Why do we move?
Have you ever wondered why we have the ability to run? I mean why do we move? What is the mechanism behind it? Well, it turns out that to make the slightest movement hundreds of chemical reactions and muscle contractions are done. Muscles are the ones that are attached and connected to our bones with tendons and ligaments and other supportive tissues and are the ones that move our bones to the desirable direction. When you are using your vacuum cleaner to dust off your carpets, it uses electricity which then transforms into energy to function. When you are driving your car, and you see that the gas indicator is near empty you make sure you fill your tank with gas because the car needs gas to transform it into any kind of energy it will need to function properly. Our body is of course much more complicated than a vacuum cleaner or a car, well some of us are, (smile) so that too needs energy so our muscles will be able to contract and apply the movements our brain is asking for them. Our muscles to be able to contract and to be able to make the necessary changes need a form of chemical energy which they produce. Adenosine Triphosphate The chemical energy our muscles need is called Adenosine Triphosphate or otherwise ATP in short. In previous articles here I mention ways that our body is using to propel itself forward or basically doing any other kind of exercise. The two processes I am referring are aerobic and anaerobic. In the aerobic state the muscles are using oxygen to work and in anaerobic they don’t. Our muscles use Carbs, fat and in a little degree protein to manufacture ATP. If you are a runner, and you are going to participate in a marathon or a race more than 26.2 miles then getting carbs and fat during your race is paramount. It doesn’t really matter what kind of carbs, the simplest the better. This is a short-range solution to be able to feed your muscles enough glucose which then will be stored in your muscles and then the muscles will use it to create ATP which is the energy that powers them. Now long term range solution should not only be centered on providing your body with simple carbs but make sure you eat the right kind of carbs. My opinion is unrefined, unprocessed complex carbs like legumes (beans, lentils, etc.), starch (brown rice, potatoes, etc.) and fruits (even they are simple carbs they provide massive amount of minerals, vitamins, and water). The reason you should consume this kind of carbs and not simple, refined carbs like sweets and heavily processed juices and other packaged items is because our body except carbs, fat, and protein to work optimum needs another three basic and fundamental nutritional elements. We need minerals (zinc, iron, etc.) we need Vitamins (B12, C, D, etc.) and lastly but in no way the least necessary water. All the unrefined carbs contain much higher and much better quality of vitamins, minerals and also they contain water than simple carbs. Carb loading So for long-standing health and also long standing improvement of your training you need to have your muscles and liver storage full with glycogen (series of chained glucose molecules to save space in storage) Most of the ATP is made from carbs and fat, protein does not ordinarily being used for the production of ATP. Protein paramount role is to build, repair and maintain our muscle mass and also bone recovery, after all, that pounding our body is subjected from the accumulated mileage of our training. Glycogen Storage There are two places where glucose is stored after every meal we take, in our liver in the form of glycogen which is used primarily to keep the blood glucose level (our blood sugar) in normal values and also to keep our nervous system and brain functioning optimum since both of this entities by glucose. Also, our muscle system is controlled by our nervous system, a nervous system that does not function well will have as a result of a malfunctioning muscle system. Creation of ATP The whole procedure goes like this, we eat complex or simple carbs, the body breaks them into glucose if they are complex or use the glucose immediately if they are simple. The liver and our muscles are stored with glucose which they use to create ATP which will allow them to work. We can store around 1500 to 2000 calories of glycogen in our body which is not a lot if you compare with the thousands of calories we have stored as fat. The general rule is if your exercise is moderate to high intensity your body uses more carbs than fat to create ATP. If your activity is slow and average, then your body uses more fat then carbs to produce ATP. From all that 1500 to 2000 calories stored as glycogen not all of them can be utilised for running because most of the calories are stored in muscles that are not primarily used for running. Example The glycogen stored in the biceps can only be utilised by the biceps, the glutes or the quadriceps cannot use the biceps glycogen only the glycogen they have themselves stored and vice versa of course. That’s why it’s important to train ourselves and reach the best fitness level we can have because the fittest you are the most fat you burn to create ATP, and you become more economically and efficient in saving your stored glycogen. Diet Also if you are consuming in your diet more carbs than fat you be burning more carbs than fat all the time, if you eat more fat than carbs then you be burning more fat than carbs all the time. Of course eating too much fat is not good for your health, and it’s a good tactic to have less than 30% of your calories from fat and also aim to consume unsaturated fat and not saturated fat. Unsaturated fat is primarily found in plants and saturated fats in animal products. Unsaturated fats are proven that promote health and on the other hand, unsaturated fats are the cause of many chronic diseases like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes II to name a few! Duration If your run is long and the duration is more than 1 hour then at some point regardless of your intensity, you will start to create more ATP from fat because the glycogen storage of the liver and skeletal muscles depleted. Also because the carbs you are receiving during the exercise do not cover your energy needs. Weight loss If you want to lose weight while training for a marathon or any longer distance it is not a good idea because the training will open your appetite for more food because you are burning a lot of calories. To lose weight, you need to do calorie restriction which is not a good idea especially for this kind of heavy training. What you can do, though, and it will help you lose weight without risking losing performance because of lack of calories is to eat a lot of fruits, vegetable legumes, and starches. The reason is because they are packed and are rich in minerals, vitamins, and water but also they provide bulk (fibre) which will keep you satiated longer and also with fewer calories than animal products. The food I mentioned is high in carbs and low in fat so these way you be using and burning your stored fat during training thus noticing weight loss. Basically, you be eating more food with fewer calories. Percentages Aim for 60 to 80% of your calorie intake to be from unrefined complex and simple (namely fruits and veggies) carbs, 10 to 25% fat and 10 to 15% protein. I personally am following 85% carbs (complex like legumes and starch and simple like fruits), 9% fat (unsaturated, mostly from seeds like hemp, chia, flax etc) and 6% protein (plant based- I supplement 8 grams of rice protein and 5 grams of chlorella before heavy lifting or long runs). I hope I helped. Have a happy and healthy day. I am off to eat some kidney beans (yummy!) My warmest Regards Andreas Michaelides Thirsty4health.com   
Have you ever saw elite marathoner runners? Did you notice that they have stiff legs and a skinny upper body? IT make sense right? The skinniest you are in the upper body the less weight you have to carry and less stress on the legs.
I mean who needs a strong upper body in running anyway all you need is two good strong legs, and you are literally set to go right? Well WRONG a big emphatic NO. When we are walking and also running literally all of our muscles are working harmonically to achieve one unique goal which is to move our body in the direction we chose in our head. Some muscles are bigger and work more, and some muscles are smaller, and they work less. Each muscle out of the 654 that the human body has contributed so out of body does what our brain commands. There are a lot of people, and I was one of them that will tell you that running is the legs work not the abs, or the triceps or chest muscles, they don’t matter they don’t see the connection. Well, I saw the link through serious injuries and lots of failed races which made me realise that if I am doing all my training right, (tempo, track, hill repeats, long runs and so on) then why do I have leg injuries and most importantly while I don’t finish the races? I am a slow learner I admit that I am not the smarter guy out there, but once I get something that’s it stays with me for life. Once I click and see the importance of something and how it benefits me or how much it doesn’t benefit me, then I am like a switch I turn to the right and healthy side. (sorry Darth wider) Like it clicked that smoking was killing me so I stop cold turkey like it clicked that being overweight was worst than smoking, I lost 44 pounds like it clicked that eating meat is even most dangerous than smoking I stopped eating meat. It clicked that my upper body has an even more important role to play in my running, and that was the reason I had leg injuries (Illiberal syndrome) and also did not finish the races. See I came to realise that you are as strong as your weakest muscle! You can have strong legs, and you can run a mile under 4 minutes but if the muscles around my diaphragm are not robust enough to help my lungs to provide the oxygen my legs are screaming for then I can only achieve the speed and also the endurance my lungs can accommodate. If I don’t have a fit and strong core and all my abs are not in good shape, then it's only a matter of time when I will lose my balance and stability. That’s what the core does, and all that task will fall on the legs, and usually they fall on the knees and ankles. All our muscles should be in the same level of fitness as our legs. It’s funny how my training programs change over time. When I first started running six years ago I knew nothing, and I was running every day, literally I was running every day, a day without running was a day wasted for me that was my motto. Well, it was until I got a few severe leg injuries and discovered a relaxing day and sometimes two relaxing days are not wasted days but as equally and sometimes more important than running days. Relaxing days give your body the opportunity to rest and repair itself, it literally makes your body stronger so you can go out there on running days to stress it more tear down the new build muscles so in the nest resting days the body will rest and build the new muscles even stronger. That’s what we do, we stress our body, allow it to rebuild and recover and then go out there and stress it even harder! Crazy? Maybe but it sure is fun! Now I have 3 days of sometimes running 4 if I am incorporating hill repeats and 3 times weightlifting and one day for sure to rest and do my running yoga exercises. So this was my wisdom for today, train your upper body too do not train only your legs, you will improve your running performance by improving running energy and consumption and also you will recover faster from hard training sessions. The training sessions can be 2 to 3 times a week 30 minutes each is enough. Well for me anyway others might want to do less or more. Have a healthy and happy day My warmest Regards Andreas Michaelides Thirsty4health.com
Άνω κορμός και τρέξιμο
Έχετε παρακολουθήσει ποτέ πώς τρέχουν οι επαγγελματίες μαραθωνοδρόμοι; Έχετε προσέξει τα στιβαρά τους πόδια και τα κοκαλιάρικα σώματα τους ειδικά τον κορμό τους; Έχει νόημα όμως όσο λιγότερο κιλά κουβαλά το άνω σώμα σου γίνεται και πιο εύκολη η δουλειά των ποδιών. Εννοώ γιατί να έχουμε δυνατό άνω σώμα; αφού το τρέξιμο γίνεται με τα πόδια, σωστά; Αμ δε. Μεγάλο ΛΑΘΟΣ. Όταν βαδίζουμε και επίσης όταν τρέχουμε όλοι οι μύες εργάζονται αρμονικά έτσι ώστε να μετακινήσουμε το σώμα μας στην επιλεγμένη από τον εγκέφαλο μας κατεύθυνση. Κάποιοι μύες είναι μεγαλύτεροι και εργάζονται περισσότερο από μύες που είναι μικρότεροι και λειτουργούν και παράγουν μικρότερο έργο και ενέργεια. Κάθε μυς όμως από τους 654 που έχει το ανθρώπινο σώμα συνεισφέρει έργο με το οποίο το σώμα χρησιμοποιεί μετά από εντολή του εγκεφάλου μας. Υπάρχουν ακόμη και σήμερα κα είμαι σίγουρος θα υπάρξουν και στο μέλλον άτομα τα οποία δεν βλέπουν τη σχέση μεταξύ τρεξίματος και άνω κορμού. Ένας από αυτούς ήμουν και εγώ στο κοντινό παρελθόν. Τη σχέση μεταξύ ενός δυνατού κορμού και του τρεξίματος μετά από μια σειρά από σοβαρούς τραυματισμούς οι οποίοι με άφησαν εκτός τρεξίματος για αρκετούς μήνες. Πρόσεξα ότι ακόμη και αν έκανα σωστά όλες τις προπονήσεις για τα πόδια (στίβος, μακρινό τρέξιμο, ρυθμό, ανηφόρες) πάλι είχα τραυματισμούς στα πόδια. Είμαι σχετικά αργός στο να αντιλαμβάνομαι κάποια θέματα. Θέλω τον χρόνο μου. Αλλά όταν το μυαλό μου κάνει τη συσχέτιση και αντιληφθώ το τί πρέπει να κάνω τότε για μένα ο δρόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος και ρίχνω μαύρη πέτρα πίσω μου. Όταν συνειδητοποίησα ότι κάπνισμα με σκότωνε το έκοψα μαχαίρι, όταν πρόσεξα ότι τα περιττά κιλά που είχα μου προκαλούσαν προβλήματα υγείας τα έχασα, όταν μετά από πολύ διάβασμα βιβλίων γραμμένα από γιατρούς και διαιτολόγους διαπίστωσα ότι η κρεατοφαγία είναι χειρότερη από το κάπνισμα έγινα χορτοφάγος. Αντιλήφθηκα πλήρως ότι ο άνω κορμός μου έχει πολύ σημαντικότερο ρόλο να διαδραματίσει όσο αφορά το τρέξιμο. Έχω φτάσει στο συμπέρασμα ότι είσαι δυνατός όσο είναι ο πιο αδύνατος σου μυς. Μπορεί να έχεις πολύ δυνατά πόδια και να κάνεις το μίλι κάτω από 4 λεπτά αλλά αν οι θωρακικοί μύες δεν είναι αρκετά δυνατοί να βοηθήσουν τους πνεύμονες να στείλουν το οξυγόνο που ζητούν τα πόδια τότε καταλαβαίνετε πόσο σημαντικό είναι η ανάγκη ο άνω κορμός να είναι εξίσου δυνατός και σε καλή φυσική κατάσταση όπως η φυσική κατάσταση των ποδιών μας. Αν οι κοιλιακοί μου δεν είναι δυνατοί για να μπορέσουν να μου παράσχουν κατά τη διάρκεια του τρεξίματος ισορροπία και σταθερότητα τότε την δουλειά τους θα την επωμισθούν τα πόδια μου με αποτέλεσμα να χαλάσω τα γόνατα μου. Είναι αστείο το πόσο έχει αλλάξει ο τρόπος που προπονούμαι. Πριν έξι έτη που άρχισα τρέξιμο θεωρούσα ότι μέρα χωρίς τρέξιμο ότι ήταν χαμένη. Όταν έπαθα δύο τρεις σοβαρούς τραυματισμούς και έμεινα εκτός για αρκετούς μήνες αναγνώρισα την χρησιμότητα και την ανάγκη να υπάρχει τουλάχιστον μία μέρα ξεκούραση και πολλές φορές δύο μέρες. Οι μέρες ξεκούρασης δίνει τη δυνατότητα στο σώμα να ξεκουραστεί και να κτίσει καινούργιους και πιο δυνατούς μύες. Βασικά εμείς οι δρομείς αυτό κάνουμε, πάμε στην προπόνηση και καταπονούμε το σώμα μας, το πιέζουμε να δούμε μέχρι μπορεί να μας πάρει, μετά ξεκουραζόμαστε. Το σώμα ξανακτίζει τους μύες μας πιο δυνατούς και από πριν έτσι ώστε να αντέξει το επίπεδο της καταπόνησης που του προκαλέσαμε. Εμείς όμως στην επόμενη προπόνηση καταπονούμε το σώμα μας ακόμη περισσότερο και σε υψηλότερο επίπεδο από πριν και μετά ξεκουραζόμαστε και φτου πάλι από τη ν αρχή. Τρελό; μπορεί αλλά ένα είναι το σίγουρο έχει πλάκα! Τώρα 3 με 4 μέρες τρέχω και 2 με 3 μέρες κάνω ασκήσει με βάρη για το άνω σώμα. Μία μέρα είναι για ξεκούραση και Γιόγκα. Αυτά είχα για σήμερα. Γυμνάστε και δυναμώστε τον άνω κορμό σας και μη δίνετε έμφαση μόνο στα πόδια, θα δείτε βελτίωση στην απόδοση σας και θα αναρρώνετε πιο γρήγορα μετά από σκληρή προπόνηση. . Δεν χρειάζεται πολύ ώρα, 2 με 3 φορές την εβδομάδα 30 λεπτά η κάθε φορά. Αυτό κάνω εγώ εσείς μπορεί να θέλετε να κάνετε περισσότερη ώρα η λιγότερη. Να είστε υγιείς και χαρούμενοι Θερμούς χαιρετισμούς Αντρέας Μιχαηλίδης Thirsty4health.com 
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