Q. Dear Experts, Last year I weighed in at 274 lbs, was on beta blockers, and had numerous issues with my knees and shoulders. Since September of last year, I have been training regularly, and have made some great strides, including finishing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago ½ Marathon in 2 hours, 45 minutes and [...]
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By training to feel good you’ll race better as a result. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald Every runner knows that a great race cannot happen unless a fair amount of hard work and suffering precedes it. But how much suffering is the right amount? Obviously, there is such a thing as too much suffering, just as [...]
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A month of pigging out could result in a lifetime of weight gain. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald If you haven’t seen it, you’ve at least heard of Supersize Me, the documentary film in which Morgan Spurlock stops exercising and lives on McDonald’s food for one month. The consequences to his health were predictably disastrous. It [...]
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Here’s a workout that tells you exactly how fit you are. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald The workout that I call a relaxed 10K time trial is not one that I learned from anyone else. Although I’m sure other runners do it, I came up with it (or reinvented it) on my own. It’s one of [...]
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Ignore the smoke and mirrors. Avoiding junk food is the way to go. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald There are a million ways you could change your diet to promote weight loss. The options include eating less carbohydrate or less fat, eating more protein, eating more frequently, eating smaller portions, eating more fiber, going vegetarian, and [...]
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Break out of your seafood rut with these delicious and nutritious alternatives to the usual fish. Written by: Matthew Kadey, M.S., R.D. Brimming with good-for-you nutrients, fish is a food that the American Heart Association recommends we consume at least twice per week. But if you’ve fallen into a seafood rut – tossing salmon and [...]
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Use these tips to make it a little easier to roll out of bed in the morning. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald Muscle soreness is a normal consequence of exercise. In most cases it is mild, emerging shortly after a workout is completed (if not during the workout) and lasting no longer than a day or [...]
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Q. Dear Matt and Mario, During the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon I was going strong for the first seven miles at the pace I wanted, and then I just hit the wall and ran out of gas, much to my surprise. Although I still managed to finish in 1:54:32, this was about 3 [...]
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Long-term improvement in running requires a solid fitness foundation. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald The top training priority of every new runner should be to establish a solid foundation for future development as a runner. How is this done? The physiological foundation for running performance has two components: aerobic fitness and neuromuscular fitness. You know what [...]
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Learn how this nutrient should fit into your running nutrition plan. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald Fiber (also known as roughage) is the name given to two kinds of highly complex carbohydrate that are totally indigestible. Although fiber is technically carbohydrate, unlike other forms of carbohydrate (sugars and starches) it provides no calories because it is [...]
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Q. Matt and Mario, I am training for the NYC Marathon. I have quite a bit of traveling coming up and I need to keep up my training. What advice do you have on training while traveling? Uschi B.
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It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald All across the United States, and even beyond our borders, runners are asking a question that few runners used to ask themselves: Should I run barefoot? There are, of course, many barefoot runners who think every runner should run barefoot, but it’s best [...]
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Why is low iron so common in runners? Written by: Matt Fitzgerald The Journal of Adolescent Health recently published a study that may be alarming to endurance athletes. Israeli researchers reported finding high levels of anemia (or low red blood cell count) and iron deficiency (a common cause of low red blood cell counts) in [...]
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A lifelong PR seeker defends the pursuit of speed. Written by: Matt Fitzgerald In a recent interview, Born to Run author Christopher McDougal said, “I’m really resistant to this focus we have on speed. If you do a 3:59 marathon you’re awesome, but if you do four hours, you suck. Humans are not fast, we [...]
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Racing Weight author Matt Fitzgerald tells us how to compensate for the effect of training on our appetite. Click here to watch the video.
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