The weather is perfect for nice, long outdoor runs on the beach or right through your neighborhood. The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp, and you've got miles and miles to go. That's why picking up a new pair of kicks is one of the most sound investments you can make for this autumn climate (and economic climate, for that matter).

To help the shoe shopping experience that much easier, Maximum Fitness offers these five tips in their current issue, on newsstands now.

• Do You Need New Shoes? This is obviously the most important step of all. If the soles of your shoes are showing significant signs of wear, the forefoot is shifted medially and laterally or you're always suffering injury, then it may be time to ditch those kicks for a new pair.

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After weeks and weeks of successful weight loss, the needle on the scale seems to freeze at a certain number. And then, worse yet, you notice it begins turning clockwise again. Fear not, there are things you can do to stop that needle and soon get it turning in the healthier direction once again.

Here are five ways to help make that happen:

1. Amp-up the Exercise. If you haven't changed your workout in four to six weeks, you're probably starting to plateau. In addition to mixing the reps, number of sets, rest time, distance on treadmill etc., for maximum results, you should also increase your intensity level.

2. Eat Slowly. Sit back, relax, and savor the food you're eating. Research shows that people consume around 67 fewer calories per meal when they take their time.

3. Make Half Sandwiches. Skipping the top slice of bread will save you around 70 calories. If you eat a sandwich a day for lunch, you'll save yourself 490 calories a week.

4. Eat Protein. Try to consume more protein if you don't eat enough already. Protein digests very slowly (especially casein protein, which is found in dairy products), so it requires a great deal of calories to be expended in order for it to be processed.

5. Be Salad Smart. Because many popular salad dressings contain about 75 calories per tablespoon, you can save yourself about 150 calories per salad by substituting in vinegar.

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Cutting fat - let's just get right to it. Exercise? Of course. Proper diet? Absolutely. The former is pretty straightforward; move around, burn some calories - that sort of thing. The latter, however, can sometimes involve a bit more complexity.

To effectively burn fat, your dietary changes must not interfere with your fitness progress or quest for overall health. As such, a massive calorie-cutting diet isn't really the answer. Instead, try these vie fat-torching tips on from size.

1 - Cut Calories by a Reasonable Percentage. Again, this does not mean starving yourself; rather, it means taking an honest look at your daily caloric intake and calculating a percentage (be it 10, 20, or even 30 percent) you can cut it by.

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Summertime can be a boatload of fun, but too much enjoyment can sometimes lead to scrapes, bumps, bruises, sprains, and even splinters. That's why it's good to have your medicine cabinet stocked with the essentials.

To help keep everyone as prepared as a Boy Scout, Maximum Fitness magazine suggests some of these Medicine Cabinet Must-Haves:

1. Bandages and Triple-Antibiotic Ointment. You never know when junior might fall during a backyard barbecue and scrape his knee. Put some Neosporin on that cut, cover it in a band-aid and the little guy will be up and running again in no time.

2. Acetaminophen. For pain relief with the fewest side effects, pop one or two of these (check the suggested dosage). This should help keep you from whining for at least an hour or so about the ankle you sprained during that game of touch football.

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Have an hour to spare each day? Looking to drop a few pounds? And help the environment? If you said yes to all three of these questions, you're the calorie-burning, eco-friendly person that a recent Men's Health article was obviously written for.

Slim down and tone up your muscles while doing your part to save the world; here are five ways to make yourself a green superhero.

1. Running (1 hr at a 9-min.-mile pace)

• 902 calories burned on a treadmill
• 943 calories burned running outdoors with hill sections
• Energy Saved: Running for 30 minutes on a treadmill a day uses about 2,000 watts a year and costs around $50
• Go the Extra Mile: Add stairs to your run. You'll burn an extra 308 calories in just 15 minutes

2. Trimming Trees and Hedges (1 hour)

• 287 calories burned using an electric trimmer
• 369 calories burned using a hand trimmer
• Energy Saved: Besides the electricity used to run the power trimmer, you can go a step further to help the environment by using watering cans instead of a sprinkler -- which loses most of its water to runoff or evaporation. You'll also burn an extra 123 calories in the process.

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With the warm weather here, you may already have made the decision to unfetter your workout from the confines of the gym. Rocky trails and windy roads have replaced treadmills; push-ups, pull-ups and other bodyweight exercises have been subbed in for weight machines; and the scenery has suddenly become a whole lot better than some painted-over concrete walls, dirty mirrors and outdated fitness posters. You're outside, and you're very happy to be there. Buuuuut ... then it rains. Or the heat becomes too much to bear, just as it did here in the northeast last week. Looks like a sojourn back to the ol' gym may be in your future.

To ready yourself, make sure you have what you need. Your gym back has been sitting idly in your closet for over a month, so you may need to restock it a bit. To help you along, here is a quick checklist of some gym bag essentials.

1. iPod. For whatever reason, gyms are notorious for playing some of the worst music known to man. So, it's incumbent upon you to be your own personal D.J. if you want to hear some halfway decent tunes during your workout.

2. Water Bottle. Depending on where you live, the water coming out of your gym water fountain may or may not be palatable. Therefore, you may either want to fill-up a large water bottle at home or buy a bottled water on the way to the gym. Either way, make sure it ends up in your gym bag and then by your side during your workout.

As I pointed out in a recent post about olive oil, many foods have a wide variety of applications that fall beyond simply filling up our bellies. This is certainly the case with the potato, which is, as the Men's Health article from which this information was sourced suggests, a utility player.

Here are five less common uses the folks at Men's Health mention for this super spud:

1. Heal Injuries. Wrap a cold potato with plastic wrap to make an effective compress. A raw potato will help reduce the swelling around cuts and bruises.

2. Soothe Eczema. Cube and then lightly boil a potato. Next, fold it into a thick gauze and apply it to the affected area. The warm potato poultice can relieve inflammation in some cases.

3. Fight Heartburn. Drop an uncooked, white potato through a juicer and get ready for an awful tasting drink but an effective method of reducing heartburn. Drink a half a cup after dinner for best results.

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I typically don't pay much attention to the cleanliness of a gym, whether or not their music selection sucks, or even if they have TVs in the cardio room. One thing I do notice -- usually not on purpose, but because it's so hard not to notice -- are the people around me. As dialed into my workout as I usually am, I still can't help but be distracted sometimes when I see, hear, or smell something that's just plain wrong.

I've written about gym etiquette in the past, but some of the things I mentioned certainly bear repeating. Plus, there are a few other tidbits of information that I feel are worth adding to the list, chief among them being the five listed below.

1. Unless you're lifting bar-bending amounts of weight, keep your grunting and screaming under control. There's nothing wrong with showing a little effort, but there's no need to showcase the fact that you're lifting 35-pound dumbbells, either.

2. Don't fart. Plain and simple. Sure, one may sneak out of you once and a while, which is perfectly normal and, depending upon your company, no big deal at all. But, if you keep blasting them out over and over again, you're going to make a bunch of people upset and grossed out.

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I'm already dreading the thought of hitting the gym tonight. Why? Because it's a cardio day. I'll be the first to admit that cardio bores me, which is why I am constantly seeking out ways to make my workout more interesting (without losing intensity, that is).

Over the years, I've come across a variety of boredom-busting tactics for cardio sessions. Some are a bit complex (involving the use of props - such as a deck of cards or a six-sided die), while others are fairly simple in their design. Here are five tips from the latter category that are sure to help keep your interest.

1. Go on a Fitness Journey. I posted about this other day. Click here to read the article.

2. Load Up your iPod. Nothing can make a cardio workout go by faster than some new tunes on your .MP3 player. Try a mix of fast and slow songs, matching your intensity to the BPM of each song.

3. Change it Up. I can't stress this one enough. If you're a treadmill junkie, get off that damn thing and try something different. Punch and kick a heavy bag, jump rope, use the stepper; do anything, just as long as it's not the same ol' same ol'.

4. Keep Records. Ever wonder why some people carry around little notepads with them to the gym? It's because they're charting their progress. Try doing the same, as it will help you see the growth in your performance level.

5. Change Your Scenery. Not that it's finally warming up, why not take your workout to the streets? Gyms are great places to work out, but they're not much to look at. Go for a jog down a nice, long stretch of road for a change. In fact, British researchers found that exercising outdoors works better at improving people's mental health than does working out inside.

As I said, these changes are far from drastic. But, they may be enough to keep your workouts interesting and to get your head back in the fitness game.

Go, go, go!!! It seems like that should be our national anthem. Considering the amount of events, commitments, obligations, meetings, activities, work functions, and -- lest we forget -- driving to and from each of these time crunchers, it's amazing that we even have time to eat and sleep. It's no wonder, then, that a healthy meal or snack sometimes has to simply be the lesser offender. Between a Snickers, Twix, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and a Pay Day, we choose the Pay Day because it has less sugar and contains a healthy amount of peanuts. Does this make a Pay Day healthy? Not really, it just makes it the lesser offender of the bunch.

This same idea generally applies for many on-the-go type foods, requiring a health conscious person to make the healthiest choice possible given the circumstances and options. A perfect example of such a decision usually happens at around 3:45pm or so, when you're hungry again and you only have a few minutes to prepare something at work. The answer usually comes in the form of a frozen sandwich of some kind. But which are truly among the most healthy? Thanks to a recent article in Men's Health, we now know at least 5 that aren't half bad for you.

1. Healthy Choice Smoked Chicken Panini - 310 cal, 42g carb, 4.5g total fat, 25g protein

2. Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Southwest-Style Chicken Panini - 280 cal, 32g carb, 7g total fat, 20g protein

3. South Beach Diet Chicken Monterey Wraps - 220 cal, 26g carb, 7g total fat, 16g protein

4. Lean Pockets Chicken, Broccoli & Cheddar - 250 cal, 38g carb, 7g total fat, 10g protein

5. Stouffers Grilled Chicken Italian Panini - 350 cal, 31g carb, 17g fat, 20g protein

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Today's the day. You've made the conscious decision to start a regular workout program. And, let's say, for the sake of this discussion, that you have ruled out working out at home or outdoors. You want as many fitness options as possible, and you want the convenience of having them all in one central location. Bottom Line: You want to join a gym.

With so many out there to choose from, however, it can sometimes be quite difficult to find the right one to join. The right one for you.

Since you don't want discouragement, confusion, or intimidation to get in the way of your fitness goals, you should be looking for a gym that best suits your individual needs, desires, and lifestyle. To help you along, here are five questions you should have answers to before signing on the dotted line.

1. What Are You Looking For? If group exercise classes seem to be up your alley, then a gym that does not offer any (or only a limited number) probably isn't what you're looking for. Same goes for swimming; if you hoped to build your physical and cardiovascular strength with some laps in the pool, you'll be hard pressed to do that if the best a gym has to offer is a hot tub. Also, as far as hours of operation go, if your only chance of squeezing in a workout is before work, you should be on the hunt for a gym that opens its doors early. Very early.

2. How Close is it to Your House? One of the major reasons why people drop their workout is because of a lack of time. If you only have an hour a day to squeeze in for a workout, why would you want to waste thirty minutes of that time driving to and from the gym? Finding a gym located within close proximity to where you live will help you solve this time crunch. And, as an added bonus, you can always walk or jog there if you wanted to.

With the exception of performing exercises that can lead to injury or over-training, there are none that are wrong, per se. I realize this seems to fly in the face of an entry I just wrote about ineffective exercises, but there is a distinction that needs to be observed between wrong and ineffective.

The goal of any exerciser, whether they are a seasoned workout veteran or an ambitious newbie, should be to get the maximum results possible from the effort they are willing to expend. This is why there isn't any time to waste on ineffective exercises, just as there is no room for common mistakes that can hinder your progress.

Here are five mistakes that exercisers frequently make, serving to reduce the effectiveness of their dedicated effort:

1. Holding On. All too often, you'll see people on an elliptical, treadmill, or StairMaster holding onto the safety railings and leaning onto the machine. Unless you need to hold on for stability purposes, don't. Doing so can lead to back pain over time and also reduces the amount of calories that you'll burn.

2. Swinging. When lifting weights, always maintain proper form throughout the entire movement. If you have to twist, turn, contort, and kip your body to lift a weight, then it's probably too heavy for you. As a general rule, stick to weights that you can lift for at least 8 reps but no more than 15.

3. Only Doing Cardio. By and large, we begin losing muscle mass somewhere around the age of 30. As effective as cardio is at promoting improved circulation, weight loss, and a host of other health benefits, it does little in the way of rebuilding muscle. Not interested in building muscle? Fine. But you may want to know that the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be and the more calories you'll burn. Still don't want to build muscle?

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to help ensure a healthy lifestyle. Coupled with proper diet and at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and your odds of early 'life retirement' become very slim. Exercise is also a great way to help reduce stress and alleviate symptoms of depression, making it an emotional and mental health healer, as well. However, as good for you as exercising undoubtedly is, there are some training mistakes that can quickly sabotage your training.

Here are 5 pitfalls you should try to avoid with your workout program, helping you to make the most out of your effort:

Stale Routines. Your body will adapt to a workout after about 4 to 6 weeks, at which time it will stop producing new results. Even small changes to your workout (i.e. rep count, time taken between breaks, etc.) can oftentimes be enough to stimulate your muscles again.

Over-training. Exercise is very taxing on your body, which is why you need adequate rest in between workouts. Not allowing yourself this reprieve can weaken your immune system and even lead to muscular atrophy.

Lack of Balance. Just because you can't see your back muscles very easily doesn't mean that you shouldn't train them as hard as those muscles you check out in the mirror. A lack of muscle balance will hinder your overall progress.

Training for Too Long. Generally speaking, an hour is long enough to spend in the gym. After that amount of time, your body begins producing more cortisol than testosterone, meaning your training is now doing more harm than good.

Not Eating After a Resistance Workout. There's a 30-45 minute window that remains open right after your workout. During this time, be sure to eat a meal rich in protein and fast-digesting carbohydrates. Missing this window precludes you from the chance to begin the rebuilding process and, in worst cases, can cause your body to look to your stored muscle for replenishment.

When it comes to working out, everyone wants results, and they want them NOW. At the risk of sounding cliche, fitness is a marathon, not a sprint. That being said, however, there are ways to help speed up your progress.

Here are five tips to make sure that you are exercising properly, thus ensuring your fitness gains will come as fast and as furiously as possible:

5. Work out no less than three days a week. Four or five will really speed things up, but working out three days per week is enough to get your body moving.

4. Use the appropriate amount of weight. When following a resistance training routine (which is essential to maximizing your progress), choose weight that allows you to reach your target rep with good form. But, by the time you reach your target rep, you shouldn't be able to perform any more reps. Conversely, if you reach your target rep with ease, you may want to try lifting more weight next time.

3. Keep breaks short. If your ultimate goal is fat loss, try a no-break circuit routine, where you do not take any time (or very little -- around 15 to 30 seconds) in between exercises. If you're trying to build strength and size, rest anywhere from 60 to 120 seconds in between sets.

2. Get enough sleep. Your body repairs itself while at rest, healing the damage done to the muscle fibers during that day's workout. Insufficient sleep will hamper this repair process and could contribute to a weakened immune system.

1. Eat enough protein. An active man -- that is, one that works out regularly -- should try to consume close to 1g of protein per 1 pound of his body weight. For an active woman -- again, one that works out regularly -- try to consume around .5g of protein per 1 pound of body weight.

About 20 percent of Americans are prone to canker sores -- painful mouth ulcers that spring up for a short while and then disappear. Luckily, there are ways to prevent and treat them. Here are just a few:

1. Keep That Mouth Clean. If you develop a canker sore, use an antimicrobial mouthwash (like Listerine) to prevent them from becoming infected and lessen the severity of pain.

2. Put Down the Wasabi. Avoid eating hot, acidic and/or spicy foods, as they may exacerbate pain and work to lengthen the sore's sojourn on your mouth.

3. Lube Up. Apply over-the-counter anti-inflammatory cream to the infected area. If this doesn't help, ask your dentist or doctor, who can prescribe an antibiotic.

4. Chill Out. Because stress can trigger or worsen an outbreak, engage in stress-reducing activities.

5. Boost Your B12. Research shows a potential link between a deficiency in this vitamin with the outbreak of canker sores.

If symptoms don't go away in two weeks, go see your dentist or doctor. Although canker sores are, by themselves, relatively harmless, they may sometimes be a sign of a more serious problem, such as gum disease or even oral cancer.

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