Fitness Reads: Stuck in a running rut? Should you eat breakfast before a workout?

What did the SNEWS team read this week that other industry insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out!

• We are in a rut — a running rut that is. We’re tired of our routes, we’re tired of our shoes, we’re tired of our running hats and we’re tired of races. We need to put some pep in our step, so we were totally stoked to come across this Runner’s World story about how to get motivated. We learned tips about changing routes and joining running clubs. We also found doing some intervals on a treadmill makes a workout go by faster.

• It just may be that men are from Mars and women are from from Venus. It’s no shocker that the sexes have different goals in various areas of life, and fitness is no different. This New York Daily News story gave us the skinny. It all boils down to this: Women want to lose body fat while men want to bulk up.

• Few things are as debilitating as a back injury — especially if you’re strict about your workout regimen. This story from Level 4 CrossFit Seattle gives customers who suffer from chronic back pain hope that they’ll work out normally again. We’ll give you a hint about how: Kettlebells are involved.

• Exercise is not only a great way to address the obesity epidemic, it’s also a way to help youngsters with autism improve behavior problems. With the instances of autism increasing every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there will be an even greater need to help children regulate their symptoms and exercise is the perfect addition to their treatment program, according to this story.

• A few of us on the SNEWS team have been dying to try yoga on a stand-up paddleboard. Mostly because we love experimenting with whatever’s super-popular — and SUP yoga is, according to this Kalamazoo Gazette story. The story features tips from a first-timer on not taking yourselves too seriously and remembering your swimsuit. First we must do two things: Work up the bravery to attend our first yoga class; and second, try stand-up paddle boarding.

• This week we’ve been having an internal battle: Eat breakfast before or after we work out. When we have breakfast — the most important meal of the day and our personal favorite — and skip a workout because we don’t have enough time we feel sluggish and a little unfocused. Turns out we’re not just imagining it. A Danish study reported in this New Zealand Herald story said that exercise had a more positive effect on children than eating when it came to academic performance. The children who’d had some exercise learned better than those who had not exercised but had consumed breakfast.

• We all knew that exercise is fantastic for warding off diseases like diabetes, but we never sat down and found out exactly why. This Business Week story gives us a glimpse into the science behind that phenomenon, noting that it happens because exercise may turn the bad “white” fat into the healthier, calorie-burning “brown” fat.

• A few weeks ago, we read about a California couple who sued the Encinitas Union School District for teaching yoga to their children, claiming it was unconstitutional religious indoctrination. Check out this Los Angeles Times story with the update — a court ruled yoga is, in fact, not the same thing as religious instruction.

• Just like we know broccoli is good for us yet sometimes steer clear of it, many people know exercise is good for them but treat it like broccoli. Why? This ABC News affiliate story suggests if motivation is hard to come by, it could be genetic. One study from the University of Missouri suggests that some genetic traits could make us either presdisposed to being active or sedentary.

• Since treadmills are a consistent top seller for many specialty fitness retailers, many of your customers are likely runners. Most runners out want to get faster, so in an effort to help them achieve their dreams, share this core workout to get better abs for better race times.

Did you read anything interesting this week? Email it to us because we want to read it, too!