Running is a sport suitable for men, women and children Running training is available, both for novices and veterans, using existing venues. So, is it better to run every day or every other day? Is it better to run 5 km or 10 km?
Let’s take a look: running 10 kilometers every other day VS running 5 kilometers every day, which one has the advantage? The answer is to run 10 km the next day. Why would you recommend running 10 km the next day?
1. Higher calorie consumption
In terms of energy consumption, a 5 km run is relatively limited and may not be able to consume a lot of fat in one exercise, while a 10 km run consumes far more calories than a 5 km run.
When you first start running, your body consumes Glycogen , when glycogen is consumed to a certain extent, fat will begin to be used to provide energy. Therefore, a long run of 10 km is able to prompt the body into fat burning mode for better fat burning effect.
2. Exercise cardiopulmonary function
Whether you run 10 km every other day or 5 km every day, you can fully exercise your cardiopulmonary function and be able to continuously stimulate it.
When doing a 10-kilometer run, the body needs to mobilize more energy reserves. This high-intensity stimulation can more effectively improve the function of the cardiovascular system, enhance the contractility of the heart and the elasticity of blood vessels, and also make muscle fibers more effective. Get more adequate exercise to improve endurance more significantly.
3. Easy to persist
For people who are busy at work and have an irregular pace of life, it is impractical to run 5 kilometers a day, and it is difficult to persist because all kinds of emergencies in life may affect the number of times they can run and clock in.
And “Running 10 kilometers every other day does not require special time for running exercises every day. You only need to ensure that you run once every two days. This will make it easier to persist, help maintain the enthusiasm for running, and will not cause boredom”.
4. Combine work and rest to reduce the chance of injury
For most ordinary runners, the combination of work and rest is very important, and running and clocking in every day is not conducive to the body’s rest and recovery. Although in the long term, this distance is about the same whether running 5 km per day or 5 km per day.
However, running 10 km the next day means that the body can be given enough rest time, and the combination of work and rest can reduce the chance of injury, whether it is joint soft tissue or bone, it can be restored stronger.
5. Save time
Running 10 kilometers every other day will save more time than running 5 kilometers every day, and can achieve a higher amount of training in fewer running days.
Running 10 km 3 – 4 times a week, compared to running 5 km a day, saves preparation time and round trip time for daily running when the total amount of running is equivalent or even higher, making running training more focused and efficient.
However, there’s one thing runners should be aware of:
1. For newbies to running, it is difficult to achieve the goal of running 10 kilometers from the beginning. It is recommended to start with a running distance of 5 kilometers each time, maintain the running frequency once every other day, slowly improve physical endurance, and then gradually Increase the number of kilometers you run to achieve a more efficient running effect.
2. Learn the correct posture when running to avoid muscle strain, joint wear and other problems caused by wrong running. Warm-up and stretching exercises before and after running can reduce the chance of injury, relieve muscle congestion problems after running, and help the body recover.
Disclaimer: All photos used in this blog are generated by artificial intelligence (AI). These images are original creations produced by AI technology and do not depict real people, places, or events. They are provided for illustrative purposes only and cannot be claimed or used as real photographs.
Dr. Ashish Singh is not just a consultant orthopaedic surgeon but a visionary leader in the field. Serving as the Medical Director at Anup Institute of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation in Patna, Bihar, he holds an illustrious academic background with MBBS, MS Ortho, MCh.Orth. (UK), PG Diploma CAOS (UK), and SICOT Diploma Orth. (Sweden).
