|
1. Saucony Endorphin Speed 2 Performance Review:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 7.9 oz (225 g) for a US M9.0/ 7.0 oz (200 g) for a US W7.5
Updated upper, same exact PWRRUN PB midsole
Releases July 15 for $160
Still one of the best running shoes money can buy
How many ska band members does it take to screw in a light bulb? Read to the end to find out!
JEREMY: One of 2020’s top shoes (it actually won our Best In Gear Award for the Best Overall Shoe of 2020), the Saucony Endorphin Speed is back with an updated, full NASCAR racing motif. While not much has changed with the midsole, the upper has some modifications in both design and aesthetics. Whether this was done as an homage to the first Fast and Furious movie premier 20 years ago, or because the designers were feeling nostalgic for the ska checkerboards at their last Reel Big Fish concert, or maybe a call back to some slip-on Vans, who can say! Anyway, the first thing you will notice is that the updated Endorphin line has some strong early 2000s vibes emanating from them. Love it or hate it, it’s here.
More...from Belive in the Run.
2. The Pregnant Athlete: How pro athletes changed their training volume during pregnancy:
Move over IRONMAN events and ultramarathons, a study exploring the limits of human endurance found that one of the most extreme experiences a person can endure is pregnancy.
Michelle Heneghan knows all about the challenges of both endurance sport and pregnancy after she turned pro as a triathlete in 2020 before welcoming baby Fiadh into the world in February 2021.
Fellow pro triathlete Mary Robbins is continuing to train during the second trimester of her pregnancy, so we caught up with the two PH Ambassadors to find out how they managed a training load and the demands of pregnancy...
Firstly, congratulations Michelle and Mary! Thanks for taking time out to join us. How did your pregnancy affect your ability to train? I imagine there was a significant change in your training volume pre- and during pregnancy?
More...from Precision Hydration.
3. How to Harness the Pain-Blocking Effects of Exercise:
Exercise causes pain, but it also dulls it. Researchers are still trying to understand how that works
Athletes have a very complicated relationship with pain. For endurance athletes in particular, pain is an absolutely non-negotiable element of their competitive experience. You fear it, but you also embrace it. And then you try to understand it.
But pain isn’t like heart rate or lactate levels- things you can measure and meaningfully compare from one session to the next. Every painful experience is different, and the factors that contribute to those differences seem to be endless. A recent study in the Journal of Sports Sciences, from researchers in Iraq, Australia, and Britain, adds a new one to the list: viewing images of athletes in pain right before a cycling test led to higher pain ratings and worse performance than viewing images of athletes enjoying themselves.
That finding is reminiscent of a result I wrote about last year, in which subjects who were told that exercise increases pain perception experienced greater pain, while those told that exercise decreases pain perception experienced less pain. In that case, the researchers were studying pain perception after exercise rather than during it, trying to understand a phenomenon called exercise-induced hypoalgesia (which just means that you experience less pain after exercise).
More...from Sweat Science on Outside Online.
4. Is the Keto Diet Healthy for Endurance Athletes?:
he ketogenic diet is particularly popular among athletes - but are its merits based on fact, or fiction? Doctor Jeff Sankoff debunks the myth.
As rates of obesity continue to rise in the western world, fad diets have become more and more numerous, but, alas, no more likely to accomplish any of the remarkable successes that they promise. One that’s gained significant traction among endurance athletes in recent years is the keto diet. This is the latest iteration of the low-carb Atkins diet that first appeared back in the early 70s. Though supporters will argue that this diet is based on science, the reality is that it doesn’t give athletes the nutrition they need to perform their best. Here’s what you need to know.
Our Relationship with Carbohydrates
The keto diet is based on a couple of fundamental principles rooted in observational medical science. The first of these is that obesity has risen in North America and the western world in conjunction with the intake of highly processed foods and refined sugars. The second is that repeated spikes in blood glucose, and the resultant insulin spike that accompanies it, is associated with long term health issues. Both of these observations are true but the misinterpretation of them has led to the development of the keto diet and everything that has followed since.
The human body has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to develop a complex endocrinologic response to food. Our cells can burn different types of fuels (like carbohydrates or sugars, fats, ketones, and proteins), but their preferred fuel is carbohydrates because that is the fuel that is burned most efficiently. When food is in scarce supply, our body will utilize other stored fuels to create carbohydrates while making use of the less efficient forms of fuel as well.
More...from TRaining Peaks.
5. Just don’t do it: 10 exercise myths:
We all believe we should exercise more. So why is it so hard to keep it up? Daniel E Lieberman, Harvard professor of evolutionary biology, explodes the most common and unhelpful workout myths
Yesterday at an outdoor coffee shop, I met my old friend James in person for the first time since the pandemic began. Over the past year on Zoom, he looked just fine, but in 3D there was no hiding how much weight he’d gained. As we sat down with our cappuccinos, I didn’t say a thing, but the first words out of his mouth were: “Yes, yes, I’m now 20lb too heavy and in pathetic shape. I need to diet and exercise, but I don’t want to talk about it!”
If you feel like James, you are in good company. With the end of the Covid-19 pandemic now plausibly in sight, 70% of Britons say they hope to eat a healthier diet, lose weight and exercise more. But how? Every year, millions of people vow to be more physically active, but the vast majority of these resolutions fail. We all know what happens. After a week or two of sticking to a new exercise regime we gradually slip back into old habits and then feel bad about ourselves.
Clearly, we need a new approach because the most common ways we promote exercise -medicalising and commercialising it - aren’t widely effective. The proof is in the pudding: most adults in high-income countries, such as the UK and US, don’t get the minimum of 150 minutes per week of physical activity recommended by most health professionals. Everyone knows exercise is healthy, but prescribing and selling it rarely works.
More...from The Guardian.
6. I scanned my face with the new ASICS app. Turned out I was 5% calmer after my workout:
Find out just how much exercise affects your mood with the ASICS Mind Uplifter app
ASICS has a new app called Mind Uplifter and it involves scanning your face after a workout. Having your sweaty and exhausted face might not sound like something you want to do but I tried it and it was quite interesting.
Hopefully by now everyone knows that exercising is not only good for your body but also your mind. In a 2005 study, researchers at the University of Bristol showed that "moderate regular exercise should be considered as a viable means of treating depression and anxiety and improving mental well-being in the general public." But how does exercising affect your mental wellbeing? You can find out by taking part in the "world’s first live study" into the impact of movement on the mind, courtesy of ASICS.
The study utilises the new Mind Uplifter Tool that uses a combination of facial scanning technology and self-report data collection to find out what effect your latest workout had on you. People will be able to capture the impact of sport across 10 emotional and cognitive metrics such as alertness, focus, confidence and more. This data will feed into a live global study, capturing individual 'Mind Uplifts' from around the world and visually transforming them into an interactive 'World Uplift Map'.
More...from T3 - Smarter Living.
7. Overview of the 2020 NTSB Bicycle Safety Research Study:
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has not analyzed bicycle safety in the United States since 1972. In the last several years, multiple safety issues concerning bicyclists and other at-risk road users have become evident in reports published by the NTSB (NTSB 2013a, 2017a, 2017b, 2018a, 2018b). Bicyclist deaths resulting from crashes with vehicles totaled 806 on American roadways in 2017 alone. This figure is comparable to the number of deaths caused by railroad or marine accidents. It is more than double the number of fatalities from aviation accidents in the same year.
Bicycles are more available than they were back in 1972, and more people are using them as a means of transportation, recreation, and exercise. These facts, combined with the startling statistics regarding fatalities, begs for the NTSB to review bicyclists’ safety again. The safety report from the NTSB provides updates and information on bicycle safety in the United States. It scrutinizes the rates and risk factors of bicycle – motor vehicle accidents on the roadways and looks at their most suitable countermeasures.
More...from Arash Law - Injury Lawyers.
8. The Best Type of Exercise? A Blood Test Holds Clues:
Researchers are studying the proteins in blood to learn why some of us respond to certain forms of exercise better than others.
If we all begin the same exercise routine tomorrow, some of us will become much fitter, others will get a little more in shape, and a few of us may actually lose fitness. Individual responses to exercise can vary that wildly and, until now, unpredictably. But a fascinating new study of more than 650 men and women suggests that the levels of certain proteins in our bloodstreams might foretell whether and how we will respond to various exercise regimens.
The study needs replication and expansion, but represents a meaningful start toward a blood test to indicate the best types of exercise for each of us, and if we can expect to gain more or less benefit from the same workout as our spouse, offspring or other training partners or rivals.
More...from the New York Times.
9. Coach’s Corner: Getting strong the slow weights way:
Improving strength doesn’t mean going to the gym or blocking out workout time, unless you really want to.
I was introduced to strength training in my teens by football coaches who used the standard methodologies of the time to help make us bigger and stronger. After I graduated from high school, I continued this program, working out in the weight room at the University of Colorado, where I put on 30 pounds of bulk pumping iron with some guys from the football team.
At some point I realized that though I could bench press 240 pounds free, I couldn’t run anywhere. In fact, I could barely move. I decided to take up distance running and change my weight-lifting regime from high-weight, low reps to high reps, low weight. This seemed to work out OK for maintaining muscle tone, especially as I peeled off the bulk — I went from 190 to 160 pounds in a few months — but I can’t say it made me very strong.
Over the years I’ve dabbled in all sorts of resistance training, trying to maintain my strength as I approach what I jokingly call "advanced middle age." When Dr. Phil Maffetone shared his Slow Weights program with me several years ago, it struck home because it was very close to what I had arrived at intuitively after decades of developing my own personal strength program.
More...from Dr. Phil Maffetone.
10. The Benefits of Heavy Lifting (Whatever That Means for You), According to New Research:
When it comes to building muscle strength, bodyweight training may not be enough.
When it comes to strength training, lighter loads may "grow" your muscles, but it’s the heavier weights that will make them much stronger, new research shows.
Building your muscle and joint strength can make you a faster runner and decrease injury risk.
Experts recommend strength training two to three times per week, performing eight to 12 reps max per exercise.
Most importantly, consider getting a trainer to design a safe and effective regimen for your individual goals and needs.
We know that running boasts a range of benefits—in fact, studies show that even 10 minutes a day at slow speeds can be a boost to your cardiovascular health—but the sport isn’t known for being an ideal muscle builder.
That’s why increasing your strength through resistance training can be key for some cross-training balance. (Plus, resistance training strengthens your muscles and joints, which can make you faster and decrease injury risk.) For that, new research suggests it really does help to lift heavy.
More...from Runner's World.
11. A 10-Minute Stretching Routine to Counteract Sitting:
Sitting all day wreaks havoc on the body. Here's how to reset and recenter.
Humans are meant to move. Unfortunately, sedentary behavior is an unavoidable consequence of modern-day life. Extended time in a chair can lead to all kinds of negative outcomes: it’s hard on your hip flexors and your spine, and it weakens your core and your glutes. Plus, studies have linked long periods of sitting to a decrease in overall health and a shorter life span.
The best fix would be to move more during the day, but that’s not always possible. The next-best solution is to stretch and strengthen the affected muscles, says Sage Rountree, a North Carolina–based endurance-sports coach and the author of Everyday Yoga and The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga. You’ll want to start by releasing the tightness that’s developed in your back, shoulders, chest, and core, and then activate and strengthen those muscles, she says.
More...from Outside Online.
12. How much carbohydrate do athletes need per hour?
When it comes to powering high intensity endurance exercise, carbohydrate is the main source of fuel used by your body.
But how much carb do you need to consume to perform at your best?
This is the fundamental question to answer when working out your fueling strategy for races and key training sessions. Despite this being so critical, it’s surprising how many athletes lack a clear picture of what their carb intake should be…
Getting your priorities straight
The confusion around how much carbohydrate athletes need to optimally fuel their performance is partly (and unintentionally) created by the last few decades of sports nutrition marketing activity, which has muddled up our priorities and got us putting the proverbial cart before the horse.
You see, most brands tend to focus on the source of carbohydrate in their products rather than how much you should be taking in, or whether the type of product (a gel or drink say) suits your individual needs. There’s a near constant hype cycle around the latest and greatest new formulation or source of carb. Think ‘Hydrogel Technology’, ‘Cluster Dextrin™’ or ‘SuperStarch’, to name just three.
More...from (Runner's World.
14. ‘Australian Marathon Stars’ - Interviews and training insights with Australia’s best ever marathoners:
Australian Marathon Stars’ - Interviews and training insights with Australia’s best ever.
‘Australian Marathon Stars’ is more than a collection of interviews with Australia’s greatest marathon runners. The book dives deep into the background, development, training, coaching, nutrition, motives and perspectives of these legendary runners.
For those with lofty ambitions to those aiming to simply finish their first marathon, there is abundant wisdom to discover which will enhance your own running and chances of reaching your goals.
More...from Runner's Tribe.
15. What It Takes to Run a Fast Mile:
The mile isn’t just another race distance. It’s almost its own sport.
I won’t pretend to be impartial here: I love the mile. It demands the legs of a sprinter, the lungs of a marathoner, and the tactical cunning of a chess grandmaster. Lasting roughly four minutes, it’s long enough for a narrative arc to unspool, and for the personalities of the various players to be revealed in their thrusts and counterthrusts, but too short for all but the very worst TV coverage to cut away for commercials or gauzy profiles. It’s the perfect distance.
But the very elements that make the mile so much fun to watch also make it tricky for physiologists to study. Long-distance running is a maximization challenge: almost anything you can do to boost your VO2 max, lactate threshold, or running economy will make you better. Sprinting is also a maximation challenge, focused instead on the ability to generate the most powerful forces and release large amounts of anaerobic energy as quickly as possible. It’s relatively straightforward to study how to maximize these parameters.
More...from Sweat Science on Outside Onle.
|
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
