If the last two years is anything to go by there is definitely one message which resonates across the board with everyone. That message is health. No matter what anyone says human health has certainly come to the forefont of global focus. What is sad is that it took the fear of a pandemic to wake people up and make them realise that.
Humanity across the globe is in a very unhealthy state but moreover a large percentage of the unhealthy population is based on very poor lifestyle decisions which have a detrimental impact on ones health and of course the consequences that come with it. Usually an individual will only value their health when they no longer have it. It’s debilitating physical and emotional impact period can leave a person begging for their health back. If and when it does return they generally go back to their previous bad habits. No lessons learned just Russian roulette with their health future.
The pandemic though brought another angle to the forefont and that was the question of am I healthy? If I do catch this virus how will my body respond? It is a very vital question to ask. I come across so many people in life who tell me they are healthy but once we start to dig deep we find that in actuality they are not. I mainly work with athletes. Take a look at them in general and your perception is lean, fast, strong and resilient. I take a look at them and see vulnerabilities caused by additional stresses on a body which can suppress proper immune sytem function as well as trigger a whole other host of potential issues which are never seen on the surface. Yes, they can also be high risk candidates.
When the pandemic started and treatment protocols were not crystal clear my immediate advice was tone down the training volume and intensity, focus on good nutrition, plenty of good sleep and fortify your health because that was our only initial natural fighting mechanism. Many did the opposite with their backyard ultra’s and clocking up the biggest home training sessions I have ever seen in my life. There were many who then when contracted covid got hurt and knocked down way worse than they should have. When I saw what was happening I took a bit of an angry and somewhat arrogant stance commenting that many had just taken their health for granted and now they were paying the price for their poor decisions.
I owe you an apology. Its not your fault. You were never guided, never taught, and grew up in an environment in which you didn’t know any better. It should not take a pandemic and fear mongering to make us change our attitudes towards our own health. It should be ingrained from a young age. Nutrition, exercise and general health should be taught at schools, should be brought into our homes and should be all encompassing in a family environment. However its very rare to find.
I dont like who I became. The pandemic triggered a huge sense of anger and resentment inside of me with the world looking for quick fixes and solutions to solve a pandemic which had absolutely no mercy on the vulnerable. Admittedly I was one of the fearful when covid hit. The media loves sensationalism its how they make their money and fear was at the top of the list.
Eventually when I caught my first covid infection I had to go through the motions of a symptomatic illness that millions of others went through before me not knowing which way it would go. In hindsight the infection that hit my wife and I was fairly mild compared to many and we were over it in around ten days and slowly back to routine. I was told by someone that I was lucky. That flared up some more anger because for the past 30 years of my life I have placed a huge amount of effort and focus on preventative health, through studying and constantly practicing. every single day of my life. Luck has nothing to do with it I lashed back. However again I need to apologize. My own turning point was three decades ago when I too succumbed to illness and it was my wake up call and my calling in life. If this is what it took me to wake up then it isn’t any different for others.
There was a major war going on across the globe of health versus covid. Having experienced covid and having some like minded experts at my side I became a frontline soldier. I went straight into the health battle and never looked back. Even to the extent that when my wifes son caught delta a year after our first infection I intentionally exposed ourselves to him to prove that health is the trump card here. We went through the second covid infection but this time way milder than the previous one. To be honest only two days of sinus irritation and then bloods were run and were all good and so again back to routine.
I was told by someone that my “brilliant chess move” was like cleaning my teeth with a shotgun. My convictions are solid, I just told him that for him it was fear talking, but I had already experienced covid and so I had none. More arrogance set in because we bounced covid twice with ease and heath became even more of a trump card. BUT, in hindsight I openly admit this was not a very clever move. As an educator and mentor it was pretty damn stupid. I demonstrated something which could have led others to do the same thing with dire consequences. Very few people on this planet actually have a true snapshot of their health. Their definition of health is an snapshot of how they feel from day to day based on physical and emotional feeling and function. They might not actually know what it truly feels like to be energetic and truly healthy. Its a biased opinion based on their life experiences.
I have let you all down. I played the health card over and over again during a pandemic when you did not have the slightest understanding of how you could be directly impacted by it. But because you do not have that indepth knowledge and know how into measuring your own health you could easily be at risk. Not just pandemic risk but any potential health threats that come your way.
The last few weeks I decided to take a step back and went into deep thought as to how I can try to make this world a better place. I am tired of the ongoing battles and arguments ensuing the globe. I have my opinions but my job is to encourage motivate, and help others achieve a much higher level of health and longevity. So for now the only way forward is to educate and motivate . To use all my experience and evidence based knowledge and the knowledge of others to give you the best possible opportunity at strengthening, improving and fortifying your health.
Its a new year, certainly a new era and all I can do is promise you to keep striving to help change lives for the better going forwards.
Intermittent fasting has certainly come to the forefront over the past few years and more and more I am getting asked by endurance athletes whether I think intermittent fasting is a good idea?
The question I throw back in return is why do you want to do intermittent fasting? Mostly I hear endurance athletes telling me that they want to lose weight, lean out or become more fat efficient athletes. I guess the big question is what is your actual goal? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you trying to improve your previous best marathon or Ironman time or are you just doing it for health reasons.
Firstly intermittent fasting is a form of calorie restriction, correct? So if you can restrict calories by fasting then why can’t you restrict calories by eating correctly? When you place your body into a fasted state you begin playing with hormones specifically leptin and ghrelin. The inability to balance these hormones properly due to either over eating or fasting can cause roller coaster effects which in the end do not land up serving the correct purpose.
The main question though is as an endurance athlete why would you even consider fasting?
Weight loss comes from eating correctly meaning a calorie restricted diet and proper macronutrient intake to support you unique requirements. This could be fat loss, muscle gain or maintenance. However as an endurance athlete what about energy, immunity, recovery and performance. Intermittent fasting will not support that at all. Actually quite the opposite it will hamper the recovery process, limit your energy levels and place your immune system under stress.
Let me further explain so that you fully understand the consequences of intermittent fasting while trying to be the best possible healthy endurance athlete.
RECOVERY When it comes to recovery there are three main aspects that I look at and these are:
Rehydration Muscle Protein Synthesis Glycogen Restoration and blood sugar stabilization
If an athlete does intermittent fasting then rehydration and adequate fluid intake will not be an issue. The main issues will arise when it comes to muscle protein synthesis and glycogen replenishment. Adequate protein intake for an endurance athlete is important for recovery. Generally I work on around 1.4g – 1.7g of protein per a kilogram of body weight. This will depend on the athletes goals and training. Strength work and developing more lean muscle will require a higher protein intake while maintenance and repair will be on the lower side. Take a 70kg athlete who is training on average 90min a day. His required protein intake would be around 100-120g of protein per a day. This is in animal nutrition terms 4-5 chicken breasts or plant terms 2-3 cups of raw chickpeas. That is quite a lot of food. If the fasting window is quite long it means squeezing this protein intake into a small amount of time. However as we well know when it comes down to protein the human body is only capable of processing and absorbing a certain amount of protein every +-3hrs. This is generally in the region of +- 8-10 grams per hour. So its not possible to squash large protein portions into less meals and expect the correct portion amount for proper muscle protein synthesis to take place. Actually the opposite over eating protein ultimately causes a rise in blood sugar and that can easily lead to weight gain. We also know that consuming a protein with a carbohydrate post exercise up-regulates amino acid uptake specifically leucine which is a trigger for muscle protein synthesis.
What also allows for proper muscle protein synthesis is a positive nitrogen balance. Nitrogen is the most crucial component of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. What this means is that if you are fasting the amount of nitrogen excreted from the body is greater than the amount of nitrogen ingested and there is no repair work taking place actually the opposite. So you are actually not recovering and triggering decent training adaptations.
EATING FOR ENERGY The next aspect I want to look at is the energy system our primary fuel tanks being glycogen and fat. Glycogen is our rocket fuel and used at higher intensities while in lower aerobic zones fat becomes the fuel of choice. A hard workout where glycogen depletion takes place will require carbohydrate intake post exercise to rapidly start the glycogen replenishment process and stabilise blood sugar. Extending the fasted period a few hours post exercise will delay this from happening and can lead to fatigue. This will also hamper back to back sessions. Then when it does become time to break the fast how do you know how much to consume in the form of carbohydrates and protein. If you do not ensure proper glycogen replenishment and stabilisation without triggering a roller coaster ride you will generate the the opposite effect from fat burn to fat gain by overeating.
When it comes down to the main energy system, carbohydrates are without a doubt our rocket fuel. If you are going to be doing an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test or an interval or track session. Then how can you expect to achieve the best possible numbers without fuelling the session properly. Being able to push those sessions to the best possible effort is what ultimately will lead to better gains, as well as more fat burning post exercise by elevating the metabolic rate that much more. It has been scientifically proven many times over that a fuelled session will give better performance numbers.
When it boils down to performance gains and being a fitter faster and stronger athlete then you need to fuel your effort. Fuelling during an exercise session or eating post exercise recovery meals is not the reason endurance athletes are overweight. Weight gain comes with overeating and inadequate macronutrient meal blends.
The Fat Efficient Athlete In order to become a fat efficient athlete intermittent fasting is not required. Fasted training is a good way of developing this, but that is completely different from intermittent fasting. A fasted session does require a recovery meal post exercise and the volume and type of meal will be determined by the duration and intensity of the exercise session. Failing to recover from an exercise session is without a doubt failing the session itself.
To summarise my views on intermittent fasting and endurance sport. They do not go hand in hand. Endurance sport replaces a large amount of physical stress on the body. This impacts the musculoskeletal system, the immune system and energy system. The athletes body requires nutrients to fuel, repair and fortify it constantly. Failing to give the body what it needs will ultimately lead to a lack of performance and potentially illness and injury. If you want to perform, lean out and get your own resilient Lamborghini engine and body then learn how to eat properly and avoid short cuts which don’t benefit that goal. If you are only trying to lose weight or have a medical condition which requires a calorie restricted diet then intermittent fasting can play a roll. However if you are an athlete intent on being the best version of yourself then get your nutrition right and stop playing games.
Mark Wolff is a certified exercise & sports nutritionist, endurance nutrition and physiology expert with over 20 years experience. An endurance multi-sport athlete with a running, triathlon, mountain biking and weight lifting background, he works extensively with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports disciplines as well as those just wanting to change their lifestyles. He firmly believes that a person can only reach their full potential when their health and nutrition is given the proper focus. Mark’s 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 also co-founder of Rapid Recover focused on pneumatic compression equipment to improve circulation for recovery and health.
I figured with all the hype surrounding the Netflix launch of The Game Changers to my controversial post last week which got praises and shots from quite a few, intentionally I might add. I decided to put my views into a proper perspective to clear up any confusion and put this topic to rest.
If anyone had ever suggested to me 10 to 20 years ago that I would be vegan or completely plant-based I would have laughed it off and put the idea down immediately. Why?
But I love my meat and diary…
Firstly, I loved my meat and dairy and secondly, being an endurance athlete but coming from a strength background would have been against everything I was every taught or learned from a nutrition perspective.
Muscle mass equalled protein which equated to meat. Believe me in my twenties I could easily walk into Scrooges Diner and take on the “Big Challenge”. It was to eat a 42 oz steak, drink a quart of beer or coke, and consume a plate of chips all in under an hour. They gave you a free t-shirt for completing the challenge.
One day I walked in there and my mates set up another challenge for me. Take on a double Scrooges Challenge. I completed the first in 17 minutes, and the second was done in another 18 minutes.
Basically 48 oz of steak, 2 quart of beer, and two plates of chips downed in 45 minutes flat. That was “The Fitness Freak” 28 years ago.
If anyone ever toyed with idea of plant-based, vegan or anything close to it there was absolutely no chance I would have given it a second of a thought. It was completely cast aside as absolutely ridiculous.
When your lifestyle catches up with you
My weight lifting years were a lot about strength and muscle mass gain. However at the same time all the heavy lifting, the long hours of working and poor nutrition eventually took its toll on me.
At age 26 I contracted an illness which knocked me down for months. Not only did it hit me hard, it kept reoccurring year after year. Here I was a strong muscular conditioning expert, yet I could not get out of bed to even make it the bathroom. I had a high fever that lasted for weeks on end, chronic fatigue, and in a world of hurt.
The doctors had absolutely no idea what was going on and I was subject to a daily dose of blood tests, ultra sounds, liver biopsies and possibly anything you can think of. The doctors were completely at a loss.
I couldn’t let this go on. I had come to the sad realization that I had gotten away for years with unhealthy food, work stress, lack of sleep and heavy weights which eventually caused my elastic band to snap. I was afraid, very afraid.
The pinnacle of change in my life
My daughter was only a year old at the time and I was worried how would I be able to be healthy and ensure I could care for and provide. I decided to accept my illness. It’s the greatest thing you can do, because without acceptance you cannot move ahead. You just remain trapped in a world of hurt and pain.
My eventual diagnosed was a viral infection that I had picked up from my daughter, which in normal cases doesn’t wreak as much havoc as it did. I only had myself to blame. I led a less than stellar lifestyle and this was a BIG wake-up call.
To make matters worse, this illness wasn’t ever going to disappear. It had triggered an autoimmune response and regardless of most people developing antibodies to keep it at bay, my body decided during certain times to give into to it and I experienced a few more years of big attacks.
BUT this was the pinnacle of change in my life. I was NOT going to accept this and I was going to find a way of keeping myself strong and the illness away.
I became an expert of my own body
Nutrition, physiology, anatomy, lifestyle and exercise. I studied, I investigated, I made big changes and I started to become such an expert of the human body with regard to nutrition, exercise, endurance, fitness, health, illness, injury and weight-loss.
But that’s not all, I managed to take all of this and turn it into a lifestyle. A blueprint for a healthy life and creating longevity. The main areas I focused on was of course nutrition, sleep and training.
We all mostly train, we all eat, and sleep. So what is meant by this?
I had to find the exact nutrition my body required for me. The right amount of sleep to ensure lowered stress levels and recovery. AND of course ensuring that I understood exactly the kind of training was needed and how much of it to ensure performance and immune system strength, but not too much to cause the opposite effect.
Putting the pieces together to achieve success
I studied in-depth physiology, nutrition, endurance and strength principles. I studied and worked with some of the greatest minds in these fields to ensure that I became an expert. So that I could empower not just myself, but also to be able to guide others. After all, nothing is more important than ones health. Without it life cannot be lived to its full extent (Read my blog on the Fork in the Road).
I managed to lean out, 46 kilograms leaner! Not by becoming a vegan but by using my knowledge to clean up my eating, training and sleeping. I managed to suppress this re-occurring illness for 9 years. However in 2012 it reared its ugly head just before the last leg of a triathlon series.
I will never forget that day. I had been racing nicely and sitting there ready to snap up a podium step, all I needed was a solid finish on the last race. However on the day I was flat and my energy levels were just not there. I thought it was a cold but it was way more than that and the next few days it reared its ugly head. I was very ill and no doctor could figure it out.
Going back to the Drawing Board
I was back to the drawing board. What could I change what would get me back in control of my health again. At that stage I consulted with some immunologists who ran a batch of bloods and started cycling me on and off courses of antibiotics and tetracycline to kill what they had discovered. Twenty two courses in total to be honest over many months.
At the same time I placed myself on a ketogenic diet and was so serious about it that I made sure to run daily blood tests on myself to ensure I was remaining in a state of ketosis.
I figured if this bug thrived on carbs then I was going to give it the opposite. The war was real and after nine months the illness subsided and I could start training again.
I came back to good health and started competing again at a decent level, but every few months I sort of dipped back into illness. Then came out again with shorter infection periods. It took about 18 months to realise that the keto diet was too inflammatory. With my training volumes and intensity my recovery was not the best and it was weakening my immune system.
I decided to go back to a higher carbohydrate diet. Within a few weeks I felt the benefits again, especially on the energy and recovery side. It did not mean I was not fat efficient, I just focussed on carbohydrate periodization which worked very well.
So here I was with all the correct macronutrients which were definitely working in my favour but I still was not on top of my game where my health was concerned and I knew I could still improve.
My secret to going Vegan
So I decided to start with a slow process of elimination and see where it took me. The first to go was meat which left me with a wide variety of enjoyable “healthy foods”. Then with more tweaking and research I dropped the chicken leaving me classified as “Lacto-ovo vegetarian”.
I felt great if not much better than I had in years, but I still believe that one should never settle for great if you can go way beyond that. I then cut fish, hanging on to just eggs and dairy. I went for ethically sourcing eggs and dairy but its very limited in South Africa, here I am based. What you find in the FMCG chain stores is not genuinely free range or organic for that matter.
Then the big moment came cutting dairy. I was never a big dairy eater but I did enjoy a greek yogurt now and then. It was a big move for me and I held onto the eggs purely for a source of B12, and as an easy source of protein.
The Benefits of going Plant-Based
This process had now taken me to a round two years without so much as a cold or any medication. Without actually realizing it my immune system was way stronger and it only showed over time.
Training adaptations were better and my body fat dropped even more, getting me to a weight lighter than at my school graduation. I was feeling healthier & stronger and my ability to recover was definitely way better than it had been in years.
Being an “Ovo-vegetarian” I kept to a minimum and started to experiment more with plant-based proteins. I kept running blood tests to ensure my engine was strong and that I had no deficiencies. Eventually I dropped the eggs and went completely plant-based.
I was nervous as I wasn’t sure how my iron levels, B12 levels etc. would remain sufficient to ensure I could perform at my best and stay healthy. However bloods do not lie (check out my blog Bloods don’t Lie) but my levels were stellar. The best they had been in years.
Do I need to supplement?
Yes I do. But I was supplementing even when I was eating meat so the change did not make matters worse, in actual fact my iron levels had improved.
Did my B12 levels drop? Actually that is the surprising part, I analyzed my bloods from when I was eating animal sourced proteins and to be honest my B12 levels are better now than they were then. Across the board and closer to 50 years of age I feel way better now than I was in my 20’s and 30’s.
The best part of all no major lingering illness for years. Was this a “Game Changer” for me. Absolutely.
Am I telling everyone to go in the plant-based direction? Definitely NOT!
Important Health Elements
What I do need to state is the following. Firstly, I think it’s important to figure out what works best for an individual. Nutrition is unique to each person. One needs to make sure whatever they are eating is right for their health, performance and enjoyment. But that does not mean being set in our ways is the best. Sometimes experimentation and change is a good thing to see where it takes you.
Secondly, I am not an anti-animal food based activist BUT my biggest gripe is actually the source of the animal-based products. It’s a fact that most farmed animals, at least where I live, are grain fed, antibiotic and protein hormone loaded.
This means whatever you are eating from that source is highly inflammatory and increases the risk of disease way more. It’s a fact that research has been done on farmed animal meat.
It’s been found to be excessively high in omega 6 inflammatory fats and contains virtually no omega 3, vitamins, minerals nor levels of conjugated linoleic acid. This means high cardiovascular and disease risk. So yes big meat eaters when sourced from the normal farming methods are not great at all for your health.
Endothelial Dysfunction
As for endothelial function, as shown in The Game Changers when eating animal-based products, plant-based foods have shown to have an extremely positive benefit on it. AND In the lowering of risks such as CVD, Blood Pressure etc. that’s not new to medicine or science, but maybe to some it was an eye opener and something new. Of course one could still follow a 80/20 clean plant / clean animal derived food source and reap the benefits.
Things you need to consider
I think the things one needs to consider are fruits and vegetables. They provide you with a high level of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals ,so yes they should be eaten in abundance. Yes animals provide protein as well as other beneficial support such as collagen, omega 3 (in decent sourced options) but these can be sourced in plants as well. Believe me protein can easily be derived from plant-based sources.
I hear a lot of people commenting on what is sprayed on the outside of plants is more hazardous than eating farmed meat. But it’s actually pretty easily washed off with certain organic sprays, and there are hard exterior fruit and vegetable options.
The problem with animals is there is no washing off what they are fed. In the words of Dr Mark Hayman “You are what the animal you eat, eats” and that is the plain truth, whether dairy or meat the problem is the source.
Following a PAGAN type of diet PaleoVegan (Check out Dr Mark Hayman’s WTF Should I Eat, book) top sourced animal derived foods with a higher amount of plant-based foods is absolutely fine. As long as you feel it works for you.
Remember one thing when it comes to nutrition even if it’s working well it’s still a journey, and constant changes, experimentation, tweaking and modifications to any diet will keep you progressing from strength to strength. So experiment and play with the food see what works best for you.
I run bloods on myself every 3-4 months. They are a true reflection of my health as well as how often I am sick, how energetic I am, and of course analyzing emotional stability and happiness.
Plant-Based Protein Pancakes
I often get asked if plant-based works for me. I never would have said this would have been my path of nutrition in life, but then again I followed what worked well for me. I was never afraid to be controversial, challenge and make the changes. It has certainly been a Game Changer for me..
Mark Wolff is a certified exercise & sports nutritionist, endurance nutrition and physiology expert with over 20 years experience. An endurance multi-sport athlete with a running, triathlon, mountain biking and weight lifting background, he works extensively with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports disciplines as well as those just wanting to change their lifestyles. He firmly believes that a person can only reach their full potential when their health and nutrition is given the proper focus. Mark’s 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 also co-founder of Rapid Recover focused on pneumatic compression equipment to improve circulation for recovery and health
