Health
ArchiveI’d like to think that I’m the kind of parent who knows exactly what her kids should eating at any given time, and how much. The kind of parent who’ll—for example—whip up homemade date-and-nut energy bars or lemon sports…
Matt Dixon of Purplepatch Fitness explains how to eat when you’re training and recovering. For more triathlon training videos, go to The Outside Challenge.
What’s the secret of success in endurance sports? I get asked this a lot. The answer can be boiled down to one phrase: consistency of effective training. Performance does not arrive overnight. It comes out of a consistently applied training plan that is appropriate and specific to your…
Major League Baseball’s long tradition of warming up for the season with oddball adventures
Refuel with these bacon-cashew rice cakes from sports physiologist Allen Lim
Get ready to maximize the endurance, strength, flexibility, speed, and power you never knew you had.
Matt Dixon of Purplepatch Fitness shares one of the best exercises for building strength in your glutes. For more triathlon fitness videos and interactive training plans, check out The Outside Challenge.
Matt Dixon of Purplepatch Fitness demonstrates one of the best exercises for building strength in your hamstrings and glutes. For more triathlon fitness videos and interactive training plans, check out The Outside Challenge.
The ultimate guide to weightlifting for endurance athletes
Have trail and gym work turned you into a stiff? You need some flex time with Ashtanga yoga.
Your foundation is built. It's time to tweak the beast.
We asked four top fitness coaches for their tape-it-to-the-fridge-door advice. Here's what they told us. (Bonus: We kick your excuses to the curb.)
Get a solid endurance base through heart-rate training.
Fine-tune your fitness with balance and agility exercises. Here's how.
To keep a workout program fresh, you need to make it your own, and some days you need to break the rules—within reason.
A decade of research reveals that creatine is the real deal—but watch your step when tempted by other supplements making big promises
How much protein do you really need? A lot more than Uncle Sam's telling you.
After every workout, recovery starts with the first thing you put in your mouth
Heart-rate training is the key to gauging your aerobic intensity and building endurance. Here's how to get started.
I’ve never done a triathlon. I don’t swim. I don’t run. And I bike mainly when our copy chief goads me into it. Yes, this is pathetic, especially since I edit Outside’s fitness coverage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still active: I ski all winter, hike a 12,000-foot peak at…
In our obsession with minimizing exercise damage, we may have lost sight of the reason we exercise in the first place: to force our bodies to adapt and get stronger
Matt Dixon of Purplepatch Fitness demonstrates how to build swimming strength on days you don’t have time to visit the pool. For triathlon fitness videos and interactive training plans, check out The Outside Challenge.
Matt Dixon of Purple Patch Fitness demonstrates the proper technique for a lunge. For more triathlon fitness videos and interactive training plans check out The Outside Challenge.
Everything you need to run a personal best, including a 12-week training plan, a race-day nutrition plan, and advice from U.S. record holder Ryan Hall
California’s San Quentin State Prison is home to a ball field where you can take your cuts against convicted felons. This I had to try.
Training with a monitor can be daunting to master, but it’s the best way to make the most of your workouts.
A recent New York Times Magazine story titled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body" caused a stir last week, claiming that certain aspects of yoga were too risky for the general population. So should you avoid the fitness routine if you're not a serious athlete?
Triathlons aren’t just trendy. Multisport training develops balanced fitness and prevents injuries. Here’s why you should dump your ordinary routine and make the switch, too.
You’ve got questions? Your new triathlon-training coach, Matt Dixon, has the answers. Throughout the course of the next few months, as you prepare for your triathlon through The Outside Challenge, Dixon will answer a wide range…
Get ready for a sprint-distance triathlon with one of three custom plans created by coach Matt Dixon.
How fit do you really need to be to scale the highest peak in the world? An expert weighs in.
New workouts, a marathon birth, and revolutionary new studies: Here are the headlines that defined health and fitness news in 2011
The science around strength training has changed in the last decade. You’re older, stronger, and hopefully, smarter now. Don’t make the same mistakes you made in your high school weight room.
Triathlon is booming, with hundreds of events being added to the calendar each year and thousands of goggle-eyed newbies lining up to swim, bike, and run for the first time. But only one race still really matters. Greetings from the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, ground zero of America's multisport madness
Does stretching prior to a run prevent injuries and improve performance? Does guzzling water prevent cramps? Here's the truth about the top 10 fitness myths.
Welcome to the frozen, on fire, wet, barb-wired world of Tough Mudder—where adventure racing starts to look a lot more like hazing
Thanksgiving is almost a week gone, but if you're like me the massive pig out and the Macy's Day-worthy parade of leftovers won't soon be forgotten. I'm talking about extra girth, not warm fuzzy holiday feelings. I ventured onto the scale for the first time in a week and confirmed…
The masochistic sport of obstacle racing has exploded in popularity. Nick Heil tries to understand why so many are signing up for the misery.
Build strength for ski season with this CrossFit-inspired workout
An easy, dramatic performance boost based on an old science is catching on. It's about time.
In December, personal trainer and infomercial legend Tony Horton unveils P90X2, the follow-up to his wildly popular home-exercise DVD series. Since being released in 2003, P90X has sold more than 45 million copies. The latest version, which focuses on core strength and stability, offers the same brand of living-room motivation and campy expression
Cognitive scientists are only just beginning to understand what being in nature does for our mental health. But—big surprise!—the evidence is promising. Here are five smart reasons to go wild.
With temperatures below zero, more than 4,500 feet of climbing, and 9,400 competitors, Wisconsin’s American Birkebeiner is the largest and one of the toughest cross-country ski races in the United States. Crossing the finish line is nothing short of a lifetime achievement. Here's our plan to get you there, even if the closest you've come to snow is the frost in
Six exercises to help you strengthen your body's weakest links
How professional skier and Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety recovered from a debilitating knee injury.
Injuries are a fact of life. Here's how to recover faster.
Want to make this year memorable? Start training now and destroy your office mates in a 10K.
Gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, but it’s also found in foods like ice cream and ketchup. Gluten-free diets are typically followed by people suffering from a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, a condition that causes a negative reaction to gluten and results in damage to…
Perusing the energy food aisle can be a bewildering experience. The sheer number of bars, chews, gels, granola-bar imposters, and lookalike Snicker's can cause you to bonk you before you even begin your next ride, run, or workout. Don't fret. Fortunately, we've tasted just about all of them. Every week,…
When 34-year-old Hobie Call lost the Death Race this past August, he also lost his chance to win $100,000 for sweeping the Spartan Races. So why does he keep competing?
Big-city marathons, triathlons, and adventure races have never been more popular. Here's why it's time for you to line up for the starting gun, too.