Running in the Heat

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.

Getting Ready for a Big Race

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.

Fast Twitch / Slow Twitch: Which Twitch Are You?

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!

The Wall

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!

Happy, Healthy Holidays, from Chris Keith and BOOTCAMP 619!

The past year has brought many challenges for everyone. There is no better way to start 2010 than making healthy changes to your lifestyle.

While there are many external factors that add stress to your life that you may feel are uncontrollable, there are some very concrete changes you can make that are completely under your control.

A healthy lifestyle, beginning with regular exercise and a good nutrition plan, is a great way to cure many of the problems which can be caused by external stress.

Challenge is a good thing.

It is a way to effect a positive change on your body. By challenging your body, you will lead to improvement.

Variety is the key ingredient to progress. It is very easy to get lulled into the same routine in the gym. We are often drawn to perform the exercises that we are familiar with or use the machines that we have already learned.

However, the body often adjusts to the routine and we lose the results that we felt initially. To keep improving your body and health, you should add variety to your workout. There are many ways to achieve this.

Vary Your Cardio Exercises

Try changing up your routine by doing different types of exercise. Try using the stair climber one day and taking a step aerobics class the next. Whatever you are doing, make sure that you remain at a level that you feel you are achieving fat burning. By continually challenging the body with different types of cardiovascular exercise, you can keep your body in a constant, positive state of fat burning.

Change Length and Intensity Levels

Try exercising at a lower intensity level for a longer period of time for a few weeks and then switch to a higher intensity level for a shorter period. By doing this, you could challenge your endurance and burn fat by exercising for a longer period of time, such as 45 minutes to an hour or build your cardiovascular health by exercising for a shorter period, such as 20 to 30 minutes at a high level.

Exercise First Thing in the Morning

If you are tired of your workouts on the way home from the job, try waking up early and going to exercise before going to work. It is a great way to start the day and can get your fat-burning engine started early. It is shown that the body continues to burn fat for a few hours after a good workout. By combining an early workout schedule with a pyramid-style nutritional plan that peaks your caloric intake at mid-day, you may be able to use your food more efficiently and burn more fat.

Warm Up and Cool Down

It is important to make sure that your body is ready for your workout. Make sure to ease up to your target heart rate by warming up before your begin exercising. The time that you spend preparing for or cooling off from your cardio workout should be added on to your regular plan. By warming up, you will make sure that your body is already at a fat burning level by the time you start your routine. By warming up prior to strength training, you will improve blood flow and muscle contraction.

Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals

Food is fuel for your body. You need to burn it all day long to get the best, most efficient results. By eating less frequently, you are more likely to be in caloric excess, which leads to fat retention. Instead of the traditional three meals a day, try eating five or six. You will not feel as hungry when you eat and are less likely to eat in excess.

These are the basics of challenging the body. It is very easy to slip into a “routine.” They can be important points for beginners to know and for the more advanced to be reminded of!

Come by to see Chris Keith at BOOTCAMP 619 to determine your best New Year’s Resolution!

Start the Summer with Change and Challenge

When it comes to your body, change in your workout equals challenge. By challenging your body, you will lead to improvement. Variety is not only the spice of life, but also the key ingredient to progress.

It is very easy to get lulled into the same routine in the gym. We are often drawn to perform the exercises that we are familiar with or use the machines that we have already learned. However, the body often adjusts to the routine and we lose the results that we felt initially. To keep improving your body and health, you should add variety to your workout.

There are many ways to achieve this.


Vary Your Cardio Exercises

Try changing up your routine by doing different types of exercise. Try using the stair climber one day and taking a step aerobics class the next. Whatever you are doing, make sure that you remain at a level that you feel you are achieving fat burning. By continually challenging the body with different types of cardiovascular exercise, you can keep your body in a constant, positive state of fat burning.

Change Length and Intensity Levels

Try exercising at a lower intensity level for a longer period of time for a few weeks and then switch to a higher intensity level for a shorter period. By doing this, you could challenge your endurance and burn fat by exercising for a longer period of time, such as 45 minutes to an hour or build your cardiovascular health by exercising for a shorter period, such as 20 to 30 minutes at a high level.

Exercise First Thing in the Morning

If you are tired of your workouts on the way home from the job, try waking up early and going to exercise before going to work. It is a great way to start the day and can get your fat-burning engine started early. It is shown that the body continues to burn fat for a few hours after a good workout. By combining an early workout schedule with a pyramid-style nutritional plan that peaks your caloric intake at mid-day, you may be able to use your food more efficiently and burn more fat.

Warm Up and Cool Down

It is important to make sure that your body is ready for your workout. Make sure to ease up to your target heart rate by warming up before your begin exercising. The time that you spend preparing for or cooling off from your cardio workout should be added on to your regular plan. By warming up, you will make sure that your body is already at a fat burning level by the time you start your routine.

By warming up prior to strength training, you will improve blood flow and muscle contraction.

Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals

Food is fuel for your body. You need to burn it all day long to get the best, most efficient results. By eating less frequently, you are more likely to be in caloric excess, which leads to fat retention. Instead of the traditional three meals a day, try eating five or six. You will not feel as hungry when you eat and are less likely to eat in excess.

These are the basics of challenging the body. It is very easy to slip into a “routine.” They can be important points for beginners to know and for the more advanced to be reminded of!

For more information on fitness and nutrition, go to www.BOOTCAMP619.com today.

Core Firming Exercise: Braced Squat

Building a solid core is a great way to improve your abdominal muscles and overall body strength. However, the legs are a key component to your strong midsection.

Try adding a braced squat to your core workout. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Hold an appropriately weighted plate in front of your body by extending your arms, keeping your hands at the 3 and 9 position on the weight. Keeping the arms straight, slowly lower your body as much as possible into a squat. When performing a squat exercise, always remember to keep the back straight and well-supported. Hold the squat position for four seconds and return to the start position. Try two sets of 10-12 reps with a minute of rest in between.

For more information on fitness and exercise, go to www.BOOTCAMP619.com.

Will Working Out my Abs Reduce Belly Fat?

This common question doesn’t exactly fall into the “true or false” category. Though it is not true that doing crunches and other abdominal exercises will target fat on those muscle areas, it is true that any exercise affects general body fat and that a strong core will help with your overall workout.
By improving your core strength, which includes all the muscle groups such as the oblique muscles and lower back, you will increase your stability and strength. When doing any exercise, make sure to keep the abs tight and stable to promote core strength.
Though ab exercises may not directly cause the loss of belly fat, they are important. Don’t be frustrated; remember your long-term goals and that for many people the stomach area is one of the last areas to show fat-loss results. Keep at it!

For more information on fitness and nutrition, go to http://www.bootcamp619.com/ today.