Category: Nutrition

Categories
Nutrition Recovery Training

RECOVERY IS THE TRUE MEASURE

My training gear is always prepared the night before so that in the morning I just up and go. I keep it simple and keep it routine so that I get up, get in my green tea and or coffee fix and head out the door. I am a creature of habit, routine and focus.

I switch on my sleep monitor which I have utilized to analyze my last 12 000 hours of sleep and set the alarm for 4:30am. Eyes close its time to sleep. I know that some days an early wake up can cause the loss of that final critical deep sleep cycle where hormonal release is crucial to body restoration and this morning I felt it. Alarm goes off, a light automatically shines from my phone for me take my heart rate immediately otherwise I go blind from it. Rest Heart Rate appears normal but I just feel like I need to recover some more. I close my eyes and go back to sleep.

I am sure every single day people across the globe battle with an early morning training session. I actually do not. Oh you thought I couldn’t get out of bed?
Actually the opposite I very much could but decided not to. I decided that I would push my training session to the late afternoon early evening to give myself an additional 12hrs of recovery meaning 36hr recovery from the previous session. Knowing your body intimately well and understanding when you should and should not train takes time and effort but its something many just don’t do.

When it comes to nutrition I am a freak of analytics. I am the kind of nightmare that walks into a Kauai and reconstructs their menu to suite my  immediate needs. I once made them make me scrambled eggs with avocado and asked them drizzle macadamia nut but over it. Another time I told them to make me half the normal rolled oats portion (as the normal portion was for a giant) reinforce it with a serving of pea protein isolate after it was cooked, but made sure they cooked the chia and gojis in the oats not to throw them over afterwards ensuring I got maximum nutrient absorption. I then asked them for a small tub of blueberries on the side. They know me well now they even have names for my meals like Wolff’s Power Oats or Marks Egg Special but that comes with the territory I don’t just accept I do whats good for my own engine. The way I am with nutrition is the exact same way I approach my training. I holistically look at an entire week and shape rest and nutrition around the workouts to ensure maximum recovery to ensure maximum strength and health gains. Its not something I was an expert at when I was younger actually the opposite. In our youth we all want to be hit with hard suffering sessions day after day. However with time you learn that it weakens you and doesn’t strengthen you. Recovery is the true measure of patience and a patient person will reap the amazing benefits from recovering well between workouts.

I often get questions from athletes such as I want you to kill me this week, or please throw a hurt-box week at me and I sit back and laugh thinking just how the concept of proper recovery is the furthest item from their minds. While most people think about their training sessions I am thinking about my recovery sessions. Pick your battles never go into war with a weakness only go in with strength or you will face a losing battle.

I always tell athletes that a rest day doesn’t mean you are not training it means you are recovering. It takes a special kind of person to recover properly. On a rest day you still train your gut by including proper nutrition to ensure proper recovery, immune system strength and health. It also might mean a toned down training session where your max HR is limited and yes you might feel like you doing nothing intense but active recovery is crucial at times.

I cant stress enough how if you focus on recovery and nutrition more than you do only on training you will start to reap the rewards of the patience game which you never thought were possible. Prepare yourself for renewed strength, energy, speed, and of course immunity and health and you will never look back. Recovery is always the true measure.

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Categories
Health Nutrition Performance

CAFFEINE – BENEFIT OR DRAWBACK?

Except for the odd few, most people I know are coffee or tea drinkers. I myself am a green tea addict however I love the occasional Americano in its most natural form.

Caffeine itself is quite an interesting debate. It’s impossible to tell how much caffeine there is in a cup of coffee or tea the variants are huge. Many say they can drink coffee and go straight to sleep. Yeah, whatever, just because the coffee tasted strong doesn’t mean that the caffeine content itself is high. It’s purely the roast and flavour of the beans and of course the preparation. That cup of coffee that tasted so strong could have had a tiny 20mg caffeine content which in all honesty could put most people to sleep.

Flavours of coffee’s and teas is one thing but let’s talk about caffeine.

Caffeine is a mild stimulant that occurs naturally in a variety of plant species. There are people who view caffeine as a useful stimulant that increases ones concentration and awareness as well as many other physical traits.  The important thing to remember is that caffeine affects each and every individual very differently depending on the amount consumed, the frequency of consumption, and a person’s individual metabolism.

LETS GET TO THE FACTS:

Scientific proof of caffeine and sports performance is being debated constantly and there are definitely benefits. So much so that at one stage caffeine was banned by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and its now legal but currently on the watch list.

There are advantages that caffeine has which I will go into in a little bit of detail shortly but lets take a look at both sides of the coin.

Caffeine is a stimulant and it does have addictive properties. In a healthy diet, your consumption should be limited and health professionals will recommend around 7 – 10 cups of coffee per a week as a limit. However most people can do this in a day. One thing is certain caffeine does stimulate and it plays with one’s emotional and energy stability. Stimulant drinks such as coffee are also known to be one of the biggest role players in a person gaining weight when blended with awesome syrups and sugars and loaded with milk. Another important consideration is that caffeine impacts the ability to sleep properly and this is crucial from a health and sports recovery point of view. Caffeine also causes a rise in acidity in the digestive system, and from a health perspective one should try to consume a diet that is more alkaline, acid of course can lead to health issues as well as during exercise. Caffeine has mild diuretic properties causing loss of fluid in some people but each person is unique and in others not so much. An athlete that consumes caffeine consistently is actually doing himself a complete disservice.  Caffeine does boost blood pressure medical researchers have found. Although the rise is temporary, researches question whether it’s good for you when it occurs over and over again in other words in excess. However, research has also shown caffeine to be beneficial to the heart long term. Again, this is in moderation and not in excess. My biggest worry is about the boost in blood glucose levels that accompanies caffeine intake with syrups or sugars.

WHATS GOOD ABOUT CAFFEINE?

Looking at research coffee has shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes as well as fatty liver disease. Caffeine can improve memory, decrease fatigue, improve your mental functioning, which plenty of studies suggest. It can improve your short-term memory and speed up your reaction times, according to a study presented in 2005 at the Radiological Society of North America. Moderate coffee consumption — defined as three or four cups a day, providing 300 or 400 milligrams of caffeine (assuming it contains this much because remember it’s impossible to know the exact amount) — carries “little evidence of health risks and some evidence of health benefits,” conclude researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvalis.

Coffee drinking, the researchers say, may help prevent type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and liver disease, including liver cancer. And it doesn’t appear to significantly increase heart disease risk or cancer. But, they warn, those with high blood pressure, as well as children, teens, and the elderly, may be more vulnerable to caffeine’s adverse effects.

 

What about caffeine in Sport or Physical Exercise?

Well there are two major benefits that caffeine has, the first is that when consumed on its own without sugar it has demonstrated a rise in the amount of free fatty acids available for use as a source of fuel. Fat of course is an incredibly powerful form of fuel and the more free fatty acids you have available for use in an endurance event the more you are able to benefit from it. There is one slight consideration though? That in order for this to work well, a person should be more caffeine intolerant, meaning if you consume a lot of caffeine per a day you won’t benefit as much as someone who takes in less caffeine in a day. In other words not an excessive caffeine drinker. Second thing is the timing of consumption before an event. In scientific testing it’s been shown a consumption of around 1-2mg of caffeine per a kilogram of bodyweight around 3-4hrs before an event is best. It gives the body time to mobilise free fatty acids for use as well as being long enough before the event to remove the acid from the system and of course negate the risk of dehydration if you fall into that category.

Then caffeine during an event has shown to improve mental performance and from personal experience in endurance sport mental performance = physical performance.

The second major benefit is caffeine for recovery. Yes, believe it. It’s been shown that having caffeine with a complex carbohydrate after exercise has shown to speed up the time taken for glycogen replenishment. Under testing it’s been shown to speed up the process by as much as 60%. As an example, a rolled oats meal and a very strong coffee or two (with a decent amount of caffeine of course). Just remember to hydrate yourself consistently after a session as well. I usually blend the coffee directly into my smoothie if that’s my choice for recovery for awesome flavour and the caffeine

Finally, there is another slight benefit, and this is the wake up effect. If you are feeling tired or fatigued caffeine has the ability to wake up the brain a little. Of course it’s a temporary effect, but during a sporting event this slight feeling of euphoria can give you a lift. Taking caffeine around 60 minutes before a workout will also have a benefit in assisting with mental focus and helping with a better quality driven workout. It takes around an hour for the caffeine to be completely metabolized in the body to become effectively utilized.

If during an endurance race you are wanting a caffeine boost, it can assist with a wake up effect and sense of euphoria however the amount and timing of the caffeine intake needs to be tested in training before a race to get an understanding of your thresholds and digestive system response.

In conclusion caffeine has certain benefits, but it should not be abused because it then becomes a detriment from a health perspective.

On a personal note I will explain how I use coffee or green tea to give me my benefit. Firstly the caffeine in green tea is pretty mild I don’t use that as a caffeine source. It’s the catechins I want which of course contain EGCG which can aid fat burn but also antioxidants for general immune system strength and of course the taste is why I like it. If I want caffeine I switch to coffee BUT I use a coffee where I know exactly how much caffeine there is per a serving.

When do I consume coffee? Generally, before a long hard workout I take in around 90-100mg of caffeine. I use TrueStart as I know that it has that amount of caffeine per a serving it also has a 5-6hr release (natural caffeine from a hydrous process) where all normal anhydrous caffeine is metabolized within 60min on average, so I prefer the stability.

During a session, I also take caffeine but only if its longer than 3-4hrs then I use a 32Gi G-Shot on the go or can drop TrueStart in a shake however I usually train fasted unless gearing for an event and need to train my gut for fuel. I like to take it in regularly. At Challenge Roth last yearas an example, I consumed 10 x 60mg caffeine shots in a 5hr bike ride taking in one every 30 minutes. This needs to be tried and tested however and I never do something I haven’t trained for. I train properly from a nutrition point of view and know exactly how my body responds to anything I consume.

Then post exercise if it has been a tough session and I feel glycogen store depletion I will consume more caffeine to aid the recovery process. On workouts under 2hrs a single serving of TrueStart will suffice. However, on sessions lasting longer I sometimes will go up to 180-200mg of caffeine in my recovery meal to give me a boost and I blend it into a smoothie, or my porridge or pancakes as it helps with flavour as well. Sometimes I just add it to an ice cold 32Gi Recover Chocolate shake on a hot day and make a mochaccino which goes down extremely well.

The point I am making is I understand how much and when to consume coffee / caffeine. It has taken time and  practice to test everything properly. Of course, I consume it for enjoyment as well. I don’t believe in taking in something you don’t enjoy. There those days where I enjoy a good java after a session. But knowing how much and when to consume it will place you in a position of power from a health and a performance perspective.

 

Finally keep your coffee or caffeine drink sugar free, adding sugars have more detriment than benefit.

 

If you are interested in TrueStart Coffee and 32Gi’s G-SHOT they are available at leading Dis-Chem outlets and online at

www.truestartcoffeesa.co.za

www.32Gi.com

 

Mark Wolff is an endurance, nutrition and physiology expert with over 20yrs experience.

An endurance multisport athlete with a triathlon, mountain biking and weightlifting background Mark works extensively with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports disciplines as well as people with health and weight issues.
He firmly believes that an athlete can only reach their full potential when their health and nutrition is down packed. Marks focus on nutrition and physiology is not just on training and racing, but he places major emphasis on recovery, immune system health, emotional stability, weight, stress management and performance. Mark is co-founder of 32Gi a sports nutrition company focused mainly on health and endurance nutrition. He is a certified sports nutrition expert as well as a marathon, track, triathlon and cycling coach. He spends most of his time guiding athletes with a very holistic approach to blending training and nutrition for performance and health.

 

Categories
Health Nutrition Recovery

RECOVER RIGHT WITH PROPER NUTRITION

If you ask any coach what the most crucial aspect of training is they will tell you the recovery. Training breaks you down and proper rest and nutrition build you up and make you stronger.

Athletes very rarely get nutrition correct for recovery. Most of the time I either see meals which are overloaded in calories because they “earned” it or the macros are completely incorrect based on the kind of session that has just been done.

In my last blog  Prepare to Perform we briefly touched on the topic of pre-workouts which I will be expanding on, however the element of recovery is far more important in the big scheme of things.

Recovery needs to be looked at from a few angles. Giving the body what it needs to recover is of course the main one, but what about the goals of the person. As an example, what if you are trying to drop body fat, and increase lean muscle mass? Then the type of meal you select post session will either be to your advantage or detriment. I can honestly tell you that most of you select meals which are to your detriment.

Why do I say this?

It’s simple not many people take the time to truly evaluate their sessions and understand what the body is going to go through on a physiological level which ultimately would get you planning your recovery meal prior to the session. When I go into a training session I already know what my body is going to go through in that session and then I have already planned the post exercise recovery meal. How many of you do this? I bet not many! Even if you do plan your meals its most likely based on convenience but unlikely to be based on exactly what the body needs.

Now you are wondering how the heck do I know what I want to eat after the session based on the session structure and what my body is going to be experiencing?

The truth is you can plan, it might not be 100% spot on but then all it will require is a minor modification to get it correct.

So now that you understand that recovery meals can be planned and the importance of them lets focus on how we go about strategizing our recovery nutrition.

The athletes I work with know very well that I look at sessions based on time and intensity. Why do I do this? Simple, your energy system is impacted differently based on these two main factors. We have a few fuel tanks in the human body, the two main ones being glycogen and fat. Intensity and time will determine which of these fuel tanks are mainly utilized and depleted. To understand this a little more do yourself a favor and check out my Get in the Zone explanation on You Tube.

To get recovery correct I break down sessions as follows:

Low Intensity

Medium Intensity

High Intensity

If you watched my video you will know a low intensity session even over a longer period doesn’t really touch much glycogen at all. What this means is that you wouldn’t need to take in a high amount of carbohydrates post exercise. Why? You haven’t depleted your carb stores and so why would you need to load the system. If anything, overdoing the carbs post exercise when it’s not necessary will just mitigate your fat burn zone and most likely lead to weight gain. I have very often caught athletes post exercise just before they are going in for their “deserved recovery” meals. I carried out both glucose and ketone testing on them and then asked them what they were planning on having to eat. Number one they hadn’t planned, number two they were nowhere near the correct meal selection. Glucose was stable they were not burning much fat and they were dreaming of a large bowl of oats or a large peanut butter bomb from Kauai.

 

Not needed at all. The idea of proper recovery nutrition is to give the body exactly what is needed to recover from the session and to prepare for the next. No less no more.

What exactly I am looking for is quite simple it’s these 3 main aspects I analyze from a recovery point of view.

  • Glycogen Replenishment / Blood Glucose Stabilization
  • Muscle Recovery
  • Re-Hydration

Let’s break this down a little further and I will start with the muscle recovery.
Your muscles require protein to rebuild the question is how much and when. I am not going to get too in-depth here as this can be a thesis on its own. I will just say this. Protein needs to be consumed according to your body’s requirements. As a simple example an endurance athlete should be eating anywhere to 1.1-1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight, body builders even more. This value will depend on whether you are maintaining or needing to build more muscle mass and or drop some weight. Another factor that needs to be considered is if we are working on say 1.4 grams to a kg of body weight and you weigh 60kg it means you will require around +-85 grams of protein per a day. Many people think this can be consumed at once but you couldn’t be more mistaken. Protein intake must be split through the day and preferably around 20-25 gram maximum serving at a time with around a 3 hour gap between. Protein cannot be stored it needs to be processed and if you overload on it, it will be converted to blood glucose and eventually stored as fat, assuming glycogen stores are topped up. As far as a window period goes for an athlete no not really, your windows are through the day. Taking in protein post exercise can also help curb hunger cravings depending on protein consumed. Now you know why excessive meat eaters are anything but lean 😉.

As far as rehydration goes you need to replace loss of fluid through sweat. This does not mean sugary drinks it means fluid, so something like a hydration drink without calories or just plain water is fine. I will be writing a few separate blogs on hydration as its quite a big topic of discussion.

Now let’s look at my favorite topic, carbohydrates. Probably the most over consumed macro post workout because you earned it right? Wrong!

I will return back to what I mentioned earlier about time and intensity and ultimately this is one of the ways I determine the timing and volume of carbohydrate intake post exercise.

The rule of thumb is:

Low Intensity = Low Carb

Medium Intensity = Medium Carb

High Intensity = High Carb

Of course you need to be realistic here as intensity can be perception. I use heart rate effort as intensity and this doesn’t lie. Over and above that if you do a high intensity session for only an hour then you really haven’t “earned” your high carb meal because taking into account warm up, warm down and time of intensity you might not have really chewed up much glycogen and in that case a lower to medium carb meal might be a way better option. However a 2.5-3 hour high intensity session could certainly earn a higher carb meal but it also depends on what was consumed during the session.

Now you don’t want to get this meal wrong, so how do you mitigate that.
This is where one of my real secrets about recovery is about to be revealed. It’s taken quite a few years to master it properly, as each individual is very different from the next. But I have developed what I call the Double Nutrition Recovery System. The actual breakdown will be discussed in complete detail in the book I am writing. However, in short, I do two things. I look at the time and intensity of the session and then I combine that with the human element. In other words, how are you feeling directly after the workout, because sometimes the body speaks to you and those messages are so critical to understand. It might have been a short hard workout BUT what you did the day or days before could have brought your world down on this day due to what I call gradual tank depletion. I see this often by the way., mainly due to nutrition neglect or and over training.

Back to the Double Nutrition Recovery System. You start with the lower to medium carb meal first rather less than overdo it, as once you have over done it there is no turning back. So, have your first meal in a low to medium carb format and then wait 30 minutes. At this stage, your body will be speaking to you, if you are under cooked you will feel it and then all you do is take in a second recovery meal within the hour of the first one BUT I need to emphasize the macros MUST be correct. This system works extremely well and sets up a proper recovery which will leave you feeling stable, strong and recovered for the rest of the day. Understanding the type and timing of the meals are crucial to its success. Of course, also knowing which foods you require are very important, it’s not just carbs you need, there needs to be a balance of protein and fat with your recovery meals and again it’s such a big topic, but my book will be discussing recovery options as well as food tolerances and intolerance’s. Stay tuned.

Once your recovery meal is down packed and you have it spot on the most incredible thing is going to happen. You won’t have energy dips during the day, you won’t have unwanted hunger cravings, you will get stronger faster and best of all you will have the body you desired.

Remember the least amount of food to achieve the greatest possible result is what we are aiming for and most importantly, it needs to taste good and be enjoyed. Health is not a sacrifice its heavenly 😉.

Marks Mochaccino Recovery Shake (Medium to High Carb-Depending on Session)


– 4 scoops of 32Gi Chocolate Recover
– 1 serving TrueStart Coffee (95mg of caffeine)
– 400ml’s of water or milk (I use almond or rice milk but dairy is also good if you are not intolerant)

Macros:
Carbs (Medium GI) 48grams
Protein 18grams
Caffeine 95mg
Wanting this shake you can get it online here click on links below or at your local Dis-Chem
To get TRUESTART ON SPECIAL DEAL NOW
To get 32Gi RECOVER

Mark Wolff is an endurance, nutrition and physiology expert with over 20yrs experience.

An endurance multisport athlete with a triathlon, mountain biking and powerlifting background Mark works extensively with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports disciplines.

He firmly believes that an athlete can only reach their full potential when their health and nutrition is down packed. Marks focus on nutrition and physiology is not just on training and racing, but he places major emphasis on recovery, immune system health, emotional stability, stress management and performance. Mark is co-founder of 32Gi a sports nutrition company focused mainly on health and endurance nutrition. He is a certified sports nutrition expert as well as a marathon, track, triathlon and cycling coach. He spends most of his time guiding athletes with a very holistic approach to blending training and nutrition for performance and health.

 

 

Categories
Health Nutrition Performance Training

PREPARE TO PERFORM

No matter what sport you participate in from gym goers to endurance junkie’s preparation for a session require not just a wake up and go but an actual strategy for how you are going to fuel yourself before during and after your session.

I often get asked the question of what and it ultimately depends on a few factors which need to be seriously taken into consideration.

These are:

What time are you training?

How long are you training for?

What intensity are you training at?

When are you training again?

Without clearly understanding the objectives of your workout how can you possible achieve the desired outcome. Secondly, what is your main goal?

Weight loss?

More lean muscle mass and a better physique?

Better fitness and endurance?

More muscle mass?

Less body fat?

Health?

 

Did you know that just training without the proper nutrition around it is just a complete waste of time? You really need to take this into consideration if you want to achieve your goals especially from a health point of view.

I have often used the analogy of comparing a human body to a vehicle. So, you want the body of a Ferrari which is awesome. But instead of having high performance fuel you use a very low-grade petrol and oil. You don’t take care of the engine yet you expect the “Ferrari” to perform. That is ridiculous. You think you can treat your engine like a VW beetle and perform like a Ferrari. Sorry friend it isn’t going to happen. If you look at it from a health perspective imagine placing really bad fuel into the engine and then trying to get it to accelerate to an extremely high speed, with barely any water in the engine. Yes, that’s you, the athlete or lifter who thinks they can eat KFC in moderation and then push out huge weights or high wattage. Eventually the pipe will burst, the engine will blow something will have to give and it always does. Maybe not immediately but certainly over time.  If you have a high-performance vehicle you will go out of your way to make sure that the best fuel, oil and tires are used. Same with your own body, if you treat it with high performance fuel and give it the best, you can only expect it to perform at its best.

Do you know what the advantage of being human is?

We might not look like a high performing vehicle or have that lean muscular or fast physique, but one thing we have which a vehicle doesn’t is we can change our shape. We can completely reshape ourselves inside and out and that all boils down to the fuel we place in our engines. It should be the best. I am not talking about illegal substances and quick fixes which impact your health. I am speaking about proper nutrition which will keep you on the journey from a health and performance perspective to reach your goal.

I often hear people saying everything in moderation. What rubbish. If I ate everything I enjoyed in moderation it would be disastrous. Imagine I drank wine, coke and beer in moderation, ate pizza in moderation and the followed that up with some chocolate in moderation. My eating week would be hell. Moderation is an absolute excuse for the lazy to sacrifice their health and goals for emotional attempts at making their serotonin levels rise to fill their minds with awesomeness. In the end it’s a losing battle. You are what you eat and it couldn’t be more accurate than that.

Now with all this in mind I have completely drifted away from the discussion of actual fueling and now that we know how important nutrition is let’s go back to that awesome topic of where to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we are going to focus on the pre-workout nutrition. It’s going to be critical when trying to achieve a certain training goal.

I asked many questions above? Let’s review them and decide how to tackle our pre-training nutrition.

Time of the training session:

This is crucial as if you are waking up at the crack of dawn and going straight out on an exercise session do you really feel like eating so early on. Is it absolutely necessary to consume something at 4am. Well the truth is it depends on the next question.

How long and how intense is your workout going to be.

Only 60-90minutes long or maybe up to 2hrs or longer. This will certainly make a difference.

Now look at the objective. Weight gain weight loss, body fat burn, fat efficiency for endurance. These all play a part of the puzzle.

Considering the above scenarios, I would suggest any workout lasting up to 90min does not need much fuel at all. The human body has natural energy stores which can keep you going at a high intensity for that period and you can pretty much do a fasted training session.

Check out my video explaining the Fuel Tanks of the Human Body https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3egjhBpfo0&t=2s this will explain clearly how your own natural energy stores work.

Training fasted will allow you to burn off body fat quite early on depending on the session you are doing and simultaneously allow you to become a fat efficient athlete. Many people battle mentally with this. They don’t feel so great and this is only because of habit and what I call the brain train. You have trained your body in a certain way, and its adapted to that. Attempting this is confusing and a shock to the system and so it takes shorter sessions over time building up to longer sessions to become better at it.

If you ever do a fasted training session you must know how to recover properly from it. Without proper recovery you will battle to make the gains you need and if there was a second session later that day you will be fatigued to turn out another quality workout.

I often get asked about muscle catabolism as opposed to anabolism with fasted training. My answer to that is for a session this short you certainly won’t catabolize your own muscle you have plenty of other fuel to work with. If you are a body builder and require a minimum daily protein intake which is much higher than an endurance athlete then a protein is most likely required at wake up and again later after for recovery however that is a different topic completely.

So, I threw a spanner in the works now telling you to train fasted. I am not saying it’s a must. As I do advise athletes on pre-workout nutrition prep to increase fat burn, naturally of course, make the brain happier and provide far better mental focus.  There are many meal ideas and natural supplements which can be used to enhance the workout and allow you to perform very well while being rewarded with the same benefits.

I bet your next question is what are these and what I will do is give you a little insight into how I fuel my sessions to explain it a little further.

Not many people know but I did come from a weight lifting background into endurance sport, I once weight 112kg now only 66kg. So, I understand both worlds quite intimately, and how the body suffers in both. Each is unique. I train for endurance but I also do strength and both have their challenges.

At wake up my primary objective is to ensure I am alert and focused. Early morning sessions often sacrifice the final sleeping hours of major hormonal release and final deep sleep cycles. I won’t get into discussing the science of sleep now, however I can say this. Waking up in a deep sleep cycle can leave you feeling fatigued and tired. It’s not a pleasant feeling.

What are my goals as an endurance athlete?

Maintain a lean healthy muscle mass
Keep my immune system strong
Make sure I am a fat burning machine (fat efficiency is an endurance athlete’s best friend)
Ensure my energy levels are consistent

Wow what a list you might say
They are in no order of preference. Each of these are important to overall health strength and speed.

So, I will tell you how I do it.

It’s quite Simple. Firstly, for any athlete, the mental aspect plays a critical role. Strength of mind can get us through almost anything. However, this requires mental focus. This is where my favorite friend caffeine comes into play. This doesn’t mean any caffeine it means measurable caffeine. I use TrueStart performance coffee for this. It carries an accurate 95mg of caffeine per a serving and it’s a natural caffeine releasing for close to 6hrs which completely covers my workout. The best thing is its completely natural and as anyone knows I hate synthetic products.

I know per a kilogram of bodyweight how much caffeine I need before a workout and how long it will last me in order to provide me the right amount of focus to cover my session. TrueStart Coffee does the trick.  What else does caffeine do? I free up more free fatty-acids which allow me more access to free energy floating around my body in simple terms more fat for fuel. I also like to load myself with green tea in the mornings. Research has shown that green tea can assist in decreasing fat storage and assisting with fat burn BUT to achieve this quite a fair amount needs to be consumed. I can drink anywhere from 6-20 cups a day depending on my mood. One cup is not going to do the trick but I love waking up to it. I like the taste and use it as a form of hydration.

Generally a session of up to 90-120min for me will be covered by the above due to my fat efficiency. However on slightly longer sessions. I make a little energy bomb and generally this is concoction of pure MCT oil, caffeine, nut butter and vanilla powder. Oh its s a BOMB and a tablespoon kickstarts my engine rapidly, of course I could add some BCAA’s and Beta Alinine to add more fuel to the fire, BUT that’s again for another discussion. I keep it simple depending on my goal. If I don’t feel like eating then I just add pure vanilla flavoured MCT oil or MCT oil with Vanilla powder to my TrueStart Coffee and that’s enough fire to get me going from the mug.

Another product I use when I am on the go is the 32Gi G-Shot, 60mg of caffeine per a serving in a simple snap sachet and easy to stack in my wallet, makes it a very convenient carry and use.

This type of pre-workout ensures I can churn out a quality session with-out compromising what I need. It is so effective you won’t believe the results after a few weeks. I often get asked what about carbs before your workout? Why?

I have natural carbohydrates stores in my body 2000 calories worth and they will easily see me for up to 2hrs of a high intensity exercise (Check out my video link I mentioned earlier) I use what I have no need to douse my flames. Raising my blood glucose levels before a session will just mitigate my fat burning ability so if my goal is to burn more fat why would I start my session off on the wrong foot? It doesn’t make sense. If workouts are much longer then that’s a completely different story and we will get to that in another blog. As for strength training the above would work just as well. So, weight lifters go crazy.

This is just a small share into my morning routine before a session, I will cover more topics of longer endurance sessions, fueling during and post exercise recovery. But for now, keep training hard, sleep well and eat even harder 😉

             The Fitness Freak

P.S. I FORGOT

If you are keen on TrueStart Coffee there is a great deal at the moment Just Click Here 

32Gi’s GShot is available online at the 32Gi Store Just Click Here

As far as MCT oil go there are a few, but Battle Brew and Natures Choice are two I have used which are awesome Dis-Chem stock Natures Choice and Chrome Battle Brew. Natures choice has a Vanilla flavour which is pretty decent.

As far as my nut butter bomb goes well I will certainly be giving you a recipe in the near future as I make it all myself 😉

 

 

Categories
Health Nutrition Training

MCT’s for Energy

Coconut-oil-2

 

MCT’s (Medium Chain Triglyceride’s) has been of quite a large debate lately.I assisted Pedro van Gaalen editor of Fitness Magazine to put this informative article together for the publication. It will hopefully provide you all some clarity in understanding MCT’s. Fitness Mag is an excellent publication so do yourself a favour and next time you see the magazine in store take a copy home with you the topics are usually quite interesting and  diverse 🙂

 

Click on the link below to open or download the PDF

MCT Article – Pedro van Gaalen & Mark Wolff

Categories
Nutrition Training

Burn the Fat for better Endurance & Health

FatBurn

Sunday morning 7:30am my alarm goes off and that signals my time for a long training run. Today’s goal is around 2.5hrs which should give me around 33-34km’s at a comfortable pace. An easy no complicated morning preparation involving a nice hot cup of green tea, running shoes on and off I go. Around 11am my session is complete a comfortable 33km run and feeling good. Only now is it time for my first meal of the day.

“Wait a minute” I get asked. “How do you get up so late, don’t eat anything at all then run that distance at that pace comfortably without any need for fuelling before or during???” My short answer is that I am fat adapted. I am predominantly in a fat burn mode, meaning I can go a lot further on less. Whether it’s a 42km training run or a 180km training ride, at the right pace one can go for hours on his natural fat stores if properly trained. If you think about it in terms of motor vehicles, some vehicles require huge amounts of fuel to power them over distance while others are so fuel efficient they pretty much reach the same destination at the same time just on much less.

Over the past 20 years a huge legacy of massive carbohydrate fuelling has been entrenched in the latest generation of performance athletes. However more and more this is being shown to be less of an importance to making the body more fat efficient to be able to maximize the use of natural fat stores for fuel and rely less on carbohydrate intake in order to gain a massive performance benefit in a long endurance event. I often use the Kenyan or Ethiopian marathon runner as an example of this. A predominantly high carbohydrate diet, topped up glycogen stores and a 20km/h average speed for a marathon is all in order, for a 2hr performance that is.
Then we take a look at something like a Two Oceans Ultra Marathon where course record money is up for grabs and the Kenyan & Ethiopian runners appear with force to match their speeds against the Lesotho, Zimbabwean and South African ultra-runners. They just don’t stand a chance at least for now. The ultra-distance runners are so much more adapted to running at a higher pace on less. Yes, far more fat efficient athletes who spare glycogen on fat fuelling and go further on less.

As performance requirements demand more time so does your energy system need to be completely adapted to that time. Topped up glycogen stores are completely limited even if slightly spared with carbohydrate intake so yes smashing out a very high pace for a short space of time is perfect when it comes to carbohydrate fuelling. However the longer the event the fact is the more the fat efficient athlete will have an advantage. Let me just clarify that this doesn’t mean no fuelling on carbohydrates, by all means yes you should be, the brain will function far better on carbohydrate fuelling when the body is under stress and this will make a huge difference in performance however being fat efficient means you will require less than the average carbohydrate dependent Joe.

The Comrades Marathon which is a 90km Ultra run each year in South Africa has incredible winning times of around 5h30 roughly a 3:40min/km pace for this time over a course with huge elevation changes and lots of climbing. I have had the pleasure of working with some of the gold medalists (top 10) in nutrition advisory and on route seconding them. All race fuel is ready and prepped in various forms from liquid feed to food solids, gels and protein. Each year I measure intake of athletes on route in the form of carbohydrates, protein and fat as its being consumed along the route. What is quite amazing to see is that the elite runners actually consume anywhere between 20-40grams of carbs per an hour yet they still perform at an incredible pace. Most people I speak to are convinced these runners are consuming anywhere from 60-90grams of carbs per an hour, however this couldn’t be further from the truth. These runners run on their own natural fat stores and they are so fat adapted they are able to perform at a fairly high intensity with fat being their primary fuel source.

The next question is how do you become a fat burning machine of an athlete?
There are quite a few steps that need to be taken however most importantly is that it doesn’t happen overnight it takes time to become fat efficient and it takes effort and commitment but in the end you will reap the rewards.

Before we go into how to become an athlete that burns more fat for energy, let’s understand what it actually means. There are various physiological structures in the human body which can be “trained” to increase the amount of fat that is utilized for energy. Lipolysis is the process of breaking down subcutaneous fat and converting it into triglycerides which will ultimately be converted to energy and used by the muscles. This process takes time and there are other areas of fat which are more quickly accessible.  Upregulating Beta Oxidation, so that you can convert as much fat as possible and at the highest intensity as possible into Acetyl-CoA which of course is introduced into the Krebs cycle to allow for ATP production and fuelling of the muscles is one way. Also by increasing the amount of fat available to the body, to be utilized for energy not just in the form of ketones but in the form of intramuscular triglycerides is another way. In actual fact athletes can derive around 20% of energy from IMTG (intramuscular triaglycerol) depending on diet of course. Women generally have a higher IMTG than men and utilize more during exercise which begs the question are women generally more fat efficient athletes than men? Based on my experiences with female athletes I would tend to favor that opinion.

Increasing ketone levels is another way of providing internal fat fuel sources. However instead of worrying about being in a state of ketosis to make yourself a “fuel efficient” athlete, more steps should be taken to train the mitochondria to utilize more fat as fuel and this can be done in a non-ketogenic state. The focus should be training the body to convert fat to glucose to be used as energy internally without relying too much on external glucose sources. Many athletes try to shift into the LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) dieting phase to try to become fat adapted, however I don’t firmly believe this is where to begin. It’s a very difficult place to start if you are an athlete that suddenly wants to make this switch. I also get many people insisting on going into a state of ketosis without actually really understanding their own body’s requirements before doing such a thing and in many cases it’s not required.

Becoming a fat adapted athlete does require a key focus on nutrition. This is critical to any athletes performance however to make yourself a fat adapted athlete you need to start with your diet. There are some key points when selecting appropriate food types to make you more fat adapted and these are:

To Burn Fat you need to Eat Fat
This is a very important point. The general population fear eating fat, but in actual fact by eliminating fat from your diet you are limiting your body’s ability to be a fat burning machine. Introducing healthy natural fats into your diet is important to become more fat adapted. You don’t have to make huge changes overnight, but definitely have no fear of eating fat as it is critical to fuelling a fat adapted engine. Introduce a higher amount of fats into your diet in order to benefit from them. Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) are an excellent example of quickly accessible fuel in the form of fat which can be immediately utilized by the mitochondria as an energy source.

Carbohydrate intake needs to be Monitored
Fat adaption doesn’t mean cutting carbs it means being selective of the carbohydrates you take in. Dropping carbohydrates to under 50grams a day for most individuals will be an extremely difficult thing to do. I would suggest selecting carbs from more fibrous, low GI and vegetable based options as opposed to grains, breads and starches. It’s all about insulin management and by keeping insulin response very low you can be assured your ability to burn fat will be a lot higher.

Train the Brain
One of the biggest issue with carbohydrate limitation is that most people have a sweet tooth and are sugar dependent or tweaked to crave sugary foods. That’s one of the reasons why I am against “natural” forms of sweet such as honey. Yes, honey is natural however it is completely sugar and breaks down into glucose and fructose which means your brain is still trained to crave sweet and you are still playing with insulin. The same with sweeteners in coffee or tea or diet cold drinks, they might be low calorie but they are training the brain to stick with sweet.

Carbohydrate Timing
The timing and volume of carbohydrate intake is critical. If you wake up in the mornings and take in a higher carbohydrate meal, and then go and train you have completely mitigated your ability to maximize fat burn as you have already raised the blood glucose in your system which will be utilized as a source of energy before the body resorts to fat utilization. If the higher percentage of your daily carbohydrate intake is taken post exercise after a long or hard session due to the low insulin response you will again maximize your body’s ability to remain in a fat burn zone.

Over and above nutrition requirements there are other considerations that you should take into account when it comes to being a more fat adapted athlete.

Fasted Training
Training in a fasted state as mentioned earlier will definitely engage your body to utilize more fat as a source of fuel. By not providing any external sources of fuel, the body will have to adapt to relying on its internal sources primarily being glycogen and fat. Many people I deal with fear going on a session without an energy drink but if the session is 2hrs or under you will manage perfectly on water. If you are still very nervous to attempt it then take a sports drink with you and delay the consumption of it for the first hour in order to kick start the burn in that fasted state. The other option is to take a sports drink which does not cause a big rise in blood glucose so that you can still derive benefit for fat burn.

Training Intensity & Time
Something I need to stress is that training at an extremely high intensity can mitigate fat burn due to the fact that oxygen is required to convert fat ultimately for use as energy. In this case glycogen will mainly be depleted. However, training at a high intensity in a fasted state with shorter workouts and slowly building up will help train the body to utilize a higher percentage of fat at higher intensities and this has been shown in many fat adapted elite athletes. If you can talk while training then no need for high calorie drinks, sufficient oxygen is getting into your system to burn fat assuming you haven’t spiked your blood sugar. If you cannot talk at all during training and are puffing and panting then this is more your glycogen depletion state and these workouts should be kept to under 90min in a fasted stated and you can slowly build on them with time.

So with all this in mind what about racing? Yes we do race on carbohydrates, we definitely feel a great benefit from carbohydrate consumption even in lower amounts than the average person who is completely carbohydrate dependent. If our glycogen stores do deplete at some point in a long endurance event, for us fat efficient athletes it’s a transparent transition from glycogen to fat usage where no major pain or slowing is felt just a gear adjustment needed and the game goes on.

I could go on and on about the benefits of becoming a fat adapted athlete, it really doesn’t take much major effort just some healthy lifestyle, nutrition and training modifications and the benefits will be rewarded long term.

Categories
Nutrition

To Organic or Non-Organic ?

12-Health-Benefits-of-Bananas

I often get asked about organic food consumption and there is always a lot of debate around organic and non-organic selection. Does it actually makes a difference?

Recently there was a nutritionist on the radio debating that organic food was not actually beneficial, and everyone that approached me that day had something to say about it. I never actually heard the debate, maybe she was speaking strictly from a nutrient point of view, which is highly debatable anyway. But I would rather stick to as natural as possible regardless of what anyone says.

I have my own personal reasons for favouring organic products (assuming they are credible) and decided to share this little story to open some eyes. My decision to select organic is purely from a point of view of what I term deselection or risk management i.e.: not ingesting nonsense.

Many years ago while living abroad I worked in banana plantations. I had exposure to all the goings on in the fields from banana seedling to fruit to market. I won’t get into the science of how a banana tree is grown to produce fruit, but basically through the growth stages there are multiple trees growing around the main fruit bearing tree.

In order to ensure maximum energy transfer to the fruit bearing tree the other smaller surrounding trees are killed. This was done by injecting benzene into them. Yes benzene. In other fields in I was exposed to in central America there was also a chemical blend of this nature.

Of course it does not just disappear into thin air but seeps into the ground and eventually gets absorbed into the main fruit bearing roots. Bottom line, those bananas definitely contained traces of benzene, and lab testing did produce some shocking results. So when they say fuel up with bananas they truly are not lying.

My point however is that as consumers we are never exposed to the processes of getting food to our shelves, and if we were we might land up starving ourselves for fear of being poisoned. Yes, organic produce is highly expensive, and most will go for non-organic produce. I just advise you to think twice when you have the choice, because the evidence of composition for many non-organic foods , is as I put it quite shocking. My advice to you is, take a look at your weekly menu and switch the most eaten produce to organic, and then move to the next. In this case, it’s not about what you are wanting to take in, but what you are wanting to avoid taking in.

There is so much misunderstood disease going on in this world and one can only think that 90% of the time we eat it. Keep it natural keep it clean.

Categories
Health Nutrition Performance

The Guilty Athlete

A new day dawns, signs of first light begin to show and a sudden rush of endorphin’s begin to stimulate my brain. The mind is on a mission, to go out and train and put in another solid workout to get keep me on track with my racing goals. This day is different however, as what the mind wants the body is actually fighting.  I lie there in an awkward state between reality and want. The want being to get out and train and the reality being that my body just won’t move in that direction. Inner conflict and emotional turmoil begin to take over with a hint of frustration and depression. The questioning starts and in the end it’s either a victory for foolishness or wisdom.  This however is where experience counts, and with a wry smile on my face I go back to sleep and decide to listen to my body.

Comrades 2014 was exactly the same. I had prepped for many months for a race I was determined to participate in and silver status my goal. Everything was on track, perfect build, perfect qualifying marathon and all my focus on the main goal had paid off completely in race readiness. However 10 days prior to the race an infection hit my system which got worse with time and eventually a strong antibiotic course and not feeling great forced me to make the wise decision to withdraw. Many people I spoke to said run anyway, just see how you feel while running. My answer to that is its not worth the risk, there will always be another Comrades and its just a matter of shifting the goal posts and targeting something else. Just yesterday I heard of the sad passing away of an athlete from this years Comrades Marathon and the cause pointed to viral infection.

Everyday across the globe athletes whether professional or amateur are faced with difficult decisions on whether to train or race based on how they feel. The biggest problem is that most of the time they don’t listen to their bodies and put themselves at risk. It’s the most painful experience when you have worked so hard towards a racing goal and when that day approaches our bodies tell us that it’s not to be.

So in light of all of this how do we know what signs to look for and how do we cope with emotional stress of dealing with what we seem to feel is failure and embarrassment. Let’s face it no one wants to be a race dropout.

The first and most important advice I can give is that no matter whether you are a professional or amateur athlete, your health always comes first. It is not ever worth putting yourself at risk for something that will always be there for you to achieve. Listening to your body’s symptoms is the most unbelievable struggle between good and evil, and a number of very important factors if ignored can put you at serious risk. The big question of course is when is it alright for me to train or race, and when should I avoid it. Once you understand this we can discuss how to cope with it.

Illness aside, when did you go for your last medical check up? Are you 100% sure your body is ready for stress? I make it a priority to have a complete medical before racing season and then after my racing season is over I go for another medical. Firstly to ensure that my engine is in good shape to actually train and race and second to ensure that after my season it is still in good working order and that no damage was done. Remember the body undergoes extreme physical stress especially when training hard and racing. Once you have a solid foundation of knowledge about your physical well being you will have a peace of mind when placing your body under stress and also be in a position to understand your body very well when it communicates to you. Its amazing how a person who is going on a drive down to the coast on a holiday will take extra special care to service the vehicle and have the tires checked and changed if needed to ensure the journey is a safe one. However most people will neglect to service their own engines when embarking on a tough endurance event.

The first consideration you need to take into account is to understand how you feel the second you wake up. Simply put you need to do a self health check upon waking. When you open your eyes are you experiencing any strange symptoms which could include pain, fever, dizziness, nausea, cramps or are you feeling good and on top of the world, without any suspicious signs of illness. If any of these symptoms do exist then you really need to think twice before doing any form of exercise. If feeling good then perform another check, which I have been doing over the years and its shown me how valuable technology can be. I take my RHR (resting heart rate) as I open my eyes in the morning, and if there are any signs of elevation I return to sleep. An elevated resting heart rate can pinpoint a sign of fatigue or overtraining as well as illness. Get into a habit of measuring your rest heart rate over a period of time, and once that is done use it as a baseline to determine RHR elevation. Its of course not very convenient to strap on a heart rate monitor at the crack of dawn, so take it manually with your fingers and a clock, or if you are one of the lucky few that possess an iPhone or Android Smartphone, they have a neat little app called Instant Heart Rate (www.instantheartrate.com) it makes it even easier and its very accurate.

If you are ill in other words failing the checks above and still wanting to train think again.

A major risk that can emerge when putting the body under stress while ill is organ failure, the heart specifically. Ever wondered how it is a person who has a high level of fitness can just collapse from heart failure. Over the years I have witnessed and heard of many athletes who have ended their lives by not listening to their bodies and the signs and symptoms were definitely there.

The heart can definitely provide you with sure symptoms and if recognized it should force you to rest and visit your medical practitioner. Shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations and dizziness are the most logical signs that something is not right. However sometimes the symptoms can be more subtle, and in the case of myocarditis, which is basically an infection of the heart this can very much be true. Myocarditis can be onset due to a viral illness. An athlete that has a viral infection and yet insists on training will be the most obvious suspect at risk, and it’s an unnecessary gamble. Another type of heart attack which does not have any symptoms is referred to as a myocardial infarction, this is usually predominant in those suffering from diabetes which is why we should always know our health status and a regular medical checkup is something that should never be delayed.

Something I have never believed in is training for the sake of training. The experts call it “junk mileage”. If you enter into a training session it’s to achieve a certain training goal, if you are not able to achieve that goal then why train? Ask yourself am I feeling up to achieving my training goal, if your body is fatigued or ill then best you avoid it until such time as you can. Giving up training for a few days is not critical, no fitness will be lost and you will return to strength in no time. The worst disappointment though is the onset of a viral infection which could plague you for days or weeks. The first reaction of the person experiencing the illness is total denial, and the hope that it will only be a day or two, but as time wears on and the symptoms get worse you eventually start to fall into an area of depression, resentment and frustration.

Emotionally and physically how do we cope with this, and overcome the illness period in the best way possible? It’s not simple, but here are some suggestions which over the years I have used as a coping mechanism. The first thing you need to do is just accept you are ill, accept the fact that your God given body has a way of voicing its opinion and this is it. If serious of course a doctor will need to guide you on the treatment options and there should be no delays getting into this immediately.

There is a famous quote by Edward Stanley that says “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” This is an area that will specifically be able to get attention when ill. Immediately assess your daily nutrition and with steadfastness make the best possible changes you can to it. Clean out the bad and bring in the good, it’s the one time where you can push your training goals aside and give full attention to your nutrition goals. Your nutrition should be guided by a focus on eating for immune system strength, balanced energy levels and overall health. If you are not sure where to begin consult with a proper nutritionist who understands your needs and requirements and can guide you in the proper direction. Along with improving your nutrition you should be resting and when I say resting I mean feet up and flat on your back. Your immune system only functions at its peak when you are not putting your body under any stress. This means staying out of the office environment for a while. Working while ill is not going to help at all, in actual fact it will most likely increase the illness period and you also run the risk of making others sick which is selfish in its own right. Bottom line, stay in bed.

While pursuing this rest and recovery stage, set yourself some post recovery goals. Each day take your body’s feelings as they come don’t get despondent or down, as there will come a day when your eyes will open and you start to feel like a human again. Your body will let you know when it is ready and if you pay careful attention to its needs you cannot go wrong. Remember to value your health more than your desires, because without it you cannot pursue them.

Below is a small checklist of items that I recommend to ensure good health status for placing your body under physical stress:
There are of course many more but these are what I personally go through.

Self Examination
– Energy Levels
– Fatigue
– Sleeping Patterns
– Digestive Function
– Mood (Stress, Depression, Hyperactivity, Disappointment)

Medical Examination
ECG, Heart Ultrasound, Lung Function, Thyroid, Cholesterol (LDL, HDL), Blood Sugar, General Check Up

Bloods 
– CBC = Complete Blood Count (Including Hematocrit, Whites, Platelets)
– Liver Function
– Ferritin
– Red Cell Magnesium
– Allergy Testing
– Inflammatory Markers
– Glucose Tolerance Test

medical_coverage

 

 

 

 

Categories
Nutrition Performance Training

Comrades Marathon 2014 – The Nutrition Factors (Post Mortem)

Comrades Marathon Post Mortem

Comrades Marathon this past Sunday as usual did not disappoint. The elite men’s race was exciting from beginning to end and in the ladies the twins 11 year domination came to an abrupt halt with Eli Greenwood completing an amazing final 10km split one of the fastest on the day. Many viewers looked at the twins walking for the first time and initial comments were that they are past their prime, they are too old and their days are numbered. I also heard many stories of nausea and cramping.

I was supposed to run Comrades 2014 but due to a chest infection and a prolonged course of antibiotics I had to unfortunately withdraw, remember health always comes first no matter what. However my day was incredibly good. I did what I do best, I got into the official Nedbank seconding vehicle with Nick Bester and made sure our athletes were fed & hydrated from start to finish.  I work with Mr. Price Maxed Elite and some of the Toyota athletes as well and I supported and advised all that I could on the tough 90km route. I often get asked what did the elite athletes use, how did they feed and what did they hydrate on. It’s always a very interesting discussion, and in previous years when I have seconded them I have measured fluid and carbohydrate intake along the route to see exactly what goes into a gold medalist’s body. The day itself was an extremely difficult one for most and I will expand in more detail on the pitfalls and reasons many saw nausea, dizziness and cramping on the route.

Let’s first start with the main rule of thumb. If you train a certain way then you race exactly the same. You never ever attempt to try new tactics or nutrition on race day. If you do you only have yourself to blame when falling ill. Not only is race day nutrition critical, BUT the entire week leading up to the event. Eat what you would normally eat, don’t suddenly decide a few days before or the morning of to try a new food or drink that you have never tried before you are truly asking for trouble. Since Comrades I have spoken to 5 athletes who had a very hard first half during the marathon and all 5 had one thing in common, their pre-race meal was not something they had done before. In actual fact it was severely impacting they tried a new beverage or meal on race day. When you prepare so hard and long for a race and in 5 minutes completely throw it out the window it just doesn’t make sense. Train how you would race I cannot emphasize this enough.

What else went wrong on Comrades day?
Race day fuelling was a big factor. Many athletes take in a whopping load of sugar during the first half only to succumb to it later on. I have always said this and will continue to stand by it. Comrades Race is a slower paced race, meaning you will predominantly use your fat stores for energy. There is no need to over consume blood glucose spiking products such as gels early on, if you do well then you are just asking for trouble. In my buildup to the race, my 38-40km runs were done purely on water. I would wake up have a cup of green tea and go out. I would only have some water if I felt like it. There was no need for taking on major fuel, my pace was around 4:45/km – 5:00/km way slower than my marathon pace of 3:45 – 4:10. This only can mean one thing fat is king glycogen is spared :-).

For many however the biggest factor of the day was actually the temperature and humidity factor. I stood at the city hall in Pietermaritzburg at the start of the race knowing this was the warmest race start temperatures I have ever felt. I hate the cold and I recall 2010 while seconding at Ashburton where it was so cold I had 3 layers on, a beanie, gloves, wind proofs and I couldn’t keep warm no matter what. Aside from that my volunteers who were injured sub 6hr Comrades runners were also dressed in thick clothing and running up and down the road just to stay warm. We were all in agreement it was a really cold day.
At 2010 Comrades Marathon the average temperature in Durban was 19ºC (min 14ºC; max 24ºC) with 63% humidity and 3 km/h wind speed. In 2012 the temperatures were around 23ºC with a humidity of around 38%.

On Sunday I stood in a t-shirt with a thin long sleeved top and I was perfect and that was Pietermaritzburg where the temperatures were 8 degrees. Immediately I advised the elite athletes I managed to chat with on the morning to really focus on their fluid intake and drink to thirst not more, because core body temperatures were going to rise and so would the temptation for major fluid intake. Most novices and even some pro’s land up drinking excessively to try to keep cool, however all this does is overload the system with fluid and can lead to over hydration or hyponatremia. By midday the temperature in Durban had soared to a peak measurement of 33ºC with the humidity increasing from 38% – 76% to Comrades cut off. (see below)

Image

 

From the onset I knew today was the day people would complain of bad water on route, cramping and nutrition used. Basically pointing the finger at anything to try to explain what happened on the day. In the last 20km’s of the race when our elite athletes came through our feeding zone, one in particular was complaining of leg cramping and a little surprised because he never cramps. We assisted him with a quick resolution to try to get him going again and it seemed to work. Post-race analysis showed over consumption of fluid. Bongmusa the Comrades winner took around 30 water sachets in the last 18km’s of the race. However of the 30 water sachets, 28 went over his head only around 2 in the mouth. This was incredibly smart, he was using the water to try to cool his core body temperature from the outside and definitely not on the inside. At that time of day, and taking in excessive fluid, it would have spelled disaster but there was plenty of wisdom in it.

Why should consuming too much fluid cause issues?

Its quite simple, in hot especially more humid conditions a lot of fluid is lost in the form of water and sodium. Taking in excessive fluid at this stage actually starts a process of what is called Hyponatremia which is basically serum sodium concentration of less than 135 mEq/L as a result of an accumulation of total body water greater than the body’s accumulation of electrolytes (sodium + potassium).
In simple terms due to the heat losing a lot of fluid in the form of water and sodium, and then consuming large amounts of water, can lead to low plasma sodium (salt level in the blood)

I was told by one group of athletes that they had been training in hot conditions for the race. However the hot climate they were training in was nowhere near the humid conditions they were racing in and they also succumbed to fluid consumption for core temperature cooling and potentially caused major issues. Another group of runners contacted me stating that with around 30km’s to go they consumed some gels and immediately began vomiting. I had some news for them it wasn’t the gels. With 30km’s to go these runners were in the thick of peak day temperatures and had also landed up over consuming fluid after careful analysis.

The symptoms for over-hydrating are crystal clear:

Nausea
Cramping
Dizziness
Disorientation
Confusion

Generally in athletes nausea and cramping are what is first experienced.

One of the issues with Comrades Marathon is that there are far too many water tables spaced too close to one another. It would be far more beneficial to space them out a little more. When running a marathon or an ultra, one tends to forget about when he consumed last how long ago, and often the mind just goes into a see and grab situation which leads to trouble.
A conversation with the Russian twins afterwards had shown excessive fluid intake. One of them landed up in hospital with close to renal failure symptoms which were declared to be a result of low blood sodium.  What’s incredible from the majority of the cases is that at the line they were diagnosed with dehydration, however results later showed this was completely incorrect. Very often dehydration symptoms are confused with hyponatremia symptoms. Athletes can perform dehydrated quite easily, but slightly overhydrate and you are toast.

During a long event such as Comrades Marathon weather conditions play an extremely critical role. The key elements are always drink to thirst, don’t over drink. If you are feeling very hot then cool from the outside not the inside.  If you are taking in a lot of fluid try consuming the water with carbs and minerals to maximize the fluid uptake. If you train in cooler climates and then suddenly race in a hotter more humid climate you could potentially look at additional sodium intake to try to mitigate this from happening.

Lastly and this is a topic that completely irritates me to no end. The runners that take NSAID’s with them. Yes you, the ones who carry myprodol, ibuprofen or any other pain killer or anti-inflammatory with them during the run. Its a fact that more athletes that have landed up with renal failure, which also starts with major symptoms of nausea, dizziness etc have been a result of consuming these types of medications during an event. In the words of my running coach “If you need to take a pain killer or anti-inflammatory during Comrades, then you should NOT be doing Comrades”. If this is you then understand you are putting your life at risk and what you are doing is absolutely nothing less than very stupid.

Its always tough on the day especially in 90km’s of running and anything can potentially happen. However the more prepared you are and the better you know your body the less chance there is of having any major issues.

 

Categories
Health Nutrition Performance

Performance vs Health & Convenience – The Energy Gel Debate

Most people that know me well know that I am not entirely a big fan of sports or energy gels. The main reason I have been critical of them is more from an education point of view than anything else. Consuming a very high concentrate of “glucose” requires a very specific reason and more often than not gels are used and abused under conditions that do not warrant consumption. Gels are very much not always healthy and one of my other main reasons is the fact that I see it as a massive litter item, when tearing off the top and tossing it. Let’s first look at some key sports nutrition facts to make all of this clear.

When training or racing there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account with gel consumption and these are:

  1. Type of Event
  2. Duration
  3. Intensity
  4. Digestive Impact & Palatability
  5. Temperature

 

The type of event you are doing more often than not will limit the type of fuelling you will be able to use during the event. Swimming, Cycling, Running and Track and Field Sports all have their technicalities, etiquette, timing, rules and regulations. Supplementation is there for convenience and an athlete will need to decide if the type of fuel feed he is looking at is simple and convenient under those conditions.
Doing a trail run or ride doesn’t make it easy for a gel feed as you cannot simply throw the tear off on the floor as this can lead to penalization and in some events disqualification. The environment needs to be taken into account.
Doing a long open water swim falls under the same category of what are you going to do with your litter. Cycling vests have pockets and make it more convenient to carry but again the used gel sachet needs to be kept intact and not just thrown away in the middle of nowhere, so from a convenience point of view they are not always ideal.

Secondly how long is the duration of the event? Is it a fast 10km run or is it a long slow ride or run. If you are going to use a gel feed for a short fast distance race it’s easy to feed prior to the event or run with one sachet and take at a later stage, but if it’s an ultra-marathon are you going to carry your big gel supply in sachets squashed in between your shorts and waist, or an additional race belt to carry them on route.

Then palatability comes into play in that the sweetness can be tolerable a couple of times but if an athlete would try to consume many gels over a long period of time the taste and feeling can become nauseating and intolerable.

Intensity plays a key role in the decision to use a gel during an event. If you are performing at a controlled pace where you are breathing quite comfortably consuming a gel might not be the best idea. Intensity often determines the feed. At a lower intensity a stability feed would be better suited to providing balance and sustainability as opposed to very high intensity where a quicker fast releasing carbohydrate feed would be required.

Taking a gel which will spike your blood glucose levels is a terrible idea when you don’t need the spike, as your digestive system won’t easily process all the glucose and this can lead to GI (gastrointestinal) distress. Another big reason for GI distress with gel consumption is often not consuming a sufficient amount of water with the gel. Consuming a large amount of concentrated carbs in a single gel dose requires a certain amount of water to be consumed with it in order to lower the osmolarity of the combined solution assisting in an increase in the absorption rate. The number of times I have seen athletes consuming gels without adequate simultaneous fluid intake has been numerous and it often leads to gastric distress.

This is why temperature plays an important role. In hot conditions it’s pretty easy to consume the amount of required fluid with a gel which I recommend to be at around 250-280ml’s of water. However on a cold day where hydration requirements are a lot lower one needs to be careful to consume a gel and then avoid the fluid consumption so as not to cause bladder discomfort. In cases where the temperature is lower I often recommend splitting the gel feed over a period of time as opposed to once every 45 minutes to an hour, to help lower the impact on the digestive system and provide a little more comfort and stability. Of course it’s not easy to open a gel and then not use it as it has the property of leaking once open which is not ideal, but I would take gastric comfort over a mess any day.

Now let’s take a closer look at the properties of a gel. Most gels are made up of a combination of carbohydrates and a few contain protein. The majority of gels use glucose, maltodextrin and fructose. Many times the straightforward name of fructose is often masked with the fancy wording of fruit juice concentrate, and in some cases they will even go as far as saying mango or apple juice concentrate, but let’s keep it simple this is fruit sugar and is fructose bottom line. Maltodextrin is not classified as a sugar due to its complex carbohydrate bonds, but a closer look at maltodextrin will tell you it is truly a blood sugar spiker of note and can reach up to 135 on the glycemic index. One of the biggest issues I have with maltodextrin is not the spiking properties but the fact that most brands use genetically modified (GMO) corn starch for maltodextrin. If I see a gel with maltodextrin in it I advocate complete avoidance unless one can ascertain 100% that the starch is not genetically modified which is rare. I haven’t found a maltodextrin based gel locally that is GMO Free.

Aside from the carbohydrate content which is the foundation for any gel, there are other additives which need to be considered. Protein as an ingredient often forms a small percentage of some sports gels on the market. Although protein is not there to provision energy during exercise, it can certainly assist with stability and a sense of fullness to keep those hunger cravings at bay. In long endurance events I always advocate some protein specifically for stability and during stage racing I am a fan of it during an event especially towards the end of the stage so that the protein in the system can immediately begin to assist post stage with the recovery process.

Flavoring, colorant and preservatives all form part of gel to provide taste, texture and of course shelf life stability. In Europe non-nutritive sweeteners in a high calorie product such as a gel are restricted and this is something to keep in mind when deciding on a gel purchase. The research into non-nutritive sweeteners such as Aspartame, Acesulfame-K has shown to be detrimental to human consumption and its best to limit intake if not completely avoid. Gels are one of the most consumed endurance sports products on the market and careful scrutiny of contents should always be in mind to ensure you put health and safety before performance.

32Gi’s new Sports Gel
I cannot even begin to tell you how many times over the years I have had requests for a 32Gi energy gel. It’s not that we never wanted to launch one it’s just that with all the above in mind it was important that we did the proper research and then extensive testing with our athletes. We had to ensure it was good from a health & performance perspective and of course made sure that the packaging we decided on was suitable to all types of sports and more specifically environmentally friendly.

Let’s review this unique gel which is going to be launched this week. Upfront I need to state that the 32Gi gel will form part of the Accelerate performance series. It is a performance gel which does cause a blood sugar spike and it has been designed this way specifically.

The 32Gi gel base we selected is natural brown rice syrup. The reason for selecting this as a base was very straightforward. We wanted a product which is as natural as possible, which in no way contains any genetically modified ingredients and is gluten free and fiber free.  Brown rice syrup (rice syrup) is the well advocated as the quit-sugar/sugar-free lobby groups. It consists of around 45% maltose, 3% glucose, and 52% maltotriose (a trisaccharide consisting of three glucose molecules joined together). The Australian GI institute has tested brown rice syrup to contain a GI of around 98 which is slightly below that of glucose but perfectly suited to high intensity exercise fuelling.  The carbohydrate itself breaks down into the 3 carbohydrate components of maltose, glucose and maltotriose which have varying properties, allowing for excellent absorption and lowered risk of GI distress. Rice syrup naturally contains a tiny portion of protein which allows for some stability. The gel contains over 90 Calories of glycemic carbohydrates which is a completely adequate feed.
What I really like about brown rice syrup is that the actual taste is not overly sweet, the texture is not too thick and not too fluid making it fairly easy to consume and of course it is very natural.  The only other components to the 32Gi gel are that of sodium in its natural salt form and potassium which assists with mineral loss and of course fluid absorption. The gel is being launched in two flavours at first which is vanilla and coffee. The vanilla is a natural flavour and it contains no colors whatsoever, so in short it’s an extremely clean product from a health perspective.

What about the packaging?

Gel packaging is legacy and has been for many years. Most gels use a pouch packaging method which involves a tear at the top and squeezing it out. Some gel manufacturers do offer dispensing containers for those athletes that use gel bottles which can be quite convenient. We will be providing bulk gel packaging for dispensing in the near future.

We looked around in Europe, Asia and the US reviewed many variants of gel sachet packaging which we felt to be not just costly but not very convenient or environmentally friendly. We were approached by a company that does liquid packaging in a unique patented sachet format which requires no tearing at all, and once we took a closer look at this we realized this was definitely the way to go.
It’s a simple packaging which in short can be described as flat as a credit card and similar in size. It’s a one handed snap, squeeze and eat, no tearing with the teeth at all and no worries if you have gloves on a cold day, it’s simply ingenious. The best part of it is a runner can shove a fair amount around his waist on the inside of his running shorts or tights and it won’t bother him and won’t fall. A triathlete can easily carry a few in the suite without it irritating. It also easily fits into a top tube bag on the bike for those long Ironman rides when you want to carry fuel on the bike.
When we did our athlete testing we asked a number of ultra-runners to do a 56km run with at least 5-6 of our gels on them. The feedback was unanimous from a convenience point of view. It’s a runner’s dream carry.

When the cycling community tested it, we got great feedback on it being environmentally friendly and in the mountain biker community it was even more widely adopted as not just environmentally friendly but also easy to open especially on a technical terrain where focus is required on the route and not on the feed. A big thumbs up was also given on the fact that with one hand all the gel could be squeezed out of the packaging with no remains left behind. This is due to the even pressure applied by the package fold forcing the gel to exit the packaging once opened.

We have often prided ourselves on not just succumbing to the mainstream and the copy cats. We like to be innovative and we want to make sure that when we put a product into the market it has been properly tested from a functionality, taste, texture, packaging and convenience point of view. We also don’t just test our products on cyclists, we ensure the testing is carried out across a wide variety of sports, we listen to the athlete’s feedback and we go back to the drawing board if required. I personally feel that the 32Gi Sports Gel is going to make many athletes very happy in that from a health perspective there is no nonsense, from a functionality perspective it works well and from a convenience perspective it simply delivers and of course from an environmental perspective it’s definitely a brilliant no tear and drop option to keep the planet clean.

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