Training the lungs and beating asthma

Three years ago I bought a Powerbreathe respiratory exerciser to see what all the hype was about. This morning while using it I can report that over its lifespan I have now taken it down to about 2cents per use.

The Powerbreathe, although it has its critics can be used safely to help to increase VO2 and also to speed recovery of breathe and that can only be seen as a good thing for athletes and in particular long distance runners. It allows us to operate and train at a certain level without that gasping for air feeling setting in.

Like anything involving the lungs (and particularly for first time users) it must be approached with caution and care. I followed to the letter the instructions when first acquiring it and only now am having the courage to vary the workouts somewhat.

Again it does have its critics and I am sure that their arguments are valid to them, but if you have a spare $60 sitting around, it is not the worst investment that one could make. You of course have to use it and that involves a twice daily ritual of breathing through it while looking slightly like a dork.

Another plus about the device is that it has been proven to be able to help to combat asthma and in fact a friend of mine who suffered terribly has been able to cure her asthma and throw away the inhaler after using it for 6 months so a worthwhile investment indeed.

What are your thoughts and experiences?

Running together (while increasing VO2) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Green tea benefits

I had written on here many times about the benefits of green tea and how it can assist not only in everyday life, but also in our running and other sports.

Being an excellent substitute for our daily coffee for many people, green tea has been well documented to not only provide good levels of antioxidants and for lack of better words - cleansing agents to the body, but it also seems to place me in a state of serene calm and stops the brain from sometimes moving into overdrive.

The main reason though why I like it is because it is renowned to help to burn more calories and fat when drunk after a large meal.

The main surprise that I did learn though was that it can also increase VO2 in athletes and in particular runners. Again not something that I fully understand the science of, but definitely something that I am happy to pursue if it does indeed assist.

I encourage you to also do research of your own and lets share the results.

Running together (while drinking green tea) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Never judging on first appearance

I was always taught to give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to life and sport in general. Sometimes though - just sometimes one is faced with a situation where you let your ingrained human nature of judgement come through. For instance I have a chap that I work with who I found out is in his mid 60s and close to retirement. Now many in the organisation have described him as being a runner of a decent standard and having family that are also of good standard. At face value he does not seem overweight or overly unfit, but I still struggled to put the picture together.

Everything became clearer this past week when we started talking about sports and the Olympics and this individual clarified that he indeed was a runner and that one of his sons only just missed out on qualifying for Kona in the Ironman by a whisker. This is a fantastic achievement and just goes to show that one shouldn’t judge a book by the cover. Often talent comes out from the most least likely sources and quite frankly one should always be respectful of others as you never know who that person is or what they are capable of.

Running together (while not judging on first appearance) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Promoting a top event

Normally I am hesitant to provide any endorsements of events over others through my website, but on this occasion I am going to make an exception and do a blatant plug for my friend Wayne Larden’s new event in The Sydney Harbour 10KM.

The event takes place this Sunday and the course is extremely flat and fast and the chance for those who want to run a personal best, but also run on a flat course along an interesting stretch of Sydney Harbour.

There is still time to enter - visit the website and support the event which is a great new edition to the Sydney running calendar.

Running together (while supporting new events) - Stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller