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1. An Unconventional Training Idea for Female Masters Triathletes:
A new paper in the Journal of Sports Sciences, in setting up what turns out to be a highly unusual and interesting experiment, casually drops this little fact-bomb in its opening sentence: “The cardiac phenotype of a substantial fraction of the population, i.e., mature women, is mainly unresponsive to endurance training.”
Wow. The hearts of mature women are “mainly unresponsive”?! That seems like kind of a big deal, since the health-promoting effects of endurance training are an article of faith in this column. So it’s worth starting out by acknowledging the chronic underrepresentation of women in exercise science studies. Exactly how women respond to a given training program, and how that changes with age, remains uncertain because it hasn’t been studied enough.
In fact, there’s some history to this claim. Back in 2019, two of the authors of the new study, Candela Diaz-Canestro and David Montero of the University of Calgary, published a meta-analysis looking at the extent to which men and women can raise their VO2 max, a key marker of aerobic fitness, through endurance training. Their conclusion: for a given dose of endurance training, men got a bigger VO2 max boost than women by about 2 ml/min/kg—a difference that corresponds to a 7 to 9 percent reduction in premature death.
More...from Sports Ndews Now.
2. ‘It doesn’t need to be a setback’: how elite athletes return from pregnancy:
Serena Williams says she does not want to be pregnant again as an athlete – she got back to the top before but it can take its toll
Serena Williams has never liked the word “retirement”. Her move away from tennis, announced in an essay in the September issue of Vogue, is an “evolution”, she says. In her transition, she will shift focus from tennis to “other things” that are important to her. One is her wish to have another child.
Williams and her husband have been trying for a baby in the past year, a move apparently encouraged by their four-year-old daughter, who has hopes of becoming a big sister. But, as Williams told the magazine: “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
Williams was two months pregnant when she won the Australian Open in 2017. She gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, on 1 September that year. It was not a straightforward pregnancy, however. Williams had a caesarean section after developing a blood clot in her lung during labour, and went on to play through postnatal depression.
More...from < A HREF="https://tinyurl.com/2r3r4prt" target="_news">The Guardian.
3. Ask A Gear Guru: How Long Do Running Shoes Last?
Our shoe expert helps answer that age-old question and reveals seven quick tips on how to extend the life of your precious-but-disposable investment.
If you think about it, running shoes are one of the best things you can spend your money on.
For the $100-$150 you spend (yes, there are models that cost a lot more), you’re making a huge investment in your fitness for the next four to eight months. But it’s a bit of a paradox, too, because there’s the notion that the more you run and the healthier you get, the quicker your shoes wear out and the sooner you’ll need to buy a new pair.
How long should your running shoes last? There’s a general understanding that most pairs will last between 350 and 500 miles, but it depends what kind of running you’re doing and many other factors, says Sonya Estes, owner of the Runner’s Roost shop in Lakewood, Colorado.
More...from Triathlete.
4. Adidas 4DFWD: First Look | Fast Forward To The Future:
What You Need To Know
Updated version of the Adidas 4DFWD line
3D-printed midsole designed for forward propulsion (obviously)
New Primeknit+ and engineered mesh upper provides a sock-like fit
All-new Continental rubber outsole for superior traction
Available September 1 for $200
We like going fast and we like going forward. So do most other runners. We are also lazy and always looking for ways in which the future can do everything for us.Is the Adidas 4DFWD, a running shoe with a 3D-printed midsole designed for forward propulsion, the perfect shoe for us?
Maybe. After all, we have been rocking the Asics 3D Actibreeze all summer long, and that footwear is a single piece of machine art.
This isn’t Adidas’ first rodeo in the 3D-printed world. They’ve been doing 4D shoes for a few years now (yes, it’s super confusing to call a 3D-printed shoe a 4D), so this version of the shoe is essentially an updated version of past 4DFWD shoes.
More...from LiveScience.
6. The Latest in Sports Tech: Apps and Devices for Endurance Athletes:
These technological advancements offer a more comprehensive view of your fitness than previously imagined.
Endurance athletes at all levels should establish a core set of technologies to plan, execute, and review their training. Having a primary device (e.g., a head unit for cyclists, or a watch for runners and multi-sport athletes), a heart rate monitor, a power meter, and an app like TrainingPeaks for planning and reviewing workouts and training data is almost as important as having shoes or a bike.
As you get more experienced and comfortable with this starter pack of technology, you may wonder what other technology might be available to help you get even more out of your training. To that end, we’ve gathered a list of a few of the most interesting recent technological developments for endurance athletes and coaches.
More...from Training Peaks.
7. The benefits and limits of speed training for endurance runners:
Interval training, repetitions or speed work are terms many people taking up athletics will often hear but what do they mean, where should it fit within your training and what are the potential pitfalls you should avoid when introducing it into your plan?
This guide will help provide some fundamentals.
For the sake of this article, intervals, repetitions and speed work will all be seen as the same general type of training, though in reality some coaches will have slight variances in their interpretations of those different terms.
The theory behind speed training
Preparing yourself mentally to run at those speeds and learning what it feels like physically
Stimulating the recruitment of fast-twitch muscles fibres
More...from World Athletics.
8. How to Choose the Best Running Shoes for You:
Good running shoes can make the difference between a run realized and a run refused. And though finding the right pair for your feet and goals can involve some trial and error, the payoff is real: You’ll have shoes that lay the groundwork for a comfortable, rewarding, and enduring pursuit—whether you’re running primarily for your health or for personal bests.
For this guide we’ve gathered advice and insight from eight experts, performed dozens of hours of research, and run more than 4,000 miles over the years. The focus here is on go-to shoes for everyday runs. We take a look at the two main running-shoe types (neutral and stability), the anatomy of a running shoe, and how a shoe should fit.
To find your best running shoes, you’ll likely need to try on several different pairs, either at your local running store (where you can leverage staff expertise to help you find the ideal fit) or in your living room (if you prefer to shop online). And if you’re ordering from home, consider retailers that have solid return policies, such as Zappos, REI, Running Warehouse, Road Runner Sports, and Fleet Feet.
More...from the New York Times.
9. An Elegy for My Long-Lost Running Friends:
Early last year, Amanda Mull wrote a piece for the Atlantic titled, “The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship.” The article makes the case that the extended dearth of in-person interactions has caused many of us to lose touch with those on the periphery of our lives: gym buddies, bartenders who know our name, familiar faces from the office cafeteria. These are so-called “weak tie” friendships, whose ostensible shallowness, Mull argues, belies their importance to our psychological well-being. “I realized how much I missed it,” she writes of her communal habit of watching college football in a packed bar, “especially how much I missed all those people I only sort of know.”
For me, a version of this phenomenon played out when my local running team suspended group workouts in early 2020. With no more Tuesday track intervals or Thursday night tempos in Central Park, I was also suddenly wistful for the company of people I only sort of knew—individuals whose lives were often largely opaque to me, except for the knowledge that we all derived a perverse sense of fulfillment from doing quarter mile repeats, or progression runs in the rain.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the pandemic-induced hiatus from these group sessions would ultimately put an end to that particular chapter of my running life. By the time Covid restrictions were lifted, I’d become used to the convenience of training on my own. I had a kid. I had work obligations. Suddenly, the prospect of a semi-weekly, 50-minute subway ride just so I could, as my wife put it, “run around” with other grown men felt like an extravagance I could no longer justify. Especially if I could do all the workouts on my own. By cutting out team practices I would effectively be adding several hours to my week. But I knew that I would be losing something too.
More...from Outside Online.
10. ‘Strong over skinny’: Women powerlifters ditch stigma around bulking up:
Sasha Stein’s exercise journey started a way many women can relate to: with an underused gym membership and a weight-loss goal. Now, the only number she focuses on is the amount she can powerlift.
Now more than ever, women are hitting the gym and heading straight to the weight racks. No longer fazed by the stigma that women can get too bulky from lifting weights, women powerlifters see the sport as a physical and mental salve. Those who have fallen in love with powerlifting — a slower version of weightlifting, often with heavier weights — say they feel stronger and more poised, regardless of their size.
More...from the Washington Post.
11. Nike's New Initiative Will Increase Access for Women in Sports:
This group of incredible female athletes are fighting for gender equality in sports.
This month, Nike announced the launch of Athlete Think Tank, the brand’s new initiative to invest and champion the next generation of girls in sports. The campaign was created to help tackle some of the barriers female athletes face.
The Think Tank includes an elite, diverse roster of sports superstars and global catalysts, including tennis legend Serena Williams, basketball star Sabrina Ionescu, and Paralympic runner Scout Bassett, among others, to share their valuable insights on the realities that every woman faces in her journey as an athlete. Bringing together this group of impactful changemakers allowed them to share their passion for supporting gender equality, equal pay and access in sport.
More...from Ebony.
12. People Who Do Strength Training Live Longer — and Better:
A consensus is building among experts that both strength training and cardio? are important for longevity.
Regular physical activity has many known health benefits, one of which is that it might help you live longer. But what’s still being determined are the types and duration of exercise that offer the most protection.
In a new study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers found that while doing either aerobic exercise or strength training was associated with a lower risk of dying during the study’s time frame, regularly doing both — one to three hours a week of aerobic exercise and one to two weekly strength training sessions — was associated with an even lower mortality risk.
Switching from a sedentary lifestyle to a workout schedule is comparable to “smoking versus not smoking,” said Carver Coleman, a data scientist and one of the authors of the study.
More...from the New York Times.
13. Spat at, abused and run off the road: why do some people hate cyclists so much?
Bike riders have always faced aggression from car drivers. But they now find themselves on the latest front in the culture wars – with anger whipped up by the rightwing press
I felt like a bit of a legend when I started cycling in London 18 years ago. Everyone was always congratulating me on my bravery. “Oh, you wouldn’t catch me on a bike,” people would say if they spotted my helmet or the cycling shorts peeking out beneath my dress. “Far too dangerous.”
To be fair, it was quite hairy at times. Cycle superhighways were yet to be invented; bike lanes were marked out in paint, at best, rather than protected by any kind of physical barrier; and cab drivers still seemed surprised to see me. Young and dumb enough to believe myself invincible, I rather enjoyed the sense of peril, timing my turns to avoid getting wiped out by a bendy bus and feeling like a warrior princess at the end of every commute. I was sometimes on the receiving end of catcalls – “Lucky saddle!” or “Ride me instead!” – but no one seemed to actively hate me. Those were the days.
Fast forward to 2022 and Greater Manchester, where I now live, and I recently had a conversation with a driver whose opening gambit was: “If I had my way I’d put all cyclists up against the wall and have them shot.” As a journalist I’ve become accustomed to abuse on social media from people I’ve never met. But this guy was saying it to my face. He ran a walking group and saw cyclists as the enemy rather than allies in a car-centric society.
More... from The Guardian.
14. Compression socks may prevent nausea and loose bowels during marathons:
Stomach cramps and the urgent need for the toilet on long runs may partly be caused by decreased blood flow damaging gut cells. Compression socks reduce signs of this damage in marathon runners.
Wearing compression socks may reduce the intestinal damage thought to cause cramping, nausea and other stomach troubles sometimes associated with endurance running.
During intense exercise, some people experience what’s known as “runner’s stomach” – the sudden onset of symptoms that can include nausea, cramping and the urgent need to use the toilet. Also known as exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome, it seems to affect people regardless of their fitness level.
More...from New Scientist.
15. Why sodium is crucial to athletes performing at their best:
Sodium plays a key role in how your body functions as it helps maintain fluid balance and cognitive function, so it's important to replace the sodium you lose to some extent when your sweat losses really begin to mount up...
Why sodium is important
A 2015 study found that athletes who adequately replaced the sodium lost in their sweat finished a middle distance triathlon an average of 26 minutes faster than those who didn’t.
Whilst that sort of performance gain isn't going to be possible for everyone, it does highlight the potential impact of getting your hydration strategy right.
Your body contains lots of water - 50-70% of it is made up of the stuff in fact, depending on the amount of muscle and fat that you have. Around a third of that water exists outside your cells, in extracellular fluids like your blood.
More...from Precision Hydration.
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