Running twice a day?

szuszanna · July 2012

So, back story:
I'm currently 239lbs and have more than 80 lbs to go to reach my goal weight. I have a bad back that doctors haven't been able to diagnose for over 12 years. Anytime I have gone in to be seen for it they gave me pain pills and muscle relaxants and told me to lose weight and quit smoking (standard doctor orders for everything these days!

I quit smoking 3 months ago, and am starting on the lose weight part now. With my back, the doctors have all told me to just do what ever I felt comfortable with, and to back off if it started hurting.
Today was the third day of week 4 in C25K for me. Every day toward the end of the last 5 minute run my back was killing me, so I slowed way down to almost a walking pace. My back stops hurting after I've stretched and rested for a bit and doesn't continue hurting all day like it used to. I've been really good about making sure I stretch my whole body before and after my runs.
My question is would it be bad to do a second run in the day to help condition my body and burn calories? I would continue to run only every other day with rest days in between. I'm hoping that as I lose more weight and get used to it, my back wont hurt for the longer runs any more and I'll be able to keep going with the program, but at this rate I don't think I can move on to the next week.
Or would it be better to try to increase the number of days I run with fewer rest days?

scottb81 · July 2012

Running twice a day is an excellent way to increase your conditioning. This blog post gives some of the reasons why: http://camilleherron.com/2012/03/14/what-turkeys-and-other-studies-teach-us-about-frequency-intensity-doubles-and-rest-periods/

However, its not something you can just jump into every day as it does add training stress that can lead to injury if the body is not given time to adapt. If you want to do it start with only a second run on one day a week and hold it there for several weeks. Then add another day and again hold for several weeks. And so on until you reach the amount of training you want to do.

Over time you could build up to running every day twice a day if that's what you want to do.

On the second daily run you will still be tired from the first so take it easy. Nobody trains twice a day hard except those that will soon be injured and not running at all.

szuszanna · July 2012

Thanks! I was thinking of maybe doing a second run today from week 2 with more walking than running just to see how it went. I'll see how it goes and how I feel tomorrow! lol

BrianSharpe · July 2012

Running twice a day is an excellent way to increase your conditioning. This blog post gives some of the reasons why: http://camilleherron.com/2012/03/14/what-turkeys-and-other-studies-teach-us-about-frequency-intensity-doubles-and-rest-periods/

However, its not something you can just jump into every day as it does add training stress that can lead to injury if the body is not given time to adapt. If you want to do it start with only a second run on one day a week and hold it there for several weeks. Then add another day and again hold for several weeks. And so on until you reach the amount of training you want to do.

Over time you could build up to running every day twice a day if that's what you want to do.

On the second daily run you will still be tired from the first so take it easy. Nobody trains twice a day hard except those that will soon be injured and not running at all.

Bang on as usual.........

Running is not a zero to marathon activity, after 4 weeks your body is just starting to adapt to your new activity levels and you're far more likely to suffer an injury (and the attendant setback that goes with time off running) by trying to do too much, too soon too fast.

If you want to improve your aerobic conditioning perhaps you could consider adding a non-impact aerobic activity for now (swimming, cycling, rowing etc) and re-visit the 2nd run per day idea later on.

It may sound counter-intuitive but adding exercise will not result in a significant increase in your rate of weight loss. Exercise takes fuel which means you need to consume additional calories to provide the fuel you need to do the workouts (the benefits of exercise transcend weight loss, don't let this discourage you from exercising more)

RuthieCass · July 2012

So, back story:
I'm currently 239lbs and have more than 80 lbs to go to reach my goal weight. I have a bad back that doctors haven't been able to diagnose for over 12 years. Anytime I have gone in to be seen for it they gave me pain pills and muscle relaxants and told me to lose weight and quit smoking (standard doctor orders for everything these days! I quit smoking 3 months ago, and am starting on the lose weight part now. With my back, the doctors have all told me to just do what ever I felt comfortable with, and to back off if it started hurting.
Today was the third day of week 4 in C25K for me. Every day toward the end of the last 5 minute run my back was killing me, so I slowed way down to almost a walking pace. My back stops hurting after I've stretched and rested for a bit and doesn't continue hurting all day like it used to. I've been really good about making sure I stretch my whole body before and after my runs.
My question is would it be bad to do a second run in the day to help condition my body and burn calories? I would continue to run only every other day with rest days in between. I'm hoping that as I lose more weight and get used to it, my back wont hurt for the longer runs any more and I'll be able to keep going with the program, but at this rate I don't think I can move on to the next week.
Or would it be better to try to increase the number of days I run with fewer rest days?

Running twice a day can be ok, depending on your length and intensity. But here it seems as though you are asking if it's a good idea to nearly double up on your running length. And I do not think this is a good idea, especially with a bad back. You are 4 weeks into running. There's no need to try to run so much all at once. Actually doing too much running too fast is a good way to get injured. If you feel pain in the last five minutes of the run, maybe that is a sign that you should slow down a bit. Try shortening the run by 5 minutes (or just walking a little bit longer at the end), and then adding another minute each week or so.

As for the bad back: Stretching after a run (when your muscles are warm) is perfectly fine. However, I don't think you should stretch before running, if you have not warmed up. If you really want to do some stretching prior to running, you could try "dynamic stretching"- things like butt kicks and knee highs. You could also try some core-strengthening exercises that may help to take some of the weight off of your back (e.g., planks and Pilates). I think you'd find this more beneficial than trying to run a whole lot more suddenly.

Also, did you start experiencing more back pain as you gained weight (or from having very large breasts)? If so, then your doctors are right in that it will probably improve greatly if you lose weight. Otherwise there could be another cause. I know someone who suffered through back pain for years without diagnosis (chiropractors were useless) and they finally discovered that he had a cyst near his spine. After removal, the pain went away. If you still have pain once you lose all the weight, then that might be something to consider. But if it's not due to a cyst, strengthening your core should help.

Flafster · July 2012

WTS. Run twice a day when running once is too easy for you, not still quite hard.

InTheInbetween · July 2012

Running twice a day is an excellent way to increase your conditioning. This blog post gives some of the reasons why: http://camilleherron.com/2012/03/14/what-turkeys-and-other-studies-teach-us-about-frequency-intensity-doubles-and-rest-periods/

However, its not something you can just jump into every day as it does add training stress that can lead to injury if the body is not given time to adapt. If you want to do it start with only a second run on one day a week and hold it there for several weeks. Then add another day and again hold for several weeks. And so on until you reach the amount of training you want to do.

Over time you could build up to running every day twice a day if that's what you want to do.

On the second daily run you will still be tired from the first so take it easy. Nobody trains twice a day hard except those that will soon be injured and not running at all.

Well put!

I would also suggest adding MUCH more core strengthening to your routine. It's easy to overlook how much our core conditioning affects running. Your core muscles stabilize your body and assist the lower extremities when they become fatigued. If your core is not conditioned sufficiently it cannot provide the strength necessary to assist (that may also be part of your back issue).

szuszanna · July 2012

I started having back problems while I was still in good shape and at a healthy weight. I have been told I have arthritis, hypolordosis, slight scoliosis, that my coxyx fused abnormally, have one hip higher than the other, and most recently, just poor musculature. And those are just the "doctors" not physical therapists or chiropractors. So I guess I've had too many things diagnosed and none of them helpful at all. I used to be very active with sports and such, but as I've gotten older and started spending too much time at work I've been very inactive. I'm sure that the weight doesn't help the back at all, but I don't think its the primary cause at all.
As far as increasing distance and such, like I said, I used to play sports and be very active. My lungs and stamina are good, and I'm not having muscle pains or aches or strains. If it wasn't for the back issue I'd just be pushing through the 5ks at this point through will power and reading my body (backing off with pain, plenty of recovery days, stretching, etc). I had just heard conflicting things about if doubles were ok or would do more harm than good with weightloss....

Running twice a day?

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