The Right Music Can Help You Recover From a Tough Workout

By Scott Douglas, source: RW

New research shows how to build the ideal post-run playlist.
(And yes, we built you one!)

If you’re among the millions of people who listen to music while running, you probably put a lot of thought into your on-the-go playlist. And for good reason: Research backs your intuition that the right music can help a given pace feel easier, get you to stay out another mile or two, or just make your run more enjoyable.


But what about after your run? According to a new study out of Brunel University in London, listening to the right kind of music post-workout can help you get the most out of the run you just did. In particular, 20 to 30 minutes of slow, sedate music after your run can produce bodily changes that mean you should recover more quickly. That same music can help you remember your run more fondly, meaning that you’ll be more likely to want to repeat the experience.

The key findings: The students’ cortisol levels increased the most during active recovery when they listened to the fast music. Their cortisol levels returned to normal most quickly when they listened to the slow music. Both are desirable outcomes in terms of recovery. In the short term, higher cortisol levels during the easy effort of a cool down get glucose to your brain and increase anti-inflammatory activity in your muscles, speeding repair.

But you don’t want your cortisol levels to stay elevated for too long after a workout, because your body suffers when it sustains fight-or-flight mode. (If you’ve ever felt wired but tired a couple hours after a race or hard workout, you know this sensation.) Instead, what you want once you’re done cooling down is for your body’s stress-management systems to return to normal as soon as possible, so that true recovery can take place. That’s why elite runners are fastidious about post-workout nutrition, stretching, and the like. According to this new research, listening to slow, sedative music in the half-hour after your cooldown should also hasten recovery, because the music appears to lower your cortisol levels sooner than would otherwise be the case.

Supporting this thinking is the study’s finding that the students reported feeling calmer and less aroused when they listened to the slow music. That is, their more relaxed emotional state matched the lower cortisol levels that accompanied the sedate music.

Given the findings of this and other studies he’s done, Costas Karageorghis, Ph.D., suggests a post-workout playlist that starts with medium-tempo music (115 to 90 beats per minute) for your cooldown and switches to slower music for the next block of time, when you might be stretching, driving, or otherwise transitioning from hard-working runner to going about your day. Karageorghis, who is probably the world’s leading researcher on the intersection of music and exercise, says you’ll get the most benefit if you stick with the slower songs for a while. “The most pronounced differences between slow, sedative music and fast, stimulative music conditions were evident in the latter stages of passive recovery, after 15 minutes,” he says.

Our digital editorial assistant, Ally Spiroff, built the playlist below on the basis of Karageorghis’s recommendations: https://open.spotify.com/user/runnersworldmagazine/playlist/1FNzYfE3Q9LvfqDdHENl26

If you want to create your own, Karageorghis advises these general parameters for the relaxing, passive-recovery section:

• The music should be neutral or relaxing in nature.
• The music should use what Karageorghis calls “soothing, warm instruments, such as strings, oboe, muted trumpet or gentle piano.”
• Consider including nature sounds, as you might find on music designed for meditation.
• Consider finding longer songs, of 10 minutes or more, to lessen the jarring of transition between tracks.
• Avoid rhythmically complex music, such as hip-hop.

If you’re up on your musical theory, Karageorghis has even more specific advice.
“The music should be characterized by regular pulsation and repetitive tonal patterns based on a limited number of pitch levels,” he says. “Good examples of recuperative music include the slow-tempo classical works of Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach. For a more contemporary sound, I would recommend the music of artists such as Enya or Enigma. On Spotify, the easiest thing to do is pick a single ‘archetypal’ recuperative track, such as ‘You’re Beautiful’ by James Blunt, and the algorithm will do the rest.”
Remember that this study involved people cycling to exhaustion. The most similar types of runs are races, interval workouts, and tempo runs. Think about using this music-manipulation idea for any workout you do that involves a warm-up and cooldown, as well as after long runs. Of course, if you have time after normal workaday runs to listen to half an hour of calming music, your cortisol levels will thank you.

Training tips for winter

Source: McMillan Running.com

Well first off, let’s join hands with old Ebenezer and hop on the Ghost of Christmas Past back to early December. You did a fall marathon that went really well, and you’re starting to run more again after the obligatory post marathon break. You only have Thanksgiving “under you belt,” but you’re still in the black. Here are 9 things to do now to mitigate the pain of getting out of shape and weathering the long weeks coming of bitter cold.

1) PAY ATTENTION
Certain holiday goodies are your favorites; enjoy them. Frosted, sugar, cookies shaped like trees and Santa Clause only come around once a year, and I plan to eat my share. But every day of the next month isn’t a party. Eat well all week, and then you can afford a splurge on the weekend. Install a calorie counting app on your phone for this month. It’s not hard to eat an extra 3,500 calories when someone presents you with a vat of melted cheese or some chocolate, peanut butter poppers! A pound a party is going to be rough to lose come January.

2) START CROSS TRAINING
If you’re a one trick pony and only run, winter is a great time to find a new activity, indoor or outdoor, to do on your easy days. Pick up the class schedule at your gym. Try a little of everything and see whether you like spin, Pilates, boot camp, or the masters swim class. If you would rather be outdoors, get out on some cross-country skis or snowshoes, rent a fat bike, or have a buddy take you out for a skinning lesson. Not pounding the pavement all winter long will keep injuries at bay, and depending what activity you choose, you’ll be working on something that will improve your overall athleticism. Meaning you’ll be getting stronger, more flexible, faster, or continuing to build on your large endurance base.

3) LOVE YOUR TREADMILL RUNS
Running on the “dreadmill” can be fun if you don’t have to do it every day. Save your treadmill runs for specific workouts. The treadmill is a great tool for dialing in pace, monitoring form, and running fast when it’s impossible to do so outside in the ice and snow. Stripping down to shorts and a sports bra a couple times a week and jamming out a workout with some good tunes can be exhilarating. Treadmills are also good for a marker workout or time trial. Getting in a workout that gives you a sense of your current fitness is a good idea once a month or that March race will hurt, “not so good.” Here are Greg McMillan’s 4 Great Treadmill Workouts.

4) COMMIT TO PREHAB AND A STRENGTH TRAINING REGIMEN
These activities are a lot more appealing in the winter. Baby it’s cold outside, and you have more time to workout now that you’re not in a marathon specific training phase. Also, it’s difficult to make strength gains while marathon training because you’re working out with a fatigued body. When you’re doing fewer miles and more cross training, you’re fresh and can hit some heavier weight. Ultimately the strength gains you make now will make you a faster marathoner because you will have the muscle structure in place to complete an entire training cycle with no niggles or twinges. You’ll be able to power through the final miles instead of feeling like your legs are coming out from underneath you. If you don’t already have your own program, check out the prehab routines Greg McMillan has put together specifically for runners.

5) START A SPEED AND/OR HILLS TRAINING MODULE
Run less but make your runs really count. Take 6-8 weeks to focus on your weaknesses or work on training that isn’t emphasized in marathon training. Hills provide power and are a safe segue into doing speed training. If you’ve plateaued in your times at the longer distances, you need to work on your speed and strength if you hope to get faster again. You can get a great workout in either doing a cut down fartlek ladder or 8-10 times 60-90 second hill repeats in less than an hour. That’s barely time for the sauna to get hot! You can also train using one of our Hills or Maintenance training modules in Run Team (there are also speed and stamina modules to choose from).

6) FIND TRAINING PARTNERS, RUN GROUPS, AND “B” RACES
The loneliness of the long distance runner is a romantic ideal when it’s 70 degrees and sunny outside. But running alone all winter long is a harsh reality. Seek out other people.

7) BE PREPARED
In Northern Minnesota we had a saying. “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.“ It’s not too late to add a pair of wind briefs or some smart wool socks to your Christmas list. If you dress appropriately, the cold isn’t so bad. Get a nice headlamp for those dark mornings. Nothing beats running on a quiet road watching the sunrise while the rest of the world sleeps. Lay all your gear out the night before, so you can grab it and go in the morning without waking a mouse in the house.

8) FIND A DESTINATION RACE OR TAKE A TRAINING JUNKET
Perhaps the best solution to the winter blues is obvious. If possible, get the heck out of winter for a week or so! Pre-vacation the miles will warm you in anticipation and post-vacation the surge of vitamin D and some great training runs will continue to inspire you come lion or lamb March 1st. Few people know the remainder of that verse I began with. “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun.”
9) HUNKER DOWN

You train with purpose. Rest with purpose. Winter is a great time for a planned break from running. Focus on getting more sleep. Sleep is the best healer. Take time to do meditation or yoga. Most people replace their workout time with running around doing other errands or taking on other responsibilities. Make time for yourself to rejuvenate.
Katie McGee is a McMillan Running Coach. Learn more about our Personal Coaching where you can train with a coach like Katie by your side to plan your training and talk about race strategy, performance nutrition, injury prevention, stretching, and much more.


INCREASE YOUR COLD TOLERANCE, RUNNERS MAGAZINE

Winter training runs build the foundation for summer PRs. But that also means you’re bound to find yourself facing a few frigid miles. While some runners’ motivation understandably dips with the thermostat, others will tell you they simply cannot train in cold temperatures. That’s avoiding opportunity, according to Brian Mackenzie, founder of Power Speed Endurance (PSE), an online programming and coaching platform for athletes.

“It’s just an adverse sympathetic reaction,” Mackenzie says of the typical cold-weather freak-out marked by a racing heart, short breaths, and clenched muscles. If you’re mentally and physically unprepared for the cold, your nervous system will tell you to flee for more comfortable conditions. Follow this at-home version of Mackenzie’s training program, and you’ll gradually expose yourself to cold temps and learn to control breathing so your body adapts physiologically, and you can finally beat the freeze.

Week	Action
1	In the shower, turn water to cold for 10 seconds. As you count, focus on deep, steady breaths through your nose. Turn water warm for 30 seconds and repeat 3 to 5 times.
2	Repeat cold-water intervals, but use a 10-breath cycle instead of 10 seconds. Focus on slow breaths. End with cold water to see if you can warm up within 5 to 10 minutes. If not, end with warm water.
3	Extend your time under the cold water by holding your breath after each inhalation and exhalation. See how long you can make a 10-breath cycle last. If ready, end your shower with cold water.
4	Transition to 3- to 5-minute cold intervals without warm-water breaks. If you can’t warm up on your own, or if you start to shiver, you’ve progressed too quickly. Go back to cold-water intervals with warm breaks.

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Τεχνική Ανάλυση Χειμωνιάτικου Ενιπέα από τον Γιώργο Διαλεκτό

The Best Running Training Plans

By Martin Fritz Huber

Τhere’s a lot of nonsense floating around the internet, and navigating the tides of misinformation poses a continuous challenge. When seeking online guidance for how to prepare for a running race, a poor choice can leave you injured, overtrained, and in the unenviable position of having wasted weeks of your life on bogus advice.

Since we don’t want that to happen to you, here are a few online running training guides that hold up under scrutiny. While we can confidently vouch for them, it should be understood that all of these training plans (except the last one) are suggestions aimed at a general audience—not some form of distance-running dogma. Every runner is different, and there is no substitute for personalized coaching.

Hal Higdon’s Training Programs(Free; some plans available for purchase)
Arguably the internet’s best-known running training-plan guru, Hal Higdon had an impressive résumé long before he had an email address. A Runner’s World contributor since 1966 and an eight-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, Higdon has published a small library’s worth of training advice, including the four-time reissued Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. His online plans for the marathon and half marathon are commendable for their breadth—categories include “Novice 2,” “Senior,” and “Boston Bound”­—as well as their emphasis on that all-important ingredient to having a good race: rest. 

Nike+ Run Club(Free)
Nike+ Run Clubs have recently sprouted in coastal metropolises like Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Fortunately for those who reside elsewhere, free online Nike+ training guides are available to download on the company’s website. Designed by world-famous coaches like Jerry Schumacher and Chris Bennett, the offerings range from an eight-week 5K plan to an 18-week schedule for aspiring marathoners. One very useful feature is the pace chart, which provides suggestions for the speed at which you should be able to run various workouts based on your previous performance.

Boston Marathon Training Plan(Free)
If you’re in it for the long haul, the Boston Athletic Association offers online marathon training plans pegged to its most famous race. (No, you don’t need to being running Boston to make use of the plans.) Developed by Terrence Mahon, whose athletes over the years have included U.S. running royalty like Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall, these plans prescribe a 22-week training block; the first six weeks help you establish base fitness and workout routines. The advantage of having such a long buildup is that it gives runners the chance to increase mileage more gradually and (hopefully) reduce the risk of injury.

The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project($55 to $100, depending on plan)
Runners who want the benefits of a customized training experience without the expense of a private coach might consider investing in a program specifically tailored to their ability level. The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project offers an array of plans—from a 12-week program to run a fast half-mile ($55) to a 24-week marathon program ($100)—which are put together based on input like athlete history and recent race times. Thanks to an accompanying app, the programs can be recalibrated at any point during a training cycle to reflect a runner’s current fitness level. The latter is determined by a runner’s VDOT number—essentially a score derived from a recent race performance. Find out yours here.

Anaktoria, I love Running

I LOVE RUNNING

Running brings me to here and now.

Running is my refuge and running is my strenght.

Running helps me feel my body, get in touch with my deepest self.

Running makes me smarter, helps me concentrate.

Running helps me discover my endless resources.

Running makes me meek and outrageous at the same time.

Running gives me self confidence, I appreciate myself more.

Running is a precious gem, it helps me reconnect with sacred outlook.

Running helps me heal.

Running makes me more available to others.

Running makes me more social.

Running makes me happy and helps me make other people happy too.

Anaktoria F.