You could run for 3 or 4 years and never have a problem, but that first time you will still curse your shoes out. A regular bow tie can easily come undone, which leads to an unsafe situation. If your shoes are not tied, then your foot will move around a lot more inside the sneaker. This will only gets worse as the laces loosen more with each step that you take. You also run the risk of stepping on your laces, having somebody else step on your laces, or getting your laces caught in your environment somewhere. This tends to lead to falling down, which is a good thing to avoid.

First, the basic way that you tie your shoes will almost always be the same. You cross the laces to create a base. Loop one lace, and then wrap the other lace around it and under it to create a second loop, as in the video below. Pull the loops tight, and you have a basic bow tie knot, which is good enough for walking around town in.

The first time your shoe comes untied, you are going to be tempted to double knot your shoes. For years, I would double knot my shoes before every race and then tie the loops of the laces down. Double knotting can be done two ways.

The first way is when you cross the laces to create a base, and then cross the laces again to create a second base on top of it. The problem with this, other than that it is very difficult to untie, is that even if you create a bow tie underneath the laces can still be pretty long if the knot above both bases comes undone. You will not lose the structural integrity of your shoe, but you can still step on a lace and trip.

The second way to double knot your shoe is to reknot your loops after tying a normal bow tie knot. After you finish tying the normal bow tie, you can double knot the shoe by flattening the loops and then treating them as straight (but thick) laces to tie another bow on top of it. Your shoes will very rarely come untied after doing this, but you can also have a very difficult time getting the knot out when you are done. If you run through a few puddles, it will be next to impossible to get this knot out. When you finish a race, the last thing your swollen feet are going to want is to wait for 15 minutes while you contemplate getting your shoes off without cutting the laces.

The way that I tie my shoes is to use a runner’s knot. I have no idea if that is what it is really called, but it seems to magically work so that’s what I call it. Watch the video below, and then I will explain the difference between this knot and a basic bow tie.

To tie this knot, you cross your laces to create a base, the same as with the bow tie. You also create your first loop the same way. When you go to wrap the second lace around the loop, however, you want to bring the lace around twice. You will then have two small circles around your first loop to create your second loop through. Watch the video again to see what to do.

I have never had this knot come undone. The only danger with this knot that I have discovered since I started using it 4 years ago comes when you untie the knot. Normally, you can just pull the two loose ends of your laces straight out to untie the shoe. If you pull the loose end of the lace through one of your loops, though, then you will create a small knot that will be mildly difficult to get out. It is easy to avoid doing that, and you will learn your lesson the first or second time that you do pull the lace through a loop. This knot also uses a little bit more length on your laces than a bow tie, so if you have short laces or cut one of the laces then you will want to use the longer end of your shoe to do the second loop with.

There are other ways to tie your shoes, and I will explore at least one or two more ways in the (hopefully near) future. In the meantime, though, do you have a favorite way to tie your shoe? Have you ever tried this method? Let me know what you think of this knot after you have used it a time or two.

(Note: The shoe in the videos is a Vitruvian running shoe.)

He has an animation of himself doing a pushup, along with instructions of how to do them. He also explains how to do handstand pushups.

Along with my own animated version of how to do pushups, you can also see how to do assisted pushups for those that are not yet comfortable doing regular pushups.

What Bud Gibson and Nancy Arnold are showing, however, involves putting your torso on the bench and your feet on the swiss ball. That seems worth trying just for the sake of trying it. However, they also put a knee tuck into the move, where you roll the swiss ball forward and bring your knees towards the bench and towards your chest. They have some still photos as an example, and include a short video of each of them doing a set.

I will probably not be lifting again this week before my marathon on Sunday, but next week or the week after (depending upon whether I honestly feel I can balance myself) I will have to try this out. Check out Muscle Ventures and let me know what you think of the move if you get a chance to try it before I do.

1. Lie face down on the floor with your hands (palms down) about shoulder width apart. Your knees should be together with your ankles crossed behind them. Your knees should be the only part of your leg in contact with the floor.
2. Look forward, not down. Your body should form a straight line from knees to waist to shoulders. Your back should be in a natural arch.
3. Push your body up by straightening your arms.
4. Exhale as you lift your body up. Keep your body straight and do not move your hands or legs along the floor. Do not lock your elbows.
5. Pause, then slowly lower your body back towards the floor. Inhale as you do so.
6. Keep your body straight. The first thing to touch the ground should be your chin.

Pushups are fairly straightforward, but not everybody is strong enough to do them. This modified version of a pushup is much easier and is a great introduction to pushups. Using your knees to do the pushups is called assisted pushups. These types of pushups are also sometimes referred to as bitchups.

And yes, I am aware that in the picture I am not looking forward. Your head should be at the same angle as when you do pushups, looking forward and not down.

1. You should maintain a straight line between your ankles, waist, and shoulders.
2. Your forearms will support your upper body by pressing into the swiss ball.
3. Your upper arms should be at an angle to the floor and perpendicular (about) to the swiss ball.
4. Your weight will be resting on your elbows and toes.
5. The exercise begins when you are in position and suck in your gut.

You will know that you have the right form when your abs begin to burn 10 to 15 seconds after you begin the bridge exercise. If you do not feel the burning sensation, then use a mirror or a friend to spot you and to let you know what you need to do to fix your form. The most common problem with a swiss ball bridge exercise is losing your balance and having trouble staying on the swiss ball.

A variation on the swiss ball bridge is to elevate your feet so that your body is parallel to the floor like a normal bridge, but you still have to balance yourself on the swiss ball. I am not a very big fan of this and do not recommend it. The added risk does not seem to offset any gains you might get from the exercise; I am not so sure that it is any extra work to begin with.

I recommend getting used to a normal bridge on the floor before you attempt to do a swiss ball bridge. That way, you will not have to think about how to do the bridge part of the exercise and can concentrate on getting used to balancing on an unstable surface.

1. Lie face down on the floor with your hands (palms down) about shoulder width apart. Your feet should be together with your toes tucked under your feet. Your toes should be the only part of your foot in contact with the floor.
2. Look forward, not down. Your body should form a straight line from ankles to waist to shoulders. Your back should be in a natural arch.
3. Push your body up by straightening your arms.
4. Exhale as you lift your body up. Keep your body straight and do not move your hands or feet along the floor. Do not lock your elbows.
5. Pause, then slowly lower your body back towards the floor. Inhale as you do so.
6. Keep your body straight. The first thing to touch the ground should be your chin.

Pushups are fairly straightforward. Depending upon how strong you are, you can go down low enough to touch your chest to the floor, or just descend until your chest is about 4 inches from the floor. You can experiment with moving your hands closer together or farther apart.

1. You should maintain a straight line between your ankles, waist, and shoulders.
2. Your forearms will support your upper body by laying flat on the floor.
3. Your upper arms should be perpendicular to the floor.
4. Your weight will be resting on your elbows and toes.
5. The exercise begins when you are in position and suck in your gut.

You will know that you have the right form when your abs begin to burn 10 to 15 seconds after you begin the bridge exercise. If you do not feel the burning sensation, then use a mirror or a friend to spot you and to let you know what you need to do to fix your form. The most common problem is that you are forming an upside-down “V”. Try pulling your waist down; you want to maintain a straight line from ankles through waist to shoulders.

To suck in your gut, pretend you are trying to touch your belly button to your spine.

The first time you do the exercise, slowly count to 30 or put a watch on the floor in front of you and maintain the position for 30 seconds. As you get better at the bridge exercise, hold the position for a minute or 90 seconds.

The bridge exercise is also known as a plank.

1. Attach a rope to a high pulley.
2. Face away from the pulley machine bent slightly forward with your back in a natural arch.
3. Keeping your upper arms steady, push the rope forward in front of your face by straightening your arms.
4. As your elbows begin to straighten, twist your forearms a little.
5. Do not lock your elbows.
6. Slowly return to the starting position.

Using a pulley machine is another way to isolate your triceps. The idea here is to have the entire range of motion happen between your elbows and hands. Push the rope forward, slowly let it back up. Be careful not to lock your elbows, and try to keep your upper arm from moving too much.

1. Attach a rope to a high pulley.
2. Face the pulley machine bent slightly forward with your back in a natural arch.
3. Keeping your upper arms steady, push the rope down by straightening your arms.
4. As your elbows begin to straighten, twist your forearms a little.
5. Do not lock your elbows.
6. Slowly return to the starting position.

Using a pulley machine is another way to isolate your triceps. The idea here is to have the entire range of motion happen between your elbows and hands. Push the rope down, slowly let it back up. Be careful not to lock your elbows, and try to keep your upper arm from moving too much.

1. Lay on a swiss ball with your upper back supported by the swiss ball and your feet flat on the ground in front of you.
2. The closer your feet are to one another, the harder it will be to stabilize yourself on the swiss ball. (This is a good thing.)
3. Grasp two dumbbells next to your chest with your palms facing in.
4. Press the dumbbells up above your chest.
5. As your arms reach full extension, twist the dumbbells so that your palms are facing forward.
6. Do not lock your elbows.
7. Pause, and then lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. Reverse the twisting motion so that your palms are facing inward when you reach the lowest point.
8. The dumbbells should be level with your chest, with your elbows hanging below the swiss ball.

Depending upon how comfortable you are on a swiss ball, you want to work towards bringing your legs close to one another. The idea is to work your core to keep yourself from rolling off of the swiss ball. Your range of motion on a swiss ball may not be quite as low as it is when you are doing a dumbbell bench press on a flat bench, and that is okay.

1. Cup one weight plate(s) on a dumbbell and hold it over your head with your arms extended and your elbows slightly bent.
2. Lower your forearms until they are parallel to the floor or slightly lower.
3. Pause, and then extend your forearms back to the starting position.
4. Do not lock your elbows.

There are a lot of ways to isolate your triceps, and this is is a nice quick way that doesn’t involve a lot of space or equipment. You won’t need a pulley or a bench, just one dumbbell. The dumbbell should travel roughly straight up and down, although you can vary this a little by moving the dumbbell in a fluid arc. You can also hold two dumbbells over your head with your palms facing, and lower them straight back in a parallel motion. You can also use a barbell with a close underhand grip (overhand if you swung it all the way in front of your face, which you should not do!)

1. Grab a chinup bar (or a handy tree branch…) in an underhand grip.
2. Your hands should be located right around or slightly inside shoulder width.
3. You should be hanging with your elbows slightly bent.
4. Pull your body up by bending your elbow; your forearm should be fairly stationary.
5. Pause for a moment when your head is above the bar.
6. Slowly descend by straightening your arms back to the starting position.
7. Do not lock your elbows.

Chinups are a great body weight exercise that can be done a few different ways, some of which I will expand upon in the future. You can vary the intensity of the exercise by placing your arms closer or farther apart from one another on the bar, or by attaching a weight belt to your waist. Most people, however, have no need to ever do anything but a standard body weight chinup.

You can usually find a machine at most gyms that you stand or kneel upon, and which offsets your weight and allows you to do chinups at less than your body weight.

1. Grab a pullup bar (or a handy tree branch…) in an overhand grip.
2. Your hands should be located right around or slightly outside shoulder width.
3. You should be hanging with your elbows slightly bent.
4. Pull your body up by bending your elbow; your forearm should be fairly stationary.
5. Pause for a moment when your head is above the bar.
6. Slowly descend by straightening your arms back to the starting position.
7. Do not lock your elbows.

Pullups are a great body weight exercise that can be done a few different ways, some of which I will expand upon in the future. You can vary the intensity of the exercise by placing your arms closer or farther apart from one another on the bar, or by attaching a weight belt to your waist. Most people, however, have no need to ever do anything but a standard body weight pullup.

You can usually find a machine at most gyms that you stand or kneel upon, and which offsets your weight and allows you to do pullups at less than your body weight.

dumbbell bench press with one arm

1. Lay back on a flat bench.
2. Grasp two dumbbells next to your chest with your palms facing in.
3. Press one of the dumbbells up above your chest.
4. As your arm reaches full extension, twist the dumbbell so that your palm is facing forward.
5. Do not lock your elbow.
6. Pause, and then lower the dumbbell. Reverse the twisting motion so that your palm is facing inward when you reach the lowest point.
7. The dumbbells should be level with your chest, with your elbows hanging below the bench.
8. Variations for this exercise:
   1. Do the number of repititions in the set with one arm, and then do the same number of repititions with the other arm.
   2. Alternate arms. Once one arm reaches the lowest point, begine raising the other arm.
   3. Alternate arms. As you lower one dumbbell, begin raising the other dumbbell. The dumbbells will be at the same level when they are halfway up and down.

Using dumbbells instead of a barbell allows your arms to work independantly of one another so that you do not take the majority of the weight on one arm. It will also allow you to descend further and to turn your arms. This will give you a slightly different workout than if you were doing a normal bench press with a barbell. A variation on this workout is the dumbbell bench press with both arms done in a similar fashion as if there were a barbell. Using one arm at a time further isolates each arm. Doing the exercise with variation 3 (above), alternating your arms by one going up and one going down, is generally easier than doing a full repitition with no motion from the opposite arm.

seated leg extension

1. Adjust a leg extension machine so that your back is flat on the pad and your hips are positioned so that your knee is lined up with the axis of the machine.
2. Adjust the ankle pad so that the pad is nestled comfortably between your foot and your shin.
3. Extend your legs until your feet are directly in front of you.
4. Pause before you lock your knees. Do not lock your knees.
5. Lower your legs until you are sitting comfortably again.

This is a good exercise to do as a superset with prone leg curls, which is often a part of the same machine but on the opposite side.

dumbbell bench press

1. Lay back on a flat bench.
2. Grasp two dumbbells next to your chest with your palms facing in.
3. Press the dumbbells up above your chest.
4. As your arms reach full extension, twist the dumbbells so that your palms are facing forward.
5. Do not lock your elbows.
6. Pause, and then lower the dumbbells. Reverse the twisting motion so that your palms are facing inward when you reach the lowest point.
7. The dumbbells should be level with your chest, with your elbows hanging below the bench.

Using dumbbells instead of a barbell allows your arms to work independantly of one another so that you do not take the majority of the weight on one arm. It will also allow you to descend further and to turn your arms. This will give you a slightly different workout than if you were doing a normal bench press with a barbell.

prone leg curl

1. Lay face down on a prone leg curl machine. Line up your knee with the axis of the machine. This should be marked with a red dot where your knees hang off the edge of the bench.
2. Adjust the ankle pad so that the pad is between your ankle and the meat of your calf.
3. Press the top of your thigh against the bench.
4. Pull your ankle towards your back. Only your lower leg below the knee should move. Keep your torso flat on the bench so that you do not hyperextend your back.
5. Slowly lower your ankles to the starting position.
6. Do not lock your knees.

This exercise will work your hamstrings. It can also be done with a low pulley and an ankle attachment using a regular bench.

leg press

1. Sit on the machine with your back on the padded support and your feet on the platform at shoulder width.
2. Your heels and toes should remain on the platform at all times.
3. Press forward with your legs and hips; release the docking lever.
4. Lower the platform by bringing your knees to your chest. Make sure that your knees remain between your feet and shoulders in a straight line.
5. Press the platform forward but do not lock your knees.
6. When you are done you should be at the highest position. Engage the docking lever and lower the platform back to its original position.

Be sure that your knees point towards your feet at all times. Press forward with both your heels and toes and do not allow your heel to leave the platform at any point. If you are not sure if you can lift a certain weight, then try pressing it forward and then back onto the docking lever before disengaging the lever. Do not arch your back; it should remain flush on the padded support that you sit on.

1. Position your thighs on the pad on a hyperextension machine with your ankles under the braces.
2. Place your hands behind your head.
3. Bend your waist to lower your body.
4. Raise your torso until it is in a line with your legs.

Your flexibility will determine how low you can go. Perform the movement in a slow and controlled manner; do not bounce at the top or bottom.

Also, depending upon the height of your machine and how flexible you are, watch out for knocking your head against the floor. You probably will not do it hard enough to hurt, but it can be embarassing if anybody else happens to notice. (That’s a joke, by the way; while theoretically possible I have yet to see it happen.)

1. Grasp two dumbbells in front of your thighs with your palms facing one another.
2. Flex your knees slightly and lean forward a little at the hips.
3. Your elbows will need to be at or near a 90� angle.
4. Raise your upper arms until they are at shoulder height. Your elbows remain in a 90� angle. Your wrists should remain level with your elbows.
5. Pause, then slowly lower the weights to your starting position.

1. Sit on the calf raise machine and adjust the pads so that you can fit your legs beneath them with your feet on the ledge. The pads should touch your legs; it is okay if it is a tight fit.
2. The balls of your feet should be on the edge of the ledge. The pads should be on your thighs just above your knees.
3. Press up from the balls of your feet onto your toes to lift the weight stack. Disengage the weight lock.
4. Lower your heels as much as you can and pause at the bottom.
5. Press up from the balls of your feet onto your toes as high as you can. You should feel a good stretch in your calf.

When doing a seated calf raise, be sure that you do not use momentum to swing the weight stack up or down. You should pause at the top and bottom for a moment before continuing.

There are other ways to do calf raises which will be illustrated at a future date.

(click to enlarge)

1. Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart.
2. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging straight by your waist and your palms facing inward.
3. Keep your back straight at all times; you should only be moving your shoulders.
4. Shrug your shoulders by lifting them as high as you can; if you are flexible enough touch your ears with your shoulders.
5. Pause at the highest point for a moment.
6. Slowly drop your shoulders back to the starting position.

I will try to have a new animated guide each Tuesday.