Running edition - how to improve fitness without high impact

Sometimes increasing your fitness just by running more is not the best way - runners need to gradually increase their running mileage, and those who ramp up too quickly may risk overloading their bones and joints. It may be worth increasing your fitness levels with cross training - perhaps with swimming, biking, elliptical, or rowing. All of these different types of aerobic exercise can increase your fitness levels by eliciting cardiovascular and metabolic adaptations that translate into improved running, without placing the same loads on your bones and joints that running does. Even if you are injured and unable to run, these types of exercise may be feasible alternatives that will allow you to hit the ground running once you are able to run again (no pun intended). Injured runners should consult with a healthcare provider to ensure that these are appropriate modes of exercise.

In order to maximize the effectiveness of these exercises, runners can track your heart rate and intensity of the exercise so that you are reaching a similar heart rate that they achieve during running.