If you are a seasoned runner you know the importance of a good running shoe. It can make the difference between a great running experience, or potential injury. The problem is not being informed. Most people do not know that there is a proper shoe for your foot type. Knowing your foot type before you hit the stores can make a world of difference whether you want to do walking, jogging, running, sprinting or marathons.

How do you determine your foot type? Itís really quite simple. Get a piece of dark paper and then soak your feet and step on the paper. Look closely at the imprint.

There are generally three types of feet:

1) If your imprint covers most of the feet (not much arch at all) then you have flat feet. You are among the 60% of the population in America with flat feet.

2) If you show a wide arch and narrow line of your outer foot then you have high arches. You are among the 30% of the population of in America.

3) If your imprint has a medium arch then congratulations. You are among the 10% of the population in America with the ideal foot.

Regardless of what foot type you have, there are running shoes that are right for you. As many as 56% of the 30 million runners in America, have injuries from improper shoe selection. So you can see that you do have to do your homework to protect yourself. With all the pressure one gets from TV adds or what is popular to wear now, you really need to put the health aspect first. Most likely you will be able to find a shoe that is right for your foot type and still have style.

To determine the shoe to buy, here are some guidelines:

1) For the flat-footed person, you will want to buy a shoe that is rigid and stable. This will prevent your ankles from bending inward or outward and it will protect you.

2) If you have high arches, you will want to look for a very cushioned shoe. High arched feet donít absorb shock very well so youíll want that cushion to help in absorbing the shock for you.

3) For the medium arch or ideal foot, you want the combination of both stability and cushioning for your feet.

When you try on a shoe it should be snug but not tight and there should be approximately a 1/2-inch between your longest toe and the front of your running shoe.

For a different change, try Five Fingered Shoes

Tip: Shop for your shoes late afternoon when your feet are a little more spread. If it is not comfortable when you are in the store, imagine what it will be like when you are out on a run. So test them well while you’re there.

Tip: Strengthen the muscles of the foot also, which can prevent some of the pain, but don’t underestimate your feet.

In summary, those shoes you bought that were such a bargain may be cause for concern in the future, so pick wisely and may your running experience be smooth and wonderful. Your feet will be most grateful.

It is crazy how you can experience so many things in your life. Some people have been through so much and they do not care to talk about it. I can not be one of those people because I hate to see people make the same mistakes I have made in my life. Really, if the whole world listened to other people who were genuinely trying to help, the world would make a lot less mistakes. I know so many people that Cover Ground could help.

They will see an article that is talking about something they are dealing with and they will not even check it out. I always wondered how this is but I know now. People do not want to know how to deal with situations because it takes something called WORK. They do not want help on getting a scholarship, help to deal with hip injuries, hamstring injuries, or back injuries they do not want to know anything about recovering from workouts. It is easier in life to complain all day about it than to go to someone and ask for help.

Not me though I love asking everyone I can for tips on training, lifting, and pretty much anything that can make me a better athlete. I realize that I do not have to listen to every single thing they say. What I can do is take the few good things they say and add it to the excellent core of information that I already have. What is wrong with that? I do not know everything, that is not what Cover Ground is all about. If I do not know something you better believe I am going to try and find out. I will ask random people that are technically “competition” about how they train. Most will not tell me anything, but who cares if they do that,  I am no worse off if they ignore but I can say I tried.

I have too many situations in my life where I have seen someone in a situation and knew I could of helped. I went out of my way to help them out. I realize they rarely listen, I genuinely just want to see people succeed and if I feel like I could not help I would of kept my mouth shut. This only leads to them coming back to me days, weeks, and sometimes even years later and either asking me the same question or admitting they were wrong. It kills me every time, because a lot of pain could have been avoided. It is ok though I will continue to expand my knowledge base every day. I will aslo continue to lend a helping hand and be ignored. Because you can lead a person to a beautiful solution but you can never make them work hard.

One of the things that seems to define sexiness in today’s day and age are sixpack abs.  Just a few short years ago, a nice pair of arms are what seemed to be the most popular but since we tend to show our midsection more often these days, the abdominals tend to get a little bit more focus.  The fact of the matter is, it does take a degree of dedication in order for you to be able to have a nice set of sixpack abs but it does not necessarily take a lot of abdominal exercises.

Whether you realize it or not, almost all of us that do at least a little bit of work have a decent set of abs.  You would never know it, however, because it is often covered up by a layer of fat.  Even a little bit of fat is going to smooth out this area of your body and keep the muscles from showing through.  It doesn’t matter how many situps you do, unless you drop that little bit of fat from your midsection you’re never going to be able to see those muscles as you would like.  Although it will take a little bit of exercise on your part to drop the fat, it also requires you to eat the right kinds of foods.
The easiest way for you to be able to drop the last few pounds of fat from your body is to eat a low glycemic diet.  Although you might feel as if you’re eating like a refugee at times, it really is one of the most effective ways for this to take place.  The real secret is to eat the same several meals over and over again and to make them as low glycemic and healthy as possible.

Although it is not necessarily a form of effortless exercise, eating in the right way can certainly help you to display your abdominals for the world to see.  After all, no amount of exercise and the world will shed the last few pounds unless you are eating in the right way.

Before I even begin to talk about treatments, and why they are even on the list of vital things to be a champion, I want to stress the word ‘Excellent’.  When I say excellent treatments, I am talking about getting a treatment from someone who truly understands the human body, someone who knows what they are doing, a person who has some sort of understanding of your sport, and lastly someone who truly just wants to see you get better. It can be hard to find someone with all these qualities, but once you do find them they can be like gold in helping you stay injury free.

The number one reason people do not get treatments is usually money. For me I will drive wherever I have to for these treatments because they make a huge difference in me not getting injured. If you feel like you have to go every other day it’s probably because you are not doing the other things you should be doing to recover like a champ. If you do all the things in the previous chapters you shouldn’t need treatment every other day.

I like to go every other week for a solid treatment. I do this not because I am hurt but because it reduces the chance of an injury sneaking up on me. The problem with our body is it is smart, sounds weird but really if something is not working or is even slightly injured, another part of the body will automatically pick up the slack for it. This is a huge alarm for injury but it almost impossible to catch yourself without the help of a professional.

These treatments can be done by a lot of different professionals. I like to stick with a chiropractor who knows ART (active release techniques). That is what has worked for me and I feel like a chiro have a real good understanding of the bone structure, which is something I have had a lot of injuries with.

Going to see a massage therapist also works because if a muscle is tight then guess what; another muscle will probably work harder to make up for it.  Yet another alarm.

You could even see a physical therapist if a really good one is close. The good thing about them is they can give you rehab exercises to help injuries go away, and even better pre-hab exercises to make sure injuries stay away.

There is some research required on your part though. Find out who can really help your body out, because it can really make a huge difference in your performance as an athlete.

If you want to get physically fit, exercising all of the time is not necessarily going to achieve that goal.  As a matter of fact, it is possible for you to get into the shape of your life without ever doing any exercise at all.  I’m not going to lie to you, it will be easier for you to be able to do so if you do the exercise but by eating properly, you can often forgo the physical part of weight loss and still enjoy great results.  Here is one way for you to be able to do this.

To lift or not to lift, that is the question. Some people shy away from the weight room or go into the weight room and do not take it seriously. Well I believe in the weight room a great deal! It can help you physically and mentally for any sport. Yes, there are ways that you can get hurt lifting…but if it is done correctly and there is a thought process put into the exercises you do, than lifting should only help you.

• Though lifting can create imbalences, if done correctly it can fix imbalances
• It’s a great place to start improving yourself as an athlete
• Prevents injuries
• Makes bones stronger, especially helpful in contact sports or dealing with shin splints
• It is also possible to gain weight and strength which is good for sports like football, heavyweight fighters, hockey, rugby, and throwers and sometimes sprinters (more 100m runners)
• Exposes the weak links in your body

Those are just a few…more in depth posts to come.

This is a day in the life of an student-athlete in college in the States, and also one striving for great things on the track.

8:10- Wake up

8:30 -  Breakfast (eggs, big bowl of oatmeal), drink vital veggies in my water, take morning vitamins

9:00- Fill water bottle for the day, and get snacks ready for class time and leave for class

9:30- 11:30 (varies) – Class

12:00- Eat Lunch

12:30- Do homework

2:00- Get ready for practice (make protein drinks, get after practice snack and water)

2:30- Track Practice

5:00- Weights

6:00- Shower/ Training Room (Rehab, Ice Bath)

7:00- Make Dinner and Eat Dinner

8:20-  Relax (talk on the phone with zovel and/or parents)

9:00-  Finish up last bit of homework if I have any or Continue to relax

9:45- Foam roll and Stretching routine with a late snack

11:00- Lights out

How many times have you heard the expression, no pain, no gain?  Unfortunately, this has molded the way that many of us think about exercise.  The last thing that most of us want to do is to get into the gym on a regular basis and abuse our bodies in order to be physically fit.  I know that it sounds funny whenever it is spelled out in such a way but to be perfectly honest, that is how many of us feel.  Is there a way that we can effortlessly exercise in order to enjoy some of the benefits that would be enjoyed if we went to the gym consistently?
You might be surprised to find out that there are some exercises that can be done at home which do not take much effort and pay off in a big way.  One of these is stretching exercises, something that you should consider doing on a regular basis.  There are several different ways that you can achieve your fitness goals through stretching.  First of all, stretching will help to lengthen and strengthen your muscles to a certain extent.  This can easily be seen whenever you look at a gymnast.  Most of their physique comes from the fact that they spend a lot of time stretching in order to be limber and to achieve success with their sport.

Secondly, stretching will help to promote deep breathing which is another thing that your body needs in order to run well and be physically fit.
There are several different forms of stretching that you can do but one of the most effective is an isometric stretch.  Whenever you do this sort of stretch, you will gently pull your body into the stretching position and hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds.  After this time period is up, press against your body in a way that will provide resistance in the opposite direction of what is being stretched and do this for four to five seconds.  Totally relax your body for one second and then continue with your stretch.  You will be surprised with how much more of a range of motion you will achieve.

Although this is the most beneficial form of stretching that you can do, make sure that you do not over do it.  You can stretch every day, sometimes several times in a day but make sure that you do not use the isometrics more than three times a week.

(original image by JayceG)

The problem with many athletes is the constant activity we are always putting in which does nothing but burn calories. These calories are well needed, so we should be eating or snacking to get those calories back. The only way to fix this for many people is eating a 4,000 calorie diet. I have tried this and it is not easy! You have to basically jam food down your throat when you are not hungry. It can be very hard to maintain this through everyday in the week.

An easier way to increase calories is constantly have your favourite snacks around, instead of trying to do it through meals. There are plenty of amazing choices that taste good and are healthy. These will provide a way of getting in more calories on a regular basis, without feeling like you are overeating or stuffed. The way I see it whenever your not eating a meal, sleeping, or training, your should be throwing some snacks down.

My Favourites Include

• Crackers and Cheese
• Home made muffins (make them on the weekend for the week)
• Granola bars
• Yogurt
• Oranges, Kiwi, and Bananas
• Rice Cakes
• Raisins
• Popcorn

This might be the most crucial part of the recover like a champ series. NOT because it is the most effective, but because you do not need much more than yourself , some water, and maybe some inexpensive exercise tools. The self therapy regimes can be done when ever you want, you do not have to pay someone, or keep buying things.  There are 4 different systems that I include in my self therapy section and they all have different advantages.  You have the athlete hated ice baths, self massages,  stretching, and foam rolling.

Ice Bath - The ice bath is simple, cold water in a tub big enough to fit yourself in. Throw as much ice in the tub as you can handle. This is my “go to” treatment after any tough workouts, especially early in the week when I KNOW the rest of the week is not gonna get any easier.  Personally I stay in for about 7 minutes and when I get out and my legs eventually warm up again I feel refreshed.

It has physical advantages, and mental advantages.   The Science - Basically when your body is submerged in cold water, your blood vessels become constricted, and your metabolic activity slows down. This decreases swelling and tissue break down greatly which is what athletes want. When you get out of the ice bath, your body begins to warm up and blood rushes to the part of the body that was cold because the blood vessels open up again. This helps flush your body of unwanted by products produced during working out like lactic acid. Next time you have a tough workout suck it up, and get in the ice bath, it will pay off later.

Self Massage - Self massage is pretty self explanatory, buy some type of cream or gel (I buy baby oil) and rub it on aching parts of your body.  This works well when massaging quads, hips and calves, but does not work well on hamstrings and your back.  It may not be easy to get a massage from someone but the way I see it you can massage yourself almost as good. You may not be a professional but you’re touching your own body so you should know what you need.

Foam Rolling - I use the foam roll as a way of warming up before I stretch and getting my muscles ready to stretch.  Foam rolling is just another form of self massage, I find it gets general areas better, rather than a massage that can get specific tight spots. A foam roller is a foam cylinder it cost like $5 and will not break your bank account. Foam rolling is good for getting deep spots in your muscle because the force being put into your muscle is your own body weight.

Stretching Before Bed -  This one is all from personal experience. I find when I stretch before bed, not only does it put me to sleep easier, but I go to bed much more relaxed.  The gains made from flexibility (especially males) can be huge gains.  Everyone has there area that is constantly tight and for me it is my hips. So I make sure to at least stretch them before I go to bed. Stretching can help with soreness, and aid in recovery for the next practice.  When it comes to how long to hold the stretches it all depends on what you can handle. I do not have the patience to hold a stretch for 60 seconds but I try for like 30 second holds.

Do these things often and you will find that the next day you will be able to train that much harder.