Now that the weather is finally cold enough to run outside, it’s a great time to forget about the footpaths and treadmills and take your running to the trails. Trails can also help your running and possibly reduce injury — but not for the reasons you think.

Use workout apps long enough, and you’ll realise you can’t trust a single one. Sometimes they go defunct, or you take a break from running and forget your password, or your phone dies and takes your data with it. And even when all goes well, the apps can’t always track the metrics you should be tracking.

Welcome back! The final instalment in our running challenge is the long slow distance run. (If you see “LSD” on a fellow runner’s calendar, they are not talking about psychedelic drugs. Probably.)

I rarely feel stronger or faster or more totally badarse than when I’m running a track workout with short repeats. Today, I want to share that feeling with you.

Cold weather doesn’t have to stop you from running, but getting dressed is a puzzle: how do you keep from freezing your butt off, without overheating once you start to sweat? In this video, we show you exactly what to wear.

Cheers of encouragement are a great morale booster, but every marathon runner has fond memories of that spectator, the one who had the perfect snack or motivating words at a tough point in the race. Here’s how to be that angel.

Even if you live in a hilly place, you may find yourself avoiding hills when you run. They slow down your pace as reported by running apps. They also just feel really hard.

Running may be one of the simplest fitness activities to pick up — you just need a pair of shoes and the open road — but it’s also hard on your body if you’re not used to it.

Have you gotten out the door yet to join our running challenge? This April, we’re going to explore the different kinds of workouts runners do, to show you that it doesn’t have to be just one long painful slog.

As we head into the second week, let’s explore my least favourite variation (I promise it gets better from here), the tempo run.

Who doesn’t love running? OK, maybe a lot of us. (Personally, I hate running while I’m doing it, but I feel amazing afterward.) We ran together last September, and now it’s time to lace back up.

I came to the sport of running later in life, mostly because the stress of having two children in quick succession took a toll on my physical and emotional health. After joining a local couch to 5K program, I quickly made mum friends who shared my obsession with pounding the pavement in an effort to maintain my sanity.

What’s worse than getting yourself to the gym after a long workday? Getting yourself to the gym in the midst of a cold snap.

Strength training is good for your muscles; cardio is good for your heart. Both are essential if you want to be a fit, healthy person, but what’s the best way to combine them?

With Aussie temperatures regularly hitting the high 30s this summer, you'd have to be barmy to run while the sun is up. Unfortunately, once the air has cooled down enough to run you're basically in pitch-black darkness. So how do you run outdoors safely?

The hotter it is, the slower you run - but humidity plays a role too. When the air is full of moisture, sweating doesn't cool you down like it usually would. You won't be able to run as fast, because your body is trying to prevent you from overheating.

The Apple Watch is packed with health and fitness features—so many that it can be overwhelming. But with a little thought, you can set up your watch so that it helps you to do great workouts and gets you ready for the next one.

One of the things that has kept me locked into owning a FitBit is competitions. Every week three friends of mine and I participate in a “Workweek Challenge” that we somehow still find the time to trash talk in even after a few years. I love a good competition, and FitBit competitions have been the inspiration for many an extra walk or run on a Friday over the years.

This year we challenged ourselves to blaze new trails in lifting, cardio, yoga and more. Along the way we upgraded just about every aspect of our fitness, from achieving near-transcendence on a running path to working around that one arsehole at the gym.

Here are our best fitness posts of 2018.

Your muscles are made of protein, so if you’re building muscle you need to eat up. But how much protein do you really need? More than a couch potato, but less than the protein-crazy gym bros would have you believe. Here’s how to quickly calculate the real answer.