Buzzapp Master 
The week of workouts below is for SELF’s Learn to Love Running Program, our brand-new, beginner-friendly plan that will get you running 30 minutes nonstop! Here’s what you need to know to get started.
It’s week 6 of 12—that means that, at the end of the week, you’re officially halfway through the program! And in six more weeks, you’ll take on your first 30-minute nonstop run. We’re incredibly proud of you for all you’ve accomplished so far and excited for what’s still to come.
We’re back to increasing your running intervals today, and you’ve hit an important milestone there too. On your first two cardio days, your intervals are each 2.5 minutes long—the same amount of time as you’re walking—and on your longer session, your running intervals extend to three minutes. That means this week, your running minutes equal your walking ones!
We hope you take a few minutes to mark these accomplishments. As a runner, you’ll learn again and again that while bigger goals can motivate you, it’s what you do day in and day out that will truly change your life. So take pride in the process, celebrate your progress, and get ready for a great week ahead.
Week 6 at a Glance:Call today a 50-50 workout. After your warm-up, you’ll walk for 2.5 minutes, then run for the same amount of time. Challenge yourself to make the transitions as smooth as possible, picking up the pace toward the end of your walk to seamlessly progress into the run, then dialing it back over the last few seconds of your run to ease back into a brisk walk. Remember, you’re still shooting for an effort of a 3–4 on that scale of 1–10 when you run.
Monday: Walk/Run Intervals
5-minute warm-upWalk 2.5 minutes, run 2.5 minutes (repeat 4 times)5- to 10-minute cooldownTotal time: 30–35 minutes(back to top)
Tuesday: Rest Day or Active Recovery
Again, the choice is yours: Take today completely off, or choose one of our active recovery routines. If you’re doing the latter, find a way to make it a little more festive to celebrate reaching the halfway point. Pull your mat into a new room by a window—or take it outside, if the weather allows. Put on your very favorite comfy bottoms (even if they’re usually your pajama pants). Make yourself a cup of cozy tea to sip afterward. If there’s any small way you can make today feel extra special, go for it!
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Wednesday: Strength Training
Today’s weekly strength session marks the second time you’re doing a new sequence. You might have noticed feeling a tiny bit sore again after switching up the movements—that’s totally normal!
But if you didn’t, that’s not a sign that the routine isn’t working. While soreness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it also isn’t a surefire sign your routine is getting you stronger. Check out this list of 25 ways to actually tell if your routine is paying off (peep number 11, one of our particular faves).
Wednesday: Strength Training Workout
What you need: A pair of dumbbells, a bench or step, and a mat for comfort.
Directions:
Do 8 reps of your first exercise. (For single-sided moves, do 8 reps on both sides; for moves by time, follow the time allotted in the description.) Rest 2–3 minutes. Repeat for 3 times total.Continue on to your next exercise, and repeat until you’ve completed the first 6 moves.Do 10–20 reps of the lateral pogo hops. Rest 2–3 minutes. Repeat for 3–4 times total.Exercises:
Kickstand DeadliftReverse LungeHalf-Kneeling Overhead PressBent-Over RowFront-Foot Elevated Single-Leg Calf RaiseShort Lever Copenhagen PlankLateral Pogo HopsKickstand Deadlift
Katie Thompson
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.Place one foot a foot-length behind the other, heel elevated, so your stance is staggered. You’ll be working your front leg.Hinge at your hips to lower your body. Push your butt far back and keep your back flat. Your torso should be almost parallel to the floor.Keeping your core tight, push through your front heel to stand up straight. Keep the weights close to your shins as you pull up.Pause at the top and squeeze your butt. That’s 1 repComplete all your reps on one side. Then switch sides and repeat.This deadlift variation helps you build balanced strength on both sides of your body; your “kickstand” leg is pretty much only there for support—your planted leg does most of the work!
Reverse Lunge
Katie Thompson
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and engage your core. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides.Step backward with one foot, landing on the ball of your foot and keeping your heel off the floor.Bend both knees to 90 degrees as you sink into a lunge. Focus on keeping your core engaged and your hips tucked (don’t stick your butt out).Push through the heel of your planted foot to return to the starting position. This is 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch sides.The reverse lunge works your quads and glutes, and helps with single-sided strength as well.
Half-Kneeling Overhead Press
Katie Thompson
Start in a half-kneeling position. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand at shoulder level with your palm facing in and your elbow bent. Rest your left arm on your left thigh. This is the starting position.Press the dumbbell overhead, straightening your elbow completely. Make sure to keep your core engaged and hips tucked to avoid arching your lower back as you lift your arm.Slowly bend your elbow to lower the weight back down. Reverse the motion to the starting position.This is 1 rep. Complete all your reps on one side, then switch.This upper-body exercise works your shoulders and your triceps, the small muscles along the backs of your upper arms.
Bent-Over Row
Katie Thompson
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides.With your core engaged, hinge forward at the hips, pushing your butt back. Bend your knees and make sure you don’t round your shoulders. (Your hip mobility and hamstring flexibility will dictate how far you can bend over.)Gaze at the ground a few inches in front of your feet to keep your neck in a comfortable position.Do a row by pulling the weights up toward your chest, keeping your elbows hugged close to your body and squeezing your shoulder blades at the top of the movement. Your elbows should go past your back as you bring the weight toward your chest.Slowly lower the weights by extending your arms toward the floor. That’s 1 rep.This classic compound exercise primarily works your back muscles, which is important for proper running form. Your biceps—the small muscles along the fronts of your upper arms—come in to assist.
Front-Foot Elevated Single-Leg Calf Raise
Katie Thompson
Stand in front of a sturdy chair, box, or step. Place one foot on the raised surface, knee bent 90 degrees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.Exhale and slowly lift the heel of your foot on the floor as far as you can. Hold briefly and inhale as you slowly lower back to the floor. This is 1 rep.Complete all your reps on one side. Then switch sides and repeat.This progression of the single-leg calf raise helps you keep building strength in these important lower-leg muscles.
Short Lever Copenhagen Plank
Katie Thompson
Start in a forearm side plank by propping your body up on your right forearm, with your elbow stacked underneath your shoulder and your hand in front of your body.Place your left leg on top of a bench, chair, or other stable surface, with your knee bent 90 degrees. Hover your right leg slightly underneath, with that knee also bent 90 degrees.Hold 20-30 seconds. Repeat on the other side.This isometric exercise is an obliques burner! If you find this move too challenging, repeat the side plank from Weeks 1–4 instead.
Lateral Pogo Hops
Katie Thompson
Stand with your feet close together, hands on your hips or at your sides.Jump straight up and to the left, focusing on getting both high off the ground and traveling sideways.Land on the balls of your feet, then jump up and to the left again as quickly as possible. (Picture a pogo stick!)Complete 10–20 reps to one side, then repeat on the other side.This plyometric exercise helps build balance, power, and explosiveness.
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For your second walk/run of the week, you’ll once again be spending equal time running and walking: 2.5 minutes each, at a stretch. Monday’s routine might have felt a little intimidating at first, but after having one day of 50-50 in the bag, you’re ready to tackle this, right!?
Thursday: Walk/Run Intervals
5-minute warm-upWalk 2.5 minutes, run 2.5 minutes (Repeat 4 times)5- to 10-minute cooldownTotal time: 30–35 minutes(back to top)
Today is another well-earned rest day—and the perfect opp to reflect on something we know you’ve been thinking: Am I running the right way?!
While many new runners wonder if they’re doing things “right,” the truth is, there really isn’t one correct way to run. When researchers drilled down into the details of factors like stride length, how your foot hits the ground, and how much you bounce up and down, they still haven’t come to clear conclusions about what makes for “good” form. And it’s definitely not clear that consciously focusing on changing any of these elements helps. Rather, it’s likely that the more you run, the better you’ll get at running.
That said, there are a few simple tips for running form to keep in mind that can help you make the most of your natural gait. Acquaint yourself with them today, so when you hit the pavement tomorrow, you can put them to action.
Think about running softly, making less noise when your foot hits the groundSwing your arms straight forward and back, rather than crossing them over the middle of your torsoLook up—not down at your feet—and keep your shoulders relaxedAs you move through your day, go through a few of these form touchpoints. Keeping your head up and your shoulders relaxed while you’re walking down the block or the aisle at the grocery store can make it easier to do so while you’re exerting more effort on your next run.
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Today’s workout marks the first time your running intervals are longer than your walking ones—look at you go! That makes it a great time to bring a little more intention to your warm-ups. In Week 3, we focused on the mind-muscle connection when strength training. Today, we suggest you think about your warm-up exercises that way too.
For example, as you do your butt kicks, think about your quads contracting as you raise each leg. Concentrate on opening your hips up when you’re doing cradles or hip circles. This helps make sure you’re truly getting the most out of the movements and fully preparing your body for the 15 minutes of running you’ll do in this session.
Saturday: Long Walk/Run Intervals
5-minute warm-upWalk 2.5 minutes, run 3 minutes (Repeat 5 times)Walk 2.5 minutes5- to 10-minute cooldownTotal time: 40–45 minutes(back to top)
When today’s rest day is in the books, you’re officially 50% through the program and are truly starting to build a running habit. You’ve now run for more than two hours total—and walked nearly five hours too!
That’s a lot of metrics to throw at ya, so for today, we invite you to shut it all off: If you’re looking for an activity, might we recommend one of these delightfully mindless shows to brain-rot to? These tried-and-true TV staples are the perfect blend of stimulation and sedation that will allow you to completely relax. Rest up today, because we’ll be right back at it tomorrow!
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Photography: Katie Thompson. Wardrobe styling: Kathleen Thomas. Hair: Walton Nunez. Makeup: Miranda Richards.
Athletes in order of appearance: Amanda Katz, a certified personal trainer and running coach in New York City, wears: Adanola top and shorts, Nike sneakers, and socks; Ameerah Omar, city captain and mindset coach for Adidas Runners NYC, wears: Alo sports bra and leggings, Nike socks, and Hoka sneakers; Morit Summers, a Brooklyn-based trainer and the owner of body-positive gym, Form Fitness Brooklyn, wears: Lululemon top and leggings, Aerie sports bra, and Nike sneakers; Laura Girard, a NASM-certified personal trainer and founder of The Energy Academy, wears: Alo jacket, sports bra, shorts, and sneakers, and Comme si socks.
Main image: Summers wears Lululemon top and leggings, Aerie sports bra, and Nike sneakers; Omar wears Alo top, leggings, and sports bra, Nike socks, and Hoka sneakers; Girard wears own top, Alo leggings and sneakers, and Comme si socks; and Katz wears Alo top, Janji shorts, Nike socks and running shoes.
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