Running and Stress

In our over-stressed society, few want another item on the "to-do" list. However, regular exercise should be mandatory for the most stressed individuals per Dr. John Ratey of Harvard Medical School.

I just finished Dr. Ratey's book "Spark". Dr. Ratey discusses some of the physiological responses to stress. Many of the ideas are common knowledge (e.g., "fight or flight" response to stress) while some are recently discovered or recently re-examined by research.

Ratey's basic premise is the body is designed to move when stressed. Historically, since man was either a hunter-gather, farmer, or laborer, getting sufficient daily activity was not a problem. However, as jobs moved to desks and computers, movement usually disappeared from the daily work routine.

Ratey believes this failure to move can create chronic stress with accompanying immune function decline. As immune function declinces, the body becomes susceptible to numerous diseases.

Ratey's description of chronic stress raised memories of my Dad. My Dad was a guy who "played by the rules"-he studied hard, got married and had a family and worked hard. However, he experienced a heart attack in his early 40's which set off a series of health problems eventually leading to his death at 63.

I have always believed chronic stress was the major culprit for my Dad's health problems. I think things may have been different if he had been able to schedule 30 minutes of exercise per day into his hectic life of working and supporting five children.

Part of the challenge with the over-stressed is convincing them they need to exercise daily. The initial response is usually something such as "yeah, right, when?". My personal opinion is an examination of the overall lifestyle is demanded in these situations. Someone usually needs to tell them the lifestyle is physically and emotionally unsustainable. Yet, our society often glamorizes workaholism and sleeplessness.

These are often difficult cases, but I have seen people make changes once they experience the feelings of well-being that accompany regular exercise. Exercise psychology discusses how a person may start with an extrinsic motivation ("health") and move towards a more intrinsic motivation such as feeling better or a sense of self-efficacy. Ratey discusses this transformation in some detail. Once the person becomes more intrinsically motivated, the likelihood of continuing exercise becomes much better.

Very few intend to go a month without exercising. However, busy schedules just seem to self-perpetuate. This produces fatigue which further decreases the desire to exercise in many. Finally, a "what's the use" mentality sets in. Depression often appears at this point creating an additional barrier to exercise.

Obviously, the over-stressed non-exerciser is the classic vicious cycle. This is one of Ratey's primary points in "Spark". Ironically, ten years ago I was headed down a similar path before experiencing a dramatic lifestyle change.

While there are some additions and changes to the exercise prescription I would like to see, "Spark" certainly highlights the importance of consistent exercise in our society.

The subtitle could also be "The Exercise Professional's Ultimate Marketing Solution" since chapters discussing exercise's potential to treat depression, anxiety, attention deficit and other issues are included.

Caffeine Makes the Runner Go Faster?

You get up early for the race. Your morning ritual includes a couple cups of coffee. The coffee wakes you up and gets you out the door, but do you ever wonder if those cups of coffee actually improve performance? A recent review of high-quality studies says yes.

The study:

The study was a review of several other studies. This usually leads to more reliable results since reviews consider more athletes than a single study. This review also weeded out less reliable studies from the analysis. This weeding-out also tends to produce a more reliable result. Only time-trial studies were considered-since most endurance races are effectively time-trials.

Ganio, MS, Klau, JF, Casa, DJ, Armstrong, LE, and Maresh, CM.
Effect of caffeine on sport-specific endurance performance:
a systematic review. J Strength Cond Res 23(1): 315–324,
2009

Bottom Line: The review found endurance athletes showed a 2.3% improvement when caffeine was ingested before the race. Interestingly, that figure jumped to 4.3% when caffeine was ingested before and during the race. The results were highly variable by individual, however.

Performance Points: 4% shaved off a 40 minute race is over 1.5 minutes. In a sixty minute race, that is nearly 2.5 minutes. Caffeine certainly has potential to make a big performance impact. Some will see worse results-some will see better.

Special Issues:

· NCAA and some other governing bodies have rules limiting caffeine ingestion. Athletes and coaches should be aware of these limits and act accordingly.
· The study recommended caffeine is most effective when athletes abstain at least seven days prior to the race.
· Athletes planning on using caffeine for performance purposes should experiment with usage during training since some individuals may respond negatively to caffeine.
· The researchers also noted many questions regarding the optimum use of caffeine as a performance enhancer remain unanswered.
· Most health professionals would discourage those not currently drinking caffeine from doing so purely for performance reasons. Caffeine may have various implications for health which each individual should evaluate and consider with medical input.

Predicting Master Running Success

If you are a Master's runner, do you ever wonder if you can achieve long-term excellence in your sport? A 2008 study surveyed some successful Master athletes and determined four factors are seen in successful Master athletes:

1. They maintain years of uninterrupted practice. The best Master athletes tend not to take a month/year off;

2. They have shorter off-seasons. Successful Masters tend to limit long lay-offs;

3. Spend more time practicing the sport than other athletes-particularly the preceding five years;

4. Tend to avoid injury.

This four points seem pretty common-sense. However, there are numerous implications and unanswered questions here.

How does a runner "tend to avoid injury" while still "practicing more than other athletes"? Does a higher amount of training increase injury risk for runners and other Master athletes? In other words, are success points #3 and #4 in conflict?

I will address these issues in future posts. Until then, train hard and train safe!

Young B, Medic N, Weir P, Starkes J., Explaining Performance in Elite Middle-Aged Runners:Contributions From Age and From Ongoing and Past Training Factors, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2008, 30, 737-754.

Strength Training, Running Economy and Running Speed

If you are a runner who has reached a more advanced level, you know running faster becomes harder at a higher level. A recent article provides insight into resistance training's ability to improve running economy and speed in advanced runners.

A review article of several high-quality running studies concluded strength training can improve endurance performance particularly at the 3k and 5k distances. This review excluded studies not considered well-designed so that tends to make this study a stronger level of evidence.

Three points from the review to note:

1. All five studies showed improved running economy;
2. Two studies showed an average runner speed improvement of 2.9 %;
3. Four of the five studies used explosive resistance training for the runners.

Take-home lesson: Strong evidence supports the use of explosive training as a runner training tool for improved running economy at shorter-distance endurance races. Ideally, more studies would have qualified for this review which would make the evidence even stronger. However, with what we now know, every serious 3k and 5k runner should be training with weights. If you are a running coach, you should consult with a qualified strength and conditioning professional to establish a resistance training program.

Yamamoto, LM, Lopez, RM, Klau, JF, Casa, DJ, Kraemer, WJ,and Maresh, CM. The effects of resistance training onendurance distance running performance among highly trained
runners: a systematic review. J Strength Cond Res 22(6):2036–2044, 2008.

Runners: Beware the Downhill

Distance runners frequently run up and down hills while training and racing.

Does running up or down hill change knee stress? Should runners experiencing knee issues take any special precautions when running up or down hill? A recent study examined those questions.

Runners were tested on a treadmill at 3, 6 and 9 degrees uphill and 3,6 and 9 degrees downhill. Runners were also tested on level ground.

Going uphill? No problem. In fact, impact peaks actually decreased when the runners went uphill largely due to changed foot-strike patterns.

Downhill was another story.

At just a 3 degree decline, impact peaks increased by 18% and parallel braking forces increased by 27% compared to level running.

At six degrees decline, impact forces increased by 32% and parallel braking forces increased by 46%.

At nine degrees decline, impact forces increased by 54% and parallel braking forces increased by 73%.

A previous study (Hreljac 2000) had noted higher impact peaks were the primary distinction between injured runners and never injured runners. In fact, Hreljac found injured runners had a 13% higher impact peak than non-injured runners. As noted above, even a 3 degree decline produces 18% higher impact peaks than level running.

If you must run downhill, this study notes greater bend at the knee when landing (termed flexion) and a shorter stride can lower the impact peaks sustained at the knee.

If you are experiencing knee problems, it is advisable to avoid hills completely.

Gottschall JS, Kram R, Ground Reaction Forces During Downhill Running, Journal of Biomechanics 38 (2005)445-452.

Step-Ups: Great Resistance Training for Runners

Step ups should be a staple of any serious resistance training routine.

Step ups:

Train legs individually which can reduce strength discrepancies and therefore reduce injury risk and improve performance;

Improve neuromuscular coordination;

Have positive knee health implications due to the muscular and connective tissue strengthening and hypertrophy produced by the exercise;

Can be adjusted for strength levels by changing the height of the step;

Are great for the crucial glute, quad and hamstring muscle groups.

A few tips for the step up:

1. Use the leg on the step to produce the necessary force. Do not cheat by pushing off the back leg;
2. Keep the chest up to maintain postural alignment;
3. Start with a weight that allows you to maintain proper form.