Minimalist Shoes – Good or Bad?

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It pained me to see that a class action lawsuit (http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/class-action-suit-filed-against-vibram-fivefingers/article_161dadaa-7a8a-11e1-aed9-0019bb30f31a.html) has been filed against Vibram Five-Finger shoes, mainly because I love the shoe. However I do think that the suit has merit, and it is true that some runners may never transition fully to minimalist shoe that requires a forefoot strike as opposed to a heel strike.

The lawsuit did give me pause and I started to think back to all the minimalist shoes I have tried in the past few years and not all of them have worked for me. As a matter of fact the only ones that have are the Vibram Five Fingers. The Saucony Hattori hurt my feet as well as the both the New Balance MT 10 and the New Balance 00.

In the case of the New Balance shoes, I think my feet are too narrow, as for the Hattoris, I guess they just didn’t work with my feet.

I currently run in either Vibram Five Fingers or the Nike Free 5.0 and that seems to make my feet happy.

I guess the best thing I can say about my continued use and fascination of all types of running shoes is that you must test the waters and ease into any radical change in design and likewise any change in running style.

Fitbit Vs. Jawbone Up

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Let me first start by saying that I love Jawbone products and have been using them for years. I have had several ear pieces and the Jawbox, so of course I had to buy the Jawbone Up to track my fitness.

The first impression was great, it synced well with the iPhone app. It tracks your steps per day and exercise. You can track/upload meals, although you could only take a picture of the meal and I would sometimes forget and end up taking a picture of something else and calling it a turkey sandwich. The other limitation is that you could not determine calories for you meals. The sleep tracking was amazing and it would even differentiate between light and deep sleep.

The social media component worked well. You can set up team challenges, and the website resources are quite good, but you cannot view current stats online. The Up fit well, but sometimes it would dig into my wrist and the cap can easily fly off.

None these issues really bothered me. I was having great fun with it, but the main problem was that it died within the first two weeks. Jawbone happily replace my Up and shortly thereafter a letter came out from the CEO that their product was a failure. They still offered support and continued to replace the defective units. I finally gave up after having it replaced four times. As of now, Jawbone still has not re-released the Up, but the new launch should be soon. Check out their website for details http://www.jawbone.com/up .

After recovering from my loss of a fitness gadget that I really loved (the Jawbone Up), I needed a new fix. I had heard that there was another similar product available and began my research, which for me is buy and test. I decided to buy two FitBits – one for me and one for my wife (there are his and hers colors!). There is also a scale that I pre-ordered and a yearly pay service that allows for better tracking. I have not tried the pay service yet but will let you know when I do.

For all intents and purposes, the Fitbit covers the same bases that the Jawbone Up does. It tracks, steps per day, sleep and diet and exercise, plus a few more things – your weight (on the website), and your calories burned per day. It also has an iPhone app that works quite well. The only difference is that you need to sync the Fitbit with docking station instead of the phone itself.

The online functionality is definitely better with the Fitbit and allows for tracking of just about everything physical and has a journal. The social media aspect of the Fitbit is comparable to the Up – both have loads of potential.

The Fitbit is a clip as opposed to a wrist band (the Up), and also has a belt clip. It is very comfortable; I usually forget that I am wearing it. When tracking sleep, you have to clip the unit onto a wrist band, which is a little tedious, but I can deal with it. When tracking exercise and meals with the Fitbit, you just select the actual activity or food and it logs/tracks against your overall daily numbers. This can be done online or through the app. Check out the website for more details http://www.fitbit.com/product?jadid=21774415417&jk=fitbit&jkId=gc:a8a8ae4cd345883240134eafebdf71980:t1_e_:k_fitbit:pl_&jp=&js=1&jsid=27905&jt=1&gclid=CM2j8urP0K4CFcFw4AodCHg3AA

Overall I like the Fitbit better. It works, and it works well, and at the end of the day you have very good feedback about all aspects physical in your life. I am, however, hopeful for the rerelease of the Up.

Some Basic Dietary Guidelines

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Lets expand a little on the last post about healthy eating. For starters, lets assume that we should be eating 5 meals per day evenly spaced throughout the day. Now given that, lets explore the composition of the meals:

Vegetables: Eat lots of vegetables for at least 4 of the meals. Lots of variety and color at each meal. Preferably raw and unprocessed.

Carbohydrates: Eat 1 serving of carbs at 2 or 3 of the meals. Stick to whole grain, look for high dietary fiber content (3g or more per serving). Avoid sugars. Avoid “whites” (flour, bread, rice, etc.). Avoid processed. Be mindful that 1 slice of bread is 1 serving. Watch out for excessive calories!

Proteins: Eat a small serving for at least 4 of the meals. Stick to leaner meats (fish, chicken, buffalo). A serving is 3-4 ounces. Other protein sources can be soy, nuts & seeds (stick to plain, avoid honey roasted), or some dairy (see below)

Fruits: Eat 1 piece of fruit (or handful of berries) at 1 or 2 of the meals. Lots of variety. Preferably raw and unprocessed. Avoid juices, jams, jellies.

Dairy: Eat 1 serving of dairy at 1 or 2 of the meals. Stick to low fat varieties of cheese, yogurt and milk (i.e. 1%). Avoid high fat and high sugar. Watch out for excessive calories!

Other: Avoid dressings & sauces (if you use them you have to count their calories!). Cook in a light spray of extra virgin olive oil or canola oil (avoiding lots of oil or butter, lots of calories!). Avoid sweetened beverages, coffee and tea should be black (unsweetened). Avoid canned, frozen, and/or processed foods.

Eating out: Be careful and pay attention to what you’re eating! Meals at restaurants can be 1600 calories or more, even the “healthy” choices can be around 800.

Water: Drink at least 72 ounces of water each day. Try to space it out evenly and SIP 2 ounces every 15 minutes! Add 1ounce of water for every ounce of caffeinated beverages you drink. Add 2 ounces of water for every 15 minutes of exercise.

Multivitamin: Take a multivitamin in the morning, or preferably a 2 pack, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Eating Healthy on the Road

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As I sit in the car driving back towards Bethesda, I am surrounded by junk food and I was inspired to write about healthy options you can find or pack for when you are traveling.

Obviously fruits and veggies are great options. Most of the time you have these foods in your house and you might as well pack them so they don’t spoil while you are away. Additionally most of the rest stops and convenience stores have a small selection of fresh food as well.

If you are looking for something a little more substantial nuts and granola/protein bars are good options. I’m personally a big fan of the Cliff Blueberry Crisp bar.

Meals on the go can be tough but I find Subway to be a pretty good option. They have plenty of subs that aren’t loaded with fat and calories. Grilled chicken sandwiches (hold the mayo) are standard at fast food restaurants and are a much better option that a burger.

Happy travels!

What Eric Toussaint wears when he runs…

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I have been running for years and I have tried a variety of gear in that time. My shoe of choice was always Asics, but in the past few years I have switched to a more minimalist approach and I wear Vibram five fingers, Saucony Hittoris, Nike Free 5.0, and Zoots for my triathlons and longer distances.

As far as socks go, wicking technology is a must, (no cotton please) and I wear no socks when I run tri’s. Also obviously no socks in the Vibrams and the Hattoris.

As far as shorts, I have always preferred 7” Asics running shorts and a dri-fit shirts. If it’s a little colder I might go with an Under Armour base layer and long-sleeve dri-fit shirt. Anything colder and I usually just run inside. On the rare occasion that I do run outside when it’s in the 40’s I wear Under Armour running pants, skull cap and gloves.

Please give me your feedback I would love to know what you wear.

WEEKEND WARRIORS Snapshot, by Evan

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So if you don’t know by now about JETT Training’s WEEKEND WARRIORS Class, shame on you! The class is every Saturday, 10:30am-11:30am at Sport and Spine Rehab Center, Wintergreen Plaza, in Rockville Maryland. Its a group circuit workout, “boot-camp” style, focusing on functional exercise. Its only 10 bucks per class to attend.
Sales pitch completed, what I’d like to do today is give a shoutout to Dave Arnold, who came out last Saturday and totally ROCKED his workout. So what did Dave do? He did a great endurance workout, focusing on total body endurance. Here’s how it went:
Warmup and Stretch, then…
10 Single Leg Squats per leg stabilized with TRX Straps
20 Pullups
15 “Perfect Pushups”
30 Kettlbell Swings with 16 kilos
10 more Single Leg Squats per leg
20 more Pullups
15 more “Perfect Pushups”
30 more KB Swings
10 Upward Chops from a Single leg kneel w/ 16 kilo KB, each side
20 Accordion Crunches
20 Twisting Crunches
20 “Toe-touch” Crunches
15 “Perfect Pushups”
20 Alternating Leg backward lunges w/ 16 kilo KB on the chest
10 more Single Leg Squats per leg
10 more Pullups
15 more “Perfect Pushups”
30 more KB Swings
10 Upward Chops from a Single leg kneel w/ 16 kilo KB, each side
20 Accordion Crunches
20 Twisting Crunches
20 “Toe-touch” Crunches
15 “Perfect Pushups”
20 Alternating Leg backward lunges w/ 16 kilo KB on the chest
Cooldown and Stretch.
Total Workout time 1 hour.
Great job Dave, can’t wait to see you at WEEKEND WARRIORS next week!

How do you track your health? By Eric Toussaint

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I have always been interested in tracking my workouts – calories burned, miles run, miles biked, strokes in the pool etc., and have used a variety of products over the years to help with the process. The only part of my life that hasn’t been tracked is everything else. What I mean by this is steps walked per day, meals eaten and sleep.

I try to keep myself very up to date on all the new exercise tracking products and I recently came across a device that is able to track the “everything else”.  The Jawbone Up is an electronic bracelet that provides bio feed back on all aspects of your life. It tracks your activity level, your meals and your sleep, then it conveniently feeds the collected data into your smart phone.

I have been wearing mine for the past five days and am loving it.  It is a really great way to track every physical aspect of your life and to be in perfect tune with your body so that you can make the necessary changes to your lifestyle to stay healthy and fit.

I highly recommend this product, check out this link for all the details http://www.jawbone.com/up as my quick explanation does do this product justice.

Have fun with this one and please feel free to give me feed back.

How to have fun while exercising!! By Eric Toussaint

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We all know that we need to exercise, but how do you make it fun?  Having been involved in some type of physical activity all my life this question comes up for me personally quite often…quite simply I get bored sometimes.

I have managed to come up with a very simple system, that I call “go with what you know”.

I am interested in multiple sports and exercise pursuits, which tend to vary depending on the time of year. This actually makes my whimsical approach a little easier and much more fun.

I am into triathlons, martial arts, weight lifting, and skiing.  So what I do is, on Sundays I schedule my workouts for the week with as much variety and flexibility as possible.  If it is nice out, I might ride my bike, run, or practice martial arts outside and swim at outdoor pools.  During winter I like to ski, practice martial arts inside at my school, use our spin bike, or swim at indoor pools.  Then there is weight lifting, which can be done all year round at almost anytime.

Even though I try to plan my workouts, I love switching things up if I am in the mood for something different.  So don’t get bogged down in routine or strict schedules.  Otherwise exercise can start to feel more like a chore than a fun way to get away from life’s stresses.  If you are feeling the need to move, make it fun by doing what you like, and what is of interest in that very moment, and I promise you will have fun.

This has been one of my personal secrets and tricks that I have used for years to stay in shape, and I hope it works for you.

More about my Feet by Eric Toussaint

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My wife can attest to my passion for trying the latest technology in athletic shoes and treating my feet with the utmost respect and care – I have a closet full of athletic shoes in every color and style.  I have tried every shoe you can imagine and of late have been trending to the tune of the minimalist approach.  I wear mostly Vibram five fingers, the Saucony Hattori, Nike Free 5.0, and Zoots for my trialthlons.

 

My feet became stronger from wearing these minimalist shoes, and I’ve found that I needed less and less support for my flat feet.  I decided to pick up a pair of Ascis (Gel Sky Speed 2) for some longer distance runs (over 10 miles) and all of a sudden what I thought was cured plantar fasciitis came back with a vengeance.  It was so bad I could barely walk. I went to see my buddy Dr. Franklin Polun (www.mydamnfoothurts.com ).

One cortisone shot later, a ton of stretching on a seated calf-raise machine, icing three times a day, wearing only my Nike Free’s, wearing a brace that gives me a stretch while I sleep and I’m finally feeling better.  I had my first run in 12 days today, a quick 5 miles and am icing as I am writing this.  I go back to see Dr. Polun this coming Wednesday to report my progress.  It still hurts but feels a lot better.

I will let you know what the end of this unfolding story is next week and hopefully my experience may help others with plantar fasciitis.