Running training for beginners - how to start jogging

Running is healthy and popular. Every day, millions of people go jogging. Would you like to be one of them? Together with long-distance runner Anna Gehring, we show you what you should bear in mind when training as a beginner and give you practical tips on how to get started.

spized | Running

July 13, 2025 |

Whats’ on this page

1. Jogging benefits - why regular running is good for you

2. Here's what you should look out for if you want to start jogging

3. Running training as a beginner - How exactly should I start jogging?

4. Why are walking breaks good when starting running training?

5. Quiet phase in running training - recovery is important!

6. Summary - the most important facts about running training for beginners in brief

Jogging benefits - why regular running is good for you

There are many benefits to jogging. Do you still need arguments to increase your willingness to jog? Here they come:

You save money: You don't have to be a member of a gym, nor do you need expensive equipment. With us, you can even design your own running shirt at low cost.
You remain flexible: When you go jogging, you decide what time you do it. You don't need a team or a coach.
You save time: You can start jogging right from your front door. There's no need to travel long distances to a training ground or sports field.
You live healthier: Jogging has been shown to strengthen the heart muscle. This means that more oxygen-rich blood is pumped through your body per heartbeat. At the same time, regular endurance training like jogging reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease. Jogging also improves your lung function. More oxygen reaches your brain and muscles per breath. At the same time, running reduces your stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Instead, your body produces happiness hormones. Thanks to stronger muscles and stronger tendons and ligaments, you reduce your risk of injury.

So there's every reason to start jogging soon. We'll show you what's important when training for running as a beginner.

Here's what you should look out for if you want to start jogging

If you do not belong to a risk group and have no physical impairments, you can start running immediately. If you belong to one of the following groups, you should have a check-up with your family doctor or a sports doctor before you start running. It is best to search the internet for a sports doctor. They often even offer check-ups when patients want to start with sports. In these cases, a check-up before you start is important:

You have not done any sport for several years and have only exercised a little.
You are over 35 years old
You suffer from overweight
You have a chronic illness such as asthma, diabetes or a cardiovascular disease.

Running training as a beginner - How exactly should I start jogging?

Start your running training with short distances. Then increase your training volume by a maximum of 10 percent per week. This way your body can slowly get used to the load. Your cardiovascular system may need several days or even weeks to adjust to the new type of exercise. Your muscles are also not adapted to the additional exercise. They need weeks or even months to cope with the new tasks. Your ligaments and tendons are even more sluggish. Your tendons and ligaments need months and sometimes even years to get used to increasing loads.

We spoke above of "short distances". This is of course relative, but we mean really short distances. Your running training as a beginner can therefore only consist of 10 to 15 minutes of running at the beginning. Of course, you can also take breaks from walking. This is even good for the beginning runner. This way, your entire body can gradually adapt to your new training rhythm.

An example:

In the first week, you can set a specific duration as a goal for your running training as a beginner, e.g. "I will run for 15 minutes". It does not matter what distance you cover. In the second week, you can increase your running goal by 10 percent. You will then run for around 16.5 minutes. Important: You should only increase the distance if you really run several times a week. Walk slowly enough so that you can easily talk to another person.

Once you have reached the advanced level after a few months, you can vary your running pace and jog three to four times a week, for example.

Why are walking breaks good when starting running training?

This means that your muscles do not tire as much. The regeneration breaks are shorter and you can train more often.
Your supporting apparatus is less stressed at the beginning. This reduces the risk of injury.
You have more fun training from the beginning because you are not overloaded so quickly.

Our tip for running training with walking breaks for beginners:

Take walking breaks every now and then.
For example, run for 1-2 minutes and then walk for 2-3 minutes. Try to exercise for a total of 15 to 20 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week, with running and walking.
Then increase the amount of walking bit by bit until, for example, you only walk for 1 minute and run for 5 minutes.

Quiet phase in running training - recovery is important!

Even if you think that as a beginner runner you are not yet training enough to make a break worthwhile: it is important that you always take a recovery day. This is important because your body needs time after each training session to repair the damage caused by the stress on the muscles and tendons. When we talk about damage here, we are talking about a completely normal process in the body. This is because tiny damages to tendons and muscle strands occur under stress. You are probably familiar with a particular form of this "damage" as muscle soreness. This is nothing more than a sign that your body has not been able to sufficiently regenerate the damage caused by sport.

Basically, the more intensive your training, the longer you should regenerate. The principle for the rest phase in running training is called supercompensation time.

A stress stimulus initially lowers the performance level because the body is fatigued and less able to perform than before the stress.
After a recovery period, however, performance increases again, even beyond the initial level.

Through regular training, supercompensation ensures that you can continue to improve your performance. In doing so, you adapt your training load in a moderate way to your increasingly fit body.

This principle of load days and unload days should be taken into account when setting up a weekly plan and followed throughout the month. Important: After three intensive training weeks, you should use a whole week to regenerate. During this time you only run a few kilometres.

Summary - the most important facts about running training for beginners in brief

If you belong to a risk group, do a health check before you start running.
Start slowly and run only short distances with walking breaks
Reversing the ratio of walking breaks and running phases bit by bit
Do not go jogging every day, but insert at least one recovery day after each training day.
Increase by a maximum of 10 percent per week