Category: Fitness
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Heart Rate Training for Runners and Why You Feel Slow.
Running your next PB depends heavily on your aerobic energy system. From 5km upwards, 98% of your performance is fuelled by your aerobic energy system. When you run your easy-aerobic runs too fast, you add unnecessary and nonspecific stress to your physiological system. More often than not, the result is that your races never align…
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High-Intensity Interval Training for Runners. Unlocking Massive Gains.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is often associated with some form of “4-minute fat burner” workout, which IS NOT what I am talking about. HIIT workouts consist of repeated bouts of high-intensity work performed above the lactate threshold (a perceived effort of “hard” or greater) or critical speed/power, interspersed by periods of low-intensity exercise or complete…
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Dispelling the Grey Zone Myth
“Whether you’re a weekend worrier or a full-time pro doesn’t matter. Slowing down to go faster is legit.” Key points Grey zone & zone 3 are different. Grey zone is any training that’s done too hard or without purpose. Grey zone training harms fitness. Listen to the full episode on the Performance Advantage Podcast Trap…
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Nasal Strips, Fad Science or Performance Enhancer?
A nasal dilator is a narrow strip of flat plastic, with an adhesive on one side that is folded over the soft part on the nostrils such that it exerts a slight springing action to spread the nostrils.Multiple published studies have reported the opening of the nostrils significantly reduces snoring. As with a lot of…
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A Deeper Look at Running Cadence
A scientific paper published at the end of 2018 presented some rather interesting data from the first field-based experiment of running cadence. The study looked at data from 20 athletes from the top 25 finishers at the 2016 100 km Running World Championships in Los Alcazares, Spain. Running cadence or stride frequency (SF) refers to…
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Finding My Threshold – Maximal Lactate Steady State Test.
Lactate is a commonly used term in endurance training, and generally, we use the term lactate when referring to “threshold” training or super hard efforts. Measuring the lactate concentration in our blood can give us insight into how physically demanding a task is. The lactate concentration in our blood acts as a proxy for the…
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Can I Run-Walk a Sub 2:40 Marathon?
The run-walk method is nothing new to running, and a lot of its notoriety can be credited to legendary running coach Jeff Galloway. However, I struggled to find not only the scientific reasoning behind the run-walk method but also any data on runners going under 3 hours using this method. Personally, I have successfully used…
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Base Phase Training
Base Phase Training The idea of a ‘base phase’ is to slowly and steadily build fitness and conditioning over weeks of consistent training. There is no need to include recovery weeks because your weekly training load should be set at a level that allows you to finish each week without too much fatigue. As you…
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Cross-training for Endurance Athletes
Cross-training can be a good addition to endurance training, but is it right for you? If you struggle with injuries in your chosen sport then cross-training will allow you to exercise more without the risk of injury. The goal is to exercise the body parts that aren’t injured. I.e. an injured runner can go swimming…
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How to Avoid Blowing Up with Correct Pacing
Pacing in endurance sport is one of the most essential aspects of performance. Regardless of your ability, if you start the race beyond your level of fitness you will slow down at the end. The severity of how much you slow down (blow up) will depend on the race duration and how far beyond your…