I often wonder how personal trainers, coaches, or people who run or work out on their own come up with the number of reps for their workouts. There’s no magic in doing 5 or 6 or 7 reps. And when training in a group, there’s little reason why everyone should do the same number of […]
Growing up, my twin brother was a big fan of Twinkies. Me, not so much. I could take them or leave them. I was always more a fan of sugar cereals. Cinnamon Toast Crunch was my favorite. As an adult, I like bananas. A lot. I eat one almost every day. It’s a good thing […]
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 […]
There are a lot of myths in the fitness and weight loss industry. As I put the finishing touches on my next book, THE RUNNING DIET, here’s two myths from my chapter on running and weight loss myths. Myth: Thin people have a faster metabolism. Try this experiment: Hold five copies of one of my […]
For me, the holidays aren’t just about childhood memories, shopping (which I hate to do), and carols. They’re also about food. Specifically, the food others give me. It seems that ’tis the season to give Jason Karp lots of cookies. This Christmas, like all other Christmases, people push their cookies on me, not letting me […]
As I write my next book on running and weight loss, I’ve been thinking a lot about the effects running and not running have on our lives. As large of a positive effect that running has on our health, not running has equally as large of a negative effect. A sedentary lifestyle affects your […]
We all like to eat a lot during the holidays. I like to eat a lot all the time. Want to prevent unwanted pounds from too many holiday desserts? Don’t fret! You don’t have to do a lot of work to get fit and stay in shape through the holidays. You just have to […]
I did a hill workout today. If you want a humbling workout, whether you’re a runner or any other kind of fitness buff, there’s nothing like running hills to humble you. For runners, hills are a big part of training and racing. The feel of your heart pounding in your chest and your shortness of […]
On my 5-mile run around Lake Miramar in San Diego today, I thought about economy. People use different amounts of oxygen when running at the same submaximal speeds, and this difference explains why runners with the same VO2max do not cross the finish line together in races. This difference in oxygen use is called running […]
I’m not sure that any other industry has as many myths as the weight loss and exercise industry. In today’s blog, I’d like to share three, from my new book, THE RUNNING DIET: Myth: Eating right before going to bed will make you fat. Most nights, after dinner, I eat a bowl of cereal. […]