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As an outdoorswoman and veteran of multi-day, multi-sport adventure races, long mountain runs, and hundreds of competitive events of all sorts, let me tell you: There is no difference between a successful adventure and mastering a Disney park. They both require research, planning, strategizing, rising before dawn, navigating smart routes, moving fast and light, competitiveness, problem-solving, outwitting competitors, on-the-go fueling, sheer endurance, knowing when to rest and when to push, and critical gear choices. Lacking any of these skills at a busy amusement park can result in hours of standing in lines, money wasted, meltdowns by teammates (family members) and yourself, and, worse, lost quality time with your kids—of any age. What’s more, putting your outdoor skills to use to “beat out” thousands of “regular” park visitors is wildly rewarding (did I mention competitiveness?).

As I planned a recent visit to Disney World with my two sons during spring break, you better believe I used my knowledge of gear and adventuring to thoroughly research what outdoor apparel and equipment would give me an…

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We all know that running makes humans healthier. Lace up a pair of shoes and, before you know it, you’re experiencing a boosted immune system, stronger body, higher bone density, and enhanced overall wellness. In many ways, running provides athletes with a fountain of youth.

But running with your dog further maximizes those perks, allowing you to further capitalize on your time on the trail. It’s easy to write this idea off, claiming that dogs just make us happier, so, of course we’d love our doggy trail runs more than our solo runs. However, current research shows that owning and recreating with a dog not only boosts mental health, it also boosts your physical strength and fitness. After looking into the details, here’s what else we know about the benefits of running with your dog.

1. Dogs Create Accountability to Get You Out the Door 

Research consistently demonstrates that spending time outside has largely positive impacts on the human mind, helping to calm anxiety and depression while boosting concentration and attention. It turns out that owning a dog increases the amount of…

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One of the key articles of faith of modern sports nutrition is that your body can only use a certain amount of protein at a time. Opinions differ on what that amount is. It might be as little as 20 grams; it might be as much as 40 grams, particularly for older adults whose bodies are less sensitive to the muscle-growth-stimulating effects of protein. Maybe it needs to be expressed relative to body size, like 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight, rather than as a fixed number. Those details don’t matter here; the point is that there’s a maximum.

The reason that’s important is that most North Americans eat lots of protein, but don’t spread it evenly throughout the day. A typical pattern might be 10 to 15 grams at breakfast and lunch, then 65 grams or more at dinner. That means that at breakfast and lunch, you’re not getting enough protein to max out the synthesis of new muscle protein. At dinner, on the other hand, you’re getting too much, so the excess will simply be burned for energy. The better solution, according to this logic, is to smooth out your protein consumption so that you’re getting at least…

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Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia almost did the unthinkable at the Boston Marathon on Monday morning, while American Emma Bates sure tried to.

The 33-year-old Sisay not only ran away from a very strong field to win, but he briefly teased spectators and fans with an unfathomably fast pace. Lemma, who entered the race as the fourth-fastest marathoner in history (2:01:48), came through the halfway point in 1:00:19, which meant he was on sub-2:01 pace and ahead of world-record pace. Although he slowed considerably over the second half of the race, Lemma held on to win in 2:06:17, the 10th fastest time in Boston Marathon history.

Bates, the top U.S. runner in the very deep women’s field who had been fifth in the race a year ago, surged numerous times throughout the race and was still in the lead near mile 20. But Bates and several other runners in the women’s lead pack fell off the pace when the race turned into an exceptionally fast three-way tussle between Kenyans Sharon Lokedi, Hellen Obiri, and Edna Kiplagat.

After Obiri, the race’s defending champion, and Lokedi, the 2022 New York City champion, were able to shake…

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“You have to learn the rules before you can break them.” —Miles Davis

I first heard those words from one of the most innovative and influential jazz musicians of all time during the How I Built This podcast. In the interview, chef Daniel Humm explained how understanding that quote shaped his approach to creating Eleven Madison Park, his world-renowned, plant-based restaurant in New York City.

That type of thinking may seem counterintuitive to creativity. But numerous other groundbreaking creatives also cite a respect for basic techniques as the reason they were later able to challenge the rules in a creative and intelligent manner. For example, in the documentary Sound City, Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails lauded his childhood study of classical music as the foundation from which he was able to create his unique style and sound.

So what does this have to do with yoga?

You can also apply the concept of needing to understand basic techniques prior to finding innovation when you teach yoga—especially as a new yoga teacher creating a vinyasa yoga sequence.

How Understanding the Classics Supports…

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Our lungs and airways are “overbuilt,” according to exercise physiologists. Though we gasp and pant during heavy exercise, that’s not what actually slows us down. Instead, the bottleneck is the heart’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood to the muscles, or the muscles’ ability to make use of that oxygen. That’s why the heart and muscles get bigger and stronger in response to training, while the lungs stay the same: we already suck in more oxygen than we’re able to use.

Or maybe not, according to a new study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that takes a fresh look at what it means to be out of breath. It turns out there are different subtypes of breathlessness. Your chest might feel tight; or your breathing muscles might feel overworked; or you might feel that you can’t get enough air in. That last one, sometimes called “air hunger” or (more scientifically) “unsatisfied inspiration” is usually associated with lung conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. But the new study finds that about a third of healthy adults experience air hunger during all-out exercise—and it’s the…

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No matter what kind of athlete you are—from casual dabbler to elite competitor—you’ve likely experienced the soreness that follows a strenuous workout. In medicalese, it’s called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and it usually peaks 48 hours after exercise. It’s a normal consequence of pushing yourself to get stronger or tackling a big goal like riding a century, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant. It can be especially frustrating when you’re just starting out and push too hard before you build up your fitness.

Despite the near-universal experience of DOMS—runners, cyclists, hikers, climbers, and paddlers all feel it—the underlying cause is poorly understood. The theory is that after strenuous exercise, some combination of muscle spasms, lactic acid buildup, tissue damage, and inflammation lead to pain and soreness. Fortunately, the science around treating DOMS using cold and heat therapy—and the tools available—has made great progress in recent years. Also good news: cold and heat are great for treating other common aches and pains, including injuries, joint soreness, and muscle…

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Pre-race yoga sessions. Training guides and support from female Olympians. Chocolate milk toasts. Tampons stocked in every Porta-potty. You’ve never seen a race quite like this before—and it’s changing the face of running for rookies and elite athletes alike.

Every Woman’s Marathon, powered by Team Milk, is a U.S. marathon designed by women, for women. It was born of a clear need: the dire lack of female-centric marathon experiences available for distance runners. Though almost half of American marathon participants are women, 60 percent of female runners feel that endurance races cater more to men. Historically, women were excluded from marathons because of the (ridiculous) belief that they couldn’t handle the distance; it wasn’t until 1972 that the prestigious Boston Marathon allowed women to participate. That legacy of exclusion still persists across many distance races even today, with race design, gear, and training guides predominantly geared toward men.

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The human body is an engine with efficiency similar to a car engine. In both cases, about three-quarters of the energy consumed is released as heat. That’s why it’s easy to heat the interior of a car: just blow some of that heat from the engine into the cabin. And it’s why endurance athletes worry a lot about getting too hot but mostly view cold as a minor annoyance rather than a fundamental limit on performance. If you’re pushing hard enough, you won’t be cold for long—right?

But new research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggests that cold really does diminish endurance performance. That’s contrary to what some previous research has found, but those earlier studies often involved volunteers who were ushered into a cold room and then immediately asked to exercise without waiting for their body temperatures to drop. In the new study, the volunteers got cold—and then stayed cold, no matter how hard they exercised. That’s a lesson that winter athletes will want to keep in mind next time they’re lingering in frosty air before a workout or a race.

The study was led by Phillip Wallace…

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Last spring, among the usual elementary school reminders about theme weeks and illicit peanut butter snacks (WE ARE A NUT FREE CAMPUS!!) an email popped up that gave me pause. My kindergartner would be weighed in school, it said, and I could click on a link to opt her out.

It gave me the ick. I’d paid attention to young women like Mary Cain and members of college cross-country teams speaking out against weigh-ins and body shaming in sport, and how the practice damaged their mental and physical health. That’s different from a kindergartner stepping on a scale then running back to recess, but I know how little minds absorb everything. I didn’t want my daughter to think her school cared about her weight.

Neither, it turns out, did our home state. In January 2022, California’s Department of Education suspended the body mass index reporting it had required since 1996 as part of a fitness test. (BMI, calculated from height and weight, is often used as a proxy for body fat composition.) The state also axed collecting several movement-based measurements that, along with gender, height, and age, had been used to give…