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1. The Real Story of Males in Women’s Sports:
USA Today and progressive activists want Americans to think that this is a nonissue. They’re wrong.
Magic tricks rely on a simple technique: misdirection. It’s all about making the audience think they’re paying attention, when really, they’re being distracted. It’s in those moments when they can be deceived.
Right now in the conversation about males in women’s sports, some people are taking a page out of the magician’s handbook. Just look at a recent USA Today piece, wherein the reporters spend over 4,500 words arguing that having biological males in women’s sports is a nonissue. The piece trots out anecdotes, numbers, and non-contextualized statistics galore to make a case that’s not at all grounded in reality. According to USA Today and others in the mainstream media, the whole situation has been blown out of proportion — no one, they claim, actually cares that a few males are trouncing women and girls in athletic competition.
More...from the National Review.
2. Brooks Draft XC Performance Review:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 6.5 oz. (184 g) for a US M9 / US W10.5
6-pin XC-specific spikes
BioMoGo midsole crosses over from daily training to weekend meets
Give these to an artist in your life and let em go crazy
MERCER: The Brooks Draft XC is the latest cross country spike in the brand’s lineup. It’s a breath of fresh air in the XC spike game, with a very soft underfoot and a comfortable mesh upper that you can draw on. Shoutout to Thomas for going absolutely nuts on these.
RUBY: After getting over the shock of a white cross country spike, I was surprised by how cushioned the Draft XC is. In my experience, spikes normally resemble a few pins screwed into a hard plate with an upper attached. But this one is a different beast, with cushion for days and a drawable upper, Brooks is onto something here.
More...from Believe in the Run.
3. What is plantar fasciitis?
his is an excerpt from Running Anatomy 2nd Edition by Joseph Puleo & Patrick Milroy.
Plantar fasciitis can be such a painful condition that it often prevents any running at all. This sheet of fibrous tissue runs between the metatarsal heads and its insertion in the calcaneus (next to the Achilles tendon; figure 9.4). Its weakest part is found at the heel, where it becomes injured. The typical sufferer winces when the underside of the heel is even lightly touched. If the exercises presented in this chapter are ineffective, then a physician's steroid injection can produce a cure. A better long-term solution, however, is to seek knowledge of why the injury occurred and address that cause
Why does plantar fasciitis occur? Like many running injuries, it happens due to some very specific reasons and some very general ones. Not every runner suffers plantar fasciitis for the same reason, but they all suffer. For instance, some runners wear stability shoes with a low arch when they have a high-arched foot. The discrepancy between arch height and arch support allows the plantar fascia to collapse or stretch into the empty space, which can result in micro tears in the fascia or pull the fascia away from its insertion into the bottom of the calcaneus. In another example, runners with chronically tight calf muscles may develop plantar fasciitis because the tight calf muscles tighten the Achilles tendon to which they are attached, which in turn causes the ankle to lose its ability to dorsiflex. This lack of dorsiflexion can cause the plantar fascia to tighten and become inflamed.
More...from Women's Running.
5. The 2021 Fall Running Shoe Guide:
Hear that sound? It's the sound of your pace per mile falling like the autumn leaves along your favorite running trail. Yep, fall is here, and those cooler temperatures mean faster times, longer mileage and—better yet—the perfect excuse for a new pair of running shoes.
We know the options are plentiful and your feet are unique, so we assigned a handful of accomplished runners the task of testing (and testing and testing) the newest sneakers on the block, all in an effort to help our readers make the most educated decision.
If you're an Adidas fan you're going to love the Adizero Adios Pro 2.0. The upper is made from partially recycled material (better for the environment), and the sole features two layers of Lightstrike Pro foam (for increased energy return), as well as carbon fiber energy rods. The outsole has great grip—it even tends to feel a bit sticky, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're racing on slick roads (or running through water stops).
Overall, this is a great carbon-plated racer that provides a very lightweight and bouncy ride. There's a bit of padding in the heel cup, collar and tongue, but overall it's pretty bare bones on top, which is how it stays so light. The sizing is unisex, so that might come as a surprise to some runners. For runners with carbon plate experience, it's very similar to the Nike Vaporfly Next% 2, just a bit less expensive.
More...from Active.com.
6. How Hard Should I Train the Day Before a Big Workout?
Understanding the importance of a workout’s intensity is vital to your training success. Here’s what to do the day before a big workout.
Big workouts are kind of like small races. There’s not as much at stake in a big workout as there is in a race, but they’re important enough that you want to go into them ready to perform. A lot of ink has been spilled on the subject of what to do the day before a race. All you have to do to ensure you’re ready for your next big workout, therefore, is apply these same guidelines…
…or maybe not. You see, in addition to being slightly less challenging than races, big workouts serve a different purpose. Specifically, the purpose of a race is to prove your fitness, whereas the purpose of a big workout is to increase your fitness. It’s a subtle difference, but one that has important implications for what you do the day before.
How to Prepare for a Big Workout
I learned an important lesson on this topic when I collaborated with elite run coach Brad Hudson on a book titled Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon. The training plans Brad created for the book featured a number of big workouts that were preceded by a moderately challenging run the day before rather than the expected easy run or rest. For example, a Friday interval workout might come after a Thursday progression run culminating in a 3-mile acceleration from marathon pace to 5K pace.
More...from Training peaks.
7. A neuroscientist shares the 4 brain-changing benefits of exercise—and how much she does every week:
When we think about the benefits of exercise, we usually think of better sleep, more energy, maintaining a healthy weight, stronger muscles or a healthier heart.
These are all true. But we rarely consider the immediate effects that physical activity can have on the most important organ in our bodies: the brain.
Through my years of research as a neuroscientist, I’ve found that exercising is one of the most transformative things you can do to improve cognitive abilities, such as learning, thinking, memory, focus and reasoning — all of which can help you become smarter and live longer.
More...from CNBC.
8. Are You Working Out Too Much? Even an Ironman Needs a Rest:
It took a pandemic-forced slowdown to make this CFO and endurance athlete realize he was training too hard
Barry Plaga never imagined that slowing down could improve his performance.
Before the pandemic, Mr. Plaga, chief financial officer of a cybersecurity company, averaged two Ironman races, three half-Ironman races and a handful of half-marathons throughout the year. When the pandemic canceled competitions, his four-hour runs and six-hour bike rides no longer served a purpose. Pool closures paused his weekly swims.
He and his wife, also an endurance athlete, decided to shift their workout goals. They would aim for “getting their butts out of their home office chairs” to work out at least one hour per day, says Mr. Plaga.
More...from Wall Street Journal.
9. Increased Performance in Elite Runners Following Individualized Timing of Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation :
The use of oxygen accounts for almost the entire turnover of ATP synthesis in long-term endurance exercise but the specific energetic metabolism during shorter endurance events (12–15 min) is less clear (Hargreaves & Spriet, 2020). During this type of event, such as track-and-field running, sprint orienteering, and cross-country skiing, the relative anaerobic versus aerobic contribution to total energy release will be small but important for performance since the ATP supply from nonmitochondrial sources may lead to increased hydrogen ion (H+) release and muscular acidosis.
In anaerobic exercise, the resynthesis of ATP for muscular work is initially covered by the PCr–ATP system, followed by glycolysis (Hargreaves & Spriet, 2020). During anaerobic glycolysis, the cellular H+ buffering capacity can be exceeded, resulting in a decrease in cellular pH associated with subsequent muscular fatigue (Fitts, 1994). This metabolic acidosis will have a negative impact on the release of calcium ions during muscle contraction, the activation of electrical signal receptors, the binding of calcium ions to troponin C, and metabolic enzyme activity (Fitts, 1994). However, it is unclear how much this system contributes during shorter (12–15 min) maximal aerobic and anaerobic exercise, and how significant it is for athlete performance.
More...from Human Kinetics.
Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS):
Treat and prevent lateral knee pain caused by iliotibial band syndrome.
Lateral (outside) knee pain, as a result of Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS), can be an extremely painful and frustrating injury, which puts a big strain on both the knee and hip joints.
Knee pain caused by iliotibial band syndrome is common among runners and cyclists. However, the knee pain doesn’t usually occur in an instant, like a hamstring strain or groin pull, but starts out as a dull ache, and progresses quickly to debilitating knee pain that can sideline the best athletes for weeks.
Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)
What Causes Iliotibial Band Syndrome?
There are two main causes of lateral knee pain associated with iliotibial band syndrome. The first is overload and the second is biomechanical errors.
More...from StrecthCoach.
11. The Next Holy Grail of Human Performance:
If you're going to unlock the next level health enhancing, life lengthening and all round optimising benefits of sleep, then you're going to have to start treating a good night's rest like it matters, because it does- a whole lot.
Nothing illustrates the incredible power of sleep more starkly than seeing what happens when you don't get enough. That's right. I'm talking about sleep deprivation.
This is the thing that kicks in after even just one night of getting less than what you need. Sleep deprivation affects every single one of your major organ systems, from your heart to your brain, to your immune system. Yes, it indeed negatively affects how well you learn, how clearly you think, how gracefully you age, and how well you fend off illness.
More...from Neuro Athletics.
12. Fitness Trends 2021: New Trends in Fitness:
The pandemic has forced drastic changes upon the fitness industry, producing a sizable shift in how people approach staying fit and maintaining the health benefits of regular exercise.
In order to learn about what the newest trends in fitness were for 2021, we surveyed 4,538 active adults from 122 countries (active adults are respondents who reported being active at the start of 2020). These respondents shared what they believe was the best way to stay fit in 2021, in comparison to the start of 2020, before the pandemic.
In this report, we break down the change in trends from 2020 to 2021, showing the differences demographically and in comparison to the two cohort studies of 1,990 gym members and 2,712 runners we published previously.
More...from RunRepeat.
13. Why your retirement years are the best time to get fit:
Kathy Glazer-Chow likes her workouts to be challenging. So, the 71-year-old often ends her three-times-a-week training sessions with several sets of bicep curls using 20-pound weights or some 35-pound kettlebell lifts.
“I always tell my trainer I want to be the senior GI Jane,” says Ms. Glazer-Chow with a chuckle, referring to the iconic movie starring Demi Moore as an astoundingly ripped female U.S. Navy Seal recruit.
The Toronto retiree was a mid-life convert to the benefits of physical fitness, getting active as a 48-year-old mother with a six- and eight-year-old. She’s since completed the 200-kilometre Ride to Conquer Cancer eight times and walks daily, but it is in recent years that she’s started to appreciate the real impact of her choices.
More...from the Globe and Mail.
14. Why Am I So Tired After Working Out? It Could Be ‘Exercise Intolerance':
New tests can diagnose the condition, and more treatment options are available.
It can start with unusual discomfort or breathlessness during a workout or an uphill walk—a feeling many of us experience, and dismiss, the older we get. But medical researchers are learning more about a condition they refer to as exercise intolerance, an inability to perform strenuous activity at a level that should be normal for an individual’s age, size and fitness level.
Using real-time exercise tests, doctors are able to better diagnose the underlying causes of the condition that can prevent people from getting the exercise they need to maintain good health. And, thanks to these tests, more treatment options are becoming available, including medical specialists and respiratory experts who work with patients on personalized solutions.
More...from the Wall Street Journal.
15. Here’s How Weather Conditions Affect Your Running Speed :
A new study uses machine learning to quantify the effects of temperature, humidity, heat, and sun.
Nobody checks the weather forecast more obsessively than a marathoner with a race coming up. We’re all dreaming of (as Outside’s Martin Fritz Huber so poetically put it in a recent column) “that perfect meteorological cocktail—temps in the low 50s, dry, a tailwind that magically follows you around like a forest sprite.”
But what are the precise ingredients of that ideal cocktail? There has been plenty of research over the years attempting to nail down the best temperature—but even the top scientists in the world haven’t reached a consensus. During Eliud Kipchoge’s first attempt at a sub-two-hour marathon back in 2017, for example, the starting temperature of 52 degrees Fahrenheit was seemingly too hot according to some calculations, but just right according to the scientists organizing the race. And what about the roles of humidity, wind, and even solar radiation?
More...from Sweat Science on Outside Online.
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