Friday, January 28, 2011

Dehydratrion?


Dehydration means your body does not have as much water and fluids as
it should. Dehydration can be caused by losing too much fluid, not
drinking enough water or fluids, or both. Is this a good or bad thing while you exercise, and if you are properly hydrated before you run, how soon will it take you to become dehydrated?

British Journal of Sports Medicine:
Abstract
Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between athletic performance and the change in body weight (BW) during a 42 km marathon in a large cohort of runners.

Methods The study took place during the 2009 Mont Saint-Michel Marathon (France). 643 marathon finishers (560 males and 83 females) were studied. The change in BW during the race was calculated from measurements of each runner's BW immediately before and after the race.

Results BW loss was 2.3±2.2% (mean±SEM) (p<0.01).>3% in runners completing the race in less than 3 h. These data are not compatible with laboratory-derived data suggesting that BW loss greater than 2% during exercise impairs athletic performance. They match an extensive body of evidence showing that the most successful athletes in marathon and ultra-marathon running and triathlon events are frequently those who lose substantially more than 3–4% BW during competition.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

MovNat, Is There Something To This!



Getting outside is what we all want to do, ok maybe not all of us but the few that read this blog do. Well MovNat is about working outside with what is around you, not what you purchase. The video gives you a glimpse of what to expect and I am sure you can devise a great workout running up and down any mountain. Heck go outside today (if you live in the tri state area NY, NJ, PA) and you can shovel snow, run down the block, shovel more snow, do some push-ups, more snow, sit-ups and yes you guessed it shovel more snow. MovNat is not new it is just returning you to how we all used to stay in shape.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Corrective Triathlete Exercises



From USA Triathlon:
By Justin Levine

With so much demand on the body from vigorous training, triathletes need to include building balance as part of their training plans. All athletes need core, hip and shoulder stability and ankle, hip and thoracic (mid-spine) mobility. The stronger your structure becomes the less you become injured and the higher your performance will soar.

Endurance athletes seem to wait too long to correct their imbalances and issues. Whether it’s an unstable lower spine, weak and “loose” hips and shoulders or a weak core, triathletes are destined for a physical therapy clinic. These six corrective exercises can be a huge assistance to correcting some major issues I see in a majority of athletes. These movements need to be part of a regular routine so you can build a balanced body, increase your flexibility and mobility and decrease your chance of injury. Remember when you get hurt you cannot train and when you cannot train you cannot improve. Train smart and perform these exercises daily.

Plank/Side Plank

This might be the most important exercise for triathletes. We need stability and stiffness in our lower lumbar region. If we are unstable our lower back will get unwanted movement, thus causing lower back pain. There are many repetitive movements in swimming, biking and running. You are continually doing the same thing over and over which can cause asymmetries in the body. Having a stable core means that your body will be able to release power throughout your hips and shoulders more efficiently. The plank effectively trains all of the stabilizing muscles in your body, from your shoulders, through your spine, to your hips and ankles.

The plank is a very simple but efficient exercise. You do not have to hold a plank longer than 45 seconds for it to be effective. Start out by holding a plank or side plank for 15 seconds and perform two sets. Build to 3 sets of 30 seconds each. Once you have mastered this progression, elevate your feet on a bench or box. You must maintain a perfectly straight body, braced abdominal region and stiffness through the exercise. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides and directly underneath your shoulders and keep your forearms straight out in front of you.

Y/T/W/L

Whether you are swimming, biking or running, triathletes need strong stability and posture of the upper back. If you have a weak posterior upper body, your body will learn to compensate through unwanted stress of the lower back, shoulders, hips and knees. These simple exercises will enhance shoulder stability, rotator cuff strength, and scapular control. The scapula area (shoulder blades, rhomboids, rotator cuff, middle trapezius, posterior deltoid and subscapularis) are all stabilizing muscles of the upper back. If we lack strength in these small stabilizing muscles our posture will suffer thus causing stress and pain in other areas.

You need to be in a good athletic position while performing these exercises. Knees should be slightly bent and you should be bent over 45 degrees toward the ground. Remain strong and tight in the trunk area. You will make a Y, T, W and L with your arms to work the shoulder blade and rotator cuff. Start out by doing six repetitions for each exercise and do not use any weight. Build to 10 repetitions of each exercise. Once you have done this set of exercises for at least 4 weeks, then you can move to 2 pound dumbbells. This exercise is meant for light weight so we can continue to strengthen the stabilizers. The heavier you go the more your deltoid will want to take over, thus defeating the purpose of these moves.

Mini-band Walks

Most triathletes have very strong quadriceps and hamstrings but very weak hip stabilizers. The gluteus medius is a very important muscle for stabilizing the hip joint and controlling the femur. If you have weak hip stabilizers you will not be able to control the movement of the femur, which can cause hip, knee and low back pain.

Running and biking are unilateral movements. You are always using one leg or the other during these sports. If you cannot stabilize on one leg because of inadequate hip stabilizers you will get injured very fast. This exercise, done daily, will strengthen your gluteus medius and will assist in stabilizing your hip joint. The more stability you have in your hips the more we can swim, bike and run more efficiently.

When performing this exercise, think of having a book on top of your head with great core stability. Do not wobble all over the place. Remain tight and balanced. Your toes should be pointed inward to get more recruitment of the gluteus medius. When going lateral, start off by doing 10 small steps to your left and 10 small steps to your right. Build to 30 small steps to your right and left. When linear, start off by doing 20 small steps forward and back and build to 30 small steps front and back.

Deep Squat to Hamstring Stretch

This is a powerful exercise. This will help loosen up your ankles, open up your hips and stretch your hamstrings. Triathletes get very tight in their hips and hamstrings from constant biking and running. This exercise done every day will enhance ankle mobility, hamstring flexibility and hip mobility. Make sure to keep your chest up and back flat, keep heels on the floor and keep your elbows inside of your knees during the squat. As you go into the hamstring stretch, push your hips up and keep a straight back until your feel the stretch in your hamstrings. Start off by doing five full repetitions of this movement.

Lateral/Straight Leg Swings

This dynamic exercise is performed to increase hip mobility. This is a mandatory movement in your daily workout routine. If you lack mobility in your hips, your lower back will take the stress and will eventually start to hurt. These movements will open your hips in a frontal and sagittal plane of motion.

World renowned strength coach Michael Boyle said, “The problem is that the hip is built for mobility and the lumbar spine for stability. When the supposedly mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move in compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful.”

During lateral leg swings keep your back stable and let your hips do the movement. Cross the center line of your body and do not let your toes externally rotate out. Keep your toes facing the wall. With straight leg swings maintain a tall and stable trunk. Swing your leg up as high as you can go without bending your knee. Keep your toes flexed back.

Thoracic Rotation

This is another simple but effective exercise. Too many triathletes suffer from lower back pain. These issues are most likely caused from tight hips or an immobile thoracic spine. Our thoracic spine is the 12 vertebrae located in the middle of the spine. You need active mobility in this region. If you lack mobility in this area you are likely to move at the low spine and cause back pain. Also, because of lack of mobility in the thoracic spine you could spark serious neck and shoulder issues.

When sitting, your thoracic spine is in a locked position and its true function (extension, flexion and rotation) is turned off. This can lead to poor posture mechanics which can send a chained signal to the rest of the body to compensate. Compensation is what leads to injury. When one part of the body is turned off or not functional, another area will try to pick up the load and this will lead to an injury. This exercise is done on all fours. Your body must remain straight and in good position. Put one hand on top of your head, rotate down and touch your opposite shoulder and then rotate up as far as you can. Try and look up to the ceiling when rotating up. You will feel the stretch between your shoulder blades. Start off by performing 8 a side and build to 15 a side.

Bonus
Here are three exercises triathletes (or any athlete for that matter) should never do again:

Crunches

The movement of crunching puts the spine into flexion. The spine does not want this load. The function of the spine is meant to remain stable. Repetitive movement at the lower spine will cause pain or even worse a blown disc. Read any research from Dr. Stuart Mcgill, a low back specialist, and you will see why spinal flexion, extension and rotation are a recipe for a blown low back disc. Want a healthy and strong back? Build stability and stiffness and stay away from crunching.

Leg Curl Machine

This machine is a very non-functional “strength training” exercise. First of all it is a machine. Machines do not build function. Your movement is constricted on an exercise machine. Secondly, this exercise will work the hamstrings without engaging the hips and the glutes. When you do that it will lead to over-dominant hamstrings, thus leading to imbalanced glutes and hips, which can lead to injury. These two muscle groups need to work together. Try the stability ball leg curl instead. This will allow your hips to work with your hamstrings and this will create balance and a strong posterior lower body.

Low Back Hyperextension

Have you ever done the Superman exercise? Just like crunching this is another recipe for low back pain. The low spine is meant to remain stable, and when you put unwanted load on the spine it will cause serious back issues. It might not happen the first, third or 50th time you perform this exercise but every time you perform spinal flexion, extension or rotation you are setting yourself up for disaster. Stay away from this exercise.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

USA Triathlon Announces Regional Championships and Special Qualifiers



The top 33 percent of each age group at Regional Championships and Special Qualifiers contested prior to Aug. 12 will automatically qualify for the 2011 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship, which will take place Aug. 20 in Burlington, Vt. Regional Championships or Special Qualifiers held after Aug. 12 will qualify athletes for 2012 Age Group Nationals.

2011 USA Triathlon Regional Championships
Florida: St. Anthony's Triathlon, St. Petersburg, Fla., May 1
Mid-Atlantic: The Nation's Triathlon, Washington, D.C., Sept. 11
Mideast: Sylvania Triathlon, Sylvania, Ohio, Aug. 14
Midwest: Elkhart Lake Triathlon, Elkhart Lake, Wis., June 11
Northeast: Pat Griskus Triathlon, Middlebury, Conn., June 18
Pacific Northwest: Coeur d'Alene Triathlon, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Aug. 13
Rocky Mountain: TriUtah Echo Triathlon, Coalville, Utah, July 9
Southeast: Peachtree International Triathlon, Peachtree City, Ga., May 14
South Midwest: Tri Arkansas, Arkadelphia, Ark., Aug. 20
Southwest: San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island, San Francisco, Calif., July 9

2011 Special Qualifiers
Florida: Tri Miami, Key Biscayne, Fla., May 15
Mid-Atlantic: Lake Logan International Triathlon, Canton, N.C., Aug. 6
Mideast: Warsaw Optimist Tri, Warsaw, Ind., June 25
Midwest: Bluff Creek Triathlon, Boone, Iowa, May 22
Northeast: Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt., Aug. 7
Pacific Northwest: South Maui Triathlon, Maui, Hawaii, June 12
Rocky Mountain: Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon, Loveland, Colo., June 25
Southeast: Music City Triathlon, Nashville, Tenn., July 24
South Midwest: Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon, Lubbock, Texas, May 15, and
Route 66 Triathlon, El Reno, Okla., June 5
Southwest: Deuces Wild Triathlon, Show Low, Ariz., June 4

Boys to Men, TRX Incline Press



Might as well get on the band wagon and pick up a TRX Suspension Training system and get a workout anywhere anytime. The movements are from simple to whatever you can dream up. You might think that this is easy stuff, give it a week and you will never go back to the traditional gym workout ever.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Winter Tri Training, if this does not get you motivated not sure what will.

Moment of Silence, Jack LaLanne Dies at 96



He was the first, in so many ways.

In 1936 LaLanne opened his own health spa in Oakland, CA, and dedicated his life to encouraging people to better themselves through exercise and fitness. LaLanne designed the world's first leg extension machines, pulley machines using cables, and weight selectors, now a standard in the fitness industry.

Jack LaLanne is an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert, celebrity, lecturer, and motivational speaker who is widely referred to as "The Godfather of Fitness". LaLanne gained worldwide recognition for his success as a chiropractor and bodybuilder, and for his incredible and prodigious acts of strength and endurance. Through his career, LaLanne has won numerous awards including the Horatio Alger Award from the Association of Distinguished Americans, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Hall of Fame.

Feats and Honors
1954 Age 40: Swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks… an undisputed world record.

1955 Age 41: Swam, handcuffed, from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf in
San Francisco, CA.

1956 Age 42: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on “You Asked for It, a TV Show with Art Baker.

1957 Age 43: Swam the treacherous Golden Gate Channel, towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. This involved fighting the cold, swift ocean currents that made the 1 mile swim a 6 ½ mile test of strength and endurance.

1958 Age 44: Maneuvered a paddleboard 30 miles, 9-½ hours non-stop from Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore.

1959 Age 45: Completed 1,000 pushups and 1,000 chin-ups in 1 hours and 22
minutes. “Happy” is born and The Jack LaLanne Show goes nationwide

1974 Age 60: Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1975 Age 61: Swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, underwater, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

1976 Age 62: Commemorating the “Spirit of ‘76”, swam 1 mile in Long Beach Harbor, handcuffed, shackled and towing 13 boats (representing the 13 original colonies) containing 76 people.

1979 Age 65: Towed 65 boats filled with 6,500-pounds of Lousiana Pacific wood pulp while handcuffed and shackled in Lake Ashinoko, near Tokyo, Japan.

1980 Age 66: Towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour.

1984 Age 70: Handcuffed, shackled and fighting strong winds and currents, towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen’s Way Bridge in the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary, 1 ½ miles.
1992 Age 78: Academy of Body Building and Fitness Award

1994 Age 80: State of California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness Lifetime Achievement Award

1996 Age 82: Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award

1999 Age 85: Spirit of Muscle Beach Award

2002 Age 88: Jack receives his very own star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame

2004 Age 90: Jack celebrates his birthday with a major media blitz in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. ESPN Classic runs a 24 Hour marathon of the original Jack LaLanne Shows

2005 Age 91: Received the Jack Webb Award from the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, the Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award, Interglobal’s International Infomercial Award, the Freddie, Medical Media Public Service Award, and he was a Free Spirit honoree at Al Neuharth’s Freedom Fourm.

2007 Age 93: Received the Treasures of Los Angeles Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from Muscle Beach, and the Y.M.C.A. Impact Award.

2008 Age 94: Inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Parker Seminars Award, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from the Southern California University of Health Sciences, receives the People of Vision Award from the RP International, receives the Heroes Humanity Award, and was inducted into the Gallery of Legends hosted by the World Acrobatics Society.

2009 Age 95: Jack receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Club Industry. Jack LaLanne days were observed in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

It's To Cold Outside to Swim!




For the East Coast winter is here with a vengeance. So what do you do when it to cold, frozen, snow covered to get into your car, well try this workout from Rock Star Triathlete Academy.

Time: ~45-60 minutes
Warm-Up - get the heart rate churning and pre-activate the core:
100 Jumping Jacks
50 Crunches
25 Side Crunches per side
Main Set - 5x through the following exercises:
25 Flutter Kicks per Side
25 Alternating Band Chest Press per Side (kneeling or standing)
25 Alternating Band Rows per Side (kneeling or standing)
15 Superman
15 High Elbow Band Pulls (standing, bent over)
Core Set - 5x through the following exercises:
50 Jumping Jacks or 25 High Knee Skips (standing in one place) per side
10 Stability Ball Pikes
10 Push-Up Position Corkscrew Twists per side
Metabolic Set: 5x through the following exercises
20 Speed Squats
10 Squat Thrust Jumps
25 Mountain Climbers
25 High Knee Skips (standing in one place)

Friday, January 14, 2011

Triathlon Reality Show, Sign Up Now!

So with the success of these reality shows how many would want to qualify for Kona on one. That seems to be the direction Ironman is going, Michael Pine the new Marking and Public Relations director might take the brand. I am sure this would be a slam dunk, what type A triathlete would not want to compete against another triathlete to get his or her shot at qualifying for KONA.
EverymanTri.com
“Right now triathlon needs more mainstream media exposure to drive its attractiveness and make people say, “I want to do this.” We can do that through storytelling” Pine said “ You watch “The Amazing Race,” and people are drawn to that. If we could do something like that, we could hook more people into the sport. You look at what “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike did for UFC — it put us on the map”.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Nike Plus Watch, Powered by TomTom


Well I have to say it is early in the year and right from the start Nike+ is nailing it down with a great looking watch partnered with a great GPS company, TomTom

"Starting April 1st, get the extra push you need with the Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by TomTom. Not only does it track what you do, it tracks how you do it, then makes you want to do it again and again. Here's how:

It's accurate.
The Nike+ SportWatch GPS combines the accuracy of GPS with the shoe-based Nike+ sensor to track time, pace, distance, calories burned, and heart rate. So you have your whole running history in the palm of your hand.

It'award-winning.
The watch just won two CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Innovation Awards in the Health and Wellness and Personal Electronics categories. Which is kind of a big deal considering that CES is the world’s largest consumer tech tradeshow.

It's motivating.
Onscreen run reminders help get you out the door. You also get props for personal records.

It's inspiring.
The watch connects to NikePlus.com so you can view completed runs, set new goals, and interact with a community of almost 4 million runners around the world."

Monday, January 3, 2011

TRX, NOW!


So I know that you have heard about the TRX system, what you might not know is the markets they reach and impact. UFC, triathlons, running, football and motocross to name a few. Triathlete, can greatly benefit from the TRX, can you say time management. The one thing we never have enough of is time, well TRX helps and breaks all myths you might have about a 20 min. workout.

Born in the U.S. Navy SEALS and developed by Fitness Anywhere®, Suspension Training® is a revolutionary method of leveraged bodyweight exercise. Easily set up the portable TRX® Suspension Trainer™ and you’re in control. Safely perform hundreds of exercises that build power, strength, flexibility, balance, mobility, and prevent injuries, all at the intensity you choose.

Hey all can make excuses, if you want to improve get the TRX and podium this year.

My Pet Fat, on Biggest Loser


Jay Jacobs, My Pet Fat, is trying to become the next Biggest Loser. Jay a motivational speaker and Entrepreneur is trying to lose weight and has been for year. As many laugh at the show Jay has been battling for years and if this is the push that makes him go over the edge, great. Good luck Jay, we will be watching.