Running News Daily

Does Yoga Count as Strength Training?

If you’ve ever been sore after a yoga class or felt your muscles aching while holding Warrior 2, you’re familiar with the strengthening benefits of yoga. Although many of us associate yoga with primarily increasing flexibility and calming one’s chaotic thoughts, yoga does build muscle. But how effective is it? Does yoga count as strength training?

Does Yoga Count as Strength Training?

The short answer is, it depends.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults should accumulate a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week plus at least two total-body strength training workouts per week. Strength training increases muscular strength and muscular endurance, which are two of the five components of health-related fitness.

Strength training, also known as resistance training, involves exercises that load your muscles. This not only builds muscle but increases bone density and helps stabilize joints to prevent injuries. Lifting weights or using resistance bands are two common options for strength training.

But they’re not necessarily the only options. Bodyweight training, in which you use your own weight as resistance, is another type of strength training. Some styles of yoga can be considered bodyweight training and can be ideal for anyone who either doesn’t have access to a gym or doesn’t care for or have time for traditional strength training exercises.

That said, there are two factors that largely influence the response to does yoga count as strength training.

1. Type of Yoga

Yoga is an extremely diverse practice with many different styles and ways to practice. Certain types of yoga and poses can strengthen muscles and potentially even build muscle.

2. Your Fitness Level

The other factor that plays a significant role in whether yoga functions as strengthening is your fitness level. Ultimately, it is more difficult to build muscle with yoga than it is with traditional resistance training using external implements such as dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands

In order to build muscle, you need to overload your muscles’ current capacity enough to induce some amount of damage to your muscle fibers. This microscopic damage triggers a process known as muscle protein synthesis, which repairs and rebuilds muscle and helps make your muscles stronger over time.

While it is possible to strengthen your muscles and potentially build muscle exclusively through bodyweight exercises, most people reach a plateau of body strength where some external resistance is necessary to continue strengthening and increasing muscle mass. In general, practicing yoga is not as effective as lifting weights.

However, anything that challenges you is strengthening your muscles. For example, chair yoga can be an efficient strength-training workout. Don’t compare yourself to others and meet your body where you’re at. Also, never push your body beyond your current fitness level or to the point of pain or extreme discomfort.

What Are the Best Types of Yoga for Strength Training?

Beginners often assume that classes for more experienced practitioners are inherently more difficult and better for strengthening than beginner classes. This isn’t necessarily true. These classes are often faster-paced and focus more on transitions between poses and less instruction from the teacher. This can increase the risk of injury for those who are still mastering the foundations and learning basic yoga poses. It can also shift the emphasis to the space in between the poses rather than the strengthening practice of holding the poses for a length of time.

It’s the style of yoga that plays a more important role in whether or not you will be strengthening your muscles or focusing on other aspects of fitness and health in your yoga class.

Some of the best types of yoga for muscle strength include:

Vinyasa yoga 

Power yoga

Yes, You Can Train for a Marathon Running Just 3 Days Per Week

Take notes from experts and runners who have found success with just three runs a week.

Finishing a marathon is a bucket-list item for many runners, not to mention it can seriously boost your confidence and your fitness. But with work, family, and other obligations filling up your calendar, it can be difficult to fit marathon training into your schedule... unless you have a three-day-a-week marathon training plan that makes it easier to get prepped for the starting line.

So before you write off marathon training as too time-consuming, consider this program for conquering your first or fastest 26.2. It’s the secret weapon for those of us who work odd shifts, have kids, travel often, or are injury-prone. No matter what stands in your way, your next PR is possible.

Does a 3-day-a-week marathon training plan actually work?

Yes! It turns out focusing on three key runs: a long run, a tempo run, and an interval workout each week with cross training in between provides you with all the opportunities to get faster, meet your mileage goals, and train injury-free. And research backs this up.

With a training plan backed by The Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST), any runner can conquer 26.2 miles by running just three days a week. Trust the three exercise science experts and avid runners who created this program about 20 years ago: Scott Murr, with a doctorate in exercise physiology, Bill Pierce, former chair of Furman’s Health and Exercise Science Department, and Furman exercise physiologist Ray Moss, Ph.D. (Murr currently teaches in the Health Science Department at Furman University in South Carolina, and has been for 25 years. Pierce and Moss have since retired.)

In 2005, these experts gathered eight women and nine men between the ages of 24 and 52 to test out the three-day-a-week plan for 16 weeks. The results showed that 12 out of the 14 runners who had previously run a marathon with alternative training plans set a new PR after the three-day-a-week marathon training plan.

The results suggest that training for a marathon with only three runs a week is not only possible, but could actually improve running performance and make you faster.

Almost two decades after creating this training plan, Murr and his former colleagues

You build a sustainable relationship with running

Life is all about balance, and running can naturally be part of the mix. But logging too many miles at once can lead to burnout, so it’s important to find other activities to supplement your marathon training.

Running three days each week provides you the freedom to enjoy other activities that you love on your days off from running, like cycling, lifting, or swimming.

It improves key performance metrics

Many runners swear by two training metrics to help them measure their improvement: VO2 max and lactate threshold. The three-day-a-week program can help you zero in on these metrics and improve them, making you a more efficient runner.

Your VO2 max is the measure of how efficiently your body takes in oxygen and converts it to energy for your muscles to use, according to Roberto Mandje, Olympian and senior advisor on engagement and coaching for New York Road Runners. The higher your VO2 max, the higher your endurance level, meaning you can run farther and longer, Mandje explains.

Your lactate threshold is the exercise intensity level you reach when lactate accumulates in the blood faster than you can remove it, leading

You’ll know if you’re meeting quality efforts by looking at your heart rate, paces, and/or RPE, so it may be helpful to keep a training log.

Heart rate is relatively easy to track, as most running watches give you an estimated heart rate, but keep in mind that your heart rate can be affected by temperature, hills, and hydration.

However, the most realistic way to monitor your progress, Murr says, is by tracking your pace. “If your 5K race time this weekend was faster than the 5K race you ran two months ago, that would indicate an improvement in running fitness,” he says.

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is also a reliable way to track progress, as it rates your effort on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being all-out. Murr explains that if you ran a five mile tempo run a month ago at a 8:15 pace and it felt like a 6 or 7, but running a five mile tempo at 8:15 pace now feels like a 5 or 6 on the same scale, you can be confident that your running fitness is progressing.

1. Interval Workout

Why it works: Intervals help

1. Swimming

Why it works: Swimming is a low-impact option for runners that can increase upper-body strength and endurance. Many runners struggle with ankle mobility, explains Murr, so the kicking in the pool can unlock some of that flexibility that you don’t typically get to achieve when you’re pounding the pavement.

How to do it: According to Murr, a reasonable goal for runners in the pool is to stay in the water for 30 minutes, doing as many laps as you can. But you can also mix in some harder efforts, like going for an RPE of 6 to 7 for two laps, with short rests in between of about 15 seconds, in order to up the intensity. Beginners don’t have to worry about intensity in the pool, Mandje says, and should instead focus on having the best form possible.

2. Cycling

Why it works: Mandje is a big fan of cycling for marathon runners, as it can be done outdoors or on an indoor trainer. He explains that cycling is non-weight bearing, low-impact exercise that’s easy on the joints. Cycling can also help reduce knee pain, according to a review and meta-analysis published in

Specific exercises that target running-specific movements include squats, step-ups, single-leg deadlifts, bent-over-rows, curl-to-press, bird dogs, clamshells, and single-leg glute bridges.

How many rest days should you take in a 3-day-a-week program?

Everyone should take at least one rest day a week, according to Mandje, even three-day-a-week runners. Rest days should consist of only light exercise, like walking, stretching, or yoga.

Murr recommends taking a rest day particularly before a long run to prepare for the high mileage you’ll tackle. But every runner is different. “For whichever key run a runner finds the most challenging, I would encourage them to take a rest day prior to that run so that they are rested,” he says.

Both Mandje and Murr agree that the three-day-a-week marathon training plan is based on the belief that runners should train hard, and recover harder, considering performance gains are made during the recovery period. “If you don't prioritize recovery, you're not going to make the gains,” says Mandje.

Can running cure your hangover?

Many of us have been there: a fun night out turns into a rough morning, complete with a pounding headache, nausea and overwhelming fatigue. While there are countless supposed remedies, from greasy breakfasts to the infamous “hair of the dog,” a recent study suggests that regular exercise—especially vigorous activities like running—could help reduce the severity of hangover symptoms.

The science behind it

Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the study explored the relationship between physical activity and hangovers among 1,676 undergraduate students. All participants engaged in at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise per week and answered questions about their drinking habits, physical activity and hangover experiences.

The findings? Those who exercised more vigorously, such as through running, experienced less severe hangover symptoms. While the study only established a correlation, there are some interesting reasons why this might be the case.

Better metabolism, faster recovery

Exercise boosts metabolism, which helps the body process alcohol more efficiently. It also improves circulation, which could aid in flushing out acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct of alcohol that contributes to hangover symptoms. This may explain why those who regularly engage in vigorous exercise report less intense hangovers.

Not a cure, but it helps

While running and regular exercise can make hangovers more bearable, it’s important to remember they aren’t a magic cure. The best way to avoid a hangover is to drink in moderation—or not at all. Recent research has shown that alcohol, once thought to have some health benefits in moderation, now offers no benefits and poses various health risks. However, if you do indulge, maintaining a regular exercise routine could make the morning after more manageable.

Exercise vs. working out hungover

One important note: while regular exercise seems to help with hangover symptoms, working out during a hangover can actually make things worse. The body is already dehydrated and stressed, so pushing yourself with a hard workout might only add to your discomfort. Instead, opt for light activities like walking or yoga to help boost your mood without adding strain.

The bottom line

While running won’t completely cure a hangover, it may reduce the severity of symptoms for those who maintain an active lifestyle. By boosting your metabolism, improving your sleep and reducing inflammation, regular exercise could help you bounce back faster after a night of drinking. But as always, the best way to avoid a hangover is to drink responsibly.

How to train for a marathon no matter how fit you are

If you’re planning a marathon, you’re on the road to becoming part of a select proportion of the global population – 0.01 per cent, to be exact. But that doesn’t mean running one is exclusive to the lycra-clad minority. With the right planning, training and dogged determination anyone can have a go. Here’s what you need to know if you’re gearing up to train for the race of your life.

Which marathon should I choose to run?

The London Marathon is special, with incredible atmospheric and historic appeal, but it’s notoriously tricky to get a place and is far from the only one to consider. All marathons are 26.2 miles, so if you’re a beginner, you might want to choose what seasoned runners call an “easy” marathon – one with a flat and paved course. While the Brighton Marathon is one of the most popular (and mostly flat) UK spring races, the Greater Manchester Marathon is known as the flattest and fastest UK option. The under-the-radar Abingdon Marathon is one of the oldest in the UK and also has a flat route – great for new runners and for those who are keen to beat their personal bests. 

Around Europe, try the Berlin and Frankfurt marathons in Germany, or the Amsterdam Marathon in the Netherlands. More recently, the Valencia and Seville marathons in Spain have grown in appeal. For a great beginner list, visit coopah.com. It’s worth doing your research to ensure it’s a route you’ll enjoy (atmospheric, well populated, flat, historic… whatever piques your interest), as this will pay dividends when things get tough. 

Training

How long does it take to train for a marathon? 

“You need 16-to-18 weeks of training,” says Richard Pickering, a UK Athletics qualified endurance coach. “And if you’re starting from nothing, I think you need closer to six months.” This may sound like a long time to dedicate to one event but a structured plan will help you develop the strength, endurance and aerobic capacity to run longer distances. Not to mention work wonders for your overall health.

“Anyone can run a marathon if they are willing to put in the hard work,’ says Cory Wharton-Malcolm, Apple Fitness+ Trainer and author of All You Need Is Rhythm & Grit . “As long as you give yourself enough time and enough grace, you can accomplish anything.’

Ready to get running? Read on.

Five steps to preparing for a marathon

1. Follow a training plan and increase mileage gradually

“Even if it’s a simple plan, and that plan is to run X times per week or run X miles per week, it’s beneficial to have something guiding you,’ says Wharton-Malcolm. ‘It’s happened to me, without that guidance, you may overtrain causing yourself an injury that could have been avoided. And if you’re injured, you’re far less likely to fall in love with running.”

For authoritative plans online, see marathon event websites (try the Adidas Manchester Marathon or the TCS London Marathon websites) or from a chosen charity such as the British Heart Foundation. Most will consist of the key training sessions: speed work (spurts of fast running with stationary or active rest periods), tempo runs (running at a sustained “comfortably uncomfortable” pace), and long-distance slogs. 

Most marathon plans will abide by the 10 per cent rule, in that they won’t increase the total run time or distance by more than 10 per cent each week – something that will reduce your risk of injury. 

2. Practise long runs slowly 

Long runs are your bread-and-butter sessions. They prepare your body to tolerate the distance by boosting endurance, and give you the strength to stay upright for hours. Intimidating as this sounds, the best pace for these runs is a joyously slow, conversational speed.

“People may think they need to do their marathon pace in long runs,” says Pickering, “but it’s good to run slowly because it educates the body to burn fat as fuel. This teaches it to use a bit of fat as well as glycogen when it goes faster on race day, and that extends your energy window so that you’re less likely to hit the ‘wall’.”

The caveat: running slowly means you’re going to be out for a while. With the average training plan peaking at 20 miles, you could be running for many hours. “When I did lots of long runs, I had a number of tools: listening to music, audio-guided runs, apps or audio books,” says Wharton-Malcom. “I used to run lots of routes, explore cities… You can also do long runs with friends or colleagues, or get a train somewhere and run back so it’s not the same boring route.” 

3. Do regular speed work 

Speed work may sound like the reserve of marathon aficionados, but it’s good for new long-distance runners too. “I think people misunderstand speed work,” says Wharton-Malcom. “The presumption is that the moment you add ‘speed’ to training, you have to run like Usain Bolt, but all ‘speed’ means is faster than the speed you’d normally be running. So if you go out for a 20-minute run, at the end of the first nine minutes, run a little faster for a minute, then at the end of the second nine minutes, run a little faster for a minute.” 

Small injections of pace are a great way for novices to reap the benefits. “The idea is to find the sweet spot between ‘Ah, I can only hold on to this for 10 seconds’ and ‘I can hold on to this for 30-to-60 seconds’,” he adds. 

Hill sprints are great for increasing speed. Try finding a loop with an incline that takes 30 seconds to ascend, then run it continuously for two to three lots of 10 minutes with a 90-second standing rest.

Interval work is also a speed-booster. Try three lots of three minutes at tempo pace with a 90-second standing rest. “The recovery [between intervals] is when you get your breath back and your body recirculates lactate [a by-product of intense exercise, which ultimately slows bodies down],” explains Pickering, “and this means you’re able to do more than you otherwise would.”

4. Run at marathon-pace sometimes 

Every now and then, throw in some running at your chosen race pace. “You need to get used to a bit of marathon pace,” says Pickering, “but I wouldn’t put it into your programme religiously.”

Some runners like to practise marathon pace in a “build-up” race, typically a half-marathon. “It can give people confidence,” says Pickering. “Your half-marathon should be six-to-seven weeks prior to the main event, and have a strategy to ensure you’re not racing it because you need to treat it as a training run.”

5. Schedule in rest and recovery 

Of course, no training plan is complete without some R&R. Rest days give your body a chance to adapt to the stresses you’ve put it through and can provide a mental break. “Active recovery” is a swanky term for taking lighter exercise such as an easy run, long walk, gentle swim, some yoga – crucial because you don’t want to do two hard sessions back-to-back. “A long run would count as a hard day, so if your long run is on Sunday, you could do an easy run such as 30-40 minutes at a conversational pace on a Monday, but don’t do anything fast until Tuesday,” says Pickering.

What about recovery tools? 

Foam rollers, massage guns, ice baths – the list is long. Pickering says to keep it simple: “I would encourage foam rolling [relieving muscle tension by rolling over a foam tube] or sports massage, and they’re kind of the same thing.” 

And Wharton-Malcom swears by the restorative power of a good rest: “From personal experience, sleep is our secret weapon and it’s so underrated. Getting your eight-hours-plus per night, taking power naps during the day… you can do so well with just sleeping a bit more.”

Race day

How to perform your best on race day – what to eat 

“The marathon is going to be relying on carbohydrate loading [such as spaghetti, mashed potato, rice pudding], which should take place one-to-three days before an event,” explains performance nutritionist Matt Lovell. Other choices might include: root vegetables (carrots, beetroot), breads or  low-fat yoghurts. 

“On the day, the main goal is to keep your blood glucose as stable as possible by filling up any liver glycogen.” Which means eating a breakfast rich in slow-release carbohydrates, such as porridge, then taking on board isotonic drinks, like Lucozade Sport or coconut water, and energy gels roughly every 30-45 minutes.

How to stay focused 

Even with the right fuel in your body, the going will get tough. But when you feel like you can’t do any more, there is surprisingly more in the tank than you realise.

“Sports scientists used to think we eat food, it turns into fuel within our body and, when we use it up, we stop and fall over with exhaustion,” says performance psychologist Dr Josephine Perry. “Then they did muscle biopsies to understand that, when we feel totally exhausted, we actually still have about 30 per cent energy left in the muscles.”

How do you tap into that magic 30 per cent? By staying motivated – and this ultimately comes down to finding a motivational mantra that reminds you of your goal and reason for running. 

“Motivational mantras are incredibly personal – you can’t steal somebody else’s because it sounds good; it has to talk to you,’ explains Dr Perry, author of The Ten Pillars of Success. “Adults will often have their children as part of their motivational mantra – they want to make them proud, to be a good role model. If you’re doing it for a charity, it might be that.” Write your motivational mantra on your energy gel, drinks bottle or hand. “It doesn’t just need to come from you,” adds Dr Perry. “I love getting athletes’ friends and family to write messages to stick on their nutrition, so every time they take a gel out of their pocket, they’ve got a message from someone who loves them.” Perry is supporting the Threshold Sports’ Ultra 50:50 campaign, encouraging female participation in endurance running events. 

Smile every mile, concludes Dr Perry: “Research shows that when you smile it reduces your perception of effort, so you’re basically tricking your brain into thinking that what you’re doing isn’t as difficult as it is.”

One thing is for sure, you’re going to be on a high for a while. “What happens for most people is they run the race and, for most of the race, they say ‘I’m never doing this again,’ says Wharton-Malcom. “Then the following morning, they think, ‘OK, what’s next?’” 

What clothes should you wear for a marathon? 

What you wear can also make a difference. Look for clothing made with moisture-wicking fabrics that will move sweat away from the skin, keeping you dry and comfortable. An anti-chafe stick such as Body Glide Anti-Chafe Balm is a worthy investment, or simply try some Vaseline, as it will stop any areas of the skin that might rub (under the arms, between the thighs) from getting irritated. Seamless running socks, like those from Smartwool, can also help to reduce rubbing and the risk of blisters. 

Post-race recovery

What to eat and drink

Before you revel in your achievement, eat and drink something. Lovell says recovery fuel is vital: “Getting carbohydrates back into the body after a marathon is crucial. It’s a forgiving time for having lots of calories from carbohydrates and proteins, maybe as a recovery shake or a light meal such as a banana and a protein yoghurt.” 

Have a drink of water with a hydration tablet or electrolyte powder to replenish fluid and electrolyte salts (magnesium, potassium, sodium) lost through sweat.

“You can have a glass of red later if you want, but your priority is to rehydrate with salts first, then focus on carbohydrate replenishment, then have some protein, and then other specialist items such as anti-inflammatories.” Choose anti-inflammatory compounds such as omega 3 and curcumin from turmeric, which you can get as a supplement, to help reduce excessive inflammation and allow for better muscle rebuilding. 

Tart cherry juice – rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and naturally occurring melatonin – could also be useful, with the latest research reporting that it can reduce muscle pain after a long-distance race and improve both sleep quantity and quality by five-to-six per cent. “And anything that improves blood flow such as beetroot juice, which is a good vasodilator, will help with endurance and recovery,” adds Lovell. Precision Hydration tablets are very good for heavy sweaters.

Any other other good products to help with recovery? 

The post-run recovery market is a saturated one, but there are a few products worth trying. Magnesium – from lotions and bath flakes to oil sprays drinks and supplements – relaxes muscles and can prevent muscle cramps, as well as aiding recovery-boosting sleep. 

Compression socks boost blood flow and therefore the removal of waste products from hardworking muscles, and have been shown to improve recovery when worn in the 48 hours after a marathon. Arnica has anti-inflammatory properties that can help speed up the healing process after a long run, and can be used as an arnica balm or soak. 

Have you tried this yoga-like remedy for enhancing athletic performance?

Whether you’re passionate about yoga, dealing with back pain, or looking to boost your athletic performance, the ELDOA technique is worth considering. This movement practice focuses on improving spine health by creating more space between joints, which helps reduce pressure and discomfort. Despite its complex name, ELDOA is simple to practice—requiring only a yoga mat and your own body, making it accessible anytime, anywhere. If Olympians and pro athletes rely on it for performance and recovery, why shouldn’t you give it a try?

How it works:

ELDOA is a French acronym that can be translated to Longitudinal (axis) Osteo-Articular Decoaptation.

There is a key distinction between yoga and ELDOA: yoga uses more fluid movements, and ELDOA uses fixed postures to target precise joints. The ELDOA technique focuses on the fascia, which is connective tissue that encases our muscles, muscle fibres and organs–basically holding us together. The technique puts tension in the lines of the fascia by elongating your spine to open spaces between bones to reduce pressure on the joint.

ELDOA is viewed as a proactive alternative to surgery, often used to decompress joints and alleviate pressure. This non-invasive movement technique is effective in relieving spinal disc pain, enhancing flexibility and reducing the likelihood of future injury.

How to do an ELDOA posture:

ELDOA postures definitely take some getting used to; the strange positions engage your whole body more than you’d expect, and require a lot of focus as you hold the pose. Over time, your ability to hold the positions and elongate your spine with the right intentions will improve.

The above pose is the L2-L3 posture; it targets the fourth spacing in your lower spine, between your third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. This exercise must be performed seated on the floor, or on a slightly elevated surface if you can’t achieve the proper position.

Form a 90 degree angle with your legs, then internally rotate your legs.

Point your toes towards your chest (dorsiflexed).

Tuck you chin, straighten your spine and flatten your back.

Raise hands one at a time; externally rotate your arms so that your thumbs face back/out. Reach your palms upwards away from you.

Hold this posture for one minute. Actively focus on reaching your arms away, elongating your spine, turning your legs in and dorsiflexing your feet. Breathe throughout.

Many other ELDOA postures work to target other specific joints–there is even a position for the ribs that help with the function of your lungs. If your athletic therapist doesn’t have an ELDOA program to recommend, YouTube or online subscriptions can provide videos for you to follow along with to prompt you throughout various postures and keep you focused. It’s recommended to carry out the movements following a workout or before bed.

Other benefits:

Improved posture and healthier spinal discs

Increased range of motion

Improved athletic performance, joint mechanics, recovery, muscle tone and function

Relief of chronic pain

Increased circulation

Improved body awareness and overall wellbeing

Three core-crushing yoga moves to help you cruise to a PB

Perfect for runners of all levels, these core-focused poses will strengthen and stabilize your body, helping you confidently hit your stride.

Runners often focus on improving mileage and speed work, neglecting a crucial aspect that can make a world of difference on race day: core strength. We have you covered with three simple yoga poses that will not only help in building a rock-solid core, but also promote better posture and breathing, critical for sustaining long runs and improving overall endurance.

While it’s easy to think that the legs do all the work, a strong core is the foundation that supports every stride, helping to improve balance, stability and overall efficiency. Incorporating core-focused yoga moves into your routine can help you build the strength and flexibility you need to stay injury-free and reach new personal bests.

1.- Side plank

Plank pose and variations strengthen obliques and stabilizer muscles, essential for maintaining balance and keeping upright posture during those tough final miles.

Lie on your side with legs stacked, one on top of the other.

Place your elbow directly under your shoulder to prop your upper body up., with your forearm along the ground

Lift your hips off the ground, forming a straight line from head to feet and tightening your belly and glute muscles.

Hold for 10-30 seconds, then switch sides. If this move feels too challenging, try the move from your knees, keeping your hip on the floor.

2.- Boat pose

This pose engages the deep core muscles, improving posture and endurance.

Begin sitting on the floor with knees bent and feet flat. Place your hands behind your knees and lift your chest, engaging the back muscles as you inhale.

On an exhale, back slightly, lifting your feet off the ground so your shins are parallel to the floor.

Keep your hands where they are, or for an added challenge, extend your arms forward, being sure to keep your back straight. Squeeze your inner thighs together as you continue to press your chest upward.

Hold for 1o-30 seconds, then lower your legs. Repeat several times.

3.- Bird dog pose

Bird dog strengthens the core muscles, while also engaging the back and glutes, improving overall stability and balance, which are essential for maintaining good running form.

Begin on your hands and knees in a tabletop position, with your wrists directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

Engage your core and extend your right arm forward while simultaneously extending your left leg straight back.

Keep your hips square to the ground and avoid arching your back.

Hold the position for a few seconds while keeping your core tight and your body aligned.

Slowly return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side (left arm and right leg); aim for five-12 repetitions on each side.

When incorporating yoga poses for strength, stay focused on maintaining form and activating key muscle groups rather than performing more repetitions or increasingly intense variations. Feel free to reduce the time or suggested repeats of each pose to what you can maintain without compromising form. These stretches are gentle enough to add to your routine after any training session, but remember to pay attention to what your body is signaling to you, and back off or adjust if you feel any pain or numbness.

Is six weeks enough time to kickstart your half-marathon training?

We get it—summer flies by in the blink of an eye. One minute you’re convinced by a friend to sign up for a fall half-marathon, and the next, you’re panicking because the race is less than six weeks away. While training for a half-marathon in six weeks is possible, there are some things to consider to avoid injury and make it to race day feeling confident. Here’s what you need to know to make the most of your six-week training window.

Assess your starting point

Typically, people preparing for a half-marathon give themselves 12-16 weeks of training before tackling the 21.1 km distance. More experienced runners, already with a solid base, may be able to prepare in six to eight weeks. If you’re already running a few times a week and can comfortably complete a 10K, you have a solid starting point. However, if you’re new to running or returning after a long break, six weeks will be challenging and could increase your risk of injury if you attempt to build mileage too quickly.

Follow the plan

If you’re starting from scratch, run three times a week for the first two weeks, with long runs of seven to eight kilometres. In weeks three and four, gradually increase your runs by a kilometre or two, and add a fourth run to your weekly training schedule. Your long runs during these weeks should be between 10 and 15 kilometres.

Weeks five and six are all about maintaining your fitness and staying healthy for race day. Your Week Five long run should be your longest—15-17 km—while keeping the other three runs short (five to eight kilometres), to avoid overtraining. In the sixth and final week, focus on proper rest and keeping your legs fresh for race day. Do two shorter runs leading up to the half-marathon and a light, three- to five-km shakeout run the day before the race.

Take care of your body

With such a tight training window, it’s crucial to listen to your body and maximize the effectiveness of each run. Incorporate rest days between runs to allow for proper recovery, and ensure you’re getting adequate sleep. Consider adding cross-training activities like swimming or cycling to maintain fitness without the impact of running on your rest days. Additionally, activities like stretching, foam rolling and yoga can all help keep your muscles loose and reduce the risk of injury.

Manage your expectations

A six-week training plan isn’t ideal, but it’s far better than going in unprepared and expecting a strong result. As with any skill or sport, the more you practise and train, the better prepared you’ll be for what lies ahead. It’s important to be realistic about your goals and avoid setting overly high expectations. This might not be the race where you run a personal best, but it can still be a rewarding experience. Focus on finishing strong and injury-free, rather than pushing for a specific time.

This HIIT workout will boost your endurance and strength

How can you possibly fit in a strength workout after squeezing your daily mileage or endurance minutes into an already-busy schedule? HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts are the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone; the exercises target various muscle groups that help provide stability and strength while running, while the intensity of the movements is very effective in getting that heart rate up. All you need is your yoga mat, so let’s get started.

The workout is a Tabata; it will be structured with eight sets of eight exercises, with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Each round will last four minutes; take one minute of rest between sets.

The exercise should be done with a very high effort–you’re only going for a short period. If you’re out of breath, breaking a sweat and looking forward to the rest interval, you’re doing it right. You’ll be done your full high-intensity workout in 40 minutes, and the excitement of it will make it fly by.

Exercise 1: jumping jacks

Begin with your feet slightly apart and your arms at your sides. Jump and widen your stance to be a bit wider than shoulder-width, while swinging your arms from your sides to straight above your head. Jump again to tuck everything back into the same starting position and repeat. Keep the movement quick and rigid, and try to engage your core.

Exercise 2: plank walk-out to mountain climbers

Standing at the end of your yoga mat, bend forward so your hands are on the mat in front of you (bending your knees as little as possible), and walk your hands away from your feet until you are in a plank position. Do four mountain climbers (two per side), tucking your knee in toward your opposite shoulder while trying to keep your butt down. Keeping your core tight, walk your hands back toward your feet and stand up. Repeat.

Exercise 3: thigh-rub crunches

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor, as if to do regular crunches, but rest your palms on your thighs. Slide your hands up your thighs toward your knees, applying pressure against your legs. Push harder with your arms to engage your core more, and lower back down at a controlled pace.

Exercise 4: air squat to jump squat

Begin standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. Complete a squat, stopping before your knees reach 90 degrees. Return to standing, tucking your pelvis at the top. Lower into another squat and do a jump squat, swinging your arms back to power you off the ground–extend your legs in the air if you can. Land with your knees slightly bent. Repeat the air squat-jump squat cycle.

Exercise 5: bear taps

Begin on your hands and knees, both shoulder-width apart. Tucking your shoes under your feet, lift your knees just slightly off the ground. Keeping your core rigid, alternate tapping your hands to the opposite shoulder. Try not to rotate your spine–pretend you have a cup of water on your back that you can’t tip over.

Exercise 6: quick switches 

Find a slightly elevated surface, such as a box or a stair. Stand with one foot in front, on the higher surface, and one foot under you, on the floor. Jump to switch the positions of your feet, trying to extend your legs in the air. Continue alternating swiftly, tapping lightly.

Exercise 7: push-ups

You have three options for pushups: regular push-ups, knee push-ups or elevated-surface push-ups (so that your arms are elevated and your feet are on the floor; you should begin on a diagonal). Whatever variation is best for you, make sure you keep your core tight–as if your spine is a rigid board that cannot bend. Keep your elbows narrow, as close to the sides of your body as possible. Lower your body slowly, and power through the movement when pushing up.

Exercise 8: reverse lunges 

Begin standing with your pelvis tucked beneath you. Step one leg back and lower your back knee until it almost reaches the floor. Your front knee should be directly above your front ankle. Push through your front leg to stand back up (do this controlled–don’t throw your weight forward) and switch legs to repeat.

Once you’ve completed your first set, take your one minute of rest, and repeat. Remember: having good form is more important than going fast. Be sure to hydrate and fuel well when you’re done.

How to go from your couch to a 5K

Getting off the couch is the hardest part of running

Getting off your couch and out the door is the hardest part of running. The steps from there might seem overwhelming, especially if you’re running for the first time, but if you focus on taking things slowly and listening to your body, it’ll be easier than you think. Don’t hold yourself back just because it feels tough at first–set that 5K goal and work toward it, even if it means you start by walking. Here’s the best way to get into running to make it enjoyable, safe and rewarding.

Start short and easy

Warm up with a five-minute walk before starting your walk/run–one minute of running, then one minute of walking. Aim to repeat this cycle 10 times. Walk a five-minute cooldown, bringing your entire workout to 30 minutes. Try this three times a week (with at least one day off between runs), keeping it at a conversational pace; take breaks or walk for longer when you need to.

Increase a little each week

Increase your ratio of walking to running every other run (2:1, 3:1, 4:1, etc.), repeating until you reach 20 minutes of workout. Once you complete two 10 minute runs, shorten your warmup and cooldown to two minutes each, so you can continue increasing your runs without exceeding 30 minutes. After completing two sets of 15-minute run, one-minute walk, you can switch things up by trying to eliminate your walk interval and run for a full 2o minutes straight.

Once you feel comfortable running consistently without needing to walk, you can begin to increase your total run volume by 10 per cent each week. This may mean keeping two runs between 20 to 30 minutes, and building up one run as your designated weekly long run. You’ll be hitting that 5K mark before you know it.

Take care of your body

Set a goal to do strength training workouts on your non-run days to support your muscles and joints when you hit the road. Yoga, Pilates and bodyweight exercises are easy techniques to try without even leaving your house. Don’t forget to head to a specialty running shoe store to get new running shoes that are perfect your specific feet–this will make you feel even better when setting out to reach your 5K goal.

Post-race blues: how to fight back

You’ve spent months training and preparing for your race–and then the big day comes along, flies by, and is gone before you know it. Now what? Going from intense feelings of anticipation building up to your major goal, to suddenly relaxing and wondering what your next step is, can feel like a massive letdown.

Even if you are ecstatic about your performance, you may still find yourself batting the post-competition blues.

Try to remember that you are not alone. This is something even the most elite and experienced athletes struggle with. Especially in running, where so much mental resilience is required to push yourself, your mind and body can really take you on an emotional rollercoaster. Those rest days that follow competition to allow your body to recover physically, especially after a marathon, can be more mentally strenuous than you imagined. Post-race depression can be characterized by fatigue, lack of appetite and motivation, mood swings or insomnia, and being prepared for it is the best thing you can do.

Create a plan

Making a plan ahead of time for your return to training will help you stay accountable, even if you aren’t working toward anything specific. Make sure to give yourself those rest days to allow yourself to recover and heal, but it doesn’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) entail lying around doing nothing. A light walk, bike ride, or signing up for a yoga class can all be good opportunities to get in some active recovery while being social–without the focus of gaining fitness.

Set a goal

What is the next thing you want to accomplish? If you review your big performance, think about what went right, and what didn’t. You can keep working to meet your original target, set the bar higher or switch gears to try a new distance. Committing to achieving this next goal will give you the feeling of purpose and motivate you again.

To top that: pre-emptively commit to that next step, and avoid staring at an empty calendar. Overthinking and criticizing your recent performance will just amplify that low you are already experiencing. Looking ahead to the next phase of your journey as a runner and not treating this achievement as the end goal will soften that post-race crash–leaving you feeling like yourself and ready to get back to work.

Stay busy

If your training has kept your calendar full during the past few months, fill it with something else to shift your focus during your recovery period. Aim to do something you have recently had to turn down since training took precedence. This might be heading to your local ice cream shop, spending the day at the beach or grabbing a drink with a friend.

Another tip: try not to take things too seriously. You are allowed to (and supposed to) have fun with your running journey. Once you feel more recovered, drag your friends out for a leisurely local race, or even just a fun jog.

Talk about it

Don’t struggle silently. If you are dealing with the blues, your training partner may be feeling the same way. Reaching out to friends and family will reassure you that you are supported and have a purpose, plus occupying your time and mind until you feel like yourself again.

This Runner Learned the Importance of Easy Days After Trying to Train Hard for Too Long

“Running has made me a better thinker—I’m able to solve problems when I’m on a run, and often find new and creative solutions to or perspectives on something that’s bothering me."

I played sports (baseball, basketball, lacrosse) growing up, but running was always used as a form of punishment. I didn’t understand the people who “enjoyed” running or would willingly run. I also didn’t want anything to do with running because I was too scared to lose any of the muscle I worked so hard to put on. (I picked up weightlifting in college.)

That’s when running became the perfect escape for me physically and mentally. Some of my best thoughts came from mid-afternoon runs around the suburbs of Irvine, California. While I realized that I wasn’t cut out for med school, I will say that my personal statement would have been a lot worse had I not gotten some creative inspiration on my runs.

When I first started running, I didn’t really know how to run—so I downloaded the first (good) app I could find—the Nike Run Club app. I really liked it because they had in-app coaches to help guide you through the run, plus tips on how to gauge my intensity proved helpful.

Prior to that, I would just run as fast as I could for three to four miles with zero periodization on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis. I didn’t do any races, but I did a self-imposed “5K every day” challenge in November 2020. The goal was to get faster by the end of November. I went out and ran a 5K every day at max effort, expecting to get faster by day three. Instead, I had a pretty big regression, so it wasn’t the best training method for me. 

I think most beginners think that doing more of the same thing will get them to become better, when in reality periodization is what actually compounds progress the most. I thought I needed to be running at a high intensity daily. It took me two years until I realized that I only needed a few max effort sessions per week, and to simply focus on making my hard days hard and easy days easy. 

I’ve also noticed that many former high school/college athletes get into running and their biggest Achilles’ heel is making easy days just as hard as hard days, and I totally get that. Running three miles at a 10-minute pace when I know I can be cooking some sub-seven-minute miles is not something my brain nor body were used to when I started.

In 2020, I decided to run an impromptu half marathon, which was my proudest running moment. To the Allen who had never hit double-digit mileage in one run, 13.1 miles was simply a mythological number.

For that run, I hadn’t followed any real training beforehand, nor did I have any gels or water (biggest mistake I made that day). It was just me, my phone, some AirPods, and my new bright orange Nike AlphaFlys. Needless to say, my first half marathon ended with me cramping and locking up outside of the Chipotle that was less than a mile from my house. I wouldn’t run more than 10 miles again until March 2022. 

I almost entirely stopped running in April 2021 when I got back to the gym. However, running found me again when I signed up to participate in the Birthday Series’ 131-mile Relay Race from Montauk, New York to Times Square in June 2023. I ran 25 to 30 miles in the race. I went from running ten to 20 miles a week inconsistently (from March to May 2023) to 50-plus miles a week later that summer. 

Most recently, this past April, I ran my first marathon—the Big Sur International Marathon. I was doing well and on target for a 3:15 marathon until my entire body started cramping at the end of mile 22 and my split went from a 7:30 pace to a 15-minute pace. I remember getting to a 1.5-mile enclave (from mile 23 to 24) and that was the longest 1.5 miles of my life. 

Those miles were never ending, which was such a juxtaposition since the miles before it felt like they were just breezing by. I remember fully stopping and thinking to myself: “I might have to lie down in this bush,” because my legs were writhing in pain from the cramps. 

At the peak of training for that marathon, I was running five days a week in Central Park and logging 50-plus miles on the rolling hills, but this still wasn’t enough to get me fully acclimated to the rolling hills of Big Sur!

But, I am definitely ready for more races in the future. I plan to run Big Sur in 2025, as I will be seeking some redemption, but I’d also like to do shorter races in between.

At this point in my life, I enjoy yoga, Pilates, running, powerlifting, and bodybuilding. Overall though, running has made me a better thinker—I’m able to solve problems when I’m on a run, and often find new and creative solutions to or perspectives on something that’s bothering me. For that, I’m grateful!

But then things changed when I didn’t have a chance to go to the gym in 2020, so I finally gave running a chance. I was also caught in the post-grad bubble of despair, and I wasn’t sure where my life was heading, so running seemed like a good way to pass the time. 

My entire undergrad experience was defined by pre-med courses and a little more than 2,000 hours of sports medicine internship. Naturally, applying to graduate/medical schools was the obvious choice, but really I was applying because it was the only socially acceptable form of procrastination. (A pretty poor use of time considering some of the med school applications felt more like a job than the jobs I was working.) 

During that time, I had lost two part-time jobs: demoing energy drinks at various gyms around Los Angeles and modeling. So, I was back living at home with no job, spending some 10 hours a day (wish I was kidding) on trying to craft the perfect personal statement for my med school application. I really just needed to do something for my body.

These tips have made my running journey a success:

1. Take it easy

I never liked running up until a few years ago, because I always equated “running” to “sprinting” because that was the punishment we had if we missed too many free throws in a game or missed a ground ball during lacrosse practice.

It was when I joined a run club a year ago that I realized running is not just sprinting, and can be an enjoyable, social activity with or without the presence of others.

2. Be okay with failure

You can do everything correctly during training and still not get the desired results. The benefit of running is that you can make mistakes without any major or lasting consequences. You can then try to apply that philosophy to other areas of your life. 

3. Develop an athlete mentality

Whether or not you were an athlete growing up, the deal you make with yourself when you start running is that you become an athlete. If you want the opportunity to improve then you must start treating yourself with respect—like with good nutrition, rest, and health check-ups. Whether you want to run faster, further, more frequently, or just be able to start running at the drop of a hat, you need to give your body the respect it deserves, because running can quickly expose the holes in your health. 

4. Invest in good shoes

Get a decent pair of shoes that can handle lots of mileage. Don’t get the most expensive shoe you see online thinking it will make you a better runner—because while it might feel that way, those effects are inflated. 

5. Enlist support

Follow a program, an app, a coach, or find a running buddy. If none of those suit you, join a run club! Run clubs really help making running enjoyable with the added benefit of having built-in accountability. You likely know when and where the run is and all you have to do is show up. (One run club I like is Endorphins Running.) 

6. Keep an open mind

If you are trying to better yourself and your health, keep an open mind when trying new things. If you think of your health more as a philosophy instead of a rigid set of rules, you will learn that you can start to take ideas from the things you enjoy and mold your own version of health that’s sustainable.

Allen’s Must-Have Gear

→ Normatec 3 Legs: I use these after every long run and occasionally before bed. It just feels really good to get your leg squeezed after a hard workout and it usually forces me to relax (which is great before bedtime).

→ Mito Red Light: I try my best to do everything I can to prevent injury. I’ll use my red light device at home on any areas that’ve been nagging me, as well as a few focus areas as a way to warm up. I typically do five minutes on each leg before a long run.

→ Hoka Mach 6: These have been my workhorse shoes the past few months (almost at 200 miles already on a pair). Love them for track workouts and long runs. They just get the job done.

How to get back into speedwork after your half-marathon

Well, you’ve done it—you’ve completed a half-marathon! After a well-deserved few days or a week off, you’re probably already planning your next race. While it’s good to be enthusiastic, stepping back into speedwork after a half-marathon can be tricky. It’s crucial to ensure you’re doing the right workouts to avoid injury or overtraining.

Let your body recover 

After running a half-marathon, it’s essential to give your body adequate time to recover. The amount of recovery time varies among runners, but at least one or two days off all exercise is recommended, regardless of whether you are a beginner or a seasoned veteran. For runners coming off their first half, it could take at least a week to fully recover. Pay attention to any lingering soreness or fatigue. If you’re still feeling sore or overly tired, extend your recovery period for a few more days.

Ease back into things

The easiest way to get injured is by overdoing an activity while your body is still sore. When it’s time to begin running again, start with a gradual re-introduction. Begin with short, easy runs, maybe every other day, and slowly increase the distance and intensity. This is the best and safest way to regain your fitness so you can resume your regular weekly programming. If you feel you’re losing fitness but aren’t ready to start running yet, activities like swimming, cycling, brisk walking or yoga can help you build strength and endurance while aiding in recovery.

Before you begin your first couple of speed sessions post-race, you’ll want to have built your weekly mileage back up to around 40-50 per cent of your regular training load. For most runners, this can take two to four weeks. Doing this also builds up your aerobic endurance, providing a solid base for when you resume speedwork. After a week or so of running post-half-marathon, start incorporating strides into the end of your easy runs. Strides are short, controlled (20-30 seconds) bursts of speed that help re-introduce your legs to faster paces without the intensity of a full speed workout.

Start small

As tempting as it might be to immediately pick up where you left off with speed workouts, starting with shorter, interval-based sessions is the easiest and most effective way to re-introduce speedwork into your training. You can gradually increase the duration and intensity as you progress.

Here are some easy interval sessions to get your body acclimated to speedwork again.

five reps of 2 mins @ 10K pace with 90 seconds jog rest.

three reps of 1K @ half-marathon pace with two minutes rest

8-10 reps of 30 seconds on, 60 seconds jog. 

How to Reverse Taper to Build Your Mileage Back Up After a Race

Two run coaches offer details for between-race training.While training for a half marathon or marathon is anything but easy, following a well-designed program is pretty straightforward. You ramp up your mileage when the program says so, mix in speed work and intervals as instructed, and taper volume and intensity (sometimes begrudgingly) when the schedule dictates.

But, what happens after you check off that final “Race Day!” box on your calendar and float into the no man’s land between training programs? You’re tired and need to rest, but the idea of unstructured time off makes you antsy. Plus, your next race isn’t that far off. Following a “reverse taper” or “tapering up” allows you to bridge the space between events. The idea of the reverse taper is to gradually reintroduce running and increase volume while still prioritizing rest and recovery. 

To better understand the logic behind tapering up, down, and in reverse, we spoke with Jessie Zapotechne, a coach with Adidas Runners in New York City and the founder of Girls Run NYC, and Raj Hathiramani, certified running coach at Mile High Run Club in New York City. Both are seasoned marathoners who have designed training programs and coached countless athletes through the ebbs and flows of race prep and recovery. Here’s what to know. 

Understanding the Reverse Taper

The reverse taper is different from simply increasing volume to prepare for a race. When you’re in the midst of training and following a training plan, “weekly mileage increases are a gentle, rolling progression,” Hathiramani says. This approach compounds strength and endurance as the body adapts to new and increased training demands in order to reach a specific distance and pace. 

Postrace, however, you’re working with a different baseline. “Racing wears down muscles, depletes glycogen, and suppresses your immune system,” Hathiramani says. Recovery—both physical and mental—should be your number-one priority. 

“For longer races, this can include several days or a week of full rest before cross-training and resuming running, and for shorter or lower-effort races, you can focus on active recovery and cross-training with a quicker return to running,” Hathiramani says. 

If you’re worried about losing all of the progress you made during training, don’t be. “Our fitness does not diminish as drastically as we think with an extended period of rest. Our bodies adapt to ‘defend’ our fitness level,” Hathiramani adds.

When you feel rested and ready to jump back in, you can start with some short, unstructured runs to see how you feel. (Don’t be afraid to shorten or bail on a workout if you’re feeling fatigued.) 

Unlike a regular taper within training plans, there are fewer agreed upon rules about how to train without a specific goal or race plan. While you can use your previous training for guidance, Hathiramani emphasizes that this can be “tricky,” as the right approach depends upon your experience, training history, and distance of your last race. 

“Generally, it’s fair to say after a rest period following a race, you can build back from the end of your base building phase,” he says. You don’t need to start at week one, but you also shouldn’t dive back into peak training. 

Consider picking a week from the early-to-middle of the training plan as your reverse taper starting point. “It’s usually six to eight weeks into a [marathon] training cycle,” Hathiramani says. 

6 Reverse Taper Tips

To taper up like a pro, and to avoid injuries and overtraining, consider the following tips and mistakes to avoid. 1. Progress Slow(er than Usual)

A weekly mileage increase of 10 to 20 percent is standard for most training plans, but remember that when you start a reverse taper, you’re not simply building mileage, you’re recovering. It’s okay to keep your volume the same from one week to the next or even reduce it, if needed. 

2. Honor Rest Days

“A common mistake that I’ve seen athletes make is to skip a rest day because they are feeling good,” Zapotechne says. “This results in overtraining or feeling fatigued when it is time for them to continue on with the next planned workouts.” 

If you crave movement on a rest day, consider an activity like restorative yoga or walking. 

3. Don’t Dismiss Sharp or Persistent Pain

“Increased mileage will mean you are using more energy and thus need appropriate recovery, nutrition, and sleep. It is normal to feel more sore, tired, and hungry,” Hathiramani says. But anything more intense could signal injury. “A red flag is any sharp pain or persisting ache that gets worse when you run or is above a 4 out of 10 on a pain scale.” If you experience this kind of discomfort, see a doctor. 

4. Keep Easy Runs Easy

“Easy runs coupled with intentional recovery sessions (e.g., stretching, mobility, preventative physical therapy, and sports massage) help achieve weekly mileage while letting your body regain strength after harder efforts,” Hathiramani says. 

Use the talk test to keep your exertion easy and, if necessary, ignore your watch. 

5. Don’t Overdo It With Interval Training

When you’re not yet on a training plan and are starting your reverse taper, Hathiramani suggests refraining from specialty runs, such as speed work. “For most runners, one interval training session a week is most effective to balance improving endurance with staying injury-free,” he says. 

Save intervals, fartlek, and other speed runs for when you’re back on an official training plan. 

6. Recover as Hard as You Train

“More mileage means more recovery and more sleep,” Hathiramani says. “Rest is important to maintain good mental health and optimal performance.” So, if you’re waking up before dawn to get in your morning run before the day starts, make sure you’re hitting the sack early, too. 

A Refresher on the Traditional Taper

Reverse tapers and traditional tapers have equal importance. “Tapering,” or reducing your running volume and intensity in the days and weeks leading up to a race, is a very intentional race-prep strategy. Because whether or not you feel it (and you probably do feel it), your body has taken a hit, thanks to all those long runs, interval workouts, and tempo runs. “Tapering allows your body’s energy, strength, and health to return to optimal levels,” Hathiramani says. 

Every taper looks a little different based on the type of race, the length and design of the training program, and how an athlete responds to training. “Most marathon plans call for a three-week taper and a 20 to 30 percent reduction in mileage each of those weeks, with little or no training faster than your race goal pace,” Hathiramani says. 

A half marathon program may include just two weeks of tapering, and, if you’re training for a 10K, you might start cutting back a week to 10 days before race day. 

During a training plan, after so many weeks of steadily accumulating more miles and tougher workouts, it can be surprisingly challenging to pump the breaks. “I feel I’m a better person in life when I’ve been able to go out and get my endorphins from running,” Zapotechne says. “Then taper time comes, and I have fewer runs, and they are shorter. This can often build up a lot of anxiety, and I’ve got energy now that does not have a place to be released.” 

Here are a few tips to help round out your knowledge about the reverse and traditional taper: 

1. Don’t Swap Running for Other Workouts

“In the past, I’ve made the mistake of deciding that, since I’m not running, I’ll go do that boxing class or other random workout that I’ve been meaning to do, and the result is then that I’m sore and I’ve overworked muscles that I was supposed to be resting,” Zapotechne says. 

A taper isn’t the time to build muscle or experiment with different forms of exercise. If you feel like you have to do something, channel your energy toward active recovery practices, like mobility work, stretching, and meditation. 

2. Don’t Try New Shoes (or Gear, Nutrition, or Routes)

The “nothing new on race day” adage should probably be amended to read, “Nothing new in the weeks leading up to race day.” By the time you get to a taper, you’ll likely have a formula that works for you—stick with it. Any adverse reactions to changes in your gear or habits (blisters and GI distress, anyone?) will rob you of quality recovery time. 

3. Don’t Play “Catch-Up”

It’s normal for runners to miss an occasional workout on a training plan or feel like they didn’t work hard enough to prepare for a race. The taper period is not the time to play catch-up. “I coach athletes (and remind myself) that you cannot increase your fitness by doing more intense workouts the week before a race,” Zapotechne says. “You have to trust that what you have done is enough and that, ultimately, rest is your friend.”

Three simple core exercises every runner should make time for

Every runner knows core strength is one of the foundations for success in their sport. From helping you to stay upright while running to protecting your spine, the benefits of a strong core extend beyond just helping prevent injury.

With a myriad of core workouts available on the web, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when deciding how to target this massive muscle group. We’ve compiled four simple, yet effective, workouts that you can fit in before or after your run in just a few extra minutes.

1.- Plank

There are many plank variations, and the beauty of this exercise is that it requires no equipment. High plank (arms extended) and low plank (on the forearms) are the simplest versions, but side plank allows you to target the smaller muscles in the core, such as the intercostals. Add in some movement like plank walk-ups, and you have several options to rotate into your routine, ensuring you don’t get bored. Increasing the duration of a plank hold is another way to make this increasingly more challenging as you progress.

2.- Boat

Any runners familiar with yoga may recognize this one. Similar to the plank, boat pose can take several different variations that can increase or decrease its difficulty and target different areas of the core. You’ll feel a simple, still boat pose in your lower abdomen, but challenging yourself with some prayer twists brings the heat to the side abs, too. While in the posture, bring your hands to heart-centre and alternate touching one elbow on the ground at a time. Bicycle and simple crunches are another great option.

3.- Bridge

This one packs a lot of punch for how simple it is. In a successful bridge, runners will need to activate their glutes, another muscle group essential to injury prevention in running. As with the other two exercises, runners can keep this one simple or add single-leg movements to isolate the individual glutes and provide deeper strengthening.

Runners not currently doing extra core work will see the benefits with a few repetitions of these exercises weekly.

Practicing yoga breathing can make you a faster runner, new study says

Recent research sheds light on an unexpected ally in the quest for improved running performance: yoga breathing techniques. According to a new study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science, integrating yoga breathing practices into a runner’s training regimen can lead to significant enhancements in overall performance.

Researchers discovered that incorporating specific breathing exercises derived from yoga can yield remarkable results. By harnessing the power of controlled breathing techniques, runners can tap into a deeper reservoir of oxygen, improve respiratory efficiency and enhance endurance capacity..

The study

The study had experienced runners of various fitness levels, both male and female, who were enlisted to explore the effects of three specific yoga breathing techniques: Dirgha (breath awareness), Kapalbhati, and Bhastrika (high-frequency yoga breathing). Over three weeks, participants received instruction in these techniques, while a control group received no instructions.

Before and after the instruction period, both groups underwent running tests on a laboratory treadmill, maintaining a prescribed rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Remarkably, after the yoga breathing instruction, participants demonstrated a significant improvement in running pace while maintaining the same RPE as before. In contrast, the control group showed no change in pace.

Pranayama to power performance

The concept of using yogic breathing isn’t entirely new—past studies have demonstrated the profound impact of pranayama, or yogic breath control, on respiratory muscle function. Through regular practice of pranayama techniques, runners can strengthen the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, leading to more efficient oxygen uptake and utilization during exercise. This translates into better aerobic capacity, reduced breathlessness and prolonged endurance during long-distance runs.

How to get started

Dirgha Pranayama (three-part breath)

Inhale deeply, filling your belly, ribcage and chest with air. Exhale slowly, releasing the breath from your chest, ribcage and belly. Repeat for several rounds, focusing on smooth, controlled breathing.

Kapalabhati

Sit with a straight spine and take a deep inhale. Exhale forcefully through your nose by quickly contracting your lower abdomen. Follow each exhale with a passive inhale. Repeat this rhythmic pattern for several cycles, maintaining focus on the breath.

Could Sound Therapy Improve Your Athletic Performance?

You might listen to pump-up music while running to help you churn out the miles. But tuning into another form of sound could offer the opposite effect. Sound therapy—also known as sound baths or sound healing sessions—work to bring you into a state of calm and relieve stress. Sound baths aren’t just for savasana in yoga class, either, as the acoustic notes can offer benefits for athletes. 

Here’s everything you need to know about sound therapy and how it can help your mindset and your recovery

What is sound therapy?

While sound therapy in Western medicine is a newer practice, it’s grounded in a very long tradition. “Sound therapy is the practice of not only auditory, but also vibratory inputs to influence physiology,” says Nathan R. Handley, M.D. medical oncology and integrative medicine doctor at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. Think of sounds like crystal bowls, chimes, light drumming, or gongs, all emitting different frequencies and working to create a relaxed mind and body experience.

Some Eastern philosophies hold that the universe arose from sound—like the “om” chanting sound. “One of the principles with Eastern medicine is that when someone is sick they can be nourished by the correct sound,” Handley says, because the specific vibrations help to bring the body back into a healthy state. Eastern medicine traditions have a deep appreciation of the mind-body connection, and an awareness that sound can quiet the mind and reduce stress, Handley explains. 

Handley uses vibro acoustic therapy in his medical practice, which is the combination of audible sound and vibration to decrease stress and promote relaxation. Transducers—which emit vibrations—can also be embedded in soft furniture so that the healing is felt as well as heard, Handley adds. “Sound therapy is really interesting because in one form or another, it has really been part of traditional healing culture for thousands of years,” he says. 

The premise of sound therapy is simple: Certain sounds are naturally meant to bring you into a state of calm, relaxation, and healing. “Sound is energy. Specific vibrations carry different energy. In Eastern medicine, different parts of the body are associated with specific energies, frequencies, and vibrations. Sound, then, is a vibrational force that can influence (and ideally harmonize) these energies,” Handley says.

What are the benefits of sound therapy?

1. Stress Relief and Improved Mood

Listening to relaxing, repetitive sounds can help your body calm down, relax, and relieve tension, and can help you focus on the present moment, says Michelle DiBlasi, D.O., chief of inpatient psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

In fact, research published in the Journal of Evidence-Based and Complementary Alternative Medicine in 2017 backs up the benefits of sound therapy for mood and stress. The study, which involved 62 men and women with an average age of about 50, found that following a Tibetan singing bowl meditation, participants reported reduced feelings of tension, anger, fatigue, and depressed mood. 

DiBlasi explains that sound therapy may work to reduce stress and boost mood potentially by stimulating the vagal nerve. The vagal nerve carries signals between the brain, heart, and digestive system, and is responsible for triggering a parasympathetic response, or our “rest and digest” state. When we’re in a parasympathetic state, we experience a lower heart rate and relaxed breathing, which in turn, helps the mind relax, Diblasi explains. 

2. Better Sleep Quality

You’re probably aware that a restful night’s sleep is important to feeling your best, and helping you perform better as a runner. It’s easy to fall into patterns that disrupt sleep quality, like scrolling on phones or watching TV before bed. But there’s promising research that sound therapy can help with sleep. 

This is especially true for a particular kind of sound therapy known as binaural beats. The Sleep Foundation defines binaural beats as an auditory phenomenon that occurs when listening to two different frequencies at once. “The strategy with binaural beats is to create the perception of a specific frequency by presenting two slightly different frequencies to each ear,” Handley says. 

These frequencies then influence your brain waves frequencies, which can lead to different effects, Handley explains. For example, “delta waves are associated with deep sleep; theta waves are associated with light sleep or deep relaxation; alpha waves are associated with a relaxed state, when the brain isn’t focused on anything in particular; beta waves occur during periods of alertness and engagement; and gamma waves are associated with learning, problem solving, and high-level cognition,” he says. Binaural beats tap into the frequencies of these brain waves (often delta waves) to help you find calm and sleep better.

A pilot study published in Digital Health in 2022, examining the sleep of 20 healthy participants, found that the practice of listening to 90 minutes of delta binaural beats had a positive effect on sleep quality, as shown by markers like the number of awakenings and sleep duration. Participants also reported increased sleep satisfaction after one week of listening to the binaural beats, as well as reduced anxiety and anger. 

While there are a host of remedies on the market advertised to help you sleep, a good alternative to pill therapy might just be sound therapy. “I think anything like this where you’re doing something that’s relaxing your mind and body certainly gets you ready for sleep,” Diblasi says. “It’s a great exercise to do before bed.” 

3. Pain Management and Recovery

“Sound baths and sound therapy are helpful for athletes because they can lead to the relaxation response which can be helpful for not only recovery, but also performance enhancement,” Handley adds. 

Sound meditation can also have a positive impact on perceived levels of pain. According to research published in Journal of Evidence-Based and Complementary Alternative Medicine, participants who listened to singing bowls experienced a reduction in pain and tension after the therapy. 

While the exact mechanism for this is unclear, researchers found that for many participants, mood improved while listening to the sound therapy, which could account for physiological changes in the body. In other words, when your mind relaxes, your body might follow suit.

4. Increased Heart Rate Variability 

“There is increasing evidence that sound therapy can enhance heart rate variability (HRV),” Handley says. HRV is the variation in the intervals between heart beats and can signal your adaptability. A higher HRV can indicate better cardiovascular health, stress resilience, and enhanced athletic performance, he explains.

“Because HRV indicates increased parasympathetic activation, it is indicative of better recovery and preparedness for intense training sessions,” Handley adds.

A study published in Cureus in 2023, which involved 23 participants, found that the practice of humming—considered a form of sound therapy—increased heart rate variability. The study indicates that humming can create a unique pattern of the heart’s signal, which can potentially lower sympathetic activation (our stressful state) and increase the parasympathetic tone (our relaxed state). 

What’s more, the study found that after taking part in the humming exercise, the practice increased breathing quality and consistency through increased HRV and lung function. Researchers found that the effects of humming continued to help even when the individual was not consciously doing the activity. 

How to Get Started With Sound Therapy

In order to experience the benefits of sound therapy, DiBlasi recommends listening for 30 to 90 minutes, but if you have less time, it’s still worth a listen. “If you only have 10 minutes before you go to work, or before bedtime, that could still be helpful,” she says. 

To get started with sound therapy, these five apps provide a relaxing experience. All you need to do is find a quiet, comfortable place to tune in and chill out.

1. Apple Fitness+ ($10/month or $79/year)

Beginning in 2024, Apple Fitness+ introduced a new meditation theme called Sound. While a trainer will start off the meditations, the five-, 10-, and 20-minute sessions allow you to focus in on calming tones and rhythms, with the help of gongs and singing bowls. 

2. Binaural Beats App ($3/month)

This app is exclusively designed to offer binaural beats, which you should listen to with headphones to experience the different frequencies in each ear. The app allows you to select your focus, like sleep or stress relief. 

3. Calm App (Sound Baths) ($14/month)

Users can select their focus from within the sound bath categories, including sleep, meditation, work, wisdom, and even sounds baths meant for children.

4. The Sound Bath App ($10/month)

Choose from various sound baths based on your mood and your needs. The app includes a library of more 100 options, plus eight-hour evening baths to last you through a good night’s sleep. Plus, you can tune into twice-weekly live-stream sessions, which also feature live chats with facilitators. 

5. Third Ear (free for limited use or up to $10/month)

You can choose to listen to different sounds like gongs, bowls, chimes, mantras, or binaural beats. Free sound baths range from three to five minutes, while full use of the app offers 30- to 50-minute sessions. 

Bored, Injured, or Experiencing a Plateau? Here’s How to Shake Up Your Running

Plus, coach-approved ways to shake up your training. We’re all for having a set run schedule, considering the ease it can bring to your life. You don’t have to formulate workouts on the fly or do any guesswork over how to reach your goals—simply lace up and follow the plan.

But sometimes, too much structure can backfire, causing you to fall into a rut. And that can zap the joy out of running, transforming the activity you once loved into nothing but negativity.

Fortunately, there are simple things you can do to bust out of a rut and get back into a happy running groove. First though, you have to identify that you’re in one. 

With that in mind, we tapped two coaches to learn the signs of when you might want to switch up your run routine, and what those signs might indicate. Plus, exactly how to inject excitement back into your runs. Let this be the permission you need to try something new. 

1. You Dread Working Out

It’s normal to feel less-than-chipper about an occasional workout, but if you find yourself outright dreading your runs more often than not, “it’s time to reassess,” Kaila DeRienzo, a South Carolina-based certified personal trainer and certified run coach tells Runner’s World. 

The potential cause: A few things could lead to dreading workouts. One possible culprit: Your workouts are too challenging because you’ve set a goal that’s unrealistic for your current fitness level, Kai Ng, USATF- and RRCA-certified run coach in New Jersey and New York, tells Runner’s World. Runs and workouts that are too hard cause you to overtrain and ultimately loathe your workouts because all you’re really doing is just beating up your body. 

Another potential cause: Other stressful factors in your life, such as a tough work schedule, or demanding caregiver responsibilities, or parenting duties, all of which can make it tough to devote as much time to running as your current training plan dictates, Ng says. 

The fix: First, have an honest conversation with yourself to understand why you’re feeling amiss, DeRienzo suggests. By identifying the root cause of your malaise, you can take targeted steps to address it, she explains. 

For example, if your dread is tied to a too-lofty goal, such as trying to run four days a week instead of aiming for a more manageable two days or aiming for a PR in a marathon instead of a half or 10K, then let yourself off the hook by lowering the bar. Though it’s great to dream big, it’s also important to be realistic. “Smaller wins are so, so important,” Ng says, as they help build confidence. 

If you pinpoint other factors in your life that are making it tough to stick with your current plan, be honest about what you’re actually able to commit to right now and adjust your routine accordingly, Ng suggests. Maybe this isn’t the season to log 50 miles a week, or finally run a marathon. That’s okay. Not every training cycle needs to end with a PR. 

Lastly, if you realize the sense of dread extends beyond running and into other areas of your life, you may be struggling with a mental health issue, such as depression. In this case, talk to a trained professional, DeRienzo says. 

2. You’re Really Bored

People get into running for various reasons, but one common thread that inspires folks to stick with it is that it engages and challenges them. If you find that your sense of joy about running has evaporated—for example, workouts or races that once felt exciting are now ho-hum—that’s worth looking into. 

The potential cause: You may not be challenged enough, Ng says. While all runners should regularly pencil in easy runs, only doing workouts that feel like a walk in the park can lead to boredom. 

Alternatively, you may not be injecting enough variety into your routine. Perhaps you run the same route every. single. day. Or you carbon copy your workouts week after week. That level of monotony can also lead to boredom. 

The fix: First, evaluate your fitness to get a solid sense of your current abilities in order to help figure out how to best challenge yourself. 

“Whether it is a fitness test, a time trial, a race, get out there and see where you’re at and how you stack up,” Ng says. From there, level up your plan as needed. You might want to talk to a coach for some helpful guidance. 

On the other hand, if you suspect your boredom is due to monotony, shake things up by exploring new running routes (Strava can be a great tool for this), joining a local run club (Ng suggests trying out a different one each week), or experimenting with different types of workouts. This could look like venturing out on trails if you’re typically a road runner or challenging yourself to run hills if you normally go flat. 

Dabbling in forms of exercise outside of running, such as swimming, cycling, dance, and Pilates—really whatever tickles your fancy—can also help add variety and excitement to your schedule. 

Finally, you can also reignite your spark with running by treating yourself to something novel, like a fresh pair of shoes, a snazzy new training outfit, or a fancy fitness tracker. “Getting something new always shakes things up,” says Ng. 

3. You’re Dealing with Injuries

According to 2021 study published in the Journal of Health and Sport Science, 50 percent of runners experience some type of injury every year that prevents them from running for a period of time, and 25 percent of runners are injured at any given time. These injuries can range from shin splints to ankle and knee problems. 

In other words: Almost every runner deals with injury at some point, but if ailments continuously crop up, that’s a surefire red flag your plan needs adjusting. 

The potential cause: Chances are, you’re overtraining by either running too many miles, logging too many high-intensity runs, or not allowing your body enough recovery time in between sessions, Ng says. 

The fix: It’s common sense, but it bears repeating: Don’t train through injury. Instead, scale back your running to allow your body time to heal. Seek help as needed from a physical therapist or coach to fully mend the issue and get their guidance on how to avoid future injuries. 

Keep in mind that factors like poor sleep and inadequate nutrition can increase your odds of injury, so take an honest look at your overall lifestyle and make adjustments as needed. 

4. Your Progress Has Stalled

If, despite consistent efforts, your performance in workouts and races has stagnated, then it’s high time to re-evaluate your current plan. 

The potential cause: You may be overtraining or struggling with a nutrition issue, says Ng, both of which can sabotage performance because your body isn’t getting the recovery it needs. Or, quite possibly, you don’t have enough variety in your routine, DeRienzo says. 

Over time, your body adapts to the work you demand, and if you don’t routinely challenge your body in novel ways, eventually you’ll stop seeing progress. 

As the American Council on Exercise explains: “Doing the same exercise repeatedly could lead to a plateau where no more physiological changes occur.” 

The fix: If you suspect you’re plateauing due to overtraining or nutrition problems, dial back your mileage and/or workout intensity and focus on eating frequent, well-balanced meals.

Also, inject other types of exercise into your schedule. “Move in different ways,” says Ng, explaining that most any type of cross-training movement—from strength training to skiing to swimming to yoga—is beneficial for runners. Because running is such a linear sport (you move in just one direction: forward), taking the time to build your strength and athleticism in other ways can ultimately make you a stronger, more resilient runner. 

Now, if you realize your stagnation is due to an unchanging run routine, spice things up however you can: Add speed work, hit the hills, challenge yourself to run longer, or try new interval workouts. “Having something new and exciting to look forward to each day of the week is going to keep it mentally stimulating and also keep your body stimulated, too,” DeRienzo explains. 

5. You Don’t Feel Confident in Your Workouts

If you don’t have a training plan, have low confidence in your program, or are unsure if the schedule you’re following is inching your toward your goals, it’s time to rethink your approach. 

The potential cause: Choosing the right training plan for you and your goals can help you feel accomplished by checking off workouts one by one. Plus, it will give more structure to your training so you get the right mix of intensities within your workouts and the right amount of rest—rather than simply winging it. If you have a plan, but it’s too generalized and not personalized to you, says DeRienzo, it may also leave you feeling less than confident in your training. “What somebody else does is not going to be the most beneficial” for your situation, she explains. 

The fix: Find the right training plan for you by determining your fitness level and your goals. (You can also use our quiz to point you in the right direction.)

If you're serious about becoming a better runner, you might also consider hiring a coach—even for just a few months—to get personalized guidance and a curated-for-you plan.

“There’s a myth that run coaching is super expensive,” says Derienzo. Truth is, “it’s a lot more affordable than personal training,” she says, noting that in her experiences, it’s realistic to find support for less than $100 per month. Search platforms like CoachUp, Training Peaks, and RunDoyen to connect with a pro. 

6. You’re Missing Workouts

While skipping a run here and there is NBD, if you’re consistently bailing on workouts, then your run plan clearly isn’t working for you. 

The potential cause: Life is probably too busy right now to sustain the level of running your plan requires, says Ng. Or, you may just need more rest. Either way, your current approach just isn’t appropriate for your schedule or fitness level. 

The fix: Take a close look at your schedule and map out which days make the most sense to do which workouts, says Ng. For example, instead of attempting long runs on Sundays like everyone, you might realize Wednesdays are more ideal since you don’t have any work meetings then. Or, perhaps Friday becomes your new strength training day instead of Tuesday, since the gym is less crowded then, making it easier to get in and out. 

Taking the time to rejigger your plan so that it actually makes sense with your schedule will increase your likelihood of sticking to it—and ultimately, seeing results. 

Of course, if you’re missing workouts because you really feel like you need it (or you’re injured), then it’s best to scrap your plan entirely and allow yourself the downtime you need to heal. 

Finally, if it’s your mental motivation that’s making you miss most of your planned runs, it’s probably time to take a break. “Get a breather and gather yourself,” says Ng. By putting distance between yourself and the sport, you can get a clearer picture of what you ultimately want to get out of running. 

Feeling Terrible Two Days After a Hard Run? There’s a Reason….and a Solution.

You felt fine a day after your long run—so why the heck are you slogging through your easy workout two days later?

Picture this scenario: You get through a tough workout on Sunday—whether it’s a tough round of 800-meter repeats or 16 miles at marathon pace—and, surprisingly, you feel fine afterwards. 

The next morning, you’re a little stiff, but nothing too serious. You take a day to rest, and then head back out on Tuesday for an easy run. 

Then, boom. Your legs feel like they’re made of lead, you’re sore all over, and what’s supposed to be an easy run feels like you’re wading through molasses. What the heck happened?!

This is what Cory Smith, running coach and founder of Run Your Personal Best, calls “second-day syndrome.” The official term is delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, but he likes to use second-day syndrome because it nails home the point that the ailment often happens two days after a hard workout, which a lot of people don’t expect.

Before getting to the bottom of why DOMS happens, let’s start with simple definitions. The American College of Sports Medicine defines DOMS as, “A sore, aching, painful feeling in the muscles after unfamiliar and unaccustomed intense exercise.” Basically, whenever you lift weights, run a tough workout, go rock climbing, or do an activity beyond your current level of fitness, you’re creating tiny tears in muscle tissue. In response, your body releases chemicals, lipids, alongside white blood cells like cytokines, macrophages, and neutrophils to quickly repair those muscles. This flurry of activity in localized areas of the body also initiates an inflammatory response. The muscle tears, rebuilding process, and inflammation creates that soreness and stiffness DOMS is recognized for. 

“The soreness peaks anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the initial stress, so it’s common for runners to feel fine the next morning and think they’re all good and recovered,” Smith says. “But then, on that second day, you might feel worse than you did yesterday.” This is because there’s a delay in delivery of blood flow to the muscle also called the “inflammatory cascade.” Think of muscle repair as a slow ramp-up process; sometimes it takes a few days to reach peak soreness. 

Though it can be painful, annoying, and hindering, DOMS shouldn’t last long-term. In fact, it won’t be a recurring sensation. 

“Eventually, through repeating the cycle of damaging and healing, you’ll grow stronger,” Smith says. “Your body is going to be accustomed to this stress and you’ll feel DOMS less and less.”

Depending on the severity of your workout and how often you repeat it, DOMS generally goes away in a few weeks. Your muscles heal, rebuild stronger, and eventually become accustomed to the intense exercise. Contrary to popular belief, just because that soreness goes away doesn’t mean you didn’t have a hard workout. Your body has just adapted and may require less recovery.

“If you’re not almost recovered from a normal workout on the third day, you probably went too hard,” Smith says. “Generally, it depends on the type of workout that you’re doing— some light temp work—you may only need a day in between and you’ll be recovered. Whereas if you’re doing hard 800s, you’ll probably need two full days to recover. For a long run at marathon pace, you might need three days.”

Since defining DOMS, research has traditionally been focused on muscle tissue damage. But a recent study published by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences has shown that connective tissue, like deep fascia, may be more involved than previously thought. Deep fascia is connective tissue surrounding muscles, and it facilitates movement between muscles and acts as a pathway for blood vessels. 

Authors of the study believe that they’ve found evidence that proves further research and effort needs to be focused on the fascia, rather than just muscle tissue. This also means that runners may want to pay more attention to their fascia, as it doesn’t respond to conventional static stretching, rather multiple planes of stretching and mobility. It’s less about stretching individual muscles, but lengthening the connections made by the fascia. 

There are several ways to target this connective tissue. One effective method is pedal during yoga: downward facing dog, the extended side angle pose, and the standing figure-four stretch. 

There’s no fix-all method to preventing DOMS, but recovery protocols may dictate how severe or sustained your soreness will be. Smith recommends static stretching no more than six minutes after your run. It’s important to get those muscles stretched as quickly as possible after a run so they don’t tighten up. Tight muscles can prevent cells from expanding and bringing blood flow to the muscles. You need fresh blood and oxygen delivered to the worked out muscles, as it carries away the lactic acid buildup there. A massage gun can produce the same results.

“Movement is key! My go-to for runners is walking for 20 to 30 minutes after a hard workout, but an easy spin or recovery swim will also work,” says physical therapist and running coach Amy Parkerson-Mitchell. 

The American Council on Exercise recommends drinking 7-10 ounces of water every 10-20 minutes during your run, and an additional 8 ounces within 30 minutes after. When you sweat, you lose water, which is important for oxygen delivery to the muscles. Plus, water acts as a sort of medium within the body to deliver nutrients like amino acids and electrolytes to damaged muscles. 

You might be inclined to reach for an ice pack when you’re recovering from a long run, but Parkerson-Mitchell says that heat is key. In a study comparing heat and cold therapies for recovery, researchers found that applying heat directly after a workout produced less muscle damage. Ice, on the other hand, is great for when you’re in the midst of DOMS, rather than before it happens, because it eases swelling and numbs pain. 

There are two types of heat therapy: dry heat in the form of heating pads, and moist heat in the form of steam towels or a hot bath. Both are effective, but the Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania says that moist heat works faster in changing the muscles temperature. 

Amy Parkerson-Mitchell says warming up and cooling down is more important than people think, and skipping these steps can increase the time required for recovery from DOMS. Dynamic mobility exercises like walking high-kicks, knee-to-chest, and walking lunges are good for cold muscles prior to a run because you’re moving your joints through their full range of motion. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with DOMS is going too fast too soon after a hard workout. 

“This is why, with my clients, we do two hard workouts a week,” Smith says. “Typically, I give two days for runners to recover from a difficult run. If you do too much too soon, that’s when you lead into stagnant performance and overtraining.” 

But the too-often overlooked component of DOMS is the negative implications it has on your mindset. You might feel discouraged by how tough a run feels when you experience DOMS, especially after conquering a longer, tougher workout just a few days prior. Don’t fret or feel like you’re losing progress—remember that what you’re experiencing is completely normal, and something you can minimize for a sustainable, long-term running life. 

Feeling Terrible Two Days After a Hard Run? There’s a Reason….and a Solution.

You felt fine a day after your long run—so why the heck are you slogging through your easy workout two days later?

Picture this scenario: You get through a tough workout on Sunday—whether it’s a tough round of 800-meter repeats or 16 miles at marathon pace—and, surprisingly, you feel fine afterwards. 

The next morning, you’re a little stiff, but nothing too serious. You take a day to rest, and then head back out on Tuesday for an easy run. 

Then, boom. Your legs feel like they’re made of lead, you’re sore all over, and what’s supposed to be an easy run feels like you’re wading through molasses. What the heck happened?!

This is what Cory Smith, running coach and founder of Run Your Personal Best, calls “second-day syndrome.” The official term is delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, but he likes to use second-day syndrome because it nails home the point that the ailment often happens two days after a hard workout, which a lot of people don’t expect.

Before getting to the bottom of why DOMS happens, let’s start with simple definitions. The American College of Sports Medicine defines DOMS as, “A sore, aching, painful feeling in the muscles after unfamiliar and unaccustomed intense exercise.” Basically, whenever you lift weights, run a tough workout, go rock climbing, or do an activity beyond your current level of fitness, you’re creating tiny tears in muscle tissue. In response, your body releases chemicals, lipids, alongside white blood cells like cytokines, macrophages, and neutrophils to quickly repair those muscles. This flurry of activity in localized areas of the body also initiates an inflammatory response. The muscle tears, rebuilding process, and inflammation creates that soreness and stiffness DOMS is recognized for. 

“The soreness peaks anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the initial stress, so it’s common for runners to feel fine the next morning and think they’re all good and recovered,” Smith says. “But then, on that second day, you might feel worse than you did yesterday.” This is because there’s a delay in delivery of blood flow to the muscle also called the “inflammatory cascade.” Think of muscle repair as a slow ramp-up process; sometimes it takes a few days to reach peak soreness. 

Though it can be painful, annoying, and hindering, DOMS shouldn’t last long-term. In fact, it won’t be a recurring sensation. 

“Eventually, through repeating the cycle of damaging and healing, you’ll grow stronger,” Smith says. “Your body is going to be accustomed to this stress and you’ll feel DOMS less and less.”

Depending on the severity of your workout and how often you repeat it, DOMS generally goes away in a few weeks. Your muscles heal, rebuild stronger, and eventually become accustomed to the intense exercise. Contrary to popular belief, just because that soreness goes away doesn’t mean you didn’t have a hard workout. Your body has just adapted and may require less recovery.

“If you’re not almost recovered from a normal workout on the third day, you probably went too hard,” Smith says. “Generally, it depends on the type of workout that you’re doing— some light temp work—you may only need a day in between and you’ll be recovered. Whereas if you’re doing hard 800s, you’ll probably need two full days to recover. For a long run at marathon pace, you might need three days.”

Since defining DOMS, research has traditionally been focused on muscle tissue damage. But a recent study published by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences has shown that connective tissue, like deep fascia, may be more involved than previously thought. Deep fascia is connective tissue surrounding muscles, and it facilitates movement between muscles and acts as a pathway for blood vessels. 

Authors of the study believe that they’ve found evidence that proves further research and effort needs to be focused on the fascia, rather than just muscle tissue. This also means that runners may want to pay more attention to their fascia, as it doesn’t respond to conventional static stretching, rather multiple planes of stretching and mobility. It’s less about stretching individual muscles, but lengthening the connections made by the fascia. 

There are several ways to target this connective tissue. One effective method is pedal during yoga: downward facing dog, the extended side angle pose, and the standing figure-four stretch. 

There’s no fix-all method to preventing DOMS, but recovery protocols may dictate how severe or sustained your soreness will be. Smith recommends static stretching no more than six minutes after your run. It’s important to get those muscles stretched as quickly as possible after a run so they don’t tighten up. Tight muscles can prevent cells from expanding and bringing blood flow to the muscles. You need fresh blood and oxygen delivered to the worked out muscles, as it carries away the lactic acid buildup there. A massage gun can produce the same results.

“Movement is key! My go-to for runners is walking for 20 to 30 minutes after a hard workout, but an easy spin or recovery swim will also work,” says physical therapist and running coach Amy Parkerson-Mitchell. 

The American Council on Exercise recommends drinking 7-10 ounces of water every 10-20 minutes during your run, and an additional 8 ounces within 30 minutes after. When you sweat, you lose water, which is important for oxygen delivery to the muscles. Plus, water acts as a sort of medium within the body to deliver nutrients like amino acids and electrolytes to damaged muscles. 

You might be inclined to reach for an ice pack when you’re recovering from a long run, but Parkerson-Mitchell says that heat is key. In a study comparing heat and cold therapies for recovery, researchers found that applying heat directly after a workout produced less muscle damage. Ice, on the other hand, is great for when you’re in the midst of DOMS, rather than before it happens, because it eases swelling and numbs pain. 

There are two types of heat therapy: dry heat in the form of heating pads, and moist heat in the form of steam towels or a hot bath. Both are effective, but the Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania says that moist heat works faster in changing the muscles temperature. 

Amy Parkerson-Mitchell says warming up and cooling down is more important than people think, and skipping these steps can increase the time required for recovery from DOMS. Dynamic mobility exercises like walking high-kicks, knee-to-chest, and walking lunges are good for cold muscles prior to a run because you’re moving your joints through their full range of motion. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with DOMS is going too fast too soon after a hard workout. 

“This is why, with my clients, we do two hard workouts a week,” Smith says. “Typically, I give two days for runners to recover from a difficult run. If you do too much too soon, that’s when you lead into stagnant performance and overtraining.” 

But the too-often overlooked component of DOMS is the negative implications it has on your mindset. You might feel discouraged by how tough a run feels when you experience DOMS, especially after conquering a longer, tougher workout just a few days prior. Don’t fret or feel like you’re losing progress—remember that what you’re experiencing is completely normal, and something you can minimize for a sustainable, long-term running life. 

Three things runners should focus on in winter

Whether you love it or hate it, the cooler months in North America bring unique challenges for runners. Getting out the door during dark mornings and evenings can feel tough. Approaching winter as a time to focus on building new strengths, like learning to run by effort rather than pace, navigating tough terrain like a mountain goat, and making recovery a superpower, can make lacing up more enticing. Know that you’ll emerge a stronger, more resilient athlete come spring, ready to nail new goals and rack up milestones.

1.- Embrace challenging terrain

Winter brings a natural shift in running surfaces, from icy sidewalks to snowy trails. Diving right in and embracing this diversity challenges your muscles in new ways, and promotes overall strength and agility–perfect for speeding down technical trails in the summer or helping you maintain great biomechanics on the road when running on tired legs.

The uneven footing that snow, ice or mud involve engages stabilizing muscles, enhancing balance and co-ordination. Navigating tough terrain also reduces the risk of repetitive strain injuries by distributing the impact across various muscle groups. By adapting to changing surfaces, you’ll build resilience, setting the stage for improved performance when returning to smoother paths.

2.- Take recovery to the next level

The colder months provide the perfect opportunity to hone the skill of helping your body and mind bounce back from tough training. Winter running demands more from your body as you battle the cold, and work to keep your footing. Prioritizing recovery during this season can have lasting benefits for your overall well-being and running performance, and you’ll create new habits that will seem like second nature by the time shorts season arrives.

You’re probably tackling less mileage in the winter as you focus on building a base, and that frees up some time to devote to intentional recovery practices. Recovery involves more than simply resting (although that is important, and often neglected), and winter is the perfect time to dial in new recovery-related skills or to master of the tools already familiar to you. Test out new foam rolling techniques, hit a restorative yoga class or try soaking in a tub post-run: build on whatever you have found that works for you.

3.- Get comfortable with effort-based training

Running in the cold or dark often means slowing down, and if you’re used to running by pace and poring over your data, you may feel discouraged. Learning to run by effort is a very transferable skill–you’ll feel more comfortable tackling trails, doing hill training or adjusting for heat, once warmer weather arrives. Focus on workouts that use RPE, and get accustomed to what hard, moderate and easy pace feel like in your body. It may take an adjustment period, but you’ll reap the rewards year-round.

Two yoga exercises for strong toes

As a runner, you use your feet constantly, but you probably neglect them, too. Important but ignored, a runner’s feet may be jammed into ill-fitting shoes, stuck in damp, chafe-inducing socks, and left to blacken and bruise post-big-effort. But spending a few minutes a week caring for your digits can have them performing pain-free for decades to come.

Battered and beaten toes can cause painful running, and discomfort when not running. Mistreated toes may develop bunions and hammertoes, and proper toe strength and flexibility are necessary for effective push-off and propulsion. Try these simple exercises when watching TV or relaxing in the evening and you’ll be bouncing over roads and trails problem-free.

1.- Toe Stand (Padangusthasana)

Excellent for strengthening the toes and improving balance, toe stand may feel quite challenging and uncomfortable at first. It’s OK to ease into it with a very gradual approach, and start by holding the pose for only one or two seconds at a time.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and bend forward to grip your big toes with your first two fingers and thumbs.

Keeping your back straight, slowly lift your heels off the ground, balancing on your toes.

Hold the position for several breaths, then release, working up to longer holds or more repetitions as you become stronger.

2.- Toe Squat (Vajrasana)

Toe squat relieves tension in the toes and the entire foot while giving it a nice stretch.

Kneel on the floor with your big toes touching and knees close together. Sit back on your heels, keeping your back and neck straight.

Hold this position for as long as comfortable, gradually increasing the duration as you gain flexibility and strength.

Does Running at Night Make for a Bad Night’s Sleep?

Experts offer advice for those struggling to fall asleep postrun.

Sometimes running at night just makes life easier, especially on busy days when it seems there isn’t nearly enough time to finish your to-do list. Also, evening runs are ideal for those who turn to exercise as a way to de-stress after a long day. But can running at night ruin your sleep? And therefore, does it make nighttime running counterintuitive to your overall training, considering sleep is crucial for recovery?

Like most conundrums runners contemplate, the answer depends on the runner. Here, we explain how running at night can affect your sleep and what to do if you feel like your nighttime run is worsening your sleep issues. 

Does running at night make for a bad night’s sleep?

“In the past, the recommendation was, you really shouldn’t exercise in the evening at all,” Bob Wright, director of lifestyles education at Hilton Head Health tells Runner’s World. 

Experts recommended this for two reasons: First, because exercise can increase endorphins, which can reduce sleepiness. Second, because exercise increases one’s core body temperature, which makes it hard to fall asleep, Wright explains. 

However, a number of studies suggest the opposite, including a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine in 2019. This research greenlights exercise in the evening as long as you complete vigorous activities, like long runs or workouts, an hour before bedtime. 

“For most people, at least mild or moderate exercise doesn’t seem to interfere with sleep very much,” says Scott Kutscher, clinical associate professor of sleep medicine at Stanford University. But it all depends on the person, he adds.

When we fall asleep, our melatonin levels start to rise, and our body temperatures begin to fall, both of which signal it’s time for bed, Kutscher explains. If you run before bed your core temperature will increase but once you stop, your sweat will help you cool down. This is a passive cooling effect that can actually help some runners fall asleep, he explains.

However, a rise in body temperature before bed can be counterproductive for runners who don’t cool off as easily. For this population, running before bed can make it harder to fall asleep. What’s more: If you’re aiming to re-hydrate and re-fuel postrun, that can also prolong bedtime, Kutcher adds.

In short, both experts agree running before bed will not ruin sleep for most. However, if you have difficulty falling asleep after an evening run, then you might want to reconsider your nighttime routine. 

Tips to Help You Sleep Better After a Workout

If you have difficulty sleeping after a long evening run or workout, these tips can help you fall asleep, according to Kutscher and Wright. 

1. Time It Right

Plan to stop running at least one hour before bedtime to allow yourself time to literally cool down, Wright says. Keep in mind, there’s no hard and fast rule, so you can use an hour as a benchmark and adjust it as needed.

2. Add Relaxation Practices

Incorporate less intense exercise into your cooldown routine to help you transition to sleep. Kutscher suggests adding stretches or yoga after a run to help you relax. During this time, you can also practice mindfulness and breathwork, which also aids sleep, he says.

Mind-body activities, including yoga or Tai Chi, can aid in falling asleep in general so they’re good options to add to your before-bed routine at any time, Wright adds. 

If you noticed you do have trouble sleeping after an evening run, consider swapping your miles for less intense aerobic exercise. Holding off on your run until the morning can help regulate your sleep-wake cycle and improve sleep quality overall, as it provides natural light when you get out of bed (as long as you head outside), Wright adds. 

3. Pay Attention to Pre and Postrun Routines

Be mindful of what you’re doing both right before and right after your evening run, because that’s what may disrupt your sleep more than running itself. 

For example, consuming caffeinated products before or during a workout might make it harder to fall asleep. Also, if you don’t fuel after a sweat, hunger pangs can disrupt your zzzs. 

If you need a snack after a run and before bed, Kutscher suggests eating foods rich in melatonin, magnesium, and potassium, like cherries or bananas. Keep in mind some people may need more food to replenish after a workout, not just a simple snack, so see what works best for you, keeping note of your nighttime habits so you can pinpoint how different techniques worked for your rest.

Injured? Try these sports instead

Let’s face it–being injured sucks. What does a runner do when they can’t run? While most of us turn to cycling, pool running or swimming, there are other sports you can try if traditional cross-training methods just aren’t for you. What you’re able to do while you’re healing from an injury, of course, is very dependent on the nature of your injury, but the following suggestions might be good options for those who are looking to have a little fun in their unplanned off-season.

Hiking

Take a walk, add some elevation change and nature, and you’ve got a hike! Many runners turn to walking while they’re injured, but if strolling around the neighbourhood doesn’t do it for you and you’re lucky enough to live in an area with trails (west coasters, we’re looking at you!) take advantage of it. The softer ground and constantly changing terrain will challenge your body in a different way, and if you’ve got mountains nearby, some steep climbs will help you return to running stronger.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a great option, because it doesn’t involve a lot of running. It may not help improve your running much, but since it’s played on teams, it’ll give you a chance to get out and socialize if it’s the camaraderie of your running group that you truly miss. 

Pickleball

Tennis’s low-impact cousin has been taking the country by storm, and pickleball courts have been popping up in local parks everywhere. Pickleball requires much less running and lateral movement than tennis (which is likely not a great idea when you’re injured). It can be a lot of fun to play with a few friends, and serves as a great distraction while you take some time off from running.

Golf

Take a walk, add some sand traps and swing a stick around, and you’ve got golf! Forgo the cart and carry your bag, and suddenly you’ve also got a decent workout. Plus, it’s a great way to get outside for long periods, if it’s that fresh-air feeling that you miss when you’re on the sidelines.

Rock climbing

Want to improve your core strength while you’re out of the running game? Rock climbing is your answer. As a bonus, it’s also a good way to work on proprioception, which will have a positive effect on your running form when you return to your training.

Skiing

If you’re injured during the winter, why not use the weather to your advantage? Cross-country skiing, of course, will help you maintain (or even improve) your cardiovascular fitness without the impact of running, but alpine skiing can also improve your core and lower-body strength.

Yoga

OK, yoga isn’t exactly a sport, but it’s an excellent activity to do when you’re injured. It can improve your core strength, balance and proprioception, as well as teaching you how to control your breath and loosen tight muscles. And what runner doesn’t have tight muscles?

Three exercises to ease back pain in runners

A sore back can be a discouraging thing to face as a runner–while you’d love to get out and log some miles, recurrent back pain can be extremely limiting. The jury is out on what, exactly, gives runners achy backs, and it’s probably unique to each person. Maybe you had back issues before you began running, you’re struggling with running form, or you are facing some muscle imbalances.

A study published in Scientific American determined that runners with sore backs often had weaker deep core muscles. Whatever the cause of your pain, there are a few exercises you can do to become an all-around stronger, pain–free runner with a health, mobile spine.

Glute Bridges

Glute bridges engage the glutes and hamstrings, which play a significant role in maintaining proper hip alignment (helping with both structural tolerance and great form) during running.

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes at the top. Lower down and repeat for 12–15 reps, pausing at the top of the pose and holding your glute bridge for longer once you gain strength.

Planks

We all know and love planks (or we should!). Planks target the core muscles and helping to improve stability and support for the spine.

Start by holding a plank position on your forearms and toes, ensuring your body forms a straight line from head to heels. Hold for 20-30 seconds, gradually increasing the duration as you become more comfortable.

Cat-Cow Stretches

This yoga-inspired stretch helps to align the spine and mobilize it, while giving the back muscles a great stretch.

Start on your hands and knees and arch your back like a cat (rounding the spine), then drop your belly towards the floor while lifting your head and tailbone (cow pose). Repeat this movement for 8–10 rounds, pausing at each end of the stretch to take a few breaths or add some gentle side-to-side movement.

Even if you’re on board with adding these exercises to your pre or post-run routine, it is always a great idea to check in with a medical practitioner when you’re experiencing back pain, and important to do so if pain worsens or isn’t alleviated after a few days rest.

Is Overhydration More Dangerous than Dehydration?

Here's why you need to monitor your water intake

Being human is all about balance. We strive to find an ever-elusive equilibrium between work and life. We go to yoga classes in hopes of improving our physical steadiness. We eat an assortment of fruits and vegetables, but we also munch on chips and dip. And, from a physiological standpoint, our blood cells need balance, too.

As athletes—especially ones who spend time outdoors during a heat wave—the ethos we usually hear is “hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.” However, a 2020 research article from Stanford University School of Medicine offers a different perspective. In the piece, the study’s lead author notes that overhydrating is actually more dangerous than being dehydrated.

One of the most important things to maintain balance in our blood cells is the sodium-to-water ratio, says Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of exercise and sport science at Wayne State University School of Medicine. When you’re dehydrated, you contain less water, causing your blood cells to shrink. However, when you drink some H2O, your cells recover quickly.

When you consume a lot of water (more than three liters in an hour), your sodium levels dip to abnormally low levels, taking you into dangerous territory. If the water count in your body is much higher than your sodium levels, you can develop hyponatremia—a dangerous result of overhydration. “If you drink too much water, all of your cells start to swell,” Hew-Butler says. “That becomes a problem in your brain, because your brain can only swell five to eight percent [beyond its normal size] before it runs out of space in the skull.”

It’s not something to be taken lightly. In some cases, hyponatremia can lead to death, Hew-Butler says. “The amount of water that leads to hyponatremia is different for everyone,” she adds. “It depends on the size of the person, the ambient temperature, and exercise intensity and duration.” However, if you need to quantify it, typically drinking about three liters of water within an hour can cause severe hyponatremia, potentially prompting a seizure, coma, or even death, Hew-Butler says.

Overhydration is a particularly large concern during the summer months. “The first thing that everybody tells you—and it’s not always wrong—is to drink lots of water,” Hew-Butler says. “But, when it’s hot out, more people die from overhydration than they do from dehydration.”

That’s because your blood cells actually retain water as a result of the heat, so you’re not quite as dehydrated as you may think.

This isn’t necessarily new information, Hew-Butler says. “The results of a 1999 study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine support that hyponatremia is [generally] more common than heatstroke.” She adds that it’s the most common cause of serious illness in the Grand Canyon—more than heat exhaustion, grand mal seizures, nausea, and dizziness.

What should you do to achieve that balance of hydration? Drink to thirst, recommends Allen Lim, a sports physiologist and the founder of sports nutrition brand Skratch Labs. (So yes, that means skipping out on your emotional support water bottle.) However, even when you’re feeling parched, make sure to monitor your H2O intake.

“During exercise, the thirst mechanism will prioritize [sodium] balance over water balance,” Lim says. “As we lose sodium in our sweat, we will naturally drink less water to maintain sodium balance. Since there’s not as much sodium in the body, we don’t drink everything we lose, so we can keep the ratio of water to sodium the same.” Essentially, your body makes you thirsty when that sodium-to-water ratio is skewing high on sodium. And that’s when you should drink water.

You know that old saying, “Listen to your body?” That’s sage advice when it comes to hydration, especially when it’s hot out. “Drinking to thirst is important even though it can result in dehydration,” says Lim. “That dehydration is important to keep the sodium balance correct.”

Study suggests moderately active people can have a positive influence on their friends

Encouraging the general population to increase their physical activity levels has long been a frustrating challenge for public health officials, but new research has unveiled a potential new way to reach sedentary individuals: through their physically active friends. According to a study published in the journal Plos One, when sedentary individuals interacted with moderately active friends, they became more active themselves.The study

Researchers at Keene University in New Jersey used previous research analyzing how social interactions with peers can influence individual physical activity levels to develop a mathematical model to simulate how social interactions can shape a community’s physical activity levels over time. Their model showed that their physical activity levels dropped when people stopped socializing. We saw this play out in real-time during the COVID-19 pandemic when most of us were cut off from our peer groups.Their model also showed that when sedentary people interacted regularly with their moderately-active friends, they became more active over time. In other words, those of us who exercise regularly could have a positive impact on our less-active friends, encouraging them to move a little more. 

It’s important to note that this study focused specifically on moderately active people. That’s not to say that those of us who are training for marathons or ultras can’t also have a positive impact on our sedentary friends, but a sedentary person may view a marathon runner as having an unattainable level of discipline or enthusiasm for activity, which may not motivate them to get started.How to encourage your sedentary friends to get active

Whether you’re training for a marathon or fitting a few 5Ks in between your busy schedule each week, you can help your sedentary friends warm up to the idea of a more active lifestyle. Here are a few tips to encourage them to get moving:Plan active get-togethers 

Meeting your friend for a coffee? Get those coffees to go and invite them on a stroll. Planning a beach day? Bring a beach ball, a frisbee, or some other game that’ll get everyone on their feet. Invite your friends on weekend hikes, suggest signing up for a recreational sports team, or plan to play some backyard games at your next barbecue. Anything that gets people out of their chairs is a win.Try something new together

Your less-active friends may be intimidated to try going for a jog with you, so invite them to try an activity that you’re both novice at instead. Sign up for yoga classes, try a dance class, or sign up for golf lessons. If you’re both new at it, you’re both starting off on a somewhat even playing field.Talk about your running, but not too much 

Sharing your running achievements or training plans with your friends can be motivational, but be careful not to over-do it. Your friends don’t want to hear about the splits from your last workout, and talking about your recent chaffing mishap will likely turn them off of the sport. When you talk about running, talk about how it helps you so they can see the potential benefits. “I was had a stressful day at work yesterday, but I went for a run and felt much better,” or “I tried a new route the other day and discovered a really cute neighbourhood that I’d never seen before!” are great ways to lean into the mental or emotional benefits of running. 

Pro-runner Allie Ostrander’s Five tips for avoiding injuries

Former American steeplechaser turned trail-elite Allie Ostrander shared her tips for runners to avoid injuries on social media recently, telling fans to consider it her “formal petition against running-related injuries.”

Ostrander announced her shift from track to trail in Feb. 2023 (along with her partnership with ultrarunning GOAT Kilian Jornet‘s brand NNormal) and is also a mental health and eating disorder awareness advocate.

Originally from Kenai, Alaska, Ostrander had a very successful NCAA career with Boise State University in Idaho, winning three straight NCAA titles in the 3,000m steeplechase. Her tips on avoiding injuries are excellent ones for all runners, whether they run on track, trail or roads.

Here are Ostrander’s suggestions, along with some ideas to get you started.

Run more uphill miles

“Uphill running is lower impact and higher output, so you work harder,” shared Ostrander, “but it puts less stress on your bones.” She suggests running on the treadmill at a 3–5 percent grade, running up a long hill and getting a ride down, or doing hill repeats and walking downhill between reps.

Replace easy miles with cross training

“You don’t have to replace every easy run with a bike sesh because, let’s be honest, running is way more fun, but cross-training can be a great tool to get in some aerobic training without the impact,” Ostrander says. She suggests replacing 1–2 runs a week with a cross-training session and explains that she uses the formula of 10min of XT=1 mile running.

Try: a standing bike workout.

Don’t be afraid to strength train, lift heavy, and build muscle

Building muscle will make you a stronger runner, and you’ll be better equipped to power through hard training. “It can also correct imbalances and improve running economy,” says Ostrander.

Try: these at-home strength workouts with Canadian ultrarunner Jazmine Lowther.

Fuel

“Being in an energy deficit increases injury risk and decreases adaptation to training,” explains Ostrander. She recommends focusing on consistently giving your body the energy it needs.

Rest days are important

“Rest allows your body to absorb all the training,” Ostrander says. “Don’t wait until you feel overly tired or have some sort of pain to give yourself a day off.” It can be challenging to really allow ourselves to take the time off we need, and Ostrander suggests scheduling rest days into your training plan to keep it as much a priority as hard training.

Try: recovery day yoga to relax and unwind.

Why You Should Stop in the Middle of Your Run

The case for taking more than just a momentary water break

A few years ago, I was out on a run with a friend in New York. It was the first perfect day of the year—60 degrees, partly cloudy. The city seemed new again. As we jogged through the West Village, she suddenly came to a stop in front of a store window. “Let’s go in!” she said. I was baffled. But we’re in the middle of the run, I thought. How could we possibly interrupt this?

We spent a minute browsing the store and, guess what, the world didn’t end. I still got my run in. That day, my friend taught me a lesson that I try to remember whenever I’m taking my sport a little too seriously: One of the great joys of running is that you can go anywhere. Why wouldn’t you stop to enjoy all the stores, parks, cafes, and farmer’s markets along the way?

As runners, we care about the sport. We track our mileage, time, and progress—and fret when a goal outstrides us. And, yes, there’s a time and place for this structured take. Maybe we’re training for a marathon or trying to clock a speedy 5K. But as these long, lustrous days of summer roll on, I’m calling for a free-spirited approach to lacing up. What if we used our precious running hours to see our cities, towns, and neighborhoods on foot? What if we acted as a running tourist?

Summer is the perfect season to prioritize fun on your runs, says Jess Paris, a personal trainer and master tread instructor at SLT. “Heat and humidity can add extra stress and fatigue that makes it difficult to achieve pace or mileage goals,” she explains. “The summer is a great time to take some pressure off those running goals and just enjoy the movement.”

Lately, my boyfriend and I have been channeling this joie de running into our weekend mileage by sprinting to the ocean, jumping in, and jogging home. Sure, we’re a little wet on the way back, but who cares? (Need I repeat, it’s summer!) Paris has similar priorities. “I think it’s a great idea to use your runs as a travel tool to a fun destination or to explore a new place,” she says. “For example, there’s an ice cream shop in my town that I used to run to with a friend to enjoy a cone and hang around town for a bit before running back.”

Paris adds that the middle months of the year are also a great time to prioritize destination running—or taking a road trip and hitting the ground to scope out a new spot. “If you’re on vacation, check out some running routes ahead of time to explore the local area or attractions,” she says.” Just make sure you’re wearing the proper sneakers. For example, if you stumble across an unknown trail, you wouldn’t want to be caught wearing road shoes.

As you enjoy your summer of casual running, remember that you still need to rest. “Too much of anything is not good, even if you’re using running as a fun activity,” Paris says. “At the end of the day, it’s still exercise, movement, and exertion.” Balance out your efforts with plenty of stretching.

Move through dynamic stretches, such as side lunges, before you take your first step, and static stretches, like a forward fold, as you’re cooling down. “On the days when you’re not running, focus on a restorative or cross-training activity like yoga, pilates, or strength training,” Paris says. “All of those types of exercise will make you stronger and help you recover so that you can truly enjoy your fun runs injury-free.”

I’ve been a runner for eight years now, and I still love every part of it—the manic excitement of race day, jogging the sidewalks of my quiet California neighborhood before the world (or, OK, the West Coast) awakes, and the breathless, post-speed run high. It feels like it will never get old. But, to be honest, I think these wandering summer runs are my favorite. There’s something about them that lets you see your surroundings through fresh eyes. And, in this case, I get to see my own backyard anew.

As I was wrapping up writing this story, I couldn’t help myself. I turned to my boyfriend —who was working just five feet away—and said, “Hey, want to run to Venice and watch the skateboarders on the boardwalk?” Next thing I knew, we were lacing up our sneakers.

Ocean, lake, pond, pool—whatever H2O you have access to, make sure you use it to cool down at least once on today’s run.

Refuel with a mid-run snack from the farmer’s market. An incredible baker hangs out at my local spot, selling muffins, croissants, and scones. I love to grab one, digest for a few minutes in the sun, and then run home.

Let’s put an end to all the running window shopping, OK? I dare you to go in and actually poke around. If you’re stinky, just give everyone a wide berth and (of course) don’t try on any clothes.

Maybe you’ve lived in your city for years, but still haven’t visited the most famous landmark. Take this opportunity to run there, explore, then head home.

Parks are essential to the “run, lounge, repeat” lifecycle I love. Find a greenspace near you and make your way there on foot. Once there, lay down, people watch, or read a book on your phone.

Can Exercise Replace Your Antidepressant?

For centuries, we've known anecdotally that movement can improve your mood. Joggers often describe a euphoric runner's high, while swimmers recall an inner calm that lasts long after they leave the pool. In April, researchers published the strongest evidence to date showing that physical activity does more than induce these temporary feel-good effects; It can actually improve depression as effectively as medication or psychotherapy. The findings build on previous studies showing exercise can reduce anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar, and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.

This mounting evidence doesn't suggest you should toss out your medication or skip your next therapy appointment in favor of exercise alone. But it does indicate physical activity could be a powerful first-line treatment for mental health disorders, especially when combined with other therapies.

Based on the data, some experts see exercise as a safe, cheap antidepressant that could help the estimated one third of adults with mental illness who do not receive adequate treatment. And some clinicians are putting this concept into practice, doling out "exercise prescriptions" for mental health. These scripts give patients step-by-step instructions for physical activity recommendations, much like they would with antidepressants or behavioral therapy. But providers say that on the whole, the field has been slow to embrace exercise as medicine for mental illness, and "exercise prescriptions" remain the exception in clinical care, not the norm.

"Exercise is a good, underutilized tool to help with mental health conditions," Ivan Escobar Roldan, a psychiatrist in Florida who regularly writes "exercise prescriptions" for his patients and studies the use of exercise in clinical practice, says. He co-authored a study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice in 2021 showing that while many providers generally encourage patients to be active, they don't often give specific instructions due to a lack of training, education, or standardized clinical guidelines.

"Everyone says you should exercise more," Seattle-based clinical psychologist Julie Vieselmeyer says. "But patients always ask: What does that mean? Do I need to take an extra lap around the grocery store, or does that mean I have to go to a gym for three hours every day?"

Currently, mental health providers don't give the clearest answers to these questions.

A Mind in Movement

Exercise is as close to a miracle drug as we've got. Research shows it works as effectively as some prescription drugs in preventing and treating more than 26 different diseases.

When you start a workout, your pulse quickens and breathing deepens as your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to your brain and muscles. Within a few minutes, you likely notice a lift in your mood as your brain releases "happy chemicals" like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin (the same neurotransmitter targeted by antidepressants). The fleeting bliss of a runner's high results from a spike of endocannabinoids in the bloodstream-cannabis-like signaling molecules that are naturally produced in your body and induce feelings of calm.

After your strength or conditioning session wraps up, the positive effects don't stop. Over time, physical activity can increase levels of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which leads to the creation of new neurons. More BDNF is correlated with reduced anxiety and depression, better focus, improved cognition, and sharper memory as you age.

When people exercise regularly, the brain's hippocampus-the area linked to memory and learning-has also been found to increase in volume. That's not all. With a regular workout routine, people often feel better, sleep better, eat better, and report improved relationships and work satisfaction. Exercising can burn off anxious energy as well as increase resilience to future stress. Eventually, it can even help people taper off medication and cut down on doctor's visits or medical treatments. People who start to exercise before or during middle age typically save between $824 to $1,874 annually on their health care costs after retirement.

"While medications may take a few weeks to work, you see benefits right away with exercise," Escobar Roldan says. "It's not only going to help with anxiety, depression, and many other mental health conditions, but also with patients' overall health and other chronic conditions."

Getting moving can be tough initially. Despite the upsides, less than a quarter of U.S. adults do enough aerobic exercise or strength training to meet the national physical activity guidelines. But once people get going, exercise's instant gratification often kicks off a beneficial feedback loop, Vieselmeyer says.

"When we're making healthy choices, that ends up affecting how we think about ourselves, our self-confidence, and our energy levels-things affect our emotions positively and lead to behavior change," she says. Working out isn't just about quelling anxiety, depression, or negative emotions, but fostering positive ones too.

Matthew Ellison, a late-twenties investment banker based in New York City, has experienced these benefits firsthand. Ellison has a history of anxiety and recently dealt with a bout of depression tied to work stress. With the support of his therapist, Ellison made going to the gym a daily priority. He says the routine pulled him through this period and has become a non-negotiable practice to maintain his mental health.

"Being able to clear my mind, in the morning or late at night, has honestly been the greatest thing for my mental health," Ellison says. "It's the foundation for my mental well-being."

Barriers to Entry

For more than 20 years, Vieselmeyer has been interested in exercise as medicine, and says that amid recent studies, she is seeing more acceptance of the topic across the field. But even with a robust body of evidence, providers still struggle to convert these research breakthroughs into targeted exercise prescriptions.

That's because there's little formal training or education on the topic. Some clinicians are concerned about their patients' health status and worry that exercise might lead to injury or cause a heart attack. Others simply don't have the time to discuss exercise in depth.

Many providers recommend 150 minutes (or 2.5 hours) of physical activity per week-guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-but are hesitant to give concrete instructions beyond that. The American Psychological Association's most recent clinical practice guidelines on depression don't mention exercise as treatment.

In his own practice, Escobar Roldan uses resources like this prescription form created by Exercise is Medicine, a global initiative coordinated by the American College of Sports Medicine. The organization also provides a handy action guide to help providers prescribe the right "dose" of physical activity for more than 40 chronic conditions, including mental health disorders. Exercise is Medicine maintains a referral program for health professionals to connect patients with qualified exercise professionals. Some insurance companies also subsidize training programs or gym memberships, or even reimburse health and fitness expenses. But these programs aren't yet commonly used in the mental health arena. "You need a lot of mounting evidence to see a paradigm shift or clinical practice change," says Escobar Roldan. "With more awareness, we're moving towards that, but we aren't there yet."

To get patients moving, Vieselmeyer and Sarah England, a clinical psychologist based in New York, don't use strict "prescriptions." Instead, they draw on techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, one of the most evidence-based forms of therapy. The psychologists use motivational interviewing to explore the root causes of behavior and barriers to exercise. They also target behavioral activation, which uses behavioral shifts like physical activity to influence people's emotional state.

"If clients are severely depressed and unable to do their laundry, I'm not going to suggest running two miles," England, who helps patients set "SMART" goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, says. "We have to behaviorally activate them first, in smaller steps, like walking around the block."

A Happiness Workout

Ellison managed to establish a regular workout routine with only vague encouragement from his therapist. But for many others dealing with mental health issues, symptoms like fatigue or lack of motivation preclude their ability to exercise regularly.

"When somebody is really depressed, it's hard to put the running shoes on and get out the door, even if they know that's going to make them feel a whole lot better," Vieselmeyer says. Sometimes the easiest entry point might be medication or seeing a therapist, and then progressing to exercise, she says.

Much of the evidence behind the antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of exercise is based on people with mild to moderate cases of mental illness. A few small studies suggest that structured workout treatments can help patients with serious mental illness in inpatient settings. But on its own, exercise is unlikely to alleviate serious mental illness, experts say.

A major reason why mental health providers have been slow to embrace exercise as treatment is because researchers haven't nailed down the exact "dose and effect" like they would with a prescription drug. More research is needed to determine which type of exercise works best, how much is needed, and who it can benefit mentally.

Based on what we know so far, the most effective exercise prescription includes physical activity that is:

Moderate to Vigorous

Escobar Roldan suggests people bring their heart rate up to the point where they are a little bit out of breath. Gardening, walking, dancing, hiking, running, or cycling can all ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Enjoyable

Most studies point to aerobic exercise as a way to boost your mood, but evidence shows strength or resistance training works too. It's more about getting people moving doing something they enjoy, rather than finding the "perfect" exercise, Vieselmeyer says.

Social

Group exercise sessions, from bootcamp to yoga, can be especially effective. People appear to gain more benefit when supervised by trained health and exercise professionals. There's also the extra opportunity to connect with others, which pays dividends on our mental health.

Doable

Vieselmeyer recommends starting small. No triathlon or two-a-days involved. It's more about working out consistently, not calculating the perfect ratio of Crossfit to Pilates.

"Whatever prescriptions are made going forward need to fit with people's lives, or they're just not going to do them," Vieselmeyer says. "There are already enough barriers for people to exercise."

Ultimately, physical activity isn't a silver bullet for mental health-and more intense movement isn't always the best strategy, especially for fitness fanatics who already train hard. "A good long run is not enough to process through your history of trauma," Vieselmeyer says. If exercise alone was the panacea to our mental health crisis, we wouldn't see any mental health difficulties in professional athletes, England notes.

The right exercise prescription comes down to each person's level of physical and mental fitness. "I certainly hope no one is hesitating to prescribe exercise on top of other evidence-based treatments," Vieselmeyer says. "I would rather give patients more tools than fewer, and then see where their interest lies."

Can Exercise Replace Your Antidepressant?

Some doctors are now prescribing physical activity for mental health. Here's why. 

For centuries, we’ve known anecdotally that movement can improve your mood. Joggers often describe a euphoric runner’s high, while swimmers recall an inner calm that lasts long after they leave the pool. In April, researchers published the strongest evidence to date showing that physical activity does more than induce these temporary feel-good effects; It can actually improve depression as effectively as medication or psychotherapy. The findings build on previous studies showing exercise can reduce anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar, and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.

This mounting evidence doesn’t suggest you should toss out your medication or skip your next therapy appointment in favor of exercise alone. But it does indicate physical activity could be a powerful first-line treatment for mental health disorders, especially when combined with other therapies.

Based on the data, some experts see exercise as a safe, cheap antidepressant that could help the estimated one third of adults with mental illness who do not receive adequate treatment. And some clinicians are putting this concept into practice, doling out “exercise prescriptions” for mental health. These scripts give patients step-by-step instructions for physical activity recommendations, much like they would with antidepressants or behavioral therapy. But providers say that on the whole, the field has been slow to embrace exercise as medicine for mental illness, and “exercise prescriptions” remain the exception in clinical care, not the norm.

“Exercise is a good, underutilized tool to help with mental health conditions,” Ivan Escobar Roldan, a psychiatrist in Florida who regularly writes “exercise prescriptions” for his patients and studies the use of exercise in clinical practice, says. He co-authored a study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice in 2021 showing that while many providers generally encourage patients to be active, they don’t often give specific instructions due to a lack of training, education, or standardized clinical guidelines.

“Everyone says you should exercise more,” Seattle-based clinical psychologist Julie Vieselmeyer says. “But patients always ask: What does that mean? Do I need to take an extra lap around the grocery store, or does that mean I have to go to a gym for three hours every day?”

Currently, mental health providers don’t give the clearest answers to these questions.

Exercise is as close to a miracle drug as we’ve got. Research shows it works as effectively as some prescription drugs in preventing and treating more than 26 different diseases.

When you start a workout, your pulse quickens and breathing deepens as your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to your brain and muscles. Within a few minutes, you likely notice a lift in your mood as your brain releases “happy chemicals” like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin (the same neurotransmitter targeted by antidepressants). The fleeting bliss of a runner’s high results from a spike of endocannabinoids in the bloodstream—cannabis-like signaling molecules that are naturally produced in your body and induce feelings of calm.

After your strength or conditioning session wraps up, the positive effects don’t stop. Over time, physical activity can increase levels of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which leads to the creation of new neurons. More BDNF is correlated with reduced anxiety and depression, better focus, improved cognition, and sharper memory as you age.

When people exercise regularly, the brain’s hippocampus—the area linked to memory and learning—has also been found to increase in volume. That’s not all. With a regular workout routine, people often feel better, sleep better, eat better, and report improved relationships and work satisfaction. Exercising can burn off anxious energy as well as increase resilience to future stress. Eventually, it can even help people taper off medication and cut down on doctor’s visits or medical treatments. People who start to exercise before or during middle age typically save between $824 to $1,874 annually on their health care costs after retirement.

“While medications may take a few weeks to work, you see benefits right away with exercise,” Escobar Roldan says. “It’s not only going to help with anxiety, depression, and many other mental health conditions, but also with patients’ overall health and other chronic conditions.”

Getting moving can be tough initially. Despite the upsides, less than a quarter of U.S. adults do enough aerobic exercise or strength training to meet the national physical activity guidelines. But once people get going, exercise’s instant gratification often kicks off a beneficial feedback loop, Vieselmeyer says.

“When we’re making healthy choices, that ends up affecting how we think about ourselves, our self-confidence, and our energy levels—things affect our emotions positively and lead to behavior change,” she says. Working out isn’t just about quelling anxiety, depression, or negative emotions, but fostering positive ones too.

Matthew Ellison, a late-twenties investment banker based in New York City, has experienced these benefits firsthand. Ellison has a history of anxiety and recently dealt with a bout of depression tied to work stress. With the support of his therapist, Ellison made going to the gym a daily priority. He says the routine pulled him through this period and has become a non-negotiable practice to maintain his mental health.

“Being able to clear my mind, in the morning or late at night, has honestly been the greatest thing for my mental health,” Ellison says. “It’s the foundation for my mental well-being.”

For more than 20 years, Vieselmeyer has been interested in exercise as medicine, and says that amid recent studies, she is seeing more acceptance of the topic across the field. But even with a robust body of evidence, providers still struggle to convert these research breakthroughs into targeted exercise prescriptions.

That’s because there’s little formal training or education on the topic. Some clinicians are concerned about their patients’ health status and worry that exercise might lead to injury or cause a heart attack. Others simply don’t have the time to discuss exercise in depth.

Many providers recommend 150 minutes (or 2.5 hours) of physical activity per week—guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—but are hesitant to give concrete instructions beyond that. The American Psychological Association’s most recent clinical practice guidelines on depression don’t mention exercise as treatment.

In his own practice, Escobar Roldan uses resources like this prescription form created by Exercise is Medicine, a global initiative coordinated by the American College of Sports Medicine. The organization also provides a handy action guide to help providers prescribe the right “dose” of physical activity for more than 40 chronic conditions, including mental health disorders. Exercise is Medicine maintains a referral program for health professionals to connect patients with qualified exercise professionals. Some insurance companies also subsidize training programs or gym memberships, or even reimburse health and fitness expenses. But these programs aren’t yet commonly used in the mental health arena. “You need a lot of mounting evidence to see a paradigm shift or clinical practice change,” says Escobar Roldan. “With more awareness, we’re moving towards that, but we aren’t there yet.”

To get patients moving, Vieselmeyer and Sarah England, a clinical psychologist based in New York, don’t use strict “prescriptions.” Instead, they draw on techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, one of the most evidence-based forms of therapy. The psychologists use motivational interviewing to explore the root causes of behavior and barriers to exercise. They also target behavioral activation, which uses behavioral shifts like physical activity to influence people’s emotional state.

“If clients are severely depressed and unable to do their laundry, I’m not going to suggest running two miles,” England, who helps patients set “SMART” goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, says. “We have to behaviorally activate them first, in smaller steps, like walking around the block.”

Ellison managed to establish a regular workout routine with only vague encouragement from his therapist. But for many others dealing with mental health issues, symptoms like fatigue or lack of motivation preclude their ability to exercise regularly.

“When somebody is really depressed, it’s hard to put the running shoes on and get out the door, even if they know that’s going to make them feel a whole lot better,” Vieselmeyer says. Sometimes the easiest entry point might be medication or seeing a therapist, and then progressing to exercise, she says.

Much of the evidence behind the antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of exercise is based on people with mild to moderate cases of mental illness. A few small studies suggest that structured workout treatments can help patients with serious mental illness in inpatient settings. But on its own, exercise is unlikely to alleviate serious mental illness, experts say.

A major reason why mental health providers have been slow to embrace exercise as treatment is because researchers haven’t nailed down the exact “dose and effect” like they would with a prescription drug. More research is needed to determine which type of exercise works best, how much is needed, and who it can benefit mentally.

Based on what we know so far, the most effective exercise prescription includes physical activity that is:

Escobar Roldan suggests people bring their heart rate up to the point where they are a little bit out of breath. Gardening, walking, dancing, hiking, running, or cycling can all ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Most studies point to aerobic exercise as a way to boost your mood, but evidence shows strength or resistance training works too. It’s more about getting people moving doing something they enjoy, rather than finding the “perfect” exercise, Vieselmeyer says.

Group exercise sessions, from bootcamp to yoga, can be especially effective. People appear to gain more benefit when supervised by trained health and exercise professionals. There’s also the extra opportunity to connect with others, which pays dividends on our mental health.

Vieselmeyer recommends starting small. No triathlon or two-a-days involved. It’s more about working out consistently, not calculating the perfect ratio of Crossfit to Pilates.

“Whatever prescriptions are made going forward need to fit with people’s lives, or they’re just not going to do them,” Vieselmeyer says. “There are already enough barriers for people to exercise.”

Ultimately, physical activity isn’t a silver bullet for mental health—and more intense movement isn’t always the best strategy, especially for fitness fanatics who already train hard. “A good long run is not enough to process through your history of trauma,” Vieselmeyer says. If exercise alone was the panacea to our mental health crisis, we wouldn’t see any mental health difficulties in professional athletes, England notes.

The right exercise prescription comes down to each person’s level of physical and mental fitness. “I certainly hope no one is hesitating to prescribe exercise on top of other evidence-based treatments,” Vieselmeyer says. “I would rather give patients more tools than fewer, and then see where their interest lies.”

This Groom Literally Ran to the Altar Last Weekend

He ran a marathon from his family’s lake house to the wedding venue—and then said “I do.”

People deal with pre-ceremony jitters and mark the occasion of their wedding in myriad ways. Sometimes that entails a shot of whiskey, taking a long walk, or practicing yoga. For one Chicago man, running a marathon to his wedding venue last weekend was just the ticket.

On Thursday, before saying “I do,” Chicago runner Simon Tanzman laced up a pair of black New Balance trainers and completed his “Running to the Altar” marathon, hoofing it from his family’s lake house to his wedding venue, the Morris Estate in Sawyer, Michigan. In a video interview with ABC 57 just 24 hours before the wedding, Tanzman told the local news station how he got the idea to tackle this nuptial run. “So this started because about a year ago I decided to just randomly see about how far was it from our cabin in Sawyer, Michigan to the wedding venue, and it was 21 miles—almost a marathon, but 5 miles short,” he said. “Probably a stupid idea, but I was like, ‘Hey babe, what would you think?’ ‘Whatever you want, babe.’ And here we are.” 

Holly Hurston fully supports her husband’s running goals. She said, “He just really loves to challenge himself, and any kind of goal he can attain … he’s not crazy.”

By the time the festivities began late Saturday afternoon, the groom was all cleaned up and dressed to the nines in a light gray suit with purple accents, dancing up a storm with his bride. You’d never know he’d just pulled off such a daunting athletic feat. 

Tanzman started running as a hobby a few years ago to get in shape and says he fell in love with the sport. Including his run to the altar, he’s run five marathons, three official races, and two solo, self-created challenges. The first of those runs, taken up early in the pandemic when most races and events were canceled or virtual, was one Hurston created for him, called the “Hippity Hoppity Holly Half.” 

She made a custom race T-shirt for Tanzman, and had him run a path along Lake Michigan, waiting for him along the course with water, Gatorade, and snacks, “just always being there for him, showing my support and love for him,” she said.

“I couldn’t have done it without her driving around the course,” said Tanzman.

That kind of mutual love and support surely bodes well for the couple’s marriage, and is sure to give the newlywed wings at Tanzman’s next race, October’s Chicago Marathon

Runners: use yoga and meditation to improve their mental game

JN Yoga and meditation are powerful practices that can enhance a runner’s focus and mental toughness during a race. Anyone who’s tried tackling a 5K PB or reached a marathon finish line knows just how important mental resilience is to performance. By incorporating yoga and meditation into your routine, you can cultivate a calm and focused mind, improve your ability to cope with discomfort and reduce the effects of nerves on race day. 

Runner and yoga instructor Katherine Moore explains that the practice of deep breathing while moving through challenging yoga postures teaches runners how to remain calm during difficult workouts and races.

“When you get into challenging poses, it’s not easy. You have to relax your mind, deepen your breath and stay calm,” she says. “There’s always a point in a race when your brain says ‘Get me out of here, I’m done!’ If you can get comfortable in the discomfort, you can start to move through that.” 

Not convinced? Here are four ways yoga and meditation can improve your mental toughness on race day.

Cultivating mental focus 

Yoga and meditation promote mindfulness, which is the practice of bringing one’s attention to the present moment. By practising mindfulness, runners learn to focus on their breath, body sensations, and thoughts without judgment. This heightened awareness helps runners stay present during a race, preventing their minds from wandering and enabling them to concentrate on their performance and strategy.

Managing discomfort

Pushing through intense efforts during a run or race is just as mentally challenging as it is physically challenging. Yoga and meditation teach runners to develop a better relationship with discomfort. Through breathing exercises and body awareness techniques, runners can learn to observe sensations of discomfort without becoming overwhelmed or consumed by them. This mental resilience allows runners to endure physical challenges with a greater sense of calm and control.

Stress reduction

Many runners struggle with pre-race jitters and anxiety. Yoga and meditation are well-known for their stress-reducing benefits. These practices activate the relaxation response in the body, which helps reduce stress hormones and promotes a sense of calm and well-being. By incorporating regular yoga and meditation sessions into your training, you can mitigate race-related stress and approach races with a clearer and more focused mindset.

Visualization and positive affirmations

Yoga and meditation provide an ideal platform for runners to visualize their race success and cultivate positive affirmations. During meditation, you can visualize yourself crossing the finish line strong, overcoming challenges and achieving your goals. Positive affirmations, such as repeating motivational statements, can help boost self-belief and mental toughness, empowering runners to stay determined and focused even in the face of adversity.

Incorporating yoga and meditation into your training routine is beneficial for physical performance and mental well-being. By cultivating focus, managing discomfort, reducing stress and visualizing success, these practices provide you with valuable tools to improve your mental toughness in workouts and races. 

Meet Katherine Moore

Moore got into running when she was 18, after moving to Vancouver, and ran her first marathon in New York City in 2005. She progressed in the sport, eventually running a 2:47 marathon, crossing the finish line of the 2010 Toronto Waterfront Marathon as the first Canadian female. Having been a yoga instructor for several years already, Moore eventually combined her two passions and created the KM Run Club in Vancouver, where runners meet for workouts and yoga classes.

To learn more about Moore, her run club, and her yoga teaching, head to her website at runningintoyoga.ca or check out her YouTube channel for daily yoga and pilates workouts.

Yoga by the Numbers: The Stats on Yoga and Mental Health

32 studies reviewed and analyzed by the British Journal of Sports Medicine demonstrated that people who regularly engaged in physically active yoga were likely to have fewer depressive symptoms than those who used other types of interventions. Yoga types included in the study were hatha, vinyasa, SVYASA, Kundalini, and Kripalu. Sessions were weekly and lasted between 20 and 90 minutes.

Try this Easy Hatha Practice 

1. Begin in Sukhasana (Easy Pose). 

2. After a few breaths, bring your right arm overhead and stretch into a sidebend. Repeat on the other side. 

3. Next, reach both arms out in front of you and come into Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend). For a deeper stretch, straighten both legs out into a V shape. 

4. Next, place your left arm on your left leg and bring your right arm over your head to stretch into a sidebend. 

5. Repeat on the other side. 

6. Finish in Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose).

Five Recovery Foods That Pro Athletes Can’t Get Enough Of

The best athletes don’t just train hard—they also recover smart. And a big part of effective recovery is the post-workout meal.

A good after-exercise nutrition plan can help an athlete replace the energy they burned during a workout, repair and rebuild muscles, and provide the fuel they need to crush their next training session, according to Jordan Hill, a Colorado-based registered dietitian and certified specialist in sports dietetics with Top Nutrition Coaching. The resulting gains can be significant.

Just ask Lea Davison. When the two-time Olympic mountain biker worked with a nutritionist some 10 years ago to dial in her post-workout fueling plan, she “really noticed the difference,” describing a reduction in rabid hunger and a feeling of being “stronger all around.”

When curating a post-workout snack or meal, folks should look for two main things: carbs and protein, says Hill. Carbs help reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and stimulate the release of insulin, a muscle-building hormone that also helps refill your body’s glycogen stores (your muscles  energy source). Protein helps refill your glycogen stores as well, and also halts muscle breakdown and promotes the growth of new muscle, Hill explains. Moreover, when combined, carbs and protein reduce cortisol, a hormone that causes muscle breakdown.

Athletes should consider foods rich in antioxidants like fruits and vegetables, and omega-3s like nuts, seeds, and fish, as they tamp down inflammation and further assist in the recovery process, Hill explains. It’s also important to keep in mind hydration and electrolyte replenishment, especially sodium and potassium.

When it comes to carbs and protein, the amount you consume matters. After an intense workout, look for a three-to-one ratio of carbs to protein, or closer to a two-to-one ratio if your goal is weight loss, says Hill. You can calculate your target amount of protein in grams by dividing your bodyweight in kilograms in half. Then, multiple that figure by two or three to get your carbohydrate value in grams, Hill explains.For example, with the three-to-one ratio, someone who weighs 150 pounds (68 kilograms) would have a target protein goal of 30 to 35 grams and a target carbohydrate goal of 90 to 105 grams. Keep in mind this guidance applies only to intense workouts—the type that leave you sweaty, tired, and potentially sore the next day. Following a gentler workout—say, a yoga session or quick 20-minute strength routine—these specific ratios aren’t as important, says Hill, who recommends folks in those scenarios just follow their general eating patterns for the day.

Last tip: Pay attention to timing. Women should aim to eat their protein amount within 30 minutes of a workout. That’s because certain hormone fluctuations that occur in women post training can accelerate muscle breakdown, explains Hill, and getting in protein quickly can help combat that. Women can eat their carbs alongside the protein, or eat the carbs separately up to two hours after the workout. The guidance is a little less strict for men: so long as they eat both the protein and carbs within two hours of exercising, they’ll reap the benefits.

Need some inspiration for your next post workout meal? We tapped two-time Olympic mountain biker Davison and four other elite athletes to learn what they typically feast on after a tough training session.Pro snowboarder and Olympic silver medalist Julia Marino usually gravitates towards a smoothie with a mixture of frozen fruit, coconut milk, yogurt, and protein powder. “It’s not too heavy,” says Marino of her go-to snack. “When I’m done working out and pretty warm, I’m craving something light and colder that’s easily digestible.”

Meagan Martin, a pro climber and American Ninja Warrior women’s champion, is also a fan of the post workout smoothie. Her concoction often features a mix of frozen fruits and veggies (like banana, pineapple, blueberries and spinach), along with cinnamon, chia seeds, almond milk, almond butter, and sometimes whey protein. “I have this after any workout,” says Martin. “Whether it’s a climbing session or a cardio workout, it’s just the thing my body needs.”

Hill, the nutritionist, endorses these types of smoothies as a great way to get antioxidants, hydration, and protein following a workout. Just be sure to pay attention to portion sizes to ensure you’re hitting a good ratio of carbs to protein, she advises.

During cold months, Davison frequently refuels with a fruit smoothie, similar to the ones described above. But after a long ride on hot days, she favors a DIY slushie: She blends a scoop of unflavored protein powder with lemonade and frozen, locally-picked strawberries.“It’s easy to drink,” she says, adding that the tartness of the lemonade helps counterbalance the sweet chews, bars, and gummies she consumes during her ride. If her workout concludes at home, she’ll quickly whip this up within the 30-minute recovery window, or, if she’s ending a ride at a trailhead, she’ll make it in advance and stash it in a Yeti cooler so it stays chilled.

This concoction, says Hill, offers “great hydration” and electrolytes in addition to protein. The strawberries and lemonade (so long as it’s sugared) provide carbs, she adds. If you’re making this at home, Hill recommends monitoring the portion size to ensure the carb to protein ratio is sufficient.Adidas-sponsored athlete Chris Nikic, who in October became the first person with Down syndrome to finish the Ironman World Championship, is a Chipotle devotee. The 23-year-old athlete’s favorite food is rice, and every day for lunch he orders a heaping burrito bowl with all the fixings: brown and white rice, brown and black beans, chicken, veggies, corn, cheese, and guacamole. The end result is “a four-pound bowl,” says Nikic, who is currently training for the Tokyo Marathon and notes the meal tastes best after a run.

Nikic’s go-to is a “great option,” says Hill. It provides protein, lots of carbs—including both easy-to-digest simple carbs from the white rice and satiating fiber-rich carbs from the brown rice—as well as antioxidants from the veggies.

When it comes to post exercise fueling, Dylan Bowman is a creature of habit. For years now, the professional trail runner has consumed the same recovery meal pretty much every day. He’ll scramble two eggs with greens and onions and then “liberally” butter two pieces of bread. Sometimes, he adds avocado if he’s feeling extra hungry. “I love it because it’s simple and quick,” Bowman explains. “I can get it in quickly and get the recovery process started before I begin the work day.”

This meal hits the big components, says Hill: protein with the eggs, healthy fat with the avocado, and carbohydrates with the toast. If you need more calories depending on the intensity of your workout, Hill recommends either increasing the portion sizes or pairing the meal alongside something else, like oatmeal with berries and honey.When Davison is craving “real” food (i.e. something she can chew, not just sip) she whips up eggs fried over medium with toast, or concocts egg tacos with cheddar cheese, salsa, scrambled eggs, and corn tortillas. “Eggs are my go-to for lunch mostly,” she says.

The breakfast taco option is really similar to Bowman’s staple and provides carbs from the tortillas plus protein from the eggs. The salsa adds antioxidants. Depending on the intensity of the workout, Hill might recommend adding extra carbs to properly refuel—things like orange juice, chocolate milk, or a small cup of fruit.

How to get back into running after a long break

Dusting off your running shoes after a break can be intimidating. If an injury, pregnancy or busy work schedule got in the way of your passion for running, you may wonder if you’re now too out of shape. Will your body even remember how to run a certain pace? Or will your legs feel weak and wobbly? And how many times do you have to pound pavement or hop on a treadmill before it feels fun again?

The good news is that your muscles retain a memory of their former strength, which can make it easier to bounce back than if you were starting from scratch. If you were sidelined for only two or three weeks, you may not even notice a significant change in your running performance, especially if you remained physically active during your time off.

If it has been longer, you may not want to rush back to several-mile runs. Mix running with walking, take time building up strength in unused muscles, and use a few tricks to motivate and reward yourself.

It can take about two months for a new behavior to become automatic. Once it does, it also becomes less taxing. But until then, you want to minimize the potential for injury and frustration. Use these expert-backed tips to get past the annoying retraining period so you can hit the open road with passion.

Ease into a routine.

You are more likely to stick with a running habit if you start with small goals. That may mean holding yourself back a bit, both in terms of pace and distance. “Slow and steady wins the race,” said Karena Wu, a physical therapist and owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy in New York City. Slow down until you can pass the talk test, which means carrying on a conversation while running.

Try to do two to three short, easy runs per week. You could also follow a couch to 5K training plan designed for beginner runners and those who are returning after a long break. Alternatively, you may use a strategy that incorporates walking breaks into your runs.

Whichever plan you pick, be sure it has elements of strength training, stretching and resting. The point is to stay consistent and remember that you are using this time to recondition the muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissues in your legs, Dr. Wu said.

Build in immediate rewards.

You may think you can muscle through the first few weeks or months of running, but research suggests that motivation alone is not always enough. Pairing small, immediate rewards to a task — like watching Netflix while on the treadmill or treating yourself to an Epsom salt bath after a long trail run — can make it easier and more enjoyable to continue doing these activities.

“People repeat behaviors that they enjoy,” said Wendy Wood, a research psychologist at the University of Southern California and the author of “Good Habits, Bad Habits.” “If you hate running to begin with, there’s probably not much you can do to motivate yourself to repeat it.”

Short-term rewards can carry you through the days when your motivation is lagging. And they may even accelerate the formation of your new running habit.

Research shows that you can also get psychological rewards from running with a group of friends, affirmations from a coach or listening to your favorite music. Some studies have shown that people who listen to music are able to run faster, perform better and feel less exhausted.

Start strength training.

Strength training helps prepare your body for running again and can keep you injury free for the long haul. Many physical therapists and running experts even recommend strength training a few weeks before returning to running to build up muscle strength, increase flexibility and improve overall biomechanics.

“I think a lot of people use running to get in shape, but I would really recommend getting in shape to get back to running,” said Irene Davis, an expert on the biomechanics of running at the University of South Florida.

Runners tend to be weak in their feet and ankles, as well as their hips and glutes, Dr. Davis said. To strengthen these areas, try weight lifting, yoga, calisthenics or plyometrics at least two days per week.

Dr. Davis and Dr. Wu recommended exercises that train multiple muscles at the same time, like single and double leg calf raises, lateral band walks (or monster walks), planks, lunges, squats and step-ups.

Stretch.

A well-designed warm-up can also get your blood flowing and prepare your muscles for running. Dr. Wu and Dr. Davis recommended dynamic stretches, in which you move your joints and muscles through full ranges of motion, mimicking the movement you’re about to perform without holding them in place. For runners, they are often the same exercises used in strength training, like lunges and squats, as well as butt kicks and high knees.

Research has offered mixed and often contradicting results regarding the benefits of cooling down after a workout. But many athletes and physical therapists, including Dr. Wu, recommend static stretches, in which you hold a position for a period of time, after a run. She also recommended bringing your knee to your chest, pulling your ankle toward your glutes, leaning against a wall to stretch your calves or going into a deep lunge and moving your hips in a circle. Experiment with stretching and see if it makes you feel more flexible or helps you regain energy for the next run.

Get enough rest.

Just because your body remembers how to do a five-minute mile doesn’t mean your muscles and joints are ready for the toll running can take. While you are rebuilding stamina and strength during runs, you’re also breaking your body down in many ways, like opening microscopic tears in your muscles. Taking at least one day off a week will help avoid injury and let you come back stronger, allowing your body time to recover.

During each run, your body also depletes its stores of glycogen, a type of carbohydrate saved in the muscles and liver. Resting and refueling helps replenish these reserves so that you can use them as energy when you run again.

Remind yourself that you are making progress throughout the whole process. Running is an invigorating way to exercise with the breeze in your hair and the ground at your feet. So dust off those shoes and head out the door.

Yoga for staying calm

Embrace the present moment & stay present in the storm. Acceptance fosters wellbeing & mindfulness. Here are 6 Yoga tools to help you stay present!

If there’s anything we have learned from the past few years, it’s that life is going to continue to provide us with challenges. Just when we think the storm has passed and we are ready to sail in optimal conditions, the weather seems to turn and keep us on our toes. The relentlessness of the continually changing weather and stormy skies can be overwhelming and exhausting. It’s understandable why we begin to check out, close our eyes and just want to wake up when it’s all over.

This approach can offer us short-term peace by escaping the discomfort of what is. However, in the longer run, there are benefits in staying completely present in the storm as we learn acceptance and embrace the opportunity to grow from every experience.

The power of atha

The first word of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is “atha” or now. It is an auspicious word, with some teachers suggesting that if you really understood what atha means, you would understand everything and reach a state of yoga or liberation. Practising mindfulness, which Jon Kabat Zinn defines as “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally”, is the key to staying in the “now”, no matter what is going on.

The non-judgement part can be particularly tricky to practise. Seeing our experiences as they are, without putting any kind of lens on them, framing them as good or bad, allows us to foster more acceptance in our lives.

The power of acceptance

“Accept, then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Acceptance of all our experiences, regardless of how stormy or calm they are, has been shown to positively affect our overall wellbeing. In one particular study, individuals who accepted rather than judged their mental experiences appeared to attain better psychological health, and less reactivity to stressors. Other studies suggested acceptance reduced feelings of shame, guilt, anxiety and distress.

Acceptance allows us to get on with the task at hand, and do what we need to do, instead of putting energy into worry and fear. As my teacher David Life used to say, “So what, now what?”

Escaping the storm

Most of us are constantly trying to avoid our current experience. We walk into a room that is too cold, and we turn the heat on; when it gets too warm, we open the windows and take our coat off, forever trying to escape whatever discomfort we feel. Inevitably, though, at some point we will be thrust into a situation where we can no longer control the temperature or the weather, and there is no escape. As the storm rages, without any skills to keep us awake, to simply be in the experience, we struggle to stay afloat.

All manner of addictions arise from this moment, of grasping and craving, clinging to something that helps us evade the reality of the battering of our boats in the tempest.

How to stay present

The yoga practice provides us with many tools to help us stay present and observe whatever is arising.

The asana shows us how to dive into poses and stay steady regardless of discomfort and strong sensation. It allows us to practise breathing calmly and being steady, staying in a posture, when we’d really prefer to run.

Concentration on the breath, in pranayama practices, is very powerful at quietening the mind and bringing us directly into the present. It also teaches us the transient nature of our experience, how it is ever-moving, in motion, traversing the cycles of beginning, middle and end, over and over.

We learn through pranayama, watching, controlling and freeing the breath about the changing nature of things at a very primal, cellular level. And it shows us how every new breath is a chance to start again, that the newness, the freshness of each inhale and exhale is a different experience. Whatever storms we are in will pass at some point, giving way to something new.

Meditation shows us how our thoughts come and go, jumping around and as changeable as the weather. Being reminded of the physical and mental layers that this too shall pass, for better or worse, is a great way to practically work with stepping into the present, accepting what is and trusting it will pass eventually.

Drishti, or a focus point, is another tool we can use to train the mind to concentrate. It is through concentration, or dharana, we place the mind at one thing at a time, which allows us to be present and available to see what’s in front of us.

Non-attachment

In the Yoga Sutra 1.2, “Yogash [union] citta [mind] vritti [whirlings] nirodha [to cease/get rid of]” is sometimes translated as “Yoga is when the mind stops.” But in that case, the party is over. When our minds stop, we don’t get to experience anything, let alone yoga. My teacher Manorama D’Alvia speaks to it from the perspective of not attaching to the rotational movements of the mind, or the vrittis. If nirodha is to stop or cease, and we think of citta as the ocean of the mind with the vrittis as the waves or thought patterns, yoga is when we stop attaching the chaos of the surf. We identify less with the individual waves, and see that we are the ocean, vast and deep.

Then no matter what storm is raging, we are always connected to that deeper oceanic part of ourselves, which isn’t so affected by the individual movements and tides; after all, the weather changes, but the ocean is always there, seemingly limitless and rich.

Pratyahara

Because the nature of the world is designed to steal our attention, our energy constantly moves outwards through the senses. As we practise withdrawal of the senses, pulling them back inwards towards us in times of crisis and challenge, we preserve our energy which will be required to take skilful action in whatever stormy situation we are in. We cannot steer the boat across immense waves if we are not paying attention, concentrating, making intelligent choices, and have the energy to do so. Using our practice to harness our ability to draw the senses inwards will make it easier in those moments that feel tougher to do so, when the lightning and thunder feel overpowering. As D’Alvia says, you don’t need to practise every day, but there will come a time when you will be grateful you practised every day.

The more we practise when the skies are calm, the more we will be prepared and ready when we need a yogic mind in those turbulent times.

What being present does for us

When we pay attention to what is happening in front of us, with acceptance, a calm mind, free from judgement, we see things as they really are. Instead of operating from a place of fear, or projecting into the past or future, we wipe the lenses clean and can see clearly — not from

a place of denial or overwhelm, rather the stance of a warrior on the battlefield, like Arjuna in the Bhagavadgita. Just as he had to accept his role in fighting a battle he didn’t want, we may find ourselves in blustery conditions we don’t want to be part of. When we have a yogic mind, we can face those moments; we can do what must be done with a clear mind and steady hand.

Turbulent times as a teacher

The greatest gift of all, however, from staying with eyes wide open in the tempest, is that we can use the experience as a teacher. Moments of great joy are bolstering and fortify our spirit. But the obstacles and storms of life are where the greatest learning is. Use those moments as a teacher and no experience shall go to waste; rather they will enhance our life, showing where we are stuck, where we need to grow and how much further we can travel in terms of kindness, compassion and empathy for self and others.

Chaos to calm yoga practice

This practice is designed to foster presence through some of the tools suggested above, as well as some balancing poses which require our steadiness, drishti and concentration.

Pratyahara

Choose a comfortable seat and listen to the sounds around you. Start to pull your senses inwards. Close the eyes. Relax the jaw and let the tongue drop away from the palate. Observe any taste on your tongue. Take in the smells around you.

Feel what sensations you can especially on the hands and fingers. Listen to the sounds around you. Keep your awareness on the senses in this way, not letting them move out, gathering stimulation

or escaping this present moment.

Meditation

Keep sitting. Notice any thoughts that start to arise. Let them bubble up, feel them, experience them, accept them and let them move on. Keep noticing your senses, physical sensations, taste, the dark behind the eyelids, the sounds, the smells. As you do, keep allowing thoughts and feelings to come up, accepting them and letting them go. Stay aware, completely in the present moment.

The benefits of running for mental health

Boosting Mood and Reducing Stress Through Running

Running is an effective form of exercise for improving both physical and mental health. Not only can it help with weight management, but running can also be a great way to boost your mood and reduce stress levels. Many people find that running can be therapeutic and calming, helping them to relax and manage stress better.

In terms of mood-boosting benefits, running increases the production of endorphins, which are the brain’s feel-good hormones. Endorphins not only make us feel good while running but they also have long-term effects on our overall well-being. Studies have found that regular runners tend to report lower levels of depression compared to those who don’t exercise regularly.

Endorphins can also help reduce anxiety as they promote positive thinking and reduce negative thoughts or worries. Running helps to clear your mind, allowing you to focus on something other than your worries or anxieties. Additionally, being in nature while running can allow you to appreciate the beauty of your surroundings while taking a break from technology and other distractions in modern life.

Running is also an excellent form of exercise for reducing stress levels by providing a way for people to release their frustrations in a healthy manner. Exercise can be a distraction from everyday stresses, as it provides an outlet for people dealing with difficult situations or overwhelming feelings of anxiety or despair. Furthermore, studies have found that aerobic exercises like running help increase the amount of cortisol released by the body which has been shown to improve one’s ability to cope under pressure – this makes it perfect for managing stressful situations more effectively.

For those looking to improve their mental health through physical activity and exercise, incorporating regular runs into your routine is an ideal way to do so! As well as boosting moods and reducing stress levels, running is easy and accessible; anyone can start at their own pace with no special equipment needed other than a good pair of shoes! At PMAC, we strongly encourage all businesses to provide mental health awareness about how physical activity contributes towards improved mental health amongst all employees at all levels – making sure everyone understands the value of regular exercise when it comes to emotional well being.

Regulating Sleep Patterns and Improving Cognitive Function With Regular Exercise

Regular exercise has significant benefits for both our physical and mental health. When it comes to mental well being, exercise can help regulate sleep-wake cycles, also known as circadian rhythms, and boost cognitive functions like memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.

Circadian rhythms are physiological, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle. They are primarily influenced by light exposure and melatonin secretion. Exercise has been shown to increase sensitivity to light cues that regulate circadian rhythms, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the desired times. This can be especially helpful for those struggling with insomnia or irregular sleep schedules.

Exercise also increases blood flow to the brain, which delivers more oxygen and nutrients that power brain cell function. Studies show that regular aerobic exercise leads to increased volume of brain regions involved in memory, attention, planning, and organization, which translates to improved cognitive performance. Even brief walks or other light activity can provide cognitive benefits for older adults and those with neurodegenerative conditions like dementia.

Overall, establishing a regular exercise routine has significant and wide-ranging benefits for both physical and mental health. Whether it’s a daily walk, jog, strength training session, or yoga practice, find physical activities you enjoy and stick to a regular schedule to experience better sleep, improved cognition, and an enhanced sense of well being.

Strengthening Mental Health Awareness and Creating Positive Habits Through a Running Routine

Establishing a regular running routine has significant benefits for both physical and mental health. For mental health in particular, running can help raise awareness of how you are feeling and thinking, and create positive habits to support well being.

As you run, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. Notice how your mood changes, what you’re thinking about, and how your body feels. This awareness of your internal state is the first step to managing your mental health. If you notice negative or unhelpful thoughts, try to re-frame them into more positive and realistic ones. Recognize and appreciate any positive feelings or accomplishments, however small. With regular running, this awareness and management can become habitual.

Beyond awareness, running also leads to improved sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, and better self-esteem—all of which support mental health. The ‘runner’s high’ can boost your mood and act as a natural anti-depressant. As you achieve goals and see your endurance and speed improve, you build confidence and a sense of achievement. A predictable running routine provides a sense of structure and control, which can decrease stress and symptoms of anxiety. Overall, establishing a regular running routine, even just a few times a week, can significantly and positively impact your mental health. Running fosters awareness and management of your internal state, and creates positive habits and benefits that translate to all areas of your well being. Through running, you can strengthen your mental health each and every day.

About PMAC

PMAC are a leading provider of workplace mental health and well being training. Their team incorporate years of experience to provide bespoke mental health and well being training to companies globally.

I Completely Swear by This 3-Move Core-Strengthening Sequence

It's simple—but so challenging

You head to your favorite yoga teachers’ classes for a reason. There’s something that keeps you going back again and again, whether it’s their cues, sequences, or ability to make you laugh during even the hardest poses.

When I head to Alyssa Case’s “We Flow Hard” yoga class at Y7, there’s one thing I’m anticipating throughout the 60-minute practice, and that’s her final “3-minute push.” It comes after we rest in Child’s Pose, a place in the practice where Case always reminds us to steady our inhales and exhales remember our breath and tap into our power. As I begin to transition out of that resting position, I already know what’s coming next—and it’s the most challenging physical moment of my day.

The conclusion to her class always consists of an intense sequence of poses or movements designed to, well, push you. While the section can include any physical challenge, such as leg strengthening movements or intense balancing poses, in my mind, Case is most famous for her brutal (but, oh, so good) core work. It’s in those hard moments that I’m forced to remember my breath in order to get through the challenging physical moves. That’s the point.

“That portion is meant to be the final physical and emotional peak of class, where self-imposed barriers are broken down and transformation can happen,” Case says. “There’s also a dharma piece of connecting it back to the emotional or physical theme of class.”

Case’s words definitely ring true for me. In these pushes, which typically consist of extended static holds as well as vigorous movements, I’m left with myself and my mind. I simply cannot think about the next pose or cue because I’m too focused on the sweat pooling on my mat as my core shakes. The present moment—even with all of its pain—is all that matters.

The 3-minute push can be more of a mental challenge than a physical one. When you get to a tough point in a pose, Case recommends you close your eyes (if it feels comfortable to do so) and focus your attention on your inhalations and exhalations. It’s this type of mind-body connection that makes these exercises different than other types of movement, Case says. It all ultimately ties back to your yoga practice—strengthening your mind, body, and spirit. 

Here, Case shares some of her most reliable core movements for that final push–and explains what to keep in mind when practicing them.

Case typically spends the 3-minute period focusing on two to three different movements. She times each exercise or pose to last approximately 1 minute. Even though the session is is just a few minutes long, it’ll likely feel longer than your typical core sequence (I speak from personal experience). If you need to rest for a second or take a modification, do that.

When Case focuses much of her class on twisting poses, such as Revolved Side Angle Pose or Revolved Triangle Pose, she’ll continue that theme in the 3-minute push by opting for mountain climbers, since they engage some of the same muscles. She lets students select how they want to approach this intense exercise. For example, if someone wants to slowly rotate through the movement, they can do that, but she also leaves the option for them to go faster. Students typically spend between 30 and 60 seconds in this exercise.

Case enjoys incorporating static holds into the last push and often includes Plank Pose. When you’re holding a position for a length of time, you’re unable to distract yourself with physical movement, leaving just your mind and your breath to help guide you through the moment, she says. “It pushes students to break out of their comfort zone and find their edge,” Case says. That may mean resting your knees on the mat for a few seconds before lifting them back up.

To switch things up, Case sometimes opts to incorporate a Forearm Plank into the sequence in lieu of High Plank. This variation can be especially helpful if you’re dealing with wrist or arm pain. (You can also choose to move from High Plank into Forearm Plank midway through a hold.)

I have to admit, this is probably my least-favorite pose in the entire sequence. (Much to my relief, Case also says it’s the hardest static hold of the session.) If you want to linger in Boat Pose for an extended period of time, you can opt to do that. However, if you would like to incorporate additional movement and make the exercise a bit easier, Case will sometimes cue a V-style sit-up from Low Boat to Boat Pose.

Want to Age Well? Do Tree Pose Every Day for Better Balance

If you can't touch your toes and think that means you can't do yoga, think again. Better yet, it might be one type of exercise you want to start (or continue) practicing into your golden years — especially balancing postures like tree pose.

Whether or not you're familiar with this asana (which means "posture" in Sanskrit) or it's completely new to you, tree pose is perfect for beginners and totally customizable. That means you can adjust the pose according to ‌your‌ body and still reap all the benefits!

Yoga and Healthy Aging

Research shows adopting a yoga practice can have benefits for cellular aging, mobility, balance and mental health, and it's been tied to the prevention of cognitive decline (i.e. loss of brain function due to aging), according to an August 2021 review in ‌Advances in Geriatric Medicine and Research‌.

Policymakers have even begun to consider how implementing community and home-based yoga programs may offer a way to lower medical costs and improve health outcomes for older adults and seniors, per the same review.

But if not you're able to get to a studio or you don't have an hour to spend on your mat, you can still reap some the aging benefits of yoga by practicing balancing postures like tree pose, which train your posture and balance, strengthen your lower body and core and help calm the nervous system for less stress and better sleep.

How to Do Tree Pose

Tree pose is a hip-opening posture that works deeply into the groin and inner thighs, so you may want to warm up your hips with a posture like reclined or seated cobbler's pose first for about 3 to 5 deep belly breaths.

If you're feeling loose, you can practice tree pose without a warmup. Just be sure to move slowly and modify or stop if you feel any pulling or painful sensations. As always, talk to your doctor or physical therapist before adding a new exercise or yoga posture into your routine.

Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Let your arms hang by your sides, palms facing out, and your eyes gazing straight ahead. 

Engage your core as you put your weight onto your right foot and lift your left knee up toward your belly, grabbing hold of the knee at the top. 

Keep the standing leg straight but don't lock the knee. (Try your best not to bend down to grab the knee or foot.) 

Grab hold of your left ankle or foot and place the sole of your left foot onto the inside of your right thigh. Allow your left knee to relax down. 

Alternatively, you can place the sole of your left foot just below your knee. Never place the foot directly on the knee! 

Once you feel stable here, place your palms together in front of your heart and roll your shoulders down and back (away from your ears), creating length in your abdominals and upper back. 

For a more active stretch in the upper body, extend your arms above your head in a V shape, rolling the shoulders down and away from the ears. 

Hold the posture for 3 to 5 deep belly breaths. 

To come out of the pose, slowly bring your left knee back up toward your belly so that your knee is facing forward before slowly and gently placing the foot back down on the ground. 

Take 3 to 5 breaths before switching to the other side. 

How to Modify Tree Pose

If you're finding it hard to balance in tree pose, start with a different version. You can modify tree pose by placing your left heel onto your right ankle, keeping the ball or toes of your left foot on the ground.

In this version, focus on engaging your legs and core and lifting up through the front of your body as you press your right foot down.

If you're still finding it hard to balance, you can also practice tree pose next to a wall and use a hand on the wall to keep you stable. Focus on your breathing, and when you feel stable, play around with taking your hand off the wall.

I Cold Plunged Every Day For a Month—Here’s What I Learned

One yoga teacher immersed herself in freezing water for 31 days. Here's her advice for how you can do it, too.

For the month of January, Finocchiaro subjected herself to a daily cold plunge in the ocean and chronicled her efforts on TikTok. She had started practicing regular cold water immersions at the beginning of the pandemic, inspired by the Wim Hof method, as a way to help manage her seasonal depression. She saw her mental energy increase with each plunge.

This winter, as a byproduct of her anxiety and the stress of being a small business owner, she saw her mood drop even more. “As soon as you turn your passion into your career, it’s not as easy to relax during a yoga class,” she says. “So, I’ve had to turn to other coping mechanisms for my anxiety and depression.”

In an attempt to better her mental health, Finocchiaro decided to embark on a monthlong challenge of doing a cold plunge every day. She headed to the ocean most early mornings for her immersion although sometimes squeezed her plunges in during the afternoon due to her work schedule. Once on the dock or sand, she would ditch her warm puffer jacket, strip down to a bathing suit, and wade into frigid waters.

For the yoga teacher and studio owner, it’s a part of her day when she’s focused on doing something for herself.

Her elevated mood kept her coming back to the water—even on the coldest days. “Once you’re done with a plunge, you have all this energy,” she says. “For me, it clears my mind and gives me the energy to get through the rest of the day.” Throughout the month of January, she found herself able to forego that afternoon cup of coffee, revitalized instead by her quick dip.

Chris Minson, a professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon, conducts research on thermoregulation—the impact that extreme heat and cold have on the body. While most of his studies focus on the benefits of heat, he says there’s some evidence that a euphoric feeling may follow an acute cold immersion. However, he says more research needs to be conducted on the topic in order to find out more about how long these feelings can last and the mechanisms behind them.

The impact of the freeze may go beyond that feeling of joy. In a new study that has yet to be released to the public, he and his team of researchers found that when looking at a positive-negative affect (i.e. how good you feel about things versus how bad you feel about things), people felt less negative following a brief cold water immersion, he says.

Not ready to subject yourself to a cold plunge? You may be able to reap similar benefits from extreme heat immersion, such as a sauna or hot tub. Evidence suggests that even one session of heat therapy a week reduces rates of depression, Minson says. Ultimately, it’s about find the right kind of temperature treatment for your body.

With her her month-long challenge behind her, Finocchiaro says she’ll still continue to regularly plunge, even if it isn’t every day. “I’m not trying to prove something,” she says. “For me, it’s about connecting to nature and getting outside even when it’s 30 degrees and snowing or raining. It’s about embracing the winter.”

It’s also about introducing others to the joy of cold immersion. During her monthlong commitment, she started leading community plunges with her students after her Saturday yoga class, a practice she plans to continue throughout the winter.

Cold plunging isn’t nearly as simple as a summer dip. Following are a few things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about heading out for an icy immersion.

Your front dive may be gorgeous, but you’ll want to forgo it when entering cold water. Minson says if you immediately immerse your head in freezing water, you’ll experience an instinctive “gasping response,” which causes you to try to breathe in a lot of air. When this occurs in deep water, the possibility of drowning increases. Instead, slowly wade into the water.

While you may be excited (or nervous!) for your cold immersion, Finocchiaro says it’s essential to remain calm in order to avoid hyperventilating. For her, that means moving into the water with presence and ease. “My first few times, I ran in and was so excited, but then I started hyperventilating and couldn’t get myself to calm down,” she says. She alleviated that by walking in slowly and mindfully, drawing on the very same breathwork that she teaches. A meditation practice can also be beneficial in grounding you in the present moment.

Finocchiaro recommends getting used to the concept of a freezing plunge by testing out a cold shower. Even just tacking on a few initial seconds of cold to the beginning or end of your daily rinse can help you acclimate to the frigid temperatures of a cold plunge. If you don’t have access to a body of water, a regular cold shower can also replace a plunge.

Minson encourages his students to try the cold shower challenge by foregoing the typical hot shower for an icy one. While many of the students stop taking the cold showers after the challenge, a few report that they continue for the sense of elation after the ritual.

Your cold plunge doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t) be lengthy. Finocchiaro says she’ll typically stay in the water for no more than a minute or 90 seconds. It won’t take long for you to feel the affects.

Ultrarunner Camille Herron announces new sponsor: Lululemon

Hundred-mile and 12-hour world record holder Camille Herron of Oklahoma City, Okla. ended speculation about her new sponsor with Wednesday’s announcement that she has joined forces with the running and yoga brand Lululemon. The runner recently announced that she would be sponsored by a company that is new to the ultratrail space in 2023. “It feels like a dream come true,” Herron told us after a week spent at the brand’s Portland, Ore. facilities.

Herron is the first and only woman to achieve sub-13 hours for 100 miles, 150 km for 12 hours and 270 km over 24 hours, and she won the 90-km Comrades Marathon in South Africa in 2017. She reached 100,000 lifetime miles in 2022. She was formerly sponsored by Hoka.

Herron says she’s most excited for the support she’s received beyond her athletic ability: “It means a lot to me that they appreciate my human qualities beyond my athletic talents,” she says. “My professional background is in science and research, and they recognized how I can help the brand with my scientific knowledge. I’m a cerebral person–I’m more than an ultrarunner. It spoke to my heart that Lululemon recognized this. They seemed to know more about me than I knew about myself! I was blown away.”

The philosophy

Herron is excited to be partnering with Lululemon because of their track record as a brand that has women front and centre, and she joins a long list of other female Lululemon-sponsored runners, including Colleen Quigley, Mirna Valerio and Tara Davis, and others. “I feel a sense of women’s empowerment joining with them,” Herron says. “They believe in me and support me, and they care about the whole human. They’ve been asking me about my mental health and wellbeing, and I thought that was really cool–I’ve never been asked about that. I’ve connected with someone to help me with my mental and emotional health, and how I manage stress.”

“Last year at Western States, I started my period after the Forest Hill aid station, and I shared that, and it resonated with a lot of women. Sharing my journey, my athletic career in my 40s–that’s pretty much unheard of. It’s really cool for me to have Lululmeon’s support. I’m very grateful.”

The gear

Herron’s excited about Lululemon’s running clothing: “We’ve been having fun mixing and matching that top [the Invigorate Training Tank] with shorts. I really like old-school split shorts, and Lululemon has that. I imagine myself being a unicorn or a superhero, mixing and matching Wonder-Woman-type colours. We’re bringing back colour to the sport!”

She is also impressed with their socks, and their run bras: “Being an ultrarunner, I spend a lot of time on my feet,” says Herron. “To be able to take off my socks after a run, and my feet are dry and my toes are in good shape, is huge. “I also love how they put pockets in everything.”

She’s also impressed with the brand’s efforts to produce high-quality running shoes, even if shoes appropriate for very long days on the road, track or trail remain a work in progress. “Me being a science person, I can offer a lot of feedback on developing their shoes,” Herron says. “It’s such a great opportunity to collaborate. We’ve had lots of meetings–I’ve been to the company headquarters in Vancouver and met the shoe people; all the products are incredible, and I’m excited to bring them to the ultratrail community.”

Goals for 2023

Herron is excited for the future: “I feel so blessed to be 41 and still getting faster,” she says, adding that she’s grateful for the brand’s support. “This is a long-term commitment, not only for my athletic career but also helping them with product development. I’m going to be continuing my focus on world records, try to improve some of them, and also go further; I want to go for the 48-hour and 6-day records; I’m hoping I have the opportunity this year to go beyond 24 hours.”

This summer, however, she’ll be focused on trails, with Western States in June and Leadville (another 100-mile trail race) in August. “Every time I show up at Western States, I get a bit better,” she says.

On Feb. 18, Herron plans to challenge her own world records for 100 miles and 12 hours at The Raven in Mount Pleasant, S.C. She will also plan to qualify for the 24-hour world championship in Taiwan, which takes place in December 2023.

Six ips for running your best 5k

5k (or 3.11 miles) races are some of the most popular running events in the country. Every weekend parkruns are available in over 1,600 locations globally, and there are plenty of great 5k events up and down the country, which make an ideal starting point in your running journey. If you’re nervous about training for a 5k or you’re looking to run one in 20 minutes or less, then these tips and best-practices will give you the perfect platform for success.

1. WARM-UP & WARM-DOWN

Whether you’re a running beginner, or you’re pushing for a new PB, 5k runs pose a high injury risk due to people not respecting the distance or by pushing too hard. Before every run, you should do a gentle warm-up jog and then do some dynamic stretches, including lunges, heel-kicks, high knees, jumping jacks, and sideways skips. This will make sure that all the little muscles are ready for the challenge ahead.

Warming down is just as important, and easy to skip when you’re tired after a run. But stretching out your calves, hamstrings, and glutes properly after a 5k run will make a massive difference in preventing injuries, and will help in recovery so you can head out for another training run sooner. Alternatively, you could try out a quick and easy pre-run yoga or post-run yoga routine.

2. BUILD UP THE DISTANCE

Although you’re not training towards a marathon, it’s not necessary to run the full 5k on your first training run. The reason ‘Couch to 5k’ has been so successful recently is because it doesn’t demand too much too soon. If you are building fitness, a couple of shorter 1-2k runs will get your heart pumping and wake up your leg muscles. You can even alternate between running for 5 minutes and walking for 2 minutes, and then work towards a continuous 5k run. If you need a helping hand here, than you can download our free 6-week 5k training plan here, which will take you through your 5k training, step-by-step. There are a number of options within the plan from how to run 5k in 20 minutes or less to circuit pattern ideas and motivational quotes for race day.

3. TECHNIQUE

5k races tend to be high intensity runs, as opposed to long-distance events which require steady jogging. Rather than just pushing yourself flat out, though, there are some technique tweaks that can be made, which will help keep you springing forwards, improve posture, and prevent against injury: 

make sure to engage your core and keep your upper body straight

pump your arms

push your hips forward, and try to land your feet beneath your hips rather than too far ahead

visualize the road coming up to meet and support your feet rather than your feet hitting down into the road

4. INTERVAL TRAINING

Once you’ve built up the distance to the full 5k, and you’re confident with your technique, you can start improving your speed. Interval training is really useful for this, and it can often be a good idea to head to your local running track. Sessions might look like one of the following:

500m warm up; 3x400m sprints with 2 min rest in between; 1x800m push; 500m warm down. Total distance: 3,000m

400m warm up; 5x200m push alternating with 5x200m gentle jog; 400m warm down. Total distance: 2,800m

300m warm up; 1km race pace, 2km gentle pace, 1km race pace; 300m warm down. Total distance: 4,600m

These distances can change as you get fitter, and you might also choose to work according to time instead of distance. 

5. SUSTAINABLE PACE

It’s important that you know what your standard pace is. Settle into a good rhythm, where your heart-rate and breath are sustainable. It is unlikely that you’ll be able to push for the entire 5k, so you’ll need to pace your race. Don’t come speeding out of the blocks and waste all of your energy early on. Use your training to discover what a manageable pace is, and stay there for the first 3km or so of the race, and then push for the final 2km. Like all professional runners, you should aim to be running negative splits i.e. your final kilometers should be faster than your first couple. 

6. NUTRITION

An energy bar or banana 40 minutes or so before a race will give you time to digest and for the energy still to be there. You want to avoid anything too high in fibre close to the race, because this might give you stomach cramps. Work out what works for you well ahead of race day. It’s also important to stay hydrated with water or energy drinks before, during and after a race. You also want to focus on recovery: have something high in protein within 20 minutes of exercise to repair your muscles, and replenish your blood sugar with a treat. You’ve earned it.

Yoga for cold days: the best moves to warm up and reduce tension

With many weeks of cold, wintry weather ahead, it’s time to turn to yoga to generate some internal fire and warm up stiff joints and tense muscles. 

here comes a time in winter, after weeks of sub-zero temperatures or at the very least a constant chill, when I feel like my actual core is frozen and my shoulders have taken up permanent residence around my ears. I know I’m not the only one. 

But before you crank up the thermostat another degree or two (ooh, look at you with money to burn!) there is a much better (and cheaper) way to generate some warmth. Time to roll out the yoga mat and get acquainted with tapas (no… not those tapas). 

“The practice of building heat in yoga is called ‘tapas’,” explains Laura Pearce, senior yoga and breathwork teacher and the founder of Yoga Collective London. “In yogic philosophy, tapas not only denotes physical heat, but also the burning off of negative energies, helping us persist when things get tough – this is useful during the winter months when everything seems a bit tougher and the body is sluggish and tired.” 

This heat physically warms our bodies but it also helps motivate and energise us. To harness it, Pearce recommends a dynamic yoga practice to get the blood pumping and help mobilise stiff ‘hunched’ shoulders.  

SUN SALUTATIONS HELP GENERATE HEAT    

“The ultimate heat building-sequence in yoga is the classic sun salutation. The name ‘sun salutation’ comes from the idea that these movements heat up and awaken our internal ‘sun’, warming and preparing the body for other poses. It’s a particularly dynamic part of most western yoga practices and the simple repetitive nature makes it an easy sequence to learn,” she says. 

Pearce recommends adapting your sequence by holding a strong downward dog a little longer to wake up the shoulders, adding more asanas on each round, or accompanying it with ujjayi pranayama (also known as victorious or ocean breath) to really heat things up. 

How to do sun salutation A (surya namaskara A)  

You can modify sun salutations any way you wish but this classic sequence, recommended by Jaime Hepburn, is a must-try on a frosty morning. 

Inhale or exhale with each move, starting with an inhale as you raise your arms up. 

Start by standing tall in tadasana (mountain pose) 

Raise your arms up and gaze up 

Fold forward 

Lift halfway, hands to shins, look forward 

Plant the hands and step back through chatarunga (low plank – or modify through knees-chest-chin) 

Upward-facing dog (modify through low cobra) 

Downward-facing dog – take three to five full breaths here 

Look forward to prepare for the next steps 

Step to the top of the mat 

Lift halfway, hands to shins, look forward 

Forward fold again 

Lift the arms as you rise up, gaze up 

Finish in tadasana (mountain pose) 

Repeat five times.

BACKBENDS CAN PROVIDE AN ENERGY BOOST 

Another warming move that also opens the shoulders is a backbend. “Any backbend will do – back extensions nearly always cause the heart rate to soar as they put a little tension on the diaphragm, heart and aorta,” says Pearce. 

“Try locust (salabhasana) or bow pose (dhanurasana), holding for five breaths then repeating. More advanced yogis can go for a full-wheel pose (urdhva dhanurasana). Stop to notice that high energy rush after a big backbend. I think of them as natural coffee shots and a great way to wake us, energise us and warm us in the winter.” 

Jaime Hepburn, founder of The Yoga Library, is also a fan of incorporating ujjayi pranayama (ocean breath) into her practice during colder weather. 

“The winter months tend to bring a bit of tightness to our bodies. A dynamic practice that utilises ujjayi pranayama is incredibly efficient at warming the body to help reduce any stiffness or tension in the muscles and joints. Simply breathing this way when performing any asana will help stoke our internal fire,” she explains. 

How to do victorious or ocean breath (ujjayi pranayama) 

“This breath involves a slight constriction of the throat as you breathe in and out of the nose,” says Hepburn. “Don’t be deterred if you find this quite challenging. It certainly takes a bit of practice to get it.” 

Try it first with your mouth open. Take a regular inhale. 

Exhale and imagine you’re trying to fog up glass. A soft sound should accompany the breath. 

Now try the same thing breathing inward, remembering to constrict the throat slightly to direct the breath inwards at a steady pace. The same sound should be heard. 

Repeat the exhale but with your mouth closed. Again, there is a soft hissing sound, a bit like the ocean. 

Inhale again, with that slight constriction, but with your mouth closed.  

PRACTISE LION’S BREATH (SIMHASANA)  

Another breathwork exercise to get things warmed up is lion’s breath. Mara Cimatoribus, yoga instructor on the fitness app WeGLOW, likes to start with some neck massages while in a kneeling position before moving on to lion’s breath.

“With your right hand, massage the left side of your neck – from your back to your chest. Repeat this a few times before moving to the other side. Start with connecting with your natural breathing first, then do a round of 10 lion breaths,” says Cimatoribus. 

“Inhale through the nose and exhale forcefully through the mouth, sticking the tongue out. You should feel the abdomen contracting. Come back to natural breathing, soaking in the heating effects of this breathing technique.” 

Cimatoribus is also a big fan of a sun salutations to generate heat, and she recommends making time for a short cat/cow beforehand to help warm up the spine. 

BE DYNAMIC AND STRONG WITH A WARRIOR SEQUENCE  

Yogi Eloise Skinner believes a sequence involving any warrior variation (virabhadrasana) – warrior I, II, III, plus reverse and humble warrior – is a wonderful way to counteract the effects of cold weather.

"Warrior sequences engage the biggest muscle groups of the body – glutes, quads and back muscles – and help to reduce shoulder and neck tension. Flowing between warrior poses, or even holding poses for a few breaths before transitioning, can be a simple way to sequence a home practice in the colder months,” she advises. 

6 Reasons to add yoga into your training routine

In the world of physical activity, it seems as though there are two kinds of people: those who do cardio, and those who do yoga. The two activities couldn’t be more different, one can involve moderate to big intensity and involve lots of endurance, while the other is slower and gentler (although still a good workout.) Both forms of exercise offer plenty of benefits, and the opposite nature of the two is why endurance athletes can get a lot of value from doing a little downward dog once in a while. If you’re not convinced, check out these reasons why you should add a yoga practice into your training schedule.

1. Yoga is a great form of active recovery

If you’re feeling beat up from training, it’s a good idea to take a day off to allow your body to recover. Instead of doing nothing that day–which is still fine–yoga is a great way to add gentle movement into your day to help you release some tension in your body, stretch out some tight muscles and bring your body into a more relaxed state. This may actually help you recover better than you would have by doing zilch, and you’ll return to training refreshed and ready to go.

2. It helps you get in tune with your body

Most yoga practices emphasize paying attention to and listening to your body. Practising regularly will teach you to be more in tune with your body, not only when you’re doing yoga, but also when you’re out doing a workout. This may allow you to catch signs of injury, over-training and burnout sooner than you would otherwise, because you’re better able to pick up on your body’s subtle cues that something is off.

3. You’ll improve your mental game

Yoga is great for your mind, and can teach you how to focus, tune out unwanted thoughts and remain calm under stress. Anyone who’s ever dealt with race-day jitters will appreciate how valuable these skills are for triathletes, and the ability to control your mind before and during a race can help you perform well, even when the pressure is on.

4. It reduces stress

Long workouts can be be very hard on your body. According to Harvard Health, incorporating a few minutes of yoga into your weekly routine can help slow your body down and reduce that stress. This will help you in a number of ways, including improving your mood, boosting your immune system and helping you sleep.

5. It improves flexibility

While a certain amount of tightness in your muscles is a good thing for triathletes, too much tightness puts you at risk for tears, strains and other injuries. Regular yoga can help to stretch some of those tight muscles back out, and loosen up areas of the body that are holding onto tension. For those of you who are worried about too much stretching, if the amount of swimming, biking and running you’re doing in a week is exceeding the amount of yoga, you’re unlikely to become too flexible.

6. Yoga teaches you how to breathe

Learning to control your breath while you’re training will help you stay relaxed in the middle of a hard workout or race. Since yoga focuses so heavily on matching your breath with your movements, it’s a great way to teach breath control, a lesson you can take with you on the bike.

Mo Farah: Nine Running Tips

Mo Farah – Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion (twice), World 5,000m and 10,000m champion (twice) and 2:05 Marathoner. Someone we could all get a few running tips from.

The Sweat Elite team spent a month training in Sululta, Ethiopia in January 2019, whilst Mo Farah and Mudane Team were training towards the London Marathon 2019.

Here are 9 basic running tips from Mo Farah:

For A Quick Energy Boost… “Chocolate – usually dark chocolate – is good for an energy boost. There are all manner of sports snacks that pretend to do wonderful things, but I mostly like to stick to the basics.”

How to Keep Motivated… “When you’re competing, keep reminding yourself how much work has led to that moment. The training you’ve done means you deserve to perform well. That gives a huge confidence boost.”

How Important Are Recovery Days? “The day after a tough workout, you never want to push your body again. The most you should do is a comfortable run (or two) and/or cross training. Don’t have your heart rate up high again.”

Should you carry water during a race?“Drink immediately before or after a 5K or 10K run, but not during it. Running with a bottle puts more pressure on whatever side of your body it’s weighing down, and running well is all about balance.”

Keeping Warm Before The Race… “The morning before a race, I always have to wear my leggings to warm up my muscles. It’s weird, but if I don’t wear leggings in the morning, then I can’t compete in the afternoon. It’s a psychological thing. My coach once said: ‘It’s hot, it’s 80 degrees, take the leggings off!’ But I couldn’t.”

Increase Your Mileage Gradually… “Do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 per cent every month. No matter how good you feel, be very gradual. You won’t know you’re overdoing it until it’s too late.”

Strengthen Your Whole Body… “Good runners condition their whole bodies. The arms drive the legs. Keep your upper body and core toned with a lot of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and back raises. Stay away from machine weights and stick to Pilates, climbing, and dynamic flexibility work like yoga.”

Think About Your Posture… “Every motion your body makes should propel you directly forward. If your arms are crossing or you are over-striding, you’re losing force. Your posture should be straight, and your striding foot should land directly underneath you.”

Stay On The Trails If Possible… “Pavement damages joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles. The more you can run on grass, woodchips or dirt, the better off you are. My athletes run 90 percent of their workouts on soft surfaces.”

Want to be a stronger runner? Pay attention to your piriformis

Many runners may not be aware of the piriformis muscle until they experience an injury or inflammation–we’re here to help you prevent that from happening.  The piriformis is found in the buttocks area and works to stabilize the hip and pelvis.

The piriformis helps you upwardly rotate the hip and leg smoothly as you run, a key factor in running performance. If the piriformis is tight or becomes inflamed, it can cause intense pain and discomfort in the hip and leg, and impact performance.

Try adding these exercises to your mobility routine if you have one, or move through them when watching a TV show at night. Netflix and piriformis mobility is 2023’s Netflix and chill.

Seated piriformis stretch

Sit on the edge of a chair with your affected leg crossed over your other leg. Place your ankle on the opposite knee and gently press down on the raised knee to feel a stretch in the buttocks.

Pigeon pose

Start in a downward-facing dog position. Bring your affected leg forward and place it behind your hands, keeping your knee bent. Lower your hips towards the ground until you feel a stretch in the buttocks.

Lunge stretch

Step forward with your affected leg and lower your back knee to the ground. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in the buttocks–this also targets your hip flexors and is a great mobility exercise for runners to do regardless of whether they are experiencing lower leg issues.

Clamshells

Lie on your side with your hips and knees bent. Lift your top knee up while keeping your feet together–banded clamshells are also a great option if you feel clamshells are not intense enough.

If you have a few extra minutes and are looking for a full mobility workout to tackle the piriformis area and start boosting strength and mobility, try this slightly longer yoga routine. You’ll enjoy the mellow-mind yoga benefits and really soothe and strengthen the piriformis area.

Yoga vs. Stretching: New Science Says One Is Better For Well-Being

It's easy to take a yoga class and think: Isn't this just stretching? Well, a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology investigated exactly this question—and the answer is no. In fact, this new research shows that yoga isn't just different; it has additional benefits that stretching alone does not.

Studying the difference between yoga & stretching. 

The three-month study was conducted on a group of 60 participants with existing hypertension and metabolic syndrome. The researchers divided the participants into two groups, both of which had to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise training five times a week. Then, one group added 15 minutes of structured yoga, while the other group added structured stretching to their routine.

The researchers collected data on the health of the participants and observed markers like blood pressure, body size and shape, C-reactive protein (a common marker of inflammation), glucose and lipids levels, as well as overall cardiovascular risk. 

After three months, the data collected showed that both groups had a decrease in resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, and heart rate. But systolic blood pressure was reduced by 10 mmHg in the yoga group compared to only 4 mmHg in the stretching group. The yoga approach also reduced resting heart rate and 10-year cardiovascular risk assessed using Reynold's Risk score, which is a person's risk of having a heart attack before the age of 60.

Interpreting these results.

Not to knock stretching (which is a key component of a healthy recovery routine), but yoga seems to have additional benefits that researchers are hoping to study in the future. They may have something to do with yoga's focus on the breath and mind-body connection, which differentiates it from stretching alone. As a lead investigator Paul Poirier, M.D., Ph.D., explained in a news release, "Our study shows that structured yoga practices can be a healthier addition to aerobic exercise than simply muscle stretching."

Everyone's ideal movement routine will be a little different. But if you're a busy person looking to get the most benefit in the shortest amount of time, turning on a 15-minute yoga video may be more effective than a 15-minute stretching routine (especially if you're craving some relaxation and stress relief).

If you're looking for more inspiration to get on the mat, know that in addition to cardiovascular health, yoga has been shown to benefit bone and joint health, which are key to staying limber and active throughout your life. 

To support mobility and healthy bones and joints, you can start with this 15-minute yoga routine—which is the same duration as the yoga session in the study. Combine it with other mobility-supporting habits like eating high-quality proteins and healthy fats and taking a supplement that supports joint health and fends off inflammation that can sabotage your mobility. Here's a list of solid options to start with.

How to quickly react to, and heal from sports injuries

While playing sports, either professionally or just as a hobby, accidents happen suddenly, causing minor or major injuries. While prevention strategies can help you avoid them, an unexpected collision when you make a wrong move can result in serious and painful injuries. Therefore, be ready to react as soon as this happens, and if it’s serious, seek medical assistance immediately. In that way, you protect yourself from the worst outcome, and if you’ve been through this, follow the article for some tips on how to heal from a sports injury.

React Immediately

Some sports injuries can’t be treated and healed at home, so you need to react quickly. For instance, it often happens that one sprains or breaks an ankle doing a usual exercise, and it can have certain consequences. For that reason, check out the valuable pieces of advice at Science of Rehab, and let the healthcare professionals help you heal the injury. A sprained or broken ankle can cause you a lot of trouble, especially if it isn’t treated as it should be, so don’t put yourself in danger of having serious consequences. Seek medical treatment, be disciplined, and take care of it in the future.

Make Use of the Rice Method

The “rice” abbreviation stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation, which are major treatments for your tissue injury. The first step after the injury is to stop your activity immediately and rest for the first two days. Resting prevents any further injury, so this step is highly important. Further, apply ice for twenty minutes every three hours during the first days of being injured. The cold will prevent swelling and pain in your injured area. After that, wrap the injured area with an elastic medical bandage, which shouldn’t be too tight as to interrupt blood flow, and at the end, raise the injured body part because it reduces pain, swelling, and throbbing.

Allow the Injured Area to Heal

An injured body part will struggle to heal if you repeatedly use it after an injury. The pain in it is an excellent indicator that you don’t recover properly, so you shouldn’t ignore it. Often, the best possible option is to immobilize the injured body part and rest it completely to allow its complete healing. When you use the injured body part all the time, things might get complicated because an acute injury may become a chronic one, which could be difficult to heal.

Consult a Professional

Minor sports injuries typically heal and improve after two weeks of rest and a break from sport or exercise. A lack of improvement could be a sign you should consult a sports doctor, who’ll help you with clinical examinations and scans that will warn you to focus on a faster recovery with minor complications. Understanding your injury will facilitate your physical and mental recovery significantly. Also, you should consult your doctor about the exercise regime, which will help the healing process and ensure that appropriate milestones are achieved.

Food Can Help You

Just because you’ve injured yourself doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay fit and healthy. First, if you’ve injured your knee, exercise your upper body with weightlifting. If you’re healing a shoulder injury, do some yoga or exercises for the lower body. Also, take care of the foods and supplements that can help the body heal faster. 

Eat protein-rich foods like fish and meat, and eat citrus fruits, which are full of vitamin C that rebuilds tissues and has anti-inflammatory properties. Omega-3 fatty acids are great supplements you can find in chia seeds, salmon, and walnuts. As a result, choose your groceries carefully and avoid gaining too much weight, as this will also slow down your healing process.

Be Patient

This last step is often difficult when recovering from a sports injury, particularly over a longer period of time. Many athletes start their sports activities before they’re really ready, which often leads to re-injury and a much longer recovery period. One of the best ways to recover, among all the other tips, is to practice patience during the recovery and resist the urge to push your body too quickly. If you let your body heal at its own pace, you’ll be rewarded with a complete recovery and a bright future in sports.

In summary, a fast recovery from a sports injury requires discipline, medical expertise, and lots of patience. Seeking guidance from specialists while being responsible and careful not to further complicate the injury can make a significant difference in recovery time. Therefore, try to avoid negative thoughts or wrong tips from people who can’t help you, and your healing process will be easy and complete.

Yoga for feet, toes and ankles: give your neglected lower limbs some help

You probably don’t pay enough attention to your feet. We’re all guilty of it–even those of us that fit mobility and strength work into our training routine tend to focus on quads and hamstrings, the larger leg muscles. As a runner, your feet probably take a fair bit of abuse, and the smaller muscles there deserve some care and attention.

Not only will your feet feel amazing after these stretches, they’ll also be better equipped to handle the uneven terrain you run over in winter or on trails, providing stability to the rest of your body. Keeping your feet mobile and flexible can be a game changer–healthy, strong feet lead to more efficient, pain-free running.

Easy ways to target feet and ankles

Try these simple stretches when you’re watching TV, or while sitting at your desk. Get started by rolling your ankles in gentle circles. From a seated position, try lacing your fingers through your toes to clasp your foot, and gently guiding it in circles.

Scrunch your toes up tightly and release, repeating a few times. Finally, place your feet flat on the ground and (without using your hands) stretch your toes out as widely as possible, gripping the ground with them (think of a lizard). Hold for a few seconds, release, and repeat.

Toe squat

Sitting in a toe squat can be challenging, and you’ll notice immediately if your feet are tight. While you can stay in this pose for several minutes to really give your feet and toes a release, it’s OK to start small at first and release when you need to.

Kneel on the floor with your toes tucked under and heels up. Aim to be on the balls of the feet, not the tippy toes. Reach down and tuck the little toes under if they’re escaping.

Slowly shift your hips back so your butt rests on your heels and you feel a deep stretch. Hold for 30 seconds to two minutes. Focusing on keeping a nice, steady breath can be helpful to make the time pass and lessen the intensity.

To release, shift forward, place your hands on the ground and untuck your toes. If it feels good, tap your feet on the ground as a release.

Modifications

If the feeling in your feet becomes too much, shift forward onto your knees to take the weight off your feet at any point, coming back to the pose when you’re ready. Intensity is fine here (and expected) but if the posture is actually painful, come out.  If having your knees on the ground is uncomfortable, place a folded blanket under them to add more cushioning.

To deepen the stretch, shift your hips further back.

Ankle stretch (also targets the feet)

This pose follows the deep foot stretch perfectly, and you can move right into it, or take a break and come back.

Return to a kneeling position with feet flat on the ground, toes untucked. Bring fingertips to the floor next to your hips or place them on blocks (stacks of books work just fine).

Sit back onto your heels and shift your weight back as you lift your knees off the floor. You’ll start to feel a stretch around your ankles and the tops of your feet.

Modifications

If your feet feel uncomfortable on your mat or the ground, try adding a folded blanket there for cushioning.

To take the stretch deeper, place your hands on your knees and gently pull them toward you.

Tennis ball massage for feet

Try this short, guided tennis ball massage for your feet to help release every inch.

Make a strong, healthy comeback to running with these tips

"Hurry slowly," says ultrarunner Emelie Forsberg.

Whether you’re returning from injury or took some time off of running because of low motivation or life stress, we have some tips from pro ski mountaineer and ultrarunner Emelie Forsberg, author of Sky Runner, on making your comeback. Norway-based Forsberg (who is ultrarunning GOAT Kilian Jornet‘s partner) has returned to racing after having two children, navigated knee surgery, and maintained her delight in training the entire time. Follow her lead and make a smooth return to tackling your running goals.

Find your motivation

Forsberg suggests taking a deep mental dive into what you love about running. She notes that your motivation and goals may have changed since you first began, and that’s OK. “Listen to your body and adjust your training according to the new circumstances,” she says.

When I went through a stressful period, I had trouble focusing on anything other than the negative: I was fitting in less mileage and running more slowly than I had ever before. Reminding myself that running and moving my body in general (walking was good, too) helped me stay healthy mentally was a great way to adjust my focus, and I was able to move through that period without being too hard on myself.

Build endurance through adventure

Forsberg says she loves taking a day to run solo between huts in the mountains. While that might be a bit ambitious for most, you can adapt similar practices to incorporate fun adventures into training and keep it fresh. Heading to a new-to-you location to fit in a longer run, or exploring with friends, and pausing for a fun lunch can be great ways to keep your journey back to peak form gentle and enjoyable.

Forsberg also suggests building endurance through double sessions–but rather than doing double runs, she will ski for part of the day, then switch to running. “The body is already tired, but you end up using different muscles,” she explains. “The training is gentle as your body is tired, but not from running, so your running muscles are still fresh.

Alternate your training

Not feeling like getting out for your usual run? Forsberg says to skip it. “Do something else instead: yoga, aerobics, dance, ice skating, cycling, boxing–the list is endless.” Removing some of the pressure you put on yourself to follow your plan and moving your body in other ways will keep you feeling fresh and motivated.

Returning to running after some time off can be challenging, and navigating the challenges with a mindset focused on seeking joy, and accepting and having fun in the process will make the time fly by and bring healthy nuance to the way you view your training.