Joanna Hall answers your fitness questions

I’m a 6ft 2in, 22-stone, 35-year-old man and want to start running. How worried should I be about my knees and my joints?

Anyone, regardless of weight, can be prone to joint pain if they start a running programme too fast, too soon. Just as your cardiovascular system gets stronger through a progressive training programme, so does the connective tissue around your joints. Blasting it right from the word go may leave you gasping for breath at the time of your first run, but your joints are more likely to sound their discomfort over the following few days. Also, your personal foot strike pattern can exacerbate discomfort. If you are flatfooted or have weak medial quadriceps (inner thigh muscles) you may be more prone to muscular imbalances, so an investment in strengthening this muscle group and a good pair of running shoes are called for. I suggest daily toe-curling (in bare feet, paw the floor like a cat 20 times with each foot) and turned-out one-legged squats (place one foot slightly turned out in front of the other and support most of your weight on the front leg as you perform eight to 10 controlled squats).

Your weight is an issue, so you must start slowly and focus on duration rather than intensity. I recommend a 20-minute walk-jog interval programme, four times a week, starting with four minutes of brisk walking to one minute of jogging. Vary the ratio so after six weeks you are working at 1:1, adding inclines to your walks. A month in, safeguard your joints with cross training, add cycling and swimming, and train at different intensities. The physiological adaptations that the body goes through occur at different exercise intensities, so constant steady-paced jogging may not be the best bet for your knees or for your fitness.

· Joanna Hall is a fitness and exercise expert (joannahall.com). Send queries to: Weekend, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER ([email protected]).

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