It is important to consult with your doctor before taking up any type of new activity, especially if you have not done any for a long time. It may be more detrimental to your health doing it than not, especially if you do not build up slowly.

Make sure that you have a comfortable pair of shoes. If you are running on the pavement then you will need something with a  springy sole but any sports shoe should be fine to start with but as you build up to longer sessions, you may need something more sufficient.

Plan where you are going to run, think about the route and make sure that it is suitable before you start. What is it like underfoot, is it safe and is it a nice place to run. Tell someone that you are going and take a phone with you so that you can be contacted or contact someone should you need to.

Start off my doing some stretches to warm up, particularly your legs. Start by walking and running alternatively, or maybe by walking completely if you are nit used to exercising at all. Walk more than you run to start with and then slowly increase the amount that you run. If you feel discomfort slow down a bit, it is not a race.

When you have finished warm down, stretching those leg muscles again.

It can be easy to think that warming up and down is a waste of time but it can make a big difference to your recovery.

Years ago we were only told to warm up and more recently has the importance of warming down been recognised. The reasons for doing these exercises are to avoiding straining your muscles. It may not feel that you will be or have worked them that hard, but any exercise will work your muscles and they need to be stretched out to loosen them up before you start. This will make the actual exercise feel like less of an effort, especially to start with, which is always a good thing.

When you have finished exercising your muscles will go stiff if you do not stretch them out. It is a good idea to also slow down the intensity that you are working them as your workout draws to a close.

Do some gentle but intense stretches afterwards. You will also find that you may benefit form stretching them out periodically, if you feel them stiffen up. This is likely to be most noticeable the morning after or possibly a couple of days afterwards.

After long periods of sitting or after being in bed, it is likely that they may feel sore when you stand up and a few stretches should help.

As with most things, once the novelty of exercising wears off, then it can become difficult to get motivated to continue.

There are quite a few good ways to help. Firstly make an exercise plan, regularly do it and then it will become a habitual part of your normal day and it will be harder to find an excuse not to do it.

Have a back up plan as well, if you do not like running in the rain, then have an alternative indoor activity, whether you use a workout DVD at home, go for a swim or go to the gym. This means that there is no excuse for not getting in some exercise in one form or another.

It is also a good idea to exercise with a friend. This is because you will motivate each other to go ahead and do it, although it has been found that people do not work so hard when they are working with a partner. However, if it is a case of working less hard or not at all then it is much better to work with someone.

Another great motivator is to sign up for a race. This might be worrying for someone just starting out with running but there are small events such as Race for Life which is just a short distance and there is no pressure to run it all or to do well, but it is designed for having fun and feeling good about your achievement.

Running may not be something that people just decide to take up on the spur of the moment. It is much easier not to exercise and many of us choose the easy option and either do very little or none at all.

However, it is very important to exercise, The British Heart Foundation recommends that we do 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week where we get of breath.

This may seem like a lot, but it is worth it when you understand the health benefits of a healthier heart and a reduced risk of heart disease, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. You may not think that you are at risk but it can be scary if you look at the statistics and how many people suffer from these things.

Running is a great way to get your heart rate up with little effort. You do not have to go to the gym or join an exercise class. All you have to do is put on your running shoes and go outside your front door.

You can even do it on a treadmill if you would rather not go outside but it is the low cost of doing it outside which is a great advantage as well.