Brand new to exercise? This is your corner. Workouts for beginners that assume nothing, explain every move, and never make you feel out of place. I break things down the way I needed them broken down when I started: what to do, how it should feel, and what to skip until you’re ready. No burpees on day one, no jargon, no pressure. Pair these with the complete beginner’s guide and a little help with habits and motivation to make it stick. New here? Start with our complete guide to home workouts for beginners, or head to the Start Here page while we add more guides to this section.
Lower trap exercises are the quiet heroes of shoulder training. Everyone knows the upper traps, the muscles that rise toward your ears when you shrug or feel stressed. Far fewer people train the lower part of the same muscle, which pulls the shoulder blades down and helps them rotate smoothly as you lift your arms….
Tibialis anterior exercises are the most overlooked part of lower body training. Most of us train our calves without thinking twice, but the muscle on the front of the shin barely gets a mention. That is a shame, because it does a lot of quiet work every time you walk, run, climb stairs or catch…
The glute bridges exercise was the first lower body move I ever did properly. I was a few weeks into training at home, my lower back felt stiff after long days at a desk, and squats still felt awkward. A friend who works as a physiotherapist told me to lie on the floor, bend my…
A running warm up is the 5 to 10 minutes that make the next 30 feel easier. For years I skipped it entirely. I would step out of the door, start my watch and run straight off at my normal pace. The first mile always felt awful: heavy legs, tight calves, ragged breathing. I assumed…
The run walk method is exactly what it sounds like: you alternate short periods of running with short periods of walking, on purpose, from the start of your run. It is not giving up, and it is not cheating. It is a strategy, and it is the reason I got through my first months of…
Running for beginners should feel like an invitation, not a punishment. Mine started badly. I bought a pair of trainers, ran out of the door as fast as I could, and was walking with my hands on my hips four minutes later, wondering why anyone does this for fun. I tried again a week later…
Breathing while running was the thing I struggled with most as a new runner. My legs were fine. My lungs were not. Two minutes into every run I was gasping, my chest felt tight, and by the third lamp post I had a stabbing side stitch under my ribs. I genuinely thought some people were…
This 12 week half marathon training plan is the one I wish I had for my first 13.1 miles. I signed up for a spring half marathon on a whim after finishing a local 5K, printed a plan from a magazine, and promptly ignored the easy days. I ran every session too fast, skipped the…
Treadmill workouts were how I got fit through my first proper winter of exercising. It was dark when I left for work and dark when I came home, and the pavements were icy for weeks. A second-hand treadmill in the spare room became my best friend. The first time I stepped on, though, I had…
How long does it take to walk a mile? For most healthy adults, the answer is about 15 to 20 minutes at a normal pace. A brisk walker can do it in 13 to 15 minutes, and a relaxed stroll takes 20 to 25 minutes or more. I found out my own number by accident….