April 13
When the going gets tough, the tough recite mantras
I sometimes quip that no one can actually run 26 miles. It’s way more than the mind and body can handle. The only way to get there is to run 1 mile 26 times.
During those 26 “intervals,” different runners use a variety of tricks to help them stay in the game: mantras and mental tougheners. Here are 6 evidence-based ways to stay mentally tough, including “Reframe your pain” and “Smile like you mean it.” More at Substack/Ashley Mateo.
Mantras seem cheesy. Heck, let’s just say it: They are cheesy. But they can also be very effective. In a marathon, you could recite the Gettysburg Address for motivation. Or you could keep repeating something short and punchy like, “Yes, I can.” The latter will serve you better. More at RunStreet.
Results from a race between minimalist shoes vs traditional shoes
A group of Swiss researchers used 16 experienced runners to investigate the economy of minimalist shoes vs traditional cushioned shoes during a 45-minute treadmill run. All runners became less economical toward the end of their runs, as you would expect, because they were getting tired.
However, there was essentially no difference between the two shoe types. Also, muscle activation around the ankles did not differ between the two shoes.
In minimalist shoes, the runners appeared to make better use of their legs’ natural elastic energy. But they also took more steps and performed more total mechanical work. These two effects canceled each other out.
Therefore, the decreased running economy after 45 minutes was not related to shoe differences “but likely due to physiological modifications with exercise duration.” More at Nature/Scientific Reports (free full text).
What you need to know about alcohol & sugar consumption
Two nutrition-health stories made headlines around the world recently. The first was the biggest ever study of alcohol consumption and mortality. The second looked at the health effects of added sugars. Here are brief summaries along with links to the original journal articles.
The alcohol report, a systematic review and meta analysis, looked at 107 papers that included 4.8 million subjects. It was trying to determine if low-to-moderate alcohol consumption had a protective effect on mortality risk, as so many of us have believed for so long. It found no such association.
That doesn’t mean that low/moderate drinking will kill you. But it won’t help you live longer. And higher levels of alcohol consumption are definitely a bad thing. “There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams [about two drinks] per day and among male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams per day.” More at JAMA Network Open (free full text).
The sugar research reviewed 8601 articles that investigated possible links between “dietary sugar consumption” and various health outcomes. It uncovered “significant harmful associations between dietary sugar consumption and 18 endocrine/metabolic outcomes,10 cardiovascular outcomes, seven cancer outcomes, and 10 other outcomes (neuropsychiatric, dental, hepatic, osteal, and allergic).” Whew! Pass the unsweetened salad dressing.
High sugar consumers (vs low consumers) had higher body weight, more belly fat, and more coronary heart disease. Conclusion: “High dietary sugar consumption is generally more harmful than beneficial for health, especially in cardiometabolic disease.” A good goal: Reduce daily sugar intake to below 6 teaspoons per day, and limit sugary drinks to less than one per week. More at British Medical Journal (free full text).
What to believe--and not--about “dry needling” for muscle strains
I had a modest groin strain two weeks ago--I actually DNF’d three easy runs in one 7-day stretch--so you better believe I clicked through quickly to this article on recovery from muscle strains. It presents a good assortment of reasonable advice, but doesn’t mention the trick that worked for me. I visited a local PT (and sub-3-hour marathon runner), and he more or less cured me with one session of “dry needling.”
So of course I checked the best, most recent research I could find on dry needling. A number of reports quote the “low quality” of dry needling studies. The most recent systematic review and meta analysis (2021) acknowledged the low quality issue, and concluded that “Dry needling performed by physical therapists was more effective than no treatment, sham DN, and other therapies for reducing pain.” More at Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal (free full text).
How to stay “young” and fast as you get older
Jess Piasecki is not old by any standard, but she set her marathon PR last year (2:22:25) at age 32, so she’s getting older and faster at the same time. She’s also a PhD lecturer in exercise physiology at Nottingham Trent University in Great Britain with a particular interest in aging athletes.
Here she answers 6 questions about how masters athletes can maintain (and sometimes improve) their best performances. She seems particularly interested in two arenas. First, nutrition; then, new training solutions.
For example, Piasecki believes senior runners should “ingest greater amounts of protein in older age.” They should also “implement cross training modalities to support the volumes of training but also reduce the load.” Another smart idea: Using training cycles that are longer than the usual 7-day week. This allows you to fit in several key workouts while also taking enough time for recovery.
Her observations are particularly powerful when it comes to maintaining health, fitness, and vitality with age. “Our research has continually demonstrated that masters athletes live with an improved health into older age,” she says. It’s not that exercise can prevent aging, but it does delay the inevitable decline. More at SportSmith.
Do you need protein with your post-workout carbs?
It seems to me that we’ve been batting this question around for a long time, but apparently it’s worth more investigation. Here, one study says: no difference. Another says: It’s best to get both to enhance immunity.
The first paper (randomized, controlled, crossed-over) investigated highly fit and competitive cyclists who completed a hard morning workout followed by a recovery drink that was carbs only or carbs + whey protein. Both contained the same number of calories. Five hours later, subjects completed a hard time trial.
Result: Subject performance in the time trial was the same after both drinks, and no subjects showed any signs of “negative nitrogen balance” (ie, protein deficiency). More at Scandinavian J of Medicine & Science in Sports.
In a different but somewhat similar study, subjects used a carb-only or carb-protein drink during 10 weeks of hard training. This was a randomized, controlled trial, but one that looked into immunity markers, not performance. Conclusion: “Ingesting a post-workout protein–carbohydrate combined beverage promoted a more favourable immune status than carbohydrate-only ingestion by attenuating cellular inflammation over a 10 week training period in endurance male athletes.” More at European J of Applied Physiology.
The reality--and limitations--of foam rolling
Foam rolling is probably the warmup and recovery exercise of choice for many runners, Also, several studies have indicated it “showed more favorable effects compared to stretching on performance parameters,” at least in certain circumstances.
However, a new meta analysis and systematic review that includes RCTs doesn’t support that outcome. It concluded that foam rolling “showed no significant changes in performance when FR training is applied for several weeks.”
The paper also noted a possible Catch 22. “Although a decrease in muscle stiffness has the potential to decrease injury prevalence, such a decrease might also accompany a decrease in force production”--that is, your ability to train and race fast. More at International J of Environmental Research & Public Health.
A similar report reviewed foam rolling for its effect on “myofascial tissue stiffness and muscle strength.” After assessing 20 studies that investigated this question, the researchers found mixed evidence for foam rolling. It “increased knee extensor concentric torque, but it did not acutely change the myofascial tissue stiffness and isometric muscle strength.”
The quality of many studies was low. Conclusion: “Both qualitative and quantitative analyses showed no effects of FR on isometric muscle strength, eccentric torque [except at the knee], and rate of force development.” More at J of Strength & Conditioning Research.
Why the Boston Marathon should accept more senior runners
Several physician friends recently asked me to coauthor a short Opinion piece for a medical journal. Of course, I agreed. That said--Bob Johnstone and David Rutlen--did most of the research and writing. All three of us are active marathon runners over the age of 75.
Here we argue that America’s public and individual health would be improved if more physicians would encourage their “senior” patients to do more exercise--including more running. Older runners aren’t fast, but they have excellent endurance, particularly if they adopt an appropriate run-walk program.
We believe that “Running may be the best endurance exercise,” in good part because it is so simple and accessible, requiring “fewer resources than swimming, cycling, skiing, gym machine workouts, or other common exercises.” It also takes less time to log a productive workout.
A couple of other good ideas: “Commercial insurers and Medicare should pay some road race entry fees,” and the Boston Marathon should adjust its qualifying times for runners over 65. This would add only modest numbers to the start field, since there are so few of us.
But it would highlight what runners over 65 can still achieve, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. After all, Clarence DeMar and “Old John” A. Kelley are two of Boston’s most fabled champions precisely because they ran the race so many times, so well, and at advanced ages.
By the way, have you heard of Joan Benoit Samuelson? She hit 65 last year. More at Medicine & Clinical Science (free full text).
SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss
>>> Easy does it: How to run with lower back pain
>>> See it, believe it: 6 ways to visualize success in your running
>>> Good carbs vs bad: Know the difference to reduce heart and stroke risks
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
“It’s not about the legs; it’s about the heart and the mind.”
--Eliud Kipchoge
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you in two weeks. AMBY