Category: Getting Started

  • Should I Do a 30-day Challenge?

    Should I Do a 30-day Challenge?

    There are lots of 30-day challenges floating around online, urging people to focus on their abs, “get a beach body,” or practice a skill like planking or bodyweight squats. Are they a good idea? In favor of a 30-day challenge: — Relatively brief, improving likelihood of success — A decent chunk of time, promoting a…

  • What Makes Food Delicious?

    What Makes Food Delicious?

    Fat. Sugar. Salt. But what if you’re trying to improve the nutritional value of your food, and maybe try some options that don’t rely on fat, sugar, and salt to be palatable? One of the best ways to jazz up food is spices. And few (possibly no) traditions have as sophisticated a spice palate as…

  • A Year from Now You’ll Wish You’d Started Today

    A Year from Now You’ll Wish You’d Started Today

    Maybe. One problem is that we sometimes don’t recognize the future self as “self” — consider the example of the young person who smokes even though they know the health risks. A stronger connection to our future self can help. That doesn’t necessarily mean “visualizing,” which can actually distract us from doing the day-to-day work…

  • The Right Running Shoes

    The Right Running Shoes

    They can be tough to find. A dedicated running store can help you understand the basic types available and make some recommendations. Many do gait analysis, and some even have treadmills so you can try shoes in action. Traditional: The style shown in the photo, these shoes came to dominate running in the 1980s and…

  • 5 Lessons About Exercise You Can Learn From Your Dog

    5 Lessons About Exercise You Can Learn From Your Dog

    Being in love with exercise is a minority attitude, but regular activity offers so many health and well-being benefits that anyone should be able to find it pleasant, even if they’d rather be curled up on the couch with a book. If you’re struggling with the willpower to exercise regularly, you could probably use some…

  • Strategies and Goals, Tactics and Steps

    Strategies and Goals, Tactics and Steps

    Some of us excel at seeing the big picture, and others are better prepared to just roll up their sleeves and work. If you’re trying to do something you’ve never done before, you’ll need to be able to do both. Goals: Goals are the end results we want. Examples include “do a pull-up unassisted,” “jog…

  • Stop Making Sense, and Start Getting Strong!

    Stop Making Sense, and Start Getting Strong!

    Do you like getting swole? Do you also enjoy the band Talking Heads? Then do we have the workout video for you! There’s plenty of snow on the ground in the Northeast right now, making home workouts more appealing than ever. And it turns out anything can be a workout DVD — even a concert…

  • A Nice Twist on “No Excuses”

    A Nice Twist on “No Excuses”

    The fitness industry is full of bluster and posturing — “no excuses,” “obsessed is how the lazy describe the dedicated,” and so on. Kimberly Snyder offers a nice twist on that often mean-spirited attitude: “No Excuse Not to Try,” and a series of simple yoga poses that pretty much anyone can do. See the whole…