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If you are beyond 50 years, it’s likely you’ve been taught to perform squats incorrectly. The standard was to never go deeper than legs parallel to the ground. Anything deeper than that was said to “ruin your knees.”

Stopping knee flexion at that pressure point creates unnecessary stress for the knees, lower back, and other joints. Thankfully, more people are discovering that full flexion of all joints is healthy.

During compression, such as squatting, synovial fluid is squeezed out of the cartilage. During decompression, such as standing up from a squat, the fluid is drawn back into the cartilage, bringing with it oxygen, nutrients, and lubrication.

Just about any movement that activates the knees, ankles and hips is going to activate this process. However, the ATG split squat takes this to new levels.

Here is a photo of an Olympic lifter supporting significant weight while set in a deep, single leg split squat. Source: medium.com

And here is a lightly supported ATG split squat. In both examples, the calf is covered by the thigh. This is the measure of a well executed split squat.

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Runners of all ages struggle with committing to strength training. Yet, the time comes when the regular reminders they get from sore ankles, knees, and lower backs pushes them to it.

If I could only do one strength exercise, it would be reverse sled pulls.

Unlike some strength exercises, it’s almost impossible to get hurt. If the weight is too heavy, you cannot pull it, so there’s no risk. A general guide is working up to pulling half of your bodyweight for 15-20 minutes.

Think of backward walking as a light version of sled pulls. You are not pulling any weight but are still working the same muscles that counterbalance the muscles we regularly use for running.

With or without weight, walking in reverse builds muscles that we seldom use, but that counterbalance those that we sometimes overuse when running. Walking and pulling a sled in reverse work muscles and ligaments differently than moving forward, thereby promoting balanced development across our joints.

Resources:

The ATG Equipment List - The reverse sled pull strap is the one I prefer.

Freak Athlete - Source for pull strap and sled.

History of backward sledding

Ben Patrick's story about backward walking benefits

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It’s that time of the year when more of us are likely to encounter hot and humid conditions. My feeling is you should not completely avoid these conditions, because you may encounter them again at an important race. Thus, it’s helpful to learn how you adapt.

In his bestselling book, Why We Run: A Natural History (originally titled Racing The Antelope), author Bernd Heinrich explains why early humans were successful in tracking antelopes that are clearly faster than humans.

Animals with fur have limited cooling capabilities. In contrast, our largest organ is our skin, and its ability to perspire allows us to thermoregulate and stay cool for extended periods of exercise.

Having recently moved to South Florida where heat and humidity are unavoidable this time of the year, I can affirm that over time we can indeed adapt to heat and humidity by following sensible practices.

I've broken these practices into three categories.

1. Staying cool

• Shade
• Clothing
• Hydration & electrolytes

2. Tolerating heat

• Playful exercises
• Segmenting workouts
• Leg cramp supplements

3. Safety

• Sunscreen
• Skin protection supplements
• UV Index

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Enjoy your next run!

When you think about it, everyone has been a runner at some point in their lives.

So, when people say to me, “I’d like to get started running.” What they really mean is getting their current body reacquainted with running after years of being busy with other activities, such as raising a family and building a career.

If there is one truth about running ability, it’s this: Use it or lose it.

This becomes more important as we age. In addition to the loss of fitness and mobility, our metabolic systems naturally decline. This is inevitable, but you can regain much of what you have lost and more. It’s takes time and work, but it’s worth it.

Before we get to how this works, I want you to remember two key points that every runner should respect when they start running again:

1. Blood flow
2. Body Awareness

Blood flow is why you warm up before running. Getting the blood flowing activates all kinds of beneficial processes. Running increases blood flow too, but you need to get it moving first to moderate the transition to running.

Then, do it again after every run. We call this cooling down.

Sometimes you will hear professional runners say their bodies are “accepting” their training. This means they are making gains and experiencing minimal discomfort. The key to this is moving the body before and after every run to move those fluids to where they can do their job.

Body awareness is vital when returning to running. Just focus on being aware of your body and the signals it’s sending you, without judgement. This is known as proprioceptive awareness.

Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense its positions and movements. We discussed this in detail in Episode 4: Proprioception: Your Self-Coaching Friend And Guide

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Enjoy your next run!

Every runner knows that they need to do strength training to minimize and recover from injuries. This is especially critical for older runners who lose muscle mass with age. The older you are the more important strength training becomes for your running practice.

Many runners say they have no time for strength training. They wonder how to fit it into their schedule. This isn’t surprising because most training plans for runners do not include strength training.

When I returned to competitive running seven years ago, I came across Jay Dicharry’s book, Anatomy For Runners. Jay is well-known as one of the top physical therapists for runners and other endurance athletes.

I was fascinated with how he broke down strength training to the cellular tissue level. He methodically explains how holding a stretch for a minimum of three minutes is equivalent to what happens when we load muscles with weights. The muscles, ligaments and other tissues experience micro tears that initiate the building process.

The key to this is micro-dosing your strength training to make small, but consistent gains in strength and mobility. Using only body weight, you are loading the muscles and extending your range of motion to just slightly beyond the comfortable range. That range is extended with each session.

There’s one more aspect to this practice. You can start with support, such as holding onto a railing or wall, then advance to no support as you heal and get stronger. Ultimately, you add load with dumbbells or another form of resistance to progressively gain even greater strength and mobility.

Over a period of months those teeny, little gains accumulate. As a result, you'll be able to add more load with additional reps, sets, and weights, typically dumbbells, to take the training to the next level.

Recommended Exercises

1. Deep, butt to the floor squats – There is no exercise more powerful than this for runners. If you can get and stay in a deep squat for 3 minutes daily, progressing from support to no support, you’ll notice your foot, ankle, knee and hip strength and mobility skyrocket within a few months.

Video example exercises 2, 3, 4 below

2. Toe raises – with legs extended and legs slight bent. There are two muscles in the calves, so you’ll need both exercises to train the respective muscles.

3. Tib raises – this exercise counterbalances toe raises. The tibia anterior is in front of the calves. It’s a frequently neglected muscle that absorbs much of the impact of running.

4. The ATG Split Squat – This is a single leg, deep squat that strengthens knees, hips and ankles. It’s compression of the knee joint activates synovial fluid to get it circulating throughout the joint to protect it from the demands of running.

I hope you find value in this episode. If you have questions, please reach out to me by first subscribing to our newsletter at runninglongevitylab.com. After that you can hit reply to start a conversation.

This Running Longevity episode will break down the optimal running foot movement and provide exercises to bulletproof your feet.

Our feet are one of our greatest sources of injuries. Many of the muscles, tendons and ligaments in your feet extend up to your ankles, knees, and hips. Thus, any weaknesses or imbalances are transferred up the chain to create more imbalances.

Studies show that nearly all of us have foot issues because we’ve worn shoes that have progressively compressed our toes and foot tissues, thereby limiting our ability to function properly. Most runners know this and now wear shoes with a wider toe box.

More recently, a new issue has surfaced: The increased stack heights in running shoes creates a cascading effect that demands good mechanics and strong, flexible feet to control that force.

This force happens to be up to 8 times your body weight. Our feet are designed to handle it, but higher stacked shoes challenge our ability to control it. Every athlete knows that speed and strength are only assets when you can control them.

This episode breaks down the four key phases of the running movement as they pertain to our feet.

1. Foot Strike
2. Pronation Phase
3. Transition to Supination
4. Toe Off

You'll also learn four exercises to strengthen and mobilize your feet for optimal running.

Resources:

flexor hallucis longus muscle - Wikipedia

Ep 296, Foot Health: Peter Attia, MD & Courtney Conley

ATG Zero Workout from the Ground Up - This includes three of the exercises mentioned in this episode, with the fourth below.

Exercise to mobilize outer foot tissues for proper foot pronation

Mobo Board - training tool to develop foot strength and mobility

Regular aerobic exercise that builds and maintains healthy mitochondria is key to sustaining longevity. Known as our body’s engines or powerhouses, mitochondria are responsible for converting fuel into energy that powers our daily activities.

Global metabolic health expert, Inigo San Milan, PhD, suggests a minimum of 3 hours of weekly aerobic exercise, sometimes known as Zone 2 activity, to achieve the maximum longevity benefits.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept, Zone 2 is the 2nd of 5 ascending heart rate levels we all experience during intense exercise. The desired outcome of Zone 2 activity for runners is our bodies prioritizing fats (fatty acids) over carbohydrates as fuel. This is vital for endurance events such as marathons.

The purpose of Zone 2 training is consistently achieving your Maximum Aerobic Threshold heart rate, that level or zone where you are:

#1 Building stronger mitochondria

#2. Training your body to preserve glycogen stores

Suggested Resources

Calculating Zone 2:

1. = maximum heart rate x .70
2. = .70[HR max – HR rest] + HR rest
3. = pace at which conversation is comfortable

Training (mostly slow) to run (kinda) fast

I hope you find value in this episode. If you have questions, please reach out to me by first subscribing to our newsletter at runninglongevitylab.com. After that you can hit reply to start a conversation.

Now go out there and enjoy your next run!