Here's this week's free-but-abridged version of the "Run Long, Run Healthy" newsletter. Click SUBSCRIBE HERE below to receive the full text edition. Thanks. Amby
Biology Of Training: Do You Need More Miles Or More Speed?
Most runners like daily workout plans. They tell us what we’re supposed to do today.
We also appreciate the importance of tomorrow, the rest of the week, and next month. They help us see where we are headed, and the path to get there.
But sometimes it’s helpful to zoom up to 10,000 feet where we can see the larger forces at work. The biological forces.
For example, two primary aims of endurance training are: to increase muscle mitochondria, and to increase blood vessel capillaries. It would be nice to know the “Effects of Exercise Training on Mitochondrial and Capillary Growth in Human Skeletal Muscle: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Regression.” Hence this mind-boggling paper.
Let’s simplify a bit. More mitochondria lead to greater and more efficient energy production. More capillaries lead to greater oxygen delivery. Put them together, and you can run farther and faster.
Next we ask the ultimate training question: What kinds of workouts boost both mitochondria and capillaries? That’s the question this paper digs into.
Let’s look at capillaries first, as we’re going to abandon this pathway quickly. Why? Because: “Gains in capillarization occurred primarily in the early stages of training (the first 4 weeks) and were only observed in untrained to moderately trained participants.”
If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably not a beginning runner. So you should narrow your training focus to mitochondrial gains.
However, if you’re advising someone on how to increase capillarization in their beginning running efforts, tell them to take it slow and steady. That sort of effort “is more effective in increasing capillary density” than hard intervals.
Now, let’s move to your own quest for mitochondrial gains. Should you increase your weekly mileage or put more emphasis on speedwork?
The answer, essentially, is both. In any given 60 minutes, the more speedwork you do, the greater the payoff in “mitochondrial content.”
However, the same can be said about more training. Higher training frequencies were also “associated with larger increases in mitochondrial content.” Six training sessions a week were superior to 4, which were superior to 2.
Where does this leave us in putting together a training program rather than a biology lesson? Bottom line: “Training load (intensity × volume)” is the “most suitable predictor” of a successful approach. This means “that higher exercise intensities can compensate for lower training volumes, and vice versa.”
The more you run and the faster you run, the greater your chances for improvement. But you can’t run long and fast all the time, so you have to find the balance that's most effective in your own life and training. More at Sports Medicine with free full text.
Planks Are Great For Core Strength, But More Variety Is Better
It’s hard to argue against planks as a great core-strength exercise: They’re simple, they’re safe, they’re effective. That’s why I do them every day.
Now I’m thinking I should add more variety to my routine. As this article points out, planks don’t do much for the dynamic stability you need when running over uneven surfaces or perhaps getting thrown off balance.
To increase dynamic stability, you need to move while you’re maintaining a strong, balanced position. Extra points if you can do this while standing on one leg, as in exercise number 7, the “Kettlebell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift.”
Here are 9 exercises, with clear illustrations, that can help you build your dynamic core stability. More at Outside Online.
RIP: Barrier-Breaking 108-Yr Old Julia Hawkins
We all have a few age-group heroes--runners in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond--who inspire us. We hope to be as energetic, youthful, and joyful when we reach the same landmark decades.
But Julia Hawkins stood alone. When she entered USATF Masters Track Championships in recent years, she forced the organization to recognize a new age-group: 105+.
Hawkins died last week at 108, receiving a full-fledged obituary in the NY Times, and articles in many other media. One listed her 5 “longevity tips.”
I particularly appreciated the last two: 1) Find the "magic moments" in life ; and 2) Marry the right partner.
Older individuals need to have “magic moments and passions to look forward to, something to be ready for, something to care about,” she said.
Julia and her husband, Murray Hawkins, were married for 7 decades. She met him on her first day in college, and later said, "As soon as I saw him, I knew that was the person I wanted to spend my life with." More at Business Insider.
You can learn more about Julia Hawkins from her memoir, It’s Been Wondrous.
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
HERE’S WHAT ELSE YOU WOULD HAVE RECEIVED this week if you were a subscriber to the complete, full-text edition of “Run Long, Run Healthy.” SUBSCRIBE HERE. Thru Substack. SUBSCRIBE HERE. Thru MH
# Run hard to reduce hangover effects
# Build stride strength for more stamina, fewer injuries
# 11 rules of marathon recovery
# Women face fear & violence. Some safety strategies can help
# Are veggie burgers good for your health? What about planetary health?
# 5 strategies, one quite surprising, to boost your endurance
# A post-lunch nap increases performance & cognitive function
# A great Albert Einstein quote about moving onward
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby