AROHEAD - FITNESS BLOG

AROHEAD - FITNESS BLOG
PIMPRI, PUNE 411018

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

How to select the right shoe for your foot.



Choosing a Shoe: The Very Basics
[from Runnersworld]

There’s no single 'best shoe' – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things - your biomechanics, your weight, the surfaces you run on, and obviously, the shape of your feet - mean that one person's ideal shoe can be terrible for another person.
We divide our shoes into three main categories (cushioned, stability and motion control); and three minor ones (performance training, racing and off-road). The first three are everyday options and are categorised essentially by your biomechanical needs; the second three are more specialised and you’d often only consider them as second shoes.
The first step in finding your basic shoe needs is to try our 'Wet Test', below or, preferably, to visit a biomechanics expert or experienced shoe retailer.
The Wet Test works on the basis that the shape of your wet footprint on a dry floor or piece of paper roughly correlates with the amount of stability you might need in your shoe.


The Normal Foot
Normal feet have a normal-sized arch and will leave a wet footprint that has a flare, but shows the forefoot and heel connected by a broad band. A normal foot lands on the outside of the heel and rolls inwards slightly to absorb shock. It’s the foot of a runner who is biomechanically efficient and therefore doesn’t need a motion control shoe.
Best shoes: Stability shoes with moderate control features.



The Flat Foot
This has a low arch and leaves a print which looks like the whole sole of the foot. It usually indicates an overpronated foot – one that strikes on the outside of the heel and rolls inwards (pronates) excessively. Over time, this can cause many different types of overuse injuries.
Best shoes: Motion control shoes, or high stability shoes with firm midsoles and control features that reduce the degree of pronation. Stay away from highly cushioned, highly curved shoes, which lack stability features.


The High-Arched Foot
This leaves a print showing a very narrow band or no band at all between the forefoot and the heel. A curved, highly arched foot is generally supinated or underpronated. Because it doesn’t pronate enough, it’s not usually an effective shock absorber.
Best shoes: Cushioned (or 'neutral') shoes with plenty of flexibility to encourage foot motion. Stay away from motion control or stability shoes, which reduce foot mobility.



THE RIGHT FIT
[from footcaredirect.com]
Only you can tell if shoes fit. If they aren't comfortable, don't buy them!
Don't plan on shoes stretching with wear. If you already own shoes that are too tight, ask your shoe repair shop if they can be stretched.
Because feet spread with age, have your feet measured every time you buy shoes. Both feet should be measured as they are often different sizes. Always buy shoes for the BIGGEST foot.
Go shoe shopping late in the afternoon. Feet swell to their largest then.
Size depends on shoe make and style, too. Don't insist you always wear one size if the next feels better.
The toe box should be roomy enough so you can wiggle all your toes.
Your forefoot should NOT be wider than your shoe.
The heel should fit snugly and the instep should not gape open.
If you can't find shoes that fit, ask your doctor for advice.



Arohead Fitness Club - Nitin Mahajan

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Opera House to Manly Wharf Walkathon


Would be doing this walk with a group  of 8 others, exactly 2 weeks from now. Weather promises to be on the warmer side but not too hot. Hopefully, it does not rain.
I could not map it correctly on Google Maps but the actual journey is close to 29.5kms.

Please visit, http://walking.about.com/library/cal/ucwatercalc.htm

In our case, we would probably be walking for 8 hours. So should be looking to have at least 7 to 8 L of water minimum with a couple of electrolyte drinks. You can use the calculator to get an estimate on how much water you will lose over the course of your walk/ hike. There are some other calculators which account for temperature and level of difficulty as well. When I find them I will put them up here.


Checking my deadlift technique - yet again!

I like going back to this because bad habits set in easy, especially when you have been lifting heavy., technique goes out of the window.
Had a friend video my technique in the morning..gym seems very quiet as it is around 6 in the morning.
A few points that emerge out of this video:
1. Lower back is straight which is good
2. Chest and shoulders are back which is excellent
3. Feet are positioned well and the head is focused straight ahead which is good as well
4. The not so good part is the rounding of the upper shoulders. The reason for that is my short arms. I cannot grip the weight without arching my upper back. The only better way to do it would be to place some plates under each side of the bar..but that would give a lot of advantage while lifting as the range of motion will decrease. But reasonably happy with my lifts...close to 185 kgs now..and 180kgs on the squats..could not increase on the bench which stays at 110 because of my shoulder injury.

Kid at the Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKi-fZoc9ts

Did a 14K run yesterday...8Km in the morning and then 6 in the evening..
Had this 8 or 9 year old kid on a bicycle in front of me..kept saying "Cmon you can do better than that..Cmon you are not even sweating"..Ha ha..

What is a Bonk?




Why Do We Bonk or "Hit the Wall?"
By Mike Prevost
You are at mile 23 of your marathon with only 3 miles or so remaining and you feel pretty good. You feel like you are going to have a good day. All of a sudden, within the space of 100  meters or so, you go from feeling pretty good to awful. Your legs feel heavy and it becomes impossible to maintain a running pace. You are forced to walk but really feel like you need to lie down. What happened? How can you go from feeling good to feeling terrible in such a short period of time? It is what many refer to as “bonking” or "Hitting the Wall." In this article we will explore the physiology of bonking and discuss what you can do to avoid it.

Your body stores carbohydrates in muscle and liver in a form that is referred to as glycogen. During exercise, your working muscles can tap these glycogen stores for energy. The working muscles can also use circulation blood sugar, which essentially comes from liver, glycogen, and circulation fat, which comes from our body fat stores. This give your working muscles three fuel depots to draw from during exercise. Next we will discuss each depot briefly and then wrap up this article with some recommendations.

Circulating Blood Sugar: Although blood sugar can be used by working muscles during exercise, it is a secondary energy source only. This is because glycogen is located inside the muscle cells and therefore is more readily available than blood sugar. Blood sugar alone cannot provide enough carbohydrates to sustain a high power output during exercise. The liver, the primary source of blood sugar, contains only about 100 grams or so of glycogen compared to the 600 grams of more in skeletal muscle.

Body Fat Stores: Your body has enough stored fat to supply your muscles with the energy for a dozen or more marathons. So why do care about stored carbohydrates? The reason that carbohydrate burning is key is that fats burn more slowly than carbohydrates. Since fat burning is slower than carbohydrate burning, we cannon sustain as high a power output when using fats alone. If you are going to walk a marathon, you can get away with burning primarily fats because your pwer output is low. Hweever, as soon as you start running, your power output increases and you need a faster burning fuel – carbohydrates – to sustain the higher energy bur rate requirements. The optimal situation is to use a combination of fasts and carbohydrates while running a marathon, or triathlon. In fact, optimally, you would want to burn as little carbohydrate as possible to sustain your work rate. Remember, you have plenty of fat to use for energy, but carbohydrates can be limiting.

Muscle Glycogen: Well trained individuals typically have enough stored muscle glycogen to sustain 2 hours or so of moderate intensity exercise. Therefore, with a little added fat utilization, trained individuals can usually finisha typical marathon without running out of carbohydrates. Running an Ironman Distance even requires considerable fat utilizaition and carbohydrate replenishing during the event. Untrained individuals typically store ½ to 1/3 as much carbohydrates as trained athletes. Muscle glycogen stores are typically twice as high in athletes consuming a high carbohydrate diet than those on a low carbohydrate diet. The table below is adapted from “The Lore of Running” by Tim Noakes and is based on data obtained by Ahlborg and Felig (Journal of Clinical Investigation 69, 45-54, 1982).

You can see by the table above that a high carbohydrate diet (> 70% carbohydrate) has a dramatic effect on stored glycogen.

So, let’s review the physiology part briefly. When you run out of stored muscle glycogen, you bonk! The reason that you bonk is that the only sources of fuel remaining are stored fat and blood sugar. The stored fast is burned too slowly to process the necessary energy to continue running and circulation blood sugar is inadequate in terms of total amount of delivery rate to sustain a high work rate. As a result, you must revert to a lower work rate (walk) in order to continue.

So, how do we keep from bonking? You can see by the table above that a high carbohydrate diet is critical. In fact, consuming extra carbohydrates during your taper (carb loading) can really pack the muscles with glycogen. Also note, if you consume a high carbohydrate diet while training daily, you can maintain higher muscle and live glycogen levels. The best time to consume carbohydrates is right after training. The muscles soak up carbohydrates like a sponge the first two hours after training. Consuming carbohydrates right after training can speed glycogen repletion and muscle recovery. Also, you can consume carbohydrates during the event. This can help to keep blood sugar levels from dropping and can help prevent liver glycogen depletion. This is especially critical during the latter stages of the event as your body begins to rely more on stored body fat as a source of energy. Remember, your body cannot continue at race pace by burning fats alone. Consuming carbohydrates during the event can slow the rate of muscle glycogen depletion and help you sustain a higher work rate while burning stored body fat. This is especially critical during an event lasting longer than 3 hours. You simply cannot complete an Ironman distance event without replenishing carbohydrates during the event.  It is unlikely that you can consume and store carbohydrates as fast you are burning them. The trick is to slow the rate of glycogen depletion so that you can complete the event before you bonk. A good fuel consumption plan is critical. You must start the event with your muscles packed with glycogen and refuel along the way to delay glycogen depletion. In an Ironman event, you should start refueling as soon as you get on the bike and continue to refuel throughout the run. Being proactive is the key. Once you bonk, it is too late.

Next time we will crunch the numbers and talk about how much carbohydrate to consume during training, pre-race and during the race. We will also discuss what type of carbohydrate to consume and when. Until then, eat hearty and train hard!