“Obesity is one of the most challenging public health concerns of the 21st century. It is an epidemic that is sweeping Europe and about which not enough is being done.”
The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) have designated this Saturday, the 21st May, as European Obesity Day (EOD16).
If you have read my most recent British Journal of Sports Medicine blog or my Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine Lay Views, you will appreciate and accept that I share EASO’s desire for increased awareness and action to address the ravaging effects of obesity, not only on our economies and health services, but on the lives of those directly affected.
Obesity is a disease that almost always leads to other conditions and is it telling that European Obesity Day lies within Mental Health Awareness Week.
“I could never resist the call of the trail”
Although I am currently more Sloth Steve than Buffalo Bill, it is true that the trail has been calling my name.
Two of my favourite events last year were the Hoka Highland Fling and Jedburgh Three Peaks Ultra Marathon Relays and my main event this year (knees permitting) will see me scramble up a Vertical Kilometre in Glencoe.
There is something special about running free through Scotland’s wilderness. Away from congested roads and grey buildings. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city and often a chance to get away from our troubles.
Trail running is the ideal way to clear the mind.
God’s Country
But, it is my previously discussed knee injury that is making my transition to trails a necessity and thanks to North Face I will be getting an early chance to see if a softer terrain will be kinder to my dodgy knees.
For on 31st May NeverStopGlasgow comes to town (and our parks) and a lucky few will get to trial the latest Ultra trail shoes from North Face in a special (and free) trail run evening.
Try some trail running with North Face and NeverStopGlasgow.
Can I Run?
This is not some sort of philosophical soul searching or Eastern enlightenment from my Chi Running workshop. It is the question that I asked my physiotherapist, Jim Fallon, at the Hampden Sports Clinic last night.
Please allow me to rewind.
Back in 1978, aged 5 years old, I fell over in pain. I hadn’t tripped or had a slip; I had a problem with my hip. That problem had a name. Perthes Disease.
Monkeying around in my crutches.
It led to me spending six weeks in a hospital bed, with my legs attached to pulleys. Imagine being strapped to a medieval rack, but then being served copious amounts of ice cream. This was followed by several years in crutches and a prophecy.
I would never be an athlete. I would grow with one leg shorter than the other and I would undoubtedly succumb to joint problems and early onset arthritis.
When you are 7 years old, joint problems as an adult are not on your list of pressing priorities, which, for me, included adding to my Star Wars figure collection.
Fast forward 36 years and to last night and the adult me is remembering that prophecy, but also thinking about adding to my running shoe collection.
I have been struggling with knee pain for a few months (ok, years) and last night I was given the news and advice that every runner dreads and ultimately ignores.
I should not be running.
Not now, not soon and ideally never again on concrete (he did not exclude trail running!).
My knees have carried a lot of weight over the years, especially when you think of my years weighing over 25 stone and they have not escaped unscathed. It is time for me to take care of them.
So, I will actually listen to my Hampden Sports Clinic physiotherapist and focus on strengthening my legs and trying to address my flat feet (Scott Devenney, hopefully to the rescue ).
I have a confession. Two, actually, but I will explain the second later.
I have missed running. Apathy and injury have taken their toll and it has been 6 months since I ran in my last Great Run event.
I would like to say that the break has served me well, but I have struggled mentally and physically. I have lost confidence, fitness and friends and I have gained weight. A lot of weight.
Not running has not helped and I have decided that I am happier when I am running.
However, my knees, like the rest of my body, are suffering from wear and tear and if I am going to run again, I have to learn to run with less impact on my joints.
So, when Lululemon Glasgow announced a free Chi Running and yoga session, I signed up (they used my favourite word, free).
Nick introducing us to Chi Running
The session was delivered by Nick Constantine of SoulinMotion and yoga teacher Mark Russell and we all met outside the cosy Lululemon Glasgow store, where Nick explained the core principles of Chi Running.
He explained how Chi Running was developed in 1999 by ulta-runner and T’ai Chi practitioner, Danny Dreyer, and how it has helped thousands of runners transform their technique using the core principles of focus, posture, alignment and relaxation.
This message was reinforced inside Lululemon, where we were treated to a video of the legendary Kenyan running coach, Brother Colm O’Connell instructing his runners. We watched as they gently jogged and even walked around the track. This was no warm up. This is how they train.
This is how World Champion, David Rudisha, trains.
And this, is how we train. The Kenyans better watch out.
Nick then went on to explain the 80:20 rule. He suggested that 80% of our training should be gentle and form focused. Something, I can totally buy into. Too often we relentlessly push ourselves, with the only outcome being injury. How much smarter and possibly more enjoyable would it be to go out for more slow and gentle runs?
It was then time for Nick to introduce us to some of the techniques he uses to help runners.
We started by aligning our standing position. I am guilty of dropping my shoulders and Nick helped me to straighten and strengthen my posture. A few adjustments and I was standing taller and leaning a little more forward than my normal stance. Not enough to fall over, but enough to make me feel a little more solid.
Another principle of Chi Running is to engage our core strength, to give us power. Rather than leading foot first, Nick suggested that we propel ourselves forward, pelvis first. We practised this for a few minutes, walking back and forth, and by the end, it felt both comfortable and even natural.
Next up, Nick had us stomping in time to his metronome. I say stomping, but another key concept of Chi Running is to run lightly, regardless of the size and weight of the runner. Again, music to ears. Or rather, metronome beats to my ears.
The purpose of this was to increase our cadence and get us used to midsole landing, which would help us to decrease the amount of time each foot had on the ground and seemingly help us conserve energy.
It was then time to put Nick’s advice to the test.
As I learned forward, I felt the urge to move and with a quick pelvic thrust, I was off. I was able to maintain a good pace with quick, light steps and some high heel kicks.
We had only spent an hour with Nick and it would be unfair to expect a complete transformation of my running style, but I did see and feel a difference.
In May and September, Nick returns to Glasgow for his Chi Running workshop and there are still spaces for the September event.
You can find out more HERE.
An added bonus of the workshops is that you get to spend a few hours with Mark Russell, an Ironman and yoga teacher who specialises in yoga for sports
At the Lululemon Chi Running event, we were treated to a short introduction to his yoga teachings, in the most salubrious of setting of Club 29. Other than the lush surroundings, one thing stuck out for me.
Put your left leg out.
Mark reminded us that when we run, we are predominantly on one foot and he encouraged us to train accordingly. We practised a few Yoga poses, including Vrikshasana (or tree pose), and made them more challenging by closing our eyes. This unbalanced me and I will make practising this pose a daily habit, especially as I have weak glutes.
In fact, I was so impressed with Mark’s approach that I intend on attending more of his weekly classes at Lululemon, who have to be applauded for putting on their weekly free yoga, running and training sessions.
Which brings me to my second confession.
I have discovered that I love Lululemon and Lululemon clothing. Up until yesterday, I had assumed that it was an overpriced brand that didn’t cater for the oversized man.
Until yesterday.
Post event, we retired to the store for drinks and nibbles and I browsed the men’s clothing range. I fully expected to have my preconceptions confirmed. Instead, my gaze fell upon the top below.
Lululemon anti -stink t-shirt
It was in my size, it felt so soft and it had anti-stink materials that inhibits sweat bacteria from growing. The previously hidden fashionista and the geek in me were mesmerised.
I had to have it and tomorrow, I’ll be testing out its non stink properties at Bikram Yoga Southside and I might need to add to my Lululemon collection (do you think they might like to have a fat male ambassador?).
Huge thanks to SoulinMotion, Mark Russell and Lululemon for a wonderful introduction to Chi Running.
The Hub Pro completely underpins the Faster training philosophy. It allows complete freedom for my clients to express themselves through movement, in an environment that easily lends it’s to task driven exercises to promote skill development with enough distraction to hit the right energy systems to smash their physical adaptation goals –
Scott Devenney, Faster Trainer.
I turned the corner and there, 500 metres ahead, were the leading pack. They were tightly grouped and moving at a reasonable pace. Catching and overtaking them would not be easy.
It was Week 2 of the Step Count Challenge and my knee was still troubling me. I had originally decided to take this 5K easy, but when I saw the group ahead, my competitive nature took over. I checked my heart rate and pace on my new Garmin Forerunner 235 (what a watch) and realised that I could, should and would catch them.
I zeroed in on the person at the tail of the group and made him my target. I would catch him first and then pick the rest off, one by one.
I lifted my head, pushed out my chest and focused on quickly gaining ground on the competition. It took me five minutes to get within 10 metres of him and at this point I stopped gaining on him. It was as if he was aware of my approach and had increased his own pace to keep me at bay. I wasn’t sure how long I could maintain my own pace and I was close to admitting defeat.
He was in my sights
And then, an opportunity presented itself.
We approached a road crossing and although no traffic was coming, I nonchalantly jogged across and as we touched down on the kerb, we were finally level and for at least thirty seconds we were neck and neck, matching each other in stride.
I didn’t dare to turn my neck and simply stared ahead, quickening my pace that little bit more. Soon, I necked ahead and then the real work began.
At this point, I should probably explain . This was not a running race. In fact, it was really only a race in my mind.
For this was my 3 mile active commute to work and as far as I was aware, nobody else was in on my private race.
Or were they?
As I marched on towards work, I heard the sound of shoes slapping. He was right behind me and the quicker I walked, the louder his shoes became. I could not shake him and my wee (28 inch) legs were struggling. How could he be moving so fast, for so long? Was he also racing me?!
I quickly glanced around and he was nowhere to be seen. How could this be possible, especially when I could still hear his shoes?
Possibly because they were not his shoes. They were mine. Not on my feet, but in my bag!!
I take my walks to work and the Step Count Challenge seriously (maybe too seriously, if this blog is anything to go by) and wear running shoes on the way in while my dress shoes are in my bag.
The noise was the soles of my shoes reverberating rthymically together in my bag, as I moved faster. It reminded me of the famous Billy Connolly shark joke.
On realising this, I instinctively slowed my pace and disaster struck. Out of nowhere, another commuter appeared and overtook me. She had the most amazing gait and was walking effortlessly and at speed… in heels! I was up against a pro.
At every junction, I applied my casual jog to gain the lead, only to see her once again overtake me on the pavement. She was a walking machine. As I crossed the final road and neared the point of no return i.e. my workplace, I resorted to what can only be described as cheating.
I innocently checked my watch and feigned surprise and shock at the time. I shook my head and broke into a run.
Haha. Take that fast walking business lady.
Victory was mine, even if I did break the rules. But then, this is my own race and there are no rules. I am wild like that.
This is how I make my daily Step Count Challenge walks to and from work fun and interesting, especially as my route takes me along some rather dull and uninspiring streets.
My morning commute
Am I alone in my secret races or do you also compete against other commuters? Or, do you have other ways to gamify your Step Count Challenge walks?
Gove’s Intentions
In 2014, Michael Gove, the then Minister of Education , suggested that schools should use traditional punishments to discipline malcontent and miss behaving school pupils (1).
One of the suggested punishments for classroom indiscipline was running laps of the playground.
Not only could this be viewed as a form of corporal punishment, outlawed across the UK by 2003 (2), but for the overweight and inactive it could even be regarded as cruel and unusual punishment.
The sport that I love (and occasionally hate) touted as a means of reprimanding rebellious kids. Lanes replacing lines and exhaustion replacing detention. It earmarked running as a punishment and children would arguably soon learn to despise running.
Another week and another outside broadcast for CamGlen Radio recorded as we TryBowls.
I am overweight, inflexible and I have reached that age, when every movement is accompanied by noises. Either a guttural old man groan or a more concerning pop in my knee or a click in my hip. Recently these have been accompanied by a stab of pain and it has led me to being less active than normal.
So, when I was invited to a yoga class in Mumbai (we were in India), my first thought was that it would be full of lithe, fit and beautiful yogis performing poses that I would struggle to watch, never mind replicate.
But Poornandu, the instructor, allayed my fears, as we chatted and walked from Mumbai’s Grant Street Station to the German School, where he would introduce me to Iyengar yoga and remind me why I keep saying that I need to do more yoga.
The setting was perfect. Palm trees swayed above us in a gentle breeze that ensured that we wouldn’t be participating in an outdoor Bikram (hot ) Yoga class and birdsong replaced the constant beeping of the Mumbai traffic.
My view from the ground
Poornandu expertly guided us through sixty minutes of challenging moves, that stretched every limb and opened up my lungs (there’s something to this whole breathing through the nose thing). Being a novice (and mouth breather ), I had to have my posture corrected by poor Poornandu, on a few occasions, and he did so in a reassuring manner that made me feel relaxed and made me forget that I was the least flexible person in attendance (or possibly in existence).
Getting my stretch on in Mumbai
By the end, I was standing taller, walking lighter and feeling rejuvenated.
It was everything that yoga should be and I vowed that on my return to the UK , I would find and attend a yoga class.
So, when the OM Yoga Show came to Glasgow and kindly invited me along, I thought what better way to find out more about yoga and catch up with some yogi friends. It would also make a great feature for my weekly radio show with Paula McGuire (listen out this Tuesday on CamGlen Radio).
Adventure Show team interview Yoga teacher Scott McDonald
Unfortunately for me, however, the OM Yoga Show Glasgow was everything that I feel is wrong with yoga and with expos, in general.
While there were many skilled yoga teachers, like Scott McDonald, present and several great yoga studios, such as Seasonal Yoga, advertising their services, there were too many tarot card and palm readers, crystal and rock sellers and businesses feeding off the appetites of those looking for vegan friendly foods and clothing. I didn’t realise that being vegan was a prerequisite of practising yoga.
It was all too mystical and in my opinion, the inclusion of fortune tellers, was telling. Too many were trying to make their fortunes from the archetypal yoga practitioner.
Don’t need to be psychic to see that this is mystical nonsense
The OM Yoga Show Glasgow marketing also seemed to be one dimensional and consisted mainly of pictures of young fit women literally bending over backwards to show off their yoga talents.
Bending over backwards
While this might, indeed, be aspirational for some, I do believe that more inclusive (and less frightening) marketing might attract more new practitioners and possibly more men.
Too few men practice yoga and this has seen the continued rise of classes such as Broga (read my Man V Fat review) and Matt Miller’s Broga workshop, at the OM Yoga Show Glasgow was full …. of mostly women. Hopefully, in the future, we will see more men trying yoga.
Yoga for Bros. ..and sisters.
The day was rescued by Scott and Julie of Seasonal Yoga, who both spoke passionately and eloquently about yoga and its benefits and I have decided that I will not allow the disappointment of the OM Yoga Show Glasgow stop me from making yoga an integral part of my training and a means of relaxing.
It all starts on Thursday at Finn’s Place, Langside Church.