Dr. John Day, Cardiologist

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Couch to 5K: Fit for Life 4 Easy Steps

Not exercising prematurely ages you 10 years according to studies.  For my patients who have not been active for years, most don’t know where to begin.  In this article, I share a scientifically proven way to go from couch to 5K and become fit for life in four easy steps.

My Couch to 5K Experience

In 1991, I was a couch potato.  I was also 30 pounds heavier than I am now.

At that time, I had just been accepted to Johns Hopkins University Medical School and had not exercised in many years.  As fate would have it, I was assigned two roommates who were both hardcore marathon runners.

Not long after living with them, they had convinced me to run the New York City Marathon with them.  The problem is that I had never run before.  In fact, I hated running.

Never in even my wildest dreams had I ever considered running a marathon.  I had never even walked or run a 5K before.

A marathon seemed so far beyond anything I was ever capable of doing.  Still, I was up for the challenge and I needed to get in shape.

When I shared my plans to run the New York City Marathon with my soon-to-be wife, Jane, she was excited.

“Let’s do it together,” she said.  Even though we were living on opposite ends of the country, she suggested that we train together and share our progress.

“To get ready for the New York City Marathon in the fall, will you run the Salt Lake City Marathon with me this summer?” She asked.

“Sure,” I reluctantly said.  Now, the couch potato had publicly committed to not one but two different marathons both in the same year.  One with Jane and one with my roommates.

While I no longer run marathons, these two marathons kick started a lifelong fitness habit.  I have remained physically fit ever since.

How do you go from couch to 5K?

I should point out that running a marathon, based on the latest research that I described in a previous blog,  may not be a healthy decision. However, at least walking a 5K is something that everyone should be able to do. Even if you are confined to a wheelchair, a 5K is still within reach.

The problem is that most of my patients don’t know where to begin.  Let me take you through a four-step scientifically proven process that will maximize your chances of success and lifelong fitness.

Couch to 5K: Fit for Life 4 Easy Steps

1. Commit to a Two-Month Public Goal

To go from couch to 5K, you have to commit.  For many of my patients, committing to an event, like a 5K, is often all they need to also kick start a lifelong fitness habit.

Fortunately, there are 5K races most weekends.  If you can’t run, then commit to walk a 5K or another event.  Studies show that if you commit publicly to your goal, you are much more likely to succeed.

In my case, I definitely committed publicly to my fitness goal.  My reputation was on the line with my medical school classmates as well as with my future wife.  I couldn’t let them down.

The process of training and running two marathons took me about a year to complete.  As I had not exercised in many years, this year long commitment was probably what I needed to make fitness a habit for life.

However, you don’t need to commit to a year.  Studies show that two months is about all you need to develop a new habit.

Why a two-month goal?

Common wisdom is that it only takes 21 days to form a new habit, right?  Unfortunately, there are no data supporting this.  Interestingly, no one really knows where this belief originated from but it was certainly popularized by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, in his book Psycho-Cybernetics published in 1960.

Dr. Maltz noted that it took his patients about 21 days to get used to looking at their new face in the mirror after plastic surgery.  Now, getting used to how you look in the mirror and training for a 5K are two completely different things.

To challenge this long held belief, Dr. Phillippa Lally and colleagues from University College London conducted a study to see just how long new habits take to form.  In this study, Dr. Lally and colleagues recruited 96 volunteers to track how long it took them to form a new healthy habit around eating, exercising, or drinking.

What they found is what I typically see in my cardiology practice.  There is nothing special about 21 days.  In fact, depending on the person, their situation, and how difficult the new habit was for them, it took anywhere from 18 to 254 days to make their new habit stick.

Fortunately, for most people it did not take 254 days.  Most people were able to achieve their fitness, weight loss, or drinking habits in about 66 days.

It is important to remember that the real goal is not to walk or run a 5K, but rather to use this 5K event to develop a life-long habit of physical activity.

Use a Commitment Device

If you really want to ensure success, use a commitment device to make sure you don’t back out of your 5K.  A commitment device is a means to get you to follow through on your commitment that you wouldn’t normally do.

There are lots of different commitment devices.  My favorite is Stikk.com.  On Stikk, you define your goal and then tap into the power of loss aversion to increase your chance of success by three-fold.

If you don’t achieve your couch to 5K goal, then whatever money you “pledged” will be taken from your credit card and donated to the anti-charity you have selected.  This “anti-charity” could be anything from the NRA Foundation to the Freedom to Marry organization depending on your political beliefs.  The key to the anti-charity commitment device is that you would do almost anything to prevent your hard earned money from going to an organization you detest.

2. Recruit a Partner

If you want to succeed, you need a partner.  The best partner is your spouse or significant other.  Studies show that couples who commit together for health goals are up to 11 times more likely to succeed!

If your spouse or significant other is not willing to go on the couch to 5K journey with you, find a coworker or friend who will.  Even an online “virtual” partner can help you succeed.

In my case, I was doing the marathons with my medical school classmates and Jane.  With most of the important people in my life all training together with me, it made it much easier to succeed.

3. Buy the Right Tools

To help you succeed, you need the right gear.  Buy a new pair of running shoes, shorts, and shirt.  As soon as you wake up each morning, put on your new running shoes and exercise clothes.

Whether or not you choose to exercise that day is entirely up to you.  You just can’t make the decision not to exercise until your entire exercise gear is on your body.

In my case, I kept my new running shoes, shorts, and shirts hanging prominently in my medical school dorm room.  It was always visible and reminded me of my goal.

4. Tracking Device

The right tracking device will not only “gamify” your couch to 5K adventure, but will also be your coach through the process.  It will teach you what you need to do each day to achieve your 5K goal.

My favorite app for patients just starting on the couch to 5K path, is the smartphone app “Couch to 5K.” All this app requires from you to achieve your 5K goal is about 20 minutes, three times a week, for two months.

The app will even tell you what specifically you need to do for your 20 minute workout to stay on course to reach your 5K goal.  It will also track your progress and allow you to share the journey with your friends and family through Facebook and other social media sites.  If you would rather not use an app, a fitness trainer works just as well.

Alternatively, any pedometer will help you achieve your 5K goal. Many of my patients like the Fitbit or the Apple watch to track their progress.  Studies show that just putting a pedometer on your body will cause you to subconsciously take 2,500 extra steps a day.  That is 2K of the 5K, every day, without even having to think about exercising.

As a first year medical student in 1991, there were no apps or pedometers around to help me in my training. Rather, I shared my daily mileage with my roommates and Jane.  Often, we ran together.  The key was that I was 100% accountable.

As I reflect back, somewhere during the training process I experienced the “runners high.”  This is the euphoria that runners experience.  A euphoria or drug-like state that is so strong that they never want to stop running.

Once I experienced this “runners high,” I was hooked for life.  Since 1991, exercise has been something that I just can’t live without.

Final Thoughts

In this article, I discussed how you can use science to maximize your chances of becoming fit for life.  The goal is not really to walk or run a 5K, but rather develop a lifelong habit of physical fitness.

Often times, a “big race” is all you need to jump start a lifelong fitness program.  It certainly worked well for me.

The four steps discussed in this article also work well for weight loss, smoking cessation, or any other health goal.

Did you use a 5K, or another event, to help you become physically fit?  Please share your experiences as to how exercise became a habit for you.  As always, leave your questions and I will do my best to answer every question.