Ask a Personal Trainer anything

[Owen]

Okay, I posted this on the old forums and it got a decent response, then I kinda disappeared #

Ask a Personal Trainer/Fitness Instructor anything (related to fitness/exercise/health/diet) and I will do my best to answer/help.

My credentials:

 - Level 3 Personal Trainer qualifications (Level 2 being average fitness instructor qualifications level)
 - 1 Years Experience working as a full time Personal Trainer in a gym, and outdoor/in home.
 - Circuit Training, Studio Cycling(Spin), Gym Based Boxing, and Sports Nutrition certificates.

Me being interviewed by a local radio station for a video to go on their website about a year ago:

Change 4 LIfe

Go!

Also, I can do personalised diet/exercise plans, but unfortunately they don't come for free since they take a surprising amount of time/effort to prepare.

[Keith]

Owen's definitely the guy to go to

But if you have any questions specifically related to distance running feel free to pm me!

To you sir: I have ridiculous lactic acid buildup when I start to run (in calves), at nearly any speed. I know I'm not at my lactate threshold however, so how do I stop this my man?

[Owen]

Owen's definitely the guy to go to

But if you have any questions specifically related to distance running feel free to pm me!

To you sir: I have ridiculous lactic acid buildup when I start to run (in calves), at nearly any speed. I know I'm not at my lactate threshold however, so how do I stop this my man?

Yeah I'm more on the weightlifting/anaerobic side, endurance training isn't my favourite area lol, so long distance runners and stuff, Keith is your guy

So it's localised lactic acid build up? The only thing I could think of is doing high intensity short interval work, at a high volume.  One thing I've found with clients, and myself to work, particularly for lactate threshold improvement is called Tabata training, it's basically a 2:1 work:rest ratio of interval training, where the work rate is almost maximal, and the rest phase is slightly above complete rest, for short durations i.e 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest.  The one I mostly use is on a rowing machine, so flat out for 20 seconds, row slowy fgor 10, and repeat that about 10 times, or more.  If you're only getting it in your calves, you could either do flat sprints, with a 10 second jog in between, or to focus even more on your calves, try it on a hill?

[Keith]

Owen's definitely the guy to go to

But if you have any questions specifically related to distance running feel free to pm me!

To you sir: I have ridiculous lactic acid buildup when I start to run (in calves), at nearly any speed. I know I'm not at my lactate threshold however, so how do I stop this my man?

Yeah I'm more on the weightlifting/anaerobic side, endurance training isn't my favourite area lol, so long distance runners and stuff, Keith is your guy

So it's localised lactic acid build up? The only thing I could think of is doing high intensity short interval work, at a high volume.  One thing I've found with clients, and myself to work, particularly for lactate threshold improvement is called Tabata training, it's basically a 2:1 work:rest ratio of interval training, where the work rate is almost maximal, and the rest phase is slightly above complete rest, for short durations i.e 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest.  The one I mostly use is on a rowing machine, so flat out for 20 seconds, row slowy fgor 10, and repeat that about 10 times, or more.  If you're only getting it in your calves, you could either do flat sprints, with a 10 second jog in between, or to focus even more on your calves, try it on a hill?

Alright, I'll try it out when I get the chance haha, sounds good to me

[Joey]

ask me anything with my body in this shape 

[BeeBee]

ask me anything with my body in this shape 

Joey for GTL info

[Wayshow]

what do you do when it's the middle of the night and you're desperately hungry, but you can't go to bed because you're not done with homework?

[Rachellove9]

This is a general question for long distance runner in my family.  I watch RC run cross country tracks that often have hills.  He runs past most of the people around him but he seems to have trouble going down hills and it takes a lil of his time he has gained on the hill off of him.  Is there an exercise that might help with this or should he just start running the block backwards?  Cause he runs first on his runs up a mile long hill.

[Keith]

Really the only training I could think of that helps with hills is really just running down more hills. I've learned that if you go faster than pace on a downhill, it can screw you over for the rest of the race - so the point is to have the same pace throughout the entire run, except for a sprinting finish. I've always hated downhills as well, and I read that you should just let gravity do all of the work and relax your body - rather than worrying about people around you. You'll save more energy to maintain a faster pace throughout the race this way. I still hate really steep hills, but I've gone a route where 11 miles straight were downhill, my elevation loss was easily 2000 feet. - gradual ones are easy

[Flame Outlaw]

I have a question about running in general. I'm in the army, so I run pretty much every day. I run for about two to three miles at a decent pace of about eight minutes apiece. When I run I get this horrible pain the back of my calves, even when I give it a couple of days break.. I make sure to stretch them out as best as possible before I run, and I also try to drink two liters of water and a gaterade (cause the heat in Iraq), but they still end up hurting.

What can I do to stop this? It actually distracts me and makes me run at a slower pace on my PT tests.