YES YOU CAN! How Team Hoyt Overcame All Obstacles to Complete its 28th Boston Marathon

Dick Hoyt reveals the struggles that were an unseen backdrop to legendary Team Hoyt’s courageous finish in the 2010 Boston Marathon … and talks about the future of running’s most famous wheelchair team.

The Indomitable Spirit of a Remarkable Athlete Inspires Hope for Life’s Toughest Challenge

At age 16, Jothy Rosenberg lost a leg to cancer, and at 19, a lung. But with amazing courage and true grit he has become an accomplished athlete, and along the way has raised more than $100,000 for cancer research.

A Sign of Success in the Fight Against Cancer at the Pan-Mass Challenge

More than 5,000 cyclists took part in the two-day 2009 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge— a charity Bike-a-Thon that’s become the biggest and most successful athletic fundraiser in America and has raised more than $275 million for cancer research and treatment.

Getting Out the Door

It can be the most important move of the day—simply starting your workout! It’s comforting to know that even the best athletes in the world sometimes have trouble getting out the door. Some tips from Uta to help you take that magic step on days you don’t feel like working out.

A Head Start on a Lifetime of Wellbeing: An Interview with Uta

Uta answers questions from young people about how to get started on a healthy lifestyle that will help you look and feel the way you would like to, and can help assure you of greater happiness and confidence.

The Fit Life: Fast Friends

One of the great things about aerobic exercise is how sharing a workout with a relative stranger can create an instant friendship.

“We Confuse Success with Victory”: A Conversation with Jack Fultz

Celebrated 1976 Boston Marathon champion Jack Fultz, who teaches sport psychology at Tufts University, shares his thoughts on how to measure your successes—and be truly happy with your accomplishments.

The Fit Life: Sweet Light

A workout at any time of the day is great. But those at the bookends of the day are special not only visually, but also in how they give meaning to the hours that lie before and after them.

The Ecofriendly Exerciser

Those of us who work out regularly have a vested interest in a healthy environment. After all, enjoying nature is one of the great attractions of outdoor exercise, and who wants to fill their lungs with polluted air?

The Fit Life: Weather or Not, It’s a Good Day to Run

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ team member Scott Douglas, a runner since 1979 and a writer about the sport for almost as long.

The Fit Life: Make Yourself Useful!

Should we feel obliged to put our workouts toward practical ends?

The Fit Life: Redefining Fun

When you think about something being fun, you usually picture yourself smiling and laughing. But there’s a whole other aspect of fun that gradually gets revealed to you when you’re fit.

The Fire Still Burns: An Interview with Bill Rodgers

Bill Rodgers won the Boston and New York City marathons four times each and was ranked #1 in the world three times. At 58, his competitive juices still flow. But more importantly, Bill has become an elder statesman and ambassador for the sport of running. (This interview was posted in October 2006.)

The Fit Life: Running as Freedom

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ team member Scott Douglas, a runner since 1979 and a writer on the sport for almost as long.

Make Your Wishes Come True: How to Set and Achieve Goals

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or run a marathon, setting realistic goals is the key to staying motivated and getting the most from yourself. In this interview Uta shares the mental and physical tools she uses to inspire her.

What We Can Learn from the Mind of a Champion

After an impromptu workout with Uta, Take The Magic Step’s™ Mike Reger was inspired to capture his thoughts.

Getting Started in Running

By Uta Pippig
Even champions were once beginners. Here Uta describes her early running days: Running is an awesome sport. It has the advantage of keeping you fit without requiring much equipment: a pair of running shoes and somewhere to run are enough. Just set aside some time to run, and if you can find someone to run with, that’s even better.

Uta’s Easy Run on a Favorite Trail

Did anyone ever ask you, “What do you think about while you’re running?” I know I’ve been asked that question many times. My answer is always the same—it very much depends on the pace of the run.

My Love of Running

I love running—it’s as simple as that. What more can I say? Without a run, I’m not really myself! If I don’t run for a few days, I really start to miss it.

Water [Part 2]: Navigating Your Drinking Water

If you’re not crystal clear about the many differences in drinking water, in this article we take a look at the quality of different varieties to help you choose the best ones to keep your body well hydrated.

Water [Part 1]: The Essence of Life

How much water should you drink and how much should you increase fluid intake with physical activity? Take The Magic Step’s nutritional adviser Dieter Hogen examines the importance of proper hydration and provides us with practical guidelines that might help you.

Kick Start Your Day

Does breakfast get missed when you’re rushed in the morning? We can help you find the time and make the right food choices for that all important first meal that can provide energy all day long.

Nutrition: Some Spuds are Healthy Studs…Potatoes

Potatoes can be not only scrumptious and very satisfying, but also surprisingly good for you if you follow some simple advice. Our nutrition experts take a look at when some potatoes are healthier than others and offer tips to help you select the best ones at your local market.

Nutrition: Celebrate the New Year with…Pineapples!

A centuries-old sign of hospitality, pineapple is more than just a fruit with a deliciously sweet flavor. The tasty fruit is rich in vitamin C and contains the multi-tasking enzyme bromelain.

Nutrition: Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds not only provide healthy fats to the diet, but also contain beneficial phytochemicals, nutrients and fibers. With the holidays coming up when nuts and seeds are one of the favorite snacks, we help you shop for the best ones to enrich your diet with this crunchy and satisfying treat.

The Healthy World of Tomatoes

Tomatoes not only taste good, they are good for you! Studies have shown that the compounds contained in this common fruit may promote both prostate and cardiovascular health.

Nutrition: Healthier Food Choices

This article takes a look at how you can make healthier food choices—from salads to snacks! To help you better understand why some foods are healthier than others, we’ve included some brief scientific information in addition to helpful tips and personal recipes from the kitchens of the Take The Magic Step® team.

Cherries: Healthy Sweet and Sour Summer Delights

In spring, nature begins painting a charming picture made of beautiful white and delicate pink flowers in cherry orchards—the time of cherry blossoming has come. Come summer, the blossoms begin to develop into beautiful and delicious fruits loved by children and grown-ups alike—it’s cherry season!

Sugar Substitutes

By Janett Walter and Dieter Hogen
Many people substitute sugar with artificial or natural sweeteners to cut down on calories.

The “Eat Healthfully for a Week” Challenge: Part 4

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ staff writers Peter Pippig and Silvie Nohr. Both try their best to eat well while living and working in Berlin. The tips were provided by Uta and nutrition advisor Dieter Hogen.

Pomegranates: Long Loved, Newly Cherished

By Janett Walter with support of the Take The Magic Step™ nutrition staff

Nutrition: Free Radicals

This article was written by Dieter Hogen and Janett Walter, with support of the Take The Magic Step™ nutrition staff.

Chocolate: Should I or Shouldn’t I?

This article was written by nutrition adviser Dieter Hogen, with the support of the Take The Magic Step™ nutrition staff.

Eating Organic Without Going Broke

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ team member and frugal organic consumer Scott Douglas, with the support of the Take The Magic Step nutrition staff.

No Tricks: Winter Squash is a Nutritional Treat

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ nutritional staff writer Janett Walter, who has a degree in nutritional science from the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany.

An Apple A Day…

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ nutritional staff writer Janett Walter, who has a degree in nutritional science from the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany.

It’s Stone-Fruit Season – Time To Get Peachy

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ nutritional staff writer Janett Walter, who has a degree in nutritional science from the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany.

A Healthy Kitchen: A Fruitful Summer

Fresh berries are too good—and too good for you—to be eaten only at snack time or for dessert. Here are recipes you can use to work berries into your meals throughout the day.

Berries: Which are the Real Deal?

We’ve all heard that we should eat berries. But do different berries provide different health benefits? Do some hold greater antioxidant potential than others? Can one help you slow the aging process of the brain? We start our in-depth fruit and vegetable series with these colorful and remarkable foods.

The “Eat Healthfully for a Week” Challenge: Part 3

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ staff writers Peter Pippig and Silvie Nohr. Both try their best to eat well while living and working in Berlin. The tips were provided by Uta and nutrition advisor Dieter Hogen.

The “Eat Healthfully for a Week” Challenge: Part 2

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ staff writers Peter Pippig and Silvie Nohr. Both try their best to eat well while living and working in Berlin. The tips were crafted by Uta and nutrition advisor Dieter Hogen.

The “Eat Healthfully for a Week” Challenge: Part 1

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ staff writers Peter Pippig and Silvie Nohr. Both try their best to eat well while living and working in Berlin. The tips were crafted by Uta and nutrition advisor Dieter Hogen.

Lynne’s Kitchen: March Welcomes Springtime to the Kitchen

Yesterday it snowed. Today the warm sun drew me outdoors in a sleeveless shirt. Tomorrow is predicted to bring a torrential downpour. And the wind has howled all week. Welcome to March, a month of wildly variable weather.

Lynne’s Kitchen: New Year’s Top Ten Nutrition Countdown

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4,000 years ago. Their celebration lasted for 11 days, with each day having its own mode of celebration.

Lynne’s Kitchen: Cool Summer Soups

“Whoever tells a lie cannot be pure in heart—and only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
- Ludwig van Beethoven (1817) -

Lynne’s Kitchen: Skinny Dippers

Welcome! I’m excited to share with you this first installment of Lynne’s Kitchen. It is written as a compliment to all the other savvy advice offered on our Take The Magic Step™ Web site.

Some Advice on Lunch

This advice concentrates on the kind of lunch you can have. Create a lunch that is tailored exactly to how you live, for example, your size, sex, job and the tasks facing you.

Cross-Country Skiing: A Great Option for Winter Fun and Fitness

Many of you might feel challenged by the snow and ice of winter. Yet it doesn’t need to stop you getting started on improving your fitness. Uta prepared for spring marathons with three weeks of cross country skiing, and you too can use this enjoyable sport to build a foundation of strength and endurance for the running season ahead.

After the Marathon: A Guide to Quick Recovery

Congratulations, fellow marathoner! You’ll return to full physical and mental strength quickest with a few wise choices. Here are some all-important recovery steps you can take from the moment you cross the finish line and also ways you can beat the Post-Marathon Blues (Hint: they include cheesecake!).

Two Days Before the Marathon

Now that you’ve done all the hard training for your marathon, it’s time to relax, treat yourself to a soothing massage, and try to rein in some of your nervousness! The best combination of light training, proper nutrition, sound sleep, and tried and true gear will play a big role in how well you perform on race day.

Taming the Treadmill

Love it or not, having a treadmill involved in your training is a wonderful strategy. When Mother Nature is kicking up a fuss outside and preventing you from your usual run, the steady hum and rhythmic impact of footsteps on the belt can be very satisfying. Let’s look at some ways to make your treadmill training as effective and fun as possible.

Childhood Soccer—A Playground Bursting With Benefits

When a child plays with a soccer ball, or excitedly dashes down the field dribbling towards the opposing team’s goal, there is more than just flying feet and a checkered ball involved. Playing soccer develops a child physically, mentally, sociologically, and even trains the brain in time/space relationships. The sport is a blast for children—and could be the best thing that ever happens to them.

New Year’s Runs—An Exhilarating Tradition

They have a long tradition and are popular all over the world: New Year’s Eve runs. Amongst them are classics like the one in São Paulo or Madrid, the spectacular race in New York or the run with a biblical atmosphere in Egypt. They all are a fun and active way of saying goodbye to the old year.

Gymnastics—The “Mother” of All Sports

If you saw your child’s eyes light up watching the gymnasts somersaulting and leaping at the Beijing Olympics, do everything you can to encourage this interest. Gymnastics training in childhood can lead to a lifetime of better coordination and gymnastics actually form the basics of many sporting activities.

Skiing and Snowboarding: Risk and Many Rewards

It’s a special world of fun and thrills that can also help maintain your fitness during the snowy winter months. Plus, it’s the perfect sport for all the family. Skiing and snowboarding are not without their risks, but they can be minimized by sensible planning.

Take The Magic Step® Fitness and Health Program for Young People (1): Swimming

The squeaking and screaming noises children make when they are in the water are clear evidence that the youthful enjoyment of the water is universal. But apart from the fun, water splashing and swimming have many benefits: Children experience water pressure, resistance and buoyancy, and through swimming they not only strengthen their muscles …

Want to Run Better? Relax!

Running styles vary whatever your level of performance. But you can use relaxation techniques to make small, specific changes in your style that can make a difference—in how you feel, in your results and in your enjoyment of running.

There are No Unathletic Children!

The story of a four-year-old boy in India who has been running distances of up to 60 kilometers has led to a lot of discussions, including among the Take The Magic Step™ team. We spoke to Dr. Henning Ohlert about appropriate exercise for young children, as well as about some strategies for parents to deal [...]

Soccer at the highest level is impossible without Running in Training

Soccer’s World Cup reaches its climax with the final in Germany on Sunday. The tournament has shown that every team needs a high degree of fitness to achieve any level of success in the competition.

Why Soccer Players Have to be Good Runners

In Germany right now, it is all about soccer. Currently the soccer World Cup is being held in Germany. The 32 teams who are playing at the soccer World Cup are playing on a level higher than ever before.

Benefits of Exercise for Children

Get-up and Go!
By Uta Pippig

Physical fitness, confidence and stronger self-esteem, having more energy and better memory, and simply to feeling good about themselves are only some of the benefits that exercise can have for children that are easy to achieve.

Run a Half Marathon in Ten Weeks

Want to move up in distance but aren’t quite ready to tackle the marathon yet? Maybe you would just like to challenge yourself with a distance that’s fun, gives great satisfaction and short enough to recover quickly from. With the right schedule, you could be ready in less than 3 months to be your best. The information provided in this article are suited for beginning and experienced runners alike.

Run a Marathon in One Year: A Long-term Training Schedule for Beginners

Up to now, perhaps your only interest in marathons has been as a spectator. Or maybe you thought about running a marathon, but figured such an achievement was outside your grasp.

Power to the Peaceful: An Interview With Joe Haddad

This interview was conducted by Take The Magic Step™ team member Lynne Eppel, a yoga teacher and therapist for 10 years, and a food and health writer.
One of the great beauties of yoga is that it is not just about taking us from a negative state of mind to feeling “normal.”

Yoga At Any Age: An Interview with Jim Thorne

This interview was conducted by Take The Magic Step™ team member Lynne Eppel, a yoga teacher and therapist for 10 years, and a food and health writer.

Yoga for Performance^sm: Runners’ Sequence, Part 2

Welcome back! Last month, in Part 1 of the yoga sequence for runners, we explained some of the strengthening, heat-producing standing poses of our yoga routine. Today, in Part 2, we will continue the core work of the practice with sitting poses.

Yoga for Performance^sm: Runners’ Sequence, Part 1

The Yoga for Performancesm program offers a specialized sequence of poses designed to meet the needs of athletes engaged in specific sports. For instance, the following sequence is created particularly with runners in mind and addresses the physical demands of that sport.

Yoga for Performance^sm: Introduction

Take The Magic Step™ Yoga Program

During the past few months we have introduced you to several fundamental aspects of yoga. We explored many different yoga styles and offered suggestions on how to begin your own practice, including where, when and with whom.

Yoga: An Ancient Indian Science of Exercise and Healing

More than 5,000 years old, yoga is a holistic approach to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Get some insight into the rich history of one of the oldest holistic health care systems and why it is just as relevant today. You can follow the lineage of an ancient physician’s and philosopher’s practice of stress reduction back more than 2,000 years.

Yoga – One Path, Many Styles (Part III)

Part III of “YOGA – One Path, Many Styles” will conclude our little journey to welcome you to different yoga styles. We hope we have introduced to you some interesting and exciting yoga practices.

Benefits of Yoga

Since its creation about 5,000 years ago, yoga has been known by students around the world for its ability to heal on multiple levels. But what exactly does it really do for us? Can yoga truly help us to find better balance, health and wellbeing?

Eight Limbs of Yoga

It may surprise some to know that asanas, or the physical poses of yoga, are only one part of a multi-faceted system of Yoga. Classical Yoga generally refers to the ashtanga or eight-limbed yoga system (ashta=eight, anga=limb).

Yoga - One Path, Many Styles (Part II)

Part two of our journey to introduce you to different yoga styles will give you information about Bikram Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, Kundalini Yoga and Kripalu Yoga.

Yoga - One Path, Many Styles (Part I)

Iyengar, Ashtanga, Bikram, Integral, Kripalu, or Anusara … these are just a few of the many styles of Hatha Yogayou may want to look into when you begin your own yoga practice.

Yoga for the Right Balance

Creating a harmonious relationship with your body is part of a healthy lifestyle, and a topic currently given increasing attention. Being aware of what I eat, running and my newest component yoga, are part and parcel of my daily life.

Lymphatic Massage: A Healing Therapy

Lymphatic Massage can help your body to heal and recover from injury! It is used to treat a variety of conditions including sprains, muscle strains, joint pain—and even the common cold.

Treating the Painful Kneecap

Pain behind the kneecap (i.e., retropatellar pain) is the most commonly seen injury in runners. Learn the new directions in which the latest research is taking us to understand retropatellar pain—and also a few simple home exercises that can go a long way in treating this common injury.

Hands-on Help: The Benefits of Sports Massage

Sports massage can work for anyone who is active, from the elite athlete to the just beginning exerciser. By targeting one’s most troublesome body parts, sports massage helps to improve performance, increase range and quality of movement, and treat and prevent injury.

Is Running Really Dangerous?

Ryan Shay’s tragic death during the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials shook many athletes. It’s important to learn whether you might be at risk, say experts—but equally important to remember that regular exercise plays a vital role in good health.

Managing Achilles Tendon Injuries

Why are Achilles Tendon injuries so prevalent—and so painful? Thomas Michaud, DC turns the spotlight on this most vital part of an athlete’s anatomy and advises how to avoid injuring it—and the fastest way to recover.

Neuromuscular Massage: A Deeper Understanding

Neuromuscular therapy has wide-ranging powers to assess, treat and prevent soft-tissue injuries and chronic pain.

Stretching: The Truth

Learn what the latest research says about how and when to stretch to stay healthy and prevent injuries.

Cold Remedy

The unpleasant symptoms related to the dreaded cold can last upwards of two weeks. This brings to mind the saying: “Without treatment, it will take you 14 days to get rid of a cold. With treatment, it will take two weeks.” Find answers on how to fight a cold and get better soon.

The Magic Touch: The Many Benefits of Massage

Just one massage a month can help you feel and perform better. It will relieve sore muscles and joints, promotes joint health and improves range of motion.

Dad’s Corner: Summer Games Can Bring Back the Childhood Joy of Friendship

An action-packed vacation with my son turns into a lesson learned about competitiveness, camaraderie, and the wonderful spirit embodied in playing games but oftentimes forgotten in the adult world.

Dad’s Corner: One Child’s Game—One Grown-up Lesson for Dad

How do you behave while your child is playing soccer? Are the adults’ rules the same as the ones for our children? And when and who are the winners? These are some of the questions which haunted our writer Piet Könnicke during an unsettling soccer game of his eleven-year old son, Fritz.

Dad’s Corner: Saturday Night Lesson

“Wrestling is cool,” my son told me when I asked him what was so fascinating about wrestling. Our Saturday nights have now a set program since my son has discovered a pro wrestling show. I never expected he would find some use of the show for his dancing class …

Dad’s Corner: Speech is Golden

By the end of the summer we would be able to swim across the lake and back. We practiced nearly every day, “Come on, you can do it,” I tried to encourage my son. But he used his own unigue style to stay motivated.

Dad’s Corner: A Haunting Dance

My son was 4 when I gave him his first snorkel so that he could go for a dive in the bath tub. At the age of 5 we gave him a mountain bike, at 7 I sent him to a judo class, at 8 to a soccer club. I really had done everything … and now he wanted to dance.

Dad’s Corner: Couch Patriotism

“Newspapers have to write patriotically,” I said to my son while sitting on the coach on a Sunday morning watching a Formula 1 car race. “What does ‘patriotic’ mean?” my son asked. I tried to explain that sport has a lot to do with patriotism.

Dad’s Corner: Happy Campers

People say a father-son outdoor vacation is important, a chance for father and son to bond while camping in nature, eating out of cans, lighting campfires, having father-son-conversations together.

Dad’s Corner: A Father’s Weakness

This article was written by Take The Magic Step™ team member Piet Könnicke, a writer for a newspaper in Potsdam, Germany and a lifelong runner.
Is it really a smart move to buy my son a jersey with the name of a famous soccer player on the back? A name like Beckham, for example? Isn’t that [...]

A Unique Florida Marathon—For Kids!

If you want to see the bright future of road running, head to West Palm Beach, Florida, the first week in December. Uta did—and she was inspired by the sight of 3,000 kids, some as young as kindergartners, completing a unique marathon.

Championships Hope to Have Maxi Impact on Youth in Athletics

With the 2008 Olympic Games just a few days past, many athletes and fans are already looking forward to the next big athletics highlight—the 2009 track and field World championships in Berlin. We had the opportunity to spend a little time with young talents, who already might be dreaming about becoming part of the Olympics or the World Championships one day.

Celebrate International Children’s Day

A Day to Honor Children, Their Spirit and Youth
“Just a few small changes in a family’s routine can make all the difference to a child’s health.” - Uta

Berlin Mini-Marathon Gives Kids the Run of the City

“Hey,” calls Laura, “we’d better get a move on, there’s almost no one behind us.” Her friends turn around, and see that it’s true: there aren’t many left behind them.

The Experience real, Mini-Marathon on Sunday in Berlin

There’s a hectic to and fro on the Potsdamer Platz. Children run hither and yon, looking for teammates. Others have already found their group and are stretching, hopping from one leg to the other or circling their arms.

Settle Conflict on the Run in the Berlin Peace Run

What a picture! Half a million people celebrating in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, black-red-and-gold flags fluttering as the German football team bids farewell to the fans.

Running for Indians

Djamal did not sleep well the night before the race. “I was so excited, I could not sleep at all,” he says. He thought of the Indians that they had been told about at school – the Indians who live in the tropical rainforests of South America, away from civilization.

Learning by Playing: 205 German Schools Will Represent a Nation

The ambassador of Ecuador in Germany, masters the art of diplomacy: he is always friendly yet reserved. With a smile on his face, he managed to place three penalty shots right into the goalkeeper’s arms.