Training Day.

The doors clang outside my Miami hotel room at 3:30 a.m. as I make out the runner talk in the hallway. I slowly comprehend that this is quite likely the first of the 500 teams heading to the start line for Ragnar's 199 mile relay race from Miami to Key West. It wouldn't be fair to just call it an adventure race. It's two days and one night of constant grinding, adrenaline, sweat and burn. Racing in America is no longer just about pounding pavement and cutting times; it's about an experience. And overnight racing is one of the hottest racing experiences in the U.S. There's enough of a market to schedule 15 more of these events this year.

This race will begin as early as 5 a.m. for some teams, and bring about 5,000 runners to the southernmost point of the US. I'm running it for the first time. I shut my eyes, unaware that the next three hours of sleep will be of the best I get in the next 48 hours.

“At 150 feet, here is what a runner that is not wearing a vest or headlamp looks like,” the safety instructor informs our team while holding up a large poster board that is largely dark to illustrate his point in the pre-race safety briefing.

He switches to the poster board showing the properly illuminated runner, and the two distinct images resonate nicely in my mind along with the directions that it’s not a choice to wear these in the night time hours. I nod in agreement with my six newly formed team members, whom I’ve known for a grand total of two hours.full story >>

Tags:

Racing, Running

While you plow your way through seven-layer dip and a pile of wings this Super Bowl Sunday, you can bet that the Patriots will be fueling up, too. Only they'll be taking a far more scientific approach. You might even say they have a secret weapon. Its name: Superstarch.

Turns out, a slew of New England players -- including Vince Wilfork, Ron Brace and Mike Wright -- have been using this powdery, slow-digesting carbohydrate to up their games all season. And by all accounts, it's working pretty darn well.

New England defensive tackle Ron Brace has been taking the supplement since the off-season, and says it's been his key to giving his all at every practice. "A lot of energy supplements I've used in the past would give me an immediate jolt, but then a crash afterward,” Brace told Men's Health. "With this I feel neither -- just sustained energy and I’m able to keep going through my training day." He says he plans to chug the product before Sunday’s game. (As for you: Make sure you’re eating The Perfect Diet.)

So what is it? The raw material is the same cornstarch sitting in your cupboard, says Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., associate professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut. “The difference is that it’s been through a proprietary heat-moisture treatment, which changes the way the starch gets absorbed.”

Essentially, superstarch is digested more slowly than both regular starch and sugar. As a result, it’s absorbed into your bloodstream at a steady and much slower rate than the sugars in popular sports drinks. The result: sustained energy throughout 4 hours of battle with the Giants. “Consuming a regular carb drink that is rapidly absorbed is like emptying your entire gas tank into your engine at once,” says Volek. “It’s overkill.” (Is your workout overkill? Discover how you can blast fat -- in almost no time -- with The Ultimate Two-Exercise Workout.)

One performance benefit of superstarch: Volek says that using it provides a steady source of blood sugar as opposed to the highs and lows that can occur with rapidly absorbed sports drinks. “This more sustained fuel flow has many advantages such as promoting greater use of fat and potentially sparing muscle glycogen,” explains Volek. Glycogen refers to the carbohydrate that’s stored in your muscles. These carb stores are a finite resource -- your carb intake and activity the day before will determine how loaded-up they are. “Most sports like football, basketball, tennis, and hockey, require short bursts of high intensity effort that draw on glycogen,” says Volek. “So anything that spares their use could translate into performance gains.” (If you want to perform your best, you also need a strong core. Take our test to Find Out If Your Abs Are Weak.)full story >>

Tags:

Energy Drinks, Jeff Volek, Joel Totoro, Men's Health, Mike Wright, NFL, Ron Brace, Super Bowl, Superstarch, Vince Wilfork

The process of developing from youth football player to NFL player doesn't happen overnight. It comes from studying plays, working on drills, watching game film, and of course, time in the gym. Three Giants at the Super Bowl weighed in with tips on how young players should work out.

Running back D.J. Ware
Ware says youth players should not try to do anything too erratic or too fancy in the gym.

"It's kind of hard to really tell a kid how to work out because you don't really know how their body is, and you don't really know how they respond to working out," Ware says. "I just try to do the basics. I try to do a little bench, squats, some power cleans for explosion and some shrugs."

Ware, a 6-0, 225-pounder, makes up for a lack of height with tremendous bulk. Putting meat on Ware's bones began as a project in middle school thanks to some advice from his father, Danny, Sr.

"I've been working out and running since about 13, so I've been going kind of hard since I can remember," Ware says. "My dad always told me you got to have thick legs, so they can't tackle you. That's pretty much what I've been trying to do ever since."full story >>

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D.J. Ware, NFL, Prince Amukamara, Ramses Barden, Super Bowl

One sentence you aren't likely to hear: "Those crunches were so much fun!"

In fact, you'll rarely hear that kind of declaration with any exercise. Which is too bad, for plenty of reasons.

But we've found three new core exercises that are indeed fun. Yes, they work your abs. Yes, they're effective. (Super-effective, actually.) And yes, they're hard. Yet despite this last concession, people absolutely love them. How about you? Check out these awesome moves -- and have a blast, blasting your abs. (And to make sure you can see your abs, discover how to Turn On Your Fat-Burning Genes.)

Mountain Climber with Feet on the Wall
If you're looking for ways to keep your ab workout challenging (and interesting!), then you must try the "mountain climber with feet against a wall." Yes, that's a mouthful. But this move -- from fitness expert BJ Gaddour, owner of StreamFit.com -- is without a doubt one of the coolest new core exercises we've seen in a while. It'll fry your abs, but it also works your shoulders and glutes. So much so, that it’ll help improve your performance at all the other exercises in your workout. “There’s no better way to train the weak spots that are holding you back in every other lift,” says Gaddour.full story >>

Tags:

Ab Exercise, BJ Gaddour, Core Exercise, David Jack, Dumbbell Drag, Kettlebell, Men's Health, Moutain Climber, Plank, Rachel Cosgrove, Total-body Workout

It's one thing for professional athletes to have to make an ethical decision about using steroids, but college cheerleaders?

Anna Watson has to be America's strongest female cheerleader; the University of Georgia student loves spending time in the weight room, and it certainly shows. But she has more important things in her life: Watson passed up a big money fitness modeling contract because she refused to use a legal steroid.

"It's an elite position to be a cheerleader at UGA," Watson told Red and Black, her school's award-winning student newspaper. "They have hundreds of girls try out, and to be selected out of all of those people to be on the team, it’s kind of a big deal. So those girls were very humble and gracious and patient to help me just learn the basic stuff."full story >>

Tags:

cheerleading, Georgia Bulldogs, NCAAB, Outdoors, Steroids

Just call him LeGreen.

It's not every day that one of the world's most famous athletes takes his bicycle to work, but that's just what LeBron James did on Sunday afternoon. The hoops lightning rod hopped on his two-wheeler to avoid the horrid south Florida traffic caused by Sunday's Miami Marathon. Officials warned the public of long delays around the city caused by road closures.

James, two-time NBA MVP, hopped on his custom-made bike for what he said was a 40-minute trip from his mansion to American Airlines Arena. A Heat fan snapped a photo of LeBron and placed it on Twitter; it was re-tweeted by an NBA blogger and soon went viral.

LeBron sported a spandex outfit and backpack with a giant helmet while pedaling through the streets of Miami. It clearly didn't hurt his performance on the court, as James had 35 points and 11 rebounds to help the Heat to a 97-93 win over the Bulls in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals.full story >>

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Bicycling, LeBron James, Miami Heat, NBA

Imagine if the barbell came with an autocorrect function. One that instantly perfected your form -- no cheating allowed. Yes, you would likely have to remove some weight. But you’d also slash your injury risk while giving your targeted muscles the maximum challenge. As a result, you’d reap the greatest possible benefit from every set.

Turns out, that autocorrect feature already exists -- you just have to choose the right moves. I first learned about these moves, known as self-limiting exercises, from Gray Cook, P.T., whose analysis of human movement patterns is used to enhance his clients’ performance and prevent injuries. Cook notes that barefoot running is a self-limiting exercise: If you don't use proper form or aren’t in shape to run, the pain in your feet is your body's way of warning you to stop before you injure yourself. Makes sense.

That’s why I apply this concept to the exercises we use at Results Fitness, the gym I own in Santa Clarita, California. By choosing movements that are nearly impossible to do without correct form, our clients have boosted both their strength gains and their fat loss. Here are five self-limiting exercises you should add to your workouts. Now if only your diet had an autocorrect function! (In the meantime, watch out for The Worst Chicken Dishes In America.)

Exercise 1. TRX Inverted Row
Why it’s self-limiting: You’re relying on your upper body’s weakest link to pull yourself up. If your upper back, arms, grip, or core aren’t up to the task, they simply won’t allow you to complete another rep.
How to do it: Attach TRX suspension straps to a chinup bar so the handles are about 4 feet above the floor. Hold a handle in each hand and lie beneath them. Your arms should be straight and your body should be aligned from ankles to head. Brace your core and glutes. This is the starting position. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, pull your upper arms down, and bend your elbows to row your body upward. Pause, and then lower yourself to the starting position.full story >>

Tags:

Alwyn Cosgrove, Exercise, Fitness, Inverted Row, Kettlebell Bottoms-up Press, Kettlebell Windmill, Men's Health, Reverse Goblet Lunge, Single-arm Farmer's Walk

You want a consumer culture obsessed with the next fitness craze? Look no further than the history of America's "get fit fast" infomercials, and the lasting impact they've had, though that impact is seldom felt from a fitness perspective. Mike Chang from SixPack Shortcuts does us all a favor and travels back through the fitness time-space continuum, properly displaying the amount of silly in so many of the fitness products millions have bought.

From glorified bed springs to the shake weight, Chang covers the gamut, all with outfits that fit the time period or commercials for the gadgets.full story >>

Tags:

Fitness, Infomercials

You've never heard of them, but Mickey Marotti and Bennie Wylie are two of the most important football coaches in America.

They're hires made within the last year at Ohio State University and the University of Texas, and they are already altering the future of both programs dramatically, in more ways than you could possibly imagine.

"I hesitate to say I wear 10 hats," Wylie said. "Because then I'll show up tomorrow and have 12 waiting for me."

Their expertise is labeled simplistically as strength and conditioning, but the job goes beyond the barking of orders and clanking of weights. It is an all-encompassing role, one that can make or break the title aspirations of a program.

Wylie was hired from Tennessee to work under Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning Jeff Madden, and was considered a great coup during the overhaul of Texas' staff last winter, and Marotti is one of three crucial members from Meyer's staff at Florida brought to Ohio State with Urban Meyer's appointment, earning a similar title to Madden's at Texas.full story >>

Tags:

Bennie Wylie, Boyd Epley, Jeff Madden, Mack Brown, Mike Favre, NCAAF, NFL, NSCA, Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas Longhorns, Tom Myslinksi, Urban Meyer

Pilates could make all the difference for a big league hitter.

Consider the case of Giants infielder Aubrey Huff.

To prepare for the 2010 season, Huff, whose wife is an instructor, did Pilates three times a week. He went on to hit .290 with 26 homers, 86 RBIs and an .891 OPS, and finished seventh in the voting for National League MVP.

But then he dropped Pilates from his workouts before the 2011 season. Or, as he put to the San Francisco Chronicle, "For some stupid reason I didn't do it again."

His numbers in 2011 sunk to a .246 batting average with 12 homers, 59 RBIs and a .696 OPS.

This off-season, Huff isn't taking any chances. Pilates is back in the regimen, and he told the Chronicle, "My body is ripped."full story >>

Tags:

Aubrey Huff, Pilates

Written by ThePostGame Staff

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