5 Inspirational Articles About Fitness

I am new to blogging and it was articles like the following that inspired me to take such an interest in health and fitness, hopefully you will find them as useful as myself:

• How to go from skinny to muscular in 7 steps
  Zen Habits is such a well written website and contains a wide range of articles:
  http://zenhabits.net/2007/12/how-to-go-from-skinny-to-muscular-in-7-steps-with-a-diet-plan/
• Will Smith acceptance speech
  There has been many articles written about this video. Will Smith thinks that the key to life is 'running and reading', and I think that he may have a valid point:
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8
• 7 Habits to improve your posture
  If your like me and work at a desk for 8 hours a day, you will need to put some work in to improve your posture. A bad posture could give you back pains and many issues later in life:
  http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/7-habits-to-improve-posture.html
• 5 workout hacks plus 8 tips for beginners
  Similar to my first blog entry Dumb Little Man posted an excellent article on workout tips for beginners:
  http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/06/6-workout-hacks-plus-8-tips-for.html
• Why you want to run a marathon!
  I think the title says it all, this video explains it much better than I ever could: http://monstro.com/2008/05/by-time-you-finish-watching-this-video.php

I have not made the leap to marathon running quite yet, but I do aim to get there. I am thinking of purchasing some literature to help me along, such as:
Finishing your first marathon
First time marathon runners training guide
Workout With Weights

Please leave a comment and hopefully point me in the right direction or some other interesting blog posts or books you may reccommend.

Beginner Running Tips

If you are new to running or just about to begin, motivation can often be the hardest obstacle to overcome. In the following article I’ll be giving you my top 5 beginner running tips that have been integral to successes over the last year.

• 1. Set yourself a target
  A target is very important to your progress, without one you may be inclined to give up too easily. Use your target as motivation for your run, it could be run a marathon within 2 years or losing 2lb within a month it doesn’t matter. Once you have completed your target set yourself a new one!
  

• 2. Invest in the correct equipment
  I was temped to just stick with my 3 year old gym trainers, but without the ankle support of the correct running shoes you could end up injuring yourself. Buying new trainers is also a great motivation, you will find yourself wanting to try them out. Choosing the correct apparel will keep you comfortable and focused during your run.

• 3. Invite a friend
  Bring out your competitive streak by inviting a friend along, you’d be surprised at how much difference this can make. Don’t be scared to invite a friend that is a experienced runner than yourself, I guarantee that they will help you find a good pace. If you cannot find someone who is willing to run with you or you prefer to run alone, sign up to the many social runner websites that make it easy for you to challenge people that are of a similar level.
  

• 4. Start slow
  When starting out you will probably need to ease your body into the routine, but no matter how experienced you are this step is always important. Start at a slow steady pace and hold it for at least 5 minutes, if you feel comfortable gradually speed up. You should never get out of breath but if you do start to struggle just lower your pace never stop or walk. Once you build up a little experience your correct pace will come naturally.
  

• 5. Give injuries time
  Injuries can push back your targets and if you are unfortunate enough to get one you must give it plenty of time to heal. Many running related injuries are reoccurring which could put you back to square one if you are not very careful. To get back to full fitness after a lengthy time injured take a lot of small runs, and if you feel any signs of it coming back stop immediately.
  

So that concludes my top 5 running tips. As a keen runner myself I can think of many more benefits and I hope that these tips are a good starter for a new enthusiastic runner. If you are looking for more fitness, health or running advice please take a look at this found it so useful, even beginners will learn a lot here:
The Essential Guide to Training For a Marathon

My final tip would be to always enjoy your running!