The NHS Couch to 5k is an excellent tool to get you started running. You can pick your own coach, establish your own goals, and take pauses when things get too difficult. It also provides a fairly progressive progression to the full 5K distance, with much of the early runs consisting of equal amounts of walking and jogging. You’ll be allowed to see the session format before each run, so you know what to anticipate. You’ll also be able to monitor your progress thanks to the app’s built-in run log. The program presents some difficulties as the intensity rises week by week. But you’ll discover that one week you can do something you thought was inconceivable the previous week.
The Couch to 5k app is simple to use, with a basic design and interface. The bottom menu contains only four sections: My Runs, Discover, Support, and Settings. It is also quite simple to set up your account. Once you’ve launched the app, it will ask you what your objectives are, and you will be able to set up notifications and run reminders. During a run, you’re given a colorful visual display that shows how much time is remaining in each session and where the warm-ups and cool-downs are. This is useful if gazing at the time remaining is depressing.
Before using the app, we recommend that you change your device to enable the program to run in the background. If you do not do so, the app will terminate while it is still running and you will not be alerted. This oddity has evidently irritated some runners since numerous critical reviews have been posted online.
You may select from a range of instructors to keep you inspired on your runs – a good addition that ensures you aren’t forced to listen to a voice you don’t understand. It’s also a breath of fresh air that not all of the instructors are athletes. Sarah Millican, a UK comedian who freely declares she’d rather be eating cake than exercising, was our fave. These instructors will accompany you on each run, reminding you when to stop and start – or when to transition from walking to running.
You may also choose from inspiring tracks on BBC Sounds via the app’s Discover section which connects you to BBC Music Mixes. However, even if you have the BBC Sounds app loaded on your smartphone, doing so opens a website rather than the BBC Sounds app. It would be preferable if the Couch to 5k app could be coupled with a music platform like Spotify or BBC Sounds. It isn’t a deal-breaker for us, but it does make the app feel out of date.
The Discover area provides connections to additional articles and videos to help you stay healthy. We appreciate that the app isn’t only focused on running but provides a more holistic approach to fitness. It’s also excellent that the app is more accessible than most, having a section dedicated to persons with disabilities under the Discover area. We thought the first training session had too many runs for a total novice – although there is a pause option if you need it. While there are links to videos inside the app that show you how to stretch before and after a run. Your coach makes no mention of it, which feels like a wasted opportunity.
There are several advantages to taking up jogging. For starters, it is a simple approach to improving your physical health. Running takes little equipment, but a decent pair of shoes that are appropriate for your foot type may aid increase comfort. Running on a daily basis will benefit your lungs and heart. It can also aid in weight loss, especially when taken with a nutritious diet.
There is evidence that it may help some people build bone density which may help to protect against bone illnesses like osteoporosis. Running has mental advantages as well. Taking on the NHS Couch to 5kchallenge may help build your confidence and self-belief by proving to yourself that you can set a goal and achieve it. Running on a daily basis may be a fantastic stress relief and has also been proved to help with depression.
There is currently no community within the app. The Support section, on the other hand, has a wealth of useful information. This links to Every Mind Matters, an NHS mental health project, and HealthUnlocked, an online community. The NHS Couch to 5k forum on HealthUnlocked is a little difficult to navigate, but the concept is excellent. There’s also a Couch to 5k Facebook group, but it takes you out of the software — a community within the app would be preferable.
There are no challenges you can do with friends on the Couch to 5k app. So you can’t use your social group to keep you motivated. You cannot search for and befriend friends on this app as you do on other fitness applications.
Overall, this software is simple, motivating, and simple to use. Its simplicity helps to remove the stress from developing a regular exercise routine and makes jogging more accessible. Giving consumers a choice of coaches is a fantastic concept that helps to keep your runs interesting. It’s great that the app includes information about food, mental health, and other methods to keep healthy. Nonetheless, we’d want to see music integration, as well as the capacity to link with friends or a social group and participate in challenges.
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