With the onset of fitness gurus and individuals participating in extreme sports, there is yet another trend that seems to be becoming quite popular, and that is barefoot running.

Barefoot running has been around for a very long time, but in recent times it’s been getting a lot more attention. There had been, and still continues to be quite a controversy about the support and relative comfort for regular running shoes in comparison to running barefoot. Many people believe that running barefoot is healthier for the foot and enables the runner to run for greater distances over longer periods of time.

Traditional running shoes, it has been argued, do not properly support the foot for the impact that it endures throughout running. What shoe companies have done over the years to change their shoes has been just to add more rubber to the soles of the shoes giving the appearance of more support. In reality that additional rubber or other synthetic material has done very little to add additional support to the runners foot. In fact many individuals would argue that traditional running shoes are bad for running and are actually counterproductive in that they can reduce the distance that you are able to run and the overall comfort that you will have is a lot worse.

Barefoot runners believe that running barefoot is the best way to preserve our natural stride, and to help the runner endure longer events. They run differently than traditional runners, either running flat footed or by running toe to toe. A popular book by Christopher McDougall “Born to Run”, describes how it is a runners natural instinct to run like this and that the foot acts like a spring and that enables the runner to run for longer periods of time.

It is not advised to start barefoot running without first trying it out and building up a endurance for it. Especially if you are thinking of implementing any of the new running techniques i.e. toe to toe, your body won’t be accustomed to this new routine, and as a result you may sustain some injuries. If you would like to incorporate barefoot running into your regular routine it is recommended to start slowly and only run 10% of the time barefoot, and the rest of the time your regular way. Over time increase the percentage until you feel comfortable enough running your whole routine barefoot. Keep in mind that barefoot running is not for everyone and you will need to build up a new rhythm/technique for this way of running. There are many barefoot books available in addition to Christopher McDougall’s (mentioned above), and it is advised to read as much information via the web and through additional resources i.e. books, video, and other media on barefoot running topics.

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Barefoot running has really begun to take off recently. The introduction of shoes such as Nike Frees and Vibram Five Fingers is evidence of this. But what is this whole barefoot thing all about and why should anyone pay attention to it?

Let’s start off by stating the obvious – humans didn’t evolve with shoes on their feet. If you look at any native, undeveloped population, they all get around quite happily with no shoes. You might wonder how or why, but there is growing evidence that wearing shoes actually INCREASES the risk of injury.

Let’s look at some trends here.

Developed, shoe-wearing populations:

High incidence of stress fractures

High incidence of muscle strains and overuse injuries

High incidence of chronic leg injuries

Generally poor running technique requiring orthotics and other foot support

Barefoot populations:

Low incidence of plantar fasciitis

Low incidence of twisted / sprained ankles

Low incidence of shin splints and chronic leg injuries

This sounds totally contradictory to what seems logical but there’s good reason behind it.

Running Shoes Compensate for Poor Form

Now this might also take a bit of thinking to get to grips with, but you know those expensive running shoes which say they provide the best cushioning for your foot? They’re teaching you to run badly! At the very least, they’re saying it’s ok to run badly because these shoes will cushion the impact.

The bad news is, they can only cushion so much. If you’re landing on your heels when you run, you’re sending a large jarring force right up your legs through your knees to your hips. No shoes can completely compensate for this. Plus unless you replace your shoes regularly, any shoes that compensate will lose their cushioning quickly and your risk of injury will increase greatly.

Barefoot running improves technique and reduces stress

Think about it. With no big bulky shoes to cushion your heels when you land on them or correct your foot pronation, are you going to keep running like that? No way! You’ll learn how to run efficiently and painlessly because your body will force you to or you’ll fall in a heap!

Barefoot running strengthens stabilizing muscles

The other thing shoes are doing when running is reducing sensitivity of your feet to the ground. The muscles that stabilize your foot when barefoot (known as proprioceptive muscles) don’t get to work much as the shoe is trying to do it for you. This eventually weakens these stabilizing muscles as they’re not doing any work.

Running barefoot obviously utilizes these stabilizing muscles enormously. This gradually strengthens them and reduces your chances of injury. However, the inherent weakness of these muscles in shoe-wearing populations is exactly why you shouldn’t just go out and run an hour in bare feet straight away. Like any muscles they need time and gradual overload to increase their strength.

So What Are You Saying?

Ok, so let me get to the point. Barefoot running is good for you! If you run and you find yourself getting sore or injured, you need to add barefoot running to your training schedule. After all, top barefoot runners have run 15 marathons in one year in bare feet. Could you do this, even with shoes?

If you don’t run, going barefoot is still good. You don’t need to run, you can walk! It will still have the same benefits of strengthening little used muscles and improve technique, reducing injury. Plus it feels good!

In summary, Barefoot Running:

Improves technique, allowing you to run faster much easier than you thought possible

Strengthens stabilizing muscles, reducing lower leg and ankle injuries

Reduces impact stress due to improved technique, reducing risk of knee, hip and upper leg injuries

Next up, you’re going to want to know how to go about joining the barefoot running movement and starting your barefoot career!

If you want to find some great tips and resources on how to improve your running, including Barefoot Running tips, check out this Run Technique Tips Site

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An early morning run is one of the most difficult things one can do. The discipline required to do it every day is beyond the capability of many. New runners just going into the sport will find this very true. They often run out of will power well before getting results out of their running goals.

The goal of this article is to help those runners who cannot overcome the barriers of running each morning. It is the hope of the author that the following points will help the reader have a more effective strategy in consistently running each morning.

Visualization

As with everything else, running in the morning starts long before you actually hit the road. Your vision the night will greatly help you in getting out of bed and not drum up excuses for not running the morning after. Try to just see yourself running on the path you normally take or plan to take.

Make sure that in your mind you recreate the scene as if shot but a movie camera. Take note of the road posts, the smell of the dew -laced grass, the cold breeze hitting your face and more. Details are extremely important. Doing so will help you tremendously the morning after.

“There ain’t nothing to it but doing it!”

A famous quote from record Mr. Olympia title holder, Ronnie Coleman. There simply is no time to think. As soon as you wake up do your routine and go running. There is no decision to be made that morning whether you will run or not. The decision has been made when you thought about how you could accomplish your fitness goals through running.

When you wake up, run. It is that simple. The human mind will conjure up the decision making analysis to force you to not run. Because you are smarter than your instincts you know that you just have to do it that very instant.

Wake Up While Running

While your mind is still cloudy and has not woken up 100% it is the best time to start walking. This prevents your mind from telling you that it is hard to run and your body would rather rest. Try not to run full speed though if you have not truly woken up.

Your leg muscles might be still asleep along with your mind. So it is important to start slow and when you are fully awake gear up to full speed. This all but eliminates the time for you to decide whether you run or not.

These three points should help every runner in being consistent with their running regimen. It is not easy but nothing in life worth getting is easy to get at all. So remember these things next time you plan to run and you will not have to drag yourself out to run each morning anymore.

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Your muscles main source of fuel is glycogen or fat. In order for muscles to consume this fuel, oxygen has to be present to break it down and convert into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a chemical compound which is the form of energy that muscle cells need in order to work.

The production of ATP leaves byproducts in the form of carbon dioxide and lactate. The carbon dioxide laden blood is pumped back into the lungs, where CO2 is extracted and exhaled into the atmosphere. The lactate is also removed from the muscles by the venous blood flow and delivered to the liver where it is converted into glucose.

As the intensity of your running increases your muscles will be working harder and will need to metabolize glycogen or fat at a proportionately faster rate. Your system will have to increase the input of oxygen to achieve this. Hence the heavy breathing or gasping for air during and after hard workout.

When you are running, your heart should be beating at between 60% and 80% of its maximum rate, fluctuating according to the intensity of your running. If you keep it beating at this level, you’ll be pushing your heart hard enough to reap the benefits of having a good workout but not so hard that you’ll be putting it under stress.

Your heart rate is not necessarily related to what speed you are running at because your heart will be registering all sorts of extraneous factors — how stressful a day you’ve had, what the temperature is, how much coffee you’ve put a way, if you’re sickening for something — and will adjust itself accordingly.

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Running shoes don’t last forever — if you’re covering 30 miles a week, you’ll be lucky to get six months out of a pair. Most modern running shoes aren’t built to last much more than 500 miles — more if you don’t weigh a great deal, less if you’re heavier than average. And this is regardless of the price, although very expensive shoes will probably have sturdy uppers and inner fabric.

Shoes can be useless and show no signs of wear because the midsole gets destroyed from the constant pounding it been taking. It collapses, losing any cushioning, meaning that every strike is coming down unprotected. Hell counters will lose their stability around the same time and no longer hold your heel straight. Then, once the inners go, essential flexibility is lost, meaning uppers will tear or tear away from the sole, and the fabric inside will get worn as your feet start rubbing. This will quickly cause blisters, but if the shoes have no effective midsole, shins, calves, knees and ankles suffer terrible jolting meaning serious injury is never far away.

Once a shoe wears to this point it will throw you off your usual running stride. Not only will it no longer compensate any pronation problems you might have, it will also cause you to run in a way that is neither your best nor best for you.

Tip: Write down the dates you started using a pair shoes somewhere on them — pick a place where it won’t rub away. If you know how much mileage you were doing each week it will help you judge when to replace them.

Why not visit our web site for all you need to know about Mizuno Running Shoes. For reviews on Cross Country Running Shoes visit our other site.

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There are many times that I have been asked, just how accurate is a running watch with GPS? Can they really tell you how fast and far you are running? As a case study, we can look at two of the most popular GPS running watches, the Garmin Forerunner 305 and 405.

Both the Forerunner 305 and the 405 have an integrated, high-sensitivity SiRF star III GPS receiver. Honestly, I have no idea what this means. But I can tell you that they are both incredibly accurate.

The Garmin watches have a feature where they will tell you how many satellites they have located and tracking you while you run. On this same screen, it will give you an accuracy range. Typically, this range is between 10 to 20 feet plus or minus. This means that the satellites orbiting the earth know that you are within a 30 to 40 foot diameter circle. At worst case scenario, 40 feet would only take a couple of seconds to run so the watch would be off only by a couple of seconds.

After logging several hundreds of miles with a Garmin watch, I have found very little inaccuracies in its distance or pace. As I have run the same routes with the Forerunner, it will consistently beep on the mile markers in exactly the same spot along the route. On my regular 5 mile loop, I have learned to expect the beep signaling the start of my last mile as I am passing the third power pole on the right.

As another test, my running partner and I both wore a Forerunner watch for a 20 mile training run. As we finished the run, we found that the distances on the GPS watches were nearly identical. Over the course of 20 miles, there was less than one twentieth of a mile discrepancy between the two watches.

In short, the answer is that a GPS running watch is a very accurate measure of your time and distance. Garmin GPS watches provide critical information that can help you understand and analyze your training. The ability to track your pace, distance, heart rate, etc. gives you the tools to improve your running, get more out of every workout, and become a better runner. Click here to see more ways that you can maximize your performance by training with a Garmin GPS running watch.

For more information and tips on training using Garmin watches, please visit http://www.garminrunning.info.

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Running is a popular way to lose weight. A lot of people take up running when they want to shed a few extra pounds. They hope that this cardio activity will help them burn off the extra fat.

And indeed, running can be very effective. However, some runners get excellent results and shed fat fast while others hardly seem to be getting anywhere. Why is that and how can you make sure that your running will help you lose the most fat?

1. You need to be able to run comfortable for a long time so comfortable shoes and clothes are a must. Your shoes and clothes can have a dramatic effect on your results so make sure to get quality running attire.

2. Try to run at a moderate incline at least part of the way. Even a small incline can mean hundreds of extra burned calories during a single job. Needless to say, it can be quite effective.

3. Try to avoid running at steep declines to avoid placing too much pressure on your knees. Too much pressure may lead to injury.

4. Include some sprinting during your jog. Sprinting has a double benefit because it contracts the stomach muscles so you get a belly stimulation as well as a cardio one.

5. Run at intervals by changing your pace every few minutes. This will help you workout your cardiovascular system at different intensities and allow you to do a more challenging workout in less time.

Running to lose weight is something that I highly recommend as it’s the way that I lost weight myself. Just follow these tips and get the best results possible.

Visit Running to Lose Weight Fast to discover more running tips.

For other cardio workouts to shed pounds with, visit Cardio Workouts to Lose Weight

John Davenport lost over 30 pounds in his twenties after being overweight most of his life. He now runs a weight loss forum and publishes a diet and fitness newsletter.

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The passionate runners who want to train their bodies to an elite level frequently ask: Should I be running everyday? In this article, I want to talk about when running often is recommended and if running everyday is the right decision for you.

Whether you should be running everyday is determined by your experience as a runner. The biggest issue with running every day is the commonality of the overuse injury. Runners become really passionate about running and feel so freaking good that they get a positive addiction to it. This leads to running more than your body can handle due to the lack of development on your joints and muscles.

The fact of the matter is that every runner needs at least one day off. The reasoning for that critical one day off is for the body to heal and rest from all the pressure it has been put under over the past week. If a runner doesn’t let their body rest, an injury will creep up and destroy any hopes or dreams of competing in the next race.

For new runners, it is recommended that you run every other day. You don’t want to place too much pressure of your joints and muscles by running everyday that are accustomed to running for extended periods of time. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself before the start of the second week of training. Even if you are an on-and-off runner, make sure that you start with at least a couple of days off and not rush it. Make sure that you understand the challenges your body faces as the weekly mileage increases and how it adapts to the extra running.

Note that one these days off, there are a few simple components of your rest day each runner needs to make sure that are in place: proper nutrition and hydrated, a full night’s rest and low amounts of stress (tell the wife to back-off.)

Nehal Kazim trains runners with step-by-step blueprints of critical tools and techniques to run their next marathon successfully. Running doesn’t need to involve pain and struggle.

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Training for 10k

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Interval training is a great way to spice up a workout and get awesome results. Do you ever find that your cardiovascular workout routine is getting a little too repetitive, a little too boring? Boredom is a huge problem and one of the main reasons people give up on exercise, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are so many different ways to challenge your body and your mind during your workouts that you should never feel bored.

The key is to always keep learning new things and to learn variations of the exercises and routines you are currently doing. One of these variations is aerobic interval training and that is what we are going to talk about today.

So what is aerobic interval training? Basically, it means working out by alternating bursts of intense activity with intervals of light activity. This type of training can be done by anyone and with any aerobic activity. Let’s use walking as an example. If you’re already in pretty good shape and you’ve been walking for a while, you might incorporate short bursts of jogging into your regular brisk walks. If you’re more of a beginner, you might just alternate faster, harder walking with leisurely walking.

For example, if you are walking outside you could pick a landmark in the distance like a tree or a stop sign and pick up the intensity until you get to it. If you’re working out on a treadmill or elliptical machine, it is as easy as watching the timer on the machine and timing your light intensity and high intensity intervals.

There are many advantages to interval training. Perhaps the most popular is that interval training burns more calories without spending more time in the gym, who doesn’t like the sound of that? There are other benefits as well, like improving your aerobic capacity, which is great news for your workouts but more importantly it is great news for your heart and lungs. Interval training is also nice because it doesn’t require drastic changes to your routine or any kind of special equipment.

Whatever type of cardiovascular exercise you are doing now can be easily converted into interval training. This type of training will grow with you as you progress. Getting started is as easy as choosing the length and speed of your high intensity intervals. Obviously the length and speed can be altered depending of how you are feeling that day, it is all up to you.

Of course this does require you to be more disciplined during your workout. It is up to you to do your intervals at a level that will challenge you and only you can determine what that level is. Also, as with any exercise routine, it is important to warm up first. You want to make sure your body is warmed up before you go into your first interval.

If you are working out seriously to improve sports performance, this type of training is also a good choice for you. In this case, you may want to look at interval training a little more seriously. A personal trainer or other fitness expert can help you plan the intensity and duration of your intervals based on your target heart rate, aerobic capacity and other factors.

No matter what your fitness level, aerobic interval training is something you can use to boost your workout, relieve some boredom and challenge your body. Why not try it today?

Learn more about interval training and get inspired to challenge your body in new ways and get results.

Barry Lovelace is an internationally recognized personal trainer and fitness coach. Visit his website, barrylovelace.com, and get FREE health and fitness tips as well as the Ebook ‘How To Juggle Your Health and Fitness’.

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Everyone is looking for different types of swimming gear. Whether it is swimming gear for exercising, kids playing in the pool, scuba diving or any of the other activities that come with swimming everyone eventually is looking for some type of swimming gear. One of the most common types is swim goggles. This is a common piece of swimming gear that everyone wants to help protect their eyes while in the water. Children, youth and adults love them just the same and find the necessity of them. When you are buying swim goggles it can be difficult to decide what type of swim goggle you need. There are hundreds of choices and they can range for one dollar to hundreds of dollars.

Let’s take a few look at a few things that you might want to consider when deciding what type of swim goggle to purchase:

1. First thing, is what the use of the swim goggles will be used for. If they are for children for fun then you might want to go with an inexpensive pair. If they are for professional competition then you might want to go with a more expensive, high end pair of swim goggles.

2. Now that you have decided what the use is for you will want to get goggles that have a press on fit. Without the putting the strap over your head do the goggles stay on your eyes.

3. A comfortable fit. Nothing is worse than have goggles that aren’t comfortable.

4. Good Construction. Will they hold together for more than one swimming experience?

5. UV Protection. Will they safeguard your eyes when they are used outside in a pool?

These are just a few tips to consider when looking for swimming goggles to add to your swimming gear.

Visibility Unlimited – Just 4 Swim (http://www.just4swim.com/) is where you will find your full supply of swim products. Billings Farnsworth is a freelance writer.

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