Stretching is one of those hot button topics in which everyone has an opinion. Some people swear by it as part of their strategy to stay healthy while others refuse to stretch (full disclosure, I fall in the second categ...
Articles by Matt Laye
You’ve done the physical work. You have put in the vertical, put in the miles, put in the time and yet come race day it can all come undone by a lack of energy or other nutrition issue. Race day nutrition can be complex,...
The stress of any given training is due to the intensity and duration of the types of running that occurs. The idea of periodization of training is that during some periods you may train at a low intensity for a long dur...
Why do some people get injured and others don’t? It seems like this simple enough question would be solved by sports scientists, especially when it comes to new runners. However, injury prevention for novice runners is a...
As winter approaches the idea of heat adaptation seems premature and somewhat unnecessary. Sure as temperatures dip outside an occasional bout in the sauna is nice, but can it help you in your next race? Recent research...
It is easy to think of ourselves as a single person or organism with one set of DNA. However, in reality we are super organisms made up of both “us” and microbes. Our microbiome includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and prot...
Author’s Note: I am not a medical doctor and don’t pretend to be one here. You should discuss your use and any concerns with NSAID use with a medical professional. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDs, such a...
The Western States 100-mile run is the latest high profile ultra to recently adopt a zero-tolerance policy against runners who have previously tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Moving forward, they will no...
Nature or nurture? Genetics or environment? These two competing factors control everything from our likelihood to develop a specific disease, to our sprinting versus endurance athletic ability. Studies shed insight on th...
(Author’s note: Note this is not an endorsement for the use of illicit and illegal drugs in any way, shape or form.) In recent years publications such as the The Wall Street Journal and the The Guardian have publishe...
Like eating our veggies, we all know that strength training is good for us, but making it a part of our training plan is tough. Maybe the biggest challenge is time or lack of motivation – or maybe we are just confused as...
In this column over the last several issues I have written about specific studies that focus on dietary manipulations to improve performance. “Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners,” published...
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that forces your body to become excellent at using fat for fuel. On the ketogenic diet, you have more ketones, which are derived from fats, in your blo...
I’ve been trying to stay out of it, but I think it’s time to address the idea of low-carb (LCD) and ketogenic diets. Over the last several years, LCD and ketogenic (keto) diets have been all the rage among many ultra ath...
One of the most frustrating challenges that can occur during an ultra is an upset stomach. A bad stomach can come on as a cramp, flatulence, an inability to eat, nausea, etc. These gastrointestinal (GI) issues are extrem...
Women and men take part in marathons in equal numbers, but women still make up a relatively low percentage (~33%) of participants in ultra races. A paper in the mid 1990s published in the prestigious journal Nature predi...
The first time I saw someone taking a pill on the trail I was confused. “What is that?” I asked. “Salt tablet,” they responded. “It prevents me from cramping and keeps sodium levels up.” Since then, I have heard runners...
This is the column that those of you who love your sleep have been waiting for. Recently, the importance of sleep has had a bit of renaissance. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington wrote a book called The Sleep...
We don’t do ultramarathons because they are easy. In fact, we often choose races because of specific physiological and psychological challenges: heat, terrain, nocturnal running and my own moth-to-flame nightmare: altitu...
Why does it hurt so much to go downhill? Normally when I think about the pain associated with trail racing, I think of the climbing: heart beating furiously, lungs cycling through labored inhalations and forced expiratio...
By understanding the physiology behind thermoregulation, we can be better prepared for our summer events. Here’s what you need to know about what causes body heat to increase, heat loss mechanisms, why athletes perform w...
When we think of ultrarunners, we think of people with iron wills and the ability to push themselves beyond their limits. They seem to override physical fatigue with mental toughness. Finding causes of fatigue has been a...
This is the first in a series of articles on what happens to your body during an ultra, focusing on the sparse but growing scientific literature that exists. However, physiology is extremely individual dependent, so plea...