Stew Smith Fitness News

Most of the time, I receive emails from people who are seeking to pass their PFT and just as many who wish to max out their PFT scores for their age group. There are many articles in the archive about the PFT for all services and events so check those out. Every now and then, I get emails from people who are training to run even faster than they already are. These are the runner who are trying to break 5:00- 6:00 mile pace and are usually Marines who want to run faster than 18:00 on the three mile run...

I received several e-mails last week about running faster. A few requested workouts for their two or three mile PFT runs (Army / Marine Corps respectively) and several were runners who compete 5K and 10K races on the weekends. Since all these distances use relatively the same training philosophy - short distance , faster pace - I decided to answer them all with the following track workouts.The Four mile track workout has worked for many military and short distance runners for years. This workout is basically interval training. Interval training means you run at a certain pace for a particular...

This week an Army Officer emailed me with a goal of dropping two minutes off his mile run pace. This is not a tough goal to achieve IF you are presently running a 10:00 mile and have a goal of 8:00 mile pace. However, as you can imagine, it gets much tougher going from 8:00 mile pace to 6:00 mile pace or faster. But the 10:00 to 8:00 pace can actually be done in less than a few months as long as you are not new to running. If you are a beginner, you should always ramp up distance, pace,...

Exercising your legs is very often overlooked by even the most avid weight lifters and exercisers. Many people simply cannot and should not perform some of the more basic leg exercises like squats and lunges due to knee and lower back injuries. But, that does not mean you have to neglect the pillars of our bodies' foundation. Doing leg workouts not only make your legs stronger and able to support your body better, but you will actually burn more calories in your workouts by incorporating a leg routine. Since your lower body has the biggest muscles in your body, by...

Every year, after a few months of decreased running due to winter weather, I receive emails from people who are starting to ache after only a few days of running. Typically, if you take off for more than 2-3 months from a regular running routine, chances are when you start again you will start "where you left off," and actually over-train. Basically, you are running too far, too soon. It takes time to build up to a rigorous amount of running (4-6 miles day -- 4-5 times a week), even if you used to run this far in the fall...