I’ve never been a treadmill person, but something changed on a recent vacation. I wanted to get a few miles in every morning, but there was no convenient running route available. I thought I found a promising local park, but the reviews on AllTrails said nothing nice about it, only complaints about the mosquitoes and ticks, and a claim that there was a toll gate at the only parking lot. Also, it was 90 degrees out.

So I went to the hotel gym to see how much of my planned five-miler I could endure on the treadmill. I put on a good podcast, discovered to my delight that the treadmill had a built-in fan to cool my face, and found myself saying “sure, I could do another mile” four times in a row. I came back the next day, and the next. I’m as shocked as anyone to say this, but I kind of love the treadmill now.

Why you should learn to love treadmill runs

Now that I’m back from vacation, I’m a new person. Specifically, one who looks at the weather and says: hmm, that treadmill is looking pretty good right now. 

On a treadmill, you don’t have to worry about sunscreen, sun shirts, or sunburn. The humidity doesn’t suffocate you, and the wet bulb temperature no longer matters. In the winter, you won’t have to contend with icy sidewalks, snow working its way into your shoes, or negative wind chill numbers. 

You can have a water bottle by your side, without having to worry about how to carry it. The same goes for anything else you might want to have within reach—your snacks, your inhaler, a sweat towel. Plus, there are bathrooms nearby if you need them. 

Before you fall too deeply in love, it’s worth remembering that treadmill running feels different than running on the road. There aren’t any surprise hills, you’ll miss out on heat adaptation, and your feet will be hitting the ground at roughly the same angle every step. Getting outdoors (and, ideally, onto some trails) should still be a healthy part of your running diet. And don’t assume that your paces on the treadmill will translate to the outdoors—most runners find that treadmill running is physically easier, even if it’s mentally more exhausting.

Now that you’ve thought about the pros and cons, let’s talk about the how-to. What are the factors that turn a “dreadmill” run into something you look forward to? 

Settle in to the treadmill mindset

The first thing I want to highlight is mindset. Any distance you can run outdoors, you can run on a treadmill. And with the tips below, you’ll be able to do it without losing your mind. So have a little faith, okay? Get on the treadmill, hit “start,” and don’t immediately start asking yourself when it will be over. Tell yourself it’s time to settle in and get comfortable, because you’ll be here a while. You can handle it. I promise.

Provide yourself creature comforts

Since a treadmill allows you to have little amenities available, make sure to take advantage of the opportunity. Grab a big water bottle, a sweat towel, whatever you always wish you had on a run but can’t easily take with you. Want to feel like you’re really in the lap of luxury? Get a mini handheld fan or clip-on fan and point it at your face.

Distract yourself

Ask dedicated treadmill runners how they do it, and they’ll often say they watch their favorite TV show while they run. If you’re not a TV person, perhaps you’ll enjoy catching up on your favorite podcast, watching a YouTube deep dive, taking in a good audiobook, or listening to some great music.

Students are always telling themselves they’ll study or read on the treadmill. I’m not sure if anyone has ever done this successfully (it never worked for me), but visual distractions are absolutely fair game. In the days before smartphones were common, every gym had a rack of magazines that you could peruse while jogging. And don’t forget that there’s often some good people-watching available, depending on where exactly your treadmill faces. 

You can definitely double up on distractions. At one commercial gym I frequent, I can take in the following all at the same time: 

• The podcast in my headphones

• The music playing in the gym

• Two or more TV shows playing on the screens hanging from the ceiling (they’re on mute, with captions)

• The interactions of the various gym characters who populate the free weight area, which is in my line of sight

It’s busy enough that sometimes when I have a Thought (a rare occurrence when running) I need to hit the pause button on my headphones and stare at a blank spot on the wall to give it space to be heard.

Choose a workout that is treadmill-compatible

If you’re used to running outside, your usual workouts may not all translate to the treadmill. A few tips there:

• Don’t expect your watch to know how “far” you’re running. Go for time based, or watch the distance manually. 

• If your watch or phone is measuring your pace, don’t expect it to be accurate at that either. (Hilariously, I find that I can make my Garmin think I’m running faster by pumping my arms more aggressively.) 

• Don’t do workouts that expect you to change the speed or incline instantly. It takes time for those motors to gear up.

• Hop onto the sides of the treadmill when it’s time to end an interval. The treadmill takes several seconds to slow down but you can rest immediately. Step back on once it’s gotten back to your recovery speed. 

And my number one tip: break it up

You can do everything on the list above, and still find yourself wondering when the run will finally be over. (It’s been a minute and a half. Calm down.) What gets me through a workout—and what has proven essential to many runners—is breaking up the run into smaller pieces. Here are a few ways to do that.

Get off the treadmill

If you need to get in some kind of exercise, but don’t care about it being specifically a run, hop off the machine after 10 minutes and choose another. Jog for 10 minutes, bike for 10, do the elliptical for 10, and then get back on the treadmill to close it out. That’s an easy 40 minutes, and it will fly by.

If you’re open to mixing it up with some non-cardio, consider a structure where you go do something else, then come back to the treadmill. Peloton’s app includes “bootcamps” structured this way, and when I had a subscription to the app I really enjoyed using these for hotel workouts. You might be on the treadmill for 10 minutes at the beginning and 10 at the end, and doing some other exercises in between.

Give yourself trivial milestones

Those numbers on the treadmill are constantly changing (I’m thinking of the time and distance readouts), so play with them. A few examples: 

• I’m going to increase the speed by 0.1 when I hit the next half-mile.

• I’m going to take a drink from my water bottle every five minutes exactly.

• I’m covering the screen with a towel and I’m not going to check the distance until this song is over.

• I’m going to walk for one minute when I hit the halfway point in my workout.

• Every quarter-mile, I’m going to focus on a different aspect of my running form. 

• When the last digit of the distance is a nine (like 3.29) I’m going to count how many steps it takes before it changes to a zero.

These change-ups make each small segment feel like something you can get through—I can survive the next quarter-mile—and then before you know it you’ve stacked a bunch of quarter-miles on top of each other and you’re more than halfway through the run. But if you need some specific workouts, try some of the following. 

Workout 1: The easier easy run

This is a simple way to break up an easy run, or a long run. This was my go-to on the hotel treadmill. I didn’t know how I would fare with five miles, but I knew that I could do one, and I could definitely do less than one at a time. Here’s how you do it: 

• For the first mile, run your normal pace.

• When the distance counter hits 1.00, walk for one minute

• Run the rest of that mile just a smidge faster than your easy pace (say, 11:45 instead of 12:00)

• Repeat for each mile until done. If you miss one of the walk breaks because you were engrossed in your music/podcast/show, consider that minute of recovery to be “in your pocket” to be used whenever you feel the need. You might even make a game of seeing how many walk breaks you can pocket without using them.

Workout 2: The quarter-mile change-up

This is my current favorite when I have an easy run planned, but I don’t want to set the treadmill to a constant speed and slog through it. My gym’s treadmills show a graphic of a regulation track (a quarter-mile per loop) so I use quarter-miles for the segments. Feel free to create your own version that uses minutes, if you prefer. 

• First quarter-mile: run your normal easy pace.

• Second quarter-mile: bump up the speed by 0.2 mph 

• Third quarter-mile: bump up the speed another 0.2 mph

• Fourth quarter-mile: go as fast as you want, within reason

• Repeat for every mile.

So if you normally jog at a 12-minute mile, your easy pace would be 5.0 miles per hour. Start at 5.0, then bump to 5.2, then bump to 5.4, then maybe you’d like to hit an even 6.0 for the final segment. 

Sometimes when I return to the beginning of the cycle, I’ll add a little more: 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, 6.1 for the next mile. Play with this and create your own versions. 

Workout 3: Short sprints

This is one of my favorites for times when I want the speed changes to be frequent enough that I don’t have time to get bored. I cribbed this workout from a Nike Run Club guided run, but I like it enough I now just do it on its own. Put on a good spicy playlist for this one. 

• Warm up with an easy jog for 10 minutes

• Do 20 (yes, 20!) of the following: 
  – Run fast for 30 seconds
  – Walk (or jog easy) for one minute

• Finish with a 10 minute cooldown jog

The running speed should be substantially faster than your normal easy pace, but not so fast that you burn out after the first couple intervals. If you know your one-mile race time, that’s the ideal pace. If not, be conservative at first, and bump up the speed for later intervals if it feels too easy.

This (and other quick interval workouts) work best if you can find a way to switch quickly between speeds. Treadmill controls vary, but sometimes you’ll find one with a “HIIT” setting that lets you program in a run speed and a recovery speed, and then you can switch between them with the press of a button.

Workout 4: Wingate (even shorter sprints)

One of the original, true HIIT workouts was the Wingate test. Researchers discovered that the more people did this test, the better their cardio fitness got. It’s based around 30-second sprints, with nice long rests in between. Here’s the basic recipe: 

• Warm up as desired (10 minutes is good)

• Every time the timer hits a multiple of 5:00:
  – Run very very fast for the first 30 seconds. 
  – Walk or jog for the rest of the five minutes.

• Once you’ve done this four to six times, cool down with another 10 minutes or so of easy jogging

Workout 5: VO2max intervals

There are a lot of ways to do VO2max training. (And in truth, almost all cardio training benefits your VO2max in some way—especially if you are tracking it through a smartwatch or other device, rather than a lab test.) The following is one way to do it: 

• Warm up (10 minutes or as desired)

• Repeat the following three to five times: 
  – Run fast for four minutes (it should be tough but not impossible to make it the four minutes)
  – Recover (walk or easy jog) for two minutes

• Cool down (10 minutes or as desired)

Finishing your treadmill workout

If you’re at a public gym, it’s often expected that you’ll wipe down the equipment when you’re done with it. Spray some sanitizer on a paper towel, and wipe the treadmill screen and handles. (If there are drops of sweat on the treadmill belt, they’re pretty much impossible to clean off; don’t worry about them. Everybody should be wearing shoes anyway.) 

Sometimes people feel a little bit weird when stepping off a treadmill after a long workout. To prevent this, take several minutes to decrease your speed. Go to a slow jog, then a brisk walk, then a slow walk. This should help re-acclimate you to life on a steady floor.

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 24, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 24, Wordle #1,131! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today’s letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is somewhat common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A strength.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with F. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is FORTE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me enough clues to narrow down to one solution: FORTE.

Wordle 1,131 3/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩
🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “a pointy part” and the answer contained three common letters, one fairly common letter, and one uncommon letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was PRONG.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Do you feel like your grip is giving out in the gym? Are you experiencing some achiness in your wrists?

If you’re ready to go buy some “wrist straps” to help alleviate your symptoms, let me stop you right there. You probably actually want either wrist wraps or lifting straps. Because wrist straps and wrist wraps are actually completely different tools with opposite functions.

What are wrist wraps?

Wrist wraps, as used in the gym, are strips of cloth, elastic, or similar material that you wrap around your wrists. The most common type are made of a fabric elastic wrap with a little thumb loop on one end; here’s an example. You hook your thumb into it, wrap the elastic around your wrist (pulling it tight as you do so), and then use the velcro tab to secure it. You can then slip your thumb out of the loop, since the loop only exists to help you put the wrap on.

There are other styles of wrist wrap, too. The old fashioned version was just a cloth bandage, secured by tucking the end in. My personal favorite wraps are a slight variation on this: a piece of cloth with a sort of shoelace at the end. I hold the wrap in place with a finger, wrap it up, and then wrap the string around and tuck it under itself. Here’s an example of that style.

What wrist wraps do

The purpose of wrist wraps is to stabilize your wrists for pushing movements, such as bench press or overhead press. The tighter they are, the more support they provide, so competitors in sports like strongman will sometimes use very thick, stiff wrist wraps and wrap them incredibly tight. You, as a casual gymgoer, might want to try some basic elastic wrist wraps if your wrists get some minor aches and pains when you’re pressing heavy weights, or if you feel like you could use a little help with wrist stability.

What are lifting straps? 

It’s time to walk away from the bench press and do some deadlifts! Straps (usually called “lifting straps” and pretty much never called “wrist straps”) are lengths of a strong strapping material (imagine the stuff a dog leash or yoga strap is made of) that connect your hands to the bar you’re lifting. 

There are several types of straps (I’ve written about the pros and cons of each here):

• The most basic type is a lasso strap; you pass the end through the loop, put your hand through the larger loop that this creates, and wrap the free end around the bar. 

• Olympic weightlifters often prefer a version that comes in a teardrop shape; you put your wrist through it, then wrap it around the bar. Because it’s shorter than a lasso strap, you can drop the bar and the straps instantly release. 

• If you want your grip to be really secure, get figure 8 straps. You put your hand through one loop, pass the crossed part under the bar, and then put your hand through the other loop. Put your thumb around the bar as usual and then you’re completely locked into place.

What lifting straps do

The purpose of lifting straps is to help you hold onto a bar during pulling movements, like deadlifts or rows. As we discussed recently, straps are a useful tool to help train your body even if your grip is weak or if you’ve done so much grip-heavy work today that your grip is beginning to fail you. 

“Wrist straps” aren’t really a thing

So what are “wrist straps”? I would argue that they do not exist. You’re thinking of either wrist wraps or lifting straps. Choose the one you actually want (see above), and then shop accordingly. 

Why am I writing a post about a thing that, in my mind, does not exist? Well, a lot of people get confused and mush wrist wraps and lifting straps together in their minds. And this isn’t limited to total beginners who haven’t learned the lingo; gym apparel company Gymshark sells “wrist straps” that are actually wrist wraps. (They’re the type with velcro and thumb loops, as described above.) And GQ has an article that has been live on the internet for seven years that discusses lifting straps but is illustrated with an image of wrist wraps. (It also uses the term “wrist straps” in the headline.)

If you search for “wrist straps” on your favorite online marketplace, you’ll see a mix of wraps and straps. Go for straps if your grip is giving out on pulling exercises like rows or deadlifts, and wraps if you want some more stability on presses or other pushing exercises. Something like a Cobra grip can kind of do both jobs, but those aren’t called “wrist straps” either—they’re properly called grips.

The times are always changing, and that means Americans are using physical payment methods less and less—forget cash; a majority of us are using digital wallets and other, safer ways of paying for stuff more than credit or debit cards these days.

But you can’t always avoid using a physical card at a store checkout or an ATM. Although most payments involving cards use Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) chip technology for contactless payments these days, you still run into a lot of older ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) systems that require you to swipe or insert your card to make the money magic happen—and that puts you at risk of a skimmer or shimmer scam (a shimmer is a thin circuit board inserted into a card reader; when you “dip” your card, it captures your info).

Skimmers and shimmers are variations on the same idea: A piece of technology is illegally inserted between you and the card reader on the ATM or checkout. They often either look exactly like the real thing or are hidden inside the checkout device, making them difficult to spot. These are often large-scale operations that fan out and install their devices on a lot of machines to steal your information, and despite the rise of contactless payments, these scams are still thriving. Your number one defense is being aware—and knowing what to look for.

Detecting skimmers

Many skimmer devices are designed to look like the real thing, but because they are retrofitted, there are usually some tell-tale signs. If you find yourself in a position where you have to physically swipe or insert your card, there are a few steps you can take to protect yourself:

• Compare. Compare the card reader with others in the same store or ATM vestibule, if you can. Does it look different? It’s probably a fake.

• Try to remove. Next, give it a tug—like, really give it a tug—even if you have no reason to be suspicious. Many skimmers are fitted over the existing hardware and can be removed with just a little effort, but you won’t harm the real deal. See if you can get a fingernail under the keypad and lift it up, too; criminals want to steal your PIN by capturing it when you type it in.

• Look for residue. Examine the surface of the reader for sticky residue; sometimes these devices are quickly (and sloppily) glued into place. Scratches can also indicate that the machine has been worked on with tools.

• Check the tape. Some ATMs and gas pump POS systems use security tape to ensure that the reader hasn’t been opened to insert a shimmer or otherwise tamper with it. The FTC has a photo of what this tape should look like in its voided and unvoided state.

• Look inside. Before you insert your card into a reader, shine a light into the receptacle to ensure there’s nothing jammed in there.

Other advice

Just being physically observant will protect you from most skimmers and shimmers, but criminals do have some other tricks they play that you should be aware of whenever you’re accessing an ATM, so there are a few other things to keep in mind:

• Situational awareness. Make a point of looking around any time you’re about to use a credit or ATM card. Look for anything out of place, like machines that don’t match or components that look broken or dirty. Trust your instincts and use a different machine (or store) if you have any doubts.

• Cover the keypad. Even if you find no reason to believe there’s a skimmer involved, criminals sometimes install tiny cameras that capture your PIN as you type it in. Combined with the card info the skimmer snags, they have everything they need to rob you blind.

• Always go contactless. If possible, always opt to pay with a contactless option to avoid all the risk. While it’s not impossible that thieves can steal your card info from a contactless transaction, it’s a lot more difficult.

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2024 — The Biden-Harris administration today announced it is taking additional steps to safeguard western communities in the face of increasingly dangerous and intense wildland fires by building advanced wildfire detection capabilities using satellite technology. The Department of the Interior and U.S.