Daniel Rich Galinson is a Plymouth, Minnesota-based professional who has worked as a national account executive with Solutran since 2007. He spent the prior six years with the company as a senior product manager. Outside his professional responsibilities, Daniel Rich Galinson enjoys running.
Running is a great cardio activity to improve your physical as well as mental health. If you keep a schedule and run on a regular basis you'll notice the runs start to become easier and hopefully more enjoyable. You might eventually find that you plateau and can't improve either your speed or your pace. Strength training and high intensity interval training (HIIT) can help improve your endurance so that you can run for longer periods without rest.
Leg and core exercises, in particular, can help improve your endurance and strengthen your muscles to decrease risk of injury. Lunges, squats, deadlifts, and bent over rows are especially effective.
HIIT, meanwhile, involves running at maximum effort for short periods followed by longer “rest” periods at moderate effort. Running at top speed for short intervals strengthens your lungs and heart which, in turn, improves your body's ability to run at a relaxed pace for longer periods. You can start by running at or near maximum effort for 30 second bursts interspersed with 60-second stints of jogging or walking.
