APR 14, 2023
Minute 1: 10 tips and tricks from a personal trainer and entrepreneur
Whether you’re working to grow a business or to grow in the gym, success often depends on efficiency. That’s how personal trainer Dan Go feels, anyway. He’s made a career working with startup founders and entrepreneurs. During his 20 years of experience, he learned a few lessons that can increase your performance, both physically and mentally: “A Personal Trainer Who Works With Startup Founders Just Shared 10 Fitness Cheat Codes He Wishes He Knew 20 Years Ago.” Dan emphasizes the importance of dynamic stretching before a workout or run. By targeting the specific muscles you’re going to use, you can increase your range of motion so that you’ve got better form during the main exercise. For more on getting the most out of your stretching, read “Dynamic stretching: Benefits, pitfalls, and exercise examples for legs.” Dan also feels your mindset is key. He says goals should be based on your behaviors, and you need to let go of outcomes you can’t control. He’s echoing stoic philosophy, which has served athletes and businesspeople well for centuries: “The 12 Stoic Principles Every Athlete Needs To Win (In Sports and Life).” Setting the right kind of goals starts with an honest assessment of yourself. Do you only have time for a couple workouts a week? Accept that fact rather than setting an unreasonable goal like crushing a sub 3:00 marathon with limited prep time.
Minute 2: Older athletes need different kinds of exercise
Like it or not, as we age, we’re all going through changes. Some experts feel that as you grow older, you need to spend more effort on staying active. But for those looking to dial back, we’ve got good news for you: “As you age, your healthy daily step goals may change.” As a general rule, most healthy adults should aim to get 10,000 steps a day. That will keep your risk of disease low, immunity high, and joints strong, according to this Harvard Health story: “5 surprising benefits of walking.” However, research suggests that adults over 60 can get many of these benefits after walking only 6,000 to 8,000 steps. Beyond that, studies found diminishing returns, so your efforts are better spent on other kinds of activity. Speaking of, Training Peaks tells us that athletes over 50 can benefit from high intensity workouts? Check out “Fast After 50: High Intensity Interval Training for Seniors.” As we age, VO2 max declines at about a rate of 1% per year. However, by keeping HIIT in your routine, researchers found that decline was cut in half, all the way up to your 70s. We know what you’re thinking: isn’t HIIT too risky for older athletes? That depends on the dose and density. By performing HIIT infrequently and in short bursts, about once every 9 days, athletes can lower their risk of injury while maintaining strong aerobic performance.
Minute 3: Here are the healthiest ways to sweeten things up
For a lot of dieticians, sugar has become public enemy #1. It’s not hard to see why, given how common added sugars are in a lot of our foods. That can bring all sorts of issues with weight management, diabetes risk, and more, but it’s important to remember that not all sweets need to be avoided. In the right dosage and context, sugars make for an effective energy source, which is why you may want to try out some of the “6 Best Natural Sugar Alternatives.” Top of the list is honey, which contains an abundance of antioxidants and other beneficial plant compounds. It’s a similar story for maple syrup, especially if it’s less refined. As a general rule of thumb, look for darker syrups if you want to get the most phytochemicals possible. If you’re looking for a way to sweeten your beverage, Stevia could be your best option. For more on that, see “Is Stevia Safe?” It’s zero calories and doesn’t seem to affect blood sugar levels, unlike most other sweeteners. Just when we think we’ve got sugar all figured out, research comes out that flips our expectations on its head: “Could Ice Cream Possibly Be Good for You?” The short answer is, probably not, but you’ve got to read this story full of twists and turns as scientists tried to figure out why eating ice cream was associated with a 19% reduced diabetes risk.
Minute 4: Shoe Reviews: Favorite Boston Marathon Shoes
For a shoe guru like Brian Metzler, hanging out at the Boston Marathon expo and hitting all of the runnings brands’ pop-up stores spread around town is like getting free tickets to The Masters, the Super Bowl or soccer’s World Cup finals. This is shoe dog heaven. Rather than pick just one favorite, Brian gives a quick review of seven different brands’ Boston entries. Normally we like to give you a lot of the review here in the newsletter, but Brian’s piece today is too rich to excerpt here. The featured carbon-plated super shoes are listed below after his intro, and you can check out Brian’s full review of his Boston favorites on our website.
The 127th Boston Marathon on April 17 will feature arguably the fastest and deepest men’s and women’s elite fields the race has ever assembled. It will also feature the fastest crop of marathon racing shoes ever assembled, too. Is that a recipe for the men’s (2:03:02) and women’s (2:19:59) course records to fall? It certainly seems so! Here’s a look at some of the most prominent models that will be racing on the feet of elites and recreational runners from Hopkinton to Boston on Marathon Monday. Whether or not you follow the race results of the world’s best runners, you’re definitely going to be interested in the shoes on their feet. Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3, $250
Weights: 6.4 oz. (women’s 8), 7.8 oz. (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 6.5mm heel-toe drop (39.5mm in the heel, 33mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 6.1 ounces (women’s 8), 7.2 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 5mm (39mm in the heel, 34mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 6.4 ounces (women’s 8), 7.4 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 8mm (39mm in the heel, 31mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 5.8 ounces (women’s 8), 6.5 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 8mm (40mm in the heel, 32mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 6.7 ounces (women’s 8), 8.2 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 5mm (40mm in the heel, 35mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 6.4 ounces (women’s 8), 7.6 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 4mm (40mm in the heel, 36mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 5.3 ounces (women’s 8), 6.5 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 8mm (40 mm in the heel, 32 mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 6.1 ounces (women’s 8), 7.5 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 8mm (40mm in the heel, 32mm in the forefoot)
Approximate Weights: 5.8 ounces (women’s 8), 7.6 ounces (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 10mm (38mm in the heel, 28mm in the forefoot)
To figure out if one of these shoes is a good match for your style, check out Brian’s full review here. In addition, Brian’s collection of shoe reviews now features more than 25 shoes on our website with something for every runner. #BostonWinners
Minute 5: Quick Intervals
Our favorite Boston Marathon blogger, Dara Zall Kelly has her bib in hand and a smile on her face as she tapers to Monday. She still had time to weigh in on a new piece of gear she’ll be using on race day. Technically, we’re calling this a “sponsored post” since Bombas advertises with SMM and gave Dara the free socks to try out, but if you’ve been reading Dara’s blogs, you know she pulls no punches on any running subject. To understand why a grown woman is so excited about running socks, check out Dara’s Bombas review here.
We’re so close to the Boston Marathon you can almost hear the sound of feet hitting the pavement (and empty beer cans hitting the sidewalk). As far as we’re concerned, everyone who participates in the race deserves local celebrity status for the day, but we’re still curious what big names will be lining up alongside us. For that, check out: “These celebrities are running the 2023 Boston Marathon.”
If you’ve ever felt like your muscles aren’t firing the way they should be, neuromuscular inhibition could be the cause. If you’re scratching your head wondering what the heck that phrase means, we found an article that puts it in terms we understand, as well as offer a few solutions to anyone that’s dealing with this problem. Take a look at “You’re Not Weak, You’re Inhibited: How Neuromuscular Inhibition Affects Running Performance.”
For some athletes, the super shoes described in Brian Metzler’s review, above, can deliver a whopping 4% faster marathon finish time. We say bravo for innovation, but there are still people asking this question about racing and training: “Is It ‘Cheating’ To Always Run in Carbon-Plated Super Shoes?”
Minute 6: Daily Inspiration
In Minute 6 of a recent issue, we talked about the value of mile time trials to gauge your fitness. Well, if simply running a mile isn’t challenging enough for you, we found quite the routine to level up the difficulty. This week’s video comes from @mattchoi_6, and it's best performed with a partner so you can push each other along. Find a track and prepare to cover 1 mile, but each lap, do one of the following: burpees, lunges, bear crawl, and run. This workout will target just about every major muscle group you’ve got, so we wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve got a recovery day planned soon after.
