beginner fitness tips

When your hour-long runs are part of your routine, it's important to fuel your body in order to kick some butt during your workout. While exercising on an empty stomach is a big mistake, fueling up the wrong way before a run can cause stomach cramps, dizziness, and headaches. Check out the chart below to learn some good choices for noshing before you head out.

Hydrating is also essential, so drink about 15 to 20 ounces of water one to two hours before working out. Sip another eight ounces 15 minutes before.

You made it to the weekend! Aside from a break from the daily grind, it means a lighter schedule to do what you want when you want. With no meetings to run off to or deadlines to meet, you have more time to devote to your sweat sessions, so here are some ways to get more out of your weekend workouts.

1. Go long: Without having to squeeze in your workout before, during, or after your nine-to-fiver, you have more time to devote to exercising, so use your weekend to do longer workouts. If you normally run or swim for 30 minutes, go for 45 or even 60. Or sign up for a two-hour hip-hop dance workshop.
2. Fill in holes: With limited availability during the week, you might only have time to do cardio and that's it. So use your time on the weekend to devote to areas of your workout that you miss like strength training or stretching.
3. Break away from routine: During the week, you stick to the workouts you're used to, ones that take the least amount of prep, and the ones you know are effective. That can get super boring though, so use your weekends to ignite your passion for moving by trying something new or doing workouts that take more time. Go indoor rock climbing, sign up for paddleboard yoga classes, or try that new Tabata workout at your gym.

Keep reading for more ways to burn more calories and get more out of your weekend workouts.

Joining a new gym can be intimidating — it feels like everyone but you knows what they're doing and where to go, while you're just trying to figure out how to find the water fountain. But fear of feeling embarrassed in the gym is no reason to avoid it, especially if it means you're not exercising at all. Read on for solutions to your biggest gym fears.

I don't know how to work the weights/machines: It's a common fear for gym newbies — showing up to the gym and then not knowing what to do. Don't let it get the best of you. Just one trip to the gym is all you need to realize that not knowing what to do is a simple problem to solve. Feeling comfortable in the gym is about knowing the basics of your most-frequented machines, so decide which pique your interest and enlist the help of a friend — or just a friendly gym employee — to show you how to set it up. Once that part is over, here are more tips for looking like a gym-going pro:

• On the elliptical: Focus on your strides per minute, keeping them between 140 and 160, and try variations like going hands-free or pressing down with your heels to work different muscle groups. Read more beginner elliptical tips here.
• On the treadmill: If you're not careful, your running form can take a hit on the treadmill. Focus on keeping your neck and shoulders relaxed and your upper body upright, not leaning forward, and keep your hands off the hand bar so you don't use it as support while you run.
• In the weight room: Don't be intimidated — the weight room is where you can build those metabolism-boosting muscles and go at your own pace. Go with a circuit workout plan and carefully choose your dumbbell weight, then find an empty spot and focus on maintaining proper form.
• In class: One of the best ways to learn basic, effective moves is to take a group fitness class, but if you're new joining one can be intimidating. Take these tips for a beginner from a fitness class instructor: show up early, tell your instructor you're new, know your limits, and find a good spot somewhere in the middle where you can see the instructor but won't be blocking everyone else's view.

More gym fears after the break.

Yoga is supposed to be all joy and bliss, but it's hard to feel peaceful when being in certain poses can cause dizziness. Holding the head below the heart and quickly coming up commonly results in a head rush; when blood rushes to and from your head too quickly it causes a drop in blood pressure, which can cause disorientation, spotty vision, foggy hearing, and can sometimes impair the ability to control movement. If this sounds familiar, here are ways to stop feeling like your head is spinning while trying to get your Om on.

• Try variations: If you know doing a Wide-Legged Forward Bend (shown above) causes head pain or lightheadedness, only fold halfway. Or do this pose while sitting on the floor to get the same hamstring stretch without your head hanging below your heart. Do what's right for your body even if it means doing a completely different pose.
• Take it slow: Sometimes it's not the actual pose that causes the dizziness, but the way you move in and out of it. Take a few breaths to get into poses that tend to make you dizzy so the blood doesn't rush to your head all at once. And the same goes for coming out of poses — stand up too quickly and you might feel so topsy-turvy that you end up falling to the ground. Take your time, and concentrate on moving slowly as you draw out each breath. When doing poses like Headstands where you're inverted for longer periods of time, don't be shy about resting in Child's Pose afterward until the blood has a chance to circulate back to the rest of your body.
• Check out other styles of yoga: Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Jivamukti yoga are more fast-paced than other styles like Iyengar. You may experience a head rush when moving too quickly from seated to standing poses such as when doing Sun Salutations. If head rushes are happening every time you practice these types of yoga, try a slower-paced style next time.
• Grab that reusable water bottle: Heading to a yoga class slightly dehydrated can increase your chance for these sort of dizzy spells, so be sure to sip water throughout the day before heading to the studio.

Sometimes a head rush is inevitable, so if you feel a dizzy spell coming on, sit down, tuck your chin into your chest, and breathe deeply until it passes. Then slowly move onto the next pose when you're ready.

You might think running is the bee's knees, but not if it makes this joint ache with pain. Runner's knee is a common ailment, but it doesn't just affect runners. Any type of exercise that involves bending your knees repetitively such as biking, hiking, and skiing can cause pain around the kneecap, and here are some ways to prevent it.

Train Right
Whether you've signed up for a race or are inspired by warmer weather, it's important not to increase the intensity of your runs too abruptly. Follow the 10 percent rule to gradually increase mileage, and be sure to take rest days to give your running muscles a break.

Get Strong
If the muscles in your legs are weak, then it's your joints that absorb the impact of each pounding step. So be sure to spend time doing strength-training moves that target your quads, calves, hamstrings, and glutes, and incorporate lateral moves that strengthen muscles around your knee joint while improving agility — try this 10-minute leg workout. Strong quads and strong glute meds, the muscle on the side of the pelvis, can also help prevent iliotibial band syndrome, which causes pain on the outside of the knee, so do this wall squat exercise to target that area.

Stay Flexible
Tight hamstrings or quads can prevent the knee from going through its full range of motion, which can negatively impact the soft tissues that work the knee. Here are eight essential stretches to do after a run to target your lower back, quads, hip flexors, and hamstrings. You can also use a foam roller to loosen stiff muscles, so try this 15-minute routine.

Check Your Feet
Those with low arches or flat feet tend to overpronate (ankle rolls inward), and those with high arches tend to underpronate (ankle rolls outward). If you don't wear sneakers that support your foot type, then it could result in knee pain. And if you can't remember when you last went shopping for new sneaks, chances are they're so old they're not supporting your feet properly, which is also a recipe for knee joint and other pain.

Mix It Up
While running itself can make your legs stronger, constantly using the same muscles means overusing them, which can be one cause of your pain. Incorporate other types of heart-pumping exercise such as swimming, biking, and cardio classes to target your total body while giving your running muscles a little break. And when you do run, mix up the surface you run on, trying to choose between softer ground such as trails or a track.

Watch the Scale
Running can be considered a series of connecting hops, and the force of landing on your knees is considerable. Excess weight just increases the force of pressure your knees endure while running, so maintaining a healthy weight can also prevent pain in this joint.