Swimming and Eating.
One of the most common myths about swimming is that you shouldn’t do it after eating – the amount of time varies, but most people usually say a half an hour to an hour. Is this myth true, and if it is, what exactly will be the consequence of swimming once you’ve downed a meal? In this article, we’re going to examine this myth more closely and determine once and for all whether it’s okay to swim after eating or not.
The Hungry Swimmer
Someone who swims a lot will notice something peculiar: they’re hungry a lot, too. That’s not rocket science: burning up all of those calories in the swimming pool means that your body will be craving a lot of energy. When you have a calorie deficit, you’ll feel it in your stomach. So what are the options you have if you’re starving but know you’ll only have the next hour to use the swimming pool?
Many swimmers will simply eat. Other swimmers prefer to eat something before a long swim in order to give them energy – they don’t want their blood sugar dropping low or to feel too much fatigue. This is also seen in distance runners, who will often act like human garbage disposals and eat whatever is available – even while running.
What’s going on here? Do swimmers have some sort of special digestive ability?
Exercising After Eating
Any time you exercise after eating, you won’t necessarily feel that great, especially if you down a lot of food like a full meal. Our bodies need to use blood in our digestive system in order to break down foods, and when we exercise, we also need blood. This often means a workout that doesn’t feel all that great.
Will it kill you? Probably not. Just like any other time, don’t push yourself too hard. You may find yourself more vulnerable to a side stitch, but that won’t necessarily happen. If you eat something as simple as a power bar, you may find that it has very little effect on how you feel – whether you were full or totally hungry to begin with.
When you eat smart, you’ll notice that your body has a lot less trouble digesting the food you’ve eaten. Fruit and vegetables, in particular, won’t leave you feeling bloated or unable to exercise at all. In fact, you may enjoy the extra energy. If you always feel sluggish, ask yourself whether it’s because you eat and swim – or if it’s because of what you eat before you swim.
Photo Credits: jayhem
Originally posted 2009-08-12 03:41:47.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 16, 2012 in
Health, Swimming
Which do you prefer?
Whether you’re an aspiring Lance Armstrong, or a casual bike rider, you’ll probably ask the simple question: should I ride my bike indoors or outdoors? Is one environment more effective than the other? There are indeed fundamental differences between each style of bike riding that could affect your enjoyment of the exercise. In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of each type of bike riding
* Benefits of the Outdoors. There’s nothing better than getting out in the fresh air to exercise, but biking doesn’t have to only be a form of exercise. Using bikes for transportation is both healthy for you and for the environment. Many people enjoy that feeling of freedom that biking brings. Using a bike as transportation frees you from having to find that ever elusive parking space, and reduces the number of fill ups needed by your car. These aspects of bike riding make it an effective way to exercise while also being useful.
* Drawbacks to Outdoor Riding. While all these aspects of bike riding might be positive, there are many negatives to consider about outdoor riding when deciding whether biking inside or outside is best. If you’re an avid outdoor biker the weather can be wonderful, but what do you do on those days where you have to train and it’s too hot or too cold to go out safely. In addition to these concerns about the weather, you must also consider traffic safety, especially if you’re a commuter. It’s all well and good to combine your exercise routine with going to work or the store, but make sure to keep your safety in mind when deciding whether outdoor bike riding is for you.
* The Alternative. If you don’t like the idea of battling weather and traffic while exercising you might want to consider taking your bike riding inside. There are several options for riding inside, including exercise bikes or rollers onto which you can put your regular bike. Once you decide how you’re going to go about riding inside you can enjoy your exercise routine in the comfort of your own home or the gym of your choice. In addition to protection from the weather you can keep yourself amused while you exercise by reading or watching television, neither of which you could do if riding outside. All in all, by riding your bike inside you can make your exercise very comfortable.
Naturally, all the drawbacks to riding indoors are the benefits of riding outdoors, discussed earlier in this article. By riding indoors you’re forgoing the enjoyment of riding in nature and the economical benefits discussed above. In the end you may decide to use both, if possible. Overall, bike riding is a wonderful form of exercise that can be tailored to suit your personal preferences.
Photo Credits: Pörrö
Originally posted 2009-09-17 03:41:58.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 15, 2012 in
Biking
Got all your gear? Check!
If you’re planning a long cycling trip that tests your endurance, your skills, as well as your navigational abilities, you have to also realize that there are other challenges you might not expect. It will be wise to pack and prepare for these challenges, and from this idea you might consider what to stuff in a fanny pack or other luggage container you can get your hands on.
Here is a brief look at the different items you’ll want to bring on a long-distance cycling trip.
-Sunglasses.
Depending on the weather, and even if it’s a cloudy day outside, it’s a prudent move to bring along sunglasses. You never know when the sun will poke out of the clouds and start sending some of its Vitamin D – and UV rays – down on your personal convoy. So pack just a light pair of sunglasses, and pack them even if you don’t ultimately think you’ll need them. Who knows – down the line you might find that you want them.
-Food and drink.
Many bikes have a bottle holder that you’ll be able to pack water in, no problem, but what about food? After all, a long cycling trip can take hours, and that whole time you’ll be burning calories and stimulating your metabolism. It’s inevitable that you’ll get hungry, and even if you don’t feel like you’re in a “meal” mood, some pretzels or granola in your bag can go a long way to helping you out down the road.
-First-aid supplies.
First-aid supplies are typically light weight, so they won’t add a lot of baggage to your bike, but they can really come in hand. The cuts and scrapes typically associated with cycling injuries can be treated with some basic bandages, gauze, some alcohol, and medical tape.
-A fully-charged cellular phone.
If you run into an unexpected emergency, there’s nothing like a cell phone that will help you retain your connection to civilization. If your bike breaks down in some deserted location and you have no one to turn to, a cell phone can be a last-ditch means of getting a ride home.
-A map or other type of navigation.
If you’ve already got a GPS watch, consider yourself golden, but a map or some other type of navigational device can help you feel like you’re never lost, no matter how far you venture out to explore. You don’t have to be a worrier about what road you’re on, and how far you are from home, but you can simply keep a map in your bag in case you need to do some navigation to bring you to any location you’ve been targeting.
Photo Credits: richardmasoner
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Originally posted 2009-04-08 05:19:16.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 14, 2012 in
Biking
For the motivated individual who’s trying to lose weight, bulk up, or simply get in shape, the concept of “overtraining” can be a disheartening one. You’ve been working so hard every day and have been getting good results, but some articles seem to suggest you’ve been working too hard. Have you been putting in so much work that you’ve been hurting your own progress?
Well, stay motivated. This article will look at the phenomenon of “overtraining” and question whether or not you’ve really been doing it.
What is Overtraining?
Overtraining is essentially what happens when the work you’ve been putting in out-paces your body’s ability to recover. It can be common for high intensity or high endurance athletes like weightlifters and runners. But are you really experiencing it?
Many times, people overestimate their ability to overtrain themselves and underestimate their body’s recovery abilities. Overtraining is most often a concern for Olympic athletes who are working at their skills for some 5-8 hours a day. If you’ve been working out an hour a day and are worried you’re overtraining, there’s a good chance that your worries are unfounded.
The process of improving the quality of your muscles means that you tear them down and wait for the body to rebuild them up even stronger. Overtraining your muscles would mean that you don’t give them enough time to rebuild, essentially doing harm to your own goals. But is this an excuse to work less hard?
How to Prevent Overtraining
Most of the time, preventing overtraining isn’t a problem unless you’re a professional athlete. But if you do find yourself over-worked, overtraining is a problem that can often be treated quite quickly and easily.
Since overtraining means that you aren’t giving your body enough recovery time, feeling overtrained can be helped by simply taking a few days of rest and allowing your body to recover. Spending a weekend watching the boob tube can feel like a great reward for all of your hard work – and what’s better, you know that your body is actually working to improve itself because of the work you’ve put in!
The important thing is not to let rest dominate your life. After your rest, get back at it again.
Ultimately, exercise helps you when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If it was easy to get in shape, everyone would be able to do it. Don’t get down when someone tells you you’re overtraining – they might be wrong.
Photo Credits: zabara_breakdance
Originally posted 2009-09-07 03:32:22.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 13, 2012 in
Triathlon
Fueled by fat?
We’re all used to watching marathons on television featuring small, skinny people move quickly over long periods of time. We might be jealous of their ability to eat a lot and still lose weight, but there is something to the low-fat look of many runners: fat is often an effective fuel for easy to moderate exercise. But is it the best fuel for runners, or are carbohydrates far more effective? Let’s take a closer look.
Difference in Intensity
The simple fact is that the body will burn carbohydrates at higher-intensity rates of exercise, and burn fat when the intensity is lower. If you plan on running sprints, carbohydrates are your fuel, no doubt.
The problem with carbohydrates is that they burn up quickly in the body and aren’t stored in heavy amounts, as opposed to fat, which always seems to be handy unless you’re ultrathin. Some studies have suggested that including more fat in your diet can help you build endurance, although it won’t necessarily fuel you for faster sprints and more impressive times.
But can you become better at running fast simply by eating more carbohydrates? The famous “carbo-loading” diet of people who plan to undergo high-intensity exercise can indeed be effective, as it maximizes the amount of carbohydrates stored in your system. Ultimately, you will only be able to optimize your diet to a certain point before your improvements will come from good, old-fashioned hard work.
Should You Eat More Fat?
Being able to run longer is an appealing idea to the runner, who’s always looking to improve their skills and abilities. However, the benefits to eating more fat might not fit you, depending on your goals. If you’re running to lose weight, for example, you’ll want your body to burn already-present fat in your system so that you slim down and trim up. If you want to lose weight, ultimately you’ll need to have a calorie deficit.
Also, eating more fat doesn’t mean you can ditch the celery and head to McDonald’s every night. There are healthy fats like olive oil that won’t do the damage to your heart of more saturated fat-rich foods. Burning off plenty of calories during running can make it tempting to eat a lot of bad food, but don’t make saturated fats a staple of your diet. You can indulge every once in a while.
Photo Credits: alexik
Originally posted 2009-09-10 03:44:50.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 12, 2012 in
Running
Walk or run?
One of the biggest questions when people start to exercise is “is walking just as effective as running?†If you move the same distance, does it really matter how you reach the goal? Well, there is clearly a difference between walking and running, but how large, and will it really make or break you in your weight loss or
training goals? This article will help explain the advantages and disadvantages of each exercise.
Walking
Walking is one of the most popular exercises mostly because it’s so easy for anyone to do, and it reaps results! Walking is excellent because it can be done almost anywhere, even while you’re at work, making it a clear choice for people who don’t have a lot of spare time on their hands. When compared to running, walking is much easier, but does that mean that’s not as good for you? The answer is, it depends. Walking is a much better exercise for beginners because it’s not as stressful on the body or that it doesn’t require as high of endurance. You can achieve the same amount of weight loss as running, it will just take a bit more walking than it would if you were running. One thing that walking can’t do though is build endurance or speed like running can, making walking a worse choice for sports and long distance training. So the answer is walking can be just as effective as running, depending on what it is you’re trying to achieve with your exercise routine.
Running
Running is a cardio exercise just like walking, but there is more of a difference between walking and running than just speed. Running is very effective at both burning calories and building muscle mass in the legs simultaneously; however, walking can burn just as many calories at a slower rate without building the muscle mass. It’s hard to run inside, as you’d most likely need a treadmill, this is one of the only downsides to running because it limits the areas in which you can get the exercise done. Another aspect to running that can be considered a pro or a con is that it’s a high impact exercise. While a high impact exercise may get you more prepared for sports like conditions, it also is much harder on your body in the long run and can even cause long term damage if you’re not careful.
So what’s a better exercise, walking or running? This answer is it depends. Are you just trying to gain weight, or are you trying to build muscle mass. Do you have the stamina to run, or is your body not fit enough to handle long distance running. These are the questions you need to ask yourself before deciding on either exercise.
Photo Credits: Brett L.
Originally posted 2009-09-22 03:34:24.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 11, 2012 in
Running
Is swimming for your child?
It might not be long into your child’s life before they discover that they thoroughly enjoy the sport of swimming. Even at earlier ages, you might have been able to take them a pool and barely succeed in getting them out of it when it’s time to go home. So when your child advances in age and starts taking up swimming as a formal activity, it’s time for some good old-fashioned encouragement and support. Here are the ways you can keep out of your child’s way and help to teach them the value of hard work and practice.
First, make sure that you don’t attach your own expectations to the child. Remember the Pygmalion effect, which is the effect that educators have noticed in children: many children will conform to the expectations of authority figures. During one experiment, they decided to treat two groups of equally-talented children differently; the group that was treated like a specially-gifted class ended up performing better.
So what does it mean when you “don’t” attach your own expectations to your child? It means you don’t set unrealistic goals for them and then admonish them when they don’t achieve them. Instead, reward them for hard work, and hard work alone. And let them feel that you have full confidence in them. You might be surprised at how hard they work when they feel your confidence is legitimate; they shouldn’t feel like your expectations are so high that they can do nothing right. Imagine how you would treat a world-class swimmer: with respect and a little bit of awe.
Second, don’t coach your child if you don’t have any swimming experience yourself. This is especially true if your child is already working with a swimming coach at the high school or college level; there’s a good chance that your coaching will simply get in the way. Your relationship with your child is that of a parent-son/daughter; you’re not the coach. Make sure to get out of a coach’s way, especially if that coach has plenty of experience and comes across as genuinely interested in your child’s success.
It’s important to remember the impact that you have on your child as a parent. If nothing they do is right, they’ll start to find ways to sabotage their own success. But if they feel that you have faith in them and trust them to do the hard work on their own, their only option is to work hard in order to meet that trust. Use encouragement is a reward, and stay out of the way!
Photo Credits: hoyasmeg
Originally posted 2009-07-22 05:01:09.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 10, 2012 in
Swimming
Running: What's your motivation?
If you’ve avoided exercise in the past – for the logical reason of trying to avoid high amounts of pain – you’ve probably come across someone who seems to be an exercise freak. You don’t understand how they can simply plug into their iPod and just lose themselves in minutes and hours of simple physical exertion. After all, those people don’t really look that happy, and while they may be fit, what’s the point of it all?
Any runner will tell you that the answers aren’t so easy, especially the longer they prefer to run. Answering the “why” for them will be as difficult as getting you to explain why you indulge in your favorite passions. You don’t have a “reason,” you simply find that following your passions brings you the greatest amount of joy.
Running isn’t easy, either. This gets to the crux of the question: we know that running can be beneficial towards your health, but is it really worth the essential pain and grit of it all? Runners will tell you it is, but they probably won’t be able to convince you to feel the same.
The truth is, even for runners, it’s not always easy to lace up and head out. Sometimes runs can be thrilling and exhilarating, but the vast majority of the time, they are hardly enjoyable. Most of the time, running is spent in the medium between the highs and the lows that this type of exercise can bring.
After a run, however, the runners will tell you that they feel different. With endorphins surging through their body, they know that they haven’t mortgaged their futures for their present comfort. They know that their pain burned calories, that their hard work built muscles, and that their investment in themselves built self-esteem.
After a run, it is hard to not feel that you’ve done your work for the day – that somehow, through it all, you’ve ended up a better person. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’ve improved yourself.
This may seem to be lofty thoughts for a simple exercise, but therein lies your answer: runners run because of the feeling it gives them. Yes, it gives them pain and exhausts their energy, but it also takes them to places that the couch simply can’t – that no pleasure on earth can justify. To run for your health is to invest in yourself in the most simple way: giving away your current comfort for your future benefit.
Now that you think about it, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it?
Photo Credits: Scott Ableman
Originally posted 2009-05-07 05:42:52.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 9, 2012 in
Motivation, Running
Running barefoot.
When you first got into this whole “running” thing, this might not be a question you originally pondered: should you run barefoot? After all, today’s running industry seems built around equipment like iPods,
heart-rate monitors, and of course, running
shoes. Is ditching the
shoes a possibility – or even a reality? The answers might surprise you.
First, the answer is that running barefoot for long distances is possible. The Ethiopian runner, Abebe Bikila ran a 2:15:17 marathon barefoot. But why would someone do this, when it’s so easy to step on a pebble, rough up the bottom of your feet, and run into some other obstacle that you’d think would leave you crying for a nice, comfortable running shoe?
Some people believe that the human foot was built for running, and that adding anything to it is actually unnecessary. As many runners already know, the bottom of your foot will toughen up in order to prevent blistering: anyone with a callus knows that this is true. With some adjustment, your foot will be able to toughen up and should feel relatively comfortable running around without any protection except for the bottom of your natural feet.
It is already well-known that some shoes (ladies, you know how uncomfortable heels can be) don’t exactly promote good posture – in fact, these shoes might be responsible for lower back problems later in life. The proponents of running barefoot believe that these back problems and issues with posture are the result of de-naturizing our feet, giving arch support where it is not needed, or at the very least constraining our feet by squeezing them into little boxes.
Of course, the ultimate decision lies with you. Running barefoot is indeed possible, but that doesn’t mean you should run your next 5k without shoes. You’ll actually want to “initiate” yourself to the process, much like starting over your running training. You can continue your regular running routine, but start adding a bit of barefoot walking. Gradually add more distance and time to the amount of barefoot walking you do, and then work your way up to running.
You should notice that the skin on the bottom of your feet becomes tougher. It’s also important to remember that the muscles in your feet might not be used to the kind of work they’ll be doing barefoot, so don’t take on too much at once. As you get used to running barefoot, you should have a clearer idea of what it’s all about.
Photo Credits: Blind Grasshopper
Originally posted 2009-08-18 03:37:14.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 8, 2012 in
Running
Biking Uphill.
There it is. Up until now, you’ve been coasting along with the force of gravity, hardly noticing that you’re exercising at all. But as your bike races up to the bottom of a tough hill, you know that you’ll need to kick it into gear. You know that this is where you become a stronger biker and a stronger person, but it’s not always easy to whip yourself up and get motivated to hit that hill as opposed to biking somewhere else. As long as the exercise is reasonable, it’s not the hill that’s the problem – it’s you and your motivation. Here are three tips to help you go up that hill with your figurative guns blazing.
Remember the myth of Sisyphus. It’s not every day that you link mythological characters with your daily life, but this one might be inspirational. Sisyphus was a Greek mythological figure – according to the story, he was condemned to push a rock up a hill, only to see it roll down. He had to do this for eternity. Simply remembering this myth can provide inspiration when you’re at the bottom of the hill – unlike Sisyphus, you won’t have to keep doing this forever. Focus on beating the hill and the end-result of being proud of yourself.
Talk to yourself. Anyone who’s been out exercising alone has probably seen the benefits of talking to yourself. Yes, talking out loud! Whip yourself into a mini-frenzy by saying something simple, like “here we go” before you start. If you’re going to be motivated to get on the hill, you sometimes have to talk yourself into it. When you hear yourself say “I’m going to do it,” you should be more likely to actually attack the hill without wussing out and taking the easier way.
Remember that the journey is the destination. You’ll never get to a point where you can stop cycling and exercising and enjoy all of the benefits that exercise brings. The journey of exercise is supposed to bring you to physical fitness, but it’s not always about having six-pack abs. If you’re going to be exercising for the long-term future, you’re going to want to actually enjoy the process of exercise in and of itself. It’s when you can enjoy the journey that you can commit to it to a daily basis, making it that much more likely that you’ll reach your goals. Challenges like hills are part of that journey.
Photo Credits: Tanja de Bie
Originally posted 2009-12-08 03:48:42.
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Posted by Bike Swim Run on May 7, 2012 in
Biking
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