Have you thought about signing up for a physical challenge? Or have you recently signed up, yet you’re unsure on how you’d go about training and building the muscles and strength to succeed? The answer’s simple, use a structured training session; choose from three different workouts ranging in their intensity levels, followed over a nine week period.
Top Tips:
- Train three times per week, allow yourself some rest and recovery days –they’re vital for your performance.
- Measure your sessions using either time or distance; whatever method is easiest for you. Each session should take approximately 20 or 30 minutes to complete.
- On week 5, the workouts change in their demands; workout option 3 being the harder choice, jogging for 20 minutes with no walking breaks.
- Weeks 7-9 get you to a great level of fitness; we’ve increased the total time for jogging without any walking breaks. You’re now ready to smash the 5K run!
- 48 hours before the event, don’t push yourself by training; you want to avoid injury and body fatigue.
Week | Workout 1 | Workout 2 | Workout 3 |
1 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. |
2 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. | Brisk five minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. |
3 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 180m (or 90 seconds) Walk 180m (or 90 seconds) Jog 360m (or 3 minutes) Walk 360m (or three minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 180m (or 90 seconds) Walk 180m (or 90 seconds) Jog 360m (or 3 minutes) Walk 360m (or three minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 180m (or 90 seconds) Walk 180m (or 90 seconds) Jog 360m (or 3 minutes) Walk 360m (or three minutes) |
4 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) Walk 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) Walk 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) Walk 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) Walk 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 400m (or 3 minutes) Walk 200m (or 90 seconds) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) |
5 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 3 minutes) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 3 minutes) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 1.2km (or 8 minutes) Walk 800m (or 5 minutes) Jog 1.2km (or 8 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 3.2km (or 20 minutes) with no walking. |
6 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) Walk 400m (or 3 minutes) 1.2km (or 8 minutes) Walk 400m (or 3 minutes) Jog 800m (or 5 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then: Jog 1.6km (or 10 minutes) Walk 800m (or 3 minutes) 1.6km (or 10 minutes) | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 3.6km (or 22 minutes) with no walking. |
7 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4km (or 25 minutes). | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4km (or 25 minutes). | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4km (or 25 minutes). |
8 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4.4km (or 28 minutes). | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4.4km (or 28 minutes). | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 4.4km (or 28 minutes). |
9 | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 5km (or 30 minutes). | Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 5km (or 30 minutes). | The final workout! Well done! Brisk five minute warm-up walk, then jog 5km (or 30 minutes). |
Make sure you space out your three days of training throughout the week to give yourself a chance to rest and recover between sessions.
Happy training!