Author: Matt Hart

What is it and how much do you need? [dropcap style=”square”]S[/dropcap]ince 1960—when just 13 percent of Americans were obese and just 1 percent had diabetes—there has been a considerable effort to understand our obesity epidemic. Over 600,000 articles have been published in medical literature on nutrition since then, with 44,000 last year alone. It would be great if this onslaught of information inched us closer to the goal-post in any meaningful way. Instead, obesity now affects a third of our population, with 9.3 percent of Americans suffering from diabetes. To make matters worse, most this research is paid for by…

Facts and Tips for Utah Athletes An unborn baby’s lungs are full of amniotic fluid. Before we exit the womb, we’re incapable of breathing so mom delivers the requisite oxygen through the placenta, but once on the outside…we’re on our own. Our first breath fills our clean lungs with oxygen and—if you live in the Salt Lake Valley—microscopic particles of soot, exhaust, dust, aerosols, and other pollutants that cause inflammation, the precursor to disease.

Snow Season Trail Running My footfalls are measured but sloppy, uneven, and shorter than normal as I make my way up Grandeur Peak. Each step lands in a few inches of the eight percent density white gold that makes the Wasatch so special. It’s been snowing, but I don’t have time to enjoy the precip on skis. So I run.

Utah’s Growing Ultra Scene Pheidippides, the famed Marathon runner, was also the world’s first recorded ultrarunner. The often overlooked and dubious tale told by Herodotus claims Pheidippides ran from Athens to Sparta, finishing the day before his Marathon run. If this is to be believed, he covered 150 miles in two days. The technical definition of an “ultra” is any race longer than the traditional 26.2 miles Pheidippides ran in 490 BC, but the modern sport has settled on a few common distances: 50K (31 miles), 50 miles, 100K (62 miles), and the pinnacle event—the 100-miler. Basically, Ironman events are…

6 Reasons the Answer is Yes Employing an expert to help you train smarter isn’t just for Olympic athletes—it can benefit anyone. Most of us are leading busy, goal-driven lives, and if athletic achievement is on your to-do list then you have to make the most of the time you have. No time for face-to-face sessions? New training devices and the Internet allow coaches and clients to connect from across the country. Here are six great reasons you should consider hiring a personal coach.

Living at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains gives us access to a veritable playground right outside our doorstep. Brigham Young was right when he said, “This is the place.” Today, it isn’t about the protection the mountains provide, but the adventures we find by venturing into the woods.

Last August, I stumbled across the finish line of a 100k foot-race through the Wasatch mountains satisfied, but definitely depleted. The race director thrust a sweaty plastic bottle in my hands and told me, “Have a chocolate milk, it’s the best way to recover.” Sitting down exhausted, I internally debated whether or not I should even engage in a discussion about processed dairy. He had no idea that if I took his advice I’d likely leave the contents of my bowels right there at his finish line. Open any national magazine about triathlon, cycling, or running and it’s hard to…

What if I promised you a better workout in half the time of your daily one-hour run or bike? How about a better workout in just four minutes? I should probably feign embarrassment for sounding like an infomercial, but I won’t. Because now I have your attention, and you need this workout. Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Izumi Tabata from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan and one of my favorite workouts, Tabata Sprints. What are Tabata Sprints? Tabata sprints are what’s called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The general idea behind a HIIT…