VO2max

The monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com

Jason Karp, professional coach, consultant, freelance writer

April, 2007

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In this issue:

Coach Jason to Speak at IDEA Fitness Fusion

The 3 Players of Distance Running

Breaking Plateaus

Order in the Gym

The Writing Process

In Press

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Coach Jason to Speak at IDEA Fitness Fusion

For those of you in the Chicago area this month, I will be speaking at IDEA Fitness Fusion, the premier Midwest event for personal trainers and group fitness professionals, at the Sofitel hotel and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on April 21 & 22, 2007 in Rosemont, IL.  My two presentations—Lactate Threshold: Best O2 Bang for Your Buck and Planning Clients’ Training with Periodization—will be packed with the latest scientific information on training for results.  IDEA Health & Fitness Association is the world’s largest association for health and fitness professionals.  For more information and to download the event brochure and convention schedule, go to: http://w2.ideafit.com/conference/idea-fitness-fusion-2007. 

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The 3 Players of Distance Running

Interested in becoming a better runner or coach?  In my new CD collection, The 3 Players of Distance Running, you’ll get all the info you could ever want on VO2max, lactate threshold, and running economy, including specific workouts to help you reach your running goals!  Each CD contains a PowerPoint slide presentation that will show you how to test and train each of these physiological variables.  Purchase any CD for $9.95, any 2 CDs for $17.95, or the whole set for just $23.95 (plus $2.95 shipping).  Just go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/merchandise or e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com.

 

And don’t forget you can still purchase my popular customized 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon training programs for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.  Just e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com.

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Breaking Plateaus

Now that we’re in to the fourth month of the year, many of you may be struggling with plateaus.  As a runner, I admit it’s easy to get stuck in a rut.  You get used to doing the same workouts, the same number of weekly miles.  Sometimes, it’s hard to do more mileage, more speedwork.  But if you want to improve your performance, you have to increase your training.  If your training stays the same, don’t expect your races to get faster.  The human body is very good at adapting to stress when that stress is applied is small doses, but it also does something annoying—it habituates.  To get faster, stronger, and break through plateaus, gradually and systematically increase the amount of training stress.  Do this in other areas of your life, too.  Make a commitment to yourself to be more productive, to do more, to be more.  And break through plateaus.

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Order in the Gym

If today is your day to focus on biceps, you better train them first.  The performance of both large- and small-muscle group exercises is affected by the order you do them.  A study published in Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, in which trained women performed a series of exercises and then performed them in the opposite order 48 hours later, found that the women completed fewer repetitions (when lifting 3 sets at 80% one-rep max) for the bench press, seated machine shoulder press, seated machine triceps extension, leg press, leg extension, and leg curl when the exercise is performed later in the sequence.  The rating of perceived exertion, however, is not affected by the order of the exercises.

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The Writing Process

As many of you know, I’m a writer as well as a coach and scientist.  In addition to getting asked questions about running, I receive a fair amount of questions about writing and publishing.  So I thought I’d start addressing them in this newsletter.  As a scientist, I find it humorous sometimes that I’m able to make a living as a writer.  Because science and writing use different parts of your brain.  The left side of your brain is used for math and analytical thinking, while the right side is used for art, language, and writing.  Most people are either right- or left-brain dominant.  I’m very lucky.  I usually joke with people that I inherited my writing talent from my twin brother, who is an editor and playwright. 

 

Whether you want to write a novel, a play, a non-fiction article for a magazine, or a Ph.D. dissertation (I only recommend this latter option if you’re a bit crazy), the best way to begin writing is to block out times during the day.  It’s hard to produce something by writing 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there.  Make an appointment with yourself to write.  Don’t wait for inspiration.  Of course, that doesn’t mean to ignore those moments when inspiration strikes.  It’s helpful to have some paper and a pencil handy so you can write things down as you think of them (don’t rely on your memory).  I often lay awake at night thinking about my book or my dissertation.  (I bet there aren’t too many people in the world losing sleep over issues concerning the coordination of breathing and stride rate in elite distance runners!)  Sometimes, those moments of inspiration come when you are actually in front of your computer, working on your manuscript.  Those are the best moments when the words fly out of your head faster than you can type them and the manuscript seems to just write itself.  Admittedly, those moments are rare.  Most of the time, writing is work.  And good writing takes time.  So don’t rely on inspiration to get you through.  If you have trouble writing full paragraphs or even full sentences to articulate your thoughts, start with notes.  You can create full sentences and paragraphs later.  The important thing is to initially get some thoughts down on paper or on the computer screen, no matter how rough or inarticulate they may be.  

 

When you write, find a place that is quiet and comfortable so you can focus solely on your writing.  Maybe that means creating a home office for yourself, going to the library with your laptop computer, or sitting at Starbucks with a latté.  I spend most of my time writing in my home office, escaping every once in a while to Starbucks for their mocha frappuccinos and the occasional conversation with an attractive coed (okay, maybe not the best place for me to get work done).  Sometimes, I take my laptop over to the law school library to get a glimpse of how the other half lives.  Wherever you choose to write, make sure you have a comfortable chair to sit on.  And think of yourself as a writer.  Keeping ideas in your head doesn’t make you a writer.  Writing does.

 

If you’re a writer and have questions about writing (or running), e-mail me.  I’ll address your questions in this newsletter.   

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In Press...

 

Ever wish you could drop your dinner napkin on the floor just so you can bend over to pick it up in front of your date?  Most men wish they could have a rock-hard butt symbolic of their power, while most women wish they could have a butt like Aphrodite, causing men to turn their heads in admiration.  Tighter Butt, Part 3 of my Better Body series that describes how to get the butt you’ve always dreamed of, along with a butt training program, appears in the April, 2007 issue of Ultra-Fit magazine.

 

Turn on the Power: Energy System Specific Training, my article on how to get the most out of your training by targeting the three energy systems used to run, appears in the April, 2007 issue of Atlanta Sports & Fitness.

 

The Top Three Cardio Workouts, my article on the top three fitness-inducing, fat-burning cardio workouts, appears in the Spring,  2007 issue of Duke City Fit.

 

My Fitness News contributions on the value of recovery, hypertrophy, weight lifting speed, muscle squeezing, zapping calories, and better body image with weight training appear in the April, 2007 issue of Oxygen magazine.

 

Ever wonder how many miles you should run to maximize your performance?  “And Miles to Go Before I Sleep”: How Much Mileage is Enough?, my article that explores the question of how much mileage is necessary to maximize VO2max and other variables related to performance, appears in the May, 2007 issue of Running Times, on newsstands in April.

 

My Fitness News contributions on detraining and fitness, carbohydrates and immune function, and how strength improves appear in the May, 2007 issue of Oxygen magazine, on newsstands in April.

 

Also look for my quotes on losing fat and building muscle in the “You Ask! We Answer...” column in the April, 2007 issue of Oxygen magazine and on breaking through plateaus so you can run longer in the May issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands in April. 

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To view past newsletters, go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/newsletter.

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©2007 Jason Karp.