Spring has sprung and with the start of good weather comes the stampede of “Painful Joggers,” pounding the pavement and pounding their joints into submission.

Joggers make me sad. Well meaning, hard working folks who have been convinced by a marketing juggernaut to “Just Do It.” These people really think that jogging is not only “good for them” and the best use of their time, but that it is the key to fitness, their salvation, a better body, etc. They long their miles, run their races and gain a sense of accomplishment. A Pyrrhic victory indeed.

I am not saying distance running should be abolished. But I am saying that distance running should be left to the professionals, the elite runners who earn a living from pounding the pavement. Recreational runners are better off finding another avocation; they will be better off in the long run. Go for a swim, do some calisthenics. If you are compelled to run do a sprint workout.

These joggers, good people all, are just wasting their time and effort while grinding their bones and connective tissue into dust. Do you know that running puts impact forces on the body that are equal to three times body weight? What this means is that every jog step taken by a 150-pounder results in approximately 450-pounds of force on the body. Let’s do some math using our 150-pounder as an example.

Most joggers will take at least 120 steps per minute – 54,000 pounds/minute – so a 20-minute run places 1,080,000 pounds of force on the body. A fully-loaded 747 weighs 900,000 pounds.

So for the past couple of days, during a stretch of glorious weather in New Jersey, I have been saddened by the sight of people jogging with terrible form and bad gaits. It’s a seasonal thing for me. I get over it, but for these first couple of weeks I really am morose at the sight of people shuffling along on the sidewalks and streets.

Power walkers don’t have this effect on me since they are actually doing something good for themselves, without the downside of the pounding. Walking results in ground reactive forces of only 1.5 times body weight, and is a less destructive, ground-based bi-pedal activity. Fast walking is more difficult than slow jogging, which is why so many people jog (or “slog” as some call it).

My position is not a popular one and Joggers defend their turf, as they should. But the reality is that jogging beats up the body and is an orthopedic ordeal unlike any other recreational pursuit.

The Stairmaster, in all its iterations, is one of the most popular and misused pieces of equipment in the gym world, so I’m going to try and set the record straight and tell you how to use this equipment properly. I realize that here are many different types of machines, for the sake of brevity and clarity I will use the generic Stairmaster.

First off I am going to re-re-re-state that I have an extreme anti-equipment bias. Equipment is inferior in every aspect to ground-based, compound movements. Whether talking about strength training or cardiovascular exercise, machines do not and cannot compete with the non-equipment counterparts.

However, I still know how to use these machines properly and understand what they can – and cannot – do.

One of the most ridiculous things I see people do on a Stairmaster is what I call, “The Sleepwalk.” The Sleepwalk is performed on the revolving staircase or step treadmill-style Stairmaster, where the user walks at a slow pace – usually at the lowest setting possible – and extends the trail leg straight and back, ostensibly to work the buttocks. So silly and a total waste of time and effort.

The super-slow, “fat burning” pace is incredibly inefficient, as it delivers just about zero cardiovascular benefits and burns an absolutely minuscule amount of calories. Trying to “squeeze the glute,” as I’ve heard from personal trainers and clients alike, is a effort in futility in the misguided quest to “tone the butt.”  It’s like doing a biceps pose over and over again in the hope of developing the muscle.

I cannot believe how much time people waste – the vast majority are women – doing The Sleepwalk on the Stairmaster. People compound this bad behavior when they lock their arms and lean on the handrails. Just like when walking on a treadmill, hanging onto the handrails makes the exercise even less effective than it already is.

On the chain-driven Stairmasters people tend to use short, choppy, quick steps, which severely limits the range of motion and, as a result, makes the exercise less effective. Ideally, you want to take longer and slower (relatively speaking) steps in order to get the most out of Stairmaster-style exercise.

The common mistake people make on all cardiovascular machines is to hold on to, or lean their weight on, the handrails. More people do the Stairmaster the wrong way – locking their arms and leaning heavily on the handrails – than the correct way. This method of cheating on the Stairmaster puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the elbows, trapezius and rhomboid muscles and the neck, as well. The effectiveness of the exercise, regardless of the machine, is always diminished when holding on to the handrail.

The bottom line is that when using any kind of Stairmaster exercise at a pace that allows you to maintain proper form, which means no leaning, no Sleepwalking, no glute squeezing and no short, choppy strides. Hold on as little as possible, keep an upright posture and take strides with a full range of motion and you will get the most out of your Stairmaster experience.

For people who get the bulk of their cardiovascular exercise by distance running, an elliptical machine can provide joggers with a great way to engage in a very beneficial form of cross training…

Anyone who runs regularly – or “yogs” as Ron Burgundy would call it – needs to give their body a rest as a regular part of their routine.  The joints, connective tissues and muscles of runners take a beating as a result of the stresses associated with long distance running, especially in the area surrounding the knee.

To give you an illustration of the kind of stress that running places on the body, the impact forces on the knee while running are equal to about 3.5 times a person’s body weight, as compared to 1.5 times body weight while walking (Giddings, Beaupre, Whalen & Carter, Biomechanical Engineering Division, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University).

Runners thinking about buying a piece of equipment should seriously consider an elliptical machine.  Elliptical machines offer serious runners the opportunity to cross-train, while allowing their aching joints to get a rest.  And even if a runner’s joints aren’t aching, cross training on an elliptical can help to prevent potential orthopedic issues from rearing their ugly head.

Spending time using an elliptical trainer can help joggers avoid burnout that sometimes occurs from spending too much time doing any one activity.  Having the option of using an elliptical can let a jogger train indoors on a lousy day and provides them with an effective alternative to running on a day where they just don’t feel like lacing up their Nikes.

Data from studies seem to indicate that with regard to oxygen consumption, heart rate and calorie expenditure ellipticals can offer every bit the workout that treadmills do, which is great news for runners who are looking for a change of pace.

So give the elliptical some consideration, your joints will thank you.

Swimming is hands down the best form of cardiovascular exercise and getting into the pool is the single best change that you can make to your exercise routine.

Unlike jogging or any form of machine-based cardio exercise, swimming places no impact force on the joints and connective tissue, and is an incredibly efficient, total-body exercise.  You don’t need to spend hours in the pool every week in order to reap the benefits from swimming, as 20-minutes once or twice per week will do the trick.

The reason more people don’t swim is that it’s difficult, it takes effort.  Unlike the Stairmaster, treadmill or any of the most popular forms of cardiovascular exercise, swimming is tough.  Machine-based forms of cardio are popular because they are easy.  As a matter of fact, any exercise that is unpopular – especially in a big, open gym setting – is usually more difficult, and as a result more effective, than the less popular options.

For example, in most “big box” gyms there are literally tons of leg machines (leg press, leg extension, leg curl, etc.) but usually only a few squat racks, and these racks are rarely used for squats.  At the big box gym I belong to there are hundreds of treadmills and Stairmasters, but only 2 Concept 2 rowing machines.

It seems like everyone jogs and “climbs stairs” – even the people who wait to park their cars in the parking spaces closest to the entrance – but nobody sprints or does running and agility drills.

Translation; walking (except from their car) and stepping are easy, sprinting and rowing is tough.

I’ve written about my love/hate relationship with swimming, and it continues until this very moment (as I write this I’m about to head out for my weekly swim).  To sum up, I hate swimming, but love having swum.   On a winter’s day it takes an effort to get my butt off of my nice, comfy easy chair, out into the cold and into the pool, where there’s nothing to lean against or hold onto.  You can’t watch TV, although I can listen to music thanks to my waterproof IPod case.  But I swim because I love what it does for me.

So next time you’re wondering about what you can do to improve your workout routine, look no further than the pool and start swimming.

We’ve had some nice fall weather over the past few weeks here in New Jersey and that means joggers are out in force.  It’s very similar to what happens when spring springs and the first batch of 70 degree sunny days show up after a long, ugly winter; joggers take to the roadways and sidewalks en masse.

The problem is that most people are what I call, “Ugly Joggers.” Now don’t jump to conclusions – especially you, Marianne – as I’m not talking about a person’s looks, but rather their running “form,” and by using “form,” I’m being very kind.

Over the past week or so I’ve seen at least 40 joggers, but only 2 or 3 could be considered to be running with proper form.  The form breaks run the gamut; short stride length, no hip extension, improper (or no) arm swing, leg drag, valgus and varus, limp.  Think of a flaw and you’ll see it when Ugly Joggers are in season.

Do yourself a favor and stop jogging.  Get exercise, but leave the jogging and running to the real runners – no offense.  If you want to go out and pound your skeletal system into powder at least seek out an expert that can teach you how to run.

I find it funny when people ask me what they can do to improve their cardiovascular fitness and I tell them to swim, and they tell me, “Oh I don’t want to swim, what else can I do?” I get the same kind of response from folks who want to know how to improve their distance running, like they can’t be bothered to do the right thing.  As if it’s an insult to be told that they need to learn how to do something as simple as running.

Actually, running properly is difficult for most people, even athletes.  I spend a lot of time teaching high school and college athletes how to run properly and correcting their form.  Show me 100 high school athletes and I’ll show you 95 kids who don’t know how to run. And for adults the percentages would be even worse.

So if you aren’t jogging the right way, don’t do it at all. Go for a brisk walk, do calisthenics, or take a swim, but lay off the jogging.  When you consider that each step of running places a force on your joints up to 3 times body weight, your body will thank you for exploring low-intensity/low-impact options.

Shuttle runs are a great method of high-intensity cardiovascular exercise and are the most efficient and effective way to improve your fitness level.

For years athletes have been using shuttle runs to improve their conditioning level, as this kind of conditioning reproduces conditions that athletes contend with during competition.  Regardless of what sport you play, and especially if you aren’t active in athletics, shuttle runs give you the most bang for your exercise buck.

Shuttle runs can be performed just about anyplace providing you have at least a 10-12 yard area of relatively flat, even space.  These conditioning drills can be done inside, in your yard, at the beach, on a basketball court and – of course – on a lined field.  I’ve done them in hallways in schools, at the water’s edge by the ocean, on tennis courts and in my backyard, driveway and the street in front of my house.

The set-up is simple; pace of 8-15-yards and mark the area so you are aware of the start and finish line.  You don’t need to use cones, especially if you are doing the shuttles on a lined field, but can use anything from sticks, to disposable drinking cups and lines in the sand.

To perform the shuttles you sprint to each line, making sure one of your feet gets to the “line,” and use a side-shuffle step to change directions. Complete 4 “laps” of this course.  So if you’ve paced off 15-yards, run this course 4 times and you will have covered 60-yards. You don’t want to run past the line, slow down too early or get to the line and have to stop and completely turn around in order to change directions.

For as long as it takes you to complete the shuttle, your rest period should be 3 times as long.  So if it takes you 15-seconds to complete a 60-yard shuttle (a pretty good time if you’ve never done this before) you can rest for 45-seconds before starting your next set.  Following this formula, you can get a complete cardiovascular workout completed in 8-10 minutes.

Shuttle runs are a versatile, effective and efficient method of cardiovascular training that everyone can take advantage of.

There are more options for cardiovascular training than just walking and jogging – calisthenics, swimming, sprinting – and here’s a quick list of pros and cons for swimming, sprinting, agility and speed work.

For this installment of my review of some different forms of cardiovascular exercise I’ll start with another favorite of mine, swimming.  Swimming is right behind cals on the “most recommended” list.  Just like cals, swimming offers total body benefits without the negatives of impact that come from jogging, and can have a massively positive effect on lung capacity as well. You don’t need a lot of equipment either, and if you belong to an indoor pool inclement weather isn’t a problem.

Furthermore, swimming is ideal for athletes engaged in power sports who want/need to improve their cardiovascular conditioning, athletes who should not under any condition do distance running or machine based cardio.  Being that there are no biomechanical similarities between swimming and sprinting – and other forms of running required in sport – swimming can improve cardiovascular conditioning without messing with the mechanics of sprinting.  Jogging is counter-productive to the sprinting mechanism and swimming is not. 

So tennis players, baseball players, football players, lacrosse players, basketball players and any athletes who participate in these kinds of sports should include swimming in their conditioning programs.

There are some negatives associated with swimming.  As a realist, I understand that some people hate to swim, can’t swim and/or have no interest in swimming.  To these folks all I’ll say, “It’s your loss.”  I’m not here to brow beat people into seeing things my way.  The other “cons” for swimming are that it can be costly for some folks to join a pool especially during the winter months, the need for instruction for those who can’t swim and the fact that swimming is a difficult activity.

Some folks might find swimming boring, and they wouldn’t be wrong.  However, with the advent of the waterproof iPod case and headphones, you can now swim with musical accompaniment.   I use my iPod to get me through my laps, and it’s the single best change that I have made to my routine in the past 10 years.  The pros far outweigh the cons for those who are willing to make the commitment to get into the pool and swim.

Last but not least, I’m going to extol the virtues sprinting, agility and speed work.  And for the sake of brevity, for the rest of this piece all three of these activities will be referred to as “sprinting,” or “sprinting drills.”  Sprinting can have a massively positive effect on overall conditioning, both aerobically and anaerobically.  This activity can be done in a minimum of space, both inside and outside, and with a bare minimum of equipment.

Sprinting drills are mentally stimulating and require concentration as well as an intense physical effort.  This activity can challenge the most athletic and fit members of the population and be adapted to meet the needs of those folks who are just starting out and/or who aren’t all that athletic.  These drills develop balance, agility, coordination and stability in addition to improving a person’s level of conditioning.  Despite the demanding nature of these drills, they are relatively easy to learn and anyone willing to put in a little bit of effort can discover how to do these drills properly.

By no means is this piece meant to be the last word on cardio, but rather a stepping off point for people who might be interested in looking for something different.  There are more interesting, rewarding, challenging and beneficial activities for folks who don’t want to get stuck in a rut of walking or jogging.

There are more options for cardiovascular training than just walking and jogging – calisthenics, swimming, sprinting – and here’s a quick rundown of pros and cons for the various choices.

Walking and jogging are the most popular forms of cardio.  Despite the fact that they aren’t the most dynamic activities, the vast majority of exercisers have fallen into the cardio rut these present.  Walking is the easiest of all of the forms of cardio activities and provides the most health benefits with the least amount of effort.  Face it walking is easy that’s why so many people do it.  And it’s good for you, too.

Despite what the hardcore might have you believe, there really aren’t any dramatic incremental benefits that come from engaging in all the high-end activities, and walking delivers all the health benefits with a fraction of the impact of running.  The downside of walking is that – IMHO – it’s boring, can be time consuming and is weather-dependant if you don’t have a treadmill.

Jogging provides similar benefits as does walking, but with the price of a lot of impact.  Every step running results in an impact of 2.5-3.0 times your bodyweight.  Over a 20-30 minute run, that’s a lot of pounding.  Just like walking, from a physical standpoint, jogging is easy.  I’m not talking about track and field style distance running, but your regular, run-of-the-mill recreational jogging.  If it weren’t easy, it wouldn’t be so popular.

But just like walking, a lot of people find jogging to be dull and others find it mentally difficult to deal with 20+ minutes of monotony.  And it’s not the most efficient use of your time once you get past the 20-minute point. The expense of jogging depends on how much you feel like spending on shoes and associated running gear, especially if you’re planning on going out into the elements.

A lot of people walk and run on treadmills; this activity doesn’t compare positively to pounding the actual pavement. Without going into a biomechanical dissertation, running and walking on a tread places a completely different set of demands on the body which can lead to injury problems.  But if you don’t want to go out in the rain and snow – and don’t have a treadmill  – I’m going to tell you about some other cardio options.

Calisthenics get my vote for the most versatile – if-you-have-to-do-one-form-of-cardio – form of cardio.  Five exercises – jumping jacks, squat thrusts, leg drives, push-ups and sit-ups – can provide you with all of the cardio stimulus that you need regardless of level of conditioning.  Calisthenics provide all of the benefits of walking and jogging, but with the added benefits of strengthening the upper and lower body.  Cals can be done anywhere, anytime without the need for any equipment, not even shoes.  They are relatively easy to learn, can be adjusted for every level of fitness, are athletic and are low/no-impact.

As far as any negatives associated with calisthenics, I can’t think of any and I’m good at coming up with negatives.  I’ll repeat it for emphasis, but I think cals are the single best exercises of any kind that you can do.

That’s it for the first half of the list.  Check back next week for the second half of the list featuring swimming, sprinting, speed work and agility drills.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a great time to take a break from strength training, cardiovascular work and your personal trainer.

Too many people don’t realize the value of taking time off from the gym and their workouts.  As a matter of fact – with the exception of my clients – I don’t come across many people who look at taking time off from their workouts as a good thing.  No matter what your bag is, baby – strength training, cardio, working with a personal trainer – time off from the gym can be one of the best things that you can do for yourself.

The people that I do know who take time off – again, except for my mind-numbed minions – usually do so when they are sick or injured.  Bad move.  Time off from strength training when you are hurt is not time off.  In order to get the real benefits that come from rest, you have to be healthy, not hurt or sick.  Recovering from the flu or an injury is completely different from taking time off when you’re healthy.

If you work with a personal trainer, they should have planned rest built into your regular training schedule.  Vacations and extended holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Year and summer vacations are the ideal times to take time off and/or engage in different, non-structured forms of exercise like strength training, yoga, Pilates or long distance running.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s offers the perfect opportunity to take a break from the rigors of your normal routine.  Too many people stress about fitting their workouts into an already hectic schedule filled with holiday gatherings and other obligations, and worry that they are going to somehow “fall behind” because they take time off.

Nothing can be further than the truth.  Time off from working out when you are healthy is restorative, and has a different and greater effect than time spent recovering from an illness or healing from an injury.  Just like low-intensity strength training and cardio has a greater benefit for those who work truly in the high-intensity range, rest when healthy is more beneficial than forced rest due to injury or illness.

And really, if you’re nursing an injury that is the result of strength training or running, this can’t be considered rest, can it?  That would be kind of like saying being in the hospital is a vacation.

So take advantage of the times of year where your schedule changes.  Relax; take time off from your personal trainer and the other elements of your regular routine.  You’ll recharge your batteries, clear your head and be better off in the long run.

If you employ a personal trainer, make sure that they are including enough strength training exercises in your regimen.

Personal trainers have different philosophies.  Depending on the certifying organization from which a trainer has their certification, trainers can emphasize different methods.  If your trainer doesn’t have a certification, you should find out why this is the case, and depending on the answer that you get consider finding a new trainer.  There is no excuse for a serious professional personal trainer to not have a valid, legitimate certification from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Strength training should be the emphasized in the sessions that you have with your trainer.  People don’t need to be watched while they walk or run on the treadmill, or use any other piece of cardiovascular equipment.  That is a waste of your time and money.

You should make sure that your personal trainer spends the majority of your workouts teaching and implementing strength training movements.  Everyone who works with a personal trainer should be able to squat, dead lift, do push-ups and pull-ups, perform overhead presses and be familiar with the complete list of explosive exercises such as the split jerk and hang clean.  Age, gender, athletic ability or any other demographic isn’t an excuse to not do these exercises.

Your personal trainer should be able to demonstrate and teach all of these exercises to you.  If they cannot, you should find another trainer.

Certainly, cardiovascular activity is important and your trainer advice you on the proper way to perform cardio.  Your cardio routine should consist of endurance training – with a minimum of any kind of distance running – sprint and agility work and calisthenics.  Swimming is the best endurance activity there is, and should be used in place of any kind of jogging. Having this kind of variety in your program will help you to avoid both mental burnout and physical breakdown.

Strength training combined with the proper cardiovascular program will help to get you into the best overall shape possible.  Your personal trainer should be able to provide you with a program that is both well rounded and effective so that you can get the most out of your investment.