Vigorous Exercise May Help Prevent Altzheimers
A growing body of medical research seems to be indicating that regular intense aeorbic exercise may reduce the likelihood, or at least delay the onset of the more serious symptoms of mental aging. A new study of 1,500 people in Sweden published this October found that hose who had engaged in robust physical activity at least twice a week since their youth or middle age had a 50% lower chance of developing dementia and a 60% lower risk of developing Altzheimer's than those who were sedentary!! November 2005's AARP Bulletin (yes, I'm in that age group) reports the details.
Barefoot Running
In case you have been asleep, there's been a lot of press recently about the purported advantages of "barefoot running", which isn't always REALLY meaning running "bare", but more often running with minimalist shoes.
There's a raging debate about whether barefoot running is the panacea for all the ailments runners sometimes suffer or a really bad idea that invites more injuries. As usual, the truth is probably somewhere more in the middle ground. With 30 years of helping thousands of runners here at Phidippides, our anecdotal experience tells us that there are people for whom barefoot running would probably be a VERY bad idea, and others where it might offer some improvements in form and running style. Countless individuals have come to us with various stability related problems over the years and been well served by moving to a MORE supportive shoe, further away from the barefoot concept. We feel that for most people with symptoms or injuries related to poor foot stability, the direction to go is MORE support, not less. Constantly stressing the lower anatomy with too little support will NOT tend to reduce the strain on the lower anatomy. That being said, the discussion is long and complicated and emotions rage high on both sides. For what we see as a fairly balanced perspective, take a look at a relatively long and balanced position paper with many opinions recently published by Brooks. Check it out here. There's also a great review of commentary by running experts available as well - click here to read what they have to say.
For those who ARE interested in minimalist running (I think that's more the preferred terminology) we are carefully and thoughtfully expanding our shoe selection in that category.
On a technical note, I think it is interesting to note that one of the Holy Grails of running shoe design has been to make shoes more auto-adaptive to the runner's weight and biomechanics. This auto adaptive technology allows the shoe to perform more "in tune" with the runner's specific individual characteristics. The new Brooks Glyercin 8 with the new DNA enhanced midsole is just such a shoe. Asics IGS (Impact Guidance System) has always had this concept as a goal. Nike has now added auto adaptive technology to the Lunarglide as well.
I personally think the future of running shoes is the auto adaptive technology. As materials improve (and it's been a while since there was a really big jump in materials technology) shoes will be able to provide more support and more cushioning to those that need it, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, vary the support and cushioning at different phases in the gait cycle! This is REALLY exciting news. It will allow shoes to modify their performance characteristics WHILE the runner is running, doing one thing early in the marathon, say, and doing another as running form deteriorates later in the race. It's an exciting time for shoe development and we're enjoying every minute of it.
Stanford University Study on The Effects of Running
Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from the Stanford School of Medicine that tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.
The study, begun in 1984, followed two groups, one of active runners and another similar group of non runners as they aged. The study showed definitively that running slows the aging process; that runners become disabled an average of 16 years later than non-runners; that runners physical abilities in general do NOT dissipate as quickly as they age; that non only are older runners more fit cardiovascularly, but (and this was not expected) they are less likely to die from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes). The lead researcher in the study, James Fries, MD, said "We did not expect this. The health benefits of exercise are greater than we thought." Death comes to all (bummer), but this study demonstrated that the effect of running on delaying death has been more dramatic than scientists expected. Not surprisingly, running slowed cardiovascular deaths. However, it was also associated with fewer early deaths from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes.
Read the details of the study here, and get out and hit the road!
