This is good news. I knew exercise improved metabolism through its effect on muscles, but now I know it improves metabolic health by altering fat cells as well, even if you don't lose weight

The color changes of Autumn come a bit late in these parts, although they'll make up for it by lasting through November. Some of the local trees and vines were just beginning to show some color on my ride yesterday, as I enjoyed an easy jaunt in the surrounding area. Nice display of pumpkins and … Continue reading Hints of Fall →

We headed Southeast towards the foothills of the Diablo Range East of Gilroy on our group ride yesterday. It was mostly flat except for some decent climbing when we got into the foothills. The main destination was the little ranch where Alladin the camel lives, but we also took a little side trip to check … Continue reading Visiting The Critters On Our Group Ride →

Today for my "hard leg day" ride I took my recumbent southeast towards Gilroy and back. I started out with two hours at a brisk tempo, then finished up with some intervals. The ride was challenging but enjoyable. This was also good mindfulness training- it takes concentration to keep the pace brisk but steady during … Continue reading Long Cruise Then Intervals →

https://www.facebook.com/Lornaruns Fellow blogger, triathlete, and ultrarunner Lorna Cullen has finished the 3 peaks part of her Jogle run, with 1537.68 km run so far and 317.44 km to go. She is averaging 38 km a day, or just under a marathon, and has been for over 40 days. I ran 3 marathons back in my running days, … Continue reading Lorna Has Completed Three-Peaks Challenge; Home Stretch to Land’s End →

I recently signed up for Strava premium which lets you compare efforts with others in your same age group. Strava tracks "Kings of Mountain" (KOMs) and "Queens of Mountain" (QOMs) for various routes. A convenient local challenge for me is climbing Llagas road, which is only 15 minutes away by bike. The climb currently takes … Continue reading My First KOM Attempt →

I did an upper body workout with resistance bands, body weight, and dumbbells yesterday. I've especially been enjoying heavyhands walking, simulating cross-country skiing double poling with hand weights, and simulating kayaking with resistance bands. I followed this up with a pleasant tour of local rural roads and trails on my Vado, which has pretty fat … Continue reading Upper Body Workout Then Local Rural Tour →

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/endurance-athlete-heart-health-research-2022/ In his "sweat science" column, Alex Hutchinson reported on some recent studies that give an update on the question of whether there are health issues associated with excessive endurance training. I have discussed this previously (here, here, and here) it being a matter of some interest to me as I like to endurance train … Continue reading Update on Excessive Endurance Training →

https://www.eatthis.com/strength-training-habits-that-slow-aging-science/ Clarence Bass covered the results of a meta-analysis of many studies on the benefits of strength training for weight loss in his column this month [1]. Not surprisingly, it helps. In my opinion, far and away the most significant effect is that it preserves or even adds to your lean muscle mass while losing … Continue reading Strength Training and Weight Loss →

The climb up to Henry Coe State park east of Morgan Hill is one of our big local climbs. It's about 12 miles from the base of the hill on E Dunne ave. to park headquarters, with 2700 ft elevation gain. I did it yesterday with a group starting in Morgan Hill. Our route was … Continue reading Climb to Coe →