Hi All
Due to a
varied but intrusive workload last month, I didn’t get a newsletter to you. I
hope you missed it and spent a whole month suffering withdrawal symptoms. All
joking aside, my apologies for not providing your Program Fitness fix.
Last month
Asta and I took part in the annual Fullers Kerikeri Half Marathon. Neither of
us was as fit as we’d have wished to be, but we gave it a go and were
pleasantly surprised to find that the miles in the bank had helped us to
complete the course without too many aches and pains. A couple of days later,
while washing the car, my back complained by all of a sudden deciding that it
wasn’t going to work as it should. So I spent the next eleven days moping
around because I couldn’t train and continue the fitness build-up that I
wanted. Things are a little better now and although I’m not into full training,
I can at least go out and do a walk session.
With the
pending festive season looming, all of you are going to need to keep an eye on
your food intake and how you handle this along with the possibly diminished
exercise levels. The bottom line will be to ensure that you keep focused on
getting out for regular exercise. If you don’t, it’s going to be really hard to
take off what you put on in those moments of weakness.
Keep up
the good work.
Cheers
PROGRAM
FITNESS
If you should be aware of someone who might benefit from being on a
running or walking exercise program, please get them to log on to www.profitness.net.nz for more information on how I may be
able to help. They may also wish to contact me direct via my email address. If
you wish to know a bit about our Homestay operation, the website can be seen at www.foreststay.com
From NYTimes
Well
- Tara Parker-Pope on Health
November 25, 2009, 12:01 am
Phys Ed: How Necessary
Is Stretching?
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
For
research published earlier this year, physiologists at Nebraska Wesleyan University
had distance-running members of the school’s track and field team sit on the
ground, legs stretched before them, feet pressed firmly up against a box; then
the runners, both men and women, bent forward, reaching as far as they could
past their toes. This is the classic sit-and-reach test, a well-established
measurement of hamstring flexibility. The runners, as a group, didn’t have
exceptional elasticity, although this varied from person to person.
Overall, the women were more supple, as might have been expected. Far more
telling was the correlation between the various runners’ tight or loose
hamstring muscles and their running economy, a measure of how much oxygen they
used while striding. Economy is often cited as one of the factors that divide
great runners from merely fast ones. Kenyan distance runners, for instance,
have been found to be significantly more economical in their running than
comparable Western elites.
When the Nebraska Wesleyan researchers compared the runners’ sit-and-reach
scores to the measurements of their economy, which had been garnered from a
treadmill test, they found that, across the board, the tightest runners were
the most economical. This was true throughout the groups and within the
genders. The inflexible men were more economical than the women, and for both
men and women, those with the tightest hamstrings had the best running economy.
They also typically had the fastest 10-kilometer race times. Probably, the
researchers concluded, tighter muscles allow “for greater elastic energy
storage and use” during each stride. Inflexibility, in other words, seems to
make running easier.
For years, flexibility has been widely considered a cornerstone of health and
fitness. Many of us stretch before or after every workout and fret if we can’t
lean over and touch our toes. We gape enviously at yogis wrapping their legs
around their ears. “It’s been drummed into people that they should stretch,
stretch, stretch — that they have to be flexible,” says Dr. Duane Knudson,
professor of biomechanics at Texas State University in San Marcos, who has
extensively studied flexibility and muscle response. “But there’s not much
scientific support for that.”
In fact, the latest science suggests that extremely loose muscles and tendons
are generally unnecessary (unless you aspire to join a gymnastics squad), may
be undesirable and are, for the most part, unachievable, anyway. “To a large
degree, flexibility is genetic,” says Dr. Malachy McHugh, the director of
research for the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at
What happens to our muscles and tendons, then, when we dutifully stretch before
a run or other workout? Doesn’t this lengthen our muscles, increasing our
flexibility and range of motion?
According to the science, the answer appears to be no. “There are two elements”
involved in stretching a muscle, Dr. McHugh says. One is the muscle itself. The
other is the mind, which sends various messages to the muscles and tendons
telling them how to respond to your stretching when the discomfort of the
stretching becomes too much. What changes as you stretch a muscle is primarily
the message, not the physical structure of the muscle. “You’ll start to develop
a tolerance” for the discomfort of the stretch, Dr. McHugh says. Your brain
will allow you to hold the stretch longer. But the muscles and tendons
themselves will not have changed much. You will feel less tight. But even this
sensation of elasticity is short-lived, Dr. McHugh says. In a new review article
of the effects of stretching that he co-wrote and that will be published soon
in The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, he looked at the
measurable impacts of a
number of different stretching regimens. What he found was that when people
performed four 90-second stretches of their hamstrings, their “passive
resistance” to the stretching decreased by about 18 percent — they felt much
looser — but the effect had passed in less than an hour. To achieve a
longer-lasting impact, and to stretch all of the muscles involved in running or
other sports, he says, would probably require as much as an hour of concerted
stretching. “And the effects still wouldn’t be permanent,” he says. “You only
see changes” in the actual, physical structure of the muscles “after months of
stretching, for hours at a time. Most people aren’t going to do that.”
And most of us don’t need to. “Flexibility is a functional thing,” Dr. Knudson
says. “You only need enough range of motion in your joints to avoid injury.
More is not necessarily better.” For runners, extremely tight hamstrings and
joints have been found in some studies (but not all studies) to contribute to
overuse injuries. But somewhat tight hamstrings, as the Nebraska Wesleyan study
showed, can make you more economical. Some degree of inflexibility may make you
a better runner.
How then to judge your own flexibility? “The sit-and-reach test is pretty good”
for at-home evaluations, Dr. Knudson says, at least of your back and hamstring
muscles. Using a staircase, sit and straighten your legs so that your feet push
against the bottom step, toes upright. Stretch forward. “Try to lay your chest
onto your thighs,” he says. If you can reach past your toes, you’re more than
flexible enough. (No one yet has devised a way to reduce flexibility, by the
way, although some Olympic-level coaches in other countries are rumored to be
trying.)
If, on the other hand, “you can’t get anywhere near your toes, and the lower
part of your back is practically pointing backward” as you reach, then you
might need to try to increase your hamstring flexibility, Dr. Knudson says, to
avoid injuring yourself while running, cycling or otherwise exercising. You can
find multiple hamstring stretches on YouTube, although you should consult with a
physical therapist before replicating them at home; proper technique is
important to avoid injury. “You won’t get a lot of change,” Dr. Knudson says, ”
but a little may be all you need.”
***************************************************
How
Fast is Slow Enough?
Learn to make
your recovery runs help you recover more
By
Roy Benson
As featured in the November 2009 issue of Running Times Magazine
Do you have the courage? I ask
because being a real runner takes guts. Are you assured enough about your inner
runner?
|
|
|
Despite having a 12:48
5,000m PR, Kenyan Isaac Songok often runs at slower than 8:00 per mile. |
I ask because allowing yourself to look like the Jolly Jogger on your
recovery days isn't easy, and it takes a lot of discipline. But that's what
real runners do. They go jogging on their recovery days without worrying what
people might think. And they don't let guilt overtake them just because it feels
so easy. They know they've got to try if they want to stay healthy and, more
importantly, to race well.
What do I mean by "easy"? How about someone who can run 14:30 5Ks
(about 4:40 mile pace) going at 6:35 pace? How about a 20:15 5K runner (about
6:30 per mile) jogging along at 9:00 per mile? Or a runner who can race 5K at
9:00 pace and then has to recover the next day at a tick under 12:00 pace?
Getting the picture?
Yes, I know that's slow going. I know that it's tough on the ego to be seen
jogging around the neighborhood at what feels like a snail's pace. And I know
those paces seem less than believable, so I expect to hear my runners complain,
"But coach, it hurts my legs to go that slowly." And then they hear,
"Too damn bad if it doesn't feel biomechanically comfortable. Who said
that running easy was supposed to be easy?"
I'm sure they're just as tired of my reply as I am of their complaints every
time I use the bottom of the ideal and lowest effort zone for a full recovery.
I know that 60 percent effort means barely moving.
So to be fair, and show that I'm empathetic, I try to explain the reasons for
and the benefits of such an easy day. I start by saying that it's more
important that the pace be comfortable for their lungs and heart than it is for
their legs. Why? Because the more oxygen present, the more fat their muscles
will choose to burn for fuel. So, instead of using the carbohydrates they're
eating during that 48 hours from one hard workout to the next, they'll spare
them for conversion into that favorite fuel of fast running, glycogen. It's
simple. The closer they stay to the bottom of their aerobic zone, the more
carbs they'll spare while the muscles burn fat. By restoring their glycogen
supplies, they'll have that fuel ready when things go anaerobic in the next
hard workout.
But is this really practical? Can I actually get runners to take it this easy
and jog so slowly? To be honest, they don't have to unless it's the day before
a race. On those occasions, I convince them to get in a few of these ultra slow
miles so they won't get fat and completely out of shape by taking a whole day
off from running.
As a fair-minded and empathetic
coach, on normal easy days I wisely use a more realistic and generous zone of
65-70 percent effort. To put that into perspective, check the
"jogging" paces that our stellar examples can then enjoy. Our 14:30
runner's pace ranges from 6:15 to a zippy 5:55 per mile. The runner in shape to
do a 20:15 gets to go between 8:35 to 8:10. And that 26:55 runner has a range
all the way from 11:15 to 10:45 per mile.
Why such generosity while knowing that their recovery won't be as truly
effective? Well, easy days are also about enhancing their endurance, and being
a bit glycogen-depleted makes the muscle enzymes become more effective at
breaking down fat into fuel.
Of course, there's also the practical matter of not wanting my runners to hate
me. I'd much rather know that "SOB" to them means "Sweet Old
Benson."
And, in case you're wondering if anyone actually races fast after running so
slowly, here's the yin-and-yang examples of some elite runners I've coached.
Brendon Mahoney was a miler who won the national high school championship in
1999 in 4:04.76. In a recent conversation, he confirmed that his easy days at
70 percent that senior season were never faster than 6:00 per mile. In fact, he
remembered that he and his teammates used to have contests to see who could
lead the group at the slowest pace possible on recovery days. Talk about buying
into the program.
More recently, I have been coaching Laurie Knowles, a marathoner who was 49th
at the 2008 Olympic trials. Her PR when we started working together about three
years ago was 3:04. At the trials, she bettered her qualifying time by almost 3
minutes to set a new PR of 2:44:03. Even though her recovery day paces were
planned to range from 7:25 to 7:05 mile pace, she often ran as slow as 7:40
pace and never faster than 7:15. True stories. You can look them up, as Casey
Stengel used to say.
How about you? Is your recovery pace truly slow enough?
ROY BENSON, MPE, in exercise
physiology, has been a distance running coach for 47 years and has guided
Electrolyte
Replacement, Explained
Do you need to
sweat the small stuff?
By
Emily Brown
As featured in the November 2009 issue of Running Times Magazine
Runners have talked about
electrolytes for decades. Now
the general public is getting in on the act, thanks to widespread marketing for
not just sport drinks, but electrolyte-enhanced waters, teas and other
beverages. Amid the claims of improved performance and recovery, the most basic
questions are seldom asked: What exactly are electrolytes? And do runners, let
alone the general population, really need to be concerned about replenishing
them?
Chemically, an electrolyte is a substance
that, when in fluid, dissociates into electrically charged ions. The positive
or negative charge carried by these ions is what allows our body's cells to use
electrolytes to carry electrical impulses throughout the body. When you're
running, electrolytes are crucial in maintaining your body's ability to
transmit nerve impulses and contract muscles. Electrolytes serve other
biological functions, too, including water balance and distribution to working
cells as well as acid-base balance.
The electrolytes required by our bodies to perform these functions include
sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium.
The typical American diet contains an abundance of each of these, which exist
at normal levels in most healthy individuals. However, certain medical
conditions, especially diseases involving the kidneys, can result in severe
imbalances. In addition, any illness causing profuse vomiting or diarrhoea can
leave an individual with depleted levels of certain electrolytes. That said,
most healthy individuals with a good diet consisting of a wide variety of foods
don't need to be concerned with electrolyte replacement through the use of
electrolyte-enhanced beverages.
For athletes, however, certain situations may contribute to electrolyte losses,
in which case proper replacement becomes important. The main reason athletes
need to think about replacing electrolytes is because electrolytes are lost from
the body through sweat. Sodium and potassium are lost in the greatest amounts
via sweat, while magnesium and chloride are lost in only small amounts.
For the most part, the more you sweat, the more electrolytes you'll lose while
running. If you sweat a lot and/or you seem to be caked with salt after runs,
you can probably assume that you're losing a fair amount of electrolytes during
your runs and need to pay special attention to replacing them. Sweat rates can
range from 0.3 to 2.4L per hour (roughly a half pound to 5 pounds per hour). To
determine your sweat rate, weigh yourself before and after running; each pound
lost equates to ~2 cups of fluid. Although individual concentrations will vary
widely, one pound of sweat contains approximately 80-100mg of potassium and
400-700mg of sodium.
The symptoms of electrolyte imbalance are often the same as those of
dehydration, since the two tend to go hand in hand. A common symptom is muscle
and/or abdominal cramping. Other symptoms include light-headedness, nausea,
confusion and muscle spasms.
If you are a candidate for focusing on electrolyte replacement, when and how
should you do so?
Again, our diets typically provide more than enough of the electrolytes we need
to perform the biological functions that require them. Therefore, we don't
really need to be concerned with restoring electrolytes before exercise.
During a run, fluid and electrolyte
intake during exercise depends on a number of variables, mainly the
environmental conditions, how hard you're running and how acclimated you are.
The higher your sweat rate is, or the longer you exercise, the more important
it is to try to replace fluids and electrolytes during exercise. When it's hot
or you're working out hard enough to sweat a lot, aim to drink 8-10 ounces of
fluid every 10-15 minutes. Setting aside my dietitian's cap and donning my
runner's cap, I agree that drinking this much on the run can be difficult, if
not impossible. The best idea is to drink as much as is tolerable whenever it's
available.
If you're running long, you'll want to consider sports drinks, because in
addition to providing your brain and muscles with a fresh supply of energy, the
carbohydrates in sports drinks have benefits related to hydration and
electrolyte replacement. Research has shown that glucose, the primary sugar in
most sports drinks, can increase the absorption of both water and sodium.
Furthermore, sports drinks containing sodium increase fluid retention and
stimulate the thirst mechanism, which can often be delayed or masked during
intense workouts or competitions. When considering sports drinks to consume
during exercise, look for ones containing sodium and potassium as well as
~14-16g of carbohydrate per 8 ounces. This concentration is high enough to
provide adequate carbohydrate for energy but not so high that it would cause
abdominal cramps or nausea and diarrhea.
Post-exercise is the most important time to consider electrolyte replacement,
especially if you're unable to consume sufficient amounts of fluid during the workout.
Fluid losses can be replaced by plain water only if taken along with a
sufficient amount of food, preferably salty carbohydrates. Plain water alone
isn't the best beverage to consume for fluid replacement because, as mentioned
earlier, electrolytes (mainly sodium) are lost through sweat and need to be
replaced, and plain water will dilute your blood rapidly, increasing its volume
and stimulating urination. Increased urination will further lower sodium
concentration and may leave you with a dangerously low level of this important
electrolyte.
Despite market trends, the most reliable and efficient modes of rehydration and
electrolyte replacement continue to be the ones that have stayed with us for
decades. Sports drinks contain sufficient amounts of electrolytes to replace
those lost in sweat while also stimulating the drive to drink. As mentioned
earlier, the usual foods we eat contain far more electrolytes than sports
drinks. For example, a medium banana contains about 450mg of potassium, whereas
Gatorade provides 30mg per 8-ounce serving.
After a long run, a meal consisting of 8 ounces of yogurt and a can of chicken
noodle soup would adequately replace lost electrolytes (potassium and sodium)
and would be pretty easy to eat (not much chewing and not very strong flavors
or odors). Of course, if you're going the food route for electrolyte
replacement, it's important to continue to replace fluids via two cups of water
for every pound lost.
As for non-caloric beverages and electrolyte tablets, there doesn't appear to
be much need for such products, considering that the everyday diet provides
more than enough of the essential electrolytes to support our bodies'
functions. In addition, if you're doing a workout that produces enough sweat to
cause electrolyte depletion, then you most likely burned a lot of calories as
well and need to think about replacing those as soon as possible. That is why
the best recovery is salty carbs along with fluids. If you used a noncaloric
beverage or salt tablets, you would be adequately replacing fluids and
electrolytes but missing out on restoring energy. Also, a can of soup and a
bottle of water probably cost less than these other products and are more
effective at getting the job done.
Ultimately, your best choice is what you prefer and are most likely to rapidly
take in after a draining run. The key point to keep in mind is that both water
and electrolytes are lost through exercise and both need to be replaced on a
daily basis to ensure optimal health and performance.
Team
Is the Exercise
Cool-Down Really Necessary?
The New York Times
By GINA KOLATA
Published: October 13, 2009
MY husband and I were riding our bikes not long ago, and when we were about a
mile from home, we did our usual thing. We call it the sprint to the finish:
ride as hard and as fast as we can until we reach our driveway, racing to see
who could get there first.
We pulled up, slammed on our brakes and hopped off our bikes. A neighbor was
walking by and said, "How did you do that?"
"I just put on my brakes," I told him. No, he said, he meant how
could we just stop like that without cooling down?
Strange as it might seem, that had never occurred to me. But the cool-down is
enshrined in training lore. It's in physiology textbooks, personal trainers
often insist on it, fitness magazines tell you that you must do it — and some
exercise equipment at gyms automatically includes it. You punch in the time you
want to work out on the machine and when your time is up, the machine
automatically reduces the workload and continues for five minutes so you can
cool down.
The problem, says Hirofumi Tanaka, an exercise physiologist at the
The cool-down, Dr. Tanaka said, "is an understudied topic."
"Everyone thinks it's an established fact," he added, "so they
don't study it."
It's not even clear what a cool-down is supposed to be. Some say you just have
to keep moving for a few minutes — walking to your car after you finish a run
rather than stopping abruptly and standing there.
Others say you have to spend 5 to 10 minutes doing the same exercise, only
slowly. Jog after your run, then transition into a walk. Still others say that
a cool-down should include stretching.
And it's not clear what the cool-down is supposed to do. Some say it alleviates
muscle soreness. Others say it prevents muscle tightness or relieves strain on
the heart.
Exercise researchers say there is only one agreed-on fact about the possible
risk of suddenly stopping intense exercise.
When you exercise hard, the blood vessels in your legs are expanded to send
more blood to your legs and feet. And your heart is pumping fast. If you
suddenly stop, your heart slows down, your blood is pooled in your legs and
feet, and you can feel dizzy, even pass out.
The best athletes are most vulnerable, said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist
and marathon runner who is an exercise researcher at
"If you are well trained, your heart rate is slow already, and it slows
down even faster with exercise," he said. "Also, there are bigger
veins with a large capacity to pool blood in your legs."
That effect can also be deleterious for someone with heart disease, said Carl
Foster, an exercise physiologist at the
But does it matter for the ordinary, average athlete? "Probably not a
great deal," Dr. Thompson said. And, anyway, most people don't just stand
there, stock still, when their workout is over. They walk to the locker room or
to their house or car, getting the cool-down benefit without officially
"cooling down."
The idea of the cool-down seems to have originated with a popular theory — now
known to be wrong — that muscles become sore after exercise because they
accumulate lactic acid. In fact, lactic acid is a fuel. It's good to generate
lactic acid, it's a normal part of exercise, and it has nothing to do with
muscle soreness. But the lactic acid theory led to the notion that by slowly
reducing the intensity of your workout you can give lactic acid a chance to
dissipate.
Yet, Dr. Foster said, even though scientists know the lactic acid theory is
wrong, it remains entrenched in the public's mind.
"It's an idea we can't get rid of," he said.
In fact, Dr. Tanaka said, one study of cyclists concluded that because lactic
acid is good, it is better not to cool down after intense exercise. Lactic acid
was turned back into glycogen, a muscle fuel, when cyclists simply stopped.
When they cooled down, it was wasted, used up to fuel their muscles.
As far as muscle soreness goes, cooling down doesn't do anything to alleviate
it, Dr. Tanaka said. And there is no physiological reason why it should.
That's also the conclusion of a study of muscle soreness by South African
researchers who asked 52 healthy adults to walk backward downhill on a
treadmill for 30 minutes — an exercise that can cause sore leg muscles. The
participants were randomly assigned to cool down by walking slowly uphill for
10 minutes or simply to stop exercising. The result, the researchers reported,
was that cooling down did nothing to prevent sore muscles.
And muscle tightness?
"In a different generation we would have called it an old wives'
tale," Dr. Foster said. "Now I guess I'd call it an old
physiologists' tale. There are no data to support the idea that a cool-down
helps." But, he added, once again, "it's an idea we can't get rid
of."
Exercise researchers say they act on their own advice.
Dr. Thompson says if he is doing a really hard track workout he will jog for a
short distance when he finishes to avoid becoming dizzy. If he runs a half
marathon, he will "start shuffling forward," after he crosses the
finish line, for the same reason.
As for Dr. Tanaka, he does not cool down at all. He's a soccer player and, he
says, he sees no particular reason to do anything after exercising other than
just stop.
===================
Jamie Carruthers
Wakefield,
************************
Cheers