The Altra Torin 9 is an Everyday Trainer With a Revived Low-to-the-Ground Ride
The Torin 9 returns to its roots, but with a bouncier midsole and a new Vibram outsole.
In case you missed them, we’re bringing you the most-loved stories from the last month. Friends don’t let friends skip important running advice. Cheers!
As the broken dreams of our 2026 New Year’s resolutions will attest, overhauling your entire lifestyle in one week rarely sticks. A handful of small daily tweaks, however, might get you further than a grand wishful promise. That’s the idea behind two recent roundups on longevity, one focused on joint health and the other on habits with an outsized impact on lifespan. According to “‘Smaller doses of exercise are a miracle cure’: 14 expert tips to protect your joints,” UK orthopedic surgeons and rheumatologists point out that smaller doses of exercise spread throughout the day can offer protection for your joints, even if you can’t find time for an entire workout. They also encourage patients to get specific about their pain, tracking when it flares, how long it lasts, and what makes it better or worse, since a detailed account gives you and your doctors a much clearer problem to solve. “9 Micro Habits That Can Actually Boost Longevity” builds on that same theme with tweaks like swapping fruit juice for whole fruit and trading deli meats for roasted chicken. One habit worth flagging for runners chasing better recovery: cutting off caffeine by early afternoon. Caffeine can linger in your system for hours, and your body’s ability to clear it may slow further with age, meaning that afternoon coffee could be disrupting your sleep long after the jitters wear off. For more on that, see “What Are The Effects of Caffeine on Your Sleep?” Since quality sleep plays such a large role in recovery and injury prevention, an earlier cutoff might be worth testing before reaching for a bigger training intervention. Consider trying a brief walk or drinking a tall glass of water to find that energy boost without sacrificing your overnight restoration.
#EspressNo
Long runs can feel like high-mileage monsters lurking at the end of your training week, but what you should really watch out for is how suddenly they grow. According to “Three theories of tissue damage accumulation during running,” researchers are still debating whether injury risk is driven most by warm-up, fatigue during long runs, or simply total training volume and intensity. One practical takeaway stood out: dramatically increasing your longest run appears riskier than spreading those extra miles across the week. A study out of Aarhus University found that sudden spikes in your longest single run distance are more predictive of injury than general weekly mileage increases. Because of this, adopting a 10 percent rule specifically for your long run distance could be wiser than applying it to your total weekly volume. As long as you keep that peak distance in check, injecting a little mid-run intensity – as we suggested in our recent post “Turn your long run into a speed-building workout” – should be generally safe. If you are ready to test your legs, “Upping Your Training Tempo with Progressive Long Runs” offers a challenging alternative to the traditional slow approach. Proponents of this method suggest dialing back your overall mileage slightly and finishing fast to simulate race-day fatigue. For half marathoners, they recommend a 10-mile effort starting with three easy miles, progressing down to three miles at goal pace, and finishing with a hard mile if you are an experienced runner. Just consider warming up for at least 10 minutes before starting these quality sessions, and prioritizing recovery for 48 hours afterward to let your tissues repair.
#TendonLovingCare
Some adventurous runners are foraging for legal magic mushrooms – one that improves VO2 max without turning the long run into a vision quest. To learn more about cordyceps and reishi – non-hallucinogenic fungi that may influence stress response, energy production, inflammation, and recovery – check out this new story from Outside: “I Tested 4 Adaptogenic Mushroom Supplements. Here’s What They Did for My Running.” The writer reported better energy from one cordyceps gummy and less soreness, better sleep scores, and stronger next-day energy from one reishi capsule, while two other products produced little noticeable effect. Those results are anecdotal, and changes in training, sleep, nutrition, expectations, or placebo could explain part of the difference. Research remains preliminary as well: a 2025 meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials suggests cordyceps may improve VO2 max, time to exhaustion, blood lactate, and recovery markers, but study sizes and supplement quality vary. Mushroom interest also extends into psychoactive territory. “U.S. Psychedelic Use and Microdosing in 2025” estimates that about 10 million U.S. adults microdosed psilocybin, LSD, or MDMA during the previous year. Despite the curiosity surrounding these trends – which are explored in “What Is Microdosing? Benefits, Effects, Safety, and More” – we can’t recommend experimenting with them for obvious reasons. Psychedelics remain illegal under federal law and present notable health risks, including increased anxiety, brain fog, or stomach upset. That being said, it is fascinating to see where future medicine could head once clinical trials thoroughly prove safety and efficacy.
#MushroomForImprovement
Whoever coined the phrase “all downhill from here,” was probably a skier and not a runner. Heading down a mountain is pretty easy, while running downhill often feels like free speed at first, leaves quads and knees burning. Before cursing the long descent on your next run, remember that success depends on form, according to this story from On: “How to run downhill like a pro.” Experts suggest leaning forward rather than braking backward, keeping your shoulders roughly aligned with your knees, and looking about 10 meters ahead so your brain has time to process the terrain. On smoother slopes, long and controlled strides cover ground efficiently. On the other hand, technical terrain calls for shorter, more precise steps. Since downhill running places a substantial eccentric load on your muscles, practice should build gradually. “Master downhill running with these tips from a pro” offers three strength exercises for preparing your legs: forward step-downs, elevated lunge decelerations, and eccentric single-leg squats. Each emphasizes a slow, controlled lowering phase, training your quads to handle the braking forces they face on descents. Start with two sets of six to eight repetitions per side, using a step, box, chair, or bench. Add height, weight, range of motion, or slower tempo only after you can maintain control without your knee collapsing inward. Pairing these exercises with short, manageable downhill repetitions may help you develop confidence and resilience without leaving your legs feeling like they rolled down the mountain without you.
#GravityOfTheSituation
If your watch face feels like another crowded inbox, Garmin Cirqa might clean things up. The company’s new $200 band tracks heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen, stress, sleep, training readiness, recovery, steps, and calories without adding another screen to your life: “Garmin’s Screenless Cirqa Health Tracker Will Be Available This Week.” It automatically detects workouts, supports more than 80 activity profiles, lasts up to 10 days per charge, and is water-rated to 50 meters. Garmin includes its core health and fitness insights through Garmin Connect without a required subscription, giving Cirqa an advantage for runners trying to avoid another monthly bill. There are a few catches, like that GPS requires a connected phone, the optional upper-arm band costs $60, and AI insights, meditation, nutrition tools, Garmin Coach plans, and wheelchair tracking require Garmin Connect Plus at $70 per year. Cirqa also costs twice as much upfront as the $100 Fitbit Air featured in our recent story: “Is Google’s new WHOOP competitor worth it?” Fitbit offers basic activity, sleep, heart-rate, and cardio-load tracking without a subscription, but its AI coach and weekly plans cost $100 per year. WHOOP requires an annual membership, with the starting plan currently on sale for $183. The top plan costs $359, making it the priciest long-term option, though testers found its app, recovery analysis, strength tracking, and habit insights more polished than Fitbit’s. Our early read is that the Garmin Cirqa is best for avoiding subscription costs, Fitbit has the lowest entry price, and WHOOP may still have the strongest software. For runners who want useful data without another recurring bill, Cirqa could land in the sweet spot.
#ScreenTimeOut
A strong runner is a durable runner, and if you’re looking to bullet-proof your legs and improve your form, @domenica.fitter has you covered. In this video, Domenica demonstrates 5 exercises – Bulgarian split squats, Copenhagen dips, single leg squats, wall sits, and wall sit calf raises – to improve your strength in all the right places. Follow along with her seaside workout in Mallorca and say adios to your injuries.
