what is the maximum it is recommended you should run.
Too little running won’t get you what you want to achieve, and too much can result in injury and burnout.
Most runners will ultimately find a routine that suits them. To do this, we need to consider a few variables –
- The time you have available each week
- What other exercise and sporting commitments you have
- What work and family commitments you have
- Your goals and desired outcomes
- Do you have any running experience
- What fitness level you are at
Taking into consideration all of the above and once you have found some running windows, it’s time to lace up and maximise your running opportunities.
So how many days a week should I run? Let’s break that down a little.
How Often Should Beginners Run?
As a beginner, your most important strategy is to slowly build up your capacity and avoid injury. The most sure-fire way to get injured is running seven days a week from the get go.
You must give your body time to adjust to the new stresses and strains you are subjecting it to. It’s also imperative that you give your muscles time to recover and get stronger.
That means, NOT running on consecutive days, and, there MUST be a full day’s rest in-between each workout.
If you are feeling any lingering tightness or soreness, make sure you rest another day or two.
Remember, your muscles gain strength and condition on your rest days. So give them the time they need for recovery, to rebuild, and repair any soft tissue damage.
As you gain more experience and your body becomes more conditioned to running, you may be able to slightly increase the number of days you run.
If you are new to running and want to get started, we can help. Our Couch To 5k run plan, will safely help you on your way.
Got questions? Ask us in the comments section, we are always happy to help.
A new runner should aim for two or three workouts of at least 30 minutes per week. With experience, and when your body has adapted, you can increase this.
Tip : How many days a week should I run to lose weight? Use the above guide of three days a week, try for at least 5 km each time. Combine with a healthy diet, and you will have success.
How Often Should Experienced Runners Run?
If you’ve been running for quite some time, you will have found a training frequency that suits your body, lifestyle, and desired outcomes. Whether it be for health and fitness, training for a race, weight loss or even just enjoyment.
Most experienced runners will run three to five days a week.
At RMWA, we recommend running three or four days a week, with a full rest day in between each workout, as an effective and sustainable routine.
Elite runners will often train six days a week and cover a total of over 100 kilometres. Possibly under the direction of a coach, these runners may even train twice a day. For the rest of us, this is not advised. That amount of running requires strict monitoring, nutrition, and planning.
A couple more points to take into account –
Muscles And Rest.
Just like working out in a gym, when you stress your muscles with exercise, you are sometimes causing a small level of muscle breakdown. It’s during the rest days that the muscles recover, build and strengthen. This is how we enhance endurance and stamina.
Solid running workouts require proper rest. This way you will strengthen your muscles, increase your fitness and endurance, and, reduce the risk of injury.
Here’s a great article from Everyday Health explaining muscle breakdown and recovery, some great tips too.
Mix Up Your Running Exercises.
Another important consideration is a variety of exercises.
You should also add various running exercises to your routine in order to stimulate different muscle groups. This helps develop all muscle groups together. Strengthening some muscles and not others can lead to an imbalance and the risk of injury.
We also want to maintain our motivation by mixing up our running, and not risk boredom by doing the same thing week in week out.
Introduce some variety by adding exercises like sprinting, hills, stairs, intervals and fartleks for example. There are many others.
You can refer to the RMWA free e-book of our 8 favourite running exercises you receive when you join our email list for some ideas and how-to’s.
Feed your muscle strength and mental engagement by keeping it fresh and changing up your routine regularly.
Weekly Running Plan
So now that we’ve established that running three to four days a week is ideal for most runners, let’s have a look at a typical run plan.
For most people, myself included, three times a week will satisfy most running objectives and lifestyle considerations.
The intention is to get a good balance between effective workout sessions and proper rest.
You can substitute the suggested days of the week for other days to suit your own personal schedule.
Here’s how it works –
Tuesday Recovery run
Having done a substantial workout on the weekend, probably a long run, you want to use this Tuesday run to get in a less intense workout.
The benefits of the recovery run are that it aids recovery whilst advancing fitness and endurance.
An effective Tuesday recovery run will be about 45 minutes to one hour, or approximately 7 to 9 kilometres.
The pace will be slow to medium, no need to set a fast pace.
Select a course that is not very challenging, slight hills are fine, but this is not meant to be a solid workout. Long inclines or stairs should not be included.
Just have fun with this and enjoy the light and easy workout.
Thursday Intense Workout.
This one is a solid workout.
In-between your recovery run and your long weekend run, you want to include a workout that takes in other types of running exercises which will really challenge you.
Typically, the Thursday session will last for about one to one and a half hours.
It should be a solid to intense workout, and you will incorporate many of the different running exercises we spoke about previously.
Tip : A great idea is to join a running club, so you can take advantage of the great variety of workouts they will have organised for the group. Most running clubs accommodate runners of all ability levels, which is great if you’re a beginner.
Not sure whether you should join a running club? Take a look at our article 5 Reasons To Join A Run Club to help you decide.
Mix up your exercises and put in a solid effort with this workout.
Weekend Long Run
On Saturday or Sunday, it’s time to do your long run.
At RMWA we think of a long run as anything over 10 kilometres. For these longer distance runs, you should pace yourself to preserve your energy in the beginning stages, this also ensures you have enough gas in the tank to complete the distance.
Run at a slower pace in the beginning. Try not to go too fast early, you may not be able to finish the entire distance.
Check out our article, 7 Ways To Run For Longer, for some great tips, and help with your long-distance running.
If you love distance running, as we do, or you are training for a longer event such as a marathon, this is generally when you will do your long run workout or training session.
Tip : Setting off early in the morning is a great way to not only complete your run, but still have plenty of time left in the day for other activities or commitments.
Try different distances, new routes or trails, or even run with a friend, partner, or group.
Weekend distance running is very satisfying and a lot of fun.
Mix it up, keep it fresh, and above all, enjoy it.
Wrapping It Up
Running is a lifestyle. It’s a gift to yourself that constantly rewards you with many great benefits, such as better health and fitness, and higher self-esteem and confidence. If approached in the right way, you will be able to do this for life.
When choosing how often to run, there are a couple of important points to keep in mind.
- It’s very easy to become overly enthusiastic in the beginning and run too often. Using our guide of three to four times a week will not only keep you engaged, improving and enjoying your healthy new activity, but it also diminishes the risk of burnout or injury.
- As we stated earlier, running is a lifestyle, and something you should be able to enjoy for life. If you are running too much, you risk this fun activity becoming burdensome, boring, or worst, something you resent having to do. Don’t give up on running because you went overboard and got tired of it.
- Running too little is not sustainable either. Running only once a week, or occasionally, won’t give you the outcomes you are looking for, such as improved health and fitness or weight loss. However, if your schedule is so jam packed that all you can manage is one 30 minute run per week, this is much better than nothing at all.
To finish off, here’s a couple of running rules to live by –
- Run at least three days a week
- Never run seven days a week, unless you are supervised by an experienced coach
- Get plenty of recovery rest, preferably one full day between runs
- Each workout should be at least 30 minutes
- Don’t forget your warm-ups and cool-downs. Take it easy with stretching.
- Never run if you have an injury, even tightness or soreness should be given time to resolve.
- Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate
- Have fun!!!
Congratulations on choosing running, enjoy your passion and hit us up if we can help you. Share any tips, ideas, or experiences you have in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you.
Happy running.
Steve.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should beginners run?
If you are just beginning running, we advise using our ‘Couch to 5k’ plan first to get you on your way. Then three to four times a week of at least 5 km.
How often should advanced runners train?
If you’ve been a runner for a while and your body has adapted to regular training, you may run between three and five days a week.
Is it ok to run every day?
No, you must allow your body rest days to fully recover and repair from previous workouts. Try to have a full day of rest between running days.
What’s the least distance I should run each time?
We recommend at least 5 km or 30 minutes of running with each workout to gain any tangible benefit. But any running is better than no running, so if you can only squeeze in a couple of kilometres, it’s worthwhile.
Can I run on consecutive days?
Doing a run streak? Want to run every day for seven days? With proper training, a focus on good diet, and plenty of sleep and rest, it is doable. It’s not sustainable long term without the risk of injury, but can be a great training challenge.
This article is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to act on any of its content. It is always recommended you consult your healthcare practitioner before engaging in any activity that may affect your health.
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