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1. How designing sports bras helped Lululemon launch women’s shoes:
The clothing company discovered that women’s breasts influence their entire bodies in motion. Lululemon used this insight to design shoes adapted to women’s bodies.
In its Vancouver lab, Lululemon tracks women’s breast motion and centers of gravity as they run, jump, and stretch to create perfectly fitting sports bras. But four years ago, the brand’s designers realized that this trove of data could help them create an entirely new product: Footwear tailored to the way women’s bodies move.
This March, the brand debuted its first-ever shoe, made for running, and it just launched its second, for cross-training. Both were designed specifically for women. This sets Lululemon apart from most sneaker brands, which often design shoes for male bodies before shrinking them down into women’s sizes.
More...from Fast Company.
2. Nike Zoom Fly 5 Review: Zoom Fly or Zoom Die?
What You Need To Know
Weighs 11.2 oz. (319 g.) for a US M10.5
Recycled ZoomX inside of carrier foam feels exactly how you’d expect
The double-mesh upper is secure and comfortable, though
Available now for $160
ROBBE: When you whisper the word “ZoomX” in our ear, it gets us real riled up. Hair on the back of our neck stands up, sparks fly, and visions of training bliss with LifeTouch studio filter enter our periphery. It’s the secret sauce that makes the tastebuds tingle when we plate up a helping of the Nike Vaporfly, Alphafly, and Pegasus Turbo 2. And even though we didn’t love the Nike Invincible, we still understood why many people did.BR>
So when we saw that the Zoom Fly would finally get the ZoomX treatment for the Zoom Fly 5, we were ready to start making reservations by the fireplace at the Golden Corral. It’s BYOS (bring your own strawberries) on Wednesdays, so keep the chocolate fountain flowing.
More...from The Telegraph.
4. The Benefits of Caffeine for Endurance Athletes:
Caffeine has long been used as an energy boost for endurance athletes. Does a cup of coffee or shot of espresso really help?
Understandably so, endurance athletes are always in search of a boost in energy and performance. More often than not, caffeine is the go-to for athletes. But is caffeine truly an ergogenic aid and is it safe?
According to American College of Sports Medicine, caffeine may be the most widely used stimulant in the world. It can come in many forms such as coffee, nutrition supplements, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and chocolate. Caffeine can reach its highest levels in the blood approximately one hour after ingestion. It can have a stimulant effect on the brain as well as affect blood pressure, pulse rate, stomach acid production and fat stores. Many athletes use caffeine as a potential ergogenic aid and performance enhancer.
Performance
Caffeine may help mobilize fat stores, enabling the body to use fat as its primary fuel source. By utilizing fat as fuel, this allows the body to spare glycogen, which is an additional fuel source for the body stored in the muscles and liver. (For more on this check out Why Athletes Need Carbohydrates). By delaying muscle glycogen depletion, exercise can be prolonged enabling the athlete to go harder, longer, faster and perform more reps before fatigue.
More...from Training Peaks.
5. Case Study on Kerry Litka:
Kerry Litka talks about her change of perspective as a post-menopausal woman
For a change of pace, I thought that a case study of a woman in our community might be of interest to my readers, and it ties in nicely with the sale of my Menopause 2.0 course (the last time it goes on sale until 2023). Kerry Litka originally submitted a testimonial for the Menopause course, but then she also sent in more of her story, and it really resonated as I think we often beat ourselves up for not being who we used to be, and the mind shift is so incredibly difficult. Thank you, Kerry, for sharing this important point- we are different now than our pre-menopausal selves, and we can achieve success when we rethink how we train and what is best for longevity in sport and health for our own bodies!
From Kerry ...
I wanted to share some additional insight and a recent experience that adds to my testimonial but might not necessarily be appropriate there. As a now post-menopausal athlete, one of the things that I found incredibly helpful in the Menopause course was likely not intended to be part of their curriculum, but the impact it had on my ability to view my own training and racing is huge. Like most people these days, I see a lot of things on social media and the internet and am always experiencing some level of FOMO and "am I doing enough/doing the right thing?" when I see what other athletes are doing, especially my peers.
More...from Dr. Stacy Sims.
6. ‘Icarus: The Aftermath’ Review: Oscar-Winning Doping Doc Gets Enthralling Sequel:
Telluride: Filmmaker Bryan Fogel attempts to pick up the pieces that his shattering "Icarus" left behind.
You could, rightly, characterize director Bryan Fogel’s Academy Award-winning documentary “Icarus” as the product of dumb luck. It began as one film — a “Super Size Me”-type concept whereby Fogel, a cycling enthusiast, attempted to expose the ease of illegal doping by injecting himself with steroids — that became an arresting investigation into Russia’s decades-long use of performance-enhancing drugs, with the colorful Grigory Rodchenkov, head of the country’s anti-doping laboratory, as the primary whistleblower. With Rodchenkov’s testimony, Fogel made the pervasive rot of Russian sports into an enthralling piece of storytelling.
And yet, despite its envelope-pushing search for the truth, “Icarus” ended as almost all documentaries do: The audience’s eyes are opened and the subject who did the revealing fades into the background. Toward the end of the film, Rodchenkov’s lawyer, Jim Walden, appears to explain that his client is now in hiding, dodging the Russian government’s hit squads.
More///from IndieWire.
7. Paula Radcliffe's top tips for surviving the hardest weeks of marathon training:
The peak weeks of marathon training can be a tough slog, so take some advice from the very best
The peak weeks of marathon training can be a really tough slog. Your long runs feel endless, you are starting to feel the pressure of that looming 26.2 mile deadline, and doubts can start to creep in. You feel anything but fresh, and race day is starting to seem horribly near. Stay strong and embrace the training with Paula Radcliffe's top five tips for getting through this tough period, and making the most of your training and getting the best out of race day.
Embrace the hardest runs
The important thing to remember is that training is the absolute best preparation that you can do for the race. So use those long runs, embrace them: the race is going to be much easier because you’ve done them. On race day, you’ll be fresh, you’ll have the whole atmosphere and the magic that is the spirit of the London Marathon getting you round. So really the hardest time is motivating yourself through those long runs. Go into the marathon with the mindset, that sure, there will be some tough spots, but it won't be anywhere near as tough as those long runs in training. So if you've got through those, you will get through the marathon.
More...from Runner's World.
8. Researchers: Exercise Best Tool Against Aging:
More scientists are exploring cellular senescence – a state in which cells no longer divide.
Senescent cells, which build up in older bodies, have a link to age-related conditions such as dementia and cardiovascular disease.
Scientists are exploring drugs that target senescent cells. But the most promising tool against the negative effects of senescent cells, experts say, is exercise.
“A very hot topic”
Viviana Perez Montes of the National Institutes of Health described cellular senescence as “a very hot topic.” The Associated Press reports that about 11,500 projects involving cellular senescence have begun since 1985. The AP report was based on its study of an NIH research database. A large number of the projects began in recent years, the report said.
More...from VOA.
9. USA Triathlon Has Its Eyes on Rowing:
For the next three years, coaches from USA Triathlon and Hydrow will be studying the effects of rowing on a triathlete’s training in an immersive, extensive research pilot called the Hydrow Transformation Program. We sat down with Earl Walton, Triathlon Coach and Director of Education at USAT, to learn how he thinks rowing could impact his athletes (and why he’s suspicious when they report whether they did their mobility training this week).
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Coach Walton! What is your role at USA Triathlon and how long have you been helping athletes succeed?
Hello! I’m the Director of Education for USA Triathlon. I’ve been a coach in endurance sports for 20+ years. I was the Global Director of Training and Coaching at IRONMAN. As a coach, my goal is to prepare athletes for success and to help them achieve the goals they’re shooting for. As the Director of Education at USAT, my job is to bring the best resources and information to athletes and their coaches.
Are you an athlete?
I’m more of a former athlete than a current one! That said, I’ve been training and coaching for years. I was a college swimmer. I swam a little bit in the U.S. Masters, which led me to get into triathlons reluctantly (I still hate to run… more on that later). But generally, yes: I raced a ton when I was younger, but then life and kids slow you down a bit. I still train every day and enter events when I can.
More...from Team USA.
10. 5 ways to optimise your recovery as you get older:
In 1993, Graeme Obree attempted to capture the cycling world hour record... failed... before trying again the next morning. Fueled by a hearty breakfast, renewed vigour and the use of his favourite bike, he achieved it.
For most mortals, such swift turnarounds are rarely possible. From a personal perspective, I do a hard session and more often than not I'm left dribbling on the sofa watching re-runs on TV for the rest of the weekend.
Contrary to public perceptions, the human being hasn’t changed much in its performance since the late 20th century. For example, in the book ‘High Tech Cycling’ by Ed Burke, it was calculated that despite the passing of some 50 years, virtually all of the athletes who'd obtained the cycling hour record hadn't actually demonstrated a noticeable improvement in their power output. Think on that before you adopt the supposedly latest and greatest interval session that's ever been conceived.
More...from Precision Hydration.
11. For Mark Spitz, Olympic Greatness Came Amid Tragedy:
The former swimmer said it was “like an out-of-body experience” to win seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games and then learn that terrorists had attacked Israelis at the Olympic Village.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — On Sept. 5, 1972, a brief editorial in The New York Times noted that “nothing that has happened in Munich so far this summer can compare with the awesome feats of Mark Spitz, swimmer extraordinary.”
Between the time the editorial was written and the paper was tossed onto doorsteps in those pre-internet days, Spitz’s seven Olympic gold medals and seven world records were overshadowed. And the long-held notion of the Games as a peaceful gathering of the world’s athletes was unalterably shattered.
Spitz’s career remains forever intertwined with the massacre in Munich because of his unprecedented success in the pool and because of his Jewish faith that, security officials at the time feared, might also make him a target.
He learned of the unfolding attack from a sportswriter the morning after his final swim, was placed under guard and was quickly whisked away to London, then home to Sacramento. He said he remained under police protection there for days and watched the televised memorial service for the slain Israelis as the Games were halted for 34 hours.
“It was like an out-of-body experience,” Spitz, 22 at the time and now 72, long shorn of his famous mustache, said in an interview last week at an oceanfront hotel. “Forty-eight hours earlier, or a little longer, I had been there. The feeling was, wow, it’s hard to believe that happened” to the Israelis. “Why would somebody do that to an innocent group of people who had only good intentions?”
More...from the New York Times.
12. 73-year-old cyclist caught for motor doping in France:
A 73-year-old cyclist has admitted to motor doping at the 12th edition of the hill climb time trial event, the Col du Benas, in France. It didn’t take long for the organizers to realize something was up when they noticed the rider had finished in 16th up the tough ascent, just three minutes off the pace. The race which took place on August 28th, had some chaos afterwards as the organizers realized that one of the 112 competitors had used an a bike with a small motor in his rear wheel.
The race was won in just over 22 minutes. However, many were shocked to see that the septuagenarian, and president of a local cycling club finishing in 25 minutes and 31 seconds.
The organizers then examined his bike, and saw an electric motor installed in the hub of the rear wheel. Initially the rider denied cheating, but then justified it as he said health problems forced him to to use it. “Everyone knew about it, several people saw my bike before the start, told me it was fine, no one tried to stop me from leaving and after the fact I was in trouble!” the unnamed rider said. He said he had a cardiac arrest the year before and it had affected his fitness. “I made a mistake, I admit it, but I did it knowingly. In addition, the rules of the event do not mention the prohibition of the use of e-bikes. Besides, I prefer mechanical doping to pharmaceutical doping. I am 73 years old, I try to make the most of the practice of cycling.”
More...from Canadian Cycling Magazine.
13. Can Exercise Strengthen Your Immunity?
Recent research suggests that people who work out have stronger resistance to infectious diseases — including Covid — but experts say the findings need to be tested further.
You’ve probably heard the advice: One of the best things you can do to keep healthy — especially as cold and flu season creeps up — is stay physically active.
This folk wisdom has been around for ages, but until recently, researchers did not have much data to support the idea. Now, scientists studying risk factors related to Covid-19 have turned up some preliminary evidence about the link between regular exercise and better immune defenses against disease.
When researchers reviewed 16 studies of people who stayed physically active during the pandemic, they found that working out was associated with a lower risk of infection as well as a lower likelihood of severe Covid-19. The analysis, published last month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, has generated a lot of enthusiasm among exercise scientists, who say the findings could lead to updated guidelines for physical activity and health care policy that revolves around exercise as medicine.
More...from the (New York Times.
14. Postexercise cooling impairs muscle protein synthesis rates in recreational athletes:
Protein ingestion and cooling are strategies employed by athletes to improve postexercise recovery and, as such, to facilitate muscle conditioning. However, whether cooling affects postprandial protein handling and subsequent muscle protein synthesis rates during recovery from exercise has not been assessed.
We investigated the effect of postexercise cooling on the incorporation of dietary protein-derived amino acids into muscle protein and acute postprandial (hourly) as well as prolonged (daily) myofibrillar protein synthesis rates during recovery from resistance-type exercise over 2 weeks.
Cold-water immersion during recovery from resistance-type exercise lowers the capacity of the muscle to take up and/or direct dietary protein-derived amino acids towards de novo myofibrillar protein accretion. In addition, cold-water immersion during recovery from resistance-type exercise lowers myofibrillar protein synthesis rates during prolonged resistance-type exercise training.
Individuals aiming to improve skeletal muscle conditioning should reconsider applying cooling as a part of their postexercise recovery strategy.
More...from The Journal of Physiology.
15. Female Runners Should Be Aware of Ferritin Levels:
This blood marker is a warning sign that your body may be dangerously low in iron.
Running can feel exhausting, but it shouldn’t leave you so gassed you can’t get off the couch for the rest of the day or that it takes you a full week to recover from a workout. Too often, that sense of fatigue is accepted as a part of training—when it should be looked at as a red flag.
Fortunately, the rise of at-home blood tests is waking athletes up to deficiencies that could be affecting their workouts. And “ferritin” is one of the most common ones to pop up for female runners. Even Keira D’Amato has posted about addressing low ferritin levels—before she went on a spree that most recently resulted in breaking the American women’s marathon record and finishing eighth in the World Athletics Championships marathon in Eugene, Oregon, in mid-July.
So why do low ferritin levels wreak havoc on your performance? Here’s what you need to know.
More...from Women's Running.
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