How To Plan And Optimize Training And Recovery
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
This episode is for runners who want to optimize their training. Recovery is an essential aspect of training. A simple way to optimize it is to plan it with the same care you give to training. Training plans are a guide, and there are many to choose from. The best ones will have sufficient detail to execute a variety of workouts, keeping your training balanced for every training cycle, which is typically 3 weeks long. The benefit of planning in terms of training cycles is that they provide a focus that extends beyond the calendar. This keeps your training fresh and personalized to...
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Run Your Way: Get Started Running At Any Age
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
This episode is for runners who want to experience the joys and benefits of running. It’s your guide to starting strong, staying motivated, and discovering what running means to you—right now. If you're in your 30s, 40s, 50s, or beyond and wondering if now’s the right time to get serious about running, the answer is yes. But this time, as compared to the jogging boom we experienced in the 70s, it’s different. The science of longevity now suggests that running may be one of the best practices for enhancing metabolic and cognitive health. Most important is that an early to mid-life...
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Protein Needs For Running And Longevity
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
In this episode, we will weigh in on the debate regarding how much protein is needed to support your lifestyle. I’ll also touch on the benefits of the readily available protein supplements. So, what's all the fuss about? It's not so much about the types of proteins, though that's part of it. The bigger debate is how much one should regularly consume. The federal standards call for daily protein consumption of roughly one-half gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight. Many longevity experts believe these standards fall short of the needs of active adults by at least 50%. A recent ...
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How To Train The Small Muscles That Support Joints
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
In this episode, we discuss a topic that seldom gets the attention it deserves. I’m referring to the small muscles and ligaments that support healthy joint function. Unexpected pain when running makes us aware of these tissues. This is usually during the latter stages of a race or workout when weaknesses tend to surface. The following exercises will activate and strengthen the small muscles that support joints. #1. Lateral Weighted Sled Pulls , an invaluable exercise for building the muscles and ligaments that counterbalance our normal running muscles. It’s also safe for rehabbing...
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Heart Rate Variability: How To Use HRV To Optimize Training And Recovery
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
Heart Rate Variability can optimize training, race readiness, and overall well-being. A high HRV indicates greater heart rate responsiveness. It's the ability to quickly increase one’s heart rate for intense training sessions and bring it back down to allow the automatic recovery systems to take over. Training is a type of stress that challenges our bodies to translate it into gains. See graphic below that shows how this affects our HRV. Image credit: There are other stresses in our lives, too, such as day-to-day work and life challenges. They all must be managed to achieve...
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5 Steps To Optimize Your Training Plan
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
In this episode, we will address how to optimize your training to make it more intentional. Runners of all experience levels can fall into the trap of running junk miles. This happens when they don't have a running strategy or a plan. When you run strategically, you are more likely to achieve gains. That is, you are more likely to reach your goals. More importantly, that intentional approach will be more balanced and reduce injuries. #1. Develop A Viable Strategy Strategy is not planning. We'll get to planning in a minute. Strategy is identifying the conditions necessary...
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Improve Running Cadence For Efficiency and Power
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
When you run in icy conditions you are forced to use better running mechanics, because not doing so increases your chances of slipping and falling. When your weight is centered and balanced, you are more efficient and less prone to injuries. Watch videos of Eliud Kipchoge to get a better understanding of this. will take you to one that analyizes his mechanics in slow-motion. There are three key factors involved, and they work together. #1. Posture #2. Foot Strike #3. Cadence Let’s break this down. The foot ideally strikes beneath the body's center of gravity, with the body...
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Big City Marathon Guide: How To Safely Run Crowded Races
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
This episode offers five tips for safely and successfully running marathons and other races that – as we all know -- are becoming increasingly crowded. The energy of these larger races is what makes them so much fun, but when you consider their cost and the training you’ve invested in them, it’s best to show up fully prepared to achieve your goals. #1. Run Like A Pro If you’ve watched marathons or any other races, you’ll notice the pros keep their cool – and you should too. They may get tripped, drop their hydration bottle, but no matter what happens they keep going. ...
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Backward Walking Benefits For Runners
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
If you are familiar with Blue Zones, you may already know backward walking has been an accepted practice in Asia for hundreds of years. It’s part of the culture throughout the region, but not so much outside of it. You may feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get over that quickly as you realize its many accessible benefits. In this episode we focus on three key benefits. #1. Enhanced Balance and Coordination You immediately notice something when you begin walking backward. You feel strange at first, but soon your body becomes more aware of how it moves and its relationship with...
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Start Here: Mobility Is Your Path To Pain Relief
Running Longevity with Jeff Korhan
Pain and injuries are part of life for active people. The true goal is maximizing mobility. This is what prevents injuries and makes pain an infrequent visitor. There are two components to mobility: Flexibility and the strength to control it through a full range of motion. If you are over 40 years old, many experts will tell you it’s impossible to regain 100% mobility. However, I’ve experienced it myself in my 60s and promise you can too. Years of physical therapy helped, but old injuries kept resurfacing until I developed the protocol I’m about to share. #1. Assess The...
info_outlineIf you are familiar with Blue Zones, you may already know backward walking has been an accepted practice in Asia for hundreds of years. It’s part of the culture throughout the region, but not so much outside of it.
You may feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get over that quickly as you realize its many accessible benefits. In this episode we focus on three key benefits.
#1. Enhanced Balance and Coordination
You immediately notice something when you begin walking backward. You feel strange at first, but soon your body becomes more aware of how it moves and its relationship with the space around it.
Our coordination, body balance and space awareness enable us to safely move and adapt in the moment. This proprioceptive awareness is a skill all elite runners share, and backward walking will help you enhance yours.
#2. More Efficient Warmup and Recovery
Every runner knows the most common running injuries are plantar fasciitis, Runner’s Knee, and Achilles tendonitis. Backward walking greatly reduces the risk of these injuries, and helps you recover if you already have them.
Practicing backward walking for 100 yards or so just before running is enough to realize these benefits. As you do this, be aware of extending your knees over the toes, as it’s from this movement that most of the gains are derived.
3. Increased Power and Mobility
One of the cardinal rules of strength training is that you work opposing muscles to keep everything in balance. Just as a bench press counterbalances with rowing that works the opposing back muscles, backward walking counterbalances with forward walking and running.
You can imagine that after a lifetime of walking and running forward, you have weaknesses in your glutes and hamstrings. If you really want to bulletproof your legs from potential injuries, there’s nothing that mirrors forward walking like backward walking.
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