Exercise and Fitness Blog

I’ve talked to a lot of people about what makes a pair of shoes the Best Running Shoes possible.  There are several elements that consistently stand out, but perhaps more importantly, there isn’t a single right answer.  The right answer is the pair of running shoes that best match your foot.

So, what will give me an indication of the best running shoes for my feet?  There are a few things that you need to know before you start shopping.

1. How high (of flat) are your arches?
2. What type of surface will you be running on?
3. What do your old shoes look like?
4. Do you pronate or supinate?

Answer those questions and you’re more than half way there!  For example, if you know that you have flat arches, that can eliminate a lot of wrong choices very quickly.  If you know that you pronate or supinate, there are shoes that can help with motion control.

The tip to bring in your old running shoes is a sure fire success, but only if someone with experience is looking at them.  For example, you can tell what your stride is, where to you usually land, what are the pressure points.  Someone with a lot of experience can examine the wear pattern and observe the foam breakdown and tell get you amazingly close to the best running shoes for you.

A terrific resource for choosing the best running shoes is the website http://www.bestrunningshoes.com.  There are blog posts and many tips and tricks to give you the upper hand.

One thing to remember is that even the best pair of running shoes will wear out over time.  A general rule of thumb is to replace your running shoes every 400-600 miles or every six months, whichever comes first.  Always be aware of your body and joints.  If you start to feel heavily beaten at the end of a run, then you might think about trying a new pair of running shoes.

That’s it for now.  Good luck finding your best running shoes.

A common question about weight loss is, “how much exercise to lose weight”.  It is almost universally understood that there is a calorie equation, and so long as you burn more calories than you take in, you’ll produce a deficit that will result in weight loss.  Everyone burns calories at a different rate and that rate will change as your body mass to muscle ratio changes, among other things.

One study mentioned on the BBC website today suggests that one hour a day is the magic number to lose weight and keep it off.  They suggested that less than one our a day would not be sufficient to keep the weight off.  One thing that they didn’t mention was the type of exercise or how intense the exercise needed to be.  Here is the original article.  While they seem to answer the question “how much exercise to lose weight”, they didn’t tell the whole story.

Now I have to admit that I haven’t read the entire study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal.  But, I would say much less than an hour of exercise would answer the question how much exercise to lose weight.  For example, in September of 2007 I accepted a challenge at work with a few other guys to see which of us could lose 10% of his body weight in the shortest amount of time.  I decided to eat mostly normal, although I watched my portions a little.  I also didn’t eat so that I got stuffed.  I also started running again.

Keep in mind that I wasn’t running a lot, but I was running two or three days a week and anywhere from two miles to three miles.  This would average out to about 10 minutes a day, but on the days that I exercised I didn’t run for less than 18 minutes.  The result was a loss of 10% body weight in about a month, and now a year later I’ve kept it all off with moderate exercise.  Also note that some weeks I didn’t run more than once, and others I ran four times.

So, How much exercise to lose weight?  Apparently some research suggests an hour a day, but I would suggest that you start with whatever you can do.  If that’s 20 minutes a couple times a week, then start there.  In my opinion, the best exercise routine to build is the one that you can comfortably maintain.

I suppose that one question remains: what is the “Best exercise to lose weight”?  Without any handy statistics, I’ll suggest that Running would be the winner, but I’ll leave that for another post another day.  The best exercise to lose weight is the exercise that you feel comfortable with and that you can maintain.

So go do something right now, and then do it again tomorrow or the next day.  Stop planning!  Start doing!

Hey, I finally have the full running speakers package ready to go and so I snapped a shot of it.  This is the one I’m sending off to the winner of the contest.  Here’s what will be included for the running speakers.

- Speakers
- Running Harness
- Quick Start DVD

With the following bonuses for everyone:

- Rich Harris running shoes video (30 minutes)
- Rich Harris web conference (1 hour video)
- Jim Mishler triathlon teleconference (1 hour mp3)

LAST MINUTE BONUSES

The first 6 people only will receive a free upgrade to
overnight shipping.  That’s worth $30.00.

And, the first 25 people will get a bonus DVD with the
Rich Harris running shoe video in high quality.

Here’s the page where you’ll go tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST.

http://www.maintainfit.com/get-running-speakers.php

I’ve gotten such a positive response from people that are using and even just seeing the running speakers for the first time that I’ve decided to give a pair away for free.

The race director of the Fit for Life half marathon liked the running speakers and he even asked if he could post the video I made to his website.  Do you remember Jeremy, you know, the guy that made the biking helmet cam video on my blog?  He let his fiance run in them for the same 10K race on Saturday and she loved them.

Some guy even came and asked me about them after the race and tried them on.  He mentioned a lot of the same frustrations about headphones, training and races that I heard during the survey about running with music, and was really impressed with how light they are and how they sound.

So, while I’m still working with the inventor to let Maintain Fit members have a first shot at them, I decided to GIVE AWAY a pair for FREE.

Here’s how it will work.  I want you to tell me about the biggest benefit that you get from running with music and how the running speakers would enhance that benefit.  The trick is that you have to be able to say it in 150 - 300 words.  I’ll go through the responses and choose the best one and send him or her a pair of running speakers, for FREE.

Here’s how to submit your entry.  To enter your short essay, simply post it as a comment on this blog post, and make sure to leave your e-mail address (I have my blog configured to never show your e-mail address, but if you win I need to contact you to get your address and ship you the speakers).

Just come up with the biggest benefit to running with music and explain how the running speakers would enhance that benefit, then explain it in 150-300 words as a comment on this post.  That’s it!

Some contest rules:

1. I am the sole judge and jury.

2. Entries must be posted by 7:00 PM EST eastern time on July 17th to be considered.

3. I reserve the right to changes the rules if there’s something I haven’t thought of.

That’s it for now so get busy!

So last week someone told me about the Fit for Life Half Marathon, 5K, and 10K in Boise this weekend.  Even through I haven’t been formally training for it, I thought it would be fun to run in it, but I wanted to make sure that I could wear the running speakers.  So I sent an e-mail to the race director and he said it would be OK for me to wear them.

Now, I’m not sure that all race directors will have the same opinion, but the speakers do alleviate most of the safety concerns and still don’t get in anyone’s way, so it seemed like a win win situation.  Fit for Life, here come the safe running speakers!

I made a short video about the race, including a short interview with the winner of the half marathon.  Of course I got several shots of the safe running speakers in there, so take a look (video below).

 

 Fit for Life half marathon with safe Running Speakers: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I got a lot of questions about the Running Speakers, so I went to the home office of Jeff Streeter, the inventor, for a late evening interview last Friday.  He took time to show us the speakers, but there’s more than that.

He talked to us about the speakers and even what motivated him to get started.  It’s fun to hear his story about what prompted him to come up with the running speakers.

I’ll leave the rest of the story to the video, so click play and enjoy!  I think you’ll really enjoy the comment about my wife listening to them while doing the dishes.

 

 Late evening interview with Jeff Streeter [24:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So I mentioned my buddy Jeremy was putting together a little video about biking with my speakers.  He was in the foothills of Boise and I think he’s listening to AC/DC (nothing like some 80s rock).  This morning I found this video in my e-mail and so I wanted to post it.

He explained that what he did was attach his video camera to his bike helmet, and so the shot where he’s talking, he is actually holding the helmet out in front of him at arms length.  Then he puts it on and starts biking.

Remember, I’m working out the scheduling for and interview with the inventor, so think about your questions and suggestions.  I’ll send out a survey before the interview, but I’m not sure how much time there will be to get the questions in.  Keep your eye on the blog too, since I probably won’t send out an e-mail everytime I post something new.

Enjoy the short video of my buddy Jeremy biking with music.

 

 Jeremy mountain biking to music (helmet cam): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When I first tried on the running speakers, I noticed that there wasn’t any way to attach my iPod.  I tried a couple of things, like this picture with it being held on with clothespins.  Ultimately I came up with a few ideas as I was running and listening to my music.

Well, the follow up for this story is that I just got of the phone with the inventor and discussed a small diagram I had sent him with my idea for a universal strap that would let me attach my MP3 player to the harness and have an all-in-one running music gadget.

Well, he actually liked my idea and is looking at incorporating the change into the harness before mass producing them.  I mentioned the idea of doing an interview with him and he said he sure would, but needs to make sure he can work it into his schedule.  I’ll call him tomorrow and see what his schedule looks like later this week.

Jeremy should have some video for us to look at with him using it on his bike today or tomorrow, so keep checking the blog.

And, in the meantime, keep running!

I was just talking to a buddy at work that ran in the Wasatch Back Relay over the weekend.  His group included some runners from Idaho and others from Utah.  Overall it’s a gruelling race covering 180.5 miles with some crazy elevation gain.  There were 12 people to a team.

The website (linked above) has information about each leg, and I’ll have to ask him to tell me which legs he ran, but he said he had a great experience doing it even though it was a super challenging experience.  He did tell me that he had a brutal climb for his last leg of the Wasatch Back Relay, covering almost as much vertical distance as lateral.

I’ve asked him to send me some photos and I’ll get him to tell me a little bit about it for those of you that are interested in trying out something like that someday.  Race teams are starting to assemble for next years race, so if you think you’re interested, start talking to people about it today.

The Wasatch Back Relay starts in Logan Utah and meanders through the Wasatch range ending up in Park City Utah, which takes you through some of the most breathtaking scenery in Utah.  I might even succeed in getting him to do an interview with me telling me more about his experience (I’ll see what I can do).

Meanwhile, here is a map of the Wasatch Back Relay race course.

If you’re on my mailling list then you already heard the story about how I got a prototype pair of speakers for running with my MP3 player.  They let me run with music by reducing the risk of getting hit by a car or surprised by someone or something.  Well, I said that I would try to put up a video showing the speakers, so I asked my buddy Jeremy to be the videographer and help me out.

I did a quick couple mile run in Boise and had him meet me on my usual route, which happens to be a pretty busy street during the morning commute with no sidewalks.  The music I chose for my run was Simple Minds (yeah, I love 80’s music).

Each time I run with music I understand a little better what others say about the motivation and increased energy that seems to be part of the run.  For example, when I started my run I felt physically crappy, but the music kept me going until I got into a groove.  When I had to stop for the camera I was a bit disappointed:(  I really got into  the run and the music gave me a good pace

OK, stop talking already and show me the video!  I know.

Enjoy! And after you watch it, post a comment telling what you think about the video (and the speakers)…

 

 Safer Exercise Speakers for your iPod or MP3 player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download