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STRONG IS THE NEW THIN; NORMAL BODY FAT IS FINE
The Victoria Secret Fashion Show 2016 will be aired on December 5. In spite of its official billing with a focus on apparel, it remains one of the most watched, beauty pageant-like shows on earth. Models wear scanty undergarments and fantastical, large, and heavy-looking, costume pieces that function as ‘accessories’. Women have wished to have the same physiques as these “angels” of the runway, the VS name for the top models who are selected to star in this particular show. Last year UK fitness blogger Poppy Cross took on a 4-month long “VS Challenge”. She trained and dieted like the women, in order to determine whether the dream of becoming such a goddess was unattainable for those without special genes or the willingness to diet to near starvation. As she put it in a 2015 UK Daily Mail article, she asked, “could a mere mortal achieve a body worthy of VS scanties?” In her blog and the DM piece, Cross described the process needed to transform her already slim figure to one that met the body composition and measurement benchmarks set by the lingerie company as requirements for participation in the year-end show. The main target to reach to attain the VS “body of an angel” she learned, was a sub-18% body fat, the range in which some athletes find themselves (14-20%); fit and healthy women will have from 21-24%, undernourished women will have 13% or less, plus health problems. Weight training was the key exercise and included “squats, dead-lifts, weighted lunges, bicep curls, tricep dips, and press-ups”, starting with one session a week and progressing to 4/week. Other types of exercises were prescribed as additional “homework” sessions. She injured her back the first time out (no specifics) and took a week to recover before training was resumed. You can read about her experience in detail by following links to the other pieces. She seemed to summarize the whole process, in the DM article, by saying the” hours and dedication required to be VS catwalk-ready require a military mind and athlete’s performance – impossible to maintain if you have a job and family or want a social life. The VS girls admit they don’t live like that all the time. If they did, it would be called an eating disorder.” The end results: her BODY WEIGHT REMAINED THE SAME, body fat decreased 22 to 17%, dress size was lowered from 6 to 2-4, waist circumference went from 26 to 24 inches, and blood cholesterol was lowered from above to within the normal range. These revelations were incredible, to my mind. I wished Cross had run a 5K or 10K race prior to starting and after finishing; she in fact is a long-time runner. The regimen the blogger elected to follow allowed her to replace fat with muscle. Although she wasn’t training to become faster she definitely could have been, as the extra muscle without extra weight plus training (sprint intervals, ballet, boxing, and Pilates sessions were included) would have made her stronger with improved balance. The routines described are recommended for runners!!!. Weekly massages were on the schedule too. It would be great for trainers/coaches to weigh in on this. The VS organization is making a big effort to portray their models as athletes, according to a 2015 article in TheAtlantic, naming it a “weird athleticism”. The magazine contends that “yet for Victoria’s Secret to emphasize, in its show, the work required of its models also represents, in its small way, progress”. The way it was before, the magazine indicates, de-emphasized the methods utilized to become model-thin and willowy. Last year’s fashion show, it says, seems indicative of a new culture, as it “celebrated sweat, and sacrifice, and work. It celebrated muscles and strength.” Poppy Cross’s experience shows us that building muscle strength requires intense and difficult effort. Whether undertaken for appearance sake or improved performance (running a race or negotiating a catwalk with an enormous costume in high heel shoes for an hours-long show), physical and mental focus is needed. It’s heartening to know that perhaps Beauty can be celebrated as being a Beast as well, when it comes to training hard for a goal competition. However, unhealthy dieting that purposely brings hydration and body fat percentage to such low levels seems too risky to celebrate for any reason. Realistically, would anyone notice the difference in these very fit models? Hey Victoria Secret, accepting a normal-range body fat percentage in “angels” could be your next corporate culture-change goal. RUN HAPPY! https://www.victoriassecret.com/fashion-show http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3132639/The-four-month-hell-turned-Victoria-s-Secret-angel.html#ixzz4Q6X0z9wE http://poppycross.co.uk/fitness/my-victorias-secret-challenge-hard-but-not-hell/ http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/the-weird-athleticism-of-the-victorias-secret-model/419589/
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YOU HAVE HAD A BIT OF TIME TO REST UP after the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. This plan will ease you back into the routine of training. The runs take you back to you early training with run: walk sessions rather than continuous runs. You can do this. Checking off each day’s workout as it is completed will ground you during these hectic days and allow you to end 2016 on a positive health note and enter 2017 with confidence. Give it a try to be able to enjoy a fun run as the old year gives way to the new.
RUN HAPPY! Note to followers: You may be seeing posts that subsequently are removed. Usually they are scheduled to be published days or weeks later and go live too early. There are ongoing technical difficulties with the website host. Hopefully they will be fixed.
Thanks for your patience. RUN HAPPY! THE FINAL FOUR According to a Competitor.com article by Brian Metzler and Mark Sullivan, the Best Running Store of 2016 was to be named on December 1 at The Running Event industry conference and trade show in Orlando FL. Last year’s winner was the Red Coyote Running and Fitness in Oklahoma City OK. The 2014 winner was the Columbus Running Company store in Dublin OH, in the Columbus area. From the top 50 this year, which you can view in the article by state, the four finalists are:
Charm City Run in Belair MD Fleet Feet in Brentwood TN Hanson’s Running Shop in Grosse Pointe MI Tortoise and Hare in Glendale AZ The selection is “based on criteria that includes the retail environment, shoe-fitting, checkout process, community service and credit ratings from vendors.” Competitor magazine and Running Insight, a trade publication, combine to identify contenders through reader nominations. This is followed by a “rigorous” evaluation process, and then an announcement of the winner at the Orlando FL event and publication online through Competitor.com. Check it out and see if your favorite is honored. I hope to keep a lookout for the Competitor.com nomination period in 2017 so I can put up Michigan-based Gazelle Sports. At its 5 locations this company is a standout in community service, a wonderful resource for training, and a retailer of quality running gear. In 2016, nominations were accepted April 27 through July 2, 2016. RUN HAPPY! http://running.competitor.com/2016/11/news/the-50-best-running-stores-in-america-for-2016_159449
PREPARE NOW: DECEMBER 16 IS NATIONAL UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER DAY
Wonder what to wear running in Ugly Sweater 5ks? How about an NFL THEME? Choose from a variety of NFL Ugly Sweaters and honor/disrespect your favorite team in style as you keep pace with other revelers in one of the growing number of these fun run events held in the weeks and days leading up to the holidays. (see below some Amazon links) If you don’t plan to run a race in such hideous garb you can still get in on the fun wherever you are ON DECEMBER 16. Did you know that the third Friday in December has officially been National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day since 2011? I have seen some Hanukkah sweaters with great personality, so I don’t think this needs to be a purely Christian tradition. Tacky sweaters seem to be ubiquitous cold weather holiday-wear. Of course you can go with any other horrible looking piece of sweater-like clothing purchased online or found in an attic or resale store. A search of Amazon.com reveals many offerings by vendors of knitted ugliness. Target and Kohl’s online stores advertise these wearables. A personal favorite is one that slightly resembles that which Bridget Jones found so appealing on Mark Darcy in the “BJ’s Diary” movie: a maroon ‘jumper’, that sports a reindeer head in which the antlers are decorated with embroidered holiday lights. It’s on Amazon.com. (See link below) Races seem to be scheduled after Thanksgiving Day; the earliest I found had been held November 26 inKent City MI. There’s a company-sponsored race series called “The Ugly Sweater Run Presented by Kahlua” held in multiple larger cities on each of the December weekends. Knit hats are given to registered participants, as well as a Kahlua cocktail for the over-21’s. Fleet Feet stores in several locations are sponsoring upcoming events. Small and moderate sized cities are getting into the tradition as well. Kent City is joined by Allegan MI, Tulsa OK, and Ridgefield WA (all on Dec 3). Auburn MI (Dec 10) and Midland MI (Dec 19) are sponsoring runs later in the month. This kind of event seems to be family- and friend-friendly, an activity that sweater-wearers of all ages can appreciate. Participants are encouraged to embellish an article of clothing that already looks over-the-top ridiculous! A great idea for a pre-race craft party. The addition of flashing lights seems to be a favorite way to customize sweaters and would be ideal for a night-time event like the one in Midland MI. Find a race near you and “jingle all the way” in a fun 5K. Since I searched the internet while in Michigan, it’s possible those selected for viewing were closest to my physical location. PLEASE COMMENT AND ADD TO OUR LIST IF YOU FOUND OTHERS NEAR YOU elsewhere in the country or globe. The smaller the event venue, the cozier and ‘home-for-the-holidays” special they will be to join. RUN HAPPY! http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-ugly-christmas-sweater-day-third-friday-in-december/ More links to the races and websites can be accessed in the "Read More" section below
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BRIDGE TO PHYSICAL SELF
Running, walking, and fitness activities enable us to experience our physical selves in a world mostly accessed through use of fingers on a mobile device. AuthorEARNED RUNS is edited and authored by me, runner and founder. In 1978 I began participating in 10K road races before 5Ks were common. I've been a dietitian, practiced and taught clinical pathology, and been involved with research that utilized pathology. I am fascinated with understanding the origins of disease as well as health and longevity. Archives
November 2023
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