Even the youngest, healthiest runner can encounter some complications that can occur from training in certain extreme conditions. As we mentioned in the previous article, heat can provide a number of challenges to the runner, particularly if their body is not accustomed to these temperatures.
There are certain warning signs that one should look for to avoid problems caused by what is commonly called “heat disease.” In the most extreme cases, it has even resulted in death.
Heat disease is typified by an intense heat buildup in the head, resulting in a headache and general overheating of the entire body. It can cause confusion, loss of concentration and loss of muscle control.
It is followed often by intense sweating and the cessation of sweating, resulting in clammy skin and heavy breathing. Vomiting and faintness can occur.
True heat disease is not merely caused by overtraining or high temperatures. It is often a result of lack of sleep, infection, overweight, certain prescription and non-prescription medications or dehydration.
Dehydration is not only caused by insufficient water intake, but also by alcohol and caffeine. Medications for diarrhea and antihistamines are common medications that can contribute to heat disease.
Drinking water will help, but take care to avoid water intoxication. Though very rare, hyponatremia, or the excessive and sudden consumption of too much water can also cause serious medical problems and, though rare, is a condition all marathoners should be aware of. The symptoms are swelling of the significant hands and feet, nausea, repetitive diarrhea, confusion and disorientation and muscle cramping. Avoid it by drinking water in six ounce doses only every 25 minutes and don’t drink more if you hear a sloshing sound in your stomach.
Running is an enjoyable hobby that is good for your health. By being aware of the potential pitfalls, you can ensure to continue to get pleasure and benefit from this great pastime. Come join us for one of our BOOTCAMP 619 running activities and experience our team spirit!
If you are just starting out on your new running habit, it will be summer before you know it and you will be in full swing with your new running addiction. San Diego summers can be hot and you may need to figure out how to deal with these new temperatures.
Running in the heat can sometimes take special care to ensure that you don’t overheat too early and lose your momentum for a good run.
When the temperature is over 55 degrees, as it usually is most of the year here in our beautiful city, you’re going to run more slowly than you may in colder climates. You may also feel worse as you get hotter. It is when the temperature rises above 65 degrees that runners start to feel more difficulty. The good news is that this gives you a few more months of cooler temperatures to become a more adept runner before summer.
There are plenty of good ways to beat the heat.
Slow Down: When you are feeling overheated, slow down your pace. This will conserve your resources to continue a longer run.
Lighter Clothing: Don’t wear cotton. Sweat will soak into cotton and cause it to cling uncomfortably. Materials such as polypro or coolmax will wick sweat away and keep you cooler.
No Hats: Most of the body’s heat is passed out through the head. Wearing a hat will keep your body heat retained and make you feel warmer. Try pouring water over your head and polypro tank top to keep cooler.
Cold Water: Drinking cold water while running will help keep down your body temperature from the inside out.
Take a Dip: Since we live right on the ocean, use it as a resource for a pleasant run. Wear shoes that can be slipped off easily for a quick dip in the ocean every mile or two.
By trying these strategies, you will be able to build up your endurance and run longer without over-heating. Come join us at BOOTCAMP 619 to learn and trade strategies with your instructors and members. BOOTCAMP 619 provides a wide variety of fitness activities, including running, martial arts and functional exercise to build your endurance and have fun while getting in the best shape of your life.
There are three basic phases one can follow to get ready to take part in their first race. By devoting time to each phase, you can be prepared for the challenge. These phases are known as the Training Pyramid.
Base Training
This should be the longest phase of your training program. It is in this phase that you will get accustomed to a daily run that is relaxed, easy and within your comfort level.
These runs will get your body accustomed to being a “runner.” Your regular, daily run should be within your aerobic range and helps to strengthen the circulatory system. Oxygen and nutrients are provided to the muscles and waste products are removed.
You should perform longer runs every other week. These runs help to develop cardiovascular efficiency. To judge a “long run,” start by increasing the longest run you did in the last few weeks by one mile a week until you have reached ten miles. Then, increase two miles every other week. Eventually, you will get to the point where your distance is long enough to run a marathon or half-marathon, or a 5K.
Hill Training
Once you are comfortable running on flat ground and have achieved some of the goals you set during your Base Training phase, you can begin Hill Training.
Training on hills will increase your running strength without going anaerobic. Hills strengthen the main driving muscles of the leg – the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles. The ankle begins to act as a more efficient mechanical lever, thus propelling the body better.
When starting on a hill training program, find a hill with an easy grade, about 3-7%. If this is too steep, try reducing your pace until you feel comfortable with the incline. This should not yet be an anaerobic workout so make sure to stay within your training range.
Continue with this hill training for about 4-6 weeks before moving into Speed Training.
Speed Training
While Base Training gives you endurance and Hill Training gives you strength, Speed Training is obviously to increase your… speed. One method of speed training requires the athlete to run in intervals of faster past and slower paced running. Divide your run into legs and increase your speed for a determined period of time. These “repetitions” should be increased each week. After about eight weeks of speed work, you will see your performance begin to peak. Be careful not to overdo it at this point and get injured.
Speedwork may not be for everyone. If you don’t have a time goal, then you are better to focus on strength and endurance.
BOOTCAMP 619 is a great way to increase your strength and endurance while you improve muscle efficiency and cardiovascular function. Come join us for the workout of your life.
Core muscles are a group of muscles that make up our trunk, they are the center of our body‘s strength. They include the abdominals, obliques, lower back, pelvic floor and gluteal muscles. These group of muscles are responsible for our posture and for stabilizing everything we do. By keeping our core strong the rest of our bodily systems can function at a much greater efficiency. In fact, most sports and other physical activities depend on stable core muscles. Having a strong core will make you more physically powerful, it will maintain balance and stability for exercising and all other physical activity.
Due to the many dynamic challenges and demands the body must deal with throughout life, the core muscle system is designed to provide power and stabilization for the body for this purpose. Health and fitness experts have come to realize that it is important to strengthen the core to help lessen the chance of injury to other muscles in the body. A strong core can also help alleviate many health problems related to poor posture. The stronger the core, the more stable the upper and lower torso, therefore the stronger the entire body.
The importance of having strong core muscles cannot be overstated. Here is a brief list of the many benefits of having a strong core.
1. Improves posture 2. Helps to eliminate lower back pain. 3. Helps avoid back injury and injuries to the rest of the body. 4. Improves physical performance. 5. Improves balance. 6. Prevents muscle soreness and stiffness. 7. Keeps muscles toned and supple.
By having a strong core, it will help to prevent many of the aches and pains associated with growing old.
You can be sure that while training at BOOTCAMP 619 , your core will become stronger and more stable with the various exercise routines.
You have become hooked on running. You were born to run. But were you born to run fast or far?
Sprinters and distance runners are obviously different, but what causes one to be so fast and the other to have so much endurance?
The muscle has different types of fibers which determine whether you move quickly. If you have a high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers, you will be a fast runner. These types of cells burn sugar and fire very quickly and powerfully. The downside is that they burn fuel very quickly and are not resistant to fatigue.Slow-twitch muscle fibers tend to burn fat and fire repeatedly over a longer period of time.
There are ways to test the muscle fiber to see if it has more fast twitch or slow twitch muscle fibers, but they can be painful and are reserved for scientific study. For those with predominantly fast-twitch muscle fibers, there are ways to train the muscle to act in a slow-twitch manner and burn more fat than sugar, thus increasing endurance.
Come into BOOTCAMP 619 and test your endurance today!
You have heard it said many times… “I was running along just fine for the first part of the race, and then I hit ‘the wall.’” For runners, “the Wall” is the point somewhere between the first part of a run in which he or she has plenty of energy and the last leg where they get their “second wind.”
However, what is happening in the body that causes this struggle? If you can understand what causes it, then it is easier to figure out how to alleviate or reduce it.
When you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down into simple sugars. Some of these become glycogen and are stored in the muscles as fuel, which is burned during exercise. For the first few minutes of exercise, muscles use this glycogen, as it is their most convenient source of energy. Glycogen combines with oxygen and produces energy and waste products like lactic acid, which causes muscle soreness after exercise.
After several minutes of exercise, the body will begin to use fat as a fuel source. It takes this amount of time for the body to begin releasing stored fat into free fatty acids in the blood in a large enough amount to satisfy the energy demands of the muscles. After this period, fat becomes the primary source of energy over glycogen.
Fat is burned during aerobic exercise. As we saw in our early posting, aerobic exercise creates the “presence of oxygen” and fat is burned most efficiently in this presence. As long as one is running or exercising within their range of training, they are burning fat with oxygen. When the body is forces beyond its capacity, the exercise becomes anaerobic and the body cannot get enough oxygen.
With glycogen already burned up and a lack of oxygen present, large amounts of lactic acid and other waste products become present in the muscles and they get tight and somewhat pained. This feeling is known as “the Wall.”
However, this is not the end. The body can be trained to deal with the Wall.Speed running and long runs can gradually push back the point at which you shift from aerobic to anaerobic. With further running experience, you can become accustomed to the feeling and deal with it much better. The best way to conserve glycogen and delay becoming anaerobic is to put walk breaks into your runs if you are a beginner. Slow down the pace and use this as a warm up. As you become more advanced, you will be able to lessen the warm up time, delay becoming anaerobic and deal better with the difficult sensation.
BOOTCAMP 619 challenges it members and provides the spirit of teamwork necessary for each person to get past “the Wall” and continue on with their workout. Come in and join us sometime. A little encouragement goes a long way in hurdling the Wall!
“Aerobic” and “Anaerobic” are two words often thrown around when talking about exercise. If you are new to fitness or even just like working out at the gym, it is important to know the difference in these words and how it applies to the exercises you are doing.
Aerobic literally means “in the presence of oxygen” and signifies the point at which you exercise that is still within your comfortable level. Aerobic exercise is achieved when you are performing at a pace, weight or distance that your body is accustomed to through recent training sessions. There is enough oxygen present in the blood to dispose of waste products. Many people associate this level with “fat burning.”
Anaerobic exercise is achieved when the body is pushed beyond its level or comfort. Muscles are challenged above levels of recent training. For a limited time, the muscle frees oxygen that is present in its tissue and waste products are produced that will cause the muscle to become tight and sore.
While aerobic exercise is necessary for health, anaerobic exercise is not, but does give significant benefits in gaining speed, muscle size or strength. Therefore, anaerobic exercise is always necessary for fitness and athletics, which those who have fat burning as their goal may benefit more from increased aerobic exercise.
BOOTCAMP 619 provides a healthy and beneficial balance of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise that helps clients to achieve both fat burning and aesthetic goals, leading to a happier, healthier body and life.
Most people are familiar with the basic concept of fitness improvement. If you want your muscles to grow stronger, bigger or faster, you need to make sure they are challenged. Stress on the muscles will trigger growth by making small tears in the muscle fiber which is repaired, resulting in muscle growth.
Over training a muscle will actually hinder its growth. In weight training, we usually only work out a muscle group once during a weekly cycle to allow time for recovery. The same concept is true for running.
A hard run should always be followed by few “easy days.” This does not mean that you should stop running, but that you should perform runs in which the pace or distance is decreased. In addition, a proper running program should include “easy weeks” where one goes at this reduced pace or distance every third week or so.
A program that does not include rest periods puts the runner at risk of injury. Trying to consistently increase mileage, running too fast or not getting enough rest can put a quick halt to your running goals.
Come in and talk to fitness professional, Chris Keith, for input regarding your fitness goals. Chris can help you set up a plan that will meet your personal needs and avoid injury.
The Kettlebell swing is a basic Kettlebell exercise that will build strength, power and endurance in the hips, legs and core. This exercise can benefit anyone looking for improved functional performance and functional strength. It is one of the key exercise drills in Kettlebell training and the base of being able to perform more advanced Kettlebell drills such as the Clean, the Snatch, or any other drills.
When I have seen people first pick up the Kettlebell to perform a swing, the motion is often difficult to execute and awkward to perform for them. Many force the motion of the swing from their upper body, relying on their upper body strength to lift the Kettlebell. Despite its appearance, this is not a shoulder exercise. You are not lifting the Kettlebell up in front; rather, you are propelling it forward through the activation and explosive power of the strongest muscles in the body. Rather than thrust out their butt with their back straight and shins vertical, they often bend over, rounding their back, or they just squat down, bending their knees far too much and sticking them out in front of their feet.
Here is what is necessary to do to successfully perform the Kettlebell Swing:
The feet should be a little over shoulder width apart, pointing slightly outward, and the lower back contracted so that it is flat and tight. Weight should be on the heels, the chest up, and there should be a slight bend in the knees and hips.
Lean forward at your waist slightly and bend your knees so as to go into a semi-squat. Keep your back arched and head facing forward steadily.
Keep your eyes fixed on a point at eye level directly in front of you.
Try a light Kettlebell at first. Let your arms hang loosely and raise the weight with both hands to chest level and inhale. Then, swing the weight with both hands in between the legs towards the back of you while exhaling. Move the Kettlebell using power thrusts from the hip, thigh, and lower back muscles.
Complete 5 to 10 sets of 20 to 50 reps of Kettlebell swings with a minute pause between each set of repetitions.
Remember that the Kettlebell swing is an explosive exercise directed at the strongest muscles of the body. If you use shoulder muscles to perform the exercise, the effect is severely limited and could result in injury.
At BOOTCAMP 619, safety is priority one in executing movements with the body. Proper form is essential. Is your exercise being performed properly? Come in and be instructed by a qualified fitness professional today.
Many people think of running as a solitary sport – the lonely runner out on the road pounding the pavement with just his thoughts to keep him company. Maybe that is what is stopping some from giving running a chance. That doesn’t have to be the case.
Though it may not always be a marathon day, where you are surrounded by people of the same interest, it doesn’t have to be a lonely sport either. Running can be a group activity or even one to do with a spouse, friend or running partner. If you are tired of being alone on the running path or even if you are hesitating to get started just because you don’t want to be solitary, try encouraging someone to go out for a run or a jog with you.
When recruiting a new running partner, there are a few things to keep in mine.Wait until your potential running partner shows interest in your activity to approach them. You don’t have to wait until they ask for an invitation; a simple comment showing interest will suffice. However, by extending an invitation to early, you may scare them off.
To peak there interest, tell them a little about the great experiences you have been having through running. A short talk about the fitness benefits you have been seeing or the friends you have made or even an outing to see a running even or marathon together may do.
Show a personal interest in your friend’s fitness goals. Offer them some of your experiences about how running may help them accomplish their goals. Don’t be a doomsayer. Never condemn or tell them about the health risks of not immediately starting a running program. That can be a big turn-off for most people.
While you should tell them some of the benefits you have seen from running, don’t promise them the world. You could be setting them up for becoming discouraged when they don’t see their results immediately.
Keep the experience positive and don’t expose your friend to something they are not ready for. If you are no longer a beginner, remember how it felt when you first started. Make sure to be encouraging and help your friend meet their goals.
At BOOTCAMP 619 we thrive on the spirit of cooperation and work as a team to meet our fitness goals. Come in and join us for a workout and experience this kind of challenge for yourself.
Even the youngest, healthiest runner can encounter some complications that can occur from training in certain extreme conditions. As we mentioned in the previous article, heat can provide a number of challenges to the runner, particularly if their body is not accustomed to these temperatures.
