Here’s your free but abridged version of this week’s “Run Long, Run Healthy” newsletter. Subscribe below to receive the complete, full-text edition with the newest and most authoritative scientific articles on training, nutrition, shoes, injury prevention, and motivation.
Yes, There Is A “Free Lunch:” The Miracle Of Muscle Cross-Education
Cross-education has got to be one of the most amazing aspects of human physiology. Not only that, but it’s also simple and useful. I currently use it for a minor shoulder injury, but it works just as well for the legs.
Here’s the simplest statement of “cross-education:” When you exercise one leg or arm, it also strengthens the other limb, even when you don’t exercise that other limb.
This is marvelously easy to test. You just enroll a bunch of subjects and give them a 4-week program of strength exercises for one limb or muscle group only. The other limb doesn’t do any work at all.
Then, you test both limbs to see if they have changed since baseline. Of course, the limb that has been exercising has gotten stronger. That’s why we train.
What about the other leg or arm, the lazy fellow? Surprisingly, it also gains strength, or at least resists a strength decline when subjects are old and lose muscle.
In effect, the non-exercised limb gets a free ride. It violates that old adage that there’s “no such thing as a free lunch.” In this case, there is.
Knowing about cross-education can be enormously helpful when you have a leg injury on just one side, after a knee replacement, etc.
Don’t give up. Don’t quit exercising. Simply train your healthy limb; the other one will also get stronger.
This is what happened in this study, where subjects exercised the wrist flexor muscles of one arm but not the other.
Result: Those who exercised their free wrist lost only 2.4% of their strength in the other wrist (which had been put in a cast). Those with no wrist exercises lost a whopping 21.6% of their strength in the casted wrist.
Conclusion: “Eccentric training of the nonimmobilized limb can preserve the size of the immobilized limb.”
You might have an injury on one side, but there’s still much you can do to prep for a successful return: Exercise the other side. More at J of Applied Physiology with free full text.
RELATED ARTICLE: 9 Great Unilateral Exercises To Help Correct Muscle Imbalances
Staying On Top: How To Sustain Health-Fitness Excellence
Most of us want to stay fit and healthy as long as possible. Sure, we strive for a peak when we try to qualify for Boston or enter a new age-group category.
However, we also realize that maintaining a consistent fitness level for many years is more important than one or two big races followed by a long decline.
That’s why we seek advice to help us sustain our health and fitness. Here are ten such “rules.”
I like them all, but especially “Focus on consistency over intensity ” and “Simple does not mean easy (beware of online gurus).”
I recommend you check out all ten. And also incorporate them into your lifestyle and performance routine. More at The Growth Equation.
RELATED ARTICLE: Consistency: The Essential Pillar to Long-Term Running Success
Peel Back The Benefits: Bananas And Running Performance
I don’t have to tell anyone that bananas are by far the favorite fruit of runners, especially marathon runners.
In big marathons, you have to be careful not to slip and fall on tossed-away banana peels, icky gel packets, and discarded water/ade cups.
Bananas are loaded with carbs and potassium, nutrients that runners love. They’re also fascinating in ways I had never thought much about until I read the article linked below.
For example, do you know why bananas are curved when most other fruits are circular or oval? I didn’t either. Only now I do.
Quick: What’s the word for a cluster of bananas? Answer just below.
There’s an actual world record for eating a banana with no hands. It’s faster than Usain Bolt’s 100-meter world record. Also, the largest known bunch of bananas included 473 bananas.
When it comes to carbs and potassium, a typical medium-size banana contains 27 grams of carbs or 108 calories. It has 422 mg of potassium, about 9% of your recommended daily value.
More interesting banana facts at Interesting Facts (where else?) Answer to the above question: A cluster of bananas is called a “hand.”
RELATED ARTICLE: The 26 Best Healthy Snacks For Runners
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.
- The secret of micro-dosed speedwork
- How to beat those aggravating marathon muscle cramps
- Two strategies that, when combined, fight knee pain
- Which types of exercise combat chronic inflammation
- 20 training tips to help you run stronger
- Systematic review: Probiotics lower muscle stress and damage
- Paula Radcliffe explains the power of laughter
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby
