Tim Hola

Tim joins an elite lineup of coaches, athletes, and therapists for the first annual Colorado Endurance Conference on March 13th @ The Denver Athletic Club!

Jim Hooper

Jim has 20 years of experience in the field of sports injury treatment/prevention and general wellness.  He has participated in numerous endurance events and utilizes his rehabilitation expertise to provide a unique insight into the training program of an endurance athlete.

Sign up is only $85.  Click here to register!

Bob Seebohar

Bob has a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, a master’s degree in Health and Exercise Science and a second master’s degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition.  He is a registered dietitian, exercise physiologist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a High Performance Triathlon Coach.

Bob will be speaking at the Colorado Endurance Conference on March 13th @ 9 AM in the Grand Ballroom at The Denver Athletic Club.  Registration is available at www.active.com.  The focus of his presentation will be his new book, Metabolic Efficiency Training.  Learn how to conserve precious carbohydrates, burn more fat, and get to the finish line faster and stronger!  Bob will be available to sign copies of the book as well!!

Checkout the website or go straight to registration!

Here’s a classic picture from last year’s event, taken by Ross Bothwell of Elegant Images & Photographs.

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Cardiovascular conditioning is defined by many variables.  For the purpose of this article, the “cardio” portion of that term is most notably defined by heart function— the strength of your heart to pump more blood with fewer beats.  The “vascular” portion of the term refers to your ability to transport blood and oxygen.  As you get in better shape you build a greater framework of capillaries (tiny arteries) that transport blood and oxygen to the deeper crevices of your trained muscles.  The harder you work the greater the cardiovascular demand and therefore

the greater the benefit.  But there’s a catch: injury risk increases with exercise intensity.  Going “fast” is hard on your joints, connective tissues, muscles, bones, and energy system.  That is true in any sport.  Fortunately, Cross-Country Skiing is mostly muscular (i.e., there’s little joint pounding going on, only moderate bone stress), and is very fluid—if done correctly J.   The reason this matters to you is because you get to work your system more without pounding your body into the ground!  Here’s a video that showcases Cross-Country Skiing’s graceful movements.

Now. . . let’s compare Cross-Country Skiing with other great sports.  In regards to return-on-investment, cycling and swimming rank right up there, and even incur relatively low injury risk.  However, cycling only works half your body and swimming isn’t weight bearing; both have their strengths, but their weaknesses keep them from taking podium positions.  Running, on the other hand, comes in as a close second to Cross-Country Skiing.  But the risk of injury is relatively high for impatient athletes and/or beginners who tend to over-train (in other words, they take a sport that would otherwise be low-risk and make it unhealthy).  For more information on this topic checkout a previous article I wrote titled, “Running is Good for You, Yes You”.
 
There is one downside to Cross-Country Skiing  –  access.  It requires gear and snow!  Fortunately the gear is pretty cheap.   But, snow may be hard to come by.   As a great alternative, modern athletic clubs (like The DAC)  carry Nordic Cross-Country Skiing machines.  If you try it, you may just love it.   And if that’s the case, try training for The Birkie!!  You’ll have a blast!

Rest assured, Cross Country Skiing is not short on endurance junkies!

More is better—with oxygen, love, peace . . but NOT running.  The same is true for plenty of other healthy habits: too much iron in your diet leads to iron overload; Drink too much water and suffer water poisoning!  Some is good, more and more and more is not better.  Yet, people insist on pushing themselves until something breaks, and then blame it on the sport.

Let’s run the facts.  The risk of injury is higher when running, true.  But, consider why.  The increased injury risk is caused by impatience (i.e., pushing the speed and/or distance beyond what your body is trained for).  Yes, running produces higher ground reaction forces (i.e., impact forces) than

most other aerobic sports (basketball is a good example of a sport that produces greater impact forces), so your shock absorbing systems (knees, ankles, feet, and the kinetic chain from your toes to your tail bone) are stressed.  But it is the overzealous behavior of some runners who run further or faster sooner than later, that causes bodies to break down.  Here’s a video that supports the claim from Dr. Crane:

If you’re still on the fence, then answer this: Is running at an easy pace for 10 seconds bad for you?  Assuming you’re starting without injury, then no, 10 seconds of running shouldn’t be bad for you.  What about 60 seconds?  10 minutes?  Running requires conservative progress.  If you’re new, then start with a safe, comfortable pace and duration, and then slowly (after month’s time) build from there.  Remember… patience ‘runs supreme!

There is no universal rule when determining a healthy (versus unhealthy) duration and pace.  There are just too many variables to consider (e.g., exercise history, joint health, how well your knee hinges, tight muscles, weak muscles, etc.).  Talk to a running coach to establish your program, and then do it!

And now the research:

The Stanford University School of Medicine (http://www.healthnews.com/running-may-help-you-live-longer-and-healthier, 2008) studied 2 groups of people 50 and older, a group of runners and non-runners that were monitored for over two decades.  After 19 years, when most participants would have been in their 70’s, only 15% of the runners had passed while 34% of the non-runners had passed.  During the beginning of the study, the runners were averaging around four hours a week running and by the end of the study their time running decreased to only around a quarter of that time. Though their time spent running decreased drastically, researchers still saw benefits from running.

The study not only determined that exercise decreased disabilities as we grow older, but running also reduced deaths caused from cardiovascular problems. The study also found that regular running also decreased early deaths from cancer, heath disease, and even Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

Another group (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18483739, 2008) studied the knee joints of recreational long-distance runners.  After 10 years, no adverse long-term consequences were observed regardless of pre-existing damage at the baseline investigation!  The researchers concluded that non-physiological maximal loads (e.g., running) other than marathon running do not cause any permanent damage in the internal structures of the knee joint.

In summary, running is a healthy activity, IF you approach it in a healthy way.  When in doubt, talk with your doctor first, and then your local running coach.

Train smart!

Everyone has heard of lactic acid (“LA”), so what’s all the excitement about?  Does it cause muscle soreness?  How does it affect your training program?

Technically, LA is an end product of glucose metabolism.  In an oxygen rich environment, like an easy 20 minute workout, LA production is kept to a minimum, thus your working muscles feel fresh.  As the intensity increases and the cellular environment becomes oxygen deficient, like during a maximum 20 minute effort, LA production increases and the efficiency of your working muscles to contract decreases.  LA production and/or accumulation does not cause muscle soreness.  But it is the gateway to better endurance, maximum calorie burn, and higher performance.

As your intensity during a workout increases, so does your LA production.  The good news is that with proper training the cells of your working muscles develop the ability to recycle LA.  And so, even though LA production is increasing, concentration in your blood remains the same.

Even with trained muscles however, there is a point when LA production overcomes your cells’ ability to deal with it.  The point when LA overwhelms your system is called your lactate threshold (“LT”).  Muscle burn is generally, but not specifically, associated with this point, and the time clock starts ticking!  Just beyond LT, you have about 30 minutes of sustainable effort left before your glycogen is depleted and lactic acid claims victory.  The further your intensity climbs beyond LT, the less time you have before “hitting the wall”.  Proper LT training increases the point where LA production overwhelms your working muscles.

The key to improving your LT is to push the intensity to the edge of LA overproduction, and sustain it.  The next obvious question: where’s the edge?  There are numerous ways to answer that.  Here’s the short list of objective and subjective answers you’ll find on the web:

1. A comfortably hard pace
2. 85-90% of your maximum heart rate
3. If running, your 10k race pace + 30-60 seconds per mile
4. Your average heart rate in a 1 hour maximum effort
5. Your heart rate when lactic acid production is at 4.0 mmol per liter of blood
6. Suffer a Conconi test

Training in the Zone!

Frustrating, yes?  As a former professional triathlete, I fully appreciate the “feel-it-out” method, and the reluctance to trust science over personal experience.  Yet, as an Exercise Physiologist, I have seen the pitfalls of the “feel-it-out” method too.  Overtraining, for example, is what happens when you let your senses dictate your training program.  Your brain wants to do a hard workout because such a workout is cathartic.  Plus, it feels good to sweat!  Your body, on the other hand, may be tired and on the brink of injury.  It’s the delicate mixture of experience and science that leads to big results.  An organic middle ground is what I suggest:

1. Get your LT tested by a real Exercise Physiologist, not because the test is difficult to conduct, but because an accurate interpretation requires an understanding of the whole system.  The Denver Athletic Club, of course, offers such a test with such a scientist. J
2. Your LT test should present your training zones in terms of heart rate, perceived exertion, and pace (i.e., speed on a treadmill, watts on a bike, steps per minute on a step mill, etc.).
3. Your training program should incorporate your goals, likes and dislikes, family, work, and social commitments, your previous injuries, and your current conditioning level.

Here are a couple examples of typical LT-improving workouts:

Running, Cross Country Skiing, or Swimming

Progressive warm up followed by 3 intervals of 5 minutes @ LT with a 1 minute walk between intervals.

Biking

Progressive warm up followed by 3 intervals of 10 minutes @ LT with a 2 minute “walk” between intervals.

In conclusion, your pace at LT is moderate-hard, so the risk of injury is real.  Progress into this type of training slowly over 6 weeks to 3 months considering your current conditioning level.

If you have the patience, then you will not find a more affective workout!

Train Smart!

Start now.  While watching the new House episode, do the following:

A. 50 squats with just your body weight.  Go slow, pause at the bottom of the squat, and take a commercial break if you need one.

B. 20 half-squats on each leg (yes, one leg at a time), just your body weight, only to 45-degrees, with the other leg extended out in front.  Go slow and take that break if necessary.

C. Another 50 squats, but this time don’t pause at the bottom.

D. Stretch your quads, hamstrings, and calves and enjoy the last 50 minutes of the show.

It doesn’t sound like much (because it isn’t) but it’s plenty for October, and it lays the foundation for a long ski season!  In November, the pace of the reps quickens and you’ll be ready to add a jump to your squat!

PS: You could have finished your first set of squats while reading this article!