Basic Exercise Plan for Caregivers with Run 5K App

Maintaining a consistent workout plan can be difficult in the busy lives of senior caregivers, but exercise plays an important part in caregiver stress relief. For caregivers who have a tight schedule, the Run 5K app offers a chance for a flexible and effective workout, starting at a beginners level and working up to being able to run a whole 5K. 

Cardio workouts help prevent future heart issues and keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels down, among several other health benefits. The Couch to 5K program used in the Run 5K app sets caregivers up for three runs per week over nine weeks total. Users start out with a five minute walking warm up and then during the first week, they alternate between jogging for one minute and walking for a minute and a half.

After the first three workouts, the plan changes to a minute and a half of jogging alternating with two minutes of walking. The length of time spent jogging increases as the users gets further along in the program. Eventually, caregivers work up to being able to run the whole 5K distance without any walking breaks. 

The app uses the GPS system on a user's phone to track how far they've run during the course of their workout. At the beginning, users may not complete a whole 5K distance as they're alternating between walking and running. The app also uses voice cues to tell users when to start or stop walking and it allows users to play music from their iTunes within the app if they like to listen to something while they run.

Caregivers can run outdoors if the weather is amenable to their needs, or on a track at the gym. As an added bonus, the workout data including how many calories were burned can be extracted from the app and sent to the Apple Health app if caregivers use that to track calories for a day. If caregivers own a bluetooth heart rate monitor, they can also allow the app to monitor that during their run for more insight into individual health. 

The Run 5K app is available for Apple platforms. 


-Paige Krzysko


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