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Guide · Starting out

Start running from scratch at 40, 50 or 60

By Luis Carvajal · Updated 1 October 2026

In short: you can start running at any age. The key is to go slower than your body asks for in the first weeks: alternate walking and jogging three days a week, add two days of strength work, and give your tendons and joints time to adapt. If you have heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms when you exert yourself, talk to your doctor first.

What really changes with age

There's a lot of myth here. The idea that past a certain age you simply don't recover is stronger than the evidence. A review on masters athletes concludes that the effect of age on performance and recovery may be smaller than once thought, and that inactivity explains a good part of what gets blamed on the years. Even so, the little data available suggests there is some effect on recovery (Borges et al., 2016). Another review points the same way: many studies don't properly separate age from activity level (Fell and Williams, 2008).

What does change more clearly are your tendons. With age they lose some stiffness and strength, and the core of the tendon barely renews in adulthood. The good part: exercise, and strength work in particular, tends to counter those changes (Svensson et al., 2016).

In practice: your heart and lungs will improve before your tendons do. There'll come a point where you feel you could run more. That's exactly when you need to be most careful.

In a follow-up of 930 people taking up running, being between 45 and 65 and having a BMI above 30 were associated with more injuries, though not to a statistically conclusive degree (Nielsen et al., 2013). That's no reason not to start. It's a reason to start patiently.

Before you start: do you need to see a doctor?

Not always. The American College of Sports Medicine revised its criteria in 2015 precisely because sending everyone to the doctor was becoming a barrier to exercise. Its model rests on three things: whether you're already physically active, whether you have known cardiovascular, metabolic or kidney disease or symptoms that suggest it, and how hard you want to train (Riebe et al., 2015).

If you're worried about your health, even if you don't fit any of those cases, go. The NHS puts it simply: talk to your doctor if you have concerns about your health before starting a plan like Couch to 5K (NHS).

This doesn't replace a doctor or a physiotherapist. It's general information based on public guidelines. Your doctor knows your history and can tell you if there's anything to keep in mind in your case.

An 8-week plan alternating walking and jogging

This is a conservative example, along the lines of programmes like Couch to 5K, which starts with one minute of running and a minute and a half of walking (NHS). It doesn't come from a specific study. It's a cautious progression for you to adapt. Three days a week, with a rest day in between. Each session starts with five minutes of brisk walking and ends with another five minutes of walking.

WeekBlockRepsMinutes jogging
11' jog · 2' walk66
21'30" jog · 2' walk69
32' jog · 2' walk612
43' jog · 2' walk515
54' jog · 2' walk416
65' jog · 2' walk420
77' jog · 2' walk321
810' jog · 2' walk220

Three rules to make it work:

  1. The jog is genuinely slow. As slow as it takes to say a full sentence without stopping. That's the talk test, and it's the best guide you have when you're starting out.
  2. Repeat weeks when you need to. If a week was hard, or you still feel something the next day, repeat it. Eight weeks can become twelve. That's fine.
  3. Watch how you get up, not how you finish. What matters is how your knees, ankles and heels feel the next morning.

With three sessions like these, you're also building towards what the WHO recommends: 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate activity, 75 to 150 of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination (Bull et al., 2020). Brisk walks count too.

Strength isn't optional

If you add just one thing to your runs, make it this. The WHO recommends strength work at least two days a week for all adults, and from 65, varied activity that combines balance and strength on three or more days, to maintain functional capacity and prevent falls (Bull et al., 2020).

For a runner who's just starting there's another advantage. In a meta-analysis of 25 trials with more than 26,000 participants, looking at sports injuries in general and not just running, strength training cut injuries to less than a third. Stretching, on the other hand, showed no effect (Lauersen et al., 2014). And it's what best counters tendon ageing.

You don't need a gym. Squats to a chair, step-ups, calf raises, glute bridges and a plank. Two days a week, on days without running or after an easy run.

If you're starting out overweight

You can start just the same, with even more patience. If jogging feels like too much at first, spend the first weeks only walking briskly, and move on to the table when 30 minutes of walking starts to feel too easy. Choose your own intensity: in a trial with 90 inactive women with obesity, those who chose their own treadmill pace enjoyed it more and were keener to do it again than those who followed a prescribed intensity, with similar heart rate and volume (Da Silva et al., 2025).

Coached Run

Coached Run is designed to keep you heading out, not to make you run faster. A coach with a real voice runs with you over your music, tells you when each block starts and when to ease off, and never asks you for a pace. There are no numbers to chase on screen. In My plan you can build a session like this one: you choose the warm-up, how long each block lasts, how many there are, the rest and the cool-down. Two of its coaches, Luis and Iris, are designed for beginners. Iris coaches in English, Luis in Spanish. Three full runs free, then a one-time payment, no subscription.

Download on the App Store

Frequently asked questions

Is it too late to start running at 50 or 60?

No. What changes is how fast you progress: tendons adapt more slowly than your heart and lungs. Start by alternating walking and jogging, and add strength work.

Do I need a medical check-up before I start running?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, not if you're healthy, have no symptoms and start gently. Yes if you have heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or notice symptoms when you exert yourself.

How many days a week should I run when I'm starting out?

Three, with a rest day in between, is the norm in beginner programmes. Two days of strength work round out the week.

Can I start running if I'm overweight?

Yes, with more margin. Start by walking, move on to alternating when walking starts to feel too easy, and choose your own intensity. If you have a related health condition, check with your doctor first.

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