A new study has found that you don’t have to actually get physically fit in order to feel good about yourself when it comes to exercise, and then people that don’t achieve their fitness or weight loss goals still feel good about themselves due to simply doing a little exercise rather that dedicating serious time to fitness.

The study at the University of Florida by a UF exercise psychologist, Heather Hausenblas, has been published in the Journal of Health Psychology, and is the first to analyse the wider range of effects that exercise can have on things like body image and self confidence.

The study was conducted by examining evidence from 57 different intervention studies, and concluded that exercise changed how people feel about their bodies despite the fact the results weren’t always what they were expecting. The duration, intensity or type of exercise made no difference, and only the frequency at which the exercise was performed seemed to matter.

The study found that that was was no difference in improvement of body image between people who exercised 30 minutes a day, every day of the week and those did not. Apparently this applies to both men and women, although the body image is slightly more improved for women than men.

“Body dissatisfaction is a huge problem in our society and is related to all sorts of negative behaviour including yo-yo dieting, smoking, taking steroids and undergoing cosmetic surgery” Said Hausenblas.

“It affects men and women and all ages, starting with kids who are as young as five years old saying they don’t like how their bodies look.”

It sounds simple. You put on your shoes and your running gear, step out the front door and go for it, returning hours later satisfied you?ve made the best of your day. Unfortunately, it?s not quite as simple as that ? at least not if you want to make sure you?ll be able to run in a few weeks time without having sustained any injuries.

As well as risk of injury there?s also the chance that your running isn?t quite as efficient as it could be so you won?t be earning the maximum potential benefit from your workout. Luckily there are some easy ways to improve your technique and maximise your workout.

The number one thing to be careful of is how you are moving your body. Make sure that you land with your heel first, not the ball of your foot. Doing anything else can result in your foot rolling when you hit the ground which can cause serious injury over time. Also, make sure you are moving your arms enough; our bodies are made to synchronise so the more you move your arms, the more you knees will move. Move your arms fast, and you?ll run fast.

There are a number of things to avoid when running that are common mistakes by amateur runners and can be avoided easily once you?ve identified them. See if you are guilty of any of the following:
? Twisting your entire body to the side as you run
? Bending your body or head forward
? Jogging slower than you could walk at a fast pace
? Landing too heavily on your feet or striding too far

Maintaining a proper posture can be crucial to avoiding injury, so if you are guilty of any of these things see if you can stamp them out by reminding yourself of them when you run. If you feel you can?t stop, talking to a professional might help.

As well as physical methods, it?s also important to make sure you are looking after yourself internally as well. Eat well and try to aim to eat as many carbohydrates as well possible, which can be found in things such as rice and pasta. When running you?ll use glycogen which comes from carbs and you require a healthy amount of protein in order to add muscle. Try to eat something small an hour or so before you run and then something shortly after you finish. This will aid quick recovery. If you want to shower after a run, try a cold shower rather than a hot one, which helps flush out lactic acid.

Running more sensibly is one thing, but many of us also need motivation to continue running on a regular basis. One of the key ways to increase motivation is to keep a log of your fitness. There are several computer programs that will allow you to do some pretty accurate tracking, but you could do similar things for free using a spreadsheet program. This will give you encouragement because you?ll see yourself making quantifiable gains over a period of time.

If stats aren?t your thing, than perhaps people are. Find a friend who is interested in running and go out with them on regular sessions. This may well keep you more interested in the exercise, but make sure the person you pick actually enjoys running ? trying to drag along a friend who has no interest won?t benefit either of you. If you can?t find anyone, consider joining a running club. Most local communities have a running or athletic club available and the extra encouragement of your peers could be a massive help.

Above all, the most important thing to remember is to have fun. Once you?ve got the basic science of running and eating well sorted and the motivation of friends to keep you going, you?ll find everything quickly becomes second nature.

According to recent research, a bowl of whole grain cereal can help your body recover after exercise just as well as any leading brand of sports drink. Cereal is both readily available and cheap, so it could well be a serious alternative if you want to keep the costs of your exercise to a minimum, although it obviously isn?t as portable as a bottle of sports drink.

The research was conducted at The University of Texas and led by exercise physiologist Lynne Kammer. Kammer?s team studied a twelve trained cyclists; four women and eight men, in order to complete the studies. The studies tested the athletes under normal exercise conditions, requiring them to cycle for two hours at a comfortable rate, rather than standard tests which are often completed until exhaustion.

Kammer explains the experiment: ?We wanted to understand their relative effects on glycogen repletion and muscle protein synthesis for the average individual. We found that glycogen repletion, or the replenishment of immediate muscle fuel, was just as good after whole grain cereal consumption and that some aspects of protein synthesis were actually better.?

The study has concluded that cereal may be a better option than a sports drink due to price, although both will have similar effect, post exercise. Of course, the cereal needs to be whole-grain and consumed with skimmed milk. Eating a sugar coated cereal with full fat milk won?t have the same effect and is likely to negate any exercise that has been completed.

“Cereal and non-fat milk are a less expensive option than sports drinks,? said Kammer. ?The milk provides a source of easily digestible and high quality protein, which can promote protein synthesis and training adaptations, making this an attractive recovery option for those who refuel at home.?