Should You Exercise When You Are Sore?

Even if you exercise regularly, you've felt it: the aching, can't-sit-down-or-lift-my-arm muscle soreness the next day after a workout. That pain you feel a day or two after an intense workout is known as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, and is caused by muscle microtearing, which helps build muscle fiber and make them stronger. As easy as it may be to use muscle soreness as a reason to skip your next-day workout (guilty as charged!), DOMS is rarely a good excuse to bypass the gym. Here's what you should be doing instead.

• Don't premedicate. "Don't mask what your body is telling you," says Crunch trainer Tim Rich. He advises clients to not take painkillers before a workout so they can understand how their body reacts to a workout. Taking Advil before your workout could, for example, cause you to push yourself farther than you should go or mask an injury until it's too late. If you're experiencing DOMS after a workout, however, an NSAID or other anti-inflammatory OTC painkiller and icing where you hurt can help.
• Assess the pain. It's one thing to have DOMS, which is a good thing. But if you finish a workout and feel like you are uncharacteristically sore, or that you've injured yourself, pushing through the pain may not be the best thing. "If you're new to working out, aches and pains are normal," says running coach Eric Chen. However, when workout pain feels more like a burning sensation, it "automatically means stop right there and rest." In addition, Eric recommends seeking out professional advice if you experience an abnormal pain that reoccurs when you exercise again. Make sure you pay attention the difference between an injury pain and normal muscle soreness, and stop and rest if you feel like you've strained something.
• Eat protein. Muscles are made out of protein, so to shorten the time it takes muscles to heal, try to eat some sort of protein right after you exercise — this will also help you build more muscle over time. Studies have found that recovery drinks that contain protein help decrease muscle soreness compared to normal carbohydrate-based sports drinks.
• Alternate workouts. Being too sore to work out may be a popular excuse, but it's not always a good one. If you're nursing sore legs from a rigorous hike, spend the next day working on your abs or arms. Allowing an overworked part of your body time to rest while working on another is a great way to optimize your time and ensure that you stay on track. You can also opt for another aerobic exercise or yoga — cardio and stretching can both help soothe your muscles.

No matter how you deal with muscle soreness, it shouldn't last forever. Go see a doctor if you find that your soreness isn't getting any better.

Via Popsugar

5 Exercises to Help You Burn Fat

When it comes to dropping pounds, most people go about it precisely the wrong way: They underestimate the importance of diet, and overestimate the power of cardio. Jogging, bike riding (not to be confused with cycling), and other low intensity exercises can benefit your heart, lungs, and mood, but they’re the scenic routes to a smaller waist. Reams of studies agree: The cardio-emperor has no clothes (and frankly, he’s looking a little chubby.)

To burn fat, you need a smart, nutrient-dense diet and a workout program that’s packed with exercises that target as many muscle groups as possible. You’ll find five of those exercises—picked by a handful of the nation’s top trainers—on this page. So step away from the treadmill, weave these metabolic super-moves to your workout rotation, and watch the fat melt away.

Metabolic Super Move #1: Squat to Press
“Squatting and pressing are both moves that belong in everyone’s workout,” says Rachel Cosgrove, 2012 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year and author of The Female Body Breakthrough. The squat to press combines them into a single move, hammering your legs, shoulders, and every muscle in between.

Directions: Hold a pair of dumbbells next to your shoulders and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back flat, push your hips back and squat down until the tops of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Pause, then drive through your heels as you stand up and press the weights straight above your shoulders. Lower the weights to return to the starting position. Do three to four sets of eight to 12 reps.

Metabolic Super Move #2: Sit-Through
“Don’t underestimate the value of moving around on the floor for burning fat,” says powerlifter David Dellanave, owner of The Movement Minneapolis, in the Twin Cities. “The sit-through is surprisingly taxing—you’re supporting your entire bodyweight on all-fours and then moving through a wide range of motion while synchronizing the actions of multiple limbs and muscles.” In short, it taxes your body and challenges every aspect of athleticism: Mobility, strength, power, and coordination.

Directions: Assume a bear crawl position with your back flat and the balls of your feet and palms of your hands on the floor. In one movement, pivot your right foot, reach your right arm above your head, rotate your chest toward the ceiling, and slide your left foot underneath your body until it’s flat on the floor. You should now be sitting with your left leg extended and your right leg bent. Raise your hips, and reverse the movement to return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep. Repeat to your other side. Continue to alternate sides with each rep. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.

Metabolic Super Move #3: Goblet Shooter Squat
This innovative squat-lunge hybrid combines one of the best lower-body moves you can do, the squat, with a rotational element that nails your core. “It’s a killer exercise,” says Dellanave. “You get tremendous time under tension, a huge range of motion, and some good mobility work—especially in your hips.” says Dellanave. “It’s a killer exercise.” And its fat loss dividends are worth every drop of sweat equity.

Directions: Grab a dumbbell and hold it vertically in front of your chest, cupping the top end with both hands (imagine it’s a heavy goblet). Set your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back flat, push your hips back and lower your body until your hips drop below knee-level. Rotate to your right, dropping your left knee to the floor, and then stand up. Reverse the move, lowering your body, rotating back to center, and then standing up. That’s one rep. Repeat the entire sequence, this time rotating to your left and dropping your right knee to the floor. Continue alternating sides. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.

Metabolic Super Move #4: Deadlift
“In the hierarchy of fat loss, resistance training comes right after nutrition, as it has the largest impact on metabolism,” says Craig Rasmussen, C.S.C.S., a trainer at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. And no exercise works more “metabolically active tissue” (AKA muscle) than the deadlift, which targets your glutes, hamstrings, quads, core, back, and shoulders. “It’s a true total body exercise, which is exactly what you need when training for fat loss,” says Rasmussen.

Directions: Load a barbell with moderately-heavy to heavy weights and roll it against your shins. Keeping your back flat, push your hips backward, bend your knees slightly, and grab the bar using an overhand grip with your hands just beyond shoulder-width. Drive through your heels, pulling your torso back and up and thrusting your hips forward as you stand up with the bar. Pause, and then slowly lower the bar back to the floor, keeping it as close to your body as you can. Do three sets of 8 to 10 reps.

Metabolic Super Move #5: Sprint Intervals
“It’s easy to spot a sprinter,” says Angelo Poli, ISSA, owner of Whole Body Fitness in Chico, California. “Even compared to other athletes, they look muscular and lean.” Since you’re working your largest muscle groups (the quads, glutes, and hamstrings) at a near-maximal intensity through a large range of motion, sprinting challenges your fast-twitch muscle fibers like few other exercises. “That’s good news,” says Poli. “Fast twitchers are the fibers with the most potential for both growth and serious fat-burning.”

Directions: Head to the track at your local high school or university. If you’re already fit, run 400 meters (one lap) as fast as you can, and then walk 200 meters. If you’re just starting out, run 200 meters (half a lap) as fast as you can, and then walk 200 meters. Either way, that’s one interval. Do four to eight. Don’t have access to a track? No worries—perform the workout on a smooth even trail, sidewalk, or beach, and measure each interval by time instead of distance. Sprint for 20 to 60 seconds (depending on our fitness level), and then walk for an equal amount of time to complete one interval.

Via Andrew Heffernan CSCS GCFP and the Team Beachbody Blog

What Should I Eat Before I Workout?

The answer depends on two factors: your overall diet and how intense your workout is. If you eat small, balanced meals every few hours while you’re awake, you don’t really need a preworkout meal strategy. Your body should have ample fuel to get you through any workout around an hour or less (longer workouts have specific needs).

However, if you go longer than 3 hours without eating, you should determine your needs based on a few things. First, how hard is your workout? Easy aerobics and other work where your heart rate doesn’t exceed 140/150 bpm (easy yoga, slow jogging, cycling, hiking, etc.) don’t use a lot of fuel (blood sugar and its back-up, glycogen) and can be done effectively on a fairly empty tank. Good hydration (water only) should be all the fuel you need.

Harder workouts, like INSANITY, P90X, or really anything in the Beachbody line that is hard for you, all have an anaerobic interval component which burns your limited stores of glycogen. Your body stores glycogen until you need it, but when your diet is very lean, like most Beachbody diet plans are, you will almost certainly deplete these stores before the end of your workout if you haven’t eaten in a while. This condition, called “bonking,” causes your performance to instantaneously plummet.

Here are some general rules to avoid the dreaded “bonk.” We’re not suggesting you eat 3 separate meals in the hours leading up to exercise. Rather, pick the one that best suits your day.

NOTE: If you work out first thing in the morning, check out this article.

3 hours prior to a workout: Eat a well-rounded, light meal. As long as it’s not too many calories (more than 500-ish), most of it will be turned into fuel by the time you begin. Almost any meal in any Beachbody diet plan fits this mold, as you have ample time to digest.

2 hours prior: Eat a light snack that’s mainly carbohydrates. Something that’s 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein with little fat will ensure there’s time to convert it into glycogen. “Energy foods,” something like granola with yogurt and fruit, is ideal.

1 hour prior: Eat very light, no more than 200 or so calories at around a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. Low-fat, plain yogurt with a little fresh fruit thrown in is ideal. Any extra protein and fat will hinder your workout. It’s similar to the 2 hours prior snack, but since your body can only convert 200 to 300 calories into energy in a given hour you’ll want to keep the portions smaller.

Less than 1 hour: Try not to eat during the last hour before your workout. If you haven’t eaten in hours, liquid fuels, like juice, or easily digestible carbs, like half of a banana, will digest fast enough to help you during the later stages of the workout when your glycogen would otherwise run out. This is also a good time for targeting caffeine intake for ergogenic benefit. Better still, Beachbody Performance Energize includes low-dose caffeine with beta-alanine and quercetin. It also contains 15-30 carb calories, depending on your dosage.

What Should I Eat If I Exercise First Thing in the Morning?

“What should I eat if I work out first thing in the morning? I eat several small meals throughout the day, but when I work out first thing in the AM, it has been hours since my last meal.” —David A.

You’re not alone. I get a lot of similar questions. Morning eating is tricky because your body can store glycogen overnight so you may not need to eat anything at all — just drink water. However, when your diet is lean and you’re training hard (a very common scenario for Beachbody-ers) you can use up all of your glycogen for the previous day’s recovery, leaving your tank empty when you wake up. Here is our standard recommendation for this situation.

Try eating a banana (or half, depending on your size) or a serving of Energize in the morning just before your workout. If you feel better during your workout, especially near the end, you’ve figured out that you’re running out of glycogen. If this is the case you can do one of two things: keep eating the banana or something similar (about 100 calories of mostly carbs) or add a serving of carbohydrates (rice, sweet potato, etc.) to your evening meal. Both should accomplish the same thing.

When your workout is over, you’ve burned through your glycogen and want to replenish it, which means either Results and Recovery Formula for breakfast or a meal that’s mainly carbs with a little protein, like fruit with yogurt or cereal with milk.

Via Steve Edwards for the TBB Blog

Should You Workout on an Empty Stomach?

Much like blenders and marbles, digestion and exercise simply do not mix. When you work out, your blood wants to flow to your extremities. When you process food, your blood wants to assist your stomach. And when you try to do both, you’re inclined to do neither well. In short, your mom was right (although not necessarily for the reasons she thought): You should wait a while after lunch before you go swimming. When it comes to exercise, an empty tummy is a happy tummy. (Unless you’re a diabetic. Consult your doctor.)

Blood flow isn’t the only issue here. Even if you wanted to knock out some plyo while macking on a Royale with cheese, your body has ways to actively sabotage your efforts, and it isn’t afraid to use them. It’s primary method of action: Your nervous system.

At the risk of over-generalizing, your nervous system has two sides. Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for “fight or flight” functions. It kicks in when you’re under stress (e.g., during hard exercise), releasing a cascade of hormones such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol that prime your body for action. Your parasympathetic nervous system, meanwhile, is in charge of your “rest and digest” functions. It’s also responsible for healing.

The problem is that when your sympathetic system kicks in, it shuts down your parasympathetic system, including anything that isn’t mission critical for the task at hand. Have you ever had to urinate when something stressful popped up, causing you to completely forget about your need to whiz? That’s your sympathetic nervous system in action, and it treats your digestive process the same way. Since the food in your stomach doesn’t provide an immediate survival benefit—and yes, your body assumes your life is at stake if you’re exerting yourself strenuously (why else would you do something like that?)— it hits the kill button on digestion to support your attempt to fight or flee. If you’re walking or cycling leisurely, you’re fine—you’ll continue to digest what you ate. But if the going gets tough, your digestion stops going. Whatever is in your tummy will just sit there—and you’ll probably feel it.

Don’t confuse exercising on an empty stomach with training in a fasted state. An empty stomach means you’ve given yourself enough time to adequately digest your food. That can be anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the size of your meal. Being in a fasted state means you’ve gone without eating for somewhere on the order of 12 hours (typically overnight). At this point, your food has not only been digested, but the fuel it supplied has been largely depleted, leaving your blood sugar low and your liver glycogen wanting. In this situation, your metabolism shifts and you’re more prone to burn fat—but the benefit has more to do with athletic performance than weight loss.

Timing your pre-exercise feeding to avoid these conflicts is easy. The general rule is to wait 3 hours after a full, balanced meal. Wait 2 hours after a lighter meal where the nutritional balance is skewed toward carbs (e.g., half a turkey sandwich and a glass of juice). Wait 1 hour after a similarly carb-rich snack, such as a glass of chocolate milk. For anything less than an hour, keep your snack below 100 calories and focus on fast-absorbing carbs (e.g., half a banana). For more information on pre-workout nutrition, click here.

Via Denis Faye M.S. for the Team Beachbody Blog

Fasted Training: A Guide to Running on Empty and Working Out

A perennial favorite of bro-science fitness enthusiasts, working out in a fasted state simply means exercising after having not eaten for several hours, typically early in the morning when your last meal was dinner. In this situation, your blood sugar and liver glycogen levels are compromised, so you’re more inclined to burn body fat as fuel.

I know, right? Sounds like the most awesome thing ever! Don’t get too excited, though. It’s potentially a great tool for endurance athletes—especially those wanting to train their bodies to regulate fuel stores more efficiently. But its benefits for everyone else, including people simply looking to shed a few pounds, are less clear.

Keep in mind that I’m not talking about merely working up a sweat on an empty stomach. I’m talking about going without food for a substantial amount of time—at least 12 hours—so that you force your body to shift the way it produces energy. If you’re more interested in the pros and cons of working out after not eating for 3 to 4 hours (i.e., on an empty stomach when you probably still have plenty of blood sugar and glycogen), click here

But I digress. Should you work out in a fasted state? The full answer depends on your goals—and it helps to understand how your body fuels itself.

Food is Power
Obviously, food equals fuel, but your body is pretty clever about how it makes the most of your meals. All food is basically made up of three macronutrients: Carbohydrates, fat, and protein. When you eat them, the first thing they do is satisfy their primary objectives. For protein—which you’ll find in animal products, legumes, seeds, nuts, and many veggies—that means supporting your body’s infrastructure in countless ways, including as “building blocks” for muscles, bones, and organs. Fat—which includes oils, seeds, nuts, cheese, butter, olives, and avocados—serves many functions, including giving structure to cells, but it’s mainly used as fuel. The fat you use as fuel floats around in your blood. Your muscles also store a small amount of fat for fuel in the form of intramuscular triacylglycerol.

Carbs mostly just act as fuel. You’ll find them in veggies, fruits, grains, and almost every junk food in existence. A small amount of excess carbs is stored in your liver and muscles as glycogen. Liver glycogen works as back-up fuel for every organ and tissue in your body. Muscle glycogen just gives muscles energy.

Generally speaking, once your food intake exceeds your current needs, it’s stored as adipose tissue (AKA body fat). That goes for all three of the macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein); eat too much of them, and they’ll literally weigh you down.

Like muscle growth, the accumulation of adipose tissue is an anabolic process, meaning that your body actively builds it up. When you’re not consuming enough food to keep up with your energy needs, your body’s catabolic processes, which break down things like adipose tissue and muscle for use as fuel, kick in.

When you exercise, you use both fat and carbs as fuel. Your body tends to prefer fat for low- to mid-level exertion, and carbs for high-level exertion, but this doesn’t work like a light switch. There’s a ton of overlap when it comes to what’s burned under what circumstances. However, even athletes with little adipose tissue have access to a relatively large reserve of fat calories (about 50,000 on average). Liver and muscle glycogen, however, are a limited commodity, only supplying somewhere between 1,400 and 1,800 calories when fully stocked. So when your body senses it has less of them—like when you’re in a fasted state—it’s prone to conserve what it has and focus on burning fat instead. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always lead to a smaller waist size.

The Fast Way to Less Fat (Sort of)
Although we can no longer claim that weight loss is as simple as calories in versus calories out, that’s still a good guideline. If you consistently eat 1,800 calories a day, but your body burns 2,400 calories a day, you should lose weight. If you exercise, you’ll burn even more calories, regardless of when you do it. There are a few ways to optimize your workout to mobilize fat stores, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stay mobilized. The fat will come back or stay away based on your totally daily caloric intake.

There was a well-publicized (and oft-cited) study by Belgium researchers in 2010 that tried to disprove this, but it’s deeply flawed. In the study, all subjects were fed a hyper-caloric, high-fat diet, but they were split into three groups. The first group didn’t work out. The second group worked out every day in a fasted state. The third group worked out every day following a high-carb meal. By the end of the study, the fasted-state exercisers were better able to maintain their weight and experienced better glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity than the other two groups. In other words, according to this study, fasted state training appears to out-perform non-fasted state training when it comes to warding off both weight gain and pre-diabetes symptoms common with high-caloric diets. But here’s the problem: The carbed-up exercisers were fed a 675 calorie meal 90 minutes before working out, and then given a hypertonic (i.e., high-sugar) sports drink to sip as they exercised. That’s a lot of food sloshing around in someone’s gut—especially if he or she is already overfed! In all likelihood, not only did the meal inhibit the subjects’ workouts, but the overly-carby sports drink didn’t do them any favors either.

In 2014, a far more applicable (albeit less publicized) study had very different results. Women were split into two groups. They all ate a similar diet (right around 1,300 calories), but half of them did a cardio workout in a fasted state while the other half drank a 250-calorie shake prior to exercise. Everyone had similar results with regards to weight loss. Admittedly, the study was only four weeks, but in some contexts (e.g., “OMG, Becky’s wedding is only a month away and I need to squeeze into this dress!”), that’s a duration worth considering.

So fasted state training for fat loss is a probably no-go. But what about its other purported perks—namely, that it can help you build more muscle and optimize your energy systems? This is where the fasted state debate becomes even more interesting.

The Muscle-Building Connection
Despite what some experts claim, there’s not much research regarding the possible bodybuilding benefits of fasted-state training—and what there is has been manipulated by bloggers eager to offer unique, magical ways to help you achieve your goals. With this in mind, common sense should play a large role in the choices you make.

For example, some experts claim that fasted-state training promotes the release of growth hormone (GH). Growth hormone’s name is somewhat self-explanatory, but for the record, it’s a hormone that promotes growth, especially in bone, collagen, and muscle. Activities that promote GH’s release include sleep, exercise, and fasting—so it’s only natural that people try to focus on all three for a bonus effect. Unfortunately, while the release of GH during a fast has been shown to have an anabolic effect, that’s likely a result of the body trying to mitigate the catabolic impact of not eating, according to a study at the University of Virginia. And exercising while fasting is even more catabolic, so this combo isn’t necessary a homerun.

Many bloggers claim that consuming branch chain amino acids before a workout, or a carb-protein drink post-workout, will solve the catabolism issue while still giving you the GH benefits. But then you’re not really fasting, are you? In other words, the fasted-state training/GH connection might be possible, but it’s tenuous and the science isn’t convincing.

Building a Better Athlete
Fasted state training is a time-honored tactic for increasing oxidative capacity (i.e., your muscles’ ability to produce energy) in the endurance sport world. But while there are a number of studies confirming that fasting in general increases fat oxidation (burning) and decreases glycogen turnover both in rats and in humans, hard scientific evidence supporting its benefits for training is somewhat sparse.

One 2008 study on humans showed decreased glycogen use specifically during fasted-state training, but fat oxidation (i.e., the conversion of fat into energy) didn’t change. It’s worth noting, however, that all of the participants were fed a high-carb diet the rest of the time, so the lack of increased fat oxidation could simply be a consequence of the overnight fast not being long enough to burn through all of the carbs.

Another six-week study from 2011 showed that fasted state training increased muscle oxidative capacity better than fed training, but performance gains were similar in both groups. That might cause some people to write off the results, but keep a couple of things in mind: First, six weeks isn’t very long in the training life of a serious endurance athlete (unlike the dress-fitting window for Becky’s bridesmaids). Second, cycling performance was tested using a 60-minute time trial. Competitive endurance events often go on for hours, so the trial might simply have not allowed enough time for the performance benefits to kick in. (Indeed, it would have been interesting to see what happened with the cyclists after four or five hours on the road.) Bottom line: When it comes to the benefits of fasted state training for endurance athletes, the science is promising, but the jury is still out.

For everyone else, the jury is in: It doesn’t seem to help. To be clear, it won’t hurt performance during low intensity activities (i.e., those with an exertion level below 50 percent of VO2max). You might even notice a small boost as your body conserves glycogen by burning fat. But the point of working out is to push yourself, and that’s where fasting can backfire. Studies show that cranking your workout intensity up to high in a fasted state can decrease performance—even when carbs are consumed while exercising.

To sum up, if you’re an endurance athlete, you might want to consider including both fasted state and fed training in your regimen. One thing though: Don’t do recovery workouts in a fasted state! Those are all about giving your body, including your metabolism, a break. But if you’re not an endurance athlete and the idea of exercising intensely for longer than 90 minutes strikes you as mindless torture, fasted state training probably isn’t something you need. You’re better off fueling up so your muscles can get the most possible benefit from your efforts.

Via Denis Faye M.S. for the Team Beachbody blog

Become a Runner in 8 Weeks!

If you've been wanting to start running but just don't know how, this 8 week training program will get you off on the right foot. After about 2 months, you should be able to run 30 minutes (about 2 miles) at a slow, relaxed pace. It's a simple, progressive program that begins with more walking than running, then gradually evolves into more running than walking. 

Once you are able to run 2 miles nonstop, you can continue to increase your running intervals until you're at the distance and pace you want to be at.  Research has shown that this is enough to help you lose or maintain weight, and improve many other important health markers (i.e., your cholesterol, blood pressure, and insulin response).

So, don't be intimidated by these programs. The first 2 miles are the hardest you will ever run, even when you're a seasoned runner. I run 5-7 miles most days and have been doing that for 10 years or so. Even now, I have the hardest time during my runs up until mile 3. 

Here are four key points to consider before you begin the 8-Week Program.

1. If you are over 40, not accustomed to any exercise, or more than 20 pounds overweight, consult with your physician. Unless you have a known health risk, your doctor will probably encourage you to begin a run-walk program, but it's always wise to check.

2. Schedule your workouts. You won't find time for them unless you make time for them. Put them in your phone calendar, computer, daily appointment planner, on the front of your refrigerator, or wherever else you keep your schedule and make them NON-NEGOTIABLE.

3. Expect bad days. Everyone has them, but they pass quickly, and the next workout is often better than the previous one. So stick with the program. Some days you won't want to run. Get out there anyway and do what you can.

4. Don't rush. In the fitness world, rushing leads to injuries and discouragement. Be patient, and go slow. The goal is to reach 30 minutes of continuous running, not to set any records getting there.

WEEK 1

Training tip: To fuel up for your workout, have a piece of fruit or protein bar about 2 hours before you leave.  If you regularly workout and do fasted cardio, have some pre-workout and at least part of a bar. An hour later, drink 8 ounces of water to help keep you fully hydrated during your run. 

WEEK 2 

Training tip: Always walk 2 to 3 minutes for a warm up before you begin your workout, and walk another 2 to 3 minutes as a cool down afterward. Don't stretch before running when your muscles are tight. Save it for after your workout when your muscles are already warm and follow up with more stretching in the evening.

 WEEK 3

Training tip: Breathing is KEY when it comes to running endurance.  Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and keep this consistent through your run. You'll avoid losing your breath and it helps with cramps as well.

 WEEK 4

Training tip: When it's hot out, run in the early morning or late evening if you can.  The heat and humidity will dehydrate you faster and make you more lethargic so don't be disappointed if you run a lot slower and walk more on hotter days.

 WEEK 5

 Training tip: On occasion, skip running/walking and do a different type of workout instead. Bike for 30 to 40 minutes, try the elliptical trainer in a gym, swim, lift weights, or join a circuit weight-training class. The break from running will refresh you, and you'll learn new skills while developing new muscles.

 WEEK 6

Training tip: Running is a great way to build strong bones, but you also need plenty of calcium--1,000 milligrams a day, or 1,500 milligrams if you're over age 50. Drink a glass or two of low-fat milk per day, or enjoy a cup or two of low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese. Dark green, leafy vegetables such as kale or spinach are another great calcium source.

WEEK 7

Training tip: Beginning runners often develop shin splints or sore knees. These pains should pass quickly if you treat them immediately with ice packs after your workouts. Put a bag of frozen peas on your shins or knees for 15 minutes. If the pain persists, take several days off before beginning your training program again.

WEEK 8

Training tip: If you can help it depending on the city or area you live in, try not to do your workouts on a busy street or during rush-hour traffic. Find low-traffic streets where any exhaust will be dispersed quickly. Ideally, try to run on greenbelts, parks, on bike trails, around reservoirs, etc. 

Like the saying goes, "Success may come quickly to you as a beginning runner, but the race is never won. Run for life."

Via Runner's World