yellow straw colour and dehydrated if your urine is a darker colour. If your urine is very dark brown this could indicate a medical condition and you should seek medical attention.—Dr Neil Walsh, School of Sport, Health, and Exercise Science, University

to lower risk of heart disease in those in their forties and above, and now the American Journal of Health Promotion reports that drinkers do up to 20 minutes more exercise than teetotallers on average each week.In practice: Go for heart-healthy red wine

want to bring a discussion back to life, don't be shy: just add a new message at the end of it. Alternatively, start a new thread on the beginner forum. HEALTH AND INJURY FOR BEGINNERSBack hurts!Blisters - help!Breathing problems - is there a technique

So you want to start running? You've heard it's inexpensive, great for your health, the best way to lose weight (and keep it off). You've got friends who run, and they're trim, happy, centred and productive.Running also looks like a straightforward

, every time I started down a path towards better health and weight loss, I’d choose a destination. In terms of losing weight, I’d tell myself that when I’d lost 10 or 20lbs, I’d be thin. And every day I’d stand on the scales and ask myself if I

"I'm out of shape, overweight and I've never run before."Just like the millions of couch-potatoes-turned-runners before you. "Beginners all say, 'This seems crazy. Can I do it?'" says Bob Glover, co-author of The Runner's Handbook (£9.99, Penguin

stock-market fall when interest rates rise. And no athlete is immune – not even the most experienced and successful. That’s why reviewing the basics can always give you a boost.Of course, beginners have an even greater need to follow these rules

and objectivesIt really does depend upon what you get from running and what you are trying to achieve. If it’s just about getting out, running, feeling the benefits of being outdoors and maintaining a reasonable level of health and fitness, then a setting a

and improving yourself; you are determined; you are a moral person. Whereas when you walk, this is bad. You are lazy; you are a loser; you don’t deserve to be loved (not even by your mother).Mental-health therapists have many words for this sort of inflexible

.Maybe you feel the same. And really, even if you’re a highly competitive runner who trains hard and races every weekend, you still depend on those easy days to be just that: easy. Whether you are running purely for health and fitness or are gunning