Jeff Galloway's Blog

8-10 pounds lighter in a year by eating every 2 hours

If you have not eaten for about 3 hours, your body senses that it is going into starvation mode, reducing the metabolism rate, while increasing the production of fat-depositing enzymes. The means that you will not be burning as many calories as is normal, that you won't be as mentally or physically alert, and that more of your next meal will be stored away as fat.

If the starvation reflex starts working after 3 hours, then you can beat it by eating every 2 hours. This is a great way to burn more calories. A person who now eats 2-3 times a day can burn about 8-10 pounds a year more when he or she shifts to eating 8-10 times a day. This assumes that the same number of calories are eaten every day.

Wintertime running can be safe and enjoyable provided you make a few adjustments.

You may wonder what a Southerner could possibly teach you about cold-weather running. Well, I may live in Atlanta, but I travel enough to have logged plenty of miles in the ice and snow. I admit that when I first began visiting places like Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Boston in the dead of winter, I was tempted to limit myself to indoor exercise. But after seeing a steady stream of runners head out to face the elements, I eventually followed them.

What a pleasant surprise to discover that, with a few adjustments, I could enjoy a run in 20-degree temperatures as much as a 70-degree run! Through trial and error I learned how to adapt traditional running advice to the vagaries of cold weather. Here's what I found.

Form and stride: A long stride is perilous on ice and snow, where footing can be dicey. A shorter stride is more stable because it keeps your feet more directly underneath your body. Another way to add stability is to decrease your "bounce." By keeping your feet close to the ground and taking some of the spring out of your step, you'll gain more control.

Warming up and cooling down: Because cold reduces the flexibility of muscles and tendons, a thorough warmup is crucial. Here's one that works particularly well on cold days: Start by walking, then walk and jog for a few minutes, then jog slowly for a few more minutes before easing into your normal running pace.

If you'd rather hit the ground running, warm up indoors. Jog in place or spin easily on a stationary bike for a few minutes until you break a sweat. Then suit up and head out the door.

The very idea of "cooling down" may seem ridiculous when you're sprouting icicles, but a gradual transition from outdoors to indoors is smart. (Going straight from arctic temperatures into a hot shower can tax the heart.) Cool down by reversing the warmup process: Ease your running pace into a slow jog, then walk and jog for a few minutes, and end with a few minutes of walking.

Hydration and nutrition: Believe it or not, winter running can dehydrate you. So don't neglect to drink. No matter what the weather, drink plenty of water throughout the day. If you're running long enough to require energy bars or gels, stash them close to your body to keep them from freezing.

Intensity: Even on a clear running surface, going all-out in very cold weather has some risks. I've seen many well-trained runners suffer pulled muscles when weather conditions changed during a workout. It's possible-after a good warmup-to do some gradual accelerations during an outdoor run without much injury risk, but intense speed sessions are best done on a treadmill or indoor track during the winter.

Four Cold-Weather Myths

Don't know what to believe when it comes to winter running? Here are the cold facts:

Myth: You'll freeze your lungs.
Fact: There's no evidence that exercising in cold weather, even in extreme cold, will hurt your lungs. If the cold air hurts your throat, breathe through a bandana or a polypropylene face mask.

Myth: You'll burn more calories when you run in the cold.
Fact: When you run continuously, you burn roughly 100 to 120 calories per mile. The air temperature doesn't significantly change this.

Myth: You don't have to drink as much when it's cold.
Fact: Most people sweat about as much during winter runs as they do during summer runs, but many runners don't recognize dehydration as easily during the winter. When in doubt, drink.

Myth: We're meant to hibernate during cold weather, not run.
Fact: Just take a trip to the Twin Cities in February and see how many people are running outside, enjoying the subzero temperatures. With the right clothing and a positive attitude, you can adapt to just about any type of weather.

Reprint: Runner's World, January 2000, p. 30

Strapped for time? Just run or walk for 5 minutes.

The main reason that beginners don't make progress is that they don't exercise regularly.

Whatever it takes to keep you going every other day, do it.

Even if you only have 5-10 minutes, you will maintain most of the adaptations.

Besides, if you start with the idea of going for 5 minutes, you'll usually stay out for 10-15.

Holiday Training Tips

Holiday Training Tips

It's possible to keep your training on track, even with holiday distractions. Here are some tips that have helped many runners maintain conditioning even with holiday temptations. You'd be surprised, but even very short workouts on maintenance days can maintain your fitness, relieve stress, inject more energy and allow you to feel better during holiday festivities.

Plan Ahead
Write your workouts on a calendar, for the entire holiday period. Just having a plan tends to result in more runs each week. By looking ahead, each day, you will become more focused and are more likely to make time for your scheduled runs or walks.

Pick quiet times
Family members tend to sleep later during the holidays. By getting up and out the door early, you can finish your workout done before others arise. Each day, look at the time periods that would be open for exercise.

Focus on the long ones
Endurance is the key to finishing your race with strength and power. Follow your program, ensuring that you get in the long runs. Depending upon the program, you will only have to run /walk longer every 14-21 days. If you have to go slower or take more walk breaks, do it. Your only mission is to “go the distance."

Release stress with a short run or walk
Practically everyone experiences stress during the holidays. By moving your legs you will improve your attitude, increase vitality, and feel better about yourself. Even a short session of 5-10 minutes can help you focus on priorities, on a busy day

Minimal training will maintain your adaptations
When you don't have much time, and you are scheduled for a “maintenance run or walk”, just go for 5 minutes. If you get out for 5 minutes you will probably continue for 10 or 15, which will maintain the adaptations in your feet and legs between the long runs.

Don't be obsessive about food
If you don't have the perfect diet during the holidays, you won't lose any fitness. While eating a lot of sugar /fat is not the best diet, you can burn it off as you exercise. If you tell yourself that you will never eat another holiday cookie, you'll probably be good until that day when there's no one around—and it's you and the cookies. If you sample and just taste foods that you like, many runners avoid deprivation binges later.

Stage social runs with friends/family
When you have folks gathering from other areas, schedule a walk or run together. This promotes sharing of lives, stories, while bestowing an attitude boost.

When the weather is not ideal
Get to the mall before the stores open and walk (or run if possible). This will give you a preview of the sale items, while you get in some exercise. Treadmills are a suitable substitute if the weather is austere. Some runners will warm up with indoor exercise, then run or walk outside for 5-10 minutes and continue to alternate out and in.

Can a longer long run help me run faster in my marathon?

I've found that those who used to run 20 miles as their farthest training distance, improved by an average of more than 15 minutes when they boosted the last long run to 26 miles. Further research showed that those who have run 26 miles in previous training programs, achieved an average of 11 minutes of time improvement by increasing long run distance to 29 miles.

From Galloway's Marathon FAQ

How should I choose a marathon if I want to run a fast time?

Avoid crowded races. Most runners in the large population events run more than three-quarters of a mile farther than marathon distance. Since you don't get credit for the extra distance, it is harder to run goal pace in these venues.

Look for smaller marathons that have a good record for producing fast times. Visit www.MarathonGuide.com and www.RunnersWorld.com for a lot of information with runner reviews, which are usually quite revealing.

Courses that have slight upgrades of short duration allow for a varied use of muscle groups, which often helps in reducing muscle fatigue. There are many downhill courses that can help speed you up - if you train on downhill courses.

While you cannot control the weather, look for venues that tend to have high temperatures of @ 60F (14C) or cooler during the month when you are running your race.

From Jeff's Galloway's Marathon FAQ

Breaking up your daily mileage into 2 or 3 sessions

A runner recently told me that his running really took off when he retired. He was running more miles per day, without injury, by running 2 or 3 shorter runs. These were strategically placed throughout the day so that they energized him for at least an hour afterward, and reminded him of "recess breaks" during elementary school.

Do any of the cross training exercises help one run faster?

Water running can help runners improve running form. The resistance of the water forces the legs to find a more efficient path. Put on a floatation device and go to the deep end of a swimming pool (usually at least 5.5 feet deep). Move your legs in a running motion that replicates how you run on land—no knee lift, extending your leg a little forward, feet low but kick out a little in front, and bring the whole leg behind as the lower leg moves behind you. Start with 5-10 minutes and build up to 15-30 minutes. You can do this workout on a non running day, or as a second workout on a running day.

No need to ever eliminate the walk breaks

Some runners assume that they must work toward the day when they don’t have to take any walk breaks at all. This is up to the individual but is not recommended. Remember that you decide what ratio of run-walk-run™ to use. There is no rule that requires you to hold to any ratio on a given day. As you adjust the run-walk according to how you feel, you gain control over your fatigue.

I’ve run for about 50 years, and I enjoy running more than ever because of walk breaks. During and after almost every run, I am energized and mentally alert. I would not be able to run almost every day if I didn’t insert the walk breaks early and often. I start most runs taking a short walk break every minute. By 2 miles, I am usually walking every 3-5 minutes. By 5 miles, the ratio often goes to every 7-10 minutes. But there are days every year when I stay at 3 minutes and even a few days at 1 minute.

The run-walk-run™ ratio that you use will vary from day to day. The more conservative you are, the more enjoyment you can expect from your running - day after day.

Increase your Weekly Fatburning

People frequently ask me about fatburning.  So frequently, in fact, that I decided to devote a whole book to ideas and suggestions on nutrition and exercise (intake and burn-off), stories on women who have had weight issues and tips on motivation.

One of the fundamentals of burning more fat is engaging in more exercise each week.  For instance, several short exercise sessions each week helps burn fat every day.  The secret is to have a series of gentle exercises which you can do throughout the day.  These need to be enjoyable as well as easily inserted into your regular lifestyle.  Walking is a good example.  I call walking a “stealth fat-burner” exercise because it is so easy to add hundreds of extra steps a day, especially in small doses.  There are a lot of times when you can walk during the day instead of sitting or just standing.  Think about talking on the phone or watching television.  Why not use that time to walk around instead of sitting down?  Those extra steps add up.
- From "Running and Fat Burning For Women"  & “Running Until You’re 100”

On another note I recently joined Facebook.com. Be one of the first to join my fan page!

- Jeff