Personal Training History
My association with the Dallas study investigators began in 1964. I had been running since 1961, with the junior high school track team, and became interested in the science behind running. When I was looking for a project for a chemistry class, a school friend's father put me in touch with the Medical Center and I was soon on the treadmill. During the summer of 1964 a teammate and I worked as technicians and subjects in Leadville, Colorado for the Medical Center. While home from college during the 1966 spring vacation I was invited by the Medical Center to participate in the bed rest study.
After the study I continued running for recreation and fitness. There were stretches when I was not in good condition because of study or work commitments, but I always managed to find the time to resume regular training. While in graduate school in the mid- 1970's at the University of Texas at Austin I was a member of the Austin Runners Club. Members of the club were recruited to be subjects in the PhD dissertation of Carl Foster, so I renewed my interest in exercise physiology. Until the late 1980's I continued to train, but eventually reduced my running to occasional jogs with my wife and dogs. When Dr. Mitchell called in April 1996 I was much heavier and not in very good condition. At first I was not eager to start training again, but in July we found a very sick homeless male dalmatian. The dog recovered in a few weeks and I realized I had a new running partner to replace Nicky, who had died in 1995. I did all my training for the follow-up study with my new partner, Marlowe. We ran 4 or 5 miles five days a week, and we continued after the study concluded. We later found another stray dalmatian, a female I named Toni, and we made a threesome along the bayou where I did all my running.
The follow-up study mentions that no one showed a significant weight loss. My training log shows that I lost about 6 pounds during the study, which lasted only 18 weeks for me. I continued to run after the study and eventually got down to 162 lbs, which was 8 lbs above my weight in 1966. When in my best condition, in 1965 and 1976, I weighed 148 lbs, which compares favorably with the best runners who are my height. I made no special effort at reducing my caloric intake other than to cut out the obvious offenders. A good exercise program encourages more sensible eating, but the results take a while. My experience shows that it is possible to loose about twenty pounds a year by burning about 2000 calories a week in exercise and making slight and reasonable changes in one's diet. If the exercise program is reduced or dropped, then the weight returns. So it's of the greatest importance to make a lifelong commitment to regular exercise. It may be necessary to take off extended periods of time, but if not too much weight is gained, it can be lost when exercise resumes.
Since running is the easiest way to burn the necessary calories it is important to have strong leg, and lower back muscles. I see many runners, men and women, with insufficiently developed leg muscles. These muscles are essential to support the knee and control the foot alignment, and absorb the unavoidable shock of landing. There is no substitute for strength work. Many runners show feet pointed out when they land. Their stride is often too long. They show a foot landing on the ball rather than the heel, or the inverse, an exaggerated heel landing where the hamstrings must contract forcefully to pull the body over the foot with little push-off. Many people new to running show poor form and consequently risk injury. Form follows function, so learn how to run from someone who knows and can show you, and has no preconceptions.
During an 18-month period in 2001-02 I trained on a bicycle ergometer for Dr. Johnson. My spreadsheet record of my training provides a good example of an S-shaped adaptation curve.
In June 2004 pain in my left knee caused me to seek medical help. For the first time I had an injury that did not clear up with a few days or weeks rest. Since childhood I have known that I do not have a skeleton that is 100% up to specification. My right leg is five-eigths of an inch short, my feet are very narrow (especially the heel) and the vertebra at the base of my spinal column does not seem to be properly formed. All these problems could be treated with strength conditioning, foot orthotics and a wedge in my right shoe heel. My left knee, however, required surgery to smooth the cartilage surfaces which had become rough and slightly worn over the years. The surgeon who did the work characterised the join as tight. It is obvious on x-ray, and simply feeling the bumps on the outside of the knee that represent the end of the femur and the top of the tibia reveals that there is more distance between the bumps on my right knee than on my left. Before surgery jogging easily caused no pain, so I now restrict my running to just a few times a year at a very leisurely pace. The exercise bike and swimming, with occasional weight work, are now my principal training activities.
I've been careful to avoid overtraining, a source of frustration for me in the past. I keep a training database, with rest days specially marked. Every time I make an entry, I check my statistics, which include three database queries that show me how many rest days I've had in the last 30, 60 and 90 days. I try to keep the percentage of rest days at about 20 percent. The spreadsheets I keep on my bicycle ergometer work also show me when I need a break. My goal, one I've had since elementary school days, is too maintain myself with regular training for as long as my body permits.
Participating in these studies has been very rewarding. My association with Drs. Johnson, Mitchell and Saltin gave me a chance to see how science is done and to learn more about running. If you have any comments or questions, contact me, Gregg Hill, at ghill@hal-pc.org
