Marathon You Can Do It

To run faster you need to be leaner. Just look at the world beating Kenyans, they are razor thin. Off cause you dont need to be that thin to achieve your running goals.

To understand why a leaner person is faster than overweight person look at this example.

Lets compare an a Subaru and an Audi, The Audi has more horsepower (335), but that horsepower has to pull a bigger mass (4,300 pounds). The Subaru has a little less horsepower (300), but since it has to move less weight (3,300 pounds), it’s much more nimble and can accelerate like a bullet.

When you run the biggest load is your body weight. The heavier you are the more fuel you need, and the more water you need. The lungs and heart of a heavy person will need to work twice as hard as of a lean person to do similar work.

So, if you want to improve on your running times, cut on those extra pounds. The more weight you lose the faster you can run.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Goals, heart, lungs, Overweight Person, Running Times, Subaru, Weight Lose

Last week was a rest week.I took a one week rest from running. I had been running for four weeks non-stop and my last 28 K long run had been difficult than usually. I had struggle for breath during the last miles and I thought I needed to give my body a rest.

Sometimes you need to take a step backward to make two steps forward.

Rest and getting stronger

Taking a period of time out during a training program is good for your running. The rest period will give your body extra time to recover from the stress of running. Joint muscles are in constant action during running and the impact of road running leads to small tissue tears. A prolonged rest period will allow complete rest of joint muscles and total healing of the tissue tears. Once the body recovers you will be a stronger runner.

Best time to take an extra rest from running.

When you feel your run times are getting slower. Another indicator is if you feel your legs are getting heavier or you are struggling to breath, which is a sign of tired lungs.

Rest can be a stimulant

That one week of rest stimulated my appetite for running. I kept longing for the next run and feeling confident about it.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Appetite, Best Time, Extra Time, Legs, lungs, Marathon Training, muscles, Period Of Time, Rest Period, Running, Stanchart Marathon, Stimulant, Stress, Struggle, Time Out, Two Steps

Skinny guys are ever trying to gain muscle. Piling on more food alone has never worked but a program of food and weight training works!

Take note of these tips and you will maximize your chances of building muscle.

1. Eat sufficient for muscle growth.

Calorie, calories & calories. Eat foods rich in calories and nutrients.

2. Eat Often.

Don’t go longer than four hours without eating.

3. Eat sufficient protein

Even if you train hard, the maximum amount of protein you need for muscle building is about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. A little more or less will not make much difference.

4. Start lifting those weights

Food alone won´ t make you gain muscle and weight.

5. Train with high volume and medium intensity

“Volume” is the quantity of sets and repetitions you do and “intensity” is how much weight you choose. For each weight training exercise set, perform 10 to 15 lifts with less than a minute break between sets. Lactic acid causes that burning sensation in muscles when you exercise intensely and this appears to stimulate muscle growth, perhaps from an increase in growth hormone production.

6. Train three times a week

At least 3 sessions per week should provide sufficient volume of exercise to create a muscle-building stimulus.

7. Don´t do intense exercise

Intense exercise such as running, while good for cardio, lungs and heart are to intense and might make you lose more weight. Do moderate jogging and focus on weight lifting.

Keep seeking more information and Good luck

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Building Muscle, Building Muscles, Burning Sensation, Calories, Good Luck, Growth Hormone, High Volume, Hormone Production, Intense Exercise, lungs, Medium Intensity, Muscle Building, Muscle Gaining Tips, Muscle Growth, Nutrients, Repetitions, Skinny Guys, Stimulus, Weight Training, Weights

The biggest dilemma in running is, you try to run faster but your lungs always let you down. Running is a cardiovascular exercise, if you can improve on your breathing and how to get more oxygen into your lungs you are guaranteed to run faster.

Runners World January 2009 Issue had a great article on how you can improve on how you get more oxygen into your lungs by doing a couple of simple exercises.

To quote from the article “Just as we strength-train our hamstrings and calves to improve our ability to power over hills, we can tone the muscles used for breathing. “Exercise improves the conditioning of the diaphragm, the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen, and the intercostal muscles, which lie between the ribs and enable you to inhale and exhale,” says Everett Murphy, M.D., a runner and pulmonologist at Olathe Medical Center in Olathe, Kansas. “When you take a breath, 80 percent of the work is done by the diaphragm. If you strengthen your diaphragm, you may improve your endurance and be less likely to become fatigued.”

Any exercise that works on your core area such as sit ups will improve the muscles around the diaphragm.

Best breathing method : The mouth or the nose?

The experts interviewed for the article swore by the mouth, the wider is your mouth open while running the better your breathing. I once tried running with my mouth shut and I swear it was horrible.

The chest breathing or the belly breathing.

I was a little bit surprised to learn belly breathing is the recommended method of breathing for runners. When you chest breathe, your shoulders get tense and move up and down. That’s wasted energy-energy you should conserve for running.

Great stuff!!

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: breathing, Exercise, fitness, lungs, Marathon Running, Marathon Training, Runners