Conditioning Research

In a recent post I talked about my back pain and about the idea that much of it is not due to physical injury, but to emotional factors ( TMS or Tension Myoneural Syndrome as the originator of the theory - Dr Sarno - now calls it). It is still real physical pain – not imaginary – but the cause is emotional. Public speaking can make you blush – a real physical reaction – but the cause is emotional. Physical pain can be the same thing. In this post I interview a guy called Monte Hueftle , a long distance runner who has also battled back pain. He explains where his pain came from, how he finally identified the cause and - crucialy - how he has managed to cure it. I first read Monte’s book – Get Rid of the Pain in your Butt Now! – a few years ago when my own back was playing up. My pain has returned recently and I have gone back to Monte’s book and one or two others. You may find this stuff a bit challenging and but I’d urge you to read and consider what Monte is proposing. ...

More mobility stuff from Mountain Athlete .

One of Mark Sisson's Laws in his excellent Primal Blueprint - which I really need to review properly is Primal Blueprint Law #3: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace I did that yesterday in the Grey Corries, some mountains in the Highlands just along form Ben Nevis. The guidebook said 21km and about 1200m of ascent but it felt a lot more! 9 and a half hours but we did not rush it, lingering on the ridge and soaking up the exquisite views. Here are some photos: There is a full write up here .

It isn't often that you see headlines like that in the mainstream.....but I saw it today : In a landmark study, new research from Tel Aviv University now shows exactly how these high carb foods increase the risk for heart problems. Enormous peaks indicating arterial stress were found in the high glycemic index groups: the cornflakes and sugar group. "We knew high glycemic foods were bad for the heart. Now we have a mechanism that shows how," says Dr. Shechter. "Foods like cornflakes, white bread, french fries, and sweetened soda all put undue stress on our arteries. We've explained for the first time how high glycemic carbs can affect the progression of heart disease." During the consumption of foods high in sugar, there appears to be a temporary and sudden dysfunction in the endothelial walls of the arteries. Endothelial health can be traced back to almost every disorder and disease in the body. It is "the riskiest of the risk factors," says Dr. S...

Kurt contacted me today to tell me about his blog which is focussing on paleo nutrition. The Blog is at PāNu paleolithic nutrition - duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu It is a superb resource. Kurt is a medical doctor - a radiologist - who was made aware of the paleo diet after hearing Gary Taubes speak . He is addressing a range of topics really well, including Paleo Booze , intermittent fasting and paleo on a budget . An excellent resource that is now in my Google Reader!

Each year some lunatics race the West Highland Way , a 95 mile trail that goes from Glasgow to Fort William through the West Highlands of Scotland. This years race was held last Saturday and it was fascinating reading the accounts of some of the runners. John Kynaston has a great blog detailing is preparation for the race and it was good to read that he once again managed to complete the course in under 20 hours. I am not sure if it is a healthy pursuit, but it is some achievement! There is another account of the race here . I have walked bits of the route and could not imagine the endurance that these guys have to run it!

This is some Challenge, underway as I write. On 29th May 2009 at 11.30pm, Richard Dunwoody started a 1000 Mile Challenge to walk the same mile 1000 consecutive times (from the Bedford Lodge hotel in Newmarket up the Bury Road to a post half a mile away and back again) for a 1000 consecutive hours with the last mile up the home straight of Newmarket racecourse just before the Ladbrokes Bunbury Cup on 10th July 2009. In 1809 Captain Robert Barclay Allardice was bet that he couldn’t walk 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 Guineas – meaning he had to walk one mile in every consecutive hour 24 hours a day – the challenge therefore taking 42 days with the maximum an hour and 20 minutes sleep at any one time (if you walk back to back miles in different hours). He completed the challenge on 12th July 1809, losing three stone in the process with his challenge hailed as ‘one of the greatest human feats ever attempted.’ 200 years on, champion jockey, polar explorer and BBC presenter, Richard Dunwo...

Somehow my hillwalking hasn't really got going this year (although there is now a weekend booked in at the start of July probably in Glenfinnan). When working on the elections I was either working at the weekend or was just too knackered to think about getting up and away early on a Saturday. Then I've been struggling to get going.... Didn't do much yesterday either - weather up north looked a bit dodgy and I had been out on Friday night. Today though I took the plunge and did something......the Seven Hills race here in Edinburgh . 14.2 miles with a total of 2200feet of climbing around Edinburgh's hills. There is no fixed course just a requirement that you need to visit each of the hills in turn, so the experts are always looking for shortcuts. It is an interesting race for that reason - you are not sure whether the guy you are following has a great route idea or is just lost. I last did this in 2002 when I was running a bit more and was probably fitter for this ...

This one is interesting given the normal advice and the practice of many athletes. Even recreational joggers seem unable to go more that 10 minutes without slurping from a powerade or lucazade bottle. Such a practice might not have any effect. From a paleo perspective, it would make sense. Why would you be built to need regular refueling while on a run, on a hunt? Carbohydrate ingestion during exercise does not delay the onset of fatigue during submaximal cycle exercise. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the ingestion of carbohydrate (CHO, in the form of maltodextrin) or placebo (PLAC, in the form of gelatin) on the physical performance of cyclists during submaximal exercise until fatigue on an ergometric cycle. Nine volunteers exercised on 2 separate occasions at least 2 days apart. On each occasion, after 48 hours of a balanced diet, they pedaled at approximately 66% &OV0312;o2peak until fatigue. Every 15 minutes, 150 mL of water and 18 capsules, cont...

Despite what the advertising says, Red Bull apparently is not an energy drink! Effect of Sugar-Free Red Bull Energy Drink on High-Intensity Run Time-to-Exhaustion in Young Adults. Consuming sugar-free Red Bull energy drink before exercise has become increasingly popular among exercising individuals. The main purported active ingredient in sugar-free Red Bull is caffeine, which has been shown to increase aerobic exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of sugar-free Red Bull energy drink on high-intensity run time-to-exhaustion in young adults. Physically active university students (n = 17, 9 men, 8 woman; 21 +/- 4 years, 73.4 +/- 3.1 kg, 175.1 +/- 3.2 cm) participated in a double-blind, crossover, repeated-measures study where they were randomized to supplement with sugar-free Red Bull (2 mg.kg body mass caffeine or ~147 mg caffeine; 4 kcal/250 mL) and noncaffeinated, sugar-free placebo (lemon-lime flavored soft drink, tonic water, lime juice; 4 kca...

We've mentioned Methode Naturelle before in connection with Erwan Le Corre . Wikipedia describes this Natural Methode as A (Natural Method) session is composed of exercises belonging to the ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrium (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming. A training session consists, then, of exercises in an outdoor environment - a course of greater or lesser distance (a few hundred meters to several kilometers), during which, one walks, one runs, one jumps, one progresses quadrupedally, one climbs, one walks in unstable balance, one raises and one carries, one throws, one fights and one swims. Erwan, in his MovNat philosophy , has taken this basic approach and developed it, adding some of his own ideas. The American Parkour site has just posted a fascinating document. Pilou, a Primal Fitness and DC local who grew up in France has found, translated, then made available for us, Georges Herbert...

Guess what.....another study says that before and after physical activity does not appreciably reduce all-injury risk. (but it might make you less sore) Of course I've pointed similar studies out before. A pragmatic randomised trial of stretching before and after physical activity to prevent injury and soreness. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of stretching before and after physical activity on risks of injury and soreness in a community population. DESIGN: Internet-based pragmatic randomised trial conducted between January 2008 and January 2009. SETTING: International. PARTICIPANTS: 2,377 adults who regularly participated in physical activity. INTERVENTIONS: Participants in the stretch group were asked to perform 30-second static stretches of 7 lower limb and trunk muscle groups before and after physical activity for 12 weeks. Participants in the control group were asked not to stretch. Main outcome measurements: Participants provided weekly on-line reports of outcomes over...

Ok amid all the discussion of the benefits of going barefoot, or at least of minimal shoes, this video is a scream. Climbing big mountains barefoot:

I love the way that the internet exposes you to such a wide range of ideas and writings. I am really grateful to be connected, through blogs and websites, with so many people who point out new ideas and books. A couple of weeks ago, Matt Metzgar's blog noted that he was reading a new book - Born to Run . He heaped praise on it. I trust Matt and value his opinion, so I thought it was worth risking the price. I ordered it from Amazon and have been totally blown away by the book. Born to Run works on so many levels - it is a documentary and biography, it is science and sports journalism, it tells a human story with some eccentric characters and is transporting travel writing. Spinning the structure of the book around an underground ultramarathon in Mexico, MacDougal, weaves together the story of a boxer ( Caballo Blanco / White Horse )who drops out of the world and escapes to live among the Tarahumara Indians . The indians inhabit what is presented as a utopia. There are few...

The whole barefoot debate also goes on in the realm of hillwalking and backpacking. Or at least a debate about the value of simple, minimal footwear. There the argument is between boots and trail shoes. As I pointed out last week, some people say that you need heavy stiff boots to protect your feet and ankles while other say that heavy stiff boots are actually dangerous since they interfere so much with your natural gait. Martin's excellent blog had an interesting post on this recently. Make sure you read the comments - there are some fascinating insights. Built to run, Built to walk So run with a friend carrying a tent between you and all your kit one weekend in Inov-8 310s and wildcamp on the route and say you’re training for a mountain marathon and no one on the hills will bat an eyelid. Do the same route walking in the same kit and call it backpacking and you’ve crossed some unknown safety line and are using the wrong footwear. You’re risking twisting a ankle, breaking ...

It's no wonder that so many runners get sprained ankles: the shoes they wear designed to "support" their foot deadens its natural ability to communicate, hobbling the body's ability to respond and get it out of trouble. There is a superb and detailed article here explaining why minimal footwear is to be preferred: Kick Your Shoes Off, Free your Feet, tell your nervous system you care Our feet are one of the most jointed parts of our body (after the skull and the hands) and yet daily, what do we do? Lace up shoes to restrict those bones from doing what they were designed to do to support us: MOVE. This video demonstrates more: Same runner, same day, with no instruction given in between videos. On the left, correct nice SHOE LESS forefoot strike. On the right, incorrect, with SHOES, heel strike, braking, straining. Sneakers are designed to affect the way our foot strikes the ground, yet in this video you see it affects what we do in the air. Try this experiment yoursel...

Ok, I think Frank's Exuberant Animal stuff is really good ( this talk is superb ) and he is coming to Edinburgh later this year to do a seminar with Rannoch . ....... but surely you could do all this with a sledgehammer or a shovelglove ?

So the Tabata protocol goes mainstream. I saw this in a sports centre in Edinburgh on Sunday. I was there working at the European Election Count. They are now offering classes based on a Tabata protocol. It is strange how this particular protocol has gained such a high profile. Something there has grabbed the imagination of many. One study by a Japanese scientist and now his name up on noticeboards in Scottish gyms. He could never have had an inkling of the way that his name would be used. I first came across it in a Clarence Bass article back in 1997 . 12 years later it hits the mainstream. To me it seems like old news but apparently it is the new hot routine......

This rings bells. The idea is that resistance exercise followed by an aerobic session makes you burn more fat than just doing the aerobic session. It rings bells because it is seems to be basically Lyle MacDonald's prescription in the Stubborn Fat Solution , which I wrote about here . Here is the study : Effect of preceding resistance exercise on metabolism during subsequent aerobic session. It appears that in training that combines both aerobic and resistance exercises, performing a comparatively higher intensity resistance exercise first would augment fat utilization and energy expenditure during subsequent aerobic exercise.

I've mentioned before that I go along to a class each week at Krav Maga Edinburgh . I'm no expert - still very much a novice - but it is a good laugh and a good bunch of guys. It is also good to but some fitness and training to a practical use. Anyway, one of the things I like about the training is that it is explicitly not a martial art. It is about self defence not about some sport or esoteric method of movement or philosophy. Gross motor skills and simple movements that you could recall in the stress and adrenaline of a confrontation; hit hard - sometimes pre-emptively - and get out of there. In the spirit of this approach I've been reading Get Tough by W E Fairbairn. This was the standard close combat manual of the British Commandos in world war two. The principles are the same: hit hard and viciously. You can buy the book at amazon or it is also available as a pdf for free Get Tough. Fairbairn is fascinating. William Ewart Fairbairn (1885–1960) was a Br...

....er no. Low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets give greater weight loss in the short-term than low-fat, calorie-restricted diets. This experiment shows that such diets do not result in decreased voluntary exercise....Well at least not if you are a rat: Maintenance on a ketogenic diet: voluntary exercise, adiposity and neuroendocrine effects Background: Adherence to low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets (KDs) has been associated with greater weight loss in the short-term than low-fat, calorie-restricted diets. However, consumption of KDs may result in decreased voluntary exercise and thus render long-term weight loss and maintenance of weight loss difficult. Methods: Rats were maintained on either a non-ketogenic chow (CH) diet or a low-carbohydrate, KD for 6 weeks. Half of each dietary group was sedentary, whereas the other half was given access to a running wheel. Running wheel activity (total distance and meters per minute), plasma leptin and insulin, adiposity, and hypothalamic mRNA...

You may have picked up from reading this blog over the years that I have – occasionally - a bad back. Pain that ranges form stiffness after sitting for a while, to tightness that distorts my posture through to extreme spasms that will grip with great force and pain literally stopping me in my tracks and bringing me to me knees. Debilitating and depressing stuff for someone like me for whom exercise is fun, rewarding and an escape from life stresses. I first remember hurting my back after deadlifting, not a maximum weight by any means, but just before I was to give up my job to return to university. Ever since the back has been there. Sometimes – for months at a time there is no pain and I’ll train, run and climb mountains – sometimes it returns with a vengeance and sees me floored, carried out of the office and taken home. Hence my interest in keeping my back healthy, in mobility, in posture…. However as I’ve also hinted here a few times, I am personally convinced that stress a...

fun.....

I have just received a copy of Mark Sisson's new book - The Primal Blueprint . I'll do a proper review when I've had a chance to read it properly - life is busy at the moment. It looks superb and he takes to opportunity of the format to expand on the principles he laid out some time ago in what is a classic post: The Definitive Guide to the Primal Blueprint The essence of the Primal Blueprint is this: Most of life is really much simpler than modern medicine and science would like to have you believe. You can have a tremendous impact on how your genes express themselves, simply by providing your cells the right environments. Working from that position, Mark presents 10 basic laws for health: Primal Blueprint Law #1 : Eat Lots of Plants and Animals Primal Blueprint Law #2 : Avoid Poisonous Things Primal Blueprint Law #3 : Move Frequently at a Slow Pace Primal Blueprint Law #4 : Lift Heavy Things Primal Blueprint Law #5 : Sprint Once in a While Primal Blueprint Law #6 ...

Several times I have pointed to studies indicating that simple footwear is better than more complex , cushioned shoes. Our feet and our gait are disturbed by heavy shoes. People are using Vibram Five Fingers for example to try to get the advantages of being barefoot while also gaining some protection. (you can even play golf in them !) One of my favourite outdoor writers is Chris Townsend. Thinking of all this minimal footwear approach he has a good interview explaining his preference for light, flexible shoes over stiff heavy boots for backpacking . Here is an extract: Q: One thing that you talk and write about is “the ankle-support myth”. That is very strongly put. Could you explain what you mean by this? Chris: One of the main arguments for heavy, stiff footwear is that you need it for ankle-support when carrying a heavy pack or hiking on rough terrain. This is not true. To begin with most walking boots offer very little ankle support since their soft cuffs give easily ...

Keith from Theory to Practice has just posted some great exercise demonstration videos on his Youtube channel . Keith is a pretty gifted athlete and a good and inspiring writer who really makes you think. It is worth checking out. Here is an example

Thanks for the good wishes and suggestions re my back spasms. Things are a lot better, following some rest, a less stressful few days at work and some deep tissue massage from Colin Gordon here in Edinburgh. Colin is a good guy - he has been a competitive powerlifter and trains in submission wrestling so he knows his stuff when it comes to training related injuries. He has also done courses in the Anatomy Trains approach - something I've mentioned here before . Stress is still a big issue for me - I think a lot of it is just in my personality - but sometimes a massage can really alleviate the symptoms.