May 18 2023 xx
Little time to train? Try this short (but super-effective) workout
Here an interval training expert, Paul Laursen, explains how to do a short interval workout that “refreshes your system without taxing you.” In other words, you get a fitness boost without days of muscle damage and soreness afterwards. Physiologically, Laursen’s workout is based on myoglobin--a muscle protein that rapidly absorbs oxygen when the muscle is relaxed (with modest recoveries) between short sprints.
This is basically a 10/20 workout with 10 seconds of hard effort followed by 20 seconds of jogging. Laursen recommends 2-4 sets of 9 x 10/20 for veteran interval trainers. But you can always start with just one, and build up if you find the workout fun and productive. More at Fast Talk Labs.
New nose-breathing evidence: Different than expected, with possible benefits
Somebody came up with a bright-sounding idea. Since so many runners go too hard on their easy days, which leads to overtraining or at least ineffective training, why not invent a simple new way to slow down? One that’s noninvasive and doesn’t change your stride. Okay, sounds good so far.
So what’s the trick? In this fascinating randomized, crossover trial, the authors asked subjects to breathe only through the nose on their easy days. They figured that would add extra effort to the running--enough to keep the pace slow.
Only problem: It didn’t work as expected. Instead “ratings of perceived effort did not differ between the two conditions, and no significant ‘condition’ differences were found for intensity distribution quantified by power output and heart rate.” In other words, nasal breathing didn’t cause the runners to slow down.
However, it did lower “breathing frequency, oxygen uptake and blood lactate concentration,” all of which could be good things. Also, nasal breathing reduces respiratory infections and perhaps bronchospasm. More at Frontiers in Physiology (free full text).
5 rules of sustainable, lifetime running
Joe Uhan writes the impressive “Stay the Course” column at the IRunFar.com website. He’s a physical therapist and ultra-runner who likes to analyze how and why we run. In his latest column, “Advice to My Younger Self,” he lists 5 lessons for a lifetime of sustainable running.
They’re not the easy ones you might expect--eat, sleep, cross-train--which is what makes the article so good. You sense that Uhan has done a lot of deep thinking on this topic. I was struck by this lesson: “There’s only one bucket--stress.” And by this favorite of mine: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
Uhan’s column gets even more insightful when he turns his gaze inward. He says he has learned that the two most important questions in running are: 1--What are you running from? And 2--What are you running toward?” In his own life, he has committed himself to more group running, as he realized he needed to “enhance social connections.”
The best running articles force you to ponder key questions in your own life and running. This is one of those articles. More at I Run Far.
Unlocking the proven training methods of great masters runners
The researcher behind studies of two incredible Dutch distance runners over 70 has now written his own summary of what he learned from them. Hans Smeets, 75, wins nearly every 800 meters or 1500 meters race he enters. Jo Schoonbrodt, 72, holds the world record for the 70+ marathon--2:54:19.
According to researcher-runner Bas van Hooren, they share several key characteristics. 1--They didn’t begin running until mid-life, which may have protected their legs and increased their motivation. 2--They are extremely consistent in their training. Smeets claims to have missed only one week of training in the last 25 years, and Schoonbrodt didn’t miss a day of running in the two years prior to his marathon record. 3--They run mostly easy in training, including many slow hills as part of their every-week training, but include a modest amount of speed work (Smeets) or fartlek (Schoonbrodt). Notes Van Hooren: “These interval sessions on top of the high volume are likely the key part to achieving their exceptional performances.” More at HIIT Science.
Breaking down the blueprint: New insights from Boston Marathon qualifiers
We already knew that Boston Marathon runners are different. After all, they have to train hard to hit a BQ time that only about 10 percent of marathon participants attain. Now a new Strava analysis has added specific numbers to our knowledge. Some of the most interesting:
1--55% of Boston runners broke 3:30 vs 20% at New York (very hot) last fall. 2--At Boston, 16% ran negative splits vs 10-11% at other major marathons. 3--Boston runners covered a median 53 miles in training vs high-30s for other marathons. 4--At Boston, the more hill training runners had completed, the faster they ran. 5--Across several marathon majors, runners who broke 3 hours did at least 5 training runs per week.
I was most surprised by the negative-splits data at Boston. I’d previously heard that the figure was under 5%, due to the infamous Newton hills (including Heartbreak Hill). On the other hand, the course is dramatically downhill for the last 5 miles, so maybe some smart, veteran Boston runners have figured out how to tame the second half. Good for them. More at Outside Online.
What’s better for knee pain--quad work or hip work?
In recent years, many articles and experts have pointed to the effectiveness of hip strengthening exercises for runners with knee pain. Before that, the focus was mainly on quad strengthening.
In a randomized, controlled “equivalence trial” of both strategies, researchers found the two approaches equally effective.The subject groups were impressively large--100 adults suffering from patellofemoral knee pain received 12 weeks of “quadriceps-focused exercise,” and another 100 received “hip-focused exercise.”
After 12 weeks, all subjects were evaluated with a knee injury questionnaire that focused on “pain, physical function, and knee-related quality of life.” Conclusion: The two strategies “provided equivalent improvements in symptoms and function.” Which leaves me thinking: There’s no reason to put all your eggs in one basket. Why not do both? More at British J of Sports Medicine.
Mark Zuckerberg is fast of foot, but slow of thought
Mark Zukerberg, the famous CEO of Meta aka Facebook, recently finished a Stanford CA 5K in 19:34--a more than respectable time. He sounded surprised by the performance, and gave credit to his training in mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
But last summer he said one of the weirdest things on a Joe Rogan podcast: “I used to run a lot. But the problem with running is you can think a lot.”
Funny, I thought that was one of the benefits of running. While I understand that obsessive rumination isn’t a great thing, I always find that running has the opposite effect. It tends to liberate my thinking, not constrict it. I don’t know what thought is going to flit into my head next, or how long it will stay, or what will follow. It’s like a kaleidoscope, and I enjoy the process. I also appreciate the often unexpected results, and--dare I say this?--sometimes land on an exciting and productive new idea.
Maybe things are different if you’re a billionaire. Lucky me. I don’t have that problem. More about Zuck’s running and fitness at Inside Hook.
Running strong from the inside out: “Train your gut” for improved performance
We all know we’re supposed to hydrate well before and during our runs (especially in hot weather), and also consume carbohydrates (especially for the marathon and beyond.). The problem is … well, there are problems.
First, we don’t do this on most easy runs, so it literally feels unusual/uncomfortable. And no one wants to feel uncomfortable while running. Second, too many carbs (sugars) in the stomach can produce nausea. And then there’s always the question of time lost to potty stops.
Yet gut-training apparently works well. Here researchers did a big systematic review of studies that measured “repetitive exposure of the gastrointestinal tract to nutrients before and/or during exercise on gastrointestinal integrity, function, and/or symptoms” during endurance exercise.
Results: They were impressive. “Gut discomfort decreased” by an average of 47% to 26% for gels and liquids.
Also, athletes quickly became accustomed to taking in a lot of carbs. That is: “Repetitive carbohydrate feeding during exercise for 2 weeks resulted in the reduction of carbohydrate malabsorption by 45–54%.”
Conclusion: “Overall, gut-training or feeding-challenges around exercise may provide advantages in reducing gut discomfort, and potentially improve carbohydrate malabsorption and Ex-GIS, which may have exercise performance implications.” The review did not look for actual performance differences. But it sure seems like a good thing if you can learn to consume more fluids and carbs without distress. More at Sports Medicine.
10 keys to successful “Live High, Train Low” fitness
In 1996, no known USA distance runner used altitude training to make the Olympic team. The next year, Ben Levine and Jim Stray-Gunderson published the first “Live High, Train Low” scientific paper. It proposed that endurance athletes should live at high altitude for the hemoglobin-aerobic benefit, but train at lower altitudes to maintain the speed necessary for their event.
It wasn’t too long before the first oxygen tents and then oxygen rooms/houses appeared. These helped athletes to continue living and training at their preferred, low-altitude locations while gaining a high-altitude advantage from the tents/houses. This practice has proven popular and successful for many American athletes in the last quarter century. As have training camps in locations like Flagstaff, Arizona, where a moderate-altitude, speed-work location is only an hour drive away from the normal high-altitude living and training environment.
In this article, several American researchers who have been deeply involved in advising top U.S. runners, summarize what they have learned in 25 years. The 10 lessons include: There may be a small window for best altitude exposures (from about 1800 meters to 3000 meters); before trying LHTL, it’s an “absolute necessity” to check the athlete’s iron health; and there might be other measures, like heat exposure, that could enhance LHTL; and seven more.
All are here in free, full text, and in a narrative language that’s easy to follow. Even if you’re not aiming for the Olympics or planning a move to Arizona, this is a fascinating, historical paper (with a long list of famous American runners who have used LHTL, including Galen Rupp, Jenny Simpson, Matt Centrowitz, and Emma Coburn). More at International J of Sport Physiology & Performance.
Also, Alex Hutchinson has done a full review of the paper here at Outside Online. He points out that not everyone is convinced of its benefits.
That’s supported by a recent research report from Finland that found no performance benefit among elite cross-country skiers who performed 4 weeks of “Live High, Train Low & High.” In fact, a control group of skiers who stayed at low altitude improved their vo2 maxes more. Also, endurance time trials to exhaustion did not differ between the two groups.
Conclusion: “LHTLH did not support the development of maximal endurance performance and VO2max when compared to the athletes” who did their normal training at low altitude. More at Scandanavian J of Medicine & Science in Sports.
“Healthy Runner” nutrition program produces modest results with bone injuries
A crack team (that’s a little pun) of Stanford bone-injury specialists devised a nutrition-based Healthy Runner Project to see if the program could lower bone stress injuries. Next they followed female runners from two universities for 7 years to find out.
The outcomes showed that they were only partially successful with the nutrition program. Total bone injuries dropped slightly, but not significantly. However, injuries relating only to trabecular bone (less dense than cortical bone) did drop significantly.
There were also big differences between runners from the two universities. At one, bone injuries dropped substantially. At the other, they increased. This reflects the many (and challenging to identify) variables that can impact population studies.
Conclusion: “Our findings suggest that a nutrition intervention emphasizing energy availability may preferentially impact trabecular-rich BSI and depend on team environment, culture and resources.” More at BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine with free full text.
The need for successful preventive programs is great. In a survey paper presented at Rowan University’s “Campus Research Day,” 45.6% of Division III female cross-country runners “experienced a stress fracture during training or competition.” There was also a significant association between at least one missed menstrual cycle and the stress fractures. Additionally worrisome: “Only 30.9% of respondents indicated that someone from their school’s staff spoke to them about the importance of maintaining regular menstruation during training.” More at Rowan.edu.
SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss
>>> Hit the brakes: When to stop strength training before your big endurance race.
>>> You’re so vein: Endurance athletes have better blood flow in the lower legs.
>>> Breath of fresh air: Open the windows at night for better sleep-recovery
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.”
--Helen Keller
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby