Entries for June 2009

Debi Bernardes finished fifth among amateur females in a recent triathlon in Washington, D.C. Moreover, she racked up her best time ever at the Olympic-distance race: 2:18:34, including a 10-kilometer run at a blazing 6:51 per mile. And that personal best—impressive at any age—came a few months before her 51st birthday.

Yes, Dara Torres won a silver medal at age 41, swimming her personal best time in the Olympics. But it's easy to think that athletic improvement after age 40 is something reserved for those, like Torres, who can afford to spend the time and money it takes to train full time. I caught up by phone with Bernardes, a swimming and triathlon coach in King George, Va., and asked her what she's done to keep improving after three decades of competition. Here's what she thinks makes a difference, plus how you can apply it to your own training.

In an attempt to hang on to your cognitive function as you age, you may do crossword puzzles, join a book club, or keep up friendships to stay connected. But to do all you can to maintain your mental abilities, you really should be exercising.

Here's a quick wrap-up of the latest fitness and diet buzz:

Stat Junkies, Unite!

Wired's latest issue includes an article about how Nike has gotten a lot of people hooked on data through its Nike+ sensor system. The 1.2 million info-junkie runners who've used the shoe- and-iPod system—one woman calls herself a "stat whore"—can get immediate feedback on time, distance, and speed. Whether you enjoy it hinges on your personality. If you like to run for the sake of running, more to escape than to pursue a goal, you're probably not going to enjoy the data dump. But if you're a Type A—and a lot of runners, including this one, are—it can help you set goals and stay motivated. One tidbit: the most popular song used to get people motivated is the Black Eyed Peas' "Pump It."

Here are other ways that technology can get you moving. And see how music can put a spring in your exercise routine.

Athletes are always looking for (legal, they hope) ways to boost performance. They take caffeine, which has been shown to enhance endurance, and catch up on sleep, which also seems to improve fitness. And they often take handfuls of supplements in search of an extra edge. A small study published this week sheds light on one popular supplement—quercetin—which is being examined for its potential not only to improve athletic performance but also to prevent or treat a host of other diseases and conditions.

[Read about caffeine's role in improving performance and why sleep helps athletes.]

Quercetin is a kind of plant pigment called a flavonoid and is found naturally in red wine, apples, onions, and other foods. The potential of flavonoids in general to produce health benefits has been studied, and quercetin is no exception; it's sometimes used to treat the symptoms of prostatitis, and it's being looked at for cancer prevention, allergies, glucose absorption in diabetics, childhood asthma, and the lung disease sarcoidosis. And you can buy an energy drink, FRS, containing quercetin. But what's the evidence behind the most common claims?

When I reported on the astronomical calorie counts of many chain restaurant meals, I concluded by saying that "one of these blowout meals is not going to kill you." One reader, however, suggested that that's not always true, citing the cardiovascular effects of one of the 1,700-calorie bombs I described.

He's right—a study in 2000 suggested that an unusually heavy meal quadruples the chances of a heart attack in the first two hours after eating. The author, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, now a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says there are several potential explanations. First, big meals are usually high in fat. (The Cheesecake Factory's fried mac and cheese platter has more than three days' worth of saturated fat.) "Fat intake, particularly in large amounts, can change the functioning of the arteries," keeping them from expanding when they need to, he says.

Here's a quick wrap-up of the latest fitness and diet buzz:

Bo Knew Best
Cross-training may have become a fitness buzz-phrase back in the 1980s, when Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson took part in a multitude of sports while pitching shoes for Nike. Now it's pretty much an accepted part of exercise wisdom; by doing different activities, you can fend off the overuse injuries and boredom that can accompany exclusive focus on a single sport. The New York Times's Well blog digs into the benefits this week, with columnist Liz Robbins talking about how runners are these days encouraged to keep up their fitness by running less often and doing things like cycling on other days.

One way to cross-train is to work out with your significant other or a friend and to take turns in picking the workout; here are 10 tips for exercising with a partner. Also, yoga is often mentioned as a great cross-training option for athletes.

We all have a favorite excuse for not exercising—mine is the "imminent rainstorm" that never actually arrives but serves as a reason for skipping a run. But most excuses are bogus; researchers say almost everyone should be exercising. So if you can read this, you can probably work out to some degree. Here's a slideshow of the 10 most popular reasons for not sticking to a routine and how you can overcome them. When you're done looking, tell us your own favorite excuse in the comments section below. (And then consider starting our 10-week workout routine.)

Remember when you were a kid? You raced around the playground or the yard for hours at a time, somehow managing not to hurt yourself despite your lack of $150 running shoes and custom-made $400 orthotic inserts. There's a growing sense in many quarters that your childhood impulse may have been the correct one and that the very shoes we think are protecting us from harm may be causing it.

For decades, there's been a grass-roots movement for extremely minimalist, i.e., barefoot, running. (See barefootrunning.org for stories from this crew.) But only in the past few years have shoe companies begun to get in on the act, too. They now offer stripped-down models that don't have the padding and structural elements that characterize conventional running shoes. There's no little irony in Nike's instructions to begin "barefoot-like" running with one $90-plus model of its Free lineup, then phase down through two more models before you're running with a "nearly naked feeling." (Presumably, they don't want you to take the next step and swap Nikes for the actual naked feeling, though.) Other companies, including New Balance, Newton, Ecco, and Terra Plana, also have minimalist footwear for running and walking.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, always the first to ruin your lunch by telling you how many calories it contains, is at it again: They're handing out Xtreme Eating Awards for restaurant meals that go over and above the call of caloric duty. Here are a few items from their hit list:

1. Olive Garden Tour of Italy: This entree has three food items on one plate: lasagna, fettucine alfredo, and chicken parm. That adds up to 1,450 calories and 33 grams of saturated fat (before the breadsticks or salad).

2. The Cheesecake Factory's Chicken and Biscuits: This meal's chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, mushrooms, peas, carrots, and gravy add up to about 2,500 calories, CSPI says. There's also the chain's fried mac-and-cheese appetizer platter, at 1,570 calories and 69 grams—more than three days' worth—of saturated fat.