Running Questions for year round runners...

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menosquinze
menosquinze Posts: 19
in Fitness and Exercise
Best ways to stretch IT band? inner calf?
Also, when do we burn the most calories - in the cold, hot, or at either extreme?

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  • menosquinze
    menosquinze Posts: 19
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    Anyone know about calories burned exercising in cold/hot/warm? Thanks!
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
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    The ideal running temp is 50F. Above or below burns more. specific stretches are not easy to describe here...maybe look at Youtube.
  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member
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    Caloric expenditure is directly proportional to heart rate.. the higher rate, the higher expenditure. This is because the more calories your muscles require, the more oxygen they use. The more oxygen needed, the faster the heart has to beat to deliver this oxygen. This is why devices that measure caloric expenditure need to use your pulse to calculate. Your caloric expenditure goes up in the heat, on inclines, pretty much anything that makes it harder to work out. Also, don't do stretching "cold".. do dynamic exercises to get the blood flowing to the areas needed, and stretch while these areas are "warm". For example, I walk a mile to warm up my legs before I run.. and I stretch after my run is complete.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    LesliePierceRN wrote: »
    Caloric expenditure is directly proportional to heart rate.. the higher rate, the higher expenditure.

    Completely wrong.....an unfit 150lb person would have a higher heart rate than a fit 150lb person but they would both burn approximately the same number of calories running a mile (all other things being equal) which is why so many heart rate monitors overestimate caloric expenditure. Similarly studies done by the Canadian Armed Forces demonstrated that the differences in caloric expenditure (assuming the subject was properly clothed) did not vary significantly with changes in ambient temperature - heart rate does go up in the heat but there is not a direct correlation between heart rate and caloric expenditure.


    For IT band and other stretches check out RunnersWorld.com they have excellent articles / videos on pre-run warmups (dynamic before, static afterward) and cool downs.

  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member
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    No, not completely wrong. Comparing unfit to fit is comparing apples to oranges. In one person, as heartrate goes up, so does caloric expenditure..it's a fundamental principle of metabolism. The reason that a fit person't heart rate is lower is because the heart muscle is conditioned to pump more effieciently with each stroke (stroke volume) and the muscles themselves use calories and oxygen more efficiently. A fit person's resting heart rate may be 50, but they will still experience a high heart rate during exercise, and they will be able to tolerate that high heart rate for a much longer period of time than the unfit person. An unfit person's heart rate may hover around 80 but they won't be able to tolerate much of a jump in their heart rate during exercise and won't be able to tolerate it very long either. The reason for the disparity between calculated heartrates and caloric expenditure in devices is because of disparities in the users.. My muscular size 4 150 pounds burns much more in calories than another woman's size 14 150 pounds because she'll have much less muscle mass consuming oxygen during exercise. This is also the same principle that makes standardized BMI charts bogus. It does not account for body composition.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    LesliePierceRN wrote: »
    Caloric expenditure is directly proportional to heart rate.. the higher rate, the higher expenditure.

    Just ignore this.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    menosquinze wrote: »
    Best ways to stretch IT band? inner calf?

    What's driving the very specific question?

    I foam roll my ITB, but the jury is out on the best way to deal with IT tightness.
    Also, when do we burn the most calories - in the cold, hot, or at either extreme?

    As above, for most people there isn't a significant difference. For perspective, military arctic ration packs have about an extra 1500 cals per day,

  • malcolmjcooper
    malcolmjcooper Posts: 79 Member
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    LesliePierceRN wrote: »
    No, not completely wrong. Comparing unfit to fit is comparing apples to oranges. In one person, as heartrate goes up, so does caloric expenditure..it's a fundamental principle of metabolism. The reason that a fit person't heart rate is lower is because the heart muscle is conditioned to pump more effieciently with each stroke (stroke volume) and the muscles themselves use calories and oxygen more efficiently. A fit person's resting heart rate may be 50, but they will still experience a high heart rate during exercise, and they will be able to tolerate that high heart rate for a much longer period of time than the unfit person. An unfit person's heart rate may hover around 80 but they won't be able to tolerate much of a jump in their heart rate during exercise and won't be able to tolerate it very long either. The reason for the disparity between calculated heartrates and caloric expenditure in devices is because of disparities in the users.. My muscular size 4 150 pounds burns much more in calories than another woman's size 14 150 pounds because she'll have much less muscle mass consuming oxygen during exercise. This is also the same principle that makes standardized BMI charts bogus. It does not account for body composition.
    That is the best way I've seen that explained someone knows what they are talking about :smile:

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