Tag Archives: running

Should You Use Your Smartphone When Running?

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smartphone6Should you use your smartphone while running? We all see runners with their phones strapped to their arms probably listening to Pandora or Spotify. But do smartphones help or hurt your workout? Researchers at Kent State University wanted to know the same thing.

In a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers found listening to music did result in a higher heart rate than not. Plus, the participants enjoyed adding music to their workouts. Not surprising, talking and texting kept the heart rate at a lower level.

According to the study, “It appears as if listening to music and, to a lesser extent, talking may have benefits on the duration and/or frequency of exercise due to their ability to increase enjoyment,” researcher Dr. Andrew Lepp said. “However, if an individual’s opportunity for exercise is constrained by time, then it appears best to avoid talking on a smartphone during planned exercise.”

The set up:

Forty-four young adults (33 females, 11 males) each participated in four 30-minute exercise conditions (texting, talking, music, control) on a treadmill in random order. During each condition, the treadmill speed display was covered and researchers kept the grade at zero (flat road). However, participants could alter treadmill speed to whatever pace they wished.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125029

Runners: Stave off Calories During the Holidays

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Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This time of year wrecks havoc on the diet—from holiday parties filled with fried finger foods to sit-down family dinners with all the trimmings and neighbors dropping off sugar cookies laden with colorful frosting, it’s so easy to blow through your daily limit of calories within hours. Runners generally watch their food intake to keep themselves in proper shape, except it’s very difficult for even the most rigid to stick to their diets. Here are a few ways to help keep fat and calories at bay during the toughest season:

Change your baking habits. Oils add in extra fat that you don’t need to keep cakes moist.

Do this:
Puree apples and citrus fruits and use the juice as an alternative to oil. It will not ruin your cakes; rather it makes them even moister and tastier because the fruit adds a flavor that oil cannot. Try it and see for yourself—you’ll want to share the results by baking for your friends and giving that as a gift.

Go into parties with a game plan. Know your weakness and fill up on healthy foods before diving in to something bad.

Do this:
Before you attend parties, eat something high in fiber, like apples, cooked pumpkin, sweet potatoes—this makes you feel fuller longer and you’ll no doubt eat less when you attend the party. The worst thing you can do is show up feeling ravenous as you’ll head straight to the dessert table.

During parties, fill up half your plate with crudités such as carrots and celery. Even if you want to, add a little dip. Although dip is typically high in calories, it’ll at least help you eat your vegetables. Be sure to place it on the side and not pour it all over the food. If the party offers hummus to accompany veggies, that’s even better as that offers protein.

Watch your beverages. Limit yourself to one drink or “spike” it with something low calorie.

Do this:
Try mixing drinks with a little diet soda; lime flavor generally works best or just use sparkling water. It’ll add a little carbonation to the drink, making it feel like Bubbly, but it’s actually just taking out half the calories. Pour a half glass of the carbonated drink and then the rest of the glass with a juice/adult beverage. You’ve just cut half the calories.

While it’s hard to stay true to the diet, it’s completely possible with just a few changes.

Happy Holidays!

Lose the Winter Pounds

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imagesRunning burns a significant amount of calories per hour, more than most other forms of cardiovascular exercise. As it is an all-over body movement, you also use your own body weight to keep your forward motion–as opposed to elliptical machines and bicycles that assist you in exercising. Because of this, running works not just your leg muscles, but your core and arms as well. In short, to rid yourself of added pounds packed on during the cold winter months, running will allow you to dump that weight faster than most other workout options. To get even faster results, try adding these into your running workout:

Interval training. This is a type of training using speed to burn more calories, make you faster and make your heart stronger. It is one of the most painful workouts, as you must push yourself to the top of your heart-rate limits–but it’s worth it. Try this workout at a track:

Warmup 800m (jog)
400m x 4, each 400 getting faster. You must limit yourself on your first 400 as you still need to have energy to get faster on each lap. Don’t go all out at first or you won’t have the breath to finish.
Rest 2 minutes
400m at interval speed (fast and unable to hold a conversation)
Rest 1 minute
400m at tempo (fast, but able to hold a conversation)
Rest 1 minute
400m at interval speed
Rest 1 minute
400m all out with whatever you have left
800m cool down. You can walk the cool down if you need.

Switch your workout times. If your schedule allows, run in the evening one day and the morning the next. This does not give your body much recovery time, but it will build endurance. If possible, try not eating too much before your morning workout. You’ll be relying on your energy stores and burn fat. Switching up your workout times also shocks your body and puts it into better shape–you’ll avoid plateauing.

Add in some plyometrics. This includes high knees jumps, jumping jacks, jumping rope, anything that involves jump training to maximize your leg muscle’s power.

Happy training!

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/plyometrics-exercise-workouts

Giving Thanks for Running

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cornstockI love this time of year when the seasons change and everyone appears a little merrier and brighter. I especially enjoy Thanksgiving, my favorite day of the year. While the emphasis is always on the dinner and all the trimmings, I try to also focus on the “Thanks Giving” part and give thanks. Here are a few reasons I am thankful for one of my favorite and most productive ways to spend my time–running:

I am thankful I am able to run. This is the most simple reason of all–I am grateful that I have a body that allows me to do what I love to do. A number of years ago, as I headed to a nearby trail head to run up a small mountain, I passed a woman in a wheelchair unable to cross the street because drivers either didn’t see her or just didn’t want to stop. I stopped my car, got out and stopped traffic so she could safely pass. This brought tears to my eyes because I realized how blessed I was and that this was not my reality. I was on my way to run a mountain and she even couldn’t cross the street. I know at anytime my running could be taken away from me and I never lose sight of that truth.

I am thankful to have an outlet to let my mind go. As an introvert, I constantly have conversations in my head; I cannot quiet it down and too much noise occurs in my brain all the time. Running is the one thing that lets my mind just wander and I don’t really think about anything. In this respect, running is quite meditative.

I am thankful for friends I’ve met through running. I now have friends in England, Ireland, Asia and across the United States because of my experiences running around the world. We all share that common bond and I’ve found runners to be pretty cool people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Findings in Exercise

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race-day-720x288Every time I log in to social media, I find links to relevant new studies on exercise. Here are a few you may glean some content from that you can use in your training or daily life in general:

Drink Beet Juice
Downing beet juice before you go out for a run may help you improve performance and blood flow. In a study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, male subjects drank beet juice for 15 days had lower blood pressure and more dilated blood vessels at rest and during exercise. “Blood vessels also dilated more easily and the heart consumed less oxygen during exercise with beet juice consumption,” the researchers said.

Sports Helps You in School
A new study out of the University of Montreal shows participating in extracurricular activities makes you a better student, even as young as kindergarten age. Sports teaches you the discipline needed to become a good student. “By time they reached the fourth grade, kids who played structured sports were identifiably better at following instructions and remaining focused in the classroom,” said study leader Linda Pagani. So if someone says sports takes away from school, tell them no, it doesn’t.

Drink When Thirsty
In a study published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, researchers discovered drinking too much water is dangerous. For those who’ve never heard of hyponatermia, it’s when your body has low blood sodium. This occurs when you have more fluid than sodium in your body, which often occurs when running outside in the heat.  We always hear “stay hydated” from every running coach, runner and even non-runners, but researchers discovered you could drink when you become thirsty and don’t run the risk of hyponatremia. It is possible to drink TOO much.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150722150941.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150629100926.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150701083534.htm

Safety Tips for Runners

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Goodshoot 1

I watched a Netflix documentary this weekend that I found captivating. It’s called Desert Runners and I highly recommend it. It follows four “regular” runners (non-athletes) as they attempt to run through the four deserts of the world in various ultramarathons. I want to watch it again because it really captured what that world is like and the production was unparalleled–not to mention highly motivating at getting me off my couch.

One disturbing element to the documentary was a young girl who was grabbed and nearly assaulted as she ran alone through the Sahara Desert. It made me think of my own safety precautions to take while running, especially as the days start to get shorter.

For those running enthusiasts, however, it doesn’t matter if the sun sets at 10 p.m. or at 5 p.m., they run no matter whether its light or dark. If you are one of these runners, here are a few safety precautions to take in the dark:

1. Bring your cell phone. While we all hate to carry extra weight, the GPS tracking device can assist if you get lost and need to phone for help. One way to combat the weight is to download a playlist program such as Pandora and listen to it while you run. You can skip bringing your iPod and bring the cell instead.

2. While listening to Pandora (or an iPod or radio), try running with one earbud out of your ear. You can then listen for cars and any suspicious noises.

3. Wear reflective gear. Gone are the days of wearing large, heavy construction jackets. Now you can find lightweight reflective material that you’ll not even notice. Wearing blinkers is also a good idea.

4. Stay on the sidewalk. If you can’t find a high school track or somewhere completely devoid of traffic, be sure to stay on the sidewalk instead of running in the street. Depth perception is off at night and you may be closer than you appear to drivers.

5. Change up your route. You never know who is watching. Changing up your route will make you less vulnerable to stalkers.

Runners: Are You Overtraining?

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imagesWe all have tried a little too hard in our training, given 100 percent for far longer than our bodies can properly handle. Mentally, we feel the need to push harder with each workout to get faster and stronger, but that is far from the truth. In actuality, overtraining leads to burnout–and you will end up without the ability to run and too tired to finish even your daily responsibilities. Below are some symptoms of overtraining. If you feel any of these, it’s best to back off and take at least two days of rest or perform some light cardio.

No appetite. When you are running hard and fast each day, you’d think that your appetite would increase. In overtraining, your body is too restless to properly digest food and thus, it doesn’t want nutrition. You really need to be careful if this happens because your weight can drop too low and you’ll be too weak to continue your sport.

Feeling sore often. If you wake up in the morning and your arms and/or legs are sore and tired, even after a good night’s sleep, what’s happening is your body isn’t recovering properly after your workouts. It’s best to keep your feet up for a couple of days and let your body heal.

Tired all the time. In addition to feeling sore, you’re tired all day long. Whether you sleep seven or 10 hours a night, it’s not enough to shake you out of the funk. This again is your body not properly recovering. Try eating more protein for muscle repair and not running for a couple of days. If that’s too hard, try light cardio with an elliptical machine or rowing machine and don’t push yourself.

Your heart won’t stop beating quickly. A racing heart means it’s stressed. Stop stressing your body and lighten up on your workouts. You’re doing more harm than good.

Happy (proper) training!

Source:
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/overtraining.html

Foot Problems of Runners

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thTwo weeks ago, I traveled out of state and ended up with severe pain I couldn’t walk. I tried to run for the first time this past weekend and no surprise, I spent the rest of the day in bed in tremendous discomfort. Runners suffer from loads of health issues, from IT band problems to bad knees, but feet are often overlooked. This makes no sense as it is the feet that strike the ground and always do the brunt of the work.

Here are three of some of the most common problems runners face with their feet:

Plantar fasciitis

The fascia, a band of tissue connecting the heel bone to the toes, can become inflammed. This makes your foot feel like its on fire.

How to help:
-Ice it with a frozen water bottle. Put the water bottle on the floor and roll the middle of your foot over it. Do this constantly throughout the day.
-Stay off of it.
-Be careful with how you buy your shoes. It is recommended you purchase them from a store with an ability to videotape your running. This allows the staff to analyze your gait and form and find the proper shoe to lessen injuries.

Heel spurs

Abnormal growth of bone on the bottom of the heel bone can come from inappropriate shoes and from running.

How to help:
-See a foot specialist for a heel pad or orthotics.
-Look for shoes with shock absorbing soles to lessen the impact on your heel.

Ball of Foot Pain

This is, quite simply, inflammation in the ball of the foot. Usually running or ill-fitting shoes is the cause of the problem.

How to help:
-Look for shoe inserts. See a specialist for this or a running store with experts. Do not look for over-the-counter options that you’d find at a drugstore.
-Ice it.
-Take anti-inflammatories.

Be sure to stay off your feet when issues occur or you can make the problem worse.

 

Do Runners Have Amnesia?

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imagesCA32IXH9Completing a marathon can feel exciting, but no doubt, it hurts. Still, most runners choose to sign up for more. A new psychological study offers some explanation of why, by finding that some marathon runners seem to develop selective amnesia and forget what the true experience is like.

Where:

The new study was published in the journal Memory. Przemyslaw Babel, a professor of psychology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, focused on the marathon because the experience combines pain with emotions.

The Research:

At the finish line of the 2012 Cracovia Marathon in Krakow, Babel asked 62 of the finishers to rate the intensity and unpleasantness of the pain they were feeling right after they finished, as well as their general emotional state.

The runners reported a moderate intensity and unpleasantness of pain at the time, averaging about a 5.5 on a scale of zero to 10.

Then either three or six months later, the same runners were asked to remember how much pain they were in after they finished the marathon.

Their memories proved  quite different than how they responded three to six months previously. Most of the runners recalled the race as being much less painful than they said at the time, averaging a three on a 10-point scale.

Results:

The runners who had reported less happiness at the race’s end later remembered their pain more accurately than those who felt elated after crossing the finish line, even if their pain at the time had been about the same.

Conclusion:

According to the study, “The results of the current study suggest that memory of pain and affect is influenced by the meaning and affective value of the pain experience. This may help us to understand why the previous research on the memory of pain were so diverse.”

Source:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25056190

Snacks for Runners

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FTTF_Background_3-BIGI can’t count how many gels I’ve taken over the years. I find them the best source of fuel for a long run and easy to digest. However, I wouldn’t mind shaking it up a bit. Sometimes I find myself out of gels or I’m traveling and forgot to pack some and wonder, what can I do?

I found a few snacking alternatives you take while running that shouldn’t be hard on the stomach.

Bananas
We see these at race aid stations–one of the few foods you see distributed. Bananas offer plenty of potassium runners need to excel at this sport. However, they are hard to carry and can get mashed pretty quickly if you keep it in a pocket of your running shorts. Try mashing it up and spreading it over a whole wheat tortilla, like your own fruit quesadilla. Keep it in a Ziplock bag and stick this in your pocket instead.

Ensure
Elderly people drink this when they have trouble digesting foods. It offers a high number of calories but is easy on the digestive system. If you are doing long runs of 15+ miles, you need the calories and this is a fast way to get them.

Raisins
Are you someone who loves the sports jelly beans? I eat them sometimes for my workouts and try not to feel guilty that I’m using a dessert to fuel my exercise. However, I should be swapping that out with raisins instead. A study by Louisiana State University found them as effective as those jelly beans.

Green Tea
If you’re tired of Gatorade or looking for a healthier, less sugary choice, green tea has been known to improve endurance and V02 max. You can fill up a water bottle and get a friendly flavor than regular water.

Sources:

http://greatist.com/fitness/run-snacks-improve-marathon

http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/super-snacks