The Best Exercise Gear Money Can Buy

Anyone watched TV lately?  I hope the answer is no, but if it’s yes, then you’ve probably seen the same things I have, endless commercials for sports equipment.  Forget all the ads for diets, meal replacements shakes and eating plans, just look at the advertisements for sports equipment!  From $1000 bowflexes to $100 ab machines, there is an endless amount of gear for you to buy.  All of which will promptly be forgotten and left to collect dust in your garage.  So forget those ads and read on for the best exercise gear your money will ever buy.

I Love Running

I never in my life thought I would say that, but I really do enjoy running.  There’s a point about 10 to 20 minutes into a good run where I just zone into this great place.  My head is clear, my thoughts are flowing and my body feels like it could go on forever.  It’s a unique feeling and one which I greatly enjoy.  It’s also one of the reasons why I’ve stuck with long distance jogging despite quite a few people trying to convince me that sprints and intervals are better.  There may or may not be something to what they say, but I know there’s a difference in my enjoyment level of jogging vs. sprints, which tells me I should stick with what I enjoy.

Here’s The Problem

For the past few months, I’ve been having issues with my running.  My legs were hurting, my feet were hurting and I was experiencing odd joint pains for the first time in my life.  I tried to figure out a cause.  I tried sleeping in a different position, which helped a little bit.  I also tried changing the way my desk is set up at work, which also helped a little.  Still, my legs were in pain and I wasn’t enjoying running as much as I had before.  And then I remembered…

I’m An Idiot!

When I first started running, a trainer friend of mine gave me a bit of very important advice.  She said, “your shoes are the most important things about running.  Replace them every 6 months and don’t use them for anything other than running”.  Well, I took that advice and used it for a few years but I forgot all about it last year.  That means I’ve been using the same pair of running shoes for a year now and not just for running.  I go hiking in them, walking, work in the yard and so on.  I didn’t think this would be an issue, after all, they’re just shoes, right?  Oh, how wrong I was.

New Shoes

As part of my efforts to fix my leg pains I resolved to buy a new pair of shoes.  So I marched on over to Sports Basement and spent an hour talking to one of their very knowledgeable sales people.  She went over my stride, examined how I run and made several recommendations on shoes I should pick out.  I tried on quite a few until I finally settled on a new pair of New Balance running shoes.  Yesterday was my first run with these new shoes and WOW, what a difference!  I felt like I was gliding on air.  My legs felt great and I didn’t even notice the passage of time.  Within 10 minutes I was back in that runner’s high and having a great time.  I ran for 40 minutes but I could have easily run for an hour.

So here it is, my advice to you on the best investment you can make when it comes to sports gear, shoes.  Buy a new pair every 6 months and don’t use them for anything other than your workout.  Stay away from ab machines and home gyms, they’re a waste of time, space and money.  Just get a good pair of solid foot gear.  If you can, go to a store with qualified sales people who can help analyze your stride and make good recommendations.

By the way, the shoes ended up costing me around $60.  Not too bad for something so valuable.  So thank you Sports Basement for your help and great prices.  Thank you New Balance for such a great product and thank you Chris for your invaluable advice.  I won’t forget it again

NOTE  - I have no affiliation with either Sports Basement or New Balance.   I don’t get paid for endorsing them or mentioning them on this website.  I just happen to like their products and so I don’t mind giving them free publicity.

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Thank you also to the Rich Life Blog for including a 60 in 3 post in their latest blog carnival.

Freeweights or Machines, Which Is Better?

Colin writes in:

I started working out about 6 months ago and I’m feeling great.  I have a question, which is better, freeweights or machines?  Also, is it true that people who use freeweights get injured more?

Hello Colin, congratulations on your 6 months of working out.  You’re past the hardest parts.

I think I answered a similar question a few months ago but since I couldn’t find that article myself, I guess I’ll answer this again.  If any reader manages to find the original post, please link it in the comments.

As for your question.  Let me handle the second question first.  Yes, free weights do pose a greater injury risk.  First of all, it’s easier to injure yourself through simple mishaps such as dropping a weight on your foot or falling down, things that are nearly impossible when using a machine.  In fact, my only gym injury in 6 years happened because I dropped a dumbbell on my head.  Second, because your body isn’t confined to a limited range of motion, there is a greater chance to stress muscles and joints in an inappropriate manner while working out with free weights.  For example, if you try to do dead lifts incorrectly with free weights, you can strain your back or your legs.  Doing back exercises with a machine is much safer since your range of motion is limited.

However, that said, I am still a big proponent of free weights and believe that they are superior to machines in a number of ways.  When you work out with machines, you are limited to a very specific set of motions and muscles.  For example, when you do a back exercise on a machine you are only working out the back muscles, nothing else.  When you do a similar back exercise with free weights (dead lifts for example) you are working out the back but you are also recruiting the leg muscles, shoulders and upper arms in a variety of ways.  Yes, the back muscles are still the ones being worked out, but you’re also seeing benefits all over your body.  In other words, working out with free weights is a more “natural” way of working out.  You’re doing motions that your body does normally, only with weights.  Where as machines limit you to a very narrow motion.

The key is good form.  If you have good form, you will minimize your injury risk and maximize your free weight workout.  Good form means control and isolation of muscles.  It means you lift the weights with the muscles you’re trying to work out, recruiting other muscles only for stability, and you control both the speed and the range of the lifting motion.  If you don’t have good form and you have no desire to learn good form, you should stick to machines.  You’ll get a better workout and you won’t injure yourself.

Is Improvement Necessary?

When I first started working out, I couldn’t lift anything other than the bar and I couldn’t run for more than 5 minutes at 4.5mph.  That’s pretty bad no doubt about it.  Slowly but surely I improved to the point where I can lift a respectable amount of weight and maintain a 6.5mph pace for over an hour without feeling tired.  I’m very proud of these accomplishments and I’m happy with the way my body performs these days, but now I wonder, should I keep trying to improve?  Should I keep pushing myself to lift more, run faster, go longer?  Is there a point to improvement beyond a certain level?

Let’s take weight as an example.  Clearly there is an “ideal” weight that I should be aiming for.  This weight should not be too high nor too low.  Once I get to it, I should stop trying to change my weight and just focus on maintaining that level of weight.  It’s a bit difficult to figure out that ideal weight but with the help of a doctor, a trainer or any of a number of websites, you can come pretty close.  So in terms of “improving” my weight, I know exactly what I need to do.

Unfortunately, workout performance isn’t quite the same thing.  I am running today at 6.5mph.  Should I try to improve?  Will there be benefits from improvement?  Will those benefits be worth the effort needed in order to improve?  This isn’t as clear as the weight issue.  Theoretically, performance can always be improved but realistically there’s going to be a point beyond which I cannot progress.  Also, what’s the point of running at 6.6mph compared to 6.5mph?  Sure, I’ll be running faster, but is there any benefit to my body?  My heart rate and blood pressure are excellent.  Will improving my cardio performance help my body?

What about weights?  If I bench press more weight will it really help me?  I already have very good muscle tone and I’m lifting a considerable amount of weight.  Will trying to improve that improve my health or will it just increase my risk of injury?

Purpose

As I was struggling with some of these questions, I noticed a few things.  Look at the way in which I phrase these questions.  “Will doing X improve my health?”  That’s important because it clearly shows what my goals are.  I didn’t say “will doing X help me win the race” or “will doing X give me bigger muscles”.  I am concerned with health and that’s it.  I’m not trying to imply that winning races or building muscles are bad goals, I’m simply saying that, for me, the goal is health.  We all have our own reason for working out and recognizing those reasons is important when it comes to making decisions.  Without knowing WHY we workout, we’re going to make bad decisions about HOW we work out.

Let’s take the running question as an example.  I have no intention of becoming a competition runner.  I don’t need to run very fast nor am I looking to beat some specific time goal.  I run because I enjoy running and because I want to keep my body in shape.  So my decision on improvement should take these factors into consideration.  Will improving my speed improve my health?  The answer is yes but only slightly and only up to a certain point.  Improving my endurance by running for an hour at 6.5mph as opposed to 5 minutes at 4mph was clearly a huge change.  Improving from this point will only provide me with a marginal health benefit at best.  Plus, at a certain point, I might actually be decreasing my overall health since training at these levels might increase my risk of injury.

Deciding where to stop improving is harder then deciding when to stop losing weight.  There is less science around the “optimal” performance level.  So I’m going to use a few factors to decide this.

• Personal comfort - I want to run at a good pace but I don’t need kill myself.  So speeds that are too high for me to enjoy my run are out.
• Injury Risk - I have no desire to go through the repeated and frequent injuries that high end athletes go through.  With running, I want to minimize the impact damage to my legs.
• Cardio Performance - I do want to keep my heart rate and blood pressure in a good and healthy range.  That means working out hard but it also means not working out too hard.  A heart rate above 85% to 90% of max is not good.

With all this in mind, I’ve decided that my current running speed is fine but I would like to go for a slight improvement.  I have no desire or need to go faster or longer but I think moving up to 7.0mph would give me a better health benefit without any downsides.  So I’ll keep working on some improvement in my running speed.

Weights

For weights I am making a similar decision with similar considerations.

• I like the feeling of lifting more weight.  There’s something very primal about it.  Yes, it might be shallow and vain, but that’s ok
• I am getting to the point with several exercises where increasing weight might increase the risk of injury.  For example, I can already feel the strain on my joints when I do something like overhead triceps extensions.
• In terms of health benefits, there’s very little else that I can gain from more weight.  I already do enough weight, enough reps and enough times a week.

So I’m going to try and improve in a few specific exercises where I think I can still benefit from improvement, but for the most part, I’ll keep my weight levels as is.  I might sub in some new exercises just to keep things interesting and to keep my body challenged, but I’m not going for as much raw improvement as I was before.

You!

Are you trying to improve?  If so, why?  That’s not a joke.  I honestly want you to know WHY you should be improving.  What are your goals?  Do you need to improve in order to achieve them?  In what ways?  Make sure your goals are aligned with your plan or else you’ll find yourself lost along the path.

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Remember, a bit of time spent upfront thinking about goals will save you a lot of bad decisions down the road.

Injured Thumbs

Last week I talked about some new research on exercising while sick. Seems like the standard wisdom about resting when you have a cold may be changing a bit. However, I don’t want anyone to think that this applies to injuries as well.

Injuries are very different from an illness. An injury is something broken or damaged in your body and can easily be made worse without proper care and rest. if you’re injured, don’t exercise until you’ve spoken to a doctor. And no, personal trainers don’t count as a doctor, nor do health and fitness bloggers. If it’s a minor injury like a scratch, you may be fine, but if you’re not sure, see a doctor or play it safe by taking it easy.

For example, I seem to have done some damage to my thumb recently and it’s now very painful to move. So today I’m going to make a dr’s appointment and see what’s wrong with it. I’m also going to take it easy with the workout and avoid any exercise where I have to grip weights.

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Ignore “no pain, no gain”. Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong, and you should listen.

It Hurts When I Run On Concrete

Stop me if you heard this one. A guy walks into the doctor’s office and tells the doctor “hey doc, it hurts when I do this”. The doctor reply “well then, don’t do that.” Ok, so I’m not that good at telling jokes over the internet, but this joke does have a point.  Over the weekend I got a question from a reader who wanted to know why his feet hurt after he jogged on pavement and if he could do something about it.  My answer is “don’t run on pavement”.

First, The Why

How much do you weigh?  The reason I ask is because every time you take a step while running, all that weight comes down on your feet.  Now I weigh about 210lbs.  That means that every step I take brings 210lbs crashing down on my feet.  Think about that one for a second.  Each step is the equivalent of someone hitting my feet with a 210lb weight.  That would hurt!  Even if you weigh a lot less, you’re still putting a lot of stress on your feet and that causes pain.

A Bit Of Personal History

I’ve actually tried running on pavement multiple times.  I used to exercise while traveling by going for a run around the hotel.  I also used to go running with friends who really enjoyed running in the streets around their home.  Each and every time I did this my feet and shins really hurt.  No, not the dull kind of ache that says you had a good workout.  This was sharp pain that was my feet telling me to never do that again.  And you know what?  I listened.  These days I only run on a treadmill, a running track or on a trail.  These are all surfaces that are softer and springier than pavement, which means less impact on my feet.

So There’s No Solution?

Well, I didn’t say that.  There’s plenty of people out there who are running on pavement and they seem to enjoy it so maybe there is something to it.  You could lose weight which would mean less impact on every step.  You could get better shoes which would cushion your feet.  You might even do some stretching exercises since I understand those minimize the damage (although I’ve never tried this myself).  However, at some point, you may need to admit to yourself that running in the street is just not for you.

…and that’s ok!

Just because jogging is popular doesn’t mean it’s the best exercise.  Just because you see a lot of people running in the street, doesn’t mean you should be as well.  You know what, there are a ton of exercise machines at the gym too and some of them are actually bad for you.  Some of those workouts you see people doing?  Not that good for you.  Just like some of those diets that the “experts” recommend are really lousy.  If running on pavement hurts your feet then don’t do it.  There are a hundred other ways to get a good cardio workout, from sprints on the beach to swimming in the pool and none of them will cause you as much pain.

Lesson Learned

Don’t force yourself to do some exercise just because you think you should.  Listen to your body and hear what it’s trying to tell you.  Not all exercises are good for you and if your body is telling you “I HATE THIS EXERCISE!  MAKE IT STOP NOW!” then maybe you should listen and find some other way to work out.

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My feet hurt and so I refuse to run on pavement.  What has this crippling disability done to my overall fitness?  Absolutely nothing.  I’m in the best shape of my life and loving every day.

Risky Exercise

I saw a comment this morning on my commute biking post.  The comment mentioned warm weather and implied that this would make biking impractical.  I gave my own answer in a follow up comment but I wanted to expand on that answer a bit.  First of all, thank you to the reader for leaving this comment, there’s always something I may have overlooked and it’s good to be reminded of it on occasion.

Now, let me make what I said in the comment a bit clearer. I don’t believe that warm weather should be an impediment to biking to work. You can bike early in the morning or late enough in the evening to avoid much of the heat. Showers at work can also help for those of you who are like me, and tend to sweat. That said, exercising in extreme weather does pose a health concern and that’s what I wanted to talk about today.

Exercise And Injury

There’s always the risk of injury when exercising, that’s just part of moving about.  The more you move about the more you increase your chance of falling, twisting your ankle or straining a muscle.  Sitting on the couch has very little risk compared to jogging for example.  Still, I believe exercise and being active is worth it because the extra risk you incur is more than outweighed by the health benefits.  However, there’s a point at which the extra risk becomes too high and that’s the point at which you should stop exercising and start resting.

When Is Risk Too High?

I can think of many cases where the risk of exercise is too high.

• Strenuous exercise when you have a medical condition - If you know you have a heart condition, you shouldn’t be working out without consulting with a doctor.  You may be improving your overall health but you’re also straining your heart.  Same goes for lifting weights when you know you have some kind of joint or muscle issue.  If you have a medical condition, talk to a doctor before you exercise.
• Strenuous exercise under poor conditions - Weather is a good example.  I’m willing to bike when it’s 100 degrees outside but only if I bring water and only for short rides (less than 5 miles).  If it was 120 degrees outside, I would probably rethink my biking idea.  Same goes for the cold.  I biked to work in New England when it was 0 degrees, but I drove when it was snowing because biking in a blizzard is just silly.
• Lifting weights with bad form - Using bad form is not just bad exercise, it’s also a higher injury risk.  Those folks you see in the gym swinging weights around and getting their whole body involved in a simple weight lifting exercise?  They’re just being stupid.  They’re not getting a good workout and they’re placing themselves at a much higher risk of injury.
• Continuing to exercise when you’re injured - I’m guilty of this one.  You feel a pain and you know you should stop working out but you keep going anyway because you tell yourself to be tough and hang in there.  Guess what, that’s the wrong approach.  Exercising with an injury is going to aggravate the injury, not make it better or make it go away.  Yes, not all pains are injuries and you should learn to tell the difference between a temporary ache and pain which signals an injury, but don’t take chances.
• Too much sun - Quite a few physical activities are outdoors which means exposure to the sun, which also means sunburn.  For those of you who still associate a tan with health, I have bad news, a tan is not healthy.  A tan is a signal that you have exposed your body to too much sunlight.  A sunburn is even worse and significantly increases your chances of skin cancer later in life.  If you’re going to be in the sun for any length of time, use sunscreen if possible.  A small exposure to sunlight (10 minutes or so) is fine and can even be healthy but anything longer is bad without sunscreen.
• Bad equipment - Poor exercise equipment has been the cause of many an injury.  That could mean broken machines at the gym or poor running shoes when jogging.  Either way, if you’re going to use equipment, make sure it’s safe.

How To Judge When A Risk Is Too High?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that.  Sometimes it’s obvious, like jogging with a heart condition.  Sometimes it’s not so obvious, like how to tell when your shoes are bad for running.  When in doubt, check.  There are a variety of resources on exercise, from physical trainers and doctors to online sites and books.  For example, there are sporting goods stores with professionals that will help you find the right shoe for your foot.  It’s far better to check in advance than it is to spend 3 months recovering from an injury that could have been avoided, believe me, I learned that one the hard way.

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Just remember, you’re exercising for the health benefits.  If the risk of injury outweighs those health benefits, then you’re doing something wrong.

Oh My Poor Back

Yes, even a healthy life, a good weight and high level of fitness do not make someone injury proof.  Take me as an example, I have no idea what I did, but my back is in horrible pain this morning.  I think I pulled a muscle somewhere in my mid back.  Whatever it is, I had the most miserable night last night with very little sleep and plenty of pain.  At about 2:30am, I stumbled to the nearest gas station in order to pick up a bottle of Advil.  It helped, a little, but I’m back at grad school this morning and not feeling so well.  So rather than talk about fitness today, I’d like to talk about injuries, how to avoid them and what to do if you get them.

How To Avoid Injuries

• Don’t be stupid! - Yes, it sounds obvious but most injuries are actually easily preventable by not being stupid.  Don’t ride your bike without a helmet, don’t use broken equipment, don’t lift more than you should and so on.  Really, stupidity and carelessness are the number 1 cause of injuries.
• Use good form - Good form isn’t just for good fitness, it’s also for preventing injuries.  If your body is flailing around each time you lift a weight, you’re going to injure yourself eventually.  You’re trying to lift too much and you’re not doing it in a controlled manner.  That’s just begging for an injury.
• Don’t overdo it - Overtraining is dangerous.  Overdo the cardio and you’ll get a stress fracture like I did.  Overdo the weights and you’ll strain a muscle, like I did.

Those three items right there are enough to prevent the overwhelming majority of injuries.  Sometimes though, even with proper care, you still hurt yourself.  Which brings me to my next topic.

What To Do When You’re Injured

• Nothing - No, that doesn’t mean ignoring the injury.  It means rest, as in not doing anything strenuous.  If you’re injured, you need to rest.  Your body can heal most injuries but it needs you to not add more strain on top of the injury.  It doesn’t make you tough to keep training through an injury, it just makes you stupid.
• Take a pain killer or anti inflammatory - For some injuries, you may need a pain killer like an advil.  Yes, I hate medication as much as the next guy, but my body needs rest and if I’m in too much pain to sleep then I’m not getting that rest.  A tylenol won’t make you a drug addict.
• See the doctor - If it’s a serious injury, see a doctor.  If you’re not sure if it’s a serious injury, see a doctor.  If it doesn’t seem to be getting better, see a doctor.  Again, I’m not a fan of going to the doctor for every minor scratch or cold but I’m also not stupid.  I know my body and if it’s serious, I have no problem with going to see my physician.

Fitness Does Not Equal Injury Proof

In fact, being fit might lead to more injuries.  You’re doing more, you’re more active.  For example, I go hiking, I work out, I bike.  All of these things have a higher injury rate than my former lifestyle of sitting in front of the computer eating microwaved pizza pockets.  So what?  Injuries are a part of life.  Don’t be afraid of them, just try to prevent them where possible and deal with them when you have to.

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I had a blast during my class field day yesterday.  Yes, I had a miserable night but I don’t regret running around yesterday.  I’m going to rest today and tomorrow and hopefully be back to normal on Sunday.  If I’m still feeling bad on Monday, I’ll go see a doctor.  Now I just need to get through this statistics session!

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