" Through our brains, our bodies tell us almost everything we need to know to maximize our performance as runners."
~Matt Fitzgerald, "Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel"
Another gem from the book I won :) Of which I am still only on the first chapter. Things have been a little hectic lately. I've been interviewing and taking classes and fingerprinting and handling Maid of Honor duties for an upcoming wedding and entertaining a college friend who is in town from Baltimore and did I mention it is football season? Some other cool things he mentions in this chapter to back up his theory:
- A University of Cape Town, South Africa study has shown that perception of effort is a better indicator of how quickly you will fatigue in exercise than heart rate, blood lactate level, oxygen consumption or muscle fuel depletion.
- Studies show there is a strong correlation between exercise enjoyment, exercise adherence, self-efficacy and endurance fitness. The more people enjoy exercise, the fitter it makes them (well, I guess we've found my problem).
- A study at the University of Exeter, England found that subjects who raced blindly (not knowing the distance beforehand) against those who did not averaged the same time and pace in 4 time trials.
- Benno Nigg performed a study that found that runners are less likely to suffer injuries if they choose shoes by how they feel.
- According to a study at The University of Birmingham, England cyclists who simply rinsed their mouth with a sports drink performed better in a time trial because the carbs activated the reward center in the brain that made the effort feel easier.
What do you think? I totally agree with a lot of this just through my own workout routines. I need a lot of mind games to get through it!
6 comments:
" Benno Nigg performed a study that found that runners are less likely to suffer injuries if they choose shoes by how they feel." --- that is why you're told to not pick your running show based on the color (but i still want a pair of pink shoes)
Perhaps you might FEEL better in a pair of pink shoes.
I just picked this book up, looking forward to reading it. He's got a newer book about "running by feel," so that'll be an interesting sequel.
Very interesting post. Sometimes I don't think we give our bodies enough credit - or listen closely enough to them to hear what they need.
A study at the University of Exeter, England found that subjects who raced blindly (not knowing the distance beforehand) against those who did not averaged the same time and pace in 4 time trials.
I don't know about that one. I mean, if I ran a marathon against a guy who didn't realize it was going to be a marathon (and thought it was a 5K or something) I am not sure we'd end up at the same time? Is that what that one meant?
Ehh...it more has to do with the fact that they ran 4 time trials a piece. One group never knew the distance, the other always did. The way they performed in each time trial (in terms of how their times improved, what adjustments they made) followed the same course. So the first one was slow for both groups but they went out fast for the first mile or so whether they knew the distance or not. By the 4th time trial, they had made adjustments to hold a steadier pace.
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