beginner fitness tips

by Jenny Sugar

Whether you run on a treadmill and glance at the display, or keep track of your run outside with a GPS, it's nice to know how many calories you're burning, especially if weight loss is one of your goals.

Here's a nifty chart to let you know what your pace and workout time translates to in calories burned. It can also help you figure out how intensely and how long you need to exercise in order to negate the cupcake you savored at lunch.

*Calculations based on a 130-pound woman

Miles per hour	Minutes per mile	Calories burned in 20 minutes	Calories burned in 30 minutes	Calories burned in 45 minutes	Calories burned in 60 minutes
3.0	20:00	66	99	149	199
3.5	17:00	72	108	162	216
4.0	15:00	81	122	182	243
4.6	13:00	90	135	202	270
5.0	12:00	144	216	324	432
5.5	11:00	162	243	364	486
6.0	10:00	180	270	405	540
6.6	9:00	200	300	450	600
7.0	8:30	214	321	482	643
7.5	8:00	225	338	506	675
8.0	7:30	243	364	547	729
8.5	7:00	261	391	587	783
9.2	6:30	279	418	628	837
10.0	6:00	297	446	668	891

by Lizzie Fuhr

You know it's the right thing to do, but every once in a while, getting to a workout can feel close to impossible. A late night or a tough day at work can leave you wanting to cancel your fitness plans and have a date with your couch.

During these times, making time to exercise is even more essential, since it can restore endorphins, clear your head, and leave you with a sense of calm. If making moves to the gym is feeling difficult, then try one of these low-key ideas that start slow but might turn into a more intense workout session.

Go out for a walk: Start off on a leisurely walk, plug into your favorite inspiring workout playlist, and see what happens. Once you warm up a bit, you might find yourself on a brisk jog or alternating between a fast-paced walk and sprints.

Head to the pool: Planning on a pool day where you'll relax and cool off? All those bikini bodies might inspire you to get moving! What started off as a quick dip can easily turn into a few rounds of treading water or a ton of laps.

Stretch on your mat: Rolling out that yoga mat might be the only motivation you need. Once you move through a series of relaxing and restorative poses, your body might be feeling so great that you start moving through a few series of Sun Salutations to get your heart rate rising.

Start slow on a machine: Hop on the elliptical or a stationary bike, and start at a slow and steady pace as you catch up on your favorite show or magazines. Once you start to get into the groove, you might find yourself moving through your own short interval workout, alternating between periods of pushing your body of the max and rest periods.

How do you trick yourself into a workout? Tell me below!

by Jenny Sugar

Yoga may be blissful, but it isn't cheap! Depending on where you live, classes can run you an average of $15 to $20 a pop. Dropping $50 or more for yoga classes each week isn't an option for everyone, but we can all benefit from a regular practice. The Internet is bursting with free full-length classes or shortened yoga routines. If you're willing to pay a little, then you'll be able to view a greater variety of videos. Here are some sites to check out.

• Yoga Today: This site offers one free class each week, and if you're itching for more, download other classes for $4 each. You can choose ones geared toward your ability level, or choose by instructors you like. If you're really into it, pay $90 for a yearly membership, which includes unlimited classes. Store them on your computer, and follow along anywhere you happen to be.
• Yoga Journal: For beginners and advanced yogis, these videos, ranging in length from five to 35 minutes, are the high quality you'd expect from Yoga Journal. Some of my faves include the hip-opening sequence Bird by Bird and Heart Wide Open, full of chest openers.
• My Yoga Online: These videos may not be free, but they're dirt cheap. Pay $10 per month or $90 for a year for unlimited access to the entire library of videos for yoga, Pilates, dance, martial arts fusion, meditation, and workplace wellness. The site also offers samples of popular yoga DVDs such as Shiva Rea's Surf Yoga Soul and David Life's Transform Yourself With Jivamukti. Another plus: you can sample a clip before you buy.

Keep reading for more websites that offer inexpensive yoga classes.

by Jenny Sugar

It's tough to keep dragging yourself to the gym's treadmill when the sun is shining so warmly outside. Before lacing up your sneaks to hit the open road, here are some reasons you might want to spray on a little bug spray and find some woodsy trails instead of pavement.

1. Sticks, boulders, and streams: With the unpredictable surface, trail running is like doing a natural obstacle course — you can't just run in a straight line. Varying your steps prevents overuse injury and tones your lower body more effectively, and because you have to stay more alert, it also prevents boredom.
2. Shady trees: When it's hot, going outside for a run feels like you're baking in an oven. Tall trees found in the woods make for a cool, shady run that can be 10 or more degrees cooler than the open road. Without your energy feeling zapped from the oppressive heat, you'll be able to cover a longer distance and run more intensely while also preventing heat exhaustion.
3. Ahh, the fresh air: When you're huffing and puffing during a run, the last thing you want to do is inhale car fumes. There's no pollution in the woods — all you have to breathe is the fresh oxygen given off by the trees and plants. There's also no noise pollution or the danger of getting hit by a car, so you'll feel less stressed while running in nature.
4. Soft earth: Going from the more-forgiving surface of the treadmill belt to the hard, dense pavement can be so jarring on your joints that pain prevents you from being able to run at all. Well-loved trails offer a much softer surface that absorbs shock with each step, which means less impact on your joints.
5. Hills: Woodsy trails are often naturally hilly, and although you may loathe inclines, you'll love the way they make you work harder and end up toning your legs, tush, and core, as well as your arms. Stronger muscles not only make you feel more confident in your bathing suit, but they'll also help you build speed and endurance.

by Emily Bibb

Shin splints slowing you down? Freeze away the pain with an ice cup! An athletic DIY of sorts, ice cups are an easy and affordable way to treat common athlete woes like sprains and sore muscles. All you have to do is fill Dixie cups with water and freeze; once ready, peel back the paper to expose the ice. These beat bulky ice packs or a bag of peas because you can use them to pinpoint your trouble spots and massage the muscle. Keep a few stocked in your freezer so at a moment's notice you'll have your post-workout treatment ready. Be sure you don't follow up with heat for at least 48 hours, and once the pain diminishes, try these easy exercises to strengthen the tibialis anterior, the muscle that runs on the outside of the shin.

If you do have pain or shin splints often, consider visiting a physical therapist and checking in with your form and running shoes.

by Jenny Sugar

Hitting the open road has many benefits over running on a treadmill — fresh air and sunshine, gorgeous scenery to prevent boredom, and you can also run with your four-legged fitness buddy. You also have more freedom of movement to incorporate muscle-toning moves into your runs, and here's how.

• Run baby run: While running in general will tone your legs and booty, adding sprinting intervals is even more effective. Incorporate 30- to 60-second bursts throughout your workout and you're sure to feel your lower body working. Since you're outside, you can use landmarks to motivate you such as sprint to the stop sign or until you see five red cars, or if you're on a track, sprint the straights.
• Walk this way: Sprints aren't the only type of interval you can include. When you need to catch your breath after a sprint, throw in a few sets of walking lunges to target your glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
• Head for the hills: Find a steep hill in your neighborhood or in the woods and do hill repeats. Run up the hill then back down to target all the muscles in your lower body. If you need some motivation, try this hill repeat workout to build muscle and endurance.

Keep reading to learn three more ways to build muscle on outdoor runs.

by Leta Shy

Enthusiasm will get you far when starting a new workout routine, but you can't stop there. When it comes to strength training, start by simply learning the basics.

Perfecting the basic moves — think sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and planks — helps you build on your strength-training routine safely and effectively, especially since once you've learned how to do a basic move, you can add variations to make it more challenging. Not taking the time to learn a move correctly before you advance can lead to overuse or straining injuries as you continue your workout routine.

If you're new to strength training or it's been awhile since anyone has helped you correct your form, sign up for a circuit class at your gym and ask the instructor questions afterward, or buy a single personal-training session for a refresher. Our basic strength-training exercises primer will also have you lunging, planking, and squatting with the best of them.

by Leta Shy

Sticking to a workout routine can be a constant struggle. If you're in need to a fitness reboot, then here are five ways to freshen up your routine.

1. Start fresh: Time to look through your workout gear. Donate any old equipment you don't use anymore, clear out your workout wardrobe, and take a peek into your gym bag. Clearing away all the excess, old, and germ-y gear can help you recommit to your routine. Read our tips for donating old running shoes and cleaning your gym bag.
2. Reassess your routine: Feeling bored? You may not be challenging yourself. Check your routine — if it's been awhile since you switched it up, then now's the time to get a new one. Our printable workouts will help you switch up your routine.
3. Make a goal: Having a specific goal helps motivate you to commit to a workout and can make it all that more fun as well. Sign up for a race, take a beginner yoga class workshop, or challenge your friends to some friendly workout competition.
4. Seize the weekend: If your workouts consist of time-constrained weekday workouts, then it's time to incorporate something that's both active and fun into your weekend. Round up your family and take a long hike, or catch up with an old friend at gentle yoga class.
5. Find your inspiration: Sometimes, it just takes a few wise words or a healthy success story to spur you back into action. Use your friend's successful 10-pound weight loss or motivating fitness quotes on Pinterest to help you find your enthusiasm.

by Jenny Sugar

You've been exercising regularly for months but you've barely lost any weight and your clothes don't fit any better. Exercise is supposed to help you burn calories and lose inches, so what's the deal? Before frustration causes you to give up and drown your sorrows in a brownie sundae, here are four reasons your exercise plan isn't working.

• You still look cute after a workout: While going for a walk or taking a gentle yoga class are relaxing ways to exercise, they're not exactly major calorie-burners. Kick up the intensity level of your workouts so your heart is pounding, you're huffing and puffing, your muscles are burning, and you're sweating buckets. Choose workouts such as running, jumping rope, bike riding, or these other huge calorie-burners.
• You work out when you feel like it: Your sweat sessions depend on your energy levels, so one week you feel like exercising five days and the next you barely make it to Tuesday night Zumba. It's important to stick to a regular exercise schedule that includes working out for an hour five days a week. Not sure how to implement that? Here's a weekly exercise plan to help you drop a pound a week.
• You're all about running: No one will argue that it's a great form of exercise, but aside from doing cardio, it's important to include strength training in your regimen as well. Lean muscle raises your metabolism, helping you burn more calories and lose body fat.
• You underestimate calorie amounts in your post-workout snack: After a grueling workout, you reach for a Luna Bar and a smoothie to refuel. You might not realize it, but that little nibble is well over 300 calories. A post-workout snack shouldn't exceed 150 calories, so be sure to read labels and measure portions to keep your calories in check to avoid undoing all your hard work.

by Emily Bibb

There's a fine line when it comes to heating and icing an injury. While some injuries are acute (a sudden sprain or strain) and others chronic (often long-term as the result of overuse), there are specific ways to go about heating and icing for maximum recovery. If you aren't so sure when to grab the frozen peas or plug in the heating pad, use this guide during your rehab to keep you strong and performing at your best.

Heat is best when . . .

If you are stiff, sore, or have a chronic injury — bring on the heat! A heating pad or hot compress is ideal to relieve the aches and pains of overused muscles because it increases the elasticity of joint tissues and stimulates blood flow. About 20 minutes of heat also helps to loosen tissues and relax injured areas, meaning it's very beneficial before workouts that often irritate reoccurring injuries. One rule of thumb: do not heat a new injury! When an injury first occurs, swelling and inflammation are at their peak. Heat will only make this worse, causing the blood vessels to dilate. Only add heat once the injury has started to relax, which is usually after 48 hours.

Ice is best when . . .

Ice is best for immediate injuries and as a treatment in later rehabilitation. If you were just hurt in a workout, turn to ice to reduce the swelling and decrease the pain. Icing is also good for athletes with chronic injuries after a workout because it keeps inflammation at bay, preventing any overused muscles from acting up. If you're both icing and heating an injury, always end with ice. Since ice works to reduce the swelling, following it up with heat will counteract it, increasing blood flow and possible swelling. Don't ice for longer than 20 minutes (doing so can lead to frostbite), and never ice before a workout; this will only make your muscles stiff and vulnerable to injury.