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1. Why Women Need More Strength and Less Cardio Training:
Endurance sports have their place, but for long-term health and longevity, you need to hit the weights.
As a former Ironman triathlete and bike racer, I’m not about to tell anyone to hang up their racing flats or rack their bike. Endurance training can improve cardiorespiratory fitness, lipid profiles, and insulin sensitivity. It can lower blood pressure and boost mood and brain health. Plus, women are built for endurance, as we’re seeing women outright win ultra-running races like the 2021 Ultra-Trail World Tour and last year’s Race Across America (RAAM). But for our longevity in sport and life, we need to step up our strength training.
Research shows that only 20 percent of women engage in resistance training two or more times a week. Of course, that’s the general population, and I know the percentage of women who lift weights is higher in this audience. But I also know from personal experience that it could and should be higher.
More...from Dr. Stacy Sims.
2. New Balance Fresh Foam 1080v12 Review: Fresh As Ever:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 11.3 oz. (320 g.) for a US M10.5 / 8.4 oz. (239 g.) for a US W7.5 / 10.9 oz. (309 g.) for a US M10 2E
The dreaded UltraHeel is no more
Fresh Foam X is as X-ellent as ever
Stretch knit toe is a great improvement over last version
Coming in May 2022 for $159
THOMAS: I can’t move forward in this New Balance Fresh Foam 1080v12 review without covering my personal history with the series. The last three versions of the 1080 have been my preferred New Balance daily trainer and have been honorable mentions in our Best in Gear awards. The 1080 delivers a well-cushioned ride that rivaled the best max cushioned daily trainers before New Balance pushed its Fresh Foam More envelope. Of course, some details could be tweaked, but overall, New Balance produced a plush trainer that satisfied the average runner year in and year out. So naturally, the team was chomping at the bit to get our hands on the dirty dozen.
MEAGHAN: I’ve been on a roller coaster ride with the New Balance 1080. My first experience with V8 back in 2018 was a fun surprise, and by the time we got to V10, it had made it onto my all-time favorites list. Then V11 arrived, and the seemingly minor change to the heel counter completely ruined it for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect with V12, but here we are, and it’s somewhat better than I expected.
More...from Believe in the Run.
3. Track Your Fitness With These Key Workouts:
Use these key workouts to track the metrics that matter most in achieving your fitness goals.
As an endurance athlete, you likely have your go-to workouts that help you define what your current fitness is and how you’ve improved over time — whether that’s over the span of a month, a year, or a decade. When evaluating your fitness gains, it’s imperative that these workouts give you the information you need to make necessary adjustments. This article will highlight a couple of key workouts you can use to track your fitness and will also touch upon some metrics to look out for. I’ll use running workouts to keep things simple, but these can easily be adapted for cyclists, too.
I recruited input from some of my D3 Multisport coaches about the run workouts they regularly use to track where an athlete is at any given time in their training cycle. Some of these are easy baseline workouts that are repeatable, and some are closer to threshold and will take some effort. As you incorporate these workouts into your routine, you’ll have a greater picture of how successful your training is over time.
Weekly Zone 1 or 2 Workout
One of the easiest workouts to execute is a weekly Zone 1 or Zone 2 workout. This workout should be a staple — it can tell you plenty about your fitness when looking at pace, heart rate, cadence, and even power. My go-to for this workout is a simple 1-hour run, broken into:
More...from Training Peaks.
4. The Best Gore-Tex Shoes For Rainy Day Runs:
hese 13 options are some of the best for keeping your feet dry and happy in the rainy season.
There’s a saying out there that “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear.” When it comes to running in the rain and cold, some runners might opt to run inside or not at all. But, when the bad weather keeps coming (or when your only option is to run outdoors), then you suit up and head outside. In the right gear, running in the rain can be both a memorable and enjoyable experience.
Fortunately there are some great running shoe options to keep every step dry and protected, so you can ignore the weather and enjoy the run.
Gore-Tex running shoes are collaborations with major running shoe brands and the textile masters at Gore-Tex to create waterproof, breathable versions of their bestselling styles, offering runners the familiarity of their preferred style but in a waterproof format. Not only are Gore-Tex running shoes waterproof, they also add a layer of protection allowing them to be hard-wearing versions of the style. This is especially useful for the trail and gravel versions so you can take to the most aggressive trails year-round with a hard-wearing upper ready for action.
More...from TrailRunner.
5. The Story of the First World Marathon Championship:
he Great Marathon Derby of 1909, held on a small and muddy track in New York City, brought together six of the best professional runners on earth. In this excerpt from his new book ‘Running Throughout Time: the Greatest Running Stories Ever Told,’ Roger Robinson captures the era and recounts how a little-known outsider raced to victory.
The first marathon to get the world’s attention was the 1908 Olympic race in London. Dorando Pietri, a resilient little Italian cake maker in a white shirt, baggy red shorts, and a knotted handkerchief on his head entered the stadium with a big lead. But the day was hot and Pietri had reached the edge of exhaustion. Staggering confusedly, he collapsed on the track. Helped to his feet, dazed and wobbling, he collapsed again, and again, six times in all, until the vast crowd thought he was going to die. Steered and supported by officials, Pietri reached the tape, but inevitably he was disqualified for “assistance,” and the Olympic title went to the coolheaded New Yorker Johnny Hayes. The elemental human conflict between Pietri’s physical weakness and his indomitable willpower caught the world’s imagination.
Pietri’s story is well-known. But the world has forgotten the era that his courage inspired. Suddenly, the marathon became big business and a worldwide craze. Highlighting this “marathon mania” was a series of spectacularly successful professional marathon matches. Held mostly in New York City, they attracted huge crowds and media interest and created a multinational generation of elite runners. Because they ran for prize money, with betting permitted, they are largely omitted from history books, which, dominated as they are by the Olympics, deal exclusively with the amateur sport. Thus their fascinating story exists only in brief newspaper references and family archives that have been unnoticed for generations, and has never been fully told.
More...from Outside Online.
6. How does the weight of running shoes affect speed and performance?
There's always plenty of talk about footwear flying around the Precision Fuel & Hydration office (Andy and JP I'm looking at both of you) and in the last few years it’s fair to say that the running world has been saturated with, what I’m going to call, “shoe chat” too.
The debate about the development of shoe technology was ignited by World Athletics' decision to limit the impact of Nike’s race-changing footwear ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo...
Why does shoe weight matter?
The Nike Vaporfly 4% shoes became commercially available back in 2017, so runners were suddenly exposed to the possibility of running a personal best simply by switching shoes.
Now, a few years down the line, the results of changing footwear are coming to fruition.
The previously mythical sub-2 hour marathon mark has been broken by Eliud Kipchoge (albeit under specialist conditions), while personal bests across a wide range of distances have been logged, and research - unaffiliated with Nike (or any shoe company for that matter) - has confirmed the four percent average performance benefit.
It isn’t the first time a modification in shoes has yielded a performance-enhancement, but it's the first time we’ve seen an improvement as big as 4-5% (hence the controversy!).
More...from Irish Times.
8. Exercise and Energy Drinks: What Does the Research Say?
Should your clients use energy drinks to improve their exercise performance? The short answer is no. But it’s important to understand why.
Energy drinks, or “EDs,” are fundamentally different from sports drinks (e.g., Gatorade) and traditional beverages like coffee, tea, soft drinks, juices and flavored water. Most contain three major components: high levels of caffeine, sugar and an herbal “energy blend” consisting of taurine, glucuronolactone, guarana, gingko, B vitamins and L-carnitine.
Critically, many people consume multiple ED in one session—and some individuals are more sensitive to caffeine because of their genetics. EDs’ high caffeine content, combined with the fact that many of those who consume them are often caffeine naive—i.e., teenagers and young adults who don’t drink coffee every day—can lead to negative outcomes.
Because of the research my colleagues and I have performed, I don’t recommend people consume energy drinks in general, regardless of whether they’re exercising. EDs are associated with a number of complications, and with respect to the cardiovascular system specifically, ED consumption is associated with increased demand on the heart via increased sympathetic tone, blood pressure, inotropy and arrhythmias. Individuals may also experience reduced coronary artery blood supply via endothelial dysfunction, platelet aggregation, coronary thrombosis and coronary spasm. These factors can lead to acute issues for cardiac patients and healthy people alike.
More...from the ACSM.
9. Slowed by Anemia, Runner Keira D’Amato Used InsideTracker’s Blood Biometrics to Help Her Become America’s Fastest Woman Marathoner:
At the Houston Marathon in January, Keira D’Amato ran the distance faster than any American woman ever had, completing the 26.2 miles in 2:19:12 and breaking Deena Kastor’s 16-year-old record by 24 seconds.
D’Amato’s journey to that point was anything but traditional. Though she was a four-time All-American in cross country and outdoor track at American University who ran competitively for a time after college, D’Amato left the sport in 2009 following ankle surgery. She got married, had two children and began a career in real estate. She began running again for fun and general wellness.
But her times kept getting better and better, beginning with her first post-pregnancy marathon in 2017. D’Amato, now 37, later signed a professional contract with Nike in 2021 and is an ambassador for several companies—including InsideTracker, which analyzes blood biometrics and personalizes training and nutrition plans.
Next on her training plan is try and qualify for the 10K in the track world championships this July in Oregon and then for one of the four World Marathon Majors this fall (Berlin, London, Chicago, New York). “And then Paris 2024 is on my mind,” she says. “I'm not getting any younger, but it's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to make an Olympic team.”
More...from SportTechie.
10Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport: What Coaches Need to Know:
Mary Cain, a former record-breaking phenom, made a different type of headline Opens in a new window when she spoke up about the pressure she faced to lose weight that caused her to disappear from the running scene (Cain, 2019). Cain’s willingness to speak up started a social media movement that brought to the public’s attention the cost of under-fuelling to an athlete’s physical and mental health.
The evolution of relative energy deficiency in sport
While not realizing it at the time, Cain, who had lost her period, experienced five bone stress fractures, and whose performance was suffering, was experiencing relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). Introduced in 2014 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus group, RED-S is a syndrome that impairs various physiological functions, including metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular health (Mountjoy et al., 2014). The underlying cause of RED-S is low energy availability – this occurs when calorie intake is insufficient to meet the calories expended through exercise, leaving inadequate energy for normal bodily function (Loucks & Heath, 1994).
More...from SIRC.
11. COVID-Related Athletic Deaths: Another Perfect Storm?
Despite high cardiorespiratory fitness, athletes of all ages and sex can suffer poor health, including cardiac conditions; some may even die during training or competition. While athletes are often thought of as being very healthy, this is not always the case as many are fit but unhealthy (Maffetone and Laursen, 2015; Scudiero et al., 2021). Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one example.
The causes of SCD in athletes vary, with the estimated incidence of death between 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 80,000 persons (Harmon et al., 2014). The wide range may be due in part to the definitions of SCD; some estimates include only deaths with exertion or shortly (<1 h) after exertion, others include any SCD in an athlete (exertional or outside of exertion) and exclude those who have been resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest. In athletes <35 years, inherited cardiac conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and anomalous origin of a coronary artery are most common. Athletes >35 years represent the most sudden death cases from atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, which are usually lifestyle related (Lechner et al., 2020). The true incidence of SCD may be unknown and underestimated as current estimates are based largely on case identification through public media reports and estimated participation rates (Harmon et al., 2011). In addition, underreporting in all ages may occur in the context of recreational sports (Marijon et al., 2011).
More...from Frontiers in Sprots and Active Living.
12. For runners recovering from COVID-19, slow and steady wins the race:
Fatigue, shortness of breath common among athletes as they resume training.
When Allyson Moore contracted COVID-19 earlier this month, her symptoms were unpleasant, but bearable.
"I just felt really crummy for about three days," the Ottawa physiotherapist recalled, comparing the experience to having "a bad cold."
It wasn't until Moore, 31, ventured out for her first walk that she noticed something else.
"I had to stop after 10 minutes and catch my breath, and I'm used to running 20 to 40 kilometres a week, so it really was a wake-up call," said Moore, a triathlete who's also training for the Ottawa Race Weekend half marathon at the end of May.
A few days later, her other symptoms gone, Moore attempted her first post-COVID run.
"Same shortness of breath, and I also found my heart rate spiked way higher than it normally would, which was really kind of shocking, just showing that my body really wasn't back to 100 per cent," she said.
More...from the CBC.
13. Tart Cherry Juice: Recovery Drink or Snake Oil?
Despite years of research, the athletic potential of Montmorency cherries isn’t as sweet as it sounds.
I’ve been ignoring cherry juice for well over a decade now. The studies keep showing up in my dragnet of potentially interesting research, suggesting that tart cherries accelerate post-exercise recovery, funded more often than not by the Cherry Marketing Institute. But other studies find no benefit. And more generally, my approach to supplement research is to assume that (a) nothing works, and (b) if something actually does work in any meaningful way, you won’t have to go digging for evidence because everybody will be talking about it.
Cherry juice still hasn’t reached the “everyone is talking about it” stage, at least in my circles, but the studies keep on coming, including a couple of recent reviews and meta-analyses. Interestingly, the gist of some of these recent papers is less “Does cherry juice work?” and more “We know cherry juice works, so why aren’t more athletes using it?” With that in mind, I’m going to try to sum up the current state of research, then offer a few thoughts about why athletes might—and perhaps should—remain hesitant.
More...from Sweat Science on Outside Online.
14. What’s the Best Way to Exercise When You’re Hungover?
There isn't any science to "sweating it out," unfortunately.
f your method of dealing with a hangover involves lying on your couch all day long, or making a Top Chef-worthy breakfast sandwich, or sitting cross-legged on the floor of a running shower while eating a cold pickle (pioneered by a nutjob friend of mine) you can skip the rest of this article. Allot your five minutes elsewhere.
There are a few of us, however, who feel a bizarre compulsion to exercise the day after a big night out. I’ll typically shoehorn in some sort of activity, for instance, even if I’m weathering a Mount Rushmore headache; and during certain occasions, I actually treat hungover exercise as a rite of passage. (Over wedding weekends, I pencil in a nonnegotiable four-mile run the morning of the event, in an attempt to flush out rehearsal dinner toxins. I wish I could say that other guests find this at all charming.)
More...from InsideHook.
15. British Transgender Cyclist Blocked From Racing Biological Women After Competitors Threaten To Boycott Race:
British transgender cyclist Emily Bridges‘ hopes of competing against biological female Olympic royalty over the weekend were derailed when British female cyclists threatened a boycott, and cycling officials determined Bridges hadn’t met regulations.
According to The Guardian, British cycling officials are facing a growing backlash amongst biological female riders who feel Bridges has an unfair advantage, which seems to be a fair argument considering Bridges was beating male riders during a late February competition.
Bridges was supposed to race in Saturday’s British National Omnium Championship against the likes of Dame Laura Kenny, who is considered the greatest British female Olympian ever, but the cycling governing body determined that Bridges is still registered as a male cyclist and will not be eligible to race against biological females “until her male UCI [governing body] ID expires,” The Guardian reports
More...from OutKick.
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