Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

1. Sign Up for a Race — Nothing gets you motivated like a deadline. Some favorite races:Skirt Chasers, in which women get a 3-minute head start before the men are let loose; New York’s Fun Run and Happy Hour, which features post-race drink specials; and theZooma Half Marathon & 10K series, which includes post-race shopping, massages, and wine. Check out active.com for races near you.
2. Hit the Bars — Pre-run: Grab an energy bar (we’ve picked the tastiest) so you have the fuel to run your best. Post-run: Toss back a beer. Research conducted at Granada University in Spain shows that a pint of beer, post-workout, rehydrates the body better than water. The carbs replace lost calories and researchers believe the sugars and salts may help the body absorb fluids more quickly.
3. Get Your Perfect Training Plan (Free!) — The right training plan helps you feel ready at the start and lets you finish strong. Go the distance — happily — with our 12-week, 5K training plan for beginners.
4. Ease Your Knees — Runners have a decreased risk of osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, according to a National Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Running increases oxygen flow and flushes out toxins resulting in healthier cartilage and stronger ligaments around the knee. Already have knee pain? Find out how to nix it with these three moves.

See more tips after the break!

5. Get New Shoes — Over time (as little as six months) running shoes lose traction and their cushioning breaks down, making you more prone to aches. Which to choose? Check out our top picks (narrowed down from 44 shoes tested by 275 women). Still some life in your old pair? Donate them to soles4souls.org, which provides shoes, free of charge, to those in need.
6. Live Longer and Better — Beyond helping you manage your weight, running has been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health — all of which helps you live longer and better. Running is also a weight-bearing exercise, which can help prevent disabling osteoporosis.
7. Think About Potato Chips — Good form makes you more efficient, which means you can go longer and stronger without using up more energy. Aim to maintain an even stride, with your feet under your body as you run, and keep your shoulders loose. Our favorite form tip: Nix the tension in your arms and hands by pretending you’re holding a potato chip in each hand.
8. Join the Six-Legged Race — When you run with your four-legged friend, he gets just as many health benefits as you do. What’s more, running with your dog is a great way for you to bond and an easy way to stay safe on the road.
9. Lose Track of Time — If you’re a data fanatic, try leaving the watch at home. “Training without a watch lets you run with a greater sense of comfort,” says Frank Webbe, Ph.D., a sports psychologist who works with runners at the Florida Institute of Technology. “It helps your performance because you’re paying attention to your body rather than to the watch itself.”
10. Eat Dessert! — The average woman can burn 345 calories in just 30 minutes of running. That means you can have a 16-oz. milkshake, a two-inch brownie with two tablespoons of real whipped cream, a 1/2-cup of Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, or (sorry, that’s “or,” not “and”!) three Godiva truffles, guilt-free. Find out how many calories you can torch with our Calorie Burn Tool.

(Source: fitsugar.com)

Weekends are often jam-packed with traveling, errands, socializing, and chores — gardening anyone? All these activities can push your workout off the to-do list, but here are three time-saving moves, and with no equipment necessary you can do them anywhere. All three exercises will work your core. Plus the first move will also tone your glutes and hamstrings, the second targets your upper body, and the third move is great for your thighs and abs. Do the exercises in the order shown, and complete the circuit three times.

Reverse Elbow Plank
With Leg Lifts

One-Legged
Dolphin Dive

Side Plank Star

Still itching for more? Check out these Weekend Workouts to learn how to tone other areas of your body.

Interval training is the ultimate fitness mashup, blending the speeds of both the tortoise and the hare. The benefits of this workout — pushing your pace, then slowing down to recover just so you can push your pace again — will certainly motivate you to play with your speed. If you haven’t already added them to your cardio workouts, here are seven benefits of interval training.

Whittle your middle
While cardio exercise is necessary to lose fat all over your body, according to research published in the International Journal of Obesity interval training targets your waistline. Adding bursts of speed can help you lose stubborn abdominal fat, which is a boon for bikini season and your overall health. Having a waist size over 35 inches if you’re a woman puts you at a higher risk for heart disease and some cancers. Curious how your middle measures up? Check your waist-to-hip ratio here.

Got a need for speed?
The most obvious benefit, but still worth noting, is interval training will make you faster.Picking up your pace when training with intervals helps to increase your speed whether you run, bike, or swim. If you’re working towards a personal record for an upcoming race, don’t skip your speed work. Here are interval workouts for biking, swimming, and running. Triathlon anyone?

Keep reading to learn five more reasons to kick it up a notch.

Up your after burn
Interval training increases the after-burn effect. This means that post-exercise, your body burns more calories, even at rest or sleep, after doing intervals than after doing a steady paced workout. Science suggests to maximize this effect, you should alternate between three minutes of speed with three-minute recovery, or slow bouts, for 30 to 60 minutes — after warming up of course.

Save time
No doubt about it, interval training is efficient. Pushing your cardiovascular system by adding intervals means you burn more calories in less time. By alternating between fast and slow, you can workout harder and longer, than if you were just pushing your max speed. Efficient intervals mean you can spend less time at the gym and more time in the sauna.

Go longer
Even though interval workouts might be shorter than your other workouts, this form of exercise will increase your endurance. Long runs and rides will be easier if interval training is part of your regular exercise routine. Another bonus is that climbing hills will feel easier too.

Decrease Your Resting Heart Rate
The fewer times your heart beats per minute, the less wear and tear there is on the mechanics of the organ. Interval training makes your heart more efficient so it pumps more blood with each beat, reducing the number of beats per minute.

Interval Training Works With All Forms of Cardio
Intervals may not be for everyone — it’s best to have a strong cardio base before pushing yourself with intervals. And interval training doesn’t have to mean sprinting. Use the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to moderate your speed and effort. However, intervals can be done with every kind of cardio. You can play with your speed on the elliptical and the rowing machine. I like to think the walk/run programs are an introduction to intervals.