VO2max

The monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com

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

Director, REVO₂LT Running Team™

December, 2007

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In this issue:

Dr. Jason Karp to Attend Graduation

Holiday Gifts

Training VO₂max

Joining a Gym

How Fast Can Muscles Grow?

In Press

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Dr. Jason Karp to Attend Graduation

On December 15, 2007, Dr. Jason Karp, owner of RunCoachJason.com, will have his Ph.D. in exercise physiology conferred at the 178th commencement ceremony at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. 

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Holiday Gifts

Know someone who wants to lose weight, is training for a marathon, or wants to become a faster runner?  Why don’t you give him or her (or yourself) a personal trainer or coach as a holiday gift?  To purchase personal training or coaching gift certificates or my popular customized training programs for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com or go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/merchandise.  

My popular CD collection, The 3 Players of Distance Running, makes a great stocking stuffer!  You’ll get all the info you could ever want on VO₂max, running economy, and lactate threshold, including specific workouts to help you reach your running goals, all presented in colorful slide presentations!  To order, just go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/merchandise or e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com.  

And don’t forget, you and your running friends can run in style and comfort this winter with RunCoachJason.com’s official REVO₂LT Running Team™ lightweight dri-fit T-shirt.  To order, just go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/merchandise.

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Training VO₂max
Given the popularity of VO₂max and it’s importance to distance running, it’s no surprise that it has been extensively studied.  Indeed, VO₂max is the most often measured physiological variable in the field of exercise physiology.  An article published in the international journal Sports Medicine in October, 2007 reviewed the scientific literature on training VO₂max and other physiological determinants of distance running performance.  While inexperienced or low-mileage runners may increase their VO₂max by increasing mileage due to the many cellular changes that occur in the muscles, increasing the volume of easy running is ineffective for enhancing VO₂max in highly-trained runners.  In addition, while many runners lift weights, there is no physiological rationale or scientific support for strength training to improve VO₂max in trained distance runners.  

Research has shown that training intensity is the most important variable to improve VO₂max, with the most potent intensity being 95 to 100% VO₂max.  Running at or very close to VO₂max places maximal stress on the physiological processes and structures that limit VO₂max, and is associated with maximal cardiac pressure and volume overloads, which present the main stimulus to increase the heart’s maximal stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat) and consequently increase VO₂max. *******************************************************************

Joining a Gym

(excerpted from Karp, J.R. So, You Want to Join a Gym? Ultra-Fit, 17(7), Sept. 2007.)

Once the place where only athletes and hardcore fitness enthusiasts with big muscles or tight buttocks went to show off their bodies, gyms are now filled with everyone from Mr. Olympia to grandma next door.  So why not you? 

From barbells to bikes, pulley machines to pools, gyms provide many options.  Some of the equipment, like weight machines, allow you to isolate specific muscle groups to define muscles to look better or to rehab muscles following an injury.  Weight machines use variable resistance, changing resistance throughout the joint’s range of motion, which places more stress on your muscles at the angles at which they are stronger.  Dumbbells and barbells, on the other hand, offer a constant resistance on the muscle throughout the joint’s range of motion, but you can use a greater variety of movements that are more specific to the movements performed in daily life.  In addition to free weights, gyms have a variety of cardiovascular equipment to get your heart strong, including treadmills, elliptical trainers, bikes, rowing machines, and Stairmasters. 

The staff at gyms can give you fitness advice, write a training program for you, administer and explain the results of fitness tests, and demonstrate the correct ways to do strength training exercises so you don’t hurt yourself.  It’s much better than being left on your own to figure it all out by yourself.  If you want one-on-one attention, you can hire one of the personal trainers at the gym to work with you, or you can take a myriad of group exercise classes, from spinning to cardio kickboxing.  

Joining a gym can also help you to set goals and motivate you to reach them.  Paying for a gym membership can often be a motivator in itself, since you’ll be wasting money if you don’t go to the gym.

Ever notice that people with nice bodies tend to exude self-confidence?  While we can’t choose our parents, joining a gym can help you to build a better-looking body, which will make you feel better about yourself.  

While most people go to gyms simply to work out, they can also be great places to meet people.  After all, humans are social animals.  You know you already have something in common with other people there.  Maybe you’ll find a new workout partner.  And who knows?  Maybe the man or woman of your dreams will be running on a nearby treadmill or sipping a protein shake next to you at the juice bar!

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How Fast Can Muscles Grow?

When you first start a weight training program, much of the initial strength gains are due to neural factors (an improvement in the relationship between the central nervous system and your muscles) rather than an increase in muscle size (hypertrophy).  While it is generally accepted that there is a delay before muscles get larger, new research has shown otherwise.  A study published in Journal of Applied Physiology in 2007 found that people who did leg extensions (4 sets of 7 maximal contractions with 2 minutes rest between sets) three times per week for 35 days significantly increased quadriceps muscle size by 3.5% in the middle of the thigh and by 5.2% in the distal part of the thigh (closer to the knee) after only 20 days of training.  After 35 days, quadriceps size increased by 6.5 and 7.4% for the middle and distal areas.  After 35 days, maximal strength and muscle activity also significantly increased by 38.9 and 34.8%, respectively.  Therefore, changes in muscle size can be detectable after only three weeks of strength training and seem to contribute to strength gains earlier than what was previously thought.

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In Press...
A Matter of Survival: Training to Combat Fatigue, my article on the specific causes of fatigue in different races, with workouts to combat fatigue, appears in the December, 2007 issue of Running Times. 

7 Habits of Highly Effective Triathletes, my article that includes advice from some of the top triathletes in the world, appears in the December, 2007 issue of Triathlete magazine.

The Three Players of Distance Running: An In-Depth Look at Running Economy, Part 3 of my series that explores the physiology of distance running, appears in the Winter, 2008 issue of Track Coach, the official technical publication of USA Track & Field.

My Love Affair With Lactate, my article that explores the many myths and roles of lactic acid, appears online this month at Personal Training on the Net, an online education resource for fitness professionals.

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 Fall, 2007 issue of The Coach, the United Kingdom’s track and field coaching magazine.  

Ever wonder how many miles you should run to maximize your performance? 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 November/December, 2007 issue of Colorado Runner and in the Fall, 2007 issue of The Coach.

Running Between the Lines, my article on what you need to know to run effectively at the track, appears in the Fall, 2007 issue of Duke City Fit.

My Fitness News contribution on caffeine for sore muscles appears in the December, 2007 issue of Oxygen magazine. 

My Fitness News contributions on losing weight after childbirth, a comparison of cardio equipment, and lifting enough weight to see results appear in the January, 2008 issue of Oxygen magazine, on newsstands in December. 

Also look for my fat-burning program in the “You Ask, We Answer” column in the December, 2007 issue of Oxygen magazine.

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

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©2007 Dr. Jason Karp.