Never the less the evidence is there that exercise and training actually strengthens the body and joints.  Why the injuries then?  Well quite simply from improper training.  One has to stretch the joints, and warm up slowly to activities that we don’t do everyday.  Beware the weekend-warrior syndrome of not working out at all for some time, then heading out for a weekend where you think you’re in the same shape you were at 20 years old.

Ease into your training, build up slow, warmup and warmdown in a balanced way, and take stretching seriously, and you’ll continue to train injury free.  It’s like they say, it’s what we were built for!

The Human Body Is Built for Distance

Brain Surgery Frees Runner, but Raises Barriers – NY Times

CNN: Gadgets, Web sites to make you a better runner

Here’s a great article about a guy who, just preceding his 40th birthday, decided to get into shape, and the story of his path to the ultraman world championships.

From miserable man to “Ultraman”:  A Fitness Journey

As a trainer I can confirm one of Ratey’s first observations that a client “felt more passionate about life once he got into an exercise routine.”  He goes on to talk about what became known as the “endorphin rush”…

“Candace Pert had recently discovered that there were opiate receptors in the brain, meaning the body had a built-in way of killing pain with molecules that worked like morphine.  Endorphins, as they became known, dulled pain in the body and produced euphoria in the mind.  When elevated levels of endorphins were detected in the blood samples of a group of runners, everything seemed to fit.  The theory that exercise fills your brain with this morphinelike substance matched the good feeling everyone got.  It gave us the expression “runner’s high” an extreme version of the effect.”

“Blumenthal concluded that exercise was as effective as medication.  This is the study I photocopy for patients who are skeptical of the idea that exercise changes their brain chemistry enough to help their depression, because it puts the issue in terms that are as black-and-white as psychiatry can hope to deliver, at least for now.  The results should be taught in medical school and driven home with health insurance companies and posted on bulletin bouards of every nursing home in the country, where nearly a fifth of the residents have depression.  If everyone knew that exercise worked as well as Zoloft, I think we could put a real dent in the disease.”

“In short, exercise affects so many variables in the brain that its nigh impossible to isolate its effect as we’d like — in the name of hard science.  But the evidence is there, from the action of microscopic molecules to massive surveys of tens of thousands of people over the years.  Yes exercise is an antidepressant.  But it is also much more.”

One guy is a running-obsessed husband who despite his family being a bit cash strapped, buys a new $900 electronic muscle stimulator.  His wife is understandably frustrated.  Another guy trains triathalons and never has time for his wife.

To be sure there are a few rare ones who are that obsessed, but for the rest of us, we have to keep pushing!!

The app is super cool.  It has all the right bells and whistles to be really useful, including syncing your data right to their website, keeping a log of your data, and providing further details.  It even offers a button to “twitter” your run, ie throw up details of your recent workout as a record on twitter.

My first impressions lead me to think that the GPS on the iPhone may not be accurate enough for an app like this one.  As they suggested, I waited for the GPS status to turn green.  Nonetheless I had some trouble.

My first try, I walked from a cafe on 13th street, west to 4th avenue, south to

12th street, and then west again to my final destination on 12th between Broadway and University.  But checkout the erratic lines.

I have yet to try this for a long run, so 60 minutes of data may average out better than five minutes.  Also in the city, there are a lot of buildings in the way, which may prevent the iphone GPS from being super accurate.  I’ve had the same problems with my Garmin GPS Running watch, although on the whole it is quite good.

As they say, your mileage may vary.

If you’re exercising in the summer months, you have to be particularly aware and careful about hydration.  In direct sun, heat exhaustion and heat stroke become risks.  I try to run along routes where there are water fountains.  Spraying some cold water on yourself every 15 minutes or so does wonders.  I also run with a water pack which is easier than carrying a water bottle, and is always available.  Plus the weight sits nicely distributed around your core, where it’s easiest to balance.

I would recommend some specifics about how much water if it were a simple matter.  But the truth is each persons body is different, based on size, weight, age, and exercise intensity.  So the best way, as I’ve mentioned before is to monitor your urine color (should be clear) before and after workout.

It is especially important not to just wait until you’re thirsty.  This happens after the body has already become dehydrated, and even then is not consistent in all people.  Another method to monitor your fluid intake is to weigh yourself before and after your workout. If you have significant weight loss, this is most likely from liquids lost.  Over time you should learn to gauge your own body.  Monitoring is the best way to get better at this.

About.com has a pretty good article on the topic.  Read here.

There is also some talk of GPS. We’re already enamored of Garmin’s Forerunner watch, which is a phenomenal training device, all around. I’d like to see how these hydration and temperature sensors work, and keep an eye on Garmin’s additions as well.

Apple and Nike have joined forces to bring sports + fitness fanatics a new way to train.  A wireless piece plugs into your ipod, and a wireless sensor for your shoe.  Everytime you step, it transmits that information to the ipod.  It will also use that information to adjust your music accordingly, to get you to workout harder and so on.  It’s quite a cool concept.

The new device, available at the apple store, and partnered with Nike, is basically a very hip and cool pedometer.  There are many available, take a look over at Amazon.  How a pedometer works is it clicks and increments a counter everytime you take a step.  What good is that you ask?  Well you input the LENGTH of your stride after various estimations.  The problem is that your stride varies dramatically depending on how hard you’re working out, if you’re going up or downhill, if you’re tired, at the end of your workout, and so on and so forth.

Normally you measure your stride by say running 1/10 of a mile, and counting the number of strides in your head, and then dividing.  Really this is just an estimate, and an average of that moment of time.  Suppose it’s off by only one inch (2.5 cm).  A stridge might be 1 meter (3 feet).  Now if you run, and the device calculates you ran 5000 strides, that is 5km (3.1 miles).  But it is then off by +/- 12500 cm (5000 inches) which is 125  meters (417 feet).   If you just train casually you might not care, but if you’re training hard, and really pushing your times, it is difficult to get really accurate numbers with a pedometer.

But if your aim is to make workouts more fun, and to have a useful tool to help you, this is a great one.  If you’re looking for a more all-purpose training partner, I would highly recommend the Garmin Forerunner 305.

I suspect avid runners will immediately see the usefulness of all this data. Most often when you go running, there are highs and lows, dips and peaks in your energy levels. Is it hydration? Is it my breathing? Or am I just running faster or slower, or at a gradient?

This kind of data will answer most of those questions. It’s amazing. You can see exactly where your heart rate is, and Mph speed.

Here’s an example. A few months back I was doing a week of Bikram Yoga. As an added bonus, on some days I would do a double session, and go running *after* the bikram yoga. I found that my heart rate was elevated, to around 152 bpm all the time, and yet my running speed was actually slower than usual. It just amounts to general exhaustion. Another example, when it is extremely humid out, I go running, and bring extra water. I run slower, but find my heart rate stays high.

Most watches with a heart rate monitor just keep the min, max, and total for the run. So all that time in the middle you know nothing about. Here the watch is collecting hundreds of little data points, and syncing them to your computer when you come back home. Graphing the whole thing is like turning on a light in a dark room. Now you can see everything!