|
1. Running throughout middle age can help prevent memory decline, study shows:
Consistency is the key to boosting brain health, according to researchers,
Sticking to a regular running regimen throughout middle age may help prevent or slow memory loss associated with getting older, according to a new study.
Scientists at universities in the United States and Mexico are adding to the growing evidence of running’s benefits to brain health with research looking specifically at the effects of regular exercise on neurons formed in early adulthood. Their findings, published in the journal eNeuro, show long-term running not only promotes the survival of these neurons, but also their integration into a network relevant to the maintenance of memory encoding during aging.
Long-term exercise profoundly benefits the aging brain and may prevent aging-related memory function decline by increasing the survival and modifying the network of the adult-born neurons born during early adulthood, and thereby facilitating their participation in cognitive processes,” says Henriette van Praag, study co-author and associate professor of biomedical science at Florida Atlantic University.
For the study, researchers studied the brains of mice who had access to a running wheel and compared them to those of rodents that did not. Although this type of research precludes the use of human subjects—researchers used the rabies vaccine to help trace connections in the brain over a period of several months—the results of the study make clear the benefits to people of maintaining a regular fitness regimen, says study co-author Carmen Vivar of the Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN in Mexico.
More...from Canadian Running Magazine.
2. How to Nail Your Next Taper:
How long? How much? How many? Tapering can be a dark art, but we've got all your questions answered to help deliver you to your next start line ready to go.
Tapering before a competition—that is, significantly reducing your training load for one to two weeks to optimize your race-day performance—is a term as ubiquitous to endurance sports as carb loading. But how much should you taper? Is every exercise discipline created equal? What if you have a long race season ahead, how do you keep your body well-rested without losing fitness? Let’s dive in and break it down.
How and why does a taper work?
A taper can influence your entire physiology, for better or for worse. Cardiovascularly, for the less skilled athlete, you can expect to see oxygen uptake diminish during submaximal exercise performance. (1) On the plus side, blood and red cell volume tends to increase, and this is likely a main reason for performance improvement on race day. (2)
Metabolically, you’ll see an increase in muscle glycogen concentration and peak blood lactate concentration along with a decrease in blood creatine kinase. This essentially means you’re recovering from training and muscle damage. (3)
More...from Fast Talk Laboratories.
3. Step Up Your Sleep Game:
Do you find yourself going to bed and then lying in the dark, not being able to fall asleep? Maybe you go to sleep easily but then wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. If this sounds like you, it may be time to fix your sleep schedule. Keep reading to learn more about why sleep is important and tips to help you fall asleep fast for a good night’s sleep.
What is circadian rhythm?
Circadian rhythm is your body’s cycle of functions during each 24-hour day, masterminded by your brain’s internal clock. One of the most critical parts of the circadian rhythm is the sleep-wake cycle, which takes cues from your environment and routines, but is primarily tied to daylight and darkness. When light is present in our environment, especially the outdoors, the brain tells our system to be awake and alert. When it’s dark, the brain tells our system that it’s time for sleep and sends melatonin through our systems.
This was an efficient system for our early ancestors, whose world was dictated by nature’s cycles. But we now have electricity, televisions, tablets, and smartphones, all of which can tell our brain to stay awake – and that’s even before we talk about caffeine consumption. We’re also not always great about dealing with our daily stress and anxiety, which can interfere with relaxation and sleep.
More...from AthLinks.
4. Here’s How to Find Your Mileage Sweet Spot:
How much mileage should you be running? Two top coaches share helpful ways to think about the volume question so that you can find your optimal mileage number.
When runners start paying attention to their mileage, this simple sport tends to get a bit murky. You may find yourself wondering: Am I running enough? Too much? Should I be matching what my friends are doing? How do I determine the best volume for me and my goals?
While none of those questions have clear-cut answers, there are some helpful ways to think about them. Here, two coaches with a solid grasp on this volume conundrum share their perspectives and offer advice for other runners and coaches searching for that elusive mileage sweet spot.
What Does Optimal Mileage Mean?
Many runners assume that optimal mileage refers to the highest load they can handle without getting hurt. Shawn Bearden, PhD, a professor of physiology at Idaho State University who runs an exercise science lab as well as the Science of Ultra podcast and website, sees it differently.
He defines optimal mileage as “the distance that results in the greatest gains in capacity for your goals within the context of your life.” Even if more mileage yields greater physiological gains, if it also erodes other parts of your life that matter, then it’s not optimal. “To be optimal,” he says, “must also be sustainable in the context of a fulfilled and happy life.”
More...from Outside Online.
5. Adidas Boston 12: First Look & Thoughts:
Can The Boston Make a Comeback?
To capitalize on these improvements, the shoe was tested across 19 sessions with Adidas pro athletes in Kenya, including Peres Jepchirchir, Abel Kipchumba and Angela Tanui. According to Adidas, “the unique insights obtained during those sessions were leveraged throughout the development process to ensure this shoe would best serve the needs of Adidas’ ambitious running community.”
We talked with Charlotte Heidmann, Senior Global Product Manager, Running Footwear about the shoe, and what we can expect when we lace it up.
More...from Beleive in the Run.
6. Lululemon is Pushing the Boundaries for Female Athletes by Launching ‘FURTHER’:
The sportswear brand is backing scientific studies to understand women’s sports performance.
Lululemon, an $8 billion Canadian -American sportswear brand, has taken on this statistic as a challenge. As a brand synonymous with female athletes (68 percent of its market is female) it has announced it will be using its time and resources to double down on its commitment to the female journey with two new initiatives.
It has launched FURTHER, a new program to support and report scientific insights into female athletes. Partnering with the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific it has welcomed a group of female athletes ready to push themselves over the next nine months with the goal of a collective six-day ultrarunning experience in the spring of 2024, all supported by science and with a not-so-secret goal of breaking world records along the way.
Professional athlete, surgeon and Trail Runner columnist Stefanie Flippin says she has taken part in a RED-S study, as well as a novel fatigued durability test, and several VO2max tests with the Canadian Sport Institute and the University of British Columbia. She’ll be involved in the research, product testing, and training camps leading up to the event.
“The team is working to bring female-first research and data to the trail and ultrarunning world, and I’m excited to be a part of the leading edge of it all,” says Flippin. She says she’s been amazed by the level of feedback Lululemon solicits from athletes, and how readily they incorporate that feedback into product development. “It’s really cool to see a brand bring athletes in for this level of feedback and firsthand development in order to address the gaps that exist in products made specifically for female ultrarunners. As a physician myself, I know firsthand the paucity of women-specific research that exists. As a professional athlete, I’m excited to inch the needle forward for women in sport and close the gender equity gap. When we uplift women and demonstrate equity and inclusion, everyone benefits.”
More from Women's Running.
7. What’s the Best Way to Treat a Workout Injury: Heat or Ice?
Sports physicians have long recommended the R.I.C.E. method — rest, ice, compression, elevation — for muscle injuries, but guidance is changing.
The prevailing theory on how to treat sprains and strains, especially from exercise, has been to follow the R.I.C.E. sequence — rest, ice, compression and elevation.
While the method is still widely recommended and observed, some sports medicine physicians, including the one who coined the acronym R.I.C.E., are shifting their guidance: Movement, rather than rest, can better aid recovery in some cases, and icing is not always the most effective treatment.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a retired sports medicine physician who in 1978 coined the term, said he no longer advises following that protocol because of evidence that, for some injuries, rest and ice delay healing, rather than aid it.
He now recommends early movement after an injury, as long as patients are not in pain, especially for overuse injuries. “The most important rule is to listen to your body because you feel pain when you’re doing something wrong,” Dr. Mirkin said. “The reason injuries are so common is that people think they can work through pain.”
More...from the New York Times.
8. The Supershoe Revolution Continues. Here’s What the Latest Research Says:
Scientists consider the latest spikes, individual variability, and the pros and cons of training in racing shoes,
Earlier this month, thousands of sports scientists gathered in Denver for the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual mega-conference. In more than 1,500 presentations, they offered a peek at new and forthcoming data on the science of health and performance. In the coming days, I’m going to share a few highlights, starting with the latest findings on running shoes: how they work, what to train in, and how to pick the best model for you.
Finally, Some Data on Super Spikes
Back in 2021, I wrote about the new generation of track spikes, which like the now-ubiquitous road running supershoes combine a stiff plate with a layer of ultralight and resilient cushioning. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggested that the new spikes were indeed faster than older versions, but no one had yet quantified the effect.
A group led by Dustin Joubert of St. Edward’s University in Austin (and formerly of Stephen F. Austin State University) decided to fill this gap. They recruited 11 distance runners to come to the lab and test seven different shoes: three road supershoes, one traditional racing flat, two track super spikes, and one traditional track spike. For each shoe, they tested running economy—a measure of how much oxygen is consumed to sustain a given pace—on two occasions, at 6:00 mile pace for the men and 6:53 pace for the women.
The main result (which, for the record, has not yet undergone peer review as a conference presentation) was that the super spikes improved running economy by about 2 percent compared to the traditional spike. On average, each runner’s best spike was roughly equivalent to their best road shoe: the added cushioning in the road shoes seems to make up for their extra weight. Heavily cushioned road shoes with stack height of greater than 25 millimeters are banned for track races in international competition, Joubert and his colleagues point out, but permitted in high school and college racing.
More...from Sweat Science on Outside Online.
9. Fitness: Does time of day have an effect on your exercise goals?
Early research offers no clear answers, but we are understanding more about what it means to exercise by the clock.
When it comes to realizing fitness goals, sometimes small tweaks can make a big difference. On the flip side, the devil is often in the details, with big-picture thinking surpassing the minutia of perfecting your fitness routine. Lying somewhere between these spectrums is the debate about the best time of day to exercise.
A good portion of the population has little choice in whether to exercise during the morning, afternoon or evening. Work, family and household commitments often dictate whether you’re setting an alarm for an early workout or trying to squeeze in a few active minutes during lunch hour or after dinner. But if given the choice, is there really a time of day when your workout minutes go further in your quest to get fitter, stronger or trimmer?
Unlike recommendations on how long or how hard you should exercise, there are no official guidelines about the best time of day to work out. Known as “chrono-exercise,” much of the related research is based on optimizing athletic performance and/or physical and mental health by pairing the body’s biological rhythms — fluctuations in body temperature, metabolism and circulating hormones — with exercise.
More...from the Ottawa Citizen.
10. Why are endurance sports so addicting?
Endorphins stimulate a powerful pain relief and pleasure response when we exercise. But there's more at play when part take in endurance sports
This state of euphoria is craved by endurance junkies. The point in which your body releases a surplus of endorphins upon exercise, stimulating a powerful response of pleasure and relief. Though we may not experience a “high” every time we go out for a run or quick spin after work, endorphins are always working.
The name endorphin comes from the combination of endogenous (produced from within) and morphine (an opioid and pain-relieving drug). These endorphins are polypeptides – chains of amino acids – that are made by our central nervous system and can act on hormones in our pituitary gland.
In general, the release of endorphins is stimulated in response to discomfort or pain. Its effect is to reduce the sensation of pain, as well as producing states of pleasure. While these two effects may seem at odds with each other, it’s what makes the “runner’s high” so addicting. It’s the great joy and mystery of pushing the body’s limits, yet enjoying and taking pleasure in the activity.
More...from Triathlon Magazine.
11. There is a best time of day to exercise and it may lead to better results:
Claire Zulkey, a 44-year-old Chicago-area freelance writer, has a well-established morning routine: She gets her kids off to school, turns the television to a favorite show, and gets moving with a full-body workout. Once completed, Zulkey showers and settles in to work.
Meghan Cully, in contrast, puts in a full day’s work before hitting the gym on her way home. The 32-year-old graphic designer from Maryland is a self-described “slow starter” in the mornings and finds it difficult to get moving early in the day.
Each gets their exercise in, but is one time of day better than the other?
Consider your fitness goals
A small study out of Skidmore College examined the benefits of morning versus evening exercise for both women and men. Paul J. Arciero, Ph.D., professor for health and human physiological sciences department at Skidmore, was the lead investigator.
“We had the groups follow the same multi-modal routine, randomly dividing them into evening and morning groups,” he says. “We found women and men respond differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of day, which surprised us.”
More...from Inverse.
13. Are carbohydrates more important than protein for athletes’ recovery?
What’s your go-to choice of food to aid recovery after exercise? Many endurance athletes are quick to reach for the protein shake above all else and for good reason. A strong body of science (as well as some clever marketing) supports the use of protein as part of an effective recovery strategy.
After all, protein can help repair damaged muscles and maximise training adaptations, but is it really the ‘be all and end all’ when it comes to recovery for endurance athletes?
There’s no doubt that an intense training session may cause some muscle damage. But a significant additional cost of training and racing is a dramatic depletion of your energy stores, namely glycogen (the body’s carbohydrate storage molecule), which is why the use of carbohydrates for recovery becomes important.
You should think of glycogen as your main exercise fuel tank, once it’s empty, you (the vehicle) begin to run on fumes until you put more of the correct fuel in.
More...from Precision Hydration.
14. Exercise after knee replacement: Why a modified workout may make sense:
Doctors encourage physical activity after knee replacement surgery. But it might mean adapting your workouts in ways that lessen the impact on your knees.
When former Olympian Joan Benoit Samuelson ran the 2022 London Marathon last fall, she knew she was taking a risk. It would be her first 26.2-mile race since undergoing a partial right knee replacement in 2020, and many orthopedists warn that high-impact sports after knee replacement can hasten the breakdown of a new knee.
She needn’t have worried.
“The knee felt good, and it was definitely worth it,” says Samuelson, 65, who won the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984 and has set several world and U.S. records during her long running career. “I wasn’t able to run at all before, the pain was excruciating. My surgeons knew that I would be running on the knee with the intention of running marathons.”
More...from the Washington Post.
15. The Best Carbon Plate Shoes for Putting a Spring in Your Step:
Turn your toe-offs into lift-offs with these picks from Nike, Saucony, and more.
If you’ve followed professional racing in the last few years, you’ve probably witnessed the discourse surrounding carbon-plated running shoes. Although plates have been around for decades in some form or another, we saw them properly shift racing shoes into the next paradigm when Nike used them to attempt a sub-two hour marathon in 2017. Since then, brands across the industry have moved to build upon the design with carbon midsoles of their own.
If this is your first time looking into carbon plate shoes, you might be asking what the big deal is. How can a sheet of carbon fiber so significantly affect a runner’s performance? Carbon fiber midsoles, relying on the material’s impressive structural properties, store a considerable amount of the energy from your shoe’s flex as it first hits the ground. Then, they transform that flexion into a powerful, springy boost as you lift back off.
The energy return is noticeably greater than that of a shoe without any plating, especially when you lay down some serious power. And that stiffness doesn’t always compromise as much comfort as you’d think. If you’re ready to take advantage of this game-changing tech, read on to see the best carbon plate shoes to satisfy your need for speed
More...from Runner's World.
|
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
