Is Running After Not Running Possible?

MsCzar

Despite being able to jog in place on a rebounder, climb stairs and race walk, it's been more than a decade since I've actually been able to run. I had double hip replacements in 2015 and despite having good overall flexibility, still descend stairs like Herman Munster. Does running involve a different set of muscles than the aforementioned activities? Can they be restored? I recently needed to make my way quickly through an airport and was aghast to find my abilities ended at fast shuffle.

cyndit1

I think first that is a question for your doctor but with medical clearance than following a good plan like C25K I don’t see why not.

MsCzar

My doc said I'm good for just about anything. But after surgery, I never regained the ability to get up from a deep squat... something I could do previously. That makes me wonder about the muscles perhaps needed for running and smoothly descending stairs. I feel as if I could quasi-run pushing a grocery trolley or rollator and have thought about building the necessary muscles by holding myself up on to the rails of a treadmill. I have great cardio endurance - just not the ability to run.

cwolfman13

Running is a practiced thing...if you haven't run in over a decade you're just way out of practice and you haven't used those muscles in that capacity in a long time. Running is high impact and has to be built up gradually.

I recently started running again with a C25K program...I too haven't run in about 10 years. Even though I'm otherwise pretty fit (cyclist, MTB, hiker, dog walker, weight lifter, etc) it's slow going because I'm using my body completely different than I do in any of my other fitness practices and is far more high impact than anything else I do. I don't have any problems with it from a cardiovascular standpoint, it's the impact and pounding that make me grateful when I'm in my running interval and my app says "walk".

AnnPT77

Conditioning can be remarkably activity-specific, IME. I wouldn't assume that your other activities would translate to being conditioned for running after a long hiatus.

Have you asked for a physical therapy referral to work on the squats and stairs things? Those limitations don't seem to be a universal outcome, judging from friends who've had hip replacements - that's why I'm wondering. (And yes, I know a couple who still run, after joint replacement, though there wasn't the 10-year gap.)

In general, I'd expect someone who hasn't run in 10 years to have to rebuild their running capability gradually, even without joint replacement in the picture. If your doctor's cleared you to run, it seems like it would be OK to work on that, cautiously. It's not just a matter of muscles or CV fitness, there's connective tissue conditioning, conditioning to impact of that specific type, and more.