Running | Hooked on Running

How Fast Should My Heart Rate Be During a Race?

Or put another way, how long is a piece of string?

I was chatting with one of our runners the other day, who was concerned that her average heart rate was too high during a recent race. I’m not qualified to answer such a question as it relates to a particular individual and their heart health, but my general feeling was that an average heart rate of 172 beats per minute over a 5km race was not too high. However, if you have any concerns regarding your health, particularly the health of your heart, you should consult someone who is qualified to assess you. And I am not.

So, that’s the disclaimers out of the way. Let me also say, that our training programs are based on pace and intensity level, rather than heart rate. There are too many variables when it comes to heart rate, so it is not the most relevant factor when it comes to determining how hard you can or should race and train. There are many things which can effect your heart rate from day to day, such as sleep and stress levels, just to name a couple.

To race fast, you need a high average heart rate during the race

A relatively high average heart rate during an exercise bout shows a greater capacity of your heart for work. A greater work capacity of your heart is one of the things which will make you able to run faster, and in a race, that’s the goal.

When you increase your speed (and therefore your intensity), your muscles need more oxygen. If your heart has become stronger through training, it will be able to beat faster to get more oxygen and nutrient containing blood to your working muscles. You can’t run faster without your heart rate increasing.

Low Average Heart Rates and Fitness levels

There seems to be a misconception that high heart rates are bad, and being able to maintain a lower heart rate during racing or training means you’re fitter. Through training, you improve your movement economy, your running efficiency. That means at any given pace, your average heart rate will decrease as you become fitter. In other words, as you become fitter and your running economy improves, you don’t have to put as much effort in to run the same pace. Conversely, at any given heart rate, you’ll be able to run faster.

But, more often than not, the goal of a race is to either run as fast as you are capable of, or to beat everyone else in the race-or beat your friends at least. Your goal is not to run with a low average heart rate. A higher average heart rate means your heart is fit enough to have the capacity to work harder, and therefore run faster.

Cardiac Output

Your exercise performance is regulated by your cardiac output. Cardiac output is the amount of blood the heart pumps through the circulatory system in one minute. At rest, your total blood volume (which is generally between 4 and 6 litres, depending largely on your size), is pumped through your heart once. During exercise, the amount of blood pumped by your heart can more than double in a reasonably fit person. In elite athletes, the heart can pump around 6 times as much blood through the circulatory system each minute.

Cardiac output is influenced by two things: stroke volume and heart rate.

Stroke volume is the amount of blood ejected by the heart in one pump, and heart rate is the number of the number of times the heart beats per minute. Increase either or both of these, and you increase cardiac output.

The more active your muscles are, the more oxygen they require. When you start exercising, your muscles signal your hear to pump faster which increases the blood flow. Your working muscles increase stroke volume by contracting and sending larger volumes of blood back towards the lungs where it can be oxygenated and pumped out by the heart again to deliver oxygen back to the working muscles.

Adaptations to Training

As you undertake a training program and get fitter, your cardiac output increases. Your heart, which after all is just another muscles, gets stronger and is able to pump faster, and to pump more blood due to its improved strength, and the improved ability of the working muscles to help deliver deoxygenated blood back to the lungs to be re-oxygenated.

Does your maximum heart rate increase as you get fitter?

Your potential maximum heart rate is probably not very trainable, but your ability to reach your maximum heart rate may be. The whole thing is very hard to measure. To exercise at your maximum heart rate is not a particularly comfortable experience. You basically need to push harder and harder until you’re a blithering mess and can’t tolerate any more. But what’s to say the put at which I might give up, the level of pain I can tolerate, or the level of motivation I have to keep going, is the same as the next persons, or will be the same for me on each occasion I were to undertake such a test?

It’s often reported that as people get fitter, their maximum heart rate decreases, rather than increases. This is most likely due to the improvements in stroke volume as they become fitter. The heart is able to pump more blood each beat, and therefore does not need to pump as fast to deliver blood to the working muscles. It may also have something to do with psychological factors involved in testing.

Maximum heart rate is not the determining factor when it comes to running faster

When it comes down to racing, it’s not the person with the highest maximum heart rate who’s going to run the fastest. It’s far more likely to be the person with the highest average heart rate, or close to it. The person who can maintain a high heart rate for the longest amount of time, will be the person who is able to deliver the most nutrients and oxygen to the working muscles, allowing the muscles to work harder, and allowing the runner to run faster.

average heart rate heart rate

Getting the Most out of Treadmill Workouts

Ask anyone who does a bit of running, and they’ll have an opinion on treadmill running. Many runners feel running on a treadmill is easier than running outside-if you can stand the boredom. And I have to say, I was firmly in that camp, until I started looking a bit more closely at the research.

Treadmill Running vs Running Outside: which is harder?

Intuitively, it would seem that running on a treadmill has to be easier than running outside. After all, running on a treadmill, the ground moves for you. In theory you could just jump up and down, and not propel yourself forward, and the treadmill speedo would show you running at whatever pace the belt is moving.

However, if you base your workouts on exertion level rather than speed, you can get just as good a workout on the treadmill. A treadmill workout at 7/10 on the Rating of Perceived Exertion is the same exertion level as running 7/10 on the road. You might run a bit faster on the treadmill at the same level of exertion, but you’re still going to get the same training benefit if you’re running at 7/10.

When you’re running outside, you have to work against wind resistance, and you’re also constantly working smaller stabiliser muscles. Unless you’re running on a track, the surface you’re running on won’t be completely flat and level, unlike on a treadmill. You do miss out on that subtle strengthening of the smaller stabiliser muscles running on a treadmill. When you’re running outside, you’re constantly challenging the neural pathways which help you to cope with the constant changes in terrain and surface level.

Set the Treadmill At a 1% Gradient

There is research that shows setting the treadmill at a 1% gradient will compensate for the lack of wind resistance, and the resulting smaller energy cost of running on a treadmill. And setting the treadmill on a steeper gradient is comparable to an outside hill of the same gradient, in terms of energy costs.

So, if you want to run on a treadmill at the same speed and the same level of exertion as an outside flat run, you just need to set the treadmill at a 1% gradient. You will, however, miss out on some of the more subtle effects of running on the less predictable outside surface.

Why run on a treadmill?

If you’re like most people, you find running on a treadmill dead boring. So why would you do it?

Keeping your training consistent

The main advantage of treadmill running is that it’s inside, away from poor weather conditions. If it’s too cold, too wet, too dark, or too hot and humid, treadmill running can keep you consistent. And when it comes to fitness, consistency is super important.

No matter what you’re training for, you’ll only get results if you’re consistent with your training, across time. For example, if you’re training for a marathon or half marathon, consistency with your training over a six month period is far more important than belting out one or two big workouts. In fact, unless you’ve been consistent with your training across time, you’re unlikely to be able to complete your longer training runs, without risking overload and injury.

Keeping your easy days easy

Treadmill running is great if you’re having trouble keeping your easy days easy. Depending what you’re training for, your easy runs might need to be 30-40% slower than your 3km pace, and some people find that pretty hard to do. If you’re doing a treadmill workout, you can set the treadmill to the appropriate pace and forget. You’re pace won’t get faster over time. The one disadvantage of this is that having a set pace to run at doesn’t take into account the way you’re feeling on that particular day. You might have had a harder than normal workout the day before and need to take it a bit easier than your planned pace, so you do still need to be in tune with how you feel, and be prepared to slow the treadmill down if you need to.

If you’re looking for a really easy day, but you still want to run at a good pace, you can set the treadmill to a negative incline. Not too much: -0.5%-1% is enough to make a real difference.

Mental Toughness

Treadmill workouts can toughen you up mentally. If you’re reasonably serious about your training, you’ll get to a point where it starts to hurt in some of your sessions. The temptation here is to slow down. If you’ve got your treadmill set to a particular pace, then you can’t slow down without falling off the back! All you need to do is resist the temptation to change the setting on the treadmill.

Having said that, the set and forget method of treadmill running might not be so great for harder efforts such as interval training, tempo or race pace runs. You’re relying on the treadmill to keep you honest, and it will. Doing these harder runs outside can definitely be a bit more mentally taxing.

With a treadmill keeping pace for you, you’re free to drift off and let your mind wander. Outside, there’s nothing to keep you running fast except your mental focus and strength. Your mind needs to be trained, just as your body does, so if you’re always running on a treadmill, you’re not likely to develop the mental strength needed to push hard in a race.

Train on a Simulated Race Course

You can use a treadmill to simulate the course of your goal race. You can get a topography map of your race by using sites such as maypmyrun. Map the course out on map my run, then print out the topography chart. If your treadmill has the facility, you can program the inclines and declines in before you start. Otherwise, you can keep the printout on the dashboard of the treadmill, and manually adjust your treadmill for hills.

You can even have water and gels or other nutrition handy, to simulate when you’ll be taking your nutrition on board. If you’re planning on carrying your nutrition with you on race day, carry it in the same way you’ll be carrying it in a race, in a pocket, on a belt or in a Camelbak.

How to Counteract the Boredom Factor!!

There’s no doubt that running on a treadmill can get monotonous and boring. Try these tips to help overcome the boredom factor:

Watch TV whilst you’re running
Alternatively, watch nothing. Get into a good rhythm and get into your head space. Take this opportunity to meditate
If you’re at a gym, change treadmills part way through your run to change your surroundings a bit.
Listen to podcasts
Make friends with the people next to you. You’ll probably find they’ll be perfectly happy to talk to you. If you’re the shy type, have a few standard opening lines in your back pocket. “Are you training for anything in particular?” or “A bit boring running on the treadmill, isn’t it?” are reasonable conversation starters. Or you could try “love your running shoes, where did you get them?” or possibly “do you come here often???”
Take a friend to the gym with you
Skype your mother

Starting and Finishing Intervals on a Treadmill

Do you jump on a treadmill which is already moving at the pace you want to run your effort at? Or do you take the more sensible approach and work your way up to the pace of your effort?

No prizes for guessing which option I prefer.

Jumping on a treadmill moving at a rapid pace can be pretty tricky. If you’re doing an interval training session on a treadmill, you’re better off dropping the pace down to a walking pace for your recovery (unless you specifically want a standing recovery). Spend the first 5-10 seconds of your effort working up to the pace you want to run at. Even if you’re running outside it’ll take you a few seconds to reach your effort pace, so you’re not going to lose too much time at target pace by taking the safe option!

Try This Treadmill Training Session

Warm up at an easy pace for 10 mins or so. Make sure it feels pretty easy. You should be able to hold a conversation with no problems at all.

Pick the pace up a bit for the next 5 mins or so, until you’re running at about 5/10 on the Rating of Perceived Exertion

Once you’ve established the 5/10 effort pace, maintain that pace for 1km.

Run your next kilometer at 10 seconds faster than the previous.

Run each kilometer 10 seconds faster than the last.

Cool down with 5-10 minutes at a slow pace.

You can do this for as long as you like, (generally up to about 10km is good). For the first time, aim for 4kms, not including your warm up and cool down. As you get fitter, you can gradually increase the distance of this workout.

The Verdict

Treadmill workouts can be a great way to keep your training consistent and help you to develop a good sense of pace as it relates to increases and decreases in effort. You can use treadmill workouts to vary up your training a bit, but for me, there’s nothing like running in the great outdoors.

Treadmill Running Treadmill Workouts

Free Yourself From Your Running Watch

Back in the day, it used to be if you wanted to know how far you ran, or if you were planning to run a certain distance, you’d jump in your car, and measure the planned route.

When I say, “back in the day”, it wasn’t that far back. I remember taking the opportunity to measure my running routes whilst my kids were asleep in the back of the car. Killing two birds with the one stone – measuring my running distances, and getting a few more precious minutes of down time! My youngest is only nine, so we’re not talking more than nine years ago here!

If you were really advanced, you’d use mapmyrun and geodistance to map your route out before your ran.

And then came GPS watches!

GPS Devices Have Changed the Way We Train

In some respects, GPS devices, running watches in particular, have made coaching runners a lot easier, particularly if you’re wanting your runner to do tempo runs, cutbacks, or long intervals where pace is important.

On the down side is the fact that runners can become completely dependent on their watches, which can sometimes hinder their ability to “feel” the pace, and really know what their own body is capable of.

As a coach, it’s important to be mindful that setting specific paces for runners to train at will not take into account how they are feeling on the day. I always try to prescribe pace as a range, and also give a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) I want the runner to be training at. Using the two will usually give a better outcome than just training pace alone.

Sometimes, I map whole training plans using only RPE. It can take the pressure off, and allow the athlete to enjoy their running more. Most of us start off running because we think we might enjoy it, not because we think we’ve got a chance of beating our friends on Strava, so I see keeping the enjoyment in running as a super important part of coaching. Of course, beating your friends can add a whole new level of enjoyment.

Drawbacks of Becoming Too Reliant on Your GPS Watch

1. Getting too hung up on your current pace

Readouts for your current pace on your device are rarely your actual current pace. Garmins and similar devices receive signals via satellite every 1-2 seconds (that’s when conditions and signal strength are good). The device is constantly making calculations about your speed.

If you lose your satellite connection (and it might only be for a second or two at a time), the GPS measures the distance you ran in that downtime, and calculates the time it took you to get where you are now, which gives you a pace.

During this time where the signal is lost however, the current running pace will slow quite a lot. The device thinks you’ve stopped running. Over one kilometer, the device will measure pace and distance fairly precisely, but if you look at your current pace at around about the time you may have momentarily lost the GPS signal, you’ll think you’re travelling much more slowly than you actually are.

Constantly looking at your current pace may cause you to adjust your pace frequently. You won’t be developing a steady rhythmical feel for your running.

2. Not developing a good sense of pace and rhythm

If you’re training to race (and not all of you will be), you need to learn how to pace yourself. You need to learn what you are capable of at any given time. You might wake up on race day and feel fantastic. It might be your day. And if you’re planning on running the race based on some preconceived idea of pace, with no thought to what sort of effort level that might entail, you could be robbing yourself of an opportunity of a PB.

Conversely, you could wake up feeling like you shouldn’t get out of bed, or it might be 10 degrees hotter than expected. In those cases, you’re going to need to listen to your body, and slow down a bit, not stick to your planned race pace.

And if you never practice running on feel in training, you’re not going to be able to do it in a race.

Simply saying you’re going to run 10 seconds slower per km than planned, or 5 seconds faster, isn’t really going to cut it. Unless you know what 10 seconds slower per km feels like, or 5 seconds per km faster, these figures are just random numbers plucked out of the air, and may not be do-able.

At some point in your training, you need to put away the GPS and really take notice of how you’re feeling. Know what it feels like to be running easy, know what it feels like to be pushing hard, and know what it feels like to be somewhere in between.

Your GPS is not going to tell you if you have it in you to surge up the next hill and overtake your arch rival, or if you have it in you to push for the last 2kms of a half mararthon. Only being in tune with your body and how you’re feeling, and knowing your capabilities and limitaions, can do that for you.

3. Being a slave to your running watch might cause you to over-train

If you’re hell bent on running at a certain pace ALL of the time, you’re not likely to listen to your body and slow down when you need to. If you’re recording your data daily, it’s easy to get caught up with comparisons between your current run and previous runs. Back before I knew better (even before the days I was driving my kids round and round the neighbourhood putting them to sleep), every time I went out for a run, I was trying to beat some kind of previous best. And I wasn’t even training as a runner-running was just a bit of cross training at the time!

If you’re running hard speed workouts, and/or running lots of mileage, you need to do some running at an easy pace, to let your body recover. If you’re always looking at your GPS to make sure you’re running at the “right” pace on these easier runs, you’re not listening to your body. And if you’re not listening to your body, then you’re far more likely to be heading for an injury. (Back before I admitted this to myself, I ended up with two bulging intervertebral discs).

There’ll be days when your body just won’t feel energetic and “with it”. On these days, you need to give yourself permission to take it easy, and that’s much harder to do if you’re data obsessed.

How to Use Your GPS Device to Your Advantage

During a long run, check your pace after the first few minutes, then every 20 minutes or so after that, if at all. Be aware of how you feel. Get a sense of what a particular pace feels like. Learn from each training sessions by being aware of how you feel, rather than knowing what your watch tells you. You can download our eBooklet on pacing for your long run, if you want to get a sense of just how easy your long run should be.
Include workouts which have you changing paces frequently, such as tempo runs, cut backs and fartlek. You can check your pace infrequently, or leave it till after the run to take a look at how you went.
If you’re an experienced runner, add some fast finishing long runs to your program, to get a sense of how much you can push towards the end of a race.
Don’t look at your GPS on your recovery runs. Easy rounds and recovery runs have very little to do with pace (unless your coach is telling you you’re likely going too fast). Their effectiveness lies in their ability to help your body recover, build strength in your legs and your mind, teach your body to spare glycogen, and improve your body’s aerobic capacity.

You can get a sense of just how easy your long run can be by downloading our eBooklet here

You need to develop an innate sense of pacing in training. By implementing some of the above strategies, you’ll become less dependent on your GPS running watch, and more able to assess your level of running intensity by feel, and whether that level of intensity is sustainable over time.

Some training sessions are best done at a particular pace, or percentage of your maximum capacity. GPS devices are awesome for these kinds of workouts. Just know when and how to use them.

Free Yourself From Your Running Watch GPS Watches Running Watches

Make Sense of Your City to Surf Results

Each year I receive lots of text messages and emails after our runners have finished the City to Surf. And each year, these messages convey a mixture of elation and disappointment. This year of course was no different.

As coaches, we probably view your results differently to the way you view them. I thought I’d share a few of the things you should be looking at when you’re analysing this year’s results.

Your Start Group

The City to Surf is like no other race. It’s tough, it’s hilly and there are lots and lots of people. If you’re a front runner, the crowd factor isn’t going to impact you too much. If you’re running with the back of the pack, you’re unlikely to be able to get much of a rhythm going. You also have the disadvantage of coming through the water stations after 50,000 people have slurped, spilt and thrown their paper cups on the ground. You need to slow down a bit through the water stations, just for safety’s sake.

The Weather

Even though the City to Surf is a winter run, it can get pretty hot. Yesterday it was 14 degrees at 8:30am, and 16 degrees at 9:30. Last year the temperature was 9 degrees at 9am, and the top of 16 degrees wasn’t reached until 3pm that day. If you’re comparing this year’s run to last year’s, you need to take that temperature difference into account. Research done on some of the big city marathons has shown that performance decreases with a rise in temperture.

For the top three placegettes, the decrease in performance was a bit less than 1%, for every 5 degree rise in temperature above 10 degrees C. For slower runners, this drop in performance increased exponentially. Unforutnately, the reasearch only looked at the first 300 runners. The 50th placed runners’ performance dropped by 1.5%, the 100th placegetters by 1.8%, and the 300th place getters by 3.2%. 300th place would be a time of around three hours for the marathons in the sample.

If you’re comparing your time from this year’s City to Surf to last year, unless you’re a three hour marathoner, you should expect that your performance would have dropped by more than 3.2% due to the difference in temperature. To put that into perspective, a 3.2% drop in performance on a 70 minute run last year, is equal to about a 72:15 this year.

They Have Age Categories for a Reason

If you were at maximum fitness level in your prime, as you get older, your performance will naturally decline. If you weren’t at peak fitness in your younger years, you’re more likely to be able to maintain your performance simply be increasing your level of fitness.

Age graded performance tables are a great way to evaluate your performance against previous performances, and also across different events. Your age graded percentage show you how you compare to the world’s best of your age and gender. Our coach Richard Sarkies, who has a City to Surf best time of 48:12, set 12 years ago, ran 52:12 yesterday. Comparing these two runs on the age graded tables actually shows he went slightly better this year.

You can use this calculator to compare your own age-graded times.

Make sure you press “Age Grade” next to where you enter your time to get your result at the bottom.

Analysing This Year’s City to Surf Result

Once you’ve established that your time is actually pretty good compared to last year’s cooler weather time or your time of 20 years ago, you can start to learn from your results.

Firstly, you should check if your goal was realistic. When I asked Richard if he was happy with his result, he replied he “couldn’t have gone any faster”. I thought he’d been aiming for around 50 minutes, and when I asked him about that he said something like “that would’ve been nice, but what you hope to get and what you’re able to achieve are two completely different things”. After having quite a long time off rehabbing an Achilles injury, he knew he probably didn’t have the endurance to get him through to the end.

My Race Goals

Not being a massive fan of crowds, or spending hours getting home when I’m sweaty and cold, I’d never done the City to Surf before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. For various reasons, my training over the last 2 years has been intermittent at best, and I knew I didnt’ have the sort of base that’s required to do the race any justice. On top of that, I developed a nasty sinus infection about three weeks out and was laid out, unable to train. So I had a few things to take into account when setting my goals for the race.

My goals were:

To run on feel rather than use any kind of GPS device. (I did use my stop watch to roughly keep track of how I was going at each km marker).
Run conservatively for the first half of the race, and run the second half of the race after heart break hill faster than the first half
Be prepared to walk some of the race if I felt I needed to
As far as time went, I really thought I’d be lucky to run under 90 minutes (my pre-sinusitis goal had been under 80-mostly likely too ambitous)

Goal number one was pretty easy, as I don’t have a GPS device at the moment

Goal number three – I was definitely prepared to walk –in fact I did walk through a couple of the drinks stations to make sure I rehyderated (confession – I had a couple of champagnes the night before-why not since I was treating it as a training run, right?)

Goal number three-the numbers aren’t pretty, but my results do show I ran a fairly even race.

Looking at the split rank (S/Rank) and the race rank (R/Rank) you can see that I moved through the field as the race progressed. Not so rapidly in the second half of the race.

You can also see I ran 36 seconds faster over the back half of the course. I’m not entirely convinced the course measurements are accurate, but they wouldn’t be too far out.

Look at How You Handled Heart Break Hill

Everyone slows down up heart break hill. It’s a reasonably steep, long, relentless 1.4km in the middle of the race, so you should expect to slow down a bit. But how do you assess whether you slowed more than you should?

Looking at my figures, you can see that I pick up nearly 2000 places going up the hill. This means that I ran faster up heart break hill than 7% of the people who were running faster than I was before heart break hill.

These figures alone don’t tell you much, other than I was slower up the hill than 21,082 people. But, using those figures, along with how I felt throughout the race is useful. I felt ok going up the hill. I felt that before heartbreak hill I was running at a pace I’d be able to maintain for 90 minutes. The fact that I slowed down up the hill definitely helped me maintain my pace in the back end of the race. I was exhausted for the last 2 km of the race due to lack of fitness, but it wasn’t running up the hills too hard that did it to me. I was conscious of my form going up the hill, shorter strides, quicker turnover to put less strain on my legs. I used the tangents to make sure I ran the shortest distance possible. All in all, I was happy with how I handled this part of the course.

Another way you can guage how you went with heart break hill is by comparing yourself to some of the front runners. The first few place getters slow down by about 8%, Richard (208th place) slowed down by 21%, and I slowed down 15%. I still think I have a lot of room for improvement on my up hill running, but comparing these figures, I think it shows I’m heading in the right direction.

What To Do With the Data

Use your City to Surf race stats to help you learn for next time. Good race or bad race, you can take note of the stats and how you were feeling on the day, and learn a lot. If you started out at 4:30 pace, and finished up at 5:30 pace, think about how you felt for your first few kms. Remember that feeling, and know that next time, that feeling is tricking you into running faster. You have to feel as if your effort is easier than that next time you race.

If you slowed down dramatically up heart break hill, was it because you’d gone too fast early in the race? Was it because you deliberately slowed down to conserve energy? Or was it because you’re not great at running up hills and you need to build some strength in your legs and work on your hill technique?

If your’e planning on improving next time you race, make some notes now on how you ran, how you felt, what you did leading into the race. What did you do well, what would you do differently next time? When you start to plan your training for your next race, you’ll know what you need to work on.

A Good Day Out

At the end of the day, whatever your result, it was a beautiful day out with nearly 70,000 other Sydney-sider, celebrating living in this awesome city of ours.

And it was a VERY good day out for Hooked on Runing teams. You can see our team results here. link to our results page

city to surf city to surf results fun runs

City to Surf 2016: Our results

This year we had our biggest teams ever. Our 50+ women led the charge with 13 team members, and we had two men’s teams this year, open and 50+.

We had some great results, but I’m far more excited about the number of our runners who enjoyed racing under the Hooked on Running flag.

Hooked on Running City to Surf Results

Open Women: 4th

Open Men: 10th

Women 40-49: 2nd

Women 50+: 2nd

Men 50+: 3rd

The Teams

These are our official teams lists, but we had quite a few other runners running for charity or with a work team. Fantastic turnout people. Richard and I are over the moon. Details of celebration dinner to come!

city to surf city to surf results Hooked on Running

Do Ice Baths Really Work for Recovery?

Ice baths can help recovery under certain conditions

When my kids were playing in a soccer tournament earlier this winter, they were due to play at least one game a day on 4 consecutive days, and sometimes two. Luckily for them there was a very-cold-unheated-outdoor-in-the-middle-of-a-Canberra-winter pool available for them to use!!

I wasn’t convinced of the value of this cold water immersion, compared to the stress placed on the immune system by running outside half naked in 5 degree temperature to get to the pool, then running back again dripping wet and still half naked. (Apparently it’s illegal to wear trackies and a warm top when you’re meeting your team mates pool side).

I did a little digging around on cold water immersion (CWI), more commonly known as “Ice Baths”, and found some interesting research. Here’s a quick summary.

What is an Ice Bath?

Ice baths come under the umbrella of cold water immersion. They are not actually baths chock full of only ice. That would definitely burn. They are a mix of water and ice, in any kind of vessel big enough to hold a human body, or part thereof. Generally the temperature is around 10 degrees C, although some research suggests that this is not cold enough, and favours a 6 degree submersion.

Why Would You Even Want to Jump Into an Ice Bath?

High intensity sport, or large volumes of low intensity sport, can cause fatigue which can reduce your performance. It can also reduce your ability to train well the next day. The more quickly you can recover from a bout of exercise, the better your next day performance will be, whether that’s in competition or in training.

It’s believed that immersing yourself in cold water post exercise bouts aids in recovery. That’s why you or I might think CWI is a good idea. Our kids…well, they tend to think it’s a good idea when their mates tell them it is.

Using Cold Water Immersion to Reduce Muscle Soreness.

Playing sport hard, long runs, high intensity interval training sessions, or sometimes even a reasonably moderate session of an exercise that is new to you, can leave you with what’s known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) aka “sore muscles”

Potentially, CWI can reduce this muscle soreness. The benefits include reduced pain at rest, reduced pain when stretching, and an increase in the active range of motion.

There are several mechanisms which might be at play here:

Reduced nerve activity due to the cold temperature, which results in increased pain tolerance (1)
A reduction in swelling due to the blood vessel constriction due to the low temperature (2)
Reduced swelling due to the hydrostatic pressure of water (3)

One study has shown that it’s most likely not the actual immersion in water itself that has the benefit, rather the temperature of the water in which you immerse yourself. Immersion in 6 degree C water was more effective than 10 degrees, and more effective than contrast immersion alternating between 10 degree and 38 degrees C.(4).

Wouldn’t you just know the coldest option would be the most effective?

Does Cold Water Immersion Always Work?

Not necessarily. It appears the benefit of using cold water immersion in reducing muscle soreness only exists in trained athletes, so unless you’re well trained, you can keep the ice firmly in the freezer where it belongs.

CWI is also ineffective in recovering from a new training regime. So if you’re a well-trained runner who does 10k on the rowing machine in the gym, chances are an ice bath won’t help to stop the inevitable muscle soreness you’ll experience.

Will it Improve Your Performance?

There is not a huge amount of research on cold water immersion, despite its popularity as a recovery strategy. Whilst it might reduce muscle soreness, this may not necessarily translate to improved performance.

I took a quick look at eleven different studies which looked at the effect of CWI as a strategy to improve performance. Six of the eleven studies showed the CWI improved performance, but 5 showed either no improvement or reduced performance.

This was of course a small sample of studies, but there aren’t too many studies going around. And that’s the thing. There really isn’t enough research on the strategy to come down on one side or the other.

Patterns in the Research on Effectiveness of Ice Baths

Studies which have looked at how well cold water immersion can prepare you for a second bout of exercise on the same day found either no effect or a negative effect on performance. This is probably due to a reduction in nerve velocity and the restriction of blood flow to the muscles.
Studies testing the effect on performance 1 to 2 days after the cold water immersion had a tendency to find a more positive result.

Long Term Effects of Ice Baths

Research on the long term use of ice baths suggest that long term, chilling yourself in this manner too frequently could have a negative impact on the way you adapt to exercise.

CWI increases the release of the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine for up to 60 minutes after you jump out of the bath. These hormones act to break down the muscles, so this would reduce the body’s ability to adapt to training. And adapting to training is really the whole point of doing it. You stress your body repeatedly, it says “bloody hell, if she’s going to keep doing this to me I’d better get stronger”, and diligently goes about doing just that, getting stronger. But, if your cold water immersion bout is releasing hormones which break down muscle tissue, long term, you’re not going to be seeing the adaptation that you’re training for.

The release of stress hormones could also impair your ability to get a good night’s sleep, and sleep is THE most critical factor in recovering well.

The reduction in swelling which is brought about by ice baths could also have a long term detrimental effect on your fitness. Post-exercise swelling is part of the process that leads to muscle repair and strengthening.

It’s All in the Timing

Whilst there’s still a lot more research needed on cold water immersion and ice baths, a few things are apparent.

CWI can reduce muscle soreness in trained athletes
CWI might improve performance in subsequent exercise bouts which are 1 to 2 days post immersion
CWI is likely to have no impact or could reduce performance on same day subsequent bouts of exercise
Long term use of ice baths and cold water immersion as a recovery strategy is likely to have a detrimental effect on the body’s ability to adapt to training
If you use cold water immersion as a recovery strategy, you should limit its use to times when you really need to recovery quickly for your next tough training session, or for an important event, but you should not use it as a matter of course.

References
1. Algafly, A.A., & George, K.P. (2007). The effect of cryotherapy on nerve conduction velocity, pain threshold and pain tolerance. British Journal of Sport Medicine, 41, 365-369.
2. Cochrane, D.J. (2004). Alternating hot and cold water immersion for athlete recovery: A review. Physical Therapy in Sport, 5, 26-32.
3. Wilcock, I.M., Cronin, J.B., & Hing, W.A. (2006). Physiological response to water immersion: A method for recovery? Sports Medicine, 36, 747-765
4. Cold water immersion in the management of delayed-onset muscle soreness: Is dose important? A randomised controlled trial. Philip D. Glasgow, Roisin Ferris, Chris M. Bleakley

Cold Water Immersion Ice Bath Ice Bath for Recovery

Running in Cold Weather: 11 Infrequently Asked Questions

1. Does running in cold weather help you burn body fat?

Seemingly, yes. Cold weather exercising can produce high rates of glycogen depletion, and also high rates of fat metabolism. Glycogen is the form that carbohydrates are stored in the muscles (and other parts of the body) and is a readily available source of energy when you’re working out. There’s a limited amount of glycogen your muscles can store, and once glycogen stores are depleted, your body needs to use more fat for energy.

Exercising in the cold increases glycogen depletion in two ways. Firstly, shivering causes muscles to use glycogen at 5-6 times the normal rate, and cold weather causes elevated blood levels of epinephrine, a hormone which stimulates glycogen breakdown. Epinephrine can also help with fat metabolism.

So, a long run in winter can be a great way to improve body composition and rid yourself of some of those fat stores (as long as you don’t go home and drink gallons of hot chocolate to warm yourself up!)

2. What are goose bumps good for? (and is there a case for hairy legs in winter?)

In modern day humans, goosebumps are pretty much useless. They are an involuntary reaction of the sympathetic nervous system to fear or cold. Muscle contractions raise the hair follicles in our skin, causing that plucked chook look.

Biologists believe that they are a reflex that we developed years and years ago. Our ancestors, who were much hairier than us, may have developed this reaction as part of the fight or flight response, making them appear bigger and scarier when their hair stood up on end. Our more hirsute ancestors would also have been able to trap more heat near their skin with their fluffier body hair. So, I’d say that’s case enough for hairy legs in winter, wouldn’t you?

3. Can you get dehydrated running in cold weather?

Definitely! Cold weather inhibits the thirst sensation because blood moves away from the extremities into the body’s core. Because the core fluid level doesn’t decrease, the kidneys aren’t signalled to conserve fluid. The thirst response can decrease by about 40 per cent in cold weather. When you run in cold weather you still sweat and lose body fluids, so you need to be mindful of drinking more than you might feel you need to.

4. What’s the best temperature for running?

A study from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine conducted a longitudinal study of results and weather data from six major marathons. They found that colder weather generally meant faster times, with the ideal long-distance running temperature being 5 degrees C. Times slowed progressively as the weather warmed above 5-10 degrees C. Slower runners slowed more than elite runners.

The effect of temperature on your performance is definitely something to keep in mind when you’re planning your next race strategy. I think I’d prefer to settle for a slower time than seek out a marathon to run in 5 degree temps!

5. Why does your nose run in the cold?

The nose warms and humidifies the air you inhale so that it is not too cold for the lungs. If the air is cold and dry, fluid production of the nose increases. If it makes too much fluid, your nose runs. Also, water in warm air condenses in cold air. The air you breathe out of your nose is warm, and when it hits the old air, it could condense at the tip of your nose, forming a very flattering water droplet at the end of your nose.

6. Will you catch a cold if you run in cold weather?

We all know that a cold is a virus, and it makes little sense to say you catch a cold by being cold. You catch a cold by being exposed to a cold virus. Your body also needs to be unable to resist the cold virus to contract a cold. But here’s the thing. Researchers have shown that exposure to cold air enhances the activity of “suppressor macrophages”. These are white blood cells which depress the functioning of the immune system.

So letting yourself get chilled to the bone during a workout can increase your risk of getting sick. The lesson to take from this one is you should wrap up and stay relatively warm. Wear layers you can take off during your session, and always keep something warm and dry on hand for when you finish training. This may mean getting out of damp underlayers as well as outer layers if you have a fair distance to drive before you can warm up in a hot shower.

7. Will exercising mean you get fewer colds in general?

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008, reported that regular aerobic exercise might reduce the risk of catching a cold by up to 50%. People who exercised at least 5 times per week had up to 46% fewer sick days than those who exercised only one day a week or less. When the exercising group did get sick, their symptoms were milder.

And what of the macrophage suppressing cold weather? On the bright side, the Japanese research found that people who are used to training in cold conditions are less likely to experience the same immune system suppression after running in cold weather than people who only do it now and then. So, don’t shut yourself up during winter. Push through those first cold days of winter, and be consistent with your training as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, and you’ll come out the other side of winter with a stronger immune system.

8. Will running in cold weather give you a heart attack?

Probably not, but there are some studies that have shown an increase in exercise related heart attacks in periods of cold weather. Whilst the jury is out on why cold air should increase your risk of a heart attack, it may be because cold temperatures will raise your heart rate and your arterial blood pressure, which increases the stress on your heart. Also, blood clots more easily in cold weather, which could increase the risk of blocked arteries. Frequent exposure to cold, however, modifies these physiological changes, so again, its most likely the every now and then approach to training that is oh-so-tempting to adopt in winter, is likely to hold the most risk.

And if you’re wondering why your heart rate lifts in cold weather, it’s basically as a result of your body’s efforts to keep you warm. You lose body heat to cold air so your heart rate rises to maintain your core temperature and to keep blood flowing to the brain. Blood vessels in your extremities are restricted, your body burns glucose faster than it does in warmer weather, and you shiver. All of these things require an increased heart rate, so if you’re a heart rate monitor, you’ll likely notice your heart rate is elevated during your next cold weather run. (That is, you’re a person who monitors their heart rate during exercise – I don’t really think one of those Garmin thingys can read…yet)

9. Can running in cold weather make you feel like the temperature is colder than it actually is?

Definitely, but there are ways around this. It’s not just the cold air that makes you cold, but a combination of the cold air and sweat. You don’t stop sweating when you’re exercising in cold weather. You lose heat at a faster rate when your clothing is saturated with moisture. Water conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air does, so sweat soaked clothing will give you that chilled to the bone feeling.

Most running gear on the market these days is sweat wicking. Making sure you have a layer of sweat wicking clothing next to your skin when you step out the door for a winter run. Layering up over the top of that will help to stop you from losing too much body heat due to sweat.

10. Can exercising in cold weather give you chilblains?

We were down in Canberra for our boys to play in a soccer tournament. After a less than encouraging start to their first game in the cold, the coaches decided they all needed to toughen up a bit and play without gloves. One boy turned up the next morning with his gloves firmly in place, explaining he had a medical condition called “chilled veins” and his mum said he had to wear his gloves.

Chilblains are patches of red itchy skin. They are thought to be caused by a combination of cold weather and poor circulation, though no-one is 100% sure. If you have poor circulation, you will be more susceptible to chilblains, however if you are a regular exerciser, you’re not so likely to have poor circulation.

Wearing gloves whilst you’re running will keep your hands warm in the cooler weather. You’ll probably find that your hands warm up fairly quickly wearing gloves. If you’re going to need to take your gloves off, do so before your hands become sweaty, otherwise you may well find you give yourself a dose of “chilled veins” when you expose your damp hands to the cold air.

11. What about the wind chill factor?

If there’s a cold wind blowing, you’ll feel the cold even more. A 30km/ hour wind can feel like zero degrees very quickly. Running at 10km an hour into a 20km/hour wind is the equivalent of a 30km/hour wind when you’re standing still, so it doesn’t exactly take a howling gale to make you feel 10 degrees colder.

It’s good idea to run the first part of your run into the wind, so that in the second half of your run, when you’re tired and sweaty, the wind is at your back and the wind chill factor won’t come into play so much. If you run at 10km/hour with the wind behind you at 20km/hr, it’s really like a wind of 10km/hour from the point of view of wind chill. So instead of making it seem 10 degrees colder, the wind will only make it feel about 3-4 degrees colder than the temperature on the thermometer. Cheery thought!

The Bottom Line

Exercising in cold weather can improve your immune system function. It can also put you at a slightly higher risk of catching a cold or having a heart attack, but only it would seem if you aren’t a regular cold weather runner.

Take care to keep hydrated when exercising in winter, layer up, with a sweat wicking layer of clothing closest to your skin, and run in sheltered areas if possible. Where you’re exposed to the wind, try to run with the wind at your back in the latter stages of your run.

Winter is a great time to teach your body to burn fat for fuel on those long runs, as you’ll be using up glycogen more quickly than you would in warmer weather. So cold weather training can leave you well prepared for a great spring racing season.

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