How running relates to your health and fitness or other health and fitness topics of interest to runners.
Some time ago, I was in a fitness center and overheard a conversation related to weight management. After hearing someone offer his advice, I wanted to go over and give him a high five.
Why?
Because he actually gave sound advice. Something that is very rare these days, especially in fitness centers.
…Because there was no last Thursday of the month blog post last month, there will be none this month, and I’m incredibly busy at the moment, I’m going to slip a recap in here. There’s a lot I’ve been reading. Here’s some of it.
One note: I mentioned I’m going to slip more than just sports science links into these posts going forward. I’m going to feature something that is not sports science this month.
…Now that we’re a little past the annual fad diet craze, let’s have a serious discussion about good nutrition. While I’m gearing this toward runners, a lot of it applies to non-runners. Why? While runners have some unique needs, good nutrition is good nutrition.
To be clear, I’m not going to offer specific advice. I’m going to speak in generalities. This is because I am not a nutritionist or registered dietician and I won’t pretend to be a nutrition expert. If you want specific diet advice, see someone who is qualified and don’t get your advice off the internet.
…This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.
I’ve encountered a few instances recently that have made me realize how prevalent in the running world eating disorders are.
One of these instances that spurred this post was this article, written by Jenny Scherer. Another was an article on Suzy Favor Hamilton, who also had to overcome eating disorders.
I just wanted to address this topic not because I think this post alone will spur someone to seek the help they need but because I guess I had my head in the sand. I knew they existed but I didn’t realize how common eating disorders were in the running community. In recent weeks, I’ve heard of several runners I never would have guessed before who faced these issues.
I’m not even close an expert on this topic. I’m not posting this with the intent to offer advice, just to raise awareness. If you’re looking for advice, it would be know the symptoms and learn how to approach someone if you suspect a problem (there are things that definitely should be done and some things you might instinctively think of doing that should definitely not be done). If you see some symptoms in yourself, please consider talking with someone about what you see going on.
In the meantime, I’ll be reading more on symptoms and how we can help those in our lives who we suspect might need help.
If anyone knows of good resources, please share in the comments. If I find anything I find especially useful, I’ll be sure to share there also.
This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.
A few weeks ago, I came across this 5 year old article on athletes and their brains. Interesting topic. How is an athlete’s brain different than a non-athlete’s?
It should not be surprising if you think about it that it takes less processing power to perform a skill that you’ve been practicing for some time. You just know how to do it. It turns out that’s the case. There is far less brain activity required to perform a task when you practice it a lot than if you’re new to it.
Not surprising. A pro basketball player can dribble the ball without even thinking about it and simultaneously scan the court and decide what the best play to run would be. I, on the other hand, need to focus on dribbling or I’m going to dribble it off my foot.
Likewise, if you’re well practiced, you can also notice patterns earlier. I’ve heard a lot of talk recently of baseball hitters. If I recall, the hitter has to react to the pitch by the time the ball is not even halfway to the plate in order to have time to relay the message of whether to swing and where to the muscles and to perform the swing by the time the ball is at the plate. With practice, the batter can read the pitcher’s movements, as well as the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand, and predict fairly reliably where the ball will be well before it arrives.
Again, not surprising but an amazing skill if you think about it. Before the ball is even halfway to the plate, the batter knows where it’s going to be simply by watching the pitcher’s movements and the spin on a baseball that’s flying toward him at 90 miles per hour. This is a skill that a professional batter can do instinctively without even thinking about it (if he thinks about it, the ball is past him before he decides what to do).
So what does this have to do with runners? Well, we may not have a lot of complex skills we’re trying to learn but putting one foot in front of the other is not nearly as simply as you may think. It’s also not quite the same motor skill on paved surfaces as on unpaved surfaces. Practice really will make us more efficient and practice on the type of surface we will be racing on is important in maximizing that skill.
Also, I would argue that developing neuromuscular skills through activities like balancing exercises and form drills really can benefit us. If we becomes more efficient at these things that simulate running, that will also make us more efficient at running itself.
There are also benefits to the brain in doing these things. You’re wiring a more resilient brain. So get out there and do it. Work on your form drills and balance drills. You might find that both your running and your brain power will be improved.
