In endurance events, the first cause of fatigue is loss of muscle sugar, so athletes do whatever they can to preserve sugar levels. Caffeine causes the body to produce large amounts of adrenalin, which causes fat to be released from fat cells and float in the bloodstream.
This extra fat is taken up by the muscles and used for energy, thus preserving the body’s limited stored supply of muscle sugar. When muscles run our of sugar, the athlete requires more oxygen to do the same job, slows down, fatigues earlier, and has difficulty maintaining his performance.
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How much time should you spend working at your maximum level in your sport, compared to miles or days spent going at a relaxed pace?
Researchers at the University of Madrid in Spain divided competitive distance runners into two groups. One group did frequent intense workouts and fewer slow recovery miles, while the second group did fewer intense workouts and more slow miles (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, August 2007).
At the end of five months, the runners who did fewer intense workouts and more recovery miles improved far more than those who ran fewer miles and spent a lot of their time trying to run very fast.
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Stretching the leg muscles improves muscle flexibility and strength, running speed, and jumping distance, according to a study from Louisiana State University (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, October 2007).
Stretching elongates muscles and tendons. Longer tendons allow muscles to exert a greater torque on the joint to exert more power to help you lift heavier, jump higher and run faster.
However, other studies show that you should not stretch before a competition involving speed and strength (Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, April 2006). The longer the athletes stretched, the weaker they became. Prolonged stretching fatigues muscle fibers so that they contract with reduced force.
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Athletes can expect to feel fatigued when their blood sugar levels drop. Researchers at Loughborough University, UK showed that athletes who did not take sugar during soccer competition lasting 90 minutes felt more tired, had less competitive desire, and had far lower blood sugar levels than athletes who took a sugared drink every 15 minutes during their game (Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, October 2007).
Your brain gets more than 98 percent of its energy from sugar in the bloodstream. However there is only enough sugar in the bloodstream to last about three minutes. The liver must constantly release sugar into the bloodstream, but there is only enough sugar in the liver to last eight hours during rest and far less than that during exercise. So athletes who do not take a source of sugar during events lasting more than an hour can suffer the psychological effects of low blood sugar levels what include a mental feeling of fatigue and lowered competitive desire.
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Knee pain sufferers, especially those with osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK), experienced dramatic life changes including the ability to work, exercise and stay in their homes, according to a recent survey conducted by the makers of Synvisc. More than 20 million Americans are estimated to have osteoarthritis, and more than 10 million suffer from OAK, making it the most common form of arthritis in the United States.
Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopedic surgeon and author of “FrameWork – Your 7 Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones and Joints,” offers these preventative tips for maintaining healthy knees:
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Completing a marathon puts ordinary runners in the company of elite athletes—finishing a 26.2-mile run is an impressive accomplishment.
But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to join the ranks of marathoners around the world. With dedication and training, most runners can complete a marathon—and then have the satisfaction of being able to say, “A marathon” Yeah, I’ve done that.”
So don’t shy away from a marathon because it seems too hard, too long, too painful. With the right attitude and a good training regimen, it’s just 26.2 miles away.
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People who have longer lower leg lengths (the distance from knee to ankle) will usually have greater endurance during running or walking than those with shorter lower leg lengths.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that people with longer lower legs use less energy when they run (Journal of Human Evolution, August 2007).
In a previous paper in the same journal, these authors showed that people with longer lower legs are better able to prevent heat build-up, which slows you down and makes you tired. When you exercise, almost 80 percent of the energy that you use to power your muscles is lost as heat.
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The faster an athlete moves in training, the faster he or she will be able to move during competition. So athletes use a training technique called interval training in which they run, cycle, skate, ski or swim very fast for a short time. When they become severely short of breath, they slow down until they recover, and then move very fast again.
Researchers at Ithaca College showed that athletes can gain as much by doing this type of intense interval training on consecutive days as on alternate days (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, September 2007).
Interval training causes considerable muscle damage, so it usually leaves athletes sore the next day. Most trainers recommend exercising at a slower pace until the soreness disappears. That is why athletes usually follow each intense day with one or more easy days.
However, many competitions require an athlete to exercise flat out for several consecutive days. He/She may have to compete in multiple preliminary heats over several consecutive days to reach the finals.
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Check the height of your arches when you shop for new running or walking shoes. If you have high arches, you usually need shoes with good shock absorption. If you have low arches, you will probably benefit from shoes with good motion control (Gait & Posture, July 2007).
When you run, you land on the outside bottom of your foot and roll inward. This is called pronation, which helps to protect you from injury. If you landed on your foot and did not roll, the force of the impact would be transmitted up your leg to increase your chance of breaking bones and tearing muscles. However, as you roll in from the outside bottom to the inside bottom of your foot, you will see that your lower leg twists inward.
Excessive pronation twists your lower leg, which can cause stress fractures of the lower leg bones. It can cause knee pain because it forces your kneecap to rub against the bone of your upper leg. Excessive pronation can even twist your hip joint to cause pain in the hips and lower back.
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There is no evidence that it will. Runners get fuel for their muscles from fat and sugar in muscles, fat and sugar in the bloodstream and, to a lesser degree, from protein. The key to increasing endurance for racing is to store as much sugar in muscles before you race and keep it there as long as possible. Muscle sugar gives you the most energy for the least amount of oxygen.
Restricting carbohydrates does not stimulate muscles to store more sugar (Sports Medicine, April-May 2007). A low carbohydrate diet may impair performance if carried out for extended periods because a runner cannot train on a low- carbohydrate diet.
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One of the most difficult problems for athletes is knowing when you are training too much. You make a muscle stronger only by stressing that muscle, feeling sore on the next day, and taking easy workouts or days off until the soreness goes away.
Then you are supposed to take a hard workout again. If […]
Stretching should always be done after your muscles are warmed up. Warming up raises muscle temperature to make them more pliable and resistant to injury. Resting muscle temperature is only about 97 degrees, but a slow jog around the block or any similar warm-up activity will raise muscle temperature to more than 99 degrees. Then […]
Creatine can help to strengthen muscles, but athletes who take these supplements need to know how much they can take safely before they harm themselves. When you exercise and your muscles get as much oxygen as they need, they burn carbohydrates, fats and protein for energy. When you exercise so intensely that you cannot get […]
Runners with high arches are at increased risk for suffering stress fractures, small cracks in the bones of their feet and lower legs; and those with low arches are at increased risk for knee cap pain. When you run at six miles per hour, your foot hits the ground with a force greater than three […]
A study from France shows that it takes longer to recover from hard exercise in the evening than in the morning (International Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 27, 2006). Cyclists performed ten six-second bouts of all out effort, with 30-second rest periods while the researchers measured peak power output, total mechanical work, peak pedaling rate, […]
When you have arthritis, your joints hurt you wake up, but you force yourself to get out of bed and as you keep on moving, the pain lessens. Is your body trying to tell you something when you feel better after you start to move? Many studies have shown that bed rest worsens the pain […]
Second wind means that when you run very fast, you reach a point where you gasp for breath, slow down but keep on pushing and after a few seconds, you feel recovered and pick up the pace.
Some people think that you just slow down and allow yourself enough time to recover from your oxygen […]
I’ve been a runner most of my life and have always been warned about lactic acid build up. From coaches to teammates and friends - just about everyone has cautioned, “You better stretch so you don’t get that lactic buildup.” Even I started giving warnings out about it, like it was some runner […]
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