Category Archives: running

fashion, running

Live Broadcast: Why Wear Minimal Shoes?

If you do any sports that involve running, please tune in to my live broadcast on minimal shoes, Thursday, Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. PST/ 8:30 p.m. EST on Zubia.

I will explain how minimal shoes can help prevent joint pain. I’ve been using them for a few years, and they allowed me to run again after years when my knee hurt to much. But if you’re not careful, minimal shoes can cause other kinds of problem, so I’ll explain how to avoid that as well.

For iPhone users, click here from your iPhone:
https://12vn.test-app.link/tFMCPpCdUz.
Once you download Zubia (for free) the link will take you to the broadcast to add to your calendar. Or you can search at the top of Zubia by typing in “running” or “minimal running shoes” and the broadcast will appear. If you use an iPhone, you can ask questions during the broadcast.

People without iPhones can view the broadcast from a desktop here:
http://web.zubialive.com/signup.
Once registered, you can then scroll for upcoming broadcasts and see mine at 8:30 EST/5:30 PST on Thursday. (There is no app for the Android operating system on Zubia yet.)

Laird Harrison, CPT

running

Older Runners Slower to Adapt Footstrikes

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A parade of studies in recent years has been trampling the theory behind barefoot running. The latest of these comes from researchers here in Las Vegas at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

One key notion behind barefoot and “minimalist” running is that they encourage the runner to strike the ground first with the balls of the feet. This allows the ankle and calf to absorb more of the impact from each footfall.
Continue reading Older Runners Slower to Adapt Footstrikes →

running

New Study Warns of Too Much Running

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The latest study on exercise has me running scared. It shows that jogging more than 2.5 hours per week might be as bad as not exercising at all.

Yikes! If you count soccer, I’m running at least three hours a week. If you add biking, weight lifting, tennis and hiking I might be killing myself with exercise.

Is this possible? Haven’t we always been told about the endless benefits of movement? Continue reading New Study Warns of Too Much Running →

running

Are Women Better at Endurance Sports?

Are women better at endurance sports?

It’s possible. But the latest research suggests the fastest ultra-marathon runners will be male for the foreseeable future.

Since at least the 1970’s, I can remember hearing that women’s bodies are more adapted to endurance. The theory was that women evolved to endure the demands of bearing children for nine months, while men evolved for bursts of strength and speed required for hunting for a few hours. Or something like that. Continue reading Are Women Better at Endurance Sports? →

running, Technology

What Wearable Heart Rate Monitors Can Tell You (Part III)

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The Armour39 shows 100% because I exceeded my maximum heart rate.
The Armour39 shows 100% because I exceeded my maximum heart rate.

Bad news, folks. I have exceeded my maximum heart rate.

Surprisingly, I am still able to write this newsletter, but how much longer I can continue, who can say? My wearable devices do not produce that reading.

After last week’s adventures with RunKeeper, I thought I’d experiment with some other monitoring devices, hoping to gain deeper insight into my fitness. Continue reading What Wearable Heart Rate Monitors Can Tell You (Part III) →

running, Technology

What Exercise Monitoring Device Should You Use? (Part I)

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Until yesterday, I was feeling so good. I had overcome my knee pain and started running again, loving it like I never did before. I was bounding up the hills near my house, fit and powerful.

A model shows off a wearable monitor at Health 2.0. Photo by Laird Harrison. All rights reserved.
A model shows off a wearable monitor at Health 2.0. Photo by Laird Harrison. All rights reserved.

Did I really need to know that I was only doing a 10-minute mile?

That information came to me courtesy of a cell-phone app I just downloaded, RunKeeper. It’s part of a new era of devices that continually monitor all our bodily functions, aggregate the data, store them in the cloud, analyze them using artificial intelligence, compare them to the data of our friends or celebrities, and make them publicly available.

I am not exaggerating. On assignment for Medscape, I spent three days in Silicon Valley last week at Health 2.0 Fall Conference, a celebration of digital health technology. The meeting included a fashion show of health monitors inside pendants, bras, shirts and wristwatches.  “We envision a world with sensors all over the place,” said Christopher Glode, Under Armour vice president of connected fitness.

There was June, a bracelet that measures sunlight exposure and tells you to put on a hat. There was Sensoria smart socks that correct your gait. There was Medtronic’s Guardian Real-Time glucose monitoring device that literally  gets under your skin.

There was also an embarrassing moment when Continue reading What Exercise Monitoring Device Should You Use? (Part I) →

inspiration, running

Life Lessons from an Orthopedic Surgeon

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One day in Snowbird, Utah, a snowboarder hurled out of control into one of the world’s most prominent sports medicine doctors.

Burt Mandelbaum
Bert Mandelbaum

Bert Mandelbaum,  a Santa Monica, California orthopedic surgeon, has treated famous athletes, such as David Beckham.

And he has helped create some of the most successful injury prevention programs, including FIFA11+, the program promoted by soccer’s governing body.

But on that day he was on a ski trip with his family, no doubt a much needed break from the challenges of battered flesh that dominated his work-a-day world.

Then in a flash, as he writes in his new book, The Win Within: Capturing Your Victorious Spirit (Greenleaf Book Group Press), the doctor became the patient. Continue reading Life Lessons from an Orthopedic Surgeon →

baseball, basketball, hamstrings, running, soccer

New Studies Show How to Prevent Hamstring Injuries

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When U.S. national soccer team striker Jozy Altidore clutched his thigh and fell to the ground in the World Cup last month, physical therapist Holly Silvers thought once again of Russian hamstring exercises.

New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry injured his hamstring in an April 2012 game. Photo by Matthew D. Britt (edited).
New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry injured his hamstring in an April 2012 game. Photo by Matthew D. Britt (edited).

No less than three other members of the team  (Fabian Johnson, Matt Besler and Deandre Yedlin) reportedly suffered injuries to this muscle group in the back of the thigh during the World Cup. Silvers, who helped develop the FIFA11+ injury prevention program for soccer’s governing body, tells me most of these injures could be prevented. Besides the pain these players experienced, the injuries literally hamstrung the team in a series of tough matches.

And it’s not only soccer players who suffer these injuries. Four Major League Baseball players (Munenori Kawasaki, Alberto Callaspo, Chris Dickerson and Shane Victorino) are currently on the disabled list because of hamstring injuries, according to ESPN. In fact hamstring strains afflict participants in just about every sport that involves running.

New Studies

Two studies presented Sunday in Seattle at the American Orthpaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) show just how effective a few simple exercises can be against this type of injury.

One was Silvers’ controlled study on the FIFA11+. Previously her group showed the program could cut overall injuries by about half in female soccer players, but data on specific individual injuries were mostly not significant. In this new study she and her colleagues showed, among other things, that the program cut hamstring injuries by more than two thirds among over 1700 male NCAA soccer players.
Continue reading New Studies Show How to Prevent Hamstring Injuries →