Beginning in the seventh grade, I became fascinated with age—specifically how our bodies’ functional capacities decrease with the passage of time. When I once shared this perception with my 98-year-old grandmother, she said, “Just wait until you’re 80.” I’m still far from 80, so I can only imagine how difficult it will be then […]
When Swedish physiologist Dr. Per Olaf Åstrand discovered in the 1960s on a stationary bicycle in the laboratory that if you take a set amount of physical work and break that work up into periods of work and rest, you can accomplish more work at the same or higher intensity, the interval training that runners […]
I was having a conversation with someone tonight at the track after the San Diego Track Club workout, and she brought up strength training as a way to become a better runner. This is not the first time someone has tried to convince me that runners need to strength train. I have written and spoken […]
The human body is truly remarkable. Within a few days following my hernia surgery last week, I started to have discomfort/pain on the underside of my shoulder, which is starting now to dissipate. When we have trauma to one part of our body, pain is often referred to another part, perhaps as a safety mechanism […]
1. Pace The best way to run your fastest possible race is by starting out at the pace you can maintain the entire race. So run the first mile at the pace you expect to average for the whole marathon. You can’t put running time in the bank. You will end up losing more […]
When I wrote The Inner Runner, one of the things I wanted to address is how running changes us on the inside. Exercise doesn’t just affect the heart and muscles; it also affects the brain. It’s an interesting field of science called neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to change. Running causes morphological and neurochemical adaptations […]
Cardio is bad for you. I was told today that I can’t be interviewed on a podcast about my new book, RUN YOUR FAT OFF, because I would contradict other guests on the show who have talked about the dangers of excessive cardio. This is what I was told: “We have to ensure we stay […]
Social media can be a dangerous thing. It gives people a public voice who would otherwise not have one. Every day I see popular fitness figures posting stuff that is inaccurate or blatantly wrong. Here’s 5 lies you’re being told. Lie #1: You have control over your metabolic rate. Your resting metabolic rate is the […]
There’s been a lot of talk and promotion in the fitness industry about high-intensity exercise. If you ask me, most of what is behind this talk is money. If we tell people what they want to hear—“all you need is a few minutes of high-intensity exercise per day”—people are more likely to buy. No one […]
Ever since the fitness industry got a hold of research showing that people burn calories after they work out while they recover from their workout, a whole new argument was born. Exercise stopped being about the exercise and became about what came after. “Do this workout,” trainers and gurus would say, “because you’ll burn four […]