Fitness Catch-All

I haven't been as active as the Fall or Summer, but I've still been getting about 2 hours of cardio in a week. Seems like a lot less now, now that I add it up. The results summary provides a pretty compelling reason not to take a break. I'll need to call that from the depths of my memory any time I take a vacation.

Thanks again Clover for the potassium/magnesium tip. I've been taking supplements for those every-day, and an extra potassium post-work out and I haven't had a cramping/tightness issue since. I have also added daily clementines and frequent flattened-dried-bananas from Trader Joe's to my diet.

I picked up mine from the local REI store, they had my size on the clearance rack for $40. Depending on your size, here's an even better deal from their outlet store.

Can anyone enable/recommend a pair of recovery tights for me? I was looking to replace some dying compression socks and stumbled across compression tights. Tights seem to make more sense, but it looks like the price-range for a quality pair is $90-$160.

Recovery tights? As in, you wear them while recovering? What does that accomplish?

So there's two types of compression for athletic clothing.

The super-tight kind you wear for recovery. They are tight enough to restrict your movement, but they squeeze your muscles and add extra pressure. They're supposed to increase blood flow and speed up muscle recovery. I notice a difference when I wear compression socks, but that only makes a significant difference in my calves. Recovery tights add extra compression to your calves, quads, hamstrings, and some cover your ankles and foot-arch too. From what I understand, Recovery tights are much tighter than my compression socks. It's common for athletes to wear these to bed, and some people wear them on long plane rides to help prevent DVT.

The traditional running tights add compression, but leave flexibility. They're supposed to help while you're actively running, cycling, hiking, etc. In my experience they make a bigger difference over longer distances. They can be used for recovery, but it's advised to go tighter to improve your quality of rest.

@wizard_in_motley
Like wearing nothing at all.

Fair points Jonman. I knew the evidence was far from conclusive, there have been some legitimate studies supporting each side of the compression for compression therapy debate. I don't know of any legitimate studies supporting the magnetic bracelets. I do know that I have seen Kiosks in the mall making money off of Derek Jeter wearing hologram bracelets, but I haven't seen any famous athletes smiling at me in compression tights on 2XU packaging.

Great article, I skimmed it but damn if it didn't take me like 10 years to learn this:

These days my only exercises are Squats, pull ups and dips (have trouble with deadlifts), and it works. Spent ages searching for the perfect combination of exercises, but it's all about compound movement, until you're thick enough that you need to add specific muscles to your routine.

To be fair, my info used to come from magazines and books, the internet wasn't as available for this back then, and even today it's full of BS and "Quick" methods. A lot in that article is still debatable, but it seems great overall.

I got a pair of CW-X insulators tights for Christmas, and I've really been liking them. This brand's thing is that they include a support web that goes around the legs and, well, adds support. My pair is the Experts (I think), which go mainly around the knee, calves, and quads. I notice quite a bit less stiffness post-run when I've been wearing them. They're also plenty warm. I've gone out on days that are around 15F, and been perfectly fine with just these on my legs.

I'll probably be picking up a pair of regular weight ones in this brand for the upcoming racing season. I haven't decided if I'm going to try wearing them in the high summer, but I might, because it feels like they do help reduce muscle fatigue on longer runs.

I have no idea if they'd be good for recovery, but I've never really considered using compression gear that way anyway.

When do I eat and not eat in general and in relation to working out? I want to avoid making my body think that it needs to convert food to fat.
Bedtime is a no-no probably.

On meal frequency
On required amount of protein
On protein timing relative to training

Plenty of studies sourced. Examine.com is a pretty great resource for this.

(Edit: Not intended as documentation to the contrary to Miashara's post, since it isn't)

I'm on Miashara's train. When you eat is largely irrelevant. What you eat is crucial.

EDIT - that said, and depending largely on how you're working out, a pre-workout snack a couple of hours beforehand can make a difference. Only really an issue for long, hard workouts.

"Starvation Mode" is sort-of a myth. It's a real thing, but it takes WWII-concentration-camp-levels of malnutrition to trigger it (not intended to offend, just point out the extremity). Someone who is dieting, especially an obese woman, is extremely unlikely to trigger it unless she had stopped eating for a long time. There was a lot of bad speculation out there within the past couple of years about triggering starvation mode, and it doesn't surprise me that a doctor might have picked up on it, but it's since been soundly debunked.

Diet is important, no doubt, but there's no huge correlation to eating and working out. Now, there is a study out there that shows there is a benefit to consuming protein either 45 minutes prior, during, or within 45 minutes following a workout where your intent is to build muscle, in that it shows that you generally tend to build more and recover more quickly, but that's about it.

I'd say experiment for yourself, i.e. if working out on a full stomach makes you uncomfortable, don't do that. But overall, it's far more important to pay attention to what you eat and how much than when.