Use downhill running to boost leg strength & performance
Many runners dislike downhill running. It can be uncomfortable and perhaps cause injuries. But it can also lead to rapid muscle adaptations that improve your running, especially if you’re headed to the Boston Marathon this month.
Here,10 subjects did 10 modest downhill workouts over a 4 week period. Result: The downhill training “promoted neuromuscular adaptations typically observed after high-intensity eccentric resistance training.”
The researchers observed no change in vo2 max, and didn’t conduct other performance testing. Still, they concluded: “These novel results suggest that short-term, moderate-intensity DR training is an effective method of promoting rapid gains in knee-extensor muscle strength, size and structure.”
And there’s no doubt that you want strong muscles around the knees for efficient running. Or as the investigators stated: “The chronic use of downhill running can stimulate muscle hypertrophy of the main locomotor muscles, i.e. quadriceps femoris.” More at European Journal of Applied Physiology (free full text).
How to exercise more without eating more (and gaining weight)
Many experts in the weight-loss field are confident that exercise doesn’t do much. They believe that eating less should be the primary goal.
One reason why: Exercisers tend to “compensate” after a workout. They reach for a bar or a smoothie or some form of processed food that quickly adds more calories to their daily energy balance than the calories burned by their workout.
However, most studies have been conducted in a laboratory setting. Recently, an Australian group decided to retest the compensation hypothesis in a “naturalistic” manner. They followed a group of moderate exercisers (2 to 5 workouts per week) to determine what and how much they ate on exercise days vs non-exercise days.
Result: On exercise days, the subjects did not eat more unhealthy foods than on non-exercise days. In fact, they ate better foods. The exercise seemed to provide a reinforcing diet stimulus rather than a junk-foody “compensation” pattern.
However, subjects did eat more on exercise days. Perhaps the exercise stimulated their appetite. The results seem to indicate that you should pay more attention to meal size and total calorie intake on exercise days. More at PLOS ONE (free full text).
Sara Hall’s 6 steps to coming back from a long term injury
Sara Hall, now 39, is known for her longevity in the sport. In high school she won the national cross-country championship, and she has run a number of top marathons past age 35. But last year was a tough one, as an IT band injury sidelined her for 8 months. Last week wasn’t great either; she had Covid.
So what did she do over the weekend? She took the top American spot in the 50th annual Cherry Blossom 10 mile--a rite of spring in Washington, D.C.
And in another 10 days she’ll be running the Boston Marathon. Here, Hall shares her advice on how to bounce back from a long term injury like her IT band issue. A unique tip: Hall takes an inquisitive approach, applying curiosity to the process. She enjoys digging into “the back story” of her running career to figure out what went wrong, and what she has to do to correct it. More at Runner’s World.
Do running shoes prevent injuries?
Sara Hall didn’t bother looking for a new pair of shoes to cope with her injury, and there are good reasons why. The same reasons that running shoe companies generally don’t claim their shoes will prevent injuries. 1) There’s little to no evidence for this. And 2) A decade ago Vibram paid several million dollars to settle a lawsuit based on the injury-prevention claims of its Five Fingers running shoe. (Vibram didn’t admit guilt; it just settled.)
This excellent article doesn’t mention the Vibram suit. Nor does it look at an emerging belief that more minimalist shoes could help with some knee pains, while high-rearfoot cushioned shoes could reduce Achilles and calf problems. But it references good research (especially this Cochrane Review), interviews appropriate experts, and reaches a consensus conclusion. You should read it for a solid update. More at the NYTimes.
“Social fitness:” A surprising new way to boost your running
We’ve all read about a million articles on the importance of relationships in a happy fulfilled life. No doubt we should glance up from the smartphone every once in a while to, oh, I dunno, maybe have a conversation with a spouse, child, friend, or other. Even better if we join a nonprofit volunteer group.
Now this idea has entered the fitness world as “social fitness.” I like it. “Not exercising your social fitness is hazardous to your health,” says Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of a new book, The Good Life, with lessons from the world’s longest scientific study of happiness
It’s possible that we can only maximize our vo2, running economy, etc, when we also focus on our social fitness. After all, a lonely runner who’s feeling unsupported isn’t likely to race strong.
In a similar manner, Army research has shown that “social fitness exercises such as doing someone a favor or practicing conflict resolution reduced loneliness and boosted well-being in soldiers.” More at Outside Online.
Here are four great suggestions straight from Wadlinger and his work. Try to practice: 1) Generosity; 2) Radical curiosity; 3) Communicating back to others; 4) Regular relationship check-ins. More at TED.com.
Maybe 90 is the new 50
Antonio Rao, 90, finished last month’s Rome Marathon in an age-record 6:14--beating the old record by more than 30 minutes. He also improved his own time from last year by 6 minutes. Rao, who still trains about 15 miles/week, said he enjoys running because: “When I run, I don’t think about problems. I feel free.” He reports that he has been running regularly since 14--that’s 76 years. More at Canadian Running.
In a new review article, senior author and exercise-heart specialist Ben Levine begins with an unusual title: “Exercise in Octogenarians: How Much is Too Little?” The paper notes that cardio fitness can remain quite high until age 70, but then begins to drop off more substantially.
What to do? That’s easy. Keep exercising, no matter how much you slow down. Why? Because: “Recent studies have provided compelling evidence that reinforces the favorable effects of prolonged and vigorous endurance exercise training and competition on the exercise performance of men and women in their late eighth to tenth decades of life.”
The ideal exercise program is one that you follow from your teens onward. But even if you don’t begin exercising until mid life, you get a significant late life payoff. It’s the decline in late-year exercise that must be avoided. In fact, that’s when you need it the most. More at Annual Reviews (free full text). Infographic and conclusion.
Didn’t see this one coming: Exercise reduces risk of bad sleep
With more than 92,000 subjects whose daily activity was objectively measured with accelerometers, here’s a sleep study with more oomph than most. I don’t think anyone was surprised that sleeping less or more than optimal (about 7 hours) was “associated with higher risk for all-cause mortality.”
The twist in this study was a new question: Does your daily movement amount change the mortality risk? Answer: Yes! More total activity, or more moderate-to-vigorous activity (ie, exercise), lowered “the excessive mortality risks associated with short or long sleep duration.”
In other words, exercise is so good for you that it somewhat offsets the harms of a major lifestyle problem like poor sleep. More at European J of Preventive Cardiology. Here’s a nice graphic summarizing the study results.
Another accelerometer study measured daily step counts of more than 3000 adults around age 50.
In a 10-year followup period, those taking at least 8000 steps on 1-2 days a week, were 14.9 percent less likely to die than those never reaching 8000 steps. Those taking 8000 steps on 3-7 days/week were 16.5 percent less likely to die. The results were interpreted as good news for “weekend warrior” types who can only find exercise time several days a week. More at JAMA Network Open (free full text).
An accompanying editorial added: “It is important to note that these data merit replication and likely miss other important dimensions of health, such as neurologic health. Recent evidence indicated that higher thresholds (eg, 9800 steps per day) and higher intensities may be important for higher-order benefits, including reductions in incident dementia.”
Big article but no evidence to support diaphragmatic breathing
Even the NYTimes is guilty of overhyping articles from time to time. Like this one: “Power Your Run With Better Breathing.” That implies that you’ll get a big payoff if only you breathe right.” Ahh, nope. The reporter is more honest: “While there is not a lot of research on how diaphragmatic (or “belly”) breathing directly improves running….” The article doesn’t present any convincing evidence. More at the NY Times.
But I get it. Everyone finds their breathing gets difficult (labored) at some point, usually when they speed up. And we naturally wonder if there’s a right or better way to breathe. Some advocate for nasal breathing (seems unlikely to help). Some believe in synchronizing breaths and strides at a certain ratio. Maybe. But not likely.
Here’s a twist on synchronization. In the first ever Boston Marathon-funded research project, investigators at Boston this year will be looking at heart rates and stride rates. Do they match up to some degree? If so, is this good or bad?
It’s a novel but interesting idea, because when you think about it, a 40-year-old runner has a max heart rate around 180 and is also told by many to aim for a stride rate near 180. Hmmm. More at BAA.
SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss
>>> Going too far: Do ultra runners have more mental-health problems?
>>> Seeing the light: Exercise protects against retinal disease.
>>> Not guilty: Coffee/caffeine don’t cause problematic heart contractions contractions.
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
“It’s hard at first to understand that it’s not about beating other runners. The competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit.”
--George Sheehan
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby