Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights_ - Alex Hutchinson [17]
Tests of this supposed endurance boost have not yet been conclusive—in part, Scanlan says, because it’s so hard to apply exactly the same level of compression to people whose calves have different sizes and shapes. “No one has really figured out the definitive pressure to improve performance,” he says. Some studies of runners and cyclists have found improved performance in time trials or changes in physiological measures like muscle oxygenation when the subjects wear compression socks; others have failed to reproduce those results.
Most telling, perhaps, is a study presented by researchers from Indiana University at the 2010 annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. A group of 16 volunteers ran at three different speeds with and without compression socks, and the researchers found no differences in average running economy or in the runners’ stride patterns. But when they looked more closely at the individual results, they found that four of the subjects had experienced a significant increase in economy, while four others experienced a significant decrease. Interestingly, the subjects whose economy improved were the ones who had stated in a pre-experiment questionnaire that they expected the socks to help them. “There may be a psychological component to compression’s effects,” lead researcher Abigail Laymon speculates. “Maybe if you have this positive feeling about it and you like them, then it may work for you. It is a very individual response.”
Does walking with poles give me a better workout?
It used to be only out-of-season cross-country skiers who walked with poles. Then hikers carrying heavy loads over rough terrain made the transition from hefty walking sticks in one hand to lightweight poles in both hands. Now walking with poles is so mainstream that it has a new name—“Nordic walking”—and since 1997 the activity has been promoted by the International Nordic Walking Association.
So what do the poles actually do for you? A 2010 study by Italian researchers confirmed what several earlier studies had found: walking with poles can burn about 20 percent more energy without feeling any harder than walking without poles at the same pace. The vigorous arm swing recruits back, shoulder, and other upper-body muscles, burning extra energy. Interestingly, though, all this upper-body action isn’t actually propelling you forward. This was shown in a clever study by researchers at the German Sport University in Cologne, who deployed walkers with force-sensing poles on concrete, grass, and a rubberized track. As expected, the walkers had to work harder on the soft grass than they did on concrete—but force generated by the poles remained the same, leading the researchers to conclude that “the effects of poling action on overall propulsion is only marginal.” In other words, it’s still the legs doing all the important work.
That conclusion holds true only on level ground. The Italian study is one of several to find that pole walking feels easier than pole-less walking at the same pace when going up a hill with a 5 percent incline. Even though pushing on poles doesn’t do much to propel you forward on flat land, it does seem to help push you upward on hills, along with improving stability—not a surprising finding, given the longstanding popularity of walking poles among hikers in mountainous areas.
There’s an important caveat, though. You don’t get the benefits of Nordic walking simply by grabbing a couple of poles and dragging them along behind you. You need to use proper form and put in a good upper-body effort. According