Last week, I introduced metabolism and described how body weight and resting metabolic rate (RMR) are connected. I also mentioned that there are three components to metabolism: resting metabolic rate, the thermic effect of food, and energy expended for physical activity. In this article, we’ll shift from the metabolic process and focus on the physical
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Metabolism. It’s a word we hear a lot when discussing weight loss (or weight gain). We usually use it as an excuse for why we can eat whatever we want when we are younger, and more often as an excuse for why we get bigger or can’t seem to meet our weight loss goals. The
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A healthy diet is important for a distance runner, and you probably already know the basics. Fruits, vegetables, and good sources of carbs and protein make up the core of what an athlete should be eating. But this week, we’ll take a look at the role of calcium, one of the major minerals that comes
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Recently there has been renewed interest in a dietary strategy that actually limits the athlete’s access to carbohydrate during training in order to enhance the body’s adaptations to training and fuel utilization. The “train low” theory (training with low carbohydrate availability) stemmed from the discovery that the transcription of a number of genes involved in
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While it’s not quite feeling like spring yet in most of the country, one concern that will surely be on many runners’ minds once it does is hydration. Over the winter, it’s easy to get lulled into drinking minimal amounts of water, and once the temperature heats up, your first few runs in the heat
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Periodization is a long-term, progressive approach to training designed to improve athletic performance by systematically varying training throughout the year. The ultimate goal of training periodization is to achieve peak performance at the most important time in the season. This could be a goal half marathon, the Boston Marathon, or even the Olympic Trials. To
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Most runners recognize the value that low-fat dairy products can bring to the sports nutrition diet. For instance, some dairy products are good sources of protein and carbohydrate; they are rich in calcium and vitamin D, and they taste great. Unfortunately, dairy sometimes gets a bad reputation and as such, has been completely cut out
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The gluten-free diet has taken off in recent years and instead of being viewed as nutrition therapy for a handful of medical conditions, it may inadvertently be the new “fad diet.” I don’t want to use that term in a negative way because the gluten-free diet is a well-researched, generally healthful, and medically necessary diet
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Studying the diets of elite runners can not only be a fun comparison to your own nutritional intake, it can also be a great way to better appreciate and confirm many of the scientifically proven nutritional concepts experts believe help improve performance and health. And, if we’re going to learn from elites, it makes sense
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  How do you know if your nutritional intake is primed for optimal performance? While many runners eat a healthy diet in general, it’s still possible to have low or inadequate levels of important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. For example, Recent research indicates that almost 56 percent of joggers and competitive runners suffer from an
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