Running Trends of 2021

For many of us, saying goodbye to 2020 was welcomed with open arms - but of course, while being masked and from a 2-meter distance. From natural disasters to an international pandemic, some of the best ways to release stress and anxiety would normally come from exercising and racing. Unfortunately, due to lockdowns and strict health protocols, most fitness centers were closed and most road races w...

Mental Training to Face Trails

Endurance runs are hard and more so when racing on trails. They require months of logging miles, doing balance, stabilization, and flexibility work to ward off injury, finding the correct hydration and fueling routine, learning to deal with challenging terrain and weather, and, maybe most importantly, fine-tuning your mental game. We know endurance racing is not only physical but also mental. Whil...

Smart Training for Your Joints (Part I)

Running has numerous health benefits including improving your cardiovascular conditioning, providing an outlet for stress relief, and being a tool for weight management. However, running is considered to be a high impact sport, this means with every step you take you increase the forces the joints need to absorb thanks to the physics involved with gravity and ground reaction forces. When thinking ...

Pregnancy and Running

Pregnancy is a miraculous process that allows families to grow and ultimately, bring joy and happiness upon the birth of your newborn. Of course, it will be of top priority for you to want to take the proper steps and precautions to make sure you provide a safe environment for your baby to develop and grow during these months. By focusing on maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle for yourself ...

Best leg strengthening exercises for runners that can be done at home

Strength training for runners is one of the most important training components to prevent injuries and improve performance. Recent studies have shown that heavy resistance, explosive resistance and plyometric training should be considered to be part of a training program for endurance runners as well as traditional weight lifting which also seems to improve running economy and neuromuscular coordi...

Five tips to stay fit after 40

There are probably two main reasons you are reading this article: you are approaching 40 or you have already got there. Although growing older is the undeniable natural course of life, ageing is not the golden dream of any person on this planet. Our metabolism will naturally slow down at this stage of life and we need to start making wiser decisions related to food intake, exercise and recovery. T...

How to get back to running after an injury

Getting injured is the reality of an athlete. The repetitive movements put a lot of stress on muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments. The human body is designed to adapt to stress, however training stress should be gradually increased in small doses. When you apply more stress than your body can handle, things go wrong and that can lead to the most common overuse running injuries: lower back pain...

How yoga can make you a better runner

All runners who take their training seriously know that in order to improve performance and avoid injury, a program of complementary activities is needed and that includes muscle strengthening and stretching exercises. Yoga can help with the above, boost your agility, improve joint flexibility, decreasing the risk of injuries. Regular yoga practice can also improve focus and attention and efficien...

10 Running Myths Exposed!

When it comes to running advice and shared knowledge, there are a vast number of things we all just assume are correct, which might not be. Not only might the myths be stopping you from hitting the pavement and training for a marathon, they might also be limiting your ability to go faster and run harder. Even worse, some of these running myths might actually be predisposing you to injury. So, befo...

Top 5 Yoga Poses for Runners

Every runner has an Achilles heel, even if it is not an actual heel. When you run, those muscles that are strongest tend to take over, which is a good thing because it allows you to hit the pavement over and over. But those muscles that aren’t pulling their weight will continue to weaken. When that happens, it not only makes it difficult to improve your running to go farther faster, it also predis...

Running and Mental Health - Know All the Benefits!

What runners know, and non-runners might not, is the mental peace that comes after making it home after a great run! Most people understand the physical health benefits of running, but there are a vast number of emotional and mental ones too. Not only are runners' brains more focused; they are less prone to depression and anxiety. If you need one more reason to hit the pavement, check out these fa...

10 Things You are Doing Wrong When Running

Running is a sport that comes naturally to most people. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that you might be doing that are inadvertently keeping you from excelling when you hit the pavement. To enhance your performance, make sure to avoid these ten things that you might be doing wrong and not even know it!1 Forgetting to stretchThe debate has ragged on as long as competitive r...

Lose Body Fat and Gain Lean Muscle Mass By Compressing Your Eating Time-Window

A recent study released in the Journal of Nutritional Sciences related to an experiment done in the UK poses some exciting information about limiting the window of time you eat during the day. Based on the findings, you can lose body fat and increase lean muscle mass even if you make no other changes besides shortening the time that you allow yourself to eat during the day.If you are running to lo...

In The Heat Of Summer Give Yourself A Break, Both Mentally And Physically

Runners are a different breed. Kind of like “horse people,” they run to a different drum, literally. When other people see rain or hot weather they think, "What a good day to sit on the couch and watch television". Die hard runners think “Water and sweat!”. As you get older, as hard as it is to accept, those little hurdles and obstacles that used to enhance the runner’s high and create an ...

Nutrition and diet for male marathoners

Treat Your Body Well And It Will Do The Same If you have committed to running a marathon, you know that it is no small commitment to make. Training for a marathon takes persistence, drive, and above all, the ability to push yourself when you would rather just sit on the couch. If you want your body to help you by staying active and healthy, you have to help it. When increasing the mileage you run...

Best Types of Massages for Runners

As a runner, I know the importance of training and building up mileage. But as a Physical Therapist and a Sports Massage Specialist, my job is also to educate you on the importance of not only properly progressing mileage, but also on the importance of posture, fixing muscular imbalances, gait training, and rest and recovery. One of the best ways for the muscles of a runner to recover is by receiv...

Pronator, Supinator, or Neutral

Identify your Foot type: Pronator, Supinator, or NeutralThe sport of running is one that is considered rather straightforward to participate in as it requires very little equipment. While running can pretty much be accomplished anywhere and at any time, the bare essential is usually a decent pair of running shoes. In order to find a shoe that fits your individual needs, it is important to identify...

Brain Effects of the Runner's High

When it comes to running, people may be inclined to associate it with celebrity athletes, particular races, certain brands of trainers, or the fact that it is a good tool for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But there is certainly much more associated with running. There is a science to running. Whether you look at the physics of kinesiology of the gait and movement patterns, to the physiologic an...

Eat well, stay healthy and keep running

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced runner, a balanced diet is not only important for keeping your body healthy, but it is crucial for improving overall performance. Regardless of how hard you are training, eating the right food to keep yourself well nourished is vital.One of the most important things you can do is feeding your body with foods that give you enough calories to replace ener...

Signs of Iron Deficiency

Athletes and runners work and train several hours a week to put forward their best efforts when it comes to competing. Aside from intense training, often just daily life just makes us feel overwhelmed and tired when we have jobs and families to tend to as well. In fact, for many of us, we would attribute these feelings of fatigue as 'normal'. So one can appreciate that training, in combination wit...

Anti-Inflammatory Medicines Not Really A Runner’s Best Friend…Know the Facts!

What did we do before Motrin and Tylenol? Quite arguably we just sucked it up and hobbled. But just because anti-inflammatories help to get us through the aches and pains of every day, that doesn't mean we should take them every day. Over-the-counter NSAIDs are really designed for short-term use. But many runners who hit the pavement hard, even when we aren’t feeling like it, pop a Motrin here and...

Avoid These Overdoing it Mistakes! - Give It A Rest Once In A While

If you are an avid runner or training for a race, you might have a hard time telling yourself to sit it out once in a while. Those who hit the pavement even when their body is saying “No,” not only run a high risk of injury, they might be overtraining. And, overtraining can lead to a degradation of the immune system and predispose runners to frequent infections and injuries. If you are making thes...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions

Our thoughts go out to all those who have been affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 and to the healthcare workers who are at the front line of the fight against the virus.Many of you will have been affected in your personal life or as runners. Just like you, we are passionate about running, travelling and events. It saddens us to see how the crisis has taken such a toll on the events and o...