Check Your Finger Lengths

There have been numerous studies over the last few years that focus on "digit-ratio". All of these studies involve the length of your index finger (2D) vs. the length of your ring finger (4D). In women, the length of both fingers is usually equal. In men, the ringer finger is usually slightly longer.

No that you've examined your finger lengths (you know you did), I'll tell you what the research has shown.

Apparently, our fingers hold information about how much testosterone and estrogen we were exposed to in the womb. So, the longer one's ring finger relative to one's index finger (small 2D:4D), the more testosterone you had. And that testosterone has an effect on the brain, and on the body. If a boy has an increased amount of testosterone before birth, he is likely to be born with a very efficient heart and vascular system.

A few of these studies even looked at fetuses as early as nine weeks gestation and found that the ratio was already established and did not change...even through puberty.

Another researcher found that men with smaller ratios also had higher mental toughness, optimism and aptitude towards sports.

Some people are even starting to look at finger lengths of young people in an attempt to predict future athletic ability. I'm sure there are some coaches out there somewhere that are already sneaking a peek at a recruit's hands.

Some of these studies even related one's sexual preference, musical abilities, and the likelihood of having autism or getting cancer to their digit ratio...but I won't go into any of that here.

Think I'm making this stuff up? Do a quick internet search for "index and ring finger length" and see what you find! 

So the good news for me is that my ring finger is indeed longer than my index finger (see picture to the right).

All of these studies are quick to note that simply having a relatively long ring finger does not necessarily guarantee either talent or success in sports. Many, many other factors play important roles in developing your full potential.

So there's your conversation starter for those awkward moments around the Thanksgiving table!

Off Season Weight Lifting

I'm finally getting back into a routine. I've settled into doing short, high-intensity training sessions. Right now I'm swimming once a week, while biking and running twice a week. Most weeks I end up taking two days off completely...hope to cut this back down to one soon. In addition to my triathlon specific training, I'm doing something new this off season - power lifting.

After my 30-45 minute training session each morning, I hit the weights. I'm focusing on doing what are traditionally known as power lighting or Olympic style lifts. I use heavy weight and only do 3 sets of 6-8 reps of each. Here's what I currently do in a typical week:

MONDAY
Swim (30-45 minutes of intervals)
Lifting (bench press - flat or incline, dumbbell flys, dips, abs)

TUESDAY
Bike (Spin class or 45 minute of interval work)
Lifting (squats, leg press, stiff-leg dead lift, calf raises, hip abductors)

WEDNESDAY
Run (30-45 minute tempo or fartlek run)
Lifting (military press, upright rows, bicep curls)

THURSDAY
Bike (Spin class or 45 minute of interval work)
Lifting (Deadlift, clean & jerk, lat pull-downs, rows, abs) 

FRIDAY - off

SATURDAY or SUNDAY
Run (30-40 minute run at steady pace)
No lifting, stretching and hip strengthening exercises

So what benefit do I expect to get from doing this type of strength training (other than getting some muscle back that I've lost)? To build a stronger foundation for power and strength in the water, on the bike, and on the pavement.

I know that a lot of triathletes and runners shy away from this type of heavy lifting because they don't want to pack on too much muscle. After all, added weight will only slow you down, right? While there's definitely a fine line between being strong and being too heavy, 3 months of this type of lifting isn't going to get me so big that my neck disappears. 

I'm constantly amazed at what the human body can do and how it can adapt. Triathlon and other endurance events use slow twitch muscles. As a result of spending 9+ months training my slow twitch muscles for Ironman, my fast twitch muscle fibers have shrunk. The days of me sprinting up and and down a basketball court or playing racquetball are years on the past...and it shows. While I was in the best shape of my life while training for Ironman, I doubt I would have been able to play a full court game of basketball or even jump high enough to grab the rim. I plan on doing (as of right now) lots of shorter races next season. I will be calling some fast twitch fibers into action for these races, so I'm trying to wake them up now!

Another benefit to this type of lifting is to rebuild the tendons, ligaments and joints that took a beating this past season. This will hopefully reduce the risk of injury in 2012. 

IMPORTANT NOTE!

If you plan on implementing some or all of these lifts into your off season routine, please follow the links above and concentrate on your form by doing them in front of a mirror. I started using very light weights to get my form down before stepping up to the heavy stuff. Doing these lifts with incorrect form will always result in an injury.

A Comparison: Ironman and Natural Childbirth

Ok, so based on the title of this blog, I'm sure that I already have some women ready to give me a piece of their mind. Obviously, I have never, and will never, experience child birth first hand. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that I could even do it...but just hear me out on the similarities. By the way, I have discussed this with my wife on several occasions and she agrees with me (for the most part).

I've had the privilege of witnessing my awesome wife deliver our two beautiful children. I was right by her side from the moment the contractions started until we were holding our newborns. I went to every single Obstetrician appointment with both children (I even call her our OB). I didn't miss a single Bradley Method class before our first child was born and coached her through both labors. I've witnessed it all...up close and personal. 

I've also completed an Ironman triathlon. I trained for 8+ months and completed a 2.4 mile open-water swim, 112 mile bike ride and then ran a full 26.2 mile marathon...all in 12 hours.

All three of theses events (birth of my two children and Ironman) were life-changing experiences for my wife and I. Both required a great amount of physical and mental strength. It's really hard to put into words what it takes to get through labor without pain medication or to complete an Ironman. You can't adequately describe it to anyone that hasn't done it themselves and you aren't even sure if you can do it yourself...until you do. Once you do it, you love to talk about it and to hear other people's stories about how they did it.

Some other similarities between natural childbirth and Ironman :

• You train/plan for 8-9 months for both
• The anticipation build-up is almost too much to handle
• Learning to control your breathing and muscle tension is critical to success
• Somewhere along the way, you will question yourself and your preperation
• You are going to have to go to the bathroom at some point. It will most likely be at an inconvenient time.
• It's a long journey...somewhere between 10 and 16 hours are typical for both.
• Support from friends/family is essential
• Both have "transitions". Ironman transitions are much easier!
• The worst part is right before the finish, but you know that you are almost there, so you push through the pain
• Whatever pain you had to endure is quickly forgotten once you see the end is in sight
• The experience makes you amazed at what the human body is capable of
• Both are accomplishments that you can brag about for the rest of your life
• Within a few days, you forget about how hard it was and are ready to do it again
• You will probably walk and little funny for a few days afterward
• Nursing injuries will be required for a few weeks once it's over

Feel free to add any other similarities that you can think of.

One HUGE difference is the prize that you get at the end. All I have for Ironman is a hat, shirt and a medal. My wife got real, live babies!

Running Myths

The more you run, the more you want to know about how to improve your stride, increase your pace, extend your distance and prevent injuries. You start to read articles online and in magazines. You pick up tips from other runners that you talk to. Heck, maybe you even read a blog or two! With all this information, you are going to come across lots of things that are just not true. So what are some of the bigger myths that are floating around the world of running?

> Stretch before you run. FALSE! If you want to avoid injuries, I beg you...do NOT do static stretching before you run! Stretching muscles before they have warmed up is a recipe for disaster. While the jury is still out on whether stretching at all is beneficial, there is no debate that by stretching muscles after they are warm and loose drastically reduces your risk for injury. I prefer to do active stretching prior to a run. Some skipping, kick-butts, grapevines and single leg swings. Save the toe touches and quad stretches for after your workout!

> Strength Training is not important. FALSE! If you follow this blog, you know that lack of strength training led to an injury four months ago that I am still dealing with. Sure, running makes your leg muscles strong, but using resistance or weights adds even more strength...improving performance and helping to avoid injuries that result from unknown weak areas or overuse.

> Running is hard on your knees. FALSE! This is one myth that has been out there for a long time. Non-runners or people that jumped into running too quickly will tell you that it will destroy your knees. I challenge you to find a study that proves this. You won't find one, it doesn't exist. You need to do cross-training and strengthening exercises in addition to your running, but I promise you...done correctly, running is not detrimental to the life of your knees.

> Minimal shoes will cure all injuries. FALSE! You knew this one was coming. If you go out and buy a pair of barefoot or minimalist shoes and start to run in them, you will actually increase your chance of an injury. It's the latest craze, so people believe the hype. These types of shoes help to improve your form, but it's nothing that can't be done while wearing your "normal", cushioned shoes. In fact, new research even shows that heel-striking isn't even bad as long as you land under your hips. I'm not saying that minimalist shoes are bad, but use them in moderation...especially at first!

> Long Slow Distance running is the only way to train for a half or full marathon. FALSE! I've done eleven half marathons and two full marathons (include those as part of triathlons). I've trained for these several different ways. I've also written training programs for other runners/triathletes that are doing these long distance races. I can tell you from experience that you do not need to go out and do long, slow runs in order to get the stamina necessary to run 13.1 or 26.2 miles. If you go out and run slow during your training, all you are doing is training yourself to run slow. The majority of your workouts should consist of fast running (intervals, tempo runs, fartleks) and hill work. You can do a long run once in a while to test your fueling or just prepare yourself mentally for running a long time...but even these runs are not necessary to prepare for a long race.

> Cramps are caused by dehydration or low sodium. FALSE! This is going to fly in the face of just about everything else you read, but I've recently come across some interesting data. Muscle cramps or spasms are most often caused by fatigue, not lack of water or sodium. While staying well hydrated and nourished is important, studies are now showing that if you drink before you are thirsty, all you are doing is adding water weight. You should only drink to thirst. Drink only when you are thirsty, not every time you see water. This is a lot easier to do if you carry your own water with you and don't rely on the aid stations. The human body also has an amazing ability to retain sodium. If you are seeing salt in your sweat, all you are doing is excreting the excess sodium that your body is holding from the food that you have eaten recently. Don't believe Gatorade or Powerade...your body has more than enough sodium/electrolytes to make it through a marathon. Don't get me wrong, I've believed that you needed a certain amount of sodium intake per hour during long runs (I took electrolyte capsules during all of my half and full Ironman triathlons this year), but I now think that this was unnecessary. More on all of this in a future post. If you think I'm crazy, check out this link.

Popular Gear

Each year, during the Ironman World Championship race in Hawai'i, a count of what gear everyone is using is done. I find this interesting, so I thought that I would share it. 

Speed Suits:

TYR - 411

Blue70 - 316

XTerra - 96

Aquasphere - 51

Bikes:

Cervelo - 488

Trek - 185

Felt - 124

Specialized - 122

Scott - 96

Cannondale - 79

QR - 61

Argon 18 - 57

Kuota - 55

Orbea - 53

Shoes:

Asics - 337

Saucony - 247

Kswiss - 209

Newton - 187

Brooks - 143

Nike - 100

Mizuno - 96

Zoot - 86

Adidas - 86

New Balance - 38

If you want to see the full lists, they can be found at LavaMagazine.com

There are some interesting things at the bottom of these lists. For instance, one person apparently wore Crocs? I find it hard to believe the someone ran a marathon in Croc sandals! 

There was also a misguided runner that did the full 26.2 miles in Vibram five-fingers. They must have just finished reading "Born to Run". If the race were on grass, I would understand this more.

There was also someone that rode the 112 miles on a mountain bike. I've seen lots of newbies on mountain bikes at sprint distance races, where you are riding anywhere from 12 to 16 miles...but to ride one for 112 miles? Why? Who are you trying to impress?!? 

Personally, I ride an Argon 18 and run in Asics. I'm not cool enough to own a speed suit!

Finding Your Ideal Racing Weight

In August of 2006, I weighed 206 pounds. I was lifting pretty heavy back then and was doing very little cardio (doing triathlon's was not even on my radar). I didn't eat very good and although I thought that losing a few pounds would do me some good, I could have never imagined myself weighing 38 pounds less (168) as I did five years later on the morning of Ironman Louisville. I felt "healthy" back then, but I felt like a lean, mean, fighting machine this past summer while training for IM.

In the 8 weeks since IM, I've managed to gain 17 pounds. It's pretty easy to do when you aren't working out very much and you eat pretty much whatever you feel like. My weight has actually stabilized around 185 now and I have no doubt that once I get back into training for next season, the extra weight will come right off.

So the question now becomes, what is my ideal weight? While I felt really fast racing at 168, I also felt that I lost a lot of muscle getting down to this weight and I lacked the power on the bike that I had two seasons ago when I was weighing in around 180. I searched the internet and referenced some triathlon and running websites to find a formula that could tell me what my optimal race weight is.

The "ideal weight" calculator most used by non-athlete's in the BMI (Body Mass Index). This calculator works ok, but it does not factor in body fat/muscle composition. Having 5 pounds of lean muscle is obviously healthier than carrying around 5 pounds of fat. At  my current weight of 185, I have a BMI of 26.5...which puts me in the "Overweight" category. Even at my IM race weight of 168, I'm at the top end of the "normal" category. So obviously, this calculator is useless to athletes.

So what other calculators are out there? There's the waist to hip ratio calculator (WHR). You simply measure the circumference of your waist and the largest point on your hips and divide the two numbers. I'm going to be in a friend's wedding, so I was actually just measured for a tux last week. My waist measurement is a 32 and my hips are a 41. This gives me a ratio of 0.78 (32/41). Anything below 0.95 puts you at low risk for health problems related to obesity. Nice info to have, but it still doesn't tell me what my ideal weight is.

Another option is to compare my weight to other 33 year old males that are my height (5'10"). I found a website that let's you plug in your age, height and sex and then tells you what the average weight is for others in this demographic. Mine came out to be 173 pounds. This seems pretty reasonable to me, but the "average" person is not an athlete trying to compete at a high level.

If you have been following this blog for over a year, you know that I followed a training plan outlined by Joe Friel for my 2010 triathlon season. I remembered seeing a blog entry from Joe some time ago that discussed finding your ideal race weight. A quick Google search led me right to it. In this blog post, he discussed how much extra force is required to ride a bike up a hill or run when you are carrying extra weight. I can tell you that the runs that I've done since IM have not been as easy as those I did this summer. Imagine going out for a run carrying a 15 pound dumbbell! Joe goes on to give a calculation to find what your ideal racing weight might be, that perfect combination of weight and power. To find this weight, start by taking your weight in pounds and divide it by your height in inches. For me, this currently looks like 185/70 = 2.64. The typical, high-performance, male triathlete is in the 2.1 to 2.3 pounds per inch range. Females are in the 1.9 to 2.1 pounds per inch range. 

In order to excel with a weight that puts you above the ranges listed, you would need to have a higher than normal power output. So what would my weight need to be for me to race in the range Joe describes? Amazingly it is 147 to 161 pounds! I honestly cannot imagine myself getting down to this weight, and frankly, I'm not an elite-level triathlete, so I don't have to! 

So what am I going to do with all of this knowledge? I'm going to try and find the optimal combination of power and speed. I'm going to hit the weights this off-season and put on some muscle for added power. Then, come January, I'll start to get lean and lose any excess body fat that I have. I imagine that this will put me in the mid 170's...where I was most of 2011. Check out my weight chart below from the past 10 months. 

It's obvious that there isn't an ideal weight calculator that works for everyone. Depending on what your ultimate goal is, you can train and race in a wide weight range and still be successful. As for me, I'm enjoying my off-season weight and don't plan on giving up my second helpings at dinner or my bedtime snack anytime soon...especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner!

Why This Ironman is WEAK

I've never considered myself weak. Before I started training for triathlons, I lifted weights. I was one of those dudes in the gym that loaded up the bench press or squat rack and pushed out some reps while grunting uncontrollably. In fact, if my memory is correct, once upon a time I could bench press 335 pounds and squat over 500 pounds. Impressed? Yeah, I was "on swole".

A lot of triathlete's and runners have never done strength training. Though I didn't hit the weights nearly as hard once I decided to train for endurance races, I still mixed in some free weights a few times a week. I knew the importance of keeping your muscles and joints strong.

So when I first noticed the pain in my IT Band 6 weeks out from Ironman, I was surprised when my Physical Therapist told me I was weak. To be more specific...my hips were weak. So how do weak hips translate to a knee injury?

Weak hip muscles cause a runner's form to fall apart. The hips can't adequately control the motion of the legs...especially after several long runs in a row (which was my critical mistake). When your hips are not strong enough to keep your legs in line, it places stress on the knee and it's surrounding joints, ligaments and tissue. After logging over 50 hard miles in a ten day period in July, my IT band was swollen, inflamed and too tight to do me any good. I couldn't even run 2 minutes without being in pain. Weak hips can also lead to Patellofemiral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), which is that pain just below your knee cap...a very common injury for runners.

So what did I do to get ready for Ironman...where I was expected to run 26.2 miles? I slowly started strengthening my hips, glutes and core. Along with doing these exercises, I was using my foam roller almost nightly and doing lots of stretching.

In the days after Ironman, my IT band hurt just walking down steps. I took a complete month off of running...while continuing to do my hip and glute strength training. I'm the only male at the gym that ever uses the hip abductor and glute machines!

Over the last two weeks, I've had three short runs with very little pain in my IT band. The running hasn't been easy due to the fact that I'm about 15 pounds heavier than I was just 6 weeks ago, but running without pain is a great feeling.

So don't make the same mistake that I did. Even if you are doing strength training already, add in some hip strengthening exercises to your routine. I used (and still use) the five exercises outlined in Ben Greenfield's The Bulletproof Knee.

Ben charges for this program, so I'm not going to give away his secrets for free. If you don't want to pony up the cash to get his program (worth every penny...not running for almost two months because of an injury is horrible), you should be able to find some hip and glute strengthening exercises online somewhere.

As for my recent training, after a month of taking it easy and packing on the pounds following Ironman, I'm back into a little bit of a routine. I try to swim, bike and run at least once a week now. I'm hoping to up this to twice a week over the next few weeks. I'm doing lots of interval work in the pool and on the bike trainer - I'm done with the long, slow stuff! My 2012 season is starting to come together, more on this later.