Monthly Archives: February 2015

BSX Insight

By | February 24, 2015

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Everyday there are new pieces of wearable technology coming out aimed at giving runners the most information they can get. Most of these work in roughly the same way, they sit on your wrist like a watch and give you information on your pulse, heart rate, and calories burned. There’s a new product hitting the shelves at the end of this year called the BSX Insight that aims to change that.

The Insight is a wearable that provides athletes with information about their levels of lactic acid, pace, and cadence as well as all the metrics listed before. These pieces of information are a lot more useful to the serious runner than the standards because they give the runner a perspective on how to improve their training. Knowing when the lactic acid build up hits the upper threshold allows runners to know when they’re about to top out and how to set new goals for training. It used to be a very expensive and time consuming test to find out where that lactate threshold was, requiring a trip to a lab to run a treadmill test while simultaneously being poked and prodded. The Insight simply sits against the calf inside of a sock in order to collect data as close to the source as possible and sends it to the app on your phone. In addition to all of the immediate information it delivers, the Insight will offer a cloud based training service based on that collected data for users as well.

 

Getting Back Into Running

By | February 23, 2015

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We’re finally starting to see some signs of the end of winter now, or at least it stopped being historically cold, and maybe some of us are starting to think about when we’ll be able to actually use all of the roads and sidewalks again. I know I’ve got a road bike waiting for all of the ice and salt to find other places to be, but maybe you’re more suited to using your own two feet to exercise and get you around. In that case, we’ve got some advice for getting back up to speed in your running routine without causing injury.

Our first tip we’re going to put in big, bold letters because it’s important, warm up and stretch. Before you do anything, make sure you’ve warmed up and then stretched. No one wants to be the person that makes it’s a quarter mile in and realizes that something is wrong, because they couldn’t take ten minutes to touch their toes.

Make sure you’ve got the right equipment for what you’re doing. If you’ve got high arches, but don’t have shoes that support them you’re going to have a bad time. Same thing with socks and whatever else you choose to wear while out there. We’ve got a wide range of athletic socks to keep your feet dry and comfortable while you’re running. We also consider a phone a piece of equipment to take with you, in case of something happens while you’re and need to contact someone for help.

Did you used to pound out marathons like they were nothing and are having a hard time now? Don’t over do it. Miles in the past are just that, in the past. Listen to your body when it comes to what you can and can’t do right now. Walk it if you have to. Not being able to meet a goal is fine, as long as you keep working towards it.

Look guys, there’s a light at the end of tunnel that has been this winter. We don’t want it to be spring and then suddenly you’ve hurt yourself and you’re stuck on a couch during all of the nice weather so play it smart.

 

Keeping Feet Warm

By | February 19, 2015

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For a lot of the country the past weekend brought us the gift of a blast of arctic air and all the snow that comes with it. Those of you in places where it’s above zero and clear of snow can probably skim this article and use that time saved to send help to all of us that are frozen and digging out cars. For the rest of us that are going to be dealing with more snow this weekend or the slushy remnants of what’s already here, we’re going to give a quick primer on keeping your feet warm and choosing proper winter socks.

When you open your sock drawer right now what do you see? If it’s mostly cotton socks then you should pay extra attention to today’s post. Cotton is a great fabric for a number of reasons, the biggest being that it’s a very breathable, natural fabric. This is great in warm months when the issue is getting heat out and keeping everything cool, but in winter the goal is to keep all of the warm air from your body in. So put away the athletic socks until the only ice you see is in your drink on a patio and break out the wool, thermal insulated, and other synthetic fabrics. These fabrics work so much better than cotton by taking the air that is already warmed up by your body and trapping it in pockets as well as having water wicking properties to keep your feet dry as well as warm.

Socks are important because they have the job of getting water away from your feet, but a pair of breathable, waterproof boots is essential to staying warm by getting moisture generated by your feet out and keeping water from the snow from getting in. Make sure the boots are properly insulated for the temperatures you’ll be facing as well. If you’re going out somewhere where you know the temperatures will be very low and you’ll be in them for a while first off consider, very carefully, using chemical warmers to keep feeling in your toes and second, not doing that.

Smelly Feet

By | February 18, 2015

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Limburger cheese. Skunk. Vinegar. To a lot of people these are considered pretty bad smells, but they all have their fans as well. One smell that probably has no true fans is smell feet. Medically it’s known as bromodosis and it’s primarily caused by having damp, sweaty feet and wearing the same shoes day after day.

If sweaty feet is one of the leading causes of smelly feet we should take a bit to cover why foot sweat causes so many issues. Of all the body parts, the feet get the least amount of fresh air, especially in winter with heavy, water proof shoes. When your feet are sweaty and don’t have any fresh air that moisture has to go somewhere. In this particular case, the moisture goes to the bacteria that live on your skin that break down the sweat and give off that lovely, pungent aroma. If you work in a position that requires a lot of standing on your feet or are particularly stressed out your body tends to react by sweating more.

So now that we know the why of foot smell, let’s figure out how to treat and prevent those odors. One of the keys to preventing foot odor is to keep your feet, socks, and shoes dry. So try to avoid wearing the same pair of shoes everyday and make sure your socks are dry before wearing them again. The use of drying powders in your shoes is also an effective way of cutting down on the amount of moisture in shoes. On cold, damp days make sure to thoroughly wash and dry your feet to wash off as much bacteria and sweat as possible. If you already have an issue with foot odor they make a number of specially formulated anti-bacterial soaps to reduce excessive amounts of bacteria. If odors manage to beat even the toughest of treatments, at some point consider visiting a doctor for some prescription grade treatments.

Evolution of Basketball Uniforms and Socks

By | February 15, 2015

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The NBA All Star game is tonight and with each year’s game comes a new uniform. While the minimalist black and white uniforms certainly look stylish, they lack some of the flair we’d expect for the All Star Game. In a game that’s all about having fun, being flashy, and giving up on the concept of defense you’d expect to see something a little more fun. Luckily apparel company Stance didn’t get the memo about the uniforms and are making tie dye East/West socks the official sock of the 2015 All Star Game.

The original basketball uniform is much like the invention of basketball, pretty simple and humble. Originally all it took to suit up on the court was what you had been wearing that day with a pair of flat, comfortable shoes. Ten people on a court wearing loose trousers, short sleeve shirts, and wool socks seems fitting for a time when the game was played with a peach basket. Soon the game became more formalized and uniforms evolved with it. Uniforms of sleeveless or short sleeve shirts, depending on gender, medium length shorts, and wool socks worn over the knees became standard. These uniforms lasted until the 1930s and the invention of nylon. Nylon was much lighter, breathable, and easier to wash than wool.

Once synthetic materials were brought into uniforms things were fairly constant from the 1930s to about the 1970s with medium length shorts and form fitting shirts before shorts began to rise and shirts became tighter in the 1980s. As the shorts became shorter, the socks became longer and change was coming. If the first half of the history of basketball was short shorts and tube socks, the second half is baggy shorts and technology laden fabrics. Beginning with Michael Jordan the NBA uniform became baggier and more like the ones we know today. The biggest advances haven’t been especially visible, having more to do with the fabrics of the uniforms particularly the socks. Present day basketball socks are built with a wide variety of technology for everything from moisture control to compression.