VO2max

The monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com

Dr. Jason Karp, running & fitness coach, consultant, freelance writer

August, 2006

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In this issue:

Coach Jason to speak at IDEA Personal Trainer Convention

Customized Training Programs

Integrating Science with Application—Should You Stretch?

Do Muscles Have Tone?

VO2max and Oxygen Partial Pressure

Athlete Spotlight

In Press

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Coach Jason to Speak at IDEA Personal Trainer Convention

Coach Jason will be giving two presentations—Lactate Threshold Training and Periodization Training—at the IDEA National Personal Trainer Convention on October 7, 2006 at the Hilton hotel in New York City.  If you are interested in fitness and will be in the New York area, this is a great opportunity to hear Coach Jason speak (twice!) and network with some of the top professionals in the fitness industry.  For more information and to download the event brochure and clinic schedule, go to: http://www.ideafit.com/ptrainer/index.asp.

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Customized Training Programs

Want to PR at a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, or marathon but can’t make a long-term commitment with a coach?  Remember, you can purchase my popular customized training programs for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.  Just e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com.

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Integrating Science with Application—Should You Stretch?

All runners I’ve ever known stretch before, and sometimes after, they run.  I even do it myself.  Ever wonder if all that stretching does anything?  Are we wasting our time?  While most runners believe that stretching prevents injuries, research tells a different story.  If the activity includes explosive or ballistic movements, like volleyball, basketball, and plyometric training, studies have shown that stretching can reduce injuries by increasing the compliance of tendons and improve their ability to absorb energy.  However, for low-intensity activities that don’t include ballistic movements, like running, cycling, and swimming, studies have shown that stretching has no beneficial effect on injury prevention since there is no need for very compliant tendons.  While stretching may not prevent you from becoming injured, it can improve your flexibility if done as part of a flexibility training program. 

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Do Muscles Have Tone?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I want to tone my muscles.”?  Maybe you’ve even said it yourself.  While you can make your muscles stronger and look better, you can’t tone them.  “Tone” refers to a partial state of muscle contraction.  The muscle fibers in your biceps or any other skeletal muscle either contract or they don’t.  There is no such thing as a partial contraction.  Like a light, fibers are either on or off.  You vary the amount of muscle force by varying the number of muscle fibers you contract and the frequency with which those fibers are recruited, not by varying their degree of contraction.  Smooth muscles, which line blood vessels and the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts, on the other hand, can contract partially.  They have a dimmer on their light switch, called tone.  This comes in handy when trying to do such things as regulate blood pressure, which is elegantly accomplished by subtle alterations in the dilation and constriction of blood vessels.   

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VO2max and Oxygen Partial Pressure

Continuing to understand the controlling factors of VO2max…

 

The adequacy of pulmonary oxygen transfer is determined by the difference in the partial pressure of oxygen between the alveoli and arteries.  Alveolar partial pressure depends on the inspired fraction of oxygen, barometric pressure, the ratio between expired carbon dioxide and inspired oxygen, and the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the alveoli.  If the alveolar partial pressure of oxygen falls, so does the arterial partial pressure of oxygen and, consequently, blood oxygen saturation.  With a decreased saturation of oxygen in your blood, VO2max decreases.  One of the variables in the above list—barometric

pressure—is the reason why VO2max is lower at altitude.  Since the barometric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, alveolar and arterial partial pressures of oxygen, blood oxygen saturation, and VO2max all decrease.  But at least the air is thinner up there, right?

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Athlete Spotlight

Jonathan Rossing

 

Running side by side with the defending champion the entire way, Jonathan, a doctoral student in communication and culture at Indiana University, pulled away in the final stages of the race to win the gold medal at the VII International Gay Games marathon on July 22.  His time of 2:48:00 was a personal record by over four minutes.  Inspired by his win, Jonathan is now aiming to run even faster at a marathon this fall.

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In Press...

The Errors of Our Running Ways, my article that examines four common mistakes—going out too fast in a race, doing speed work without first doing enough aerobic mileage, running workouts too fast or too slow, and not eating after a workout—with advice on how to correct them, appears in the July/August, 2006 issue of Running Times.

 

The Magic of Muscles, my article that describes the physiology of muscles and how they work, appears in the July/August, 2006 issue of Her Sports magazine.

 

My Fitness News contributions on exercise and anxiety, rehydration after workouts, and the role of the lungs during exercise appear in the August, 2006 issue of Oxygen magazine.

 

Carbohydrates and The Distance Runner: A Scientific Perspective, my research-based article on the role that carbohydrates plays in distance running, with recommendations for maximizing muscle glycogen

synthesis, appears in the Summer, 2006 issue of Track Coach.

 

Optimal Recovery, my article that discusses strategies for recovery from hard workouts, including refueling, rehydrating, reducing inflammation, and tapering, appears in the Summer, 2006 issue of Duke City Fit.

 

“I Can’t Catch My Breath”: Lungs and Running Performance, my article that defuses the myth that the lungs limit running ability, appears in the September, 2006 issue of Running Times, on newsstands in August.

 

My Fitness News contributions on exercise-induced asthma and vitamin C, number of sets to gain strength, fitness and immunity, and exercise for a better sex drive appear in the September, 2006 issue of Oxygen magazine, on newsstands in August.

 

Also look for my quote on lactate threshold training in the September, 2006 issue of Men’s Health, on newsstands in August.

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

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******************************************************************* ©2006 Jason Karp.  All rights reserved.