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newssplashy · 6 years

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Gibbard had completed his first marathon in Los Angeles earlier in the year, a major accomplishment he then considered to be the pinnacle of human endurance.

When Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard discovered ultrarunning in 2011, he couldn’t have been more unprepared.

Gibbard had completed his first marathon in Los Angeles earlier in the year, a major accomplishment he then considered to be the pinnacle of human endurance. So when he registered for a 30k (about 18.6 mile) race at San Francisco’s Marin Headlands, the indie rock icon assumed he wouldn’t be as challenged by the shorter distance.

He was wrong.

“I showed up at the race, and it’s this massive green space, just hundreds of thousands of acres of trails and stuff,” Gibbard told MensHealth.com. “I turn to some guy and I’m like, ‘Hey, where’s this race going? The road goes the other direction?’ He looked at me like I was an idiot. ‘Dude, we’re going up there, it’s a trail race.’ I was like, what?”

Trail and ultrarunners traverse terrain you’ll never find on standard city marathon courses, following paths through hills, mountains, and everything else the great outdoors can throw at them. Races range from 30k events to grueling tests of will and stamina of up to 100 miles and more, which can take more than 24 hours to finish (a seasoned veteran now, Gibbard’s best 100 mile time is 25:18:28).

That first 30k run was a rough one for Gibbard. “I was wrecked at the end of it,” he admitted. “But I was totally hooked. I was like, what is this sport?”

Now, seven years and thousands of trail miles later, with Death Cab for Cutie's ninth studio album Thank You For Today ready for release, Gibbard shared how running has affected his life as a musician.

Running to Change

After almost a decade of near-constant touring, Gibbard found himself in a fitness rut back in 2007. "I remember being on this elliptical and thinking about how boring this was, and then looking over at the treadmill and thinking, ‘You know, I wonder if I can run 2 miles,’" he said. "It was just going to start like that, it was never an, 'I’m going to change my life' type of moment."

Even though he didn't make a conscious decision to change his behavior at that point, Gibbard would eventually leave the rock and roll lifestyle behind, getting sober and refocusing his priorities. By 2011, he had set himself on the path to ultrarunning.

Gibbard threw himself totally into the sport, finishing his first 50-mile race in 2013, then his first 100km and 100-miler the next year. “I’m kind of an off or on kind of person,” Gibbard admitted.

To even train to compete in ultra races, you most certainly have to be on; the lead-up regimen alone calls for hours-long sessions of running dozens of miles per week. That's a rough task for anyone, let alone the frontman of an internationally-renowned touring rock band. Gibbard has to fit his runs in on the road, finding trails and courses along the way.

There’s no way to be cocky. Because you’re gonna get got. You\'re gonna get humbled.

But for Gibbard, all the hard work is worth it. He considers his training sessions a crucial opportunity to shift his focus away from his work.

"[Running] has provided me a way to remove myself from the creative process for periods of time," he reflected. "There was a time in which music was pretty much the only thing in my life. If I was working on a piece of music, I never put it aside...I feel like I’ve gotten so much better perspective on my work when I’m allowing myself to walk away from it and then come back with fresh ears."

To step away from music even further, he prefers NPR and baseball podcasts to playlists on long runs. Gibbard says he avoids tunes because "music marks time," which can drag on during a full day on the trail. One example of his favorite programming: A 12-hour Star Wars radio play from his childhood in the early '80s he put on 30 miles into his first 100 mile race.

Even though he might not intend for this to be the case, Gibbard's music appears to have been affected by his hobby. His lyrics have long fixated on the concepts of distance and the passage of time - "Distance, both metaphorical and literal, has always been very interesting to me creatively," he admits - but in Death Cab For Cutie's new album, Thank You For Today, the themes are more present than ever, with a steady, driving beat that runs throughout its songs like a pacer and a fixation on places and the seasons. All it takes is a look at the track list to see the evidence; one of the songs is actually named "Near and Far."

Perhaps the greatest impact that running has had on Gibbard is the activity's ability to create a kind of inner peace, an intense state of being that he calls a "type of zen place."

During his first 100 mile race, Gibbard entered that zone. "Everything fell away, and it was just this zone where the only thing that existed in the world was my body and this trail that I was following. And I was going to follow it until it ended," he said. "It was a moment that I think people meditate to get to, they use psychedelics to get to.... Ultrarunning is what has taken me there."

Joining the Foot Travelers

Gibbard is far from alone in chasing that feeling. He's proud to be a part of the vibrant, eclectic community of ultrarunners.

"It’s this really amazing community of people who come from all walks of life, and who just share this beautiful craft," he said. "It completely strips you of your ego - even the best ultrarunners still are humbled by the mountains or the trails. There’s no way to be like Usain Bolt out there. There’s no way to be cocky. Because you’re gonna get got. You’re gonna be humbled."

When Gibbard talks about running, he doesn't sound like a man fixated on first-place finishes or record times in every race. His pursuit is clearly more the journey itself.

"There’s a level of physical training you need to accomplish it, but it’s 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental," he said. "It’s something that you want to do because you just want to see if you can do it. Obviously I think we’re all athletes - but I don’t think of us as athletes. I think of us as a different breed of foot traveler."

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petlover18-blog1 · 6 years

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Humidity is her Kryptonite: Austin runner wins Badwater 135-Mile Ultramarathon

New Post has been published on https://www.petlovers.shovelnews.com/humidity-is-her-kryptonite-austin-runner-wins-badwater-135-mile-ultramarathon/

Humidity is her Kryptonite: Austin runner wins Badwater 135-Mile Ultramarathon

Brenda Guajardo does a training run along the course of the Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon, which she won last week. Photo by Luis Escobar

When a marathon falls short, and Austin’s heat feels downright balmy, some folks head to Death Valley to prove their athletic mettle by racing long distances through the desert.

Take Austin ultra runner Brenda Guajardo, 41, the top female finisher in last month’s Badwater 135-Mile Ultramarathon, an invitational race that starts in the Badwater Basin of California and winds its way up into the Sierra Nevada mountains.

RELATED: Ten training hills in Austin to strengthen your legs

Guajardo, an office administrator and event planner, ran through 108 degree temperatures and beneath scorching sun, and climbed a cumulative 14,600 feet of vertical ascent. She finished in 28 hours and 23 minutes, first among all women and fifth overall.

The former aerobics instructor, who took up running in her 20s when she decided aerobics wasn’t keeping her fit enough, has entered the race three other times. She finished eighth female in her first attempt in 2011 and second in 2016.

Brenda Guajardo trains for the Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon, which she won last week. Photo by Luis Escobar

She was favored to win last year but broke her foot from overuse 2 miles in. That injury makes this year’s victory all the more remarkable.

“In the last year I’ve had to relearn how to walk,” she says. “I had a limp I couldn’t get rid of and I had to rebuild my mileage. I made serious adjustments in how I train. I couldn’t do speed work, because it was too much on my foot, so I just did long and high volume at a slow pace.”

The training worked.

At the first checkpoint, at Mile 17, she stood in fifth place. She took over the lead at the second checkpoint, at Mile 42, and held it all the way to the finish. Her pace ranged from speedy, 7-minute, 45-second miles on the downhills to between 14- and 16-minute miles on the final uphill slog to the finish. The second place woman finished 25 minutes behind her.

The temperatures took their toll. In the blazing sun, heat radiated from the pavement. “It’s strictly asphalt, all road,” she says. “It definitely cooks your skin.”

Guajardo said that temperatures at the race this year felt relatively comfortable, thanks to the hours she spent training in the Texas heat.

“The humidity in Austin is my Kryptonite. Racing in the desert feels like a vacation compared to the insanity of Austin’s high heat with high humidity,” she says.

Guajardo, who crossed the finish time of her first marathon in 1997 in a not-so-speedy 6 hours, prepared for Badwater by spending 90 minutes in a 140-degree dry sauna, then running outdoors in Austin. She also trained in the Big Bend area to simulate the conditions in Death Valley.

Brenda Guajardo runs at this year’s Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon. Photo courtesy Adventure Corps Inc.

“You teach your stomach how to process fluid in high volume,” she says. “It teaches your body how to sweat very fast and push water out. On race day I put ice-filled bandanas around my neck and my crew sprayed me with water every so many miles.”

But why enter such a grueling event?

“Why not? I think I’m most intrigued by the mind and body connection of what happens when you’re out there. For me personally, I’m very introverted and my job requires me to be very extroverted. To spend an extraordinary number of hours by myself is replenishing. It’s how I gain my energy back.”

Guajardo holds the women’s course record for the Nove Colli 125-mile race in Italy. In 2016 she won Pheidippides Race — a 304-mile race in Greece, where she broke the men’s course record by more than four hours.

Guajardo says she’s not sure what comes next, other than taking some time off for a full recovery, which takes at least a month.

Or maybe enjoying some quality time with her much pet — a turtle named Charlie.

“I consider the turtle my racing animal because turtles represent longevity and patience. … A turtle reminds me to always have patience, never give up. Well, and the obvious — slow and steady wins the race.”

Source: https://www.mystatesman.com/lifestyles/humidity-her-kryptonite-austin-runner-wins-badwater-135-mile-ultramarathon/xkJvw5Q7ZV3ZMrJk7Knn4J/

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watsonrodriquezie · 6 years

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Periodizing Nutrition: The High Fat Approach

I’m excited to introduce a guest post from an elite athlete in the midst of an incredible ultrarunning career. Believe me, not many athletes can write—or do much of anything except perform and veg out on the couch recovering before the next workout. Zach Bitter, record setting ultramarathon runner, is different, as readers of his popular blog already know. Zach holds the American record for the 100-mile run of 11 hours, 47 minutes. That’s running all day—400 laps around a regulation track—at seven-minute per mile pace. Go try to run a single mile in seven minutes to gain a full appreciation for his supreme effort.

Zach has achieved some notoriety in the ultra scene as a dedicated fat-fueled athlete. (You can read his story here.) He dabbles in keto during his base building training cycles, believing that it speeds recovery and reduces the stress impact of his workouts. His fueling strategy for competition is more nuanced, and he has a lot of important things to say on the matter. His post offers insightful commentary about periodization of nutrition. Here is a quick sound bite from Zach about his big picture goals with becoming highly fat- and keto-adapted: “I strongly believe that the less you have to fuel during a race, the better.” Enjoy this message from Zach, and we hope to check in with him again in the future.

Nutrition has continued to come closer to the forefront of conversations everywhere in recent years. Certainly, this is in part due to the ease of access to information, and the seeming growth of all kinds of approaches—which all boast success stories in which the reader can place their faith. It is a fascinating crossroads for many people. When we look at things in black and white it can become quite easy to get confused. How can one nutrition approach work so well for one person, but fail for another? I am a big advocate for starting with some simple principles, and ultimately building from what you find in order to fine-tune things specific to you as an individual. People lead drastically different lifestyles. This makes following someone else’s approach difficult without some fine-tuning to your own personal lifestyle.

It is for this reason my first piece of advice for someone starting their journey into health and nutrition is to turn to whole food options. If not already done, removing fake processed food is a big first step. From there, I see a blank canvas to build from in a way that matches what your goals and lifestyle require.

With that all said, I want to zoom in for the purposes of this article. Fast forward along the journey where you have eliminated all the fake processed garbage, and move into fine-tuning things within a high fat or Primal approach to nutrition.

When you dive into the world of high fat, or keto, nutrition you often find no shortage of people advocating for nearly if not entirely eliminating carbohydrates. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with this approach, at least to start, but do think there is some wiggle room here for those of us who follow a periodized training approach that makes your lifestyle look drastically different at various points of the year. For example; my personal training plan for ultra-marathon races has me at times training for upwards to 20 hours a week when in peak training. These peak training weeks also often include speed and strength work. During these phases of training I am a bit more liberal with the amount of Primal approved carbohydrates I eat. On the other hand, there are weeks of the year when my number one goal in regards to training is to simply rest and recover. During these times of year I do not have a need for carbohydrates, and in fact, have found reason to believe they can even be counterproductive. For me, these phases of the year are met with a more clinical definition of a ketogenic diet (30-50 grams of carbohydrate per day).

This “fuel your lifestyle approach” presents a greater need to be a bit more flexible with nutrition than a typical “plug and play” approach you might find that would have you eating basically the same things all the time. I find this exciting and motivating, as I can always look forward to some change or variance in food groups when I am going in and out of different phases of training.

Where to begin? In a perfect world everyone I work with would come to me at the onset of their training plan, or priority goal—whether that be a race, event, or simply to improve their fitness and health. For purposes here I will start from the beginning. If you find yourself part way, you can look where you are, and find a logical jump-in point. The beauty of this approach is you can always revisit it from the beginning when you finish your current goal, hit the reset button, and plan your next adventure or fitness goal.

Jump-Starting Your Fat-Burning Engine

My goal with this program is not necessarily to get you to be as fat-adapted as possible, but to get you fat-adapted enough to maximize performance, and avoid the pitfalls that being a “sugar burner” can bring. If you are already following a ketogenic diet, you might not recognize much change during this phase, which is intended to flip the metabolic switch towards burning fat as the primary fuel source. This switch is most quickly done by cutting the carbs so low that your body has no choice but to burn fat. Those coming from a ketogenic background will find this phase to be smooth sailing as you have already flipped the metabolic switch. For those folks, you can see this as matching your lifestyle intensities with your nutrition.

For those on this journey for the first time patience is key. My number one piece of advice is to avoid looking at all things you cannot have, but rather take advantage of the luxury we have in modern times by focusing on the vast array of options you can have that are a grocery store trip away. If you are looking for some great recipes that fit nicely within this phase’s framework I encourage you to check out the recipes in, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier, and/or The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, by Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney.

Regardless of whether this is your first attempt at strict keto, or a continuation of what you have done, this phase is coupled with recovery from your previous training cycle, and a gradual reintroduction of building a strong aerobic base. This is good practice for athletes of all disciplines as even building strength and power is better accomplished when a strong aerobic base is in place. The short and simple way of describing this phase is to match slow burn activities with slow burn fuel sources. Rest assured, you are providing your body with the framework to build from as you continue to progress.

Putting In the Time

As you find yourself developing along the aerobic framework and your training volume is beginning to reach its peak, you’ll find yourself with less time between workouts. Workouts are longer in duration, and in some cases with highly trained athletes, you are doing more than just one workout per day. Essentially, you are shortening the window of rest between efforts as your body becomes adapted and more resilient to the lower volume phase. This shorter window marks the time when you may find it useful to introduce a few more Primal approved carbohydrate sources. Relatively speaking, this is still quite low when compared to a high(er) carbohydrate approach. You will still gather a vast majority of your nutrition from fat.

Letting your body be your guide is very useful as you move into this phase. It is during this phase where I look for some telltale signs from my clients and myself. It’s okay to enter this phase following your strict ketogenic approach, but don’t be too bull-headed if you notice feeling flat or sluggish during workouts. When you start to notice that you are feeling a little flat, it’s a good sign that a small increase in Primal approved carbohydrates is wise. I recommend starting with small increments of reintroduction as a way to avoid going overboard.

A good rule of thumb is to start by shifting up your carbohydrate intake by five percent. If you notice that you feel stronger and more energetic during your workouts, you found the sweet spot. A little bit goes a long way during this phase, because a strong fat-burning engine has been built, and the addition of a small increase in carbohydrate will provide more bang for your buck when compared to a nutritional approach that is already heavily based in carbohydrates. Rest assured, you are not sabotaging the developed fat burning engine. A heavy reliance on fat is still in place here as the great majority of fuel you are giving your body is still coming from fat. Consider it optimizing.

Bringing In the Bang

With a very strong aerobic base thoroughly established, and the fat engine burning hot, it is time to sharpen the spear. Sharpening the spear is a phase in training I call, “unsustainable year round.” The reason for this is not because it is bad. It is simply a phase that will eventually require a mental and physical break to be able to do it again, and to continue to improve. It is a fun, but challenging phase of training, and I personally keep it enjoyable by stepping away from it at the end of a training cycle.

During this phase, since peak work is done to reach a goal, it also marks the phase of the cycle where the highest ratio of Primal approved carbohydrate sources is optimal. Similar to the last phase, it is not a drastic change, or a change that will sabotage the ability to turn to high reliance on fat as fuel, but rather taking advantage of the phase of the cycle where benefits from a fuel source that burns hot is present. I like to describe the carbohydrates in this phase as rocket fuel. A little bit goes a long way, and gives you a big punch, but going overboard can burn you up.

Similar to the previous phase, letting the body be the guide is a great starting point. If you notice a missing gear during intensity sessions, that’s the spot where a small increase of Primal approved carbohydrates is in order. Focusing on things like berries, melons, tubers, and raw honey are some “go to” options during this phase. Enjoying this phase as a way to broaden the range of food choices, or practice a couple different cooking recipes, is a good mindset during this phase.

Individual experiences will vary, but generally speaking, this phase can benefit from around twenty percent of your nutrition coming from Primal approved carbohydrates. Training volume can play a significant role, so if you’re following a program on the lower end of volume, less carbohydrates can be brought back. If this is the case (or prior experience would indicate adhering to a strict ketogenic approach has worked well), starting with small increments of carbohydrate reintroduction is the best plan of action. If that last gear isn’t coming back with small increments, continuing to add small amounts back is the next step.

A question or fear often expressed during this phase is losing fat burning potential. Remembering the goal here is important. This is not a phase that will be in place year round. A return to a stricter ketogenic approach is on the horizon. Even with the increase in carbohydrate, a high level of fat-burning is still necessary to meet your metabolic needs, because even at twenty percent carbohydrate the majority (60-70 percent) of nutrition is coming from fat.

Coupled with this, during this phase, being mindful of rest and recovery are important aspects. Challenging efforts need to be matched with proper rest and recovery. When programming training during this phase, it is routine to build in what is called de-load weeks. This is where approximately a week of reduced volume and intensity will give the body and mind a break—and the opportunity to grow and improve from all the hard work. This also provides the opportunity to scale back on carbohydrates for a week and return to the highest of fat burning states. During this phase when a de-load week is in session, dropping back to a more strict ketogenic nutrition plan is appropriate.

The Hay Is In the Barn

Once adequately peaked for an event, adventure, or fitness goal it is time to redirect priority from some of the hardest work to resting. This does not mean shutting things down altogether, but rather a reduction in the frequency of intensity sessions and volume. Similar to the de-load weeks, this affords the opportunity to scale down on carbohydrates. This also allows you to once again remind the body that fat is the primary fuel source.

This is the phase at which high carbohydrate folks will begin chatting about “carbo loading.” I find it fascinating how carbo loading has come to be defined in recent years. For many, this means a high carbohydrate diet is coupled with a barrage of even more carbohydrates the day or two before an event. For the fat-burning athlete, it looks different. The carbo loading practice is a week long process as opposed to a final excuse for gluttony. The first four to five days is met with strict ketogenic nutrition. Again, we are programming the body to burn high levels of fat.

One final nudge or reminder… When two days out from the event or adventure, a small reintroduction of carbohydrates will be adequate for your metabolic needs. The way to view these days is similar to the intensity phase of training. It is not full-fledged high carbohydrate, but rather more along the lines of approximately twenty percent of intake; similar to the intensity phase.

Final Notes

What you can expect within this framework is a much lower reliance of carbohydrates to fuel activities. In an event or adventure, this means the need to constantly bombard the digestive tract with frequent refeeds and engineered fuel will be minimized. My personal experience has been a reduction of at least fifty percent in competition fueling along with a much more stable flow of energy. The peaks and valleys experienced on a high carbohydrate approach are no longer a concern.

Thanks again to Zach Bitter for sharing his experience and expertise in today’s post. You can follow Zach on his blog as well as his social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube).

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cristinajourdanqp · 6 years

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Periodizing Nutrition: The High Fat Approach

Jump-Starting Your Fat-Burning Engine

Putting In the Time

Bringing In the Bang

The Hay Is In the Barn

Final Notes

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ramialkarmi · 6 years

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A world-record holder who runs 100-mile races says the high-fat diet Silicon Valley loves transformed his body and performance

Many experts think that by eating a high-fat or keto diet, it's possible to become a more efficient fat burner and get more energy from ketones.

Intermittent fasting may have a similar effect, helping people become better at fueling themselves from fat.

Ultramarathon world-record holder Zach Bitter recently explained how changing his diet helped improve his performance.

Our bodies might work better when we're burning fat as fuel.

From a health perspective, burning fat rather than primarily getting fuel from carbs might help stabilize blood sugar. From an athletic perspective, being a fat-burner might help some people recover more quickly and perform at a higher level.

Zach Bitter is an ultra-marathon runner who holds the world record for the longest distance run in 12 hours (101.77 miles). On a recent episode of his new podcast, Human Performance Outliers, Bitter discussed his decision to switch to a keto-like diet designed to turn him into a more efficient fat-burner.

In 2011, Bitter said, he'd been eating what most would consider a healthy, whole-food, high-carb diet that might be expected of someone running 50-mile races. But he was hurting, waking up throughout the night, seeing his energy levels fluctuate, and dealing with chronic swelling in his ankles.

Instead of cutting back on racing, he changed what he ate, embarking on a whole-food, high-fat diet. He cut out most carbohydrates, relying instead on foods like stir frys, bacon, eggs, nuts, and seeds. He often cooked with coconut oil or duck fat.

Although he still consumed some carbs while racing, Bitter said the dietary changes made him feel less need to eat while running. And overall, he felt better.

"It was pretty eye-opening to me — in the first four weeks, all of those symptoms going away, the swelling, the sleeping [problems], the energy levels throughout the course of the day," Bitter said on the podcast.

Why going high-fat or keto might help

Becoming a more efficient fat-burner is the main idea behind the popular keto diet and behind intermittent-fasting programs as well. There are even new supplements designed to push your body to become a supercharged, fat-burning — or "fat-adapted" — machine.

Most of us burn sugar for fuel first. Our bodies burn through easily accessible glycogen energy stores, which we get from breaking down carbohydrates. After we burn through our supply of those, our bodies can eventually start getting energy via ketones, which are produced from fatty acids (basically, energy from fat).

People whose bodies are more used to burning fat tend to get more energy from ketones on a regular basis, not just after they run out of sugar fuel.

Fasting may be the most efficient way to get your body more accustomed to fueling itself via ketones. But a low-carb, high-fat diet can do the same thing over time.

Becoming fat-adapted for performance's sake

The effect that fat adaptation has on performance has been debated over time.

In 2015, sports nutrition researcher Louise Burke wrote in the journal Sports Medicine that although she had thought researchers put the "nail in the coffin" on the idea that fat adaptation was beneficial, there did seem to be evidence that low-carb, high-fat diets may help in certain cases.

Bitter credits his dietary switch with helping him build the strength to become a world-record holding racer.

Within a few weeks of the change, he said he noticed improvements. But it took about two years before things really "clicked" with regard to his performance, Bitter said on the podcast.

"In the fall and winter of 2013, I was able to race and recover and race again and hit some training blocks in between at a frequency that I never would have thought possible earlier," he said.

That December, he set his world record.

When it comes to nutrition, however, approaches that work for some people don't work for everyone. Bitter understands that.

"Everyone is different — it was developing what worked for me, for my lifestyle," he previously told Business Insider.

Still, he said most of the runners he's coached have gotten at least some boost from trying a high-fat approach during their training.

"From middle- to back-of-the-packers to people who are looking to podium ... if they follow the program right, I have not seen any athlete that has come to me not have a successful outcome from it," he said.

SEE ALSO: The amazing ways intermittent fasting affects your body and brain

Join the conversation about this story »

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rtscrndr53704 · 7 years

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10 ways that running changes your mind and brain

By Christian Jarrett

“One 60-minute run can add 7 hours to your life” claimed The Times last week. The story was based on a new review in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases that concluded that runners live, on average, three years longer than non-runners and that running will do more for your longevity than any other form of exercise. But there’s more to running than its health-enhancing effects. Research published in recent years has shown that donning your trainers and pounding the hills or pavements changes your brain and mind in some intriguing ways, from increasing connectivity between key functional hubs, to helping you regulate your emotions. The precise effects sometimes vary according to whether you engage in intense sprints or long distance running. Here, to coincide with a new feature article in The Psychologist – “Minds run free” – we provide a handy digest of the ways that running changes your mind and brain.

Running changes your brain wiring David Raichlen and his colleagues scanned the brains of young, competitive distance runners and controls while they rested in a scanner with their eyes open for six minutes. As reported in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, the runners showed greater connectivity between the so-called frontal parietal network and other neural regions involved in working memory and self-control, which the researchers interpreted as likely due to the cognitive demands of running and the runners’ increased aerobic fitness. The runners also showed greater “anti-correlation” between their default mode network (the DMN, which sparks into life when we’re resting) and a series of regions involved in motor control and sensation – the researchers said this could indicate that when on the move, the runners are likely to be very cognitively engaged, with their DMN suppressed.

Intense sprints seem to boost your executive function For a study published last year in Preventive Medicine Reports, researchers asked young volunteers (average age 12) to complete several 10-second sprints for ten minutes and then take some cognitive tests. The participants acted as their own controls and on another day (either before or after the sprint day) they completed the same mental tests after 10 minutes of rest. The participants’ performance on the Stroop Test – a long-established measure of mental control or what psychologists call “executive function” – seemed to be enhanced immediately after the sprints and 45 minutes afterwards, as compared with after resting. There were no effects of the sprints on visual-spatial memory performance or basic mental speed (as judged by the Digit Symbol Substitution test). Based on their finding of an apparent benefit of sprints on executive function, Simon Cooper and his colleagues said there was a case for including more opportunities for intense exercise in the school day.

Seven weeks of interval running training can boost your cognitive flexibility For three times per week for seven weeks, a small group of young dinghy sailors spent 45 minutes per session, rising to 90 minutes at the end of the programme, engaged in interval training: running fast for between 200 to 1000m, interspersed with periods of rest. The researchers tested their volunteers’ cognitive function before the training period and afterwards, and compared the outcomes with a control group of young dinghy sailors who just continued their active lifestyle as usual. Writing in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Tomas Venckunas and his colleagues reported that the running group didn’t just get fitter and better at running, but also showed superior gains in their cognitive flexibility: that is, they were better at adapting to rapid switches in task instructions in a keypress task on a computer.

Ridiculously extreme long-distance running shrinks your brain (but it grows back) In 2009, 67 endurance athletes ran nearly 3,000 miles over 64 days, without a single day’s rest, to complete the TransEurope-FootRace ultramarathon. For a paper in BMC Medicine, a team of researchers led by Wolfgang Freund scanned the brains of a sample of these runners before the race, during and eight months afterwards. During the race, the runners’ brains shrunk, in terms of grey matter volume, by about six per cent, an amount that the researchers described as “substantial” considering that normal aging is associated with volume loss of around 0.2 per cent per year. However, at the final scan, the runners’ brains had recovered to their pre-race volume. In a follow-up study in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, the same research team pinpointed the running-related grey matter loss to four key areas, including parts of: temporoparietal cortex, occipitotemporal cortex, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex, and caudate nucleus. Although highly speculative, they noted the overlap of these areas with the Default Mode Network and suggested the observed cell loss in these regions may reflect the combination of the metabolic demands of running combined with a prolonged lack of use of the DMN, the brain’s resting-state network.

The “runners’ high” may be linked to changes in brain chemicals Completing a run can leave you feeling euphoric and several studies suggest this could be down to changes to the brain’s chemical messengers. For instance, a 2008 study in Cerebral Cortex used PET neuroimaging to show that a two-hour run led to enhanced opioid binding across several areas of the brain, as compared with before the run, and that this was associated with subjective feelings of euphoria. This supports the idea that running triggers the increased released of endorphins in the brain – a kind of natural high. A more recent paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology pointed to the importance of other neurotransmitters: the researchers found that an intense treadmill run, but not a walk, was associated with increased circulation of endocannabinoids – endogenous brain chemicals that bind to the same receptors in the brain as cannabis.

Running may quieten your mind Anecdotally, many runners also say that going for a jog has a calming effect, helping their brains dial back on usual levels of worry and rumination. A study published last year in Experimental Brain Research appeared to provide some partial scientific support for this idea. Petra Wollseiffen and her colleagues used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the surface electrical activity of the brains of 11 ultramarathoners several times during a six hour run. Running was associated with reductions in activity in the frontal cortex of the brain, and for the first hour, runners also reported feeling more relaxed and an increased sense of “flow”. However, the levels of decreased brain activity and subjective feelings of flow didn’t correlate so it would be an oversimplification to say that this research shows that running helps you to relax by switching off your brain.

Running increases the growth of new neurons (at least in mice) It was the received wisdom through most of the last century that adults can’t grow new neurons – a process called neurogenesis. It’s now known that this isn’t true: in fact, new neurons continue to grow through life in specific areas of the brain. Interest has turned to the function of these news neurons and ways to encourage their growth. To date, much of the research is on rats and mice, in whom a recurring finding is that running seems to encourage neurogenesis. Take a seminal paper published in Nature in 1999. Fred Gage and his team reported that mice who had the opportunity to choose to run in a spinning wheel exhibited twice the amount of neurogenesis in a part of the hippocampus (a brain region involved in memory and learning), as compared with mice who had no choice but to swim or others who had to complete a water maze. More recent animal research suggests that it is particularly long-distance running, as opposed to interval-style training (short bursts of running) that may increase neurogenesis, perhaps through release of what’s known as “brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)”, a chemical that encourages cell growth.

A short jog may help you regulate your emotions For a 2015 study in Cognition and Emotion, Emily Bernstein and Richard McNally asked volunteers to jog or stretch for 30 minutes and then they showed them a sad clip from the film The Champ. Participants who said they usually struggled to handle negative emotion were more intensely affected by the sad clip, just as you’d expect, but crucially this was less so if they had completed the jog (but not the stretching). The researchers said: “… a bout of moderate aerobic exercise appears to have helped those participants potentially more vulnerable to problematic affective dysregulation to be less susceptible to the impact or lingering effects of the stressor”.

Intense sprints may boost your ability to learn Bernward Winter and his colleagues tested participants’ ability to learn new made-up words for objects after either two intense sprints of three-minutes length, after 40 minutes of gentle running, or after resting. Participants were able to learn 20 per cent faster after the sprints compared with the other conditions, and they showed superior memory retention when tested again a week later. Writing in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, the researchers said the blood measures they took suggested that the participants’ enhanced learning performance after sprints may have been associated with increased levels of dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and BDNF. “This [finding] is pertinent to the organization of learning-supportive environments, e.g., in schools (intense exercise during the breaks),” the researchers said.

Running a marathon seems to wipe your memory of the pain Let’s not romanticise long-distance running. As Daniel Engber observed at Slate last year, “a vast, disturbing literature has now accumulated on the ill effects of running marathons”, particularly all the pain, including chaffing, blisters and cramps. One way that repeat marathon runners seem to cope is that the satisfaction of completing a run gradually wipes their memories for the pain they went through. Researchers demonstrated this for a study published in Memory: they asked marathon runners to report their pain and emotions directly after completing a marathon and then caught up with them again six months later, to ask them to recall their earlier post-marathon pain. The runners tended to have forgotten just how much pain they’d been in, and this was especially true if they’d been on an emotional high at the end of the marathon.

–Want to read more about the psychology of running? Check out this month’s cover feature at The Psychologist about psychologists who run and whether their experiences match the data: Minds run free.

–Image via Giphy.com

Christian Jarrett (@Psych_Writer) is Editor of BPS Research Digest

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2oUkCOg

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rtawngs20815 · 7 years

Text

10 ways that running changes your mind and brain

By Christian Jarrett

–Image via Giphy.com

Christian Jarrett (@Psych_Writer) is Editor of BPS Research Digest

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2oUkCOg

#DIYS

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wellpersonsblog · 7 years

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The Complete Guide to the First 200 Episodes of No Meat Athlete Radio

If I had to guess the average lifespan of a podcast (no luck finding it on Google, I tried), I’d say it’s almost certainly less than ten episodes. Matt would probably say less than two.

So it brings me enormous joy to announce that No Meat Athlete Radio just hit its 200th episode. Two hundred. There are now more episodes of NMA Radio than there are episodes of Seinfeld. And there are a lot of episodes of Seinfeld…

What started as an experiment back in October 2011 has grown and developed, and over the years became one of the primary forms of content on No Meat Athlete. It’s a means for us to share our ideas and the knowledge of others, connect directly with you the listener, and have a dang good time doing it.

As a thank you for sticking and growing with us (through good mics and bad), Matt and I sat down to discuss possible ways to celebrate.

We came up with:

An epic block party, complete with bouncy-house, balloon animals, and face-paint,

Commemorative tattoos, and

A guide to help new listeners navigate the library of episodes.

It was a tough decision, but after concluding no one would show up to our party and tattoos of the running carrot wearing “200” NYE-style glasses were too predictable, we landed on the guide.

So here you have it: The complete guide to the first 200 episodes of No Meat Athlete Radio.

No Meat Athlete Radio, The Highlight Reel

If you’re new to No Meat Athlete or NMA Radio—and the stats tell us that many people are—200 episodes sounds like a daunting number. With years of in-depth interviews, intriguing topic discussions, and laugh-out-loud jokes (mostly at the expense of Matt. Sorry buddy…), where do you start?

The first episode, of course!

Just kidding, you can skip that one.

But according to that episode, this podcast was started as a way to share interviews and highlight voices from members of the plant-based community. While it’s much more than that now, I’d say that theme is still the best place to start.

Our Favorite Interviews

We can read books and talk about someone’s philosophies all we want, but there’s no way better way to learn from someone else than to hear from them directly. That’s why we focus so much on interviewing guests. Here are a few of our most memorable:

1. The Embrace Imperfection Interview with Robert Cheeke

Over the years Robert has become the most interviewed guest on No Meat Athlete Radio, but there’s one conversation in particular that stands out—an honest 2016 conversation where Robert shared his imperfections and how they’ve shaped who he is and what motivates him to improve.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 163: Robert Cheeke on Staying Motivated, Changing Course, and Embracing Imperfection

Bonus: More from Robert here, here, and here.

2. The Most Fun Interview We’ve Had with Sid Garza-Hillman

Sid Garza-Hillman is an ultrarunner, nutritionist, podcaster, YouTuber, author, and small-step advocate, and it was a 2015 interview covering almost every one of those topics that stands out as one of the most interesting (and entertaining) interviews we ever had.

Listen to the Episodes

Episode 107: Sid Garza-Hillman on Meal Planning, Ultrarunning, and Why We Shouldn’t Take Showers

Bonus: More from Sid here and here.

3. The Vegan Lifestyle Interview with Rich Roll

If you’re a vegan athlete, it’s a safe bet you follow Rich Roll. Rich is the bestselling author of Finding Ultra and The PlantPower Way, one of Men’s Fitness’ 25 Fittest Men, and one of the biggest names in our community. He also happens to be one of the first guests we ever had on No Meat Athlete Radio back in 2013.

But today it’s the second interview with Rich that I’d like to share: A two-part conversation on living a vegan lifestyle, raising vegan children, and being your best self.

Listen to the Episodes

Episode 69: Rich Roll On The Plantpower Way – Part 1

Episode 70: Rich Roll On The Plantpower Way – Part 2

4. The Starch Interview with Dr. McDougall

Starch. Not kale or fruits… the humble starch. That’s what Dr. John McDougall, a giant in the plant-based nutrition community, says is key to a healthy diet.

In this interview—a controversial one and the most downloaded NMA Radio interview ever, I might add—Dr. McDougall shares his views on nutrition and what makes for a truly healthy diet.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 165: Dr. McDougall and the Healthiest Diet on the Planet

5. The Family Member Interview Collection

When you record two hundred episodes, it’s only a matter of time before you drag your family in front of the microphone. Matt and I have interviewed his wife Erin, father Tim, and two children, Holden and Ellarie. And they happen to be some of my favorite interviews we’ve published.

Listen to the Episodes

Episode 44: Hanging Out with Matt’s Wife, Erin Frazier

Episode 166: Matt’s Dad on Going Plant-Based at age 63 Has Drastically Improved His Health

Episode 196: Raising Vegan Children (Featuring Matt’s Kids)

The Best Running Episodes

As you might expect from No Meat Athlete, running and training have been a main theme of the podcast since week one. While looking through the archive or running related episodes, these stood out as the best place to get started.

1. The Summer Running Camp Series

The summer of 2016 brought us the Rio Olympics, Pokemon Go, and (my personal favorite) the NMA Radio Summer Running Camp… complete with camp songs and all.

We used the five-part camp series to go in-depth on the fundamentals of running as a crash course for new runners and review for those with more experience.

Listen to the Episodes

Episode 150: Summer Running Camp, Part 1: Building Consistency

Episode 153: Summer Running Camp, Part 2: Running Form

Episode 157: Summer Running Camp, Part 3: How to Prevent Running Injuries

Episode 158: Summer Running Camp, Part 4: Advanced Marathon Training and Racing with Coach Jason Fitzgerald

Episode 161: Summer Running Camp, Part 5: Race Day Walkthrough

2. The Great Running Motivation Episode

With the fundamentals down, maintaining your motivation comes next. Every runner has his or her own unique reasons for lacing up, but it’s the techniques covered in this episode that have worked best for us over the years.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 106: The Best Resources for Running Motivation and Training

3. The Make Running Easy Again Episode

Running is hard. It’s fun, motivating, and important… but also hard. In one of our most popular episodes to date, Matt and I share some of our simple tricks for making both the routine and the act of running just a little bit easier.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 78: Our Favorite Running Hacks

4. The ‘It’s Okay if You Don’t Want to Run’ Episode

Speaking of running being hard…

Sometimes you just don’t want to do it. And you know what? We think that’s just fine. So fine, in fact, that we recorded an entire episode on why you shouldn’t let a running slump get you down.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 102: The Guilt-Free Running Slump

5. The ‘Here’s How to Start’ Episode

Brand new to running and don’t know how to get in those first workouts? This episode was designed for you, and covers everything you need to know from your first weeks of training to the gear you need (and don’t need).

Listen to the Episode

Episode 195: How to Go From Zero to 5K

The Best Nutrition Episodes

Nutrition is the underlying theme in everything we do at No Meat Athlete, including the podcast.

1. The Everything You Should Know About Vegan Supplements Episode

Supplements have to be one of the most talked about topics for vegan athletes, but what we assume to be important isn’t always the case.

In a recent episode we explore which (if any) supplements you really need on a healthy plant-based diet.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 179: What Supplements Do You Need?

2. The Great Protein (Myth) Episode with Dr. Garth Davis

Protein. Every non-vegan’s favorite word. But what’s the deal?

Dr. Garth Davis, author of Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It is the person to ask. So we did.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 116: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Protein, with Garth Davis, M.D.

3. The Paleo vs. Vegan Episode

Some called it must-listen podcasting. Some called it the battle of the century.

We called it the great Paleo vs Vegan Debate, and it surprised many listeners.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 55: The Paleo vs Vegan Debate

4. The Let’s Get Practical Episode with Dr. Pamela Fergusson

One of the biggest critiques about the plant-based diet is that it isn’t practical.

“How do you possibly have time to cook food like that?”

So we asked Dr. Pamela Fergusson, a mother of four, world traveler, and vegan nutritionist what she thinks, and her approach is remarkably simple (and yes, practical).

Listen to the Episode

Episode 162: Dr. Pamela Fergusson on Practical Vegan Nutrition, Speedwalking Ultramarathons, and Living Intentionally

5. The Staple Foods Episode

It’s easy to get excited about a unique ingredient or recipe, but it’s the staple foods we keep in our pantries that keep us going day after day. Here’s a look inside.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 98: Staple Foods in the Vegan Athlete’s Pantry

The Best Habit and Mindset Episodes

Habit change and mindset are core ingredients to making your nutrition and fitness goals work. We don’t shy away from the topics on NMA Radio.

1. The Nerdiest Episode (Not Really, but kind of) with Steve Kamb

Steve Kamb of the website Nerd Fitness has been inspiring self-proclaimed nerds from around the world to lose weight, get fit, and “level up” for years. What can you learn from action heroes and gaming references?

Listen to the Episode

Episode 123: Nerd Fitness’ Steve Kamb on How to Level Up Your Life

2. The Best Books Ever Episode

A lighthearted episode on the most impactful books we’ve ever read.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 184: 27 Books that will Change Your Life

3. The Obligatory Zen Habits Episode with Leo Babauta

If you’ve listened to any of the early episodes, you probably heard the running joke that we couldn’t make it through a conversation without mentioning Leo Babauta or Zen Habits. His habit and simplicity work has had that much of an impact on Matt and No Meat Athlete.

Well, it took a little while, but we finally had him on the show.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 43: Leo Babauta on Habits, Simplicity, Running & Diet

4. The Pick Yourself Episode with Alex and Jeanette Ruiz

Alex and Jeanette Ruiz wanted a thriving vegan community in their home town of Miami. Instead of just talking about it, they took action, leading the No Meat Athlete Miami Running Group and starting their own podcast to highlight vegan activities in the city.

They’re a perfect example of what you can achieve by picking yourself.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 80: How to Pick Yourself and Start Making Change in the World

5. The Start Something Big Episode

But how do you get started after “picking yourself?” Matt and I share our experience starting blogs and podcasts that went on to create engaged communities.

Listen to the Episode

Episode 111: How to Start Your Movement

Ready to Join in on the Fun?

Two hundred episodes in and we’re just getting started. Help us keep the momentum going.

Subscribe in iTunes here or Stitcher here, and look for new episodes dropping Thursday mornings.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Bonus: 5 More Episodes Not to Miss

Want even more? Here are five additional episodes we can’t help but share.

1. The Vegan Pro Soccer Player Episode

Episode 121: Vegan Pro Soccer Player Baggio Husidic

2. The Comedian Ultrarunner Episode

Episode 59: Vegan Running Meets Funny — Comedian Jeffrey Binney and His Quest to Beat Obesity and Run the Leadville 100

3. The Vegans are Weird Episode

Episode 52: 21 Weird Things We Do Now That We’re Vegan

4. The Ideal Way to Eat Episode

Episode 20: Weight Loss and Ideal Eating Habits with Ray Cronise

5. The Blue Zones Episode

Episode 64: Live to be 100 – Lessons from the Blue Zones

The post The Complete Guide to the First 200 Episodes of No Meat Athlete Radio appeared first on No Meat Athlete.

First found here: The Complete Guide to the First 200 Episodes of No Meat Athlete Radio

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repwincoml4a0a5 · 7 years

Text

10 ways that running changes your mind and brain

By Christian Jarrett

–Image via Giphy.com

Christian Jarrett (@Psych_Writer) is Editor of BPS Research Digest

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2oUkCOg

#DIYS

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pat78701 · 7 years

Text

10 ways that running changes your mind and brain

By Christian Jarrett

–Image via Giphy.com

Christian Jarrett (@Psych_Writer) is Editor of BPS Research Digest

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2oUkCOg

#DIYS

0 notes