Nowadays, running is one of the most widely practiced physical activities in the world. More and more people (men, women, and children) are joining this initiative, which has been proven to reduce the risk of premature death in people.

However, the pros and cons of this exercise will vary according to how you practice it. Running three days a week is not the same as running daily as a routine, but is it bad to run long distances daily for a week? Is it necessary to add variety to our workouts? How many days a week is ideal to run? What is the importance of a varied training plan?

How many kilometers and how should I run them per week?

The number of weekly kilometers or miles that we run will vary, mainly based on two situations:

• You are a runner who is starting from scratch.
• You are a runner preparing for a half marathon or marathon or other distance.

In both cases, the volume of weekly and monthly kilometers will be progressive, even if you do not run the same kilometers, in order to avoid overtraining and injuries as well as getting stuck in your times.

Other important aspects to take into account according to the number of kilometers we run are the goals. These can be:

• Running to start getting in shape.
• Running to maintain or improve fitness.
• Running to improve our performance.

Here, it is important to have a fixed objective since the number of kilometers of our training plan will vary if we want to lose weight if we have been running regularly for some time and we are preparing for a half marathon, or if we are running just to keep in shape.

Running 10 kilometers or 6 miles or more per day increases the risk of injury for runners starting from scratch. For more experienced runners, it will only help them stay fit but will not allow them to achieve better performance.

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Disadvantages of running the same distance every day in training

According to Lilia Núñez, Physiatrist graduated from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), running every day at least 10 kilometers is not bad per se, but it does have some disadvantages that will affect in different ways according to your physical condition. These are:

• Running for six days and resting only one day per week significantly increases the risk of injury.
• If you run the same thing every day, your training simply has no purpose. This is why it is important that you follow a plan that is carried out by a professional.
• You must include speed and variety exercises to your training. If you don’t, you are not preparing your musculoskeletal system and your mind to run faster. However, it is important to know when we are ready to start this type of work.
• It is not necessary to run 6 times a week to maintain a good level of cardiovascular conditioning. Running the same distance in the same amount of time 6 times per week will only lead to a lack of progress in your running times.

Stalled in race times | I’m a Marathon Runner

Other disadvantages of running 10 kilometers six days a week are:

• It is easy to get bored with this repetitive routine and give up physical activity.
• You can lose your mental agility during the race because you are not prepared to face different distances, circumstances and speeds.

In conclusion, running is a complete exercise and we can only see its benefits if we practice it with an objective and following a varied training plan. The latter is very important, as it helps us to avoid overtraining, injuries and allows us to progress.

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Lilia Nuñez is a Physiatrist, graduated from UCV. Clinical fellowship physical medicine and rehabilitation-musculoskeletal, occupational and sports medicine at the University of Texas, Houston. She is the Medical Director of Metas Sports and captain of the Venezuelan Field Hockey team, a sport she has been practicing for 15 years.