One of the biggest concerns when you are a plus sized runner is wear and tear on your joints. It’s a very real concern – extra weight adds extra burden to your joints and if you are not careful can cause longer term damage. While this is not a reason to stop running (or not to start) it is definitely something that you should be aware of.
After my knee surgery my first question to my physio was “when can I start running again?” She gave me some very firm targets – be able to do 20 single leg calf raises on each leg, 20 single let squats on each leg, 20 hamstring curls and walk for 45 minutes 3x per week. Progress.was.slow.
Enter Pool Running...
As part of my rehab I started doing workouts in the pool. At first it was basic mobility mixed in with some light strength training – squats and lunges. But as we progressed we advanced to doing more cardio/strength based exercises. We started with deep water running. Deep water running is literally zero impact – and very easy – take yourself over to water that is deeper than you are (basically – you can’t touch the bottom) and start running in the water as if you were on land. You won’t make a lot of forward progress, but you will definitely get your heart rate up!
After several weeks of deep water running (and more detail on my deep water routine here if you are interested) we progressed to in-water sprint/speed work. The pool where I exercise has a shallow area that is 1.2 meters deep (just above waist deep for me). It is designed for kids swimming lessons so it is not as deep as the regular pool. It’s a perfect depth for me because it allows enough water to take the pressure off my knees, while also offering water resistance and having me “out” of the water that I have to work hard on my sprints.
My Pool Running Program
I started small – doing just a short 25m “sprint” through the water, pushing with my legs but also using my arms in the water to push me forward. As that got easier I extended the sprints to be back and forth (50m). I was able to do this in 45 seconds. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy – it wasn’t. My lungs were screaming and my legs would tire after 3 rounds…. But I pushed through, doing 3-4 repeats before starting to cool down. I am happy to say that after a few months of this workout I have dropped my time from 45 seconds to 29 – a pretty significant improvement! But the best part of all, was that I could feel myself getting stronger. My lungs weren’t screaming quite as much at the end of the workout and I could feel the muscles in my legs working, and getting stronger each week.
Now when I go to the pool I start with a warm-up of walking lunges, jump squats and side to side leaps (all in the water for support) and then I go straight into the sprints. I vary my sprints between short and longer distances, building a bit each week. The workouts challenge me, and push my cardio leaving me feeling very accomplished when I’m finished.
Pool running has become my favourite workout of my week and I look forward to it every time. It’s allowed me to increase my strength and cardio to the point where I’ve been able to work in a few short road runs as well. Regardless of my road run progress, I expect I will keep pool workouts in my routine for a long time to come.
