Keep your eyes open

Even though trails are surrounded by a beautiful landscape, you should focus your attention to the next 5 to 10 metres. To reduce the danger of injury, you need to see obstacles early. Your instinct will tell if you run around the next hurdles or jump over them. Also, it is important to see what’s going on right in front of your head: Low tree branches have a tendency to take the fun out of the running experience.

Body posture and balance

In order to generate a flowing movement, the trailrunner’s position should be upright and slightly bent forward. That way, you keep your pace and avoid too much pressure on the knees. When you lean back a bit, especially while running downhill, you become slower – which can make sense through rough terrain, but also strains the knees. People who get in trouble with their balance on challenging trails should work with their arms and keep them moving.

Feet and pace

It’s a proven fact that the right running technique is a deciding factor for success in endurance sports. At a hill, where the ground is mostly unstable, an “elastic sliding” is indispensable. On an easy ground, you can lift your feet higher. On a difficult one, however, it is better to keep a close contact to the earth. To achieve this, keep your steps short and touch down first with the front side of your foot. In general, that’s a good advice for running up and down a hill. Not only the pace is higher, but the bounce energy is partly cushioned too. The mid-foot-technique should be used on unstable soil like mud. It helps to increase the walking surface and provides a firm position. Extreme trailrunners should alternate the legs with which their jump and touch down to avoid injuries. An important part of the technique is the pace. The rule is: the more stable the ground, the slower the pace.

No fun with wrong shoes

A trailrunner’s most important utensil is the right shoe, which is hardly comparable to usual sport shoes. Because of the different grounds, it has to meet special requirements. There are some general rules to follow when you want to buy the right shoe for trailrunning:  Every trail shoe has a good mid sole which protects the foot on rocky soil. Additional protection material in the upper and front area reduces the risk of getting injured. Make sure you have the necessary comfort. Attention: Only comfy shoes are good shoes! The toes need enough space and mustn’t poke each other. Nevertheless, too much space in the shoe is also dangerous, especially on slopes. The weather determines if you need breathable or waterproof trail shoes. Another aspect to consider: stability for the heels. That supports controlled running, diminishes the risk of twisting your ankle, and gives no room to blisters. More detailed information about the current models with their advantages and disadvantages are available at the local specialist shoe store.

Happy and healthy trails!

(image: © Sach Bloor – istockphoto.com)

More weight after going on a diet! Why?

The main reason for the rapid weight gain after a diet is the body’s decreased needs for energy. When you lose a lot of pounds, you don’t only get rid of fat but also of muscle tissue. But the musculature is chiefly responsible for consuming energy. Also, the body adjusts to the lower calorie supply while losing weight. If you return afterwards to your old eating habits, the additional calories, which won’t be burned by your organism, are stored as fat reserves.

The solution: sport

When you decide to go on a diet, you should make a detailed plan about everything you want to do and achieve. Physical activities need to be a big part of that plan! Sport doesn’t only stimulate the fat burning, but also stabilises the muscles. Thereby, it’s easier to lose weight and harder to gain it back soon.

Do not go back to your old routines after reaching your dream weight! Stick to your sport program – for your body’s fitness and health. You should also continue to eat consciously. That doesn’t mean you should stay on the diet forever. The body just needs time to process more food. So, don’t eat too much to quick, and be careful about what you eat. That way, you can enjoy your slimmer silhouette for a long time!

JogStyle supports you

The most common reason why sport is often neglected on a diet is lack of motivation. But especially jogging or walking effectively support the process of losing weight. If you’re looking for some extra motivation, the JogStyle is the right device for you. The handy activity monitor offers several practical functions to support a healthy and controlled weight reduction. Thus it not only measures the common values for distance, time and velocity but also the calorie consumption and fat burning. The memory function enables you to easily track, analyse and improve your performance curve.  As your personal motivational trainer 24/7, the JogStyle is the perfect companion to keep your weight also after going on a diet!

(image: © detailblick – Fotolia.com)

Among the women, this year’s winner, the Kenyan Rael Kiyara, set an impressive new track record with 02:23:47. The two Ethiopians Netsanet Abeyo (02:24:12) and Etalemahu Kidane (02:25:49) ranked second and third.

With new records and a total of 21.000 participants in the disciplines marathon (10.724), relay (4.292) and the Zehntel (6.000), Hamburg’s most traditional sport event was a big success: “We experienced a great Haspa Marathon Hamburg 2012. About 800.000 spectators in the city cheered for the runners; and with the two track records we gained remarkable international attention”, said Frank Thaleiser, CEO Hamburg Marathon Event GmbH. Finally, the host of the event summed it up perfectly: “Everybody who finishes today is a winner!”

(images: Hochzwei- marathon-hamburg.de)

DOS

Have breakfast every morning
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, since it stimulates circulation and metabolism. Whether cereal, juicy fruits, or toast – a good breakfast sets you in the right mood to start the day motivated and cheerfully. So, always take your time to have a nice breakfast!

Drink plenty of water
Everybody knows that 1.5-2 litres of water a day are recommended. But did you know that you need more water when you want to lose weight? If you eat less, it is essential to compensate the missing water of the food through drinking. Important internal organs, such as the kidneys, need more liquid to work.

Grocery-shopping with a list
Even disciplined people can become weak when they walk by all the shelves with delicious food in the supermarket. It’s particularly difficult to resist the candies at the cash register, when you wait in line and have time to think about it. Use a shopping list and your search is more focused and determined. Thereby, you can cleverly avoid temptations and sweet thoughts.

Have realistic goals
Many times unrealistic goals cause failure. People tend to mix wishes and reality, and fail to reach their high ambitions. Result? – Frustration and demotivation. So stick to realistic goals and stay motivated!

Eat a lot of proteins
Food that is rich in proteins, such as fish, pulses, and milk products, is not only stimulating for the fat metabolism, but also pleasantly filling. Moreover, it prevents muscle reduction – but only if you exercise regularly. In contrast, carbohydrates in the evening block the fat metabolism.

Steady sleeping hours
It is important to go to bed at a regular time and to sleep sufficiently. If you lay down before midnight and have at least seven hours of sleep, you stimulate the formation of hormones which contribute to the fat metabolism. During too short nights, however, those hormones are blocked.

Physical activity
Jogging, cycling, or swimming – there are numerous types of sport. Everyone can find his or her personal favourite. If you want to lose a few pounds, you should definitely exercise more. Because: Excess weight is reduced by burning more calories than you eat. On top of that, sport makes you forget your daily stress and relaxes body and soul.

DON’TS

Classic: Watching TV and eating snacks
Everybody is familiar with this scenario: Your favourite show starts and the comfy couch is more than inviting. Of course, you have already placed little snacks around you. While you pay all of your attention to the TV, you don’t realise how much calories you consume. Our tip: If you feel like eating little snacks, better go with carrots, cucumbers, or fruits; and when you eat a proper meal, turn off the TV!

Drink alcohol
Especially at the weekends or on holidays, people like to enjoy one or two glasses of wine, beer, or even cocktails. But alcohol is an enormous calorie bomb and makes us feel hungry. So it is better to drink fresh juices or a non-alcoholic beer.

Radical diets
People who consume only 1,000 calories instead of the usual 2,000 for a certain amount of time can’t enjoy their loss of weight for very long, because they usually gain it back as fast as they had lost it. You can never rely on radical diets; they are even bad for your health: The circulation is weakened, the appetite becomes bigger and bigger, and soon you can’t resist fast food anymore. So, don’t try that!

Short-term thinking
Once in a while, everyone is overcome by a spontaneous craving for chocolate or other candy. Of course, you don’t need to give it up completely, even during a diet. You should rather think long-range and make a plan which doesn’t only contain proper meals, but also offers space for a few days of sweet sin.

Eating fast food
People who are really busy at work and don’t have much time keep ending up in a fast food restaurant. The motto is: “It has to be quick and filling.” But these fat, unhealthy meals are overloaded with calories. It is way better to prepare some small, light snacks and eat them when there’s time.

Neglect fresh and healthy food
If you want to lose weight, you should take your time to cook fresh and healthy products. That saves calories and is more filling than those packed products from the supermarket that you only need to heat up, because these meals are full of fats and calories. Though, pay attention to what you buy, cook, and eat.

Surrender to a ravenous appetite
The spontaneous desire for sweet or fatty things often comes suddenly. It’s even harder to resist when you think of all those delicious pictures of cream puddings, cakes, or cookies. In situations like these, it helps to consume classical appetite suppressants, such as water or fruits.

(© Uschi Hering – Fotolia.com)

Herb foam soup with potatoes (for 2 persons):

400 ml vegetable stock

200 g potatoes

150 g carrots

1/2 bund of chives

10 table spoons milk

8 stems of parsley

8 stems of chervil

salt

pepper

Preparation:
Boil the vegetable stock while peeling washing and cutting the carrots and potatoes into large cubes. Put the vegetables into the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Wash all herbs and shake them til they’re dry. Cut the chives into rolls and chop the parsley and chervil leaves after twitching them from the stems. Add the herbs and puree the soup. Season the taste with salt and pepper. Boil the milk and stir with a whisk until foamy. Serve soup, add the milk foam and garnish with chives.

Cod à l’orange (for 2 persons):

350 g cod fillets

200 g tomatoes

4 caper fruits

1 shallot

1 untreated orange

1/2 pressed garlic

2,5 table spoons olive oil

1 table spoon lemon juice

1 table spoon basil

salt

pepper

Preparation:
Rub ¼ of the orange, peel the rest of the shell and the white skin completely. Cut the flesh into thin slices. Wash and coarsely chop the tomatoes, peel and finely chop the shallots and mix with garlic, orange peel, olive oil and lemon juice. Cut the cod in 3-4 pieces and give them into an ovenproof dish with tomatoes and oranges. Season the taste with salt and pepper as desired and sprinkle with orange oil. Put the caper fruits on the cod and bake the whole dish in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 13 minutes. Serve the cod a l’orange with basil.

Time: 35 minutes, Calories per serving: 294 calories

(Photo: © Christian Schwier – Fotolia.com)

The basic nutrients carbohydrates, fats, and proteins can have remarkably different effects on the metabolism of different people. One person may process them well, another one doesn’t. Basically, there are three metabolic types that differ:

• Carbohydrate-type
• Protein-type
• Mixed type

MyJogStyle explains how you find out which type you are and how exactly you can adjust your diet accordingly.

Carbohydrate-type
If you can eat plenty of noodles, rice, potatoes, or other carbohydrate-rich food without gaining weight fast, and if you are still not hungry even a few hours later, you are probably a carbohydrate-type. This type is characterised by a rapid metabolism and a relatively small appetite. Many people of this group are busy at work and therefore often skip meals. However, because of the quick metabolism, regular meals are particularly important.

If you find yourself in this group, you should focus on a carbohydrate-rich diet, which means a lot of bread, noodles, or rice. But you also need proteins, more precisely light and low-fat ones. These are in lean chicken meat and white fish, for example. Such a regulated diet will stimulate the fat burning in your body and support you in achieving weight loss.

Protein-type
The exact opposite of the carbohydrate-type is the protein-type. This type gains weight really fast after eating carbohydrate-rich meals and is shortly afterwards hungry again, mostly for food that is rich in fat. Moreover, the desire for sugar rises after many carbohydrates. And once you start with candy, it is almost impossible to stop.

If this description fits to you, you need a diet that is rich in proteins and fats, but low in carbohydrate. Rich proteins, such as eggs, dark chicken meat, and milk products should update your menu. Also, you need healthy fats as in olive oil. Protein-types who don’t eat rich proteins are hungry all day long and have problems with their weight in most cases.

Mixed type
The least complicated of the three types is the mixed type. This one can chose from the largest selection of food and should generate a balance between proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Mixed types can tend either towards carbohydrate-types or protein-types. Creating the personal menu, they have to listen to their body really carefully to decide individually which food is better or worse.

So if you want to lose weight, you have to consider your metabolic type to know the appropriate diet. You should neither eat to less nor the wrong things. Comparing your calorie in- and outtake (e.g. with the CaloriScan by Omron), you can monitor your progress easily. This handy device shows your daily calorie consumption of all your activities (including the metabolism at rest); thereby, it is the ideal support during a diet. Good luck!

(Image: © tan4ikk – Fotolia.com)

Take part in the memorable run through the five districts of New York. Five bridges, 45,000 runners, 40,000 volunteers, 2 million drink cups and over 2 million viewers – a fascinating experience on 42.195 km!

The mood is exuberant and the millions of viewers are fantastic. As a marathon runner you have to run in New York once in life! On nycmarathon.org you can still apply for places. To be on the safe side, you should book one of the guaranteed starting places on InterAir.

(Photo: © Norbert Wilhelmi)

Sebastian Foucan first invented freerunning, at the same time as the advent of obstacle courses, established by the Frenchman, David Belle. Obstacle courses are all about navigating through, above or under obstacles as efficiently as possible. Stamina, speed and strength all play an important role in freerunning, as no bushes, walls or stairs should constitute an obstacle to you – they can all be overcome with physical movement.

Freerunning was initially just another term for obstacle course, but gradually became a separate sport. Artistic and creative movements are incorporated into freerunning training, so it is not just about getting past the obstacles, but also feeling free in one’s movements while doing so. The whole body is permanently in motion, as the runner interacts with objects and obstacles in the environment surrounding him, using acrobatic skills to get around. Running freely isn’t easy, as it means using the complexity of our own body and letting our imagination run wild. For a long time, freerunning was not a recognized sport, but in the meantime, the concept of free movement in obstacle courses was established.

By performing leaps, somersaults, climbing and spinning, the freerunner’s body is put under a lot of stress. It is therefore extremely important to practice and improve gradually. Practicing the jumps, learning to sustain power, and endurance is the key. The risk of injury is obviously much higher than in normal running. A sensible and specific training plan, at best, with a professional, is the basis for learning freerunning.

While practicing, you can add some variety to your own training programme, and integrate at least slightly different movements to the basic concepts of freerunning. For example, in between running backwards or sideways, hop, skip, jump over small obstacles. Let your imagination, as well as your body run wild!

(Photo: © artjazz – Fotolia.com)

The more sport, the better

False! The body is only able to develop further and to reach a higher level of performance when the training is done in a systematic and regular sequence. Too much of training is overcharging for the body and harmful for the immune system.

Running on asphalt is damaging

Partly true! Until today, no study has provided evidence that running on asphalt is harmful. A too soft ground, such as sand, might be even more dangerous for the joints and bones. Every ground has advantages and disadvantages for the running. Asphalt, for example, provides stability and reduces the risk of slipping and twisting one’s ankle. Basically, you have to decide individually which ground you prefer.

Climbing stairs does not help

False! The rule of thumb is: running up 100 steps equals 5 minutes of endurance training for circulation.

You are not supposed to run while having pain in your back

False! Everyone knows that movement is the best medicine. This also applies to light back pain. It had even been proven that sport can improve the medical condition. If you slightly turn your upper body during running regularly, you loosen up your back musculature and relax tensions. In case of acute back pain or a spine indisposition, you should go to a doctor to find out which physical activities are helpful.

You should drink plenty of water during training

True! Because of the physical exposure during the training, the pulse becomes faster and the body temperature higher. In order to avoid a body overheating, we lose water in the form of sweat. Therefore, it is immensely important to drink enough water to compensate the loss of water in the body.

Running harms the joints and the spine

False! A myth which is widely spread among runners is that running harms the joints. Actually the opposite is true: jogging has the effect of a massage and gums the joints! The production of synovial fluid is stimulated by the regular movement of running. Thereby, the cartilage is supplied with oxygen and nutrients. The same principle applies to the spine.

Less than one hour of training has no effect

False! It is better to train three or four times a week for about 20 minutes than working out for one hour only once in a while. Frequency and consistency are more important than duration.

In order to lose weight, you should completely pass on fats in your food

False! Since fats are an important source of energy, they are indispensable in a well-balanced diet. They transport necessary vitamins and add to the cell formation and to the production of hormones. To lose weight successfully, the calorie consumption needs to be increased by physical activities, which helps to achieve a negative energy balance.

Athletes get sick less often

Mostly true! Endurance athletes live healthier. It is widely recognised that physical activity has a positive effect on body and soul, because of a complete relaxation after the training. But do not train too much! If you overdo it, you risk a serious harm to your immune system.

Sore muscles need rest

False! After an intense training, slight lacerations are built in the muscles. This causes the well-known muscle ache. The body needs to be well-supplied with blood to stimulate the recovery and to strengthen the muscles. Too much rest lengthens this process. Therefore, light physical activity helps to cure sore muscles.

You can sweat out a cold

False! If you have a cold and you still do some sport, it is highly unlikely that you recover from your illness. Because when you still practice sports, the body has to suffer additional exposure and the heart is weak. Everybody who has a fever should rest for at least three days.

(Photo: © Benjamin Thron – pixelio.de)

1. It is ok to walk
Especially when you start to run, it is necessary to take little breaks during the training. As soon as you feel that you reach your limits, you should reduce your pace und walk for a while. By the time your strength recurs, you can slowly increase your speed.

2. Consider your pace
Besides taking small breaks to walk, it is also important to choose the right pace at the beginning. It is definitely not helpful having to quit training with frustration because you are utterly exhausted. Therefore, it is a good advice to begin with a slower pace and to increase it step by step if you feel like it. If you can talk to somebody without grasping for breath, you have chosen the right pace.

3. Minutes instead of kilometres
Beginners shouldn’t try to run a certain number of kilometres. The minutes, you are able to run, are more important. The body needs time to adjust to the new exertion. Thus, the first runs don’t have to be longer than 20 to 30 minutes. From training to training you can extend the length of time, according to your condition. After a few weeks, you can change your goal of running from minutes to kilometres.

4. Before and after running
The significance of the pre- and after-phase of running is not new to experienced runners, but is often underestimated by beginners. Before the training it is important to prepare your body by warming up. After running you should calm the cardiovascular system again through running leisurely. And do not forget the usual stretching exercises to protect the musculature of your legs and back.

5. Fun and motivation
To achieve your goals with running, it is necessary to have fun and be motivated. Our tip to avoid boredom and monotony: Do not always run the same route. Vary your course, also regarding the ground. It may also be fun to run with a friend. To stay motivated it is helpful to monitor your progress. The perfect running accessory for that is the JogStyle from Omron. The small, handy device gives answers to questions, such as: How fast did I run? How many calories did I burn? Which distance did I actually run? With JogStyle motivation is granted. And if you also consider all of the other tips, you are ready to run!

(Photo: ©Brocreative – Fotolia.com)