Running Road

An athlete needs around 2500-3000 calories a day depending on various factors and many resort to nutrition bars. These are readily available at every store around the corner and are fast becoming the preferred choice for necessary nutrition.  There are nutrition bars available for every kind of diet such as low carb, high protein etc. and for every exercise need.

                THE PROS

·         Energy bars are huge money makers and they don’t necessarily make you feel more energetic as is commonly perceived. When the makers say they provide energy it means they provide calories.  Though energy bars are convenient, they don’t come cheap. This guide that lists all the pros and cons of the nutrition bar will help you make that all important choice; energy bar vs. food.

·         Energy bars can go everywhere. They are extremely light for the amount of calories they pack in and you can carry them along just in case.

·         It is important to get some calories (roughly 200-300) before you do a workout.  People often make the mistake of eating zero calorie food before workouts which don’t really help. A nutrition bar makes sure you have the requisite number of calories before you begin exercising.

                THE CONS

·         Though pre-exercise food should be easily digestible it is not always so with nutrition bars. Many runners complain that nutrition bars settle in the stomach making one feel uncomfortable and queasy.

·         Most nutrition bars these days are organic so they have no additives. This means that there are no vitamins or minerals added to them either. 

·         Also to pack in more calories nutrition bars unlike fruit and other natural food have very low water content. For this reason it is also important to drink a lot of water to keep the body healthy.

·         Also nutrition bars are much more expensive than regular food and could burn a hole in your pocket is eaten regularly.

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When you’ve begun a running routine and things are going well, the last thing you need is an injury which will prevent you from running for some time. Injuries are terrible news for a person who regularly performs physical activity because it stops you from being active for some time. This break from activity affects you negatively because it takes some time to work yourself back to the shape you were in. This is how to deal with injuries:

It is very important that you do not run with an inflammation or injury. Keep an elastic bandage with you when you engage in some activity so that when you get injured you can wrap it around the injury to reduce the inflammation. Moreover if you have a small injury or pain it is best not to work out or run that day because it could get aggravated and lay you off sports for quite some time.

When you have put on a sports bandage do not continue to run with it on. The elastic bandages are stretchable and designed so in order to give way to your body’s movement and may move out of position. This will only cause greater problems to the injured areas.

When you go running do not wear a brand new pair of shoes that you have never worn. It is important to try shoes out before so that you get comfortable with them. Brand new shoes can cause blisters and shoe bites which will put paid to your chances of running in the immediate future.

The most important thing to remember about sport injuries is to never ignore them .If you feel pain in some part of your body you should get immediate medical attention. It is extremely inadvisable to go on with activity even if you are feeling pain. Get immediate attention so that your body can heal and you can get ready to run sooner 

A lot of people obsess about weight and talk about calories and miles logged. Many of them also throw around terms like BMI a lot. But how many of us actually understand what BMI means? BMI stands for Body Mass Index which is a ratio of a person’s height and weight. It is measured as follows:

Weight (kg/ pounds)

Height (m)

BMI is used to measure whether a person is overweight, underweight or has a healthy weight. Through this doctors and other health professionals are able to discuss a patient’s weight and related problems with them. It gives a person a proper idea about how overweight he or she is so that they know the goal they have to reach and act accordingly.

BMI is very easy to calculate and for that reason it is easy for people to find how to what extent their weight has become a problem. BMI is the best way to measure the body and weight ratio for people who lead sedentary lifestyles. It however has a lot of demerits.

BMI does not take into account muscle weight. Most athletes have a lot of muscle weight and they tend to be shown as overweight or obese on the BMI scale. Unless a different mechanism is devolved for athletes with a new framework, this one cannot be accepted as a true reflection. Also BMI also does not make allowances for body type/ frame etc. People who have a larger bone structure but not much fat may still be counted in the overweight category. In the U.S BMI is also used to make a new classification that is starvation. People are classified into various categories as followed: