*Lung Power* *Kale Sweet Potato Salad* *Fall Sample Sale* coutureconditioning Dear Friends, Congratulations to everyone that completed The Presidential Fitness Challenge! Flying colors great effort, and pushing each other is always a good thing. On Wednesday we are going to have another opportunity to repeat the Aerobic Fitness portion. Wednesday, September 24th will be FREE for all classes, so come check us out! A few of you asked me about how to breathe properly during a run. We have all heard that proper breathing is in though your nose, out through your mouth. My advice is to just breath. During strength or cardio, dont forget to breath and breath deeply. Personally, I do not inhale through my nose when I am running. I am most comfortable inhaling through my mouth. The more oxygen you take in, the happier your muscles are, and that means more endurance. Maximizing your oxygen intake is another important part of training. The article below explains how to improve your respiratory system, as well as a few Pilates exercises that will help. LG Boot Camp incorporates Pilates in most every workout to achieve overall strength, flexibility and conditioning. On Thursday, September 25th, my friend Cathy Raice is having her Fall Sample Sale. I always find great gifts and amazing deals!! 11:00AM to 2:00PM 17100 Los Robles Way Los Gatos Have a wonderful day and great week! Much love, Lori Lung Power - Runners World Need more air? Deep breathing can help you run longer with less effort. By Gina Demillo Wagner; Image by Ellen Weinstein Published December 03, 2008 Lung Power Just before you crest a hill or reach the end of a speed interval, your lungs go into overdrive. Your breath becomes shallow and rapid. You think if only you could pull in more air, you could surge up that hill or maintain your pace. But the more your chest heaves, the more you struggle. You may even end up exhausted, bent over, gasping for air. Runners think about training their heart and legs, but they rarely think about training their lungs, says Mindy Solkin, owner and head coach of The Running Center in New York City. A strong respiratory system can improve your running. Its a simple equation: Better breathing equals more oxygen for your muscles, and that equals more endurance. Just as we strength-train our hamstrings and calves to improve our ability to power over hills, we can tone the muscles used for breathing. Exercise improves the conditioning of the diaphragm, the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen, and the intercostal muscles, which lie between the ribs and enable you to inhale and exhale, says Everett Murphy, M.D., a runner and pulmonologist at Olathe Medical Center in Olathe, Kansas. When you take a breath, 80 percent of the work is done by the diaphragm. If you strengthen your diaphragm, you may improve your endurance and be less likely to become fatigued. This was backed up by researchers from the Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance at Brunel University in England, who recently measured fatigue levels of marathoners respiratory muscles and leg muscles. They found a direct link-runners whose breathing was the most strained showed the most leg weakness-and concluded in their study that the harder the respiratory muscles had to work, the more the legs would struggle in a race. The key to preventing lung-and leg-fatigue is breathing more fully. When you take deeper breaths, you use more air sacs in your lungs, which allows you to take in more oxygen to feed your muscles, says David Ross, M.D., a pulmonologist at UCLA Medical Center. When Im running, I concentrate on taking slow and deep breaths to strengthen my diaphragm. Most runners, says Solkin, are chest breathers-not belly breathers. To help her clients see the difference, she has them run a mile at a pace that gets them huffing a bit. Then she has them stop and place one hand on their abdomen and one hand on their chest and watch. The lower hand should move with each breath, while the upper hand should remain relatively still (usually the opposite occurs). Every time you breathe in, your belly should fill up like a balloon, says Solkin (see Breathe Right). And every time you breathe out, that balloon should deflate. When you chest breathe, your shoulders get tense and move up and down. Thats wasted energy-energy you should conserve for running. Chest breathing can be a hard habit to break-especially while youre preoccupied with keeping pace or calculating splits. One way to make the switch easier is to work on belly breathing when youre not running, and the skill will eventually carry over to your running. To make this happen, some elite runners turn to Pilates, a program originally developed as a rehabilitation program for World War I soldiers. Pilates aims to increase flexibility, strengthen the core, and improve breathing (see Breath Enhancers). I try to do Pilates twice a week, says 2004 Olympic marathoner Colleen de Reuck. It stretches my intercostal muscles and lengthens my spine, which helps my breathing and my running. My athletes tell me my form is better, Im not working so hard, says Pat Guyton, a Pilates instructor who teaches elite runners in Boulder, Colorado. They mention less effort in the lungs-theyre able to run farther before fatigue sets in. Breathe Right Heres how Mindy Solkin, a New York City-based coach, teaches runners to engage their diaphragms. Open Your Mouth Your mouth is larger than your nostrils, so its more effective at taking in oxygen. Also, keeping your mouth open keeps your face more relaxed, which makes it easier to breathe deeply. Breathe in Patterns Coordinating your inhales and exhales with your footfalls develops diaphragmatic strength. Start with a 2-2 pattern-breathe in while stepping left, right; breathe out while stepping left, right. Advance to 3-3 (breathe in, step left, right, left; breathe out, step right, left, right), and then a 4-4 pattern. Breath Enhancers Cross-training exercises that reduce huffing and puffing These three Pilates moves strengthen the diaphragm, stretch tight muscles, and improve posture-all of which help you run longer with less effort. Practice each exercise two or three times a week before you run. 1) THE HUNDRED Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Keep your arms at your sides, palms down. Inhale and lift your head, neck, shoulders, and arms off the ground. Lift your knees and extend your feet so your legs are straight and at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Take five short breaths in and five short breaths out. While doing so, pump your arms, moving them in a controlled up and down manner. Do a cycle of 10 full breaths-each breath includes five inhales and five exhales. After you do 10 complete breaths, you will have completed 100 arm pumps. The Payoff: Teaches controlled breathing, so that your inhales and exhales are balanced. Bonus: Builds strong abdominals. 2) THE SWAN Lie face down with your palms flat under your shoulders (as if you were going to do a pushup). Look down so your neck is in line with your spine. Inhale and slowly lift your head, neck, shoulders, and chest as you press your hands into the ground. Keep a slight bend in your elbows. As you exhale, slowly lower yourself back down, chest first, then shoulders, neck, chin, and head. To avoid discomfort in your back, concentrate on pulling your shoulders back to open up your chest. Repeat 10 times. The Payoff: Opens up the chest and deepens your lung capacity to correct shallow breathing. 3) STANDING CHEST EXPANSION Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, your knees slightly bent, and your arms at your sides. Inhale and sweep your arms out and up so that your biceps are near your ears and your palms are facing each other. Exhale and lower your arms back down to your sides. Repeat four times, concentrating on breathing deep and opening your chest. The Payoff: Stretches the intercostal muscles (which lie between the ribs), relaxes the shoulders, engages the diaphragm and pelvic floor, and helps balance breathing between the left and right lungs. For more Pilates exercises that can benefit your running, go to runnersworld/pilates. Food for Thought: From the Kastor Kitchen: Kale Sweet Potato Salad This salad is a fall favorite that can double as a quick snack. By Deena Kastor; Published August 29, 2014 Kastor Kale Salad This is one of my favorite salads in the autumn. I usually double this recipe and keep it in the fridge for an energy packed snack or side dish. 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 1 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped ¼ cup pepitas ½ cup pomegranate seeds (or craisnins) Kastor Oil Goat cheese Preheat oven to 375. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet, toss in olive oil and thyme. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes. In a large bowl, put kale, sweet potatoes, pepitas and pomegranate seeds. Toss in a little more than ¼ cup of Kastor Oil and top with crumbled goat cheese. From the Kastor Kitchen: Kastor Oil This dip pairs with fresh bread or used as a flavorful marinade. By Deena Kastor Published August 29, 2014 Kastor Oil ½ cup olive oil ½ cup balsamic vinegar 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced 2 teaspoons honey 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon chili flakes 2 teaspoons each rosemary and thyme, finely chopped Pour oil in bowl. Rapidly whisk the oil while adding the vinegar (this helps emulsify the two ingredients). Add other ingredients and mix well. Store in airtight container on countertop for a few days so the taste gets even better. With a fresh baguette, this is great starter while guests wait for dinner to emerge from the kitchen. * If you are serving with Italian food, use basil and oregano instead of rosemary and thyme. *** Deena Kastor is an Olympic medalist in the marathon and holds several masters distance records. She also shared recipes for Beach Nuts, Kale Sweet Potato Salad, and a Farm Fresh Facial. Learn more in our profile feature, A Good Long Run.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:15:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015