|
1. Adidas Takumi Sen 8 Review: An Absolute Beauty:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 6.8 oz. (193 g) for a US M9 (unisex sizing)
Lightstrike Pro midsole provides a perfect balance of cushion and energy return
Lightweight and breathable upper fits like a true racer
This is quickly becoming one of our favorite all-time shoes
Available now for $180
The Intro
THOMAS: Adidas has produced some of my favorite running trainers. I have run marathons, daily miles, and tempo runs in everything from the Adios Boost to the Ultraboost. When the BOOST foam hit the market, the weight was offset by the energy return. Adidas leaned in hard, and like a guest that lingers too long, the initial excitement of their visit turns sour after 8 beers, or 8 years, the latter applying specifically to BOOST. Competitors’ foams became lighter and just as responsive.
More...from Believe in the Run.
2. Adequate Vitamin D Levels May Protect Against Heart Disease, Research Finds:
The vitamin has been showcased for bone strength, but it can benefit your cardiovascular system, too.
Those who get enough vitamin D are less likely to develop heart disease, according to new research.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends 600 to 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily.
Other vitamin D benefits include a sunnier mood, stronger bones, and better protection during cold and flu season.
When it comes to being an overachiever, vitamin D seems to qualify. Research has linked deficiencies in the vitamin to higher risk of osteoporosis, and certain cancers, autoimmune diseases, and mood disorders. A recent study in the European Heart Journal suggests cardiovascular disease should be high on that list, too.
Researchers looked at data on nearly 300,000 people, including blood pressure, cardiac imaging, gene variants, and vitamin levels in the blood.
More...from Runner's World.
3. Iron-Deficiency Anemia:
More times than not, when female runners complain about feeling sluggish during workouts, it turns out that their iron is low. The loss of iron in the blood, which often occurs from menstrual bleeding, is called iron-deficiency anemia.
Since iron is an essential ingredient of the proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin that transport oxygen inside your blood and muscles, a lack of iron diminishes oxygen transport, which has obvious implications for running. Anemia can also occur from inadequate iron in the diet, the risk of which is increased with a vegetarian diet.
While you may not even notice anemia during activities of normal living (when your muscles’ demand for oxygen is relatively low), you may feel fatigue while running (when your muscles’ demand for oxygen is much greater). If you’re mildly anemic, difficulty doing intense training like interval workouts may be the only symptom you experience. With moderate or severe anemia, even easy running feels difficult.
More...from Kyniska Running.
4. The surprising brain benefits of exercising with others:
I reviewed the evidence on dozens of so-called brain enhancers. Here’s what actually works.
In 2020, the world spent more than $7 billion on supplements that promised to enhance brain health. We may as well be setting that money on fire. The quest for the perfect IQ-boosting pill, memory game, or creativity elixir has not been a successful one.
If you’re seeking that one weird trick to improve your brain health, the best place to look might be your feet. That’s the conclusion I reached after my journey through hundreds of studies assessing brain zapping, microdosing, games, and other popular interventions for my book, The Tailored Brain. It turns out one of the only legitimate ways to tailor our brains has been available to us all along: physical activity.
Getting moving has a number of effects that tie directly to the brain’s resilience, from increased blood flow to refreshed connections in the brain itself. But one of the less appreciated ways to enhance these effects even further is to engage with other brains while we engage in exercise.
More...from Vox.
5. Is Blood-Flow Restriction the Future of Performance?
Athletes like Mikaela Shiffrin have started adopting the training technique to increase endurance, muscle mass, and more.
After a workout several years ago, Mikaela Shiffrin slipped inflatable cuffs over her upper arms and legs, then cranked through a 20-minute circuit of relatively easy exercises. “In 15 minutes I was exhausted, more exhausted than I felt from a two-hour strength session,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist says. “I remember thinking, Oh my gosh, my arms are sore, like I just did 200 push-ups or something.”
Exhaustion was the point. The technique—called blood-flow-restriction training, and also known as Kaatsu—uses pressure around the arms and legs to significantly limit circulation, triggering a wide range of adaptations in the body. Invented in 1966 by Yoshiaki Sato, an MD and a researcher, BFR training was first adopted by Japanese bodybuilders and powerlifters. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that it made its way out of Japan, thanks in part to Jim Stray-Gundersen, a physiologist and physician and a former medical adviser to the International Olympic Committee, the International Ski Federation, and NASA. After hearing about BFR training at a medical conference, he traveled to Japan in 2013 to study the technique. It wasn’t long before he’d partnered with Sato to launch Kaatsu in North America. The two split ways, and Stray-Gundersen cofounded his own BFR system, called B Strong.
More...from Outside Online[Member*].
6. Do You Run at Goal Pace or Current Pace?
I once coached a college runner who ran a 19-minute 5K who said she wanted to be trained like a 17:30 5K runner. So I told her to run a 17:30 5K and then I’ll train her like a 17:30 5K runner.
It seems logical that if you want to run faster, you should practice running at that faster pace. But there are a few problems with this way of thinking:
1) What determines goal pace? A runner’s goals are often arbitrary and not realistic. I’ve coached many runners over the years who had unrealistic goals. If I had prescribed them workouts at their goal paces, those workouts would have been way over their heads, and they would have run themselves into the ground trying to accomplish them.
2) Running at goal pace, even if that goal is realistic, represents a future level of fitness. Doing workouts now at that future fitness level means that you’re doing workouts faster than what you need to run to meet the desired purpose. If that 19-minute 5K runner did her threshold workouts based on a 17:30 5K, her workouts would no longer have been purely aerobic; they would have become anaerobic, which would have changed the type of workout stress.
More...from Dr. Jason Karp.
7. Marathoner Eliud Kipchoge: ‘It’s Good to Do the Unthinkable’:
Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest marathoner in history, by any measure. The 36-year-old native of Kenya recently won gold at the Tokyo Games to become the third marathoner to win back-to-back Olympic titles. In 2018, he set a world record in the race at the Berlin marathon, finishing in 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds. In 15 career marathons, he has won 13, finished second once and never placed worse than eighth. Before switching to the marathon, Kipchoge won an Olympic bronze in the 5,000 meters at the 2004 Athens Games and silver in the event at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Those are his sanctioned World Athletics marathon times, but Kipchoge is also the only man in history to cover 26.2 miles in less than two hours. He twice attempted the feat in unofficial races, first at Nike’s Breaking2 project on the Monza Formula 1 track near Milan in May 2017 and then again in October 2019 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna. At the latter run, he crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. (It did not count toward the official record books because of the set up—the race did not have an open field of competitors, and he had both a designated pace car and several teams of runners taking turns in formation to minimize wind resistance.)
More...from Globe and Mail.
9. Q36.5 Unique Shoe review:
taly’s Q36.5 does shoes differently .
Great comfort, a superb fit and a stiff sole, but very expensive and not great in the wet
Q36.5 has a reputation for doing things differently – and that’s clearly evident in its new shoe.
The Uniques look very much like many other top-end road shoes out there, with their offset mouth and twin Boa dials.
But the upper has been designed after the manufacturer 3D-mapped numerous feet and employed the data, resulting in what 36.5 believes are among the best-fitting shoes you can buy.
Instead of a tongue, the Uniques have a super-soft, elasticated membrane that covers the whole forefoot and wraps around the opening’s collar.
The inner heel is textured to add grip, the upper’s fit is close and well-proportioned, and the expanding membrane means they’ll fit a lot of foot shapes without creasing or pinching.
More...from Bike Radar.
10. Bone health in the young athlete – part of the new UK SEM Trainee Blog Series:
How should we be investigating and monitoring bone health in the young athlete?
Bone health is a key area of development in the wellbeing of young athletes and is crucial for their safe training and successful career progression. Bone mineral density (BMD) is often used as the main (surrogate) marker for bone health, and usually peaks in early adulthood when many athletes are reaching the heights of their athletic potential (1). Ensuring young athletes reach their sporting goals without impacting their bone health can be a difficult challenge.
The adolescent years are key for the development of bone health, with approximately 90% of peak bone mass (PBM) achieved by the age of 18 years. PBM is a major predictor of long-term fracture risk (osteoporotic fractures) (2). Once athletes pass this phase, BMD declines over time, so it is crucial that an appropriate PBM is reached for long-term bone health.
More...from the British Journal of Sports Medecine.
11. How Female Athletes’ Nutritional Needs Differ From Men’s:
For years there’s been a dearth of scientific research on what female bodies need for optimal performance. Here’s what we now know about how women runners should fuel their bodies differently from men.
One of the most consequential biases in exercise science has been the historical use of male athletes for studies and the application of those research findings to the body of female athletes. Fortunately, during the past decade, researchers have sought to rectify that scientific research bias, and there is now a substantial amount of current research being done specifically on female athletes, emphasizing some of the physiological and adaptational differences that female athletes experience leading up to competition and in the recovery period.
As it turns out, men’s and women’s bodies respond differently to exercise and nutrition — and thus have different fueling needs.
“Physiologically, women’s bodies tend to have more fat than men,” states Julie Mancuso, Registered Dietitian. “This can result in different energy needs, even without running thrown in the mix.”
However, when running is considered, there are additional elements of physiology unique to females which may impact energy levels, performance and recovery. Here are some ways in which female runners should approach fueling differently from males.
More...from women's Running.
12. Period Power:
Menstruation can be prime time for PRs. Here’s how to go with the flow (no matter how heavy your flow).
“What’s the matter, you on the rag?”
“Hey ‘ladies,’ are you going to get your heads in the game, or do you need some tampons?”
When I was coming up through sports, it wasn’t uncommon for male coaches to berate their players with “period taunts,” because if there was anything worse than “playing like a girl” it was “playing like a girl on her period.” To be honest, though we’ve come a long way, you can still hear this sort of B.S. emanating from locker rooms, team busses, and playing fields around the world.
Is it any wonder that women have internalized these messages? That though there are more women than ever lifting heavy shit, racing bikes, running marathons, and picking up even the most traditionally male-dominated sports that we still get worried that we might get our period on a day we’re hoping to be our best? Is it any surprise that we still equate having our periods with a time we need to “take it easy?”
More...from Dr. Stacy Sims.
13. The Whoop Strap and Oura Ring Are Measuring the Impact of Menstruation and Pregnancy on Athletes as Women's Research and Tech Finally Rise:
Kristen Holmes played and coached field hockey at the highest level for more than two decades, earning three All-America selections at Iowa and later coaching Princeton to a national championship. Never, she says, did the subject of menstrual cycles arise in the context of training. Researchers aren’t asking those questions either, with one estimate indicating that women account for only 3% of participants in sport science analysis.
Caroline Kryder grew up in Texas, where education about monthly cycles was limited to its impact on the reproductive system. “You don't talk about anything else,” she says. “So you don't talk about how the menstrual cycle might impact your entire body, how it might change your sleep patterns, your respiration, the way that your heart is functioning, sort of the whole systems approach.”
That field, however, is finally expanding as both leading holistic-monitoring wearables—the Whoop strap and Oura Ring—are applying new technology and novel research to female physiology.
Holmes is the VP of performance at Whoop and the chair of its newly announced Women’s Performance Collective, a cross section of athletes and scientists—including former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and Olympic runner Colleen Quigley—who will lead new initiatives in education and research. Whoop 4.0 has more sensitive heart rate sensors, as well as a new skin temperature gauge to help power richer studies. To help communicate its message, the company has also partnered with Voice in Sport, a female-focused sports content and community platform for teens and young women.
More...from Sport Techie.
14. What is PNF Stretching?
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation – How to do it, precautions to take, safety guidelines, and PNF stretching examples.
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is a more advanced form of flexibility training, which involves both the stretching and contracting of the muscle group being targeted. PNF stretching is one of the most effective forms of stretching for improving flexibility and increasing range of motion.
PNF stretching was originally developed as a form of rehabilitation, and to that effect it is very effective. It is also excellent for targeting specific muscle groups, and as well as increasing flexibility, it also improves muscular strength.
Side note: There are many different variations of the PNF stretching principle. Sometimes it is referred to as Facilitated stretching, Contract-Relax (CR) stretching or Hold-Relax stretching. Post Isometric Relaxation (PIR) and Muscle Energy Technique (MET) are other variations of the PNF technique. And Contract-Relax-Antagonist-Contract (CRAC) is yet another variation.
When I started using PNF stretching in the early 1990’s I quickly discovered that PNF was a far superior form of stretching for improving flexibility and range of motion (ROM). While other forms of stretching were better when trying to achieve other goals, when it came to getting an athlete as flexible as possible; PNF was the best choice.
I remember being challenged about my belief in the benefits of PNF, and was asked to produce some research to back up my claims. However, back in the early 90’s the only “research” I had was the work I was doing with athletes and personal training clients, and there was very little “scientific” research about stretching in general, let alone research about PNF stretching.
More...from StretchCoach.
15. A Few Minutes of High-Intensity Exercise Per Day Can Reduce Your Risk of Liver Disease, New Research Shows:
Whether you enjoy a daily walk or prefer high-intensity sprints, it's well known that exercising regularly can improve your overall health. No matter how you choose get a sweat session in, a new study conducted by researchers from Western Sydney University found that working out daily can prevent liver disease. The study authors discovered that not only does moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) improve liver health, but short and more intense exercises work, as well.
To obtain their findings, researchers reviewed over 28,000 previous studies related to the connection between exercise and liver health. The study authors chose to focus on 19 specific studies out of the thousands, which involved 745 people. Studies examined liver fat levels using non-invasive measurement techniques, such as proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They found that regular aerobic exercise reduced liver fat levels by 3.14 percent, while high-intensity training lead to a liver fat reduction of 2.85 percent.
More...from MSN.
|
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
