Wii Not So Fit?

Chances are, unless you have no computer access, don't own a television, or live in a bubble, you've heard of the Wii Fit. It's recently picked up a storm of media amidst the widespread obesity epidemic, as well as video game consumers eager for the "fun" fitness it promises. Among the Wii Fit's games, of which there is a myriad to choose from, include boxing, tennis, bowling, yoga, snowboarding, and skiing. Oh - and running.

According to Nintendo's website, "Wii Fit is a combination of fitness and fun, designed for everyone, young and old. By playing Wii Fit a little every day, you, your friends, and your family can work towards personal goals of better health and fitness." Hm, I'm not so sure about that. Indeed, otherwise sedentary individuals may find it helps build a basic level of fitness, but for runners and other participants in more rigorous exercise, replacing such a workout routine with that of the Wii Fits would be quite detrimental to one's performance.

The "running" game requires the user to hold onto the Wii remote as they essentially hop in place, with the options of simultaneously watching TV, exploring the 12 virtual trails in the game with either your trainer or a dog, or accompanying a fellow gamer on a two-person run.

Perhaps it's the dedicated, hardcore runner in me, but after watching this YouTube video of the Wii's so-called "running," I feel calling it this almost makes a mockery of the sport. In fact, the movements of this game much more similarly mimic the motions of jump-roping.

Yet, the Wii Fit also presents itself as a very light cross-training possibility. If it's a rest or recovery day, playing a couple matches of tennis or boxing with a friend might be a viable option.

I suppose the plus to "running" on Wii's trail network is that it's just about impossible to get lost, mugged, stuck in sticky situations, caught in hazardous weather, or stopped by intersections and traffic lights. But then where's the fun in running?

Res(pec)t Your Body

Of course, no elite distance runner reaches the olympic marathon trials by laying around on the couch all day. However, rest does play a very underestimated role in improvement, especially as your training volume and intensity increase. If you don't already, incorporating one day of rest (or at least very low-impact exercise) per week would be a good idea. Not only would it aid in recovery and hence, performance, but it would also reduce the risk of injury and overtraining.

In our sport, approximately sixty-five percent of runners are injured annually as the prevalence of injuries is about 1 per 100 workouts ('Incidence and Severity of Injury Following Aerobic Training Programs Emphasising Running, Racewalking, or Step Aerobics,' Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 25(5), p. S81, 1993). It is estimated that runners are forced to sit out of 5-10% of their workouts as a result of an injury, which is a rather large amount of time spent out of commission.

Anybody who wants to miss out on 5-10% of their workouts, raise your hand at the keyboard. Anyone? Anyone? It's true that no dedicated athlete wants to sit out on the sidelines, counting down the seconds until they can rejoin the sport they once knew and loved. But rest days and recovery, which should become more numerous as you pass the age of forty, can help keep your body healthy. When you run every consecutive day, you risk being forced to discontinue activity for an even greater period of time than you would have spent cumulatively over your rest days. And rest days aren't just for the recreational runner - even the Kenyan elites take them!

Sometimes, even if one is not "scheduled" to rest on any given day, a day off to recover from the demands of exercise and life in general can be very beneficial. According to the Runner's World website, you can gauge when to rest based on your pulse. First you must know what your "average" pulse is. Then you can find your pulse before getting out of bed in the morning, and if it's 20% higher than normal, your body is telling you it needs a break.

One must also make the important distinction between a "rest" versus an "easy" day. A rest day entails little to no exercise, stretching, upper body weight lifting, and/or low-impact activities such as swimming, walking, or yoga. For runners especially, it is important to give the legs time to recover from the training demanded of them the other 6 days of the week. Easy days, on the other hand, are days in which a runner does a lower intensity, less demanding workout, typically following a day of a hard training session such as speedwork. In essence, an easy day allows the body to repair muscle tissue on the microscopic level, whereas rest days give the muscles a chance to more fully repair themselves from larger-scale damage.

There is no need to worry about losing fitness over the course of one, two, or even three days off. The world will not stop turning, fall off its axis, and drift off into outer space. Although, much more than that - which injuries usually require to completely heal - will unfortunately be detrimental to your performance. For every week of no exercise, it takes approximately two weeks of training to make up for lost fitness.

Injury prevention is key. But when the ten-percent-increase-per-week rule and proper athletic footwear fail, giving way to an injury despite all proactive measures, rest is crucial. Sometimes we runners can be rather stupid - yes, including myself - by trying to train through an injury or skimp on complete injury recovery time for fear of losing the the fitness for which we give our blood, sweat, and tears. Interestingly, 50% of injuries are of the recurring variety; that is, those that were not properly taken care of and fully healed. The voice inside us, that source of great success, can also become the source of great harm if left uncontrolled. I highly disagree with the phrase, "No pain, no gain," when it comes to injuries. Instead, refrain from pain.

The moral of the story? R-E-S-P-E-C-T your body, and it will do so in return.

Holy Stick!

It sits with its pearly-whites glistening in the sunlight, prepared at any moment to come to the rescue of a muscle in distress. With no costume or cape to identify this underestimated super hero as such, it is humble. Neither a resident of Gotham nor Metropolis, and bearing a name of neither Wayne nor Kent, it is not the idol of many popular comics, but rather that of runners' magazines. What is this faceless, heroic entity? Its name, often whispered among the running community, wields great power. It is called...The Stick.

Who knew something so uncreatively-dubbed "The Stick" could be such an amazing little apparatus? It's essentially a self-massage tool that helps work out knots in muscles that are bound, at some point, to become stiff, sore, or tight in the sport of running. The Stick is like a runner's secret weapon against the many grievances of our muscles. When your muscles are whining, just whip out the handy dandy Stick and they will surely pipe down.

"What wonderous piece of technology could solve such pesky muscular woes?" you may be asking. Essentially, The Stick is a rod with plastic rollers on it. Talk about complexity! But The Stick's inventor, that genius of an individual, is my hero. Thank you, whoever you are, for this rod loosely adorned with large bead-like spindles!

For your unique muscles, The Stick comes in many individualized varieties, including Big Stick (for weightlifters and football players), Power Stick, Flex Stick (for those with lean muscle mass), Stiff Stick (to "penetrate heavy muscle mass"), Original Body Stick, Computer Stick (designed for the upper limbs), Sprinter Stick, Travel Stick, and Marathon Stick. I personally have the Marathon Stick, designed for long-distance runners and those with lean muscle mass.

The website of The Stick gives several general tips for use:

• Keep muscles relaxed during rollout
• Use on skin or through light clothing
• The Stick is waterproof and designed to bend without fear of breaking
• It is not necessary to hurt the muscle in order to help the muscle
• Most effective when used before, during and after periods of activity
• For pin-point rollout, slide hands onto spindles
• Excessive use may cause muscle soreness

Instructions for use are also offered, which essentially advise 20 progressively-deeper passes (roughly 30 seconds) over each healthy muscle group for a warm-up, and 20 additional passes over "trigger points" (i.e. "a bump or tender knot in the muscle). Their website also offers massage techniques for specific muscle groups, like the neck, shoulders, upper back, lower back, arms, and legs. Several techniques are also given in the pamphlet that comes with The Stick.

Essentially, the stick works like a rolling pin on the "dough" of the muscles, allowing you to bake up an epic performance and satisfy your knead for speed.

Running From A to ZzZzZz...

Many adults remember pulling all-nighters at sleepovers with their friends at some point in their childhoods. I can vividly recall New Year's Eve slumber parties, using every ounce of my energy to stay awake as I glanced, bleary-eyed, at the clock until the next morning approached. My mother would pick me up to take me home, and I'd sit with a fatigue-induced headache in the car until I could go home to fall practically unconscious on my bed. Now, looking back, it's a wonder why anyone would put themselves through such cruel and unusual punishment.

As runners, sleep is sometimes underestimated. The sport itself takes time out of our day, and we can find ourselves lacking any extra time at night to relax and wind-down from a chaotic schedule. However entertaining that late-night television show is, and however juvenile a "bed time" seems, one must know when to turn off the tube and retire. To avoid becoming a burnt-out, exhausted, irritable, zombie athlete, it's time to start prioritizing sleep and treating our stressed bodies with the respect they deserve.

Running and other types of exercise usually help an individual sleep more soundly at night. But if you've ever been through bouts of hard training, it's possible you have experienced insomnia, making all the discipline in the world useless in getting to sleep. Reading, relaxing, or even counting sheep can't lure you into slumber.

Possible reasons for this sleepless state could be running late at night, causing the exercise-induced heightened body temperature, metabolism, and awareness to interfere when it's time to hit the hay. It is recommended that those who experience such sleep disturbances avoid running within 6 hours of sleep. If this is unfeasible, however, the next to best thing would be relaxation methods, such as incorporating yoga and/or stretches into your routine before bed.

Why is Sleep So Important For Runners?

Sleep consists of 5 cycles, each lasting a duration of approximately 90 minutes. The first four cycles are distinguished by non-rapid-eye moment (non-REM), whereas the fifth cycle consists of rapid-eye movement. For athletes such as yourself, cycles 3 and 4 are the most important because it is the time during which a growth hormone (GH) is released by the pituitary gland at the brain's base. GH is a significant part of your training, as it is needed to repair the muscles and bones a runner demands so much of. Thus, when you skimp on sleep, training and recovery take longer and one may experience a plateau or reduction of their performance.

To quantify this, laboratory tests have found that for an individual accustomed to 8 hours of sleep, cutting this time to a mere 6 hours had an adverse effect on performance equivalent to that of an 0.05 blood-alcohol level. Who wants to run like they're closing in on the 0.08 BAC of being legally "drunk?"

How Much Sleep is Enough?

A good rule of thumb for runners in terms of sleep duration is this: 8 hours plus the number of miles run per week in minutes. For example, someone running 50 miles a week would aim for 8 hours, 50 minutes of sleep. Of course, some people may need more or less, as individual needs are always something to consider. Personally, however, I find this ballpark is a good range for more optimum training, especially when performance is peaking before a race.

Tips to Sleeping More Soundly

While some hit the pillow hard and can sleep like rocks, for others, sleep can be a difficult thing to attain. Here are some tips to help you fall asleep faster and have a better slumber:

1. Don't go to bed with the TV or radio on.
2. Use curtains or other apparatuses to block out external light.
3. Keep the thermostat at a slightly cool temperature; that way, you can use sheets and blankets as means of temperature control.
4. Try to not drink fluids within 2 hours of sleep.
5. Either don't use a digital bedroom clock or turn its face away from you. Clock-watching will only accentuate the frustration of insomnia.
6. Don't excessively mull over problems of your day.
7. Avoid napping during the day.
8. If you must get up in the middle of the night, don't turn on bright lights that could "reset" your internal clock.
9. When sinus problems ail you, use an extra pillow to prop your head up and allow fluid to drain, hence easing respiration and congestion.
10. Go to bed on neither an empty nor overly-full stomach.
11. Wake up at a time you will be exposed to sunlight or turn on lights.
12. Don't fall asleep on the couch or in a chair; go to bed.
13. Develop a routine for your body by rising and retiring at similar times each day.

Athletes work their bodies so hard to achieve their goals, and it's essential to realize rest is just as an important part of reaching success. It doesn't matter what strategies you use to get to sleep, how many pillows you choose to use, or even if you sleep in your underwear - just as long as you sleep long and soundly enough.