Author: wildgreenquest@gmail.com

Everyone is emulating Norwegian threshold workouts. How does that apply in the weight room?Norway’s Johannes Hosflot Klaebo (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)Published June 28, 2026 03:14AMThe lessons we’ve fixated on from Norway’s world-beating endurance athletes mostly focus on, well, endurance training: double thresholds, lactate testing, VO2 max records, and so on. This is logical, but it’s not the whole picture. What if there are other elements of the Norwegian approach that underlie their success? Has anyone studied the Norwegian diet? Maybe fårikål and tørrfisk are the fuel of champions.Or maybe there are some more obvious candidates. In…

Published June 28, 2026 03:41AMChinese running shoes are having a moment. Poke around YouTube or Reddit, and you’ll find plenty of runners obsessing over brands with names like Do-Win and Dynafish, Li-Ning and Qiaodan. That’s because, at a time when Western brands’ everyday shoes can cost close to $200, Chinese brands offer incredible value. Despite runners’ fears about using relatively new and unfamiliar brands, some Chinese brands have top-tier midsole foams and above-average durability at a fraction of the price.And this isn’t just online hype; I can give a true assessment after running almost exclusively in Chinese shoes since the…

Trading peak performance for mental ease, one writer rejects gear consumerism in favor of zero forethought and a single pair of trail runners.The author poses with her Altamesa 500s (Photo: Ryleigh Nucilli)Published June 27, 2026 03:36AMFor almost a year now, I’ve been committing heresy. Enmeshed in an illicit love affair with a pair of North Face Altamesa 500s, I’ve been sinning against the church of modern outdoor gear culture. I’m finally ready to confess to all of it.I’ve been wearing a single pair of shoes to do essentially every activity I enjoy. I’ve been throwing just one pair of “exercise…

Published June 27, 2026 03:00AMMaybe your upper back aches after cycling. Or your knees bark whenever you hike uphill or hit the trails for a run. Perhaps your neck twinges every time you swing your pack over your shoulder. In other words, pain accompanies movement. Even if it’s not always debilitating, it still sucks. Many factors can cause your body to ache as you move, but for outdoor athletes or people who exercise, it often happens when your muscles, tendons, and other tissues get overloaded, says Tom Walters, an orthopedic physical therapist and author of Rehab Science: How to Overcome…

Published June 26, 2026 11:33AMWhen Cal Calamia stepped up to the start line of the Tokyo Marathon last March, they already had a win at the New York Marathon and second-place finishes at Chicago, Boston, and Berlin under their belt. So the goal was clear: add another win, and take another step towards the six-star medal given to runners who finish all the World Major Marathons. As they looked around at the other anxious runners, hopping around and getting some final stretches in before the race, they kept their eyes on the competition, the other nonbinary athletes at the front…

Published June 26, 2026 01:50PMThe “Summer Friday” is a sacred concept—a green light to slowly back away from the laptop and head into the sunshine. (Even if that sunshine lasts until midnight, as senior travel and culture editor Kathleen Rellihan experienced in Finland, below). For this month’s gear spotlight, we asked Outside editors and writers for the goods they recommend for any summer adventure, Friday or otherwise. Our testing grounds spanned from Idaho’s Lochsa River to the Swiss Alps and our own backyards.What’s your ideal Summer Friday, and what gear gets you out the door and into the weekend? Let…

Published June 26, 2026 12:10PMOverview: Family camping with little kids is a lot—but the right gear makes it survivable, even fun. After two summers of figuring it out the hard way, Outside contributor Jenny Wiegand shares the family camping gear that actually works for families with toddlers. I just survived my first family camping trip of the summer with two toddlers (age 1 and 3). It was a better time than camping with a baby and a 2-year-old last summer—but easy? Still no. Relaxing? For maybe five minutes while the kids were jumping on their mattresses. Worth it? Unequivocally yes. We…

Published June 26, 2026 12:03PMHere’s a subplot to watch for in the upcoming Tour de France. A company called From Lab to Field, or FLF, emerged from secrecy earlier this month (as Jim Cotton reported for Outside’s sister publication Velo) to reveal that it has developed a new energy gel that includes lactate, of all things. The gel isn’t yet for sale, but the company produced a preliminary batch of tens of thousands of gels. Seven World Tour teams tried to buy them for this summer’s Tour—but one team got there first and bought up the entire production run to ensure they…

Updated June 26, 2026 10:33AMLate spring throughout the end of summer brings one of nature’s most impressive displays as thousands of fireflies come alive in wild forests, meadows, and river valleys across the country.Growing up in Southern Virginia where fireflies were a staple of summer evenings, I’ve spent countless nights watching them illuminate fields and backyards after sunset. Over the years, I’ve continued chasing them everywhere from local trails to national parks. Still, as an adult, there are few experiences more magical than watching hundreds of tiny lights flicker in the night sky. As temperatures rise and humidity settles in,…

Published June 26, 2026 05:41AMForget the fireworks this 4th of July—and not just because of omnipresent fire bans. REI’s having the equivalent of a fire sale with the Co-op’s 4th of July deals event, and hundreds of outdoor essentials are now on offer at clearance prices. We know, we know—we haven’t even hit July. But the sale runs from June 26th through July 6th, and REI members enjoy extra perks like the ability to stack discounts and grab gift card bonuses (more on that later). Factor in REI’s fast-shipping options, and the sale gives outdoor enthusiasts plenty of time to…