Perfect Your Training Intensity For Your Best Results Work smarter? Or harder? Balance is key to optimal performance and decreased injury risk.

Training harder and smarter.

Which are you… The person who never stops training?  The one who tries to outwork the competition? Or the person constantly looking for a way to hack the system?  (The one taking a break from Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body to read this post?) Which is better?  Or, from a health perspective, which increases injury risk?   Overtraining or undertraining? … Read More

Home-based strength program for runners

Links to exercises can be found here. In this challenging time of COVID-19 precautions, here’s a home-based 4-week strength training program for runners who no longer have gym access. Research from groups like Montana Running Lab shows that to improve performance, strength training should be done with moderate to heavy resistance (ex: 60-80% of a 1 rep max) for 3-6 … Read More

RECOVERY: the biggest buzzword in sports science right now

As athletes continue to push the boundaries of their bodies with training, recovery becomes even more important.  Why? To reduce fatigue and enhance athletic performance.  In theory, if you can recover faster, you can train harder (or more often). But, unfortunately recovery is complex.  There’s no one way to do it effectively. This is because it depends on a LOT … Read More

Do I need sports drinks or electrolytes for my best workout? Part 2 of the importance of the body's fluid balance.

Electrolytes are important for some workouts

In my last article, I talked about the importance of water and how much to drink.   But to be truly “hydrated” means to have a balance of water and chemicals called electrolytes. Electrolytes include: sodium and chloride (aka salt), potassium, calcium, and magnesium.  These compounds help control muscle contractions, nerve impulses, blood pH, and water transport in and out … Read More

Hurt or Burnt Out From Your New Fitness Regimen? How to Fix it

Getting better mentally and physically means challenging your body through your fitness routine.  However, there’s a delicate balance between how far to push and when to take a break.  At this time of year, it seems we spend lots of time beating ourselves up over poor health choices during the holidays (Skipping workouts for holiday parties?  The endless trays of Christmas … Read More