From Couch to 5K by summer

Try the following routine to go from couch to 5K by summer!

Walk/run every other day, giving your body a day to recover. Use your recover day to do some abwork and stretching for a well rounded routine. To keep from suffering from back pain, perform 20-25 hip dips per side. Stand on a stair sideways, one foot planted on the stair, one foot over the stair. Now, dip the outside foot down and raise it up above the stair using only your hip to drop it down and lift it up. Repeat on the other side.

Warm up for 5 minutes prior to workout and cool down for 5 minutes after the workout. Perform the following routine in minutes, not distance.

Once you have completed all nine weeks, start over, only with higher speeds. Say you start out walking for 3 minutes at 3.0 and running at 5.0 for 2 minutes. By the end of the ten weeks, you are jogging at 5.0 for 20 minutes straight. Start the program over by jogging for 3 minutes at 5.0 and running at 7.0 for 2 minutes. Increasing your speed will also increase your distance. 5K, here you come!

Walk - Jog - Repeat
Week 1 (W) 3 minutes (J) 2 minutes - Repeat 4X
Week 2 (W) 3 minutes (J) 3 minutes - Repeat 4X
Week 3 (W) 2 minutes (J) 3 minutes - Repeat 4X
Week 4 (W) 2 minutes (J) 4 minutes - Repeat 3X
Week 5 (W) 2 minutes (J) 5 minutes - Repeat 3X
Week 6 (W) 2 minutes (J) 8 minutes - Repeat 2X
Week 7 (W) 2 minutes (J) 10 minutes -Repeat 2X
Week 8 (W) 1 minute (J) 10 minutes -Repeat 2X
Week 9 (W) 1 minute (J) 15 minutes
Week 10 (W) 0 minutes (J) 20 minutes