Tag: triathlon

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Nutrition Performance Sports Nutrition

STRUCTURED FUELLING – FAILING TO PREPARE IS PREPARING TO FAIL

When it comes down to race preparation athletes are all about the training never the nutrition around it. It is often an after thought. However its not just nutrition in and around the training an athlete should be focussed on its also the daily nutritional intake from waking up all the way to bed time. It plays a vital roll in maintaining an energy balance, supporting the recovery process, and keeping that immune system in check.

A few weeks ago, I participated in my first race after many years in hibernation due to ongoing commitments which never afforded me the time to put in the proper preparation. But when I decide to race it’s really a test of my consistent training and I don’t race for fun. I set a goal and stick to it. This time I went for Ironman 70.3 Tiberius with the single goal of getting a category podium to qualify for world champs. I knew what I needed to do from a numbers perspective to hit the target. But aside from training numbers the nutrition had to be spot on to support the effort. Over and above the actual training my age being a tender 51 meant recovery between sessions is more challenging and so dietary changes were needed to support the increases in volume and intensity. I wont dive into the daily nutrition in this blog as its quite detailed. I will leave that for another day. The purpose of this blog is to explain the approach to race day nutrition and how I properly prepared for it. Hopefully you can take away something and use it towards your big day.

WHEN DO YOU START?
Kicking off a race day nutrition plan needs to be tried and tested in training as much as you can. This needs to start many months before the actual race. In my case it was 10 months prior to race day. A fuelling plan needs to be properly structured, and tried, tested and stuck to like glue on race day.

FIRST STEPS
The first step you need to make is to think about the disciplines of swim bike and run and in your mind put a picture together of how you want to fuel each of those three.



-SWIM

Swimming being the first discipline means a pre-race meal and possible top ups on route to the start. In my case I decided to use 32Gi Pre-Race Meal as my pre-race fuel and because it such an important part of race day I consumed it prior to all my long and hard sessions. I also ensured I consumed it prior to most of my swims to ensure my digestive system was comfortable throughout. The serving sizes varied depending on how long before a training session I consumed it.

– BIKE
Generally this is the longest leg of a triathlon and the fuelling required to hold an effort for hours means a good fuelling plan that is simple and convenient while on the go.

Often cyclists complicate bike feeding, and this is something I like to keep as simple as possible. The way to determine intake on the bike is to understand a few very important things.

1.First is how long are you planning on riding for?

2.How many calories you are wanting to take in hourly (carbs only or carbs + protein)

3.How much fluid are you planning on consuming hourly for hydration purposes (this is weather and temperature dependant with heat and or humidity which can increase fluid loss)

In my case I pegged the bike to 2h30 as a pretty good estimate based on testing and in my case I went with around 280Kcals per an hour which equates to 70gram carbohydrates per an hour. Race weight is +-66kg placing me at over 1gram carbs per kg of body weight. However, I opted to go with 32Gi Race Pro which is a carbohydrate rich drink with a protein portion. I find protein intake during a long event keeps me stable and it can mitigate the onset of gluconeogenesis which can trigger muscle fatigue. 32Gi Race Pro is a single source feed so for me it was a simple uncomplicated feed and nothing else was needed from an energy perspective. I went with the mocha flavour due to it containing caffeine. I enjoy racing on caffeine. I decided to use a 600ml bottle and test the concentrate. This meant 10 scoops of Race Pro in the bottle for a 2.5hr ride. Aside from energy we need to also think about fluid intake to remain hydrated. By placing 10 scoops of Race Pro in a 600ml bottle that has turned the drink into a hypertonic solution which will provide energy, but it is not possible to hydrate. So, to manage this I placed an 800ml bottle of 32Gi Hydrate on the bike for hydration purposes. Optimal hydration is around 80% of lost fluid in the form of sweat. How do I know this number? I weigh myself before and after training sessions to determin weight loss which equates to fluid loss. During testing all went very well and I found my digestive system tolerated everything very well. The way I fed was alternating sips of energy and hydration spaced around 10min apart meaning Race Pro intake 3 times per an hour with fluid intake in between as needed. As we moved towards much hotter weather I realised that my fluid intake was not sufficient and that my sodium intake needed to be upped a little more. This led to a slight modification. Instead of 10 scoops in the 600ml bottle I placed 4 scoops in there to keep the solution isotonic (hydrates and provides energy with a more even pull through) and then I used a soft 300ml squeeze bottle which I placed the concentrate in, and carried that in my suite pocket for easy access. I then increased my Hydrate intake to 1.5 tablets in the hydration bottle so that I could get in around +-750mg sodium per an hour.
This worked amazingly well and on all training rides energy levels as well digestive comfort was spot on. I just needed to do one more test and this was on a 90km simulation which I did around 6 weeks out from race day. I woke up ate my 32Gi Pre-Race Meal as planned, pre-hydrated a little and then went out for a hard effort on the bike with my set fuelling strategy. I completed the course in 2h27 and the fuelling was perfect. These kind of tests demonstrate not just the level of fitness you at but more importantly the fuel required to achieve that effort was correct. It takes the stress off having to worry about any changes or adjustments. When it works bank it and take it to race day with a smile.

Run
The run leg is often where athletes can make or break their race, and this is determined by how well they fuelled on the bike leg and then how they continue to fuel through the run leg. A lot of triathletes test their fuelling on the bike and that is all then very often decide to rely on the course fuel for the rest of their race. I advocate never to rely on race course nutrition. You just do not know what you are getting from a dilution factor and that everything will go smoothly on the day. At Ironman Tiberius which was also Middle Eastern Championships 32Gi was the official nutrition partner. I remember going down the run course and being offered 32Gi products at the aid station by an athlete volunteering who knew me well. I refused the feed and kept going. He was a little in shock that I didn’t take my own fuel off the course. I explained to him afterwards when you go to battle take your own weapons that way you know they will work. The run course fuel was not my chosen fuel in training. My Run fuel was simple another soft squeeze bottles this time a 250ml hydra pack with a 32Gi Race Pro concentrate. All I needed in addition was water on the course and nothing else. Again, during training, I would run with the pack in my tri suite to get used to the feel and to ensure it worked well for me. I also did testers using longer harder efforts or brick sessions to test the nutrition worked well. Once I had tested dozens of times and was confident in the fuelling, I banked it.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
The one thing I have not spoke about which is vital in any triathlon is always to be prepared for anything. In this case often full distances allow special need bags for those that want some insurance. In my case the transition zone becomes very important.
On race morning I place two extra bottles in the bike and run bags one is a hydration bottle which is just water and 32Gi Hydrate and the other is a 250ml bottle of Race Pro with some 32Gi G-Shot’s (caffeine shots). These bottles are there in case I need to top up on energy or hydrate between the different legs of the race. The caffeine is something I take in prior to the race start and a just in case between legs.  

In my case our event started way over an hour after transition closed and I needed to use the time wisely to keep myself topped up. I sipped on Race Pro prior to the start of the event.

PLANNED NUTRITION
Below is exactly what went to the race course

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
As they say if you fail to prepare then prepare to fail. As much as we watched the weather and had an idea of conditions, race day threw us a nice curve ball. At 4am the rain came down and a hard the wind picked up. This was going to be a tough day out for most of the field. The cooler conditions and the rain made for slight changes in my nutritional strategy. What happens when temps drop is fluid loss is not as high and so I dropped my sodium down to +-500mg an hour instead of the 750mg planned. I also decided to start the feed from the concentrated squeeze bottle in order to allow the body to hit peak temperatures to keep fluid intake nominal and not over do it early on. Later when my fluid loss was slightly higher I would switch to more fluid with the small Race Pro bottle in the bottle cage. Minor adjustments to an already tried and tested plan.

THE END RESULT
Physically it wasn’t my best day out due to a number of reasons but I am never one for excuses and regardless we soldier on. Regardless of how I felt my race times were in line for a tough day out. The nutrition was perfect down to the red carpet and I never felt any discomfort or lack of energy.

Although I wanted the top step I had to settle for second place. My podium goal achieved and that is what I set out to do from the day I decided to enter the race.

The point of this blog is really to stress the importance of proper structure not just in training but in the nutrition in and around the training. There is no ways you can reach your true potential or push any hard efforts without a tried and tested nutrition and hydration strategy.

Below is a how I structured my race day nutrition. I know some of you have never truly given the nutrition much in-depth thought and many just thumb suck their way through. But you ask any professional or elite athlete about their intake during an event they will break it down into the finest of details because they know it’s the difference between a win a loss and a hard or smoother day out.

Hopefully you learned something from this approach above and will give your nutrition some proper thought before your big day.

Yours in health always

M

Categories
Nutrition

INTERMITTENT FASTING & THE ENDURANCE ATHLETE

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.

Categories
Health

YOU MIGHT BE FIT BUT YOUR GUT CAN LET YOU DOWN

Over the last few years I have engaged with a fair amount of athletes who constantly suffer from gut issues during exercise especially on race day. It is a very important issue to touch on and through this blog I hope to shed some light on the pitfalls of GI (gastrointestinal) distress and how to try to manage it. I myself have a very sensitive stomach and over the years have developed and followed some very key methods to keep the stomach issues a bay.

It is a fact that more runners will suffer from GI distress than cyclists. It is a much higher impact sport and the digestive system takes a bit more of a beating with the foot pounding. However that is not to say cyclists do not have their issues, they certainly do and this can be related to posture on the bike which can also add to the discomfort. Let me start by saying there is no full and sure way to completely understand exactly what your unique trigger is but there definitely are plenty of reasons as to why GI distress can occur and if properly managed they can be mitigated.

There are conditions that occur during exercise which place the digestive system under stress.
The first of course is the fact that when embarking on a training or racing session blood is required to transport oxygen to the muscles that are actively working. This pulls blood away from the digestive tracts and diverts that flow to the active muscles as well as to the surface of the skin as those vessels are required for cooling the body. This is an effect called splanchnic hypoperfusion which can lead to intestinal distress and compromise the intestinal barrier function. In short this increases intestinal permeability which means that a type of leaky gut syndrome occurs which can cause major discomfort in the form of pain, bloatedness due to excess gas as well as nausea and diarrhoea. The higher the intensity you perform at the more blood is moved to the muscles and the more sensitive the digestive system becomes.

Another aspect of GI distress is the brain gastrointestinal tract communication pathway. It is a fact that when we have digestive discomfort in any form the brain is signalled but at the same time when we have certain emotions such as nervousness, anxiety, sadness, anger or happiness our brain speaks to our gut. Without a doubt stresses can play a big role in determining how the gut bacteria behave. It is a two way communication channel and our health is very much determined by our mindset. Pre-training or racing nerves can have a major influence on how your stomach will behave on the day. I am sure many of you remember training days where you get up relaxed and off with a group of friends for a nice training session. However on race day you are up and down to the loo hoping you will make it to the start line.

Sports nutrition also plays a crucial role in that highly concentrated carbohydrates such as gels or certain drink mixes can cause digestive discomfort. Believe it or not taking a high amount of carbohydrates can upset the fluid energy balance pulling more water into the digestive system and actually increasing the risk of dehydration which will certainly upset the stomach. Feelings of nausea, irritability, stomach pain can very much be associated with a build up of glucose in the gut.

A simple example is if you consume a gel during exercise you have to take in a certain amount of water with it to ensure the dilution process is correct. Some gels are pre mixed with water but those that are not need to be diluted to reduce the risk of GI distress and onset of dehydration. So for example a gel with 20-25grams of carbohydrates in it would require approximately a fluid consumption of around 100ml per 6-10grams of carbohydrate ingestion to be on the safe side. So this means around 200 – 400ml of fluid. Quite a fair amount and this is definitely one of the major pitfalls of most athletes. The failure to understand the energy / fluid requirements to ensure a balance in the body which allows for both fuelling and hydration.

Another crucial aspect of sports nutrition is the ability to oxidize carbohydrates. Many athletes train fasted or train low and race high to improve their fat burn efficiency at higher intensities and try to gain the extra benefit of carbohydrate intake on race day. However if you do not train your gut to cope with the food intake on the day of your race you will not have the ability to properly break it down and absorb it efficiently. This places you at risk.

Finally the last trigger of course can be issues with your daily diet. I am of the firm belief that if you feel discomfort with any food then you need to eliminate it. There are however some foods that can certainly cause more discomfort than others. The top of my list is dairy for those that are lactose intolerant it is certainly one of the triggers of GI distress during exercise and best to avoid if you are not sure. Many people are fibre intolerant I personally limit fibre intake from 72hrs before any long or racing session. Fibre can cause gut havoc. High fat and protein intake before a session can also cause GI distress. They are not easily broken down and as opposed to carbohydrates and in many cases this can also be a trigger. Additionally on the nutrition side of things is the method of high FODMAP food reduction.

What are FODMAP’s?
FODMAP stands for Fermentable, Oligosacchiride, Disacchiride, Monosacchiride, and Polyols.
Developed in Australia, the FODMAP diet was developed to deal with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) fairly new to other parts of the world the diet has seen some good success in reducing the symptoms associated with irritable bowel.

How does it work?
FODMAPS are basically a group of short chain carbohydrates which occur in many foods such as wheat, dates honey and milk to name a few. These short-chain carbohydrates have been shown to increase osmotic load in the small intestine which means it will pull water into it and upset the digestive system. These food types are broken down with a fermentation process by gut bacteria which creates gas and discomfort especially in an athlete that is exercising. Best is to avoid high FODMAP foods in the week leading to a race or important training sessions in an attempt to reduce the risks of GI distress. If you suffer severely from IBS or Proctitis this could be a good direction to take.

Another important item to consider which I have not touched on yet is alcohol. As much as you want to argue with me, it causes GI disruption and can be considered another major player in causing GI distress. It also causes dehydration and we know that this is another trigger of GI distress. If I cannot convince an you to reduce or quit  then you should take jump and read a previous blog I wrote Endurance vs Alcohol. My personal opinion is that you should never have any alcohol in a race week or anywhere close to long training sessions.

So with all this in mind how do we tackle the dreaded tummy troubles that impact so many athletes across the globe.

A number of steps need to be adhered to:

No eating foods that negatively impact you
If eating any food impacts you negatively just avoid it. Identify those foods that you are emotionally attached to however cause tummy trouble, list them and avoid them. Just find a replacement there are plenty of options available.

Avoid dairy, fibre high fat and protein meals close to your important training or racing sessions.
We know these food types put more strain on the digestive system especially when under stress. So best is to avoid them to be sure. Proper experimentation will guide you, but rather start off clean and introduce to test and monitor the impact.

Train the gut
Do not just train low (low carbohydrate or fasted) you also need to train high. There is a benefit to fasted or low carbohydrate training in order to became more fat burn efficient. However failing to train the gut to adapt to fuel intake on the day will certainly cause issues. It is a fact that increasing carbohydrate intake during exercise will also allow your digestive system to become more efficient at oxidizing those carbohydrates. Make sure you are using the correct product for you and that you know exactly how to use it. You want to get the best of both worlds. Check out my previous blog So You Really Think you have Your Sports Nutrition Right?

Avoid high FODMAP foods
As mentioned above this has shown to quite successful in many that suffer from irritable bowl syndrome. Here is a link to an application which can be installed to help with food selection when it comes to FODMAP eating
FODMAP Mobile App

Avoid Alcohol
Check out my blog for a more in-depth discussion on this Click Here

During Exercise
I am a firm advocate of drip feeding during an endurance event. Taking in small amounts of carbohydrates more frequently over a longer period of time reduces the risk of GI distress caused by a glucose overload. Separate out your hydration and energy requirements and ensure there is balance. I am an advocate of mineral loading to help with fluid absorption and reduce the risks associated with dehydration which is also a major factor in GI distress. Check out my blog on Simply Hydrate if you are wanting more information on proper hydration.

Relax Relax Relax
We know so well that endurance sport is very much a mental game. As mentioned above anxiety and nervousness can absolutely trigger an irritable bowel. Find ways to calm yourself and stay relaxed. Maybe its speaking to others, or putting on your favourite playlist to shut out the world. Whatever your coping mechanism find one that works to keep you happy, content, confident and relaxed.

I hope this helps, please feel free to email me if you have any questions

all the best

M

Yours in Health and Fitness

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 focussed on pneumatic compression equipment to improve circulation for recovery and health.

 

 

Categories
Health Nutrition Performance

ENDURANCE VS ALCOHOL

Over the years I have had the good fortune of engaging with endurance athletes constantly. The talks I give around endurance health and sports nutrition always come up with a common question surrounding alcohol consumption. I am not going to sugar coat my answer, I say it as it is and in this blog I will spell out the good, bad and ugly around the issues associated with alcohol consumption and endurance sport.

Firstly we know from medical research that frequent consumption of alcohol can increase the risk of mortality and this should not come as a surprise to anyone. Men can tolerate a higher intake than women so relatively speaking women have a higher mortality rate for equal consumption volume than men. This does not mean the male population should go out and start racking up a large amount either because a small unit amount is the cut off before the mortality risk begins to rise and it seems men are far worse for wear as far as the stats go. Globally a large percentage of deaths are directly associated with alcohol consumption and one of the latest research reports on the global burden of disease study in the medical journal The Lancet states the following

“Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none. This level is in conflict with most health guidelines, which espouse health benefits associated with consuming up to two drinks per day. Alcohol use contributes to health loss from many causes and exacts its toll across the lifespan, particularly among men. Policies that focus on reducing population-level consumption will be most effective in reducing the health loss from alcohol use”. The full publication can be read here.

However alcohol or no alcohol my focus in this blog is around the impact of alcohol in endurance sport.

So let’s begin with the fact that it is the pleasure of most athletes to enjoy a beer or plenty more after the finish line of a race. When I raced overseas in Germany which is a big beer drinking nation I also had the pleasure of being offered a beer at the finish line however it was an alcohol free beer, which of course would not have had any negative impact on my recovery. However the alcohol certainly will.

Let us have a look at my major topics of recovery and see how in each case what the impact is.

Hydration 
Athletes finish training sessions or races in a dehydrated state. First step of recovery is to rehydrate properly.
Alcohol however is a diuretic. Basically this means what you take in will not aid hydration but hamper it and cause more fluid loss. Failing to hydrate properly post event will leave you feeling terrible the day after and the delayed onset of muscle soreness will be in an exaggerated state.

Glycogen Replenishment
One of the human body’s most important fuel tanks is the glycogen tank. A major source of energy supply and certainly a main contributor to fuelling the energy system during exercise and especially racing. Glycogen of course is primarily stored in the form of water, so failing to hydrate properly post session will definitely mitigate the proper replenishment of glycogen stores. In actual fact alcohol will definitely inhibit the re-synthesis of liver glycogen  and research has shown that it can take nearly twice as long to replenish the glycogen stores in an athlete that has consumed alcohol in comparison to an athlete that has not. This means if you are in the middle of peak training or back to back racing you can rest assured this will impact you significantly. Over and above this I often get told beer and wine is an excellent source of carbohydrates. You joking right? It is absolutely not a good carbohydrate source required to replenish glycogen.

Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS)
An important part of recovery post exercise is of course muscle tissue repair. This requires proper nutrition meaning the building blocks of muscle being in the form or branch chain amino acids to be able to properly do their job. Some research has demonstrated that consuming alcohol post-exercise can suppress anabolic responses in muscles which means failure to repair properly and of course this prevents progress in the form of gains from exercise sessions. So yes this means your beer in one hand and steak in the other won’t cut it, your process is flawed.

Rest
The best way to recover post exercise of course is rest. I often stress one of the window periods of recovery is the sleep window and protein consumption prior to sleep can be of major benefit in enabling proper restoration and repair to the body. That is of course assuming you do sleep. However alcohol consumption interferes with proper sleep and completely removes the benefit of proper rest to recover between sessions.

Inflammation Reduction
Post exercise niggles often occur especially in field sport and areas of the body are often in an inflamed state which means that sometimes a reduction in inflammation is required. The sporting teams I work with use many types of methods to try to reduce inflammation post exercise one being an ice bath. However the problem is alcohol is a vasodilator which means it allows a rush of blood to the areas completely contradicting the treatment to reduce inflammation. This explains quite clearly that if you are injured and consuming alcohol it will slow down that healing process.

The Mental Game
Its a fact that endurance performance is very much mind driven. The ability to perform at a high level comes with complete focus and determination. Alcohol of course removes the ability to focus properly as well impairs co-ordination which can lead to the risk of irregular plane movement increasing the risk of injury.

Now that you understand the benefits of alcohol consumption in endurance sport its quite easy to decide how to use it to your advantage. Oh wait a minute I did not give you any benefits ;-).

Ok, lets be clear alcohol is not the best for sports performance and yes I am sure you will tell me many stories of athletes who performed under the influence of alcohol and it is their go to fuel and recovery meal. On the other hand I can assure you the stats are not in their favour from a health perspective and their later years will most likely see issues arising. I will admit though that alcohol does have a very large part to play in social circles and get togethers where people will relax, smile, laugh and interact. Of course happiness and stress relief is an important part of life and can offer longevity.

My advice as an athlete is to limit your intake significantly. Once in a while enjoy a glass of wine or a beer. Keep it as far away from long or quality sessions as possible and absolutely keep it out of race week. Most importantly ensure for every unit of alcohol you consume you take in a much larger amount of fluid to counteract the dehydrating effects.

Moderation is key and health always comes first.

Below is a nice infographic by Dr. Yann Le Meur (Sports Scientist)
Showing the impact Alcohol has on Sports Performance & Recovery in male athletes

all the best

M

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 focussed on pneumatic compression equipment to improve circulation for recovery and health.

 

 

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

The Protein Factor

There is one aspect of nutrition that traverses all sports conversations and that is the topic of protein. No matter what kind of athlete you talk to and even non-athletes there are always discussions revolving around protein supplementation and meal replacements. The protein market is one that is incredibly misunderstood and highly over marketed with so much sugar coating that any consumer will automatically feel there is a benefit to consuming it without really knowing why, how much and when. The entire idea of type of protein intake is completely misunderstood by most and I decided to write this blog to provide the necessary facts so that you as the consumer can make the right decision for yourself.

There are two main types of protein sources and these are animal based protein or plant based protein. The most common animal based proteins are dairy and egg. We can further break down the dairy based proteins into:

Dairy Proteins
Milk Concentrates
Whey Protein Isolate
Whey Protein Concentrate
Whey Protein Hydrolysate
Casein / Caseinates

Whey protein is a milk derivative which has a very strong amino acid profile. There is a major difference between whey protein isolate and concentrate. The concentrate is derived from a simple filtering process which contains a varying amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats in the form of lactose.The structure of whey concentrate is that it is not denatured and therefore provides health benefits in its natural form.
Whey isolate is derived from further processing and purification of whey concentrate. When this is done most of the biological structures that exist in whey concentrate are broken down and only the protein chains and amino acid structures remain. This makes whey protein isolate a higher concentration of pure protein. It also generally lands up being more expensive due to the further processing involved in getting it to this stage, however it does lack some nutritional benefits due to the denaturing process.

What about whey hydrolysate or hydrolyzed protein as its called. Unlike whey concentrate or whey isolate hydrolysates are enzymatically predigested for maximal speed of absorption. There are a few methods which are utilised in breaking down the whey into a pre-digested state. Personally I am completely opposed this type of protein as its completely unnatural and as humans with a digestive system our bodies are completely capable of breaking down and digesting protein in  the unique manner for which we were created.

1. Acid Hydrolysis
Acid hydrolysis is a fairly harsh process, usually carried out at high temperature. This process attacks all peptide bonds in the protein substrate, destroying some of the individual amino acids.For example, tryptophan is usually totally lost in an acid hydrolysis. Cystine, serine and threonine are partially broken down and asparagine and glutamine are converted to their acidic forms. Vitamins are mostly destroyed by acid hydrolysis. Salt may be formed during neutralization of an acid hydrolysis, resulting in a product with high salt content.

2. Enzymatic Hydrolysis
Proteolytic enzymes hydrolyze proteins more gently than acids, do not require high temperature and usually target specific peptide bonds.The material that results from a proteolytic digestion is a mixture of amino acids and polypeptides of varying lengths.For example, the enzyme pepsin will cut an amino acid chain where there is a phenylalanine or leucine bond. Papain will cut the chain adjacent to arginine, lysine and phenylalanine. Pancreatin shows activity at arginine, lysine, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine and leucine bonds.

3. Microbial Hydrolysis
Microbial proteases, proteolytic enzymes secreted by microorganisms, are becoming more widely used in peptone production. Proteases from bacterial, algal, fungal and yeast sources offer a wide variety of enzyme activities, can be produced in large scale, and usually require only simple purification. As far as I am concerned hydrolyzed protein is a chemical treatment process. Its completely unnatural and from a health point of view its completely struck off my personal list of animal proteins.

Casein protein is another milk derivative. Its not very water soluble and the attractive property of the casein molecule is its ability to form a gel or clot in the stomach, which makes it very efficient in nutrient supply. This means it is able to provide a sustained slow release of amino acids into the blood stream, sometimes lasting for several hours. It is often recommended as a pre-bed time protein snack or for weight loss when that keep you full feeling lasts for many hours. As a post exercise recovery it is too slow as far as digestion and absorption is concerned and would serve best if it was blended with a faster digesting protein to provide some post exercise stability and reduce the hunger cravings.

Plant Based Proteins
There are a number of plant based proteins on the market. The most popular vegetable proteins are of course soy and wheat protein which make up for more than 90% of the plant base protein market. Soy protein being the most popular is a vegetable protein made from soybeans. While most vegetable proteins are “incomplete” proteins, soy protein is a “complete” protein, and it is comparable in quality to many animal-based sources. Soy protein is low in saturated fat, and it has powerful antioxidant properties that have been shown to play a role in lowering cholesterol and preventing heart disease. Soy like Whey comes in a concentrate and isolate option. The soy isolate of course provides a much higher and purer form of protein content as opposed to the concentrate version.

The Soy / Whey Debate
For many years there has been an ongoing debate on which protein is better soy or whey.
There is no doubt that whey protein has a slightly stronger amino acid profile than soya. It is a faster digesting protein and quicker absorbed. Soya digests slower than whey but is 100% digested and absorbed. There has always been a lot of conversation and reference to phytoestrogens in soy however over the years this has never actually been shown to be an issue based on any solid scientific evidence. One of the things to be concerned about around hormones is actually often missed in the whey protein industry which also needs to be highlighted. Whey is a derivative of milk, which comes from cows which means high hormone levels. Its a fact that cows produce milk while pregnant which is over a large portion of the year, but moreover cows have been treated with hormones A large percentage of milk comes from cows injected with bovine growth hormone (rBGH), along with a vast array of antibiotics and other drugs. There is an expression which states a cows milk is for calf’s not for humans. Just take a look at the size of a cow. Cows milk is there to help their calf’s grow and strengthen. It was uniquely designed for a calf but not uniquely designed for a human.

Another critical element which has been pointed out is that whey of course contains IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor). IGF-1 has been shown in a number of medical studies to be a major contributor to cancer risk and cancer cell growth. Ref sites: (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/igf-1-as-one-stop-cancer-shop/ & http://www.enerex.ca/sk/articles/say-no-way-to-whey)

Personally I avoid dairy. I suffered the affects of dairy without realizing it for so long and once I eliminated it from my diet I began to see major benefits.

Another shadow hanging over the plant based proteins like soy was the introduction of GMO (Genetically Modified) version. Again this was another huge minus in the case of soy’s fight to stay credible as a vegetable protein in the market. Once the anti-GMO organizations began to expose the risks of GMO food (specifically soy and corn) consumption and the possible health risks, soy again became a protein to cast aside. I actually agree in that if a food is genetically modified then it should be completely avoided. This is not to say that all soy products are GMO, there are many on the market that are GMO free it just needs to be researched before purchase.

Both whey and soya have their issues and neither is perfect from a protein source point of view. In short I have provided some insight on the benefits of the major animal and plant based proteins and at the same time I have basically said avoid them.

What options does that leave us with from a protein perspective?

Well to be honest your major source of protein should be derived from proper and healthy nutrient consumption. What you consume in the form of protein from the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night will play the most major role in ensuring you are getting enough protein in your diet.

However as active people or someone looking for a quick protein fix, especially in the form of post workout recovery what other options are available since both whey and soya leave me with a lot of questions in my mind.

Well this is where I am headed and you can join me if you like.

For the past 18 months I have been heavily engaged in testing a vegetable protein, which has none of the negative connotations of whey or soya associated with it. No hormone or GMO debates, no issues with lactose intolerance or digestibility.  In fact its a plant based protein which has an incredibly strong amino acid profile. With high concentrations of BCAA’s Glutamine, Lysine and Arginine. Its profile is very close to that of the ideal protein for humans as recommended by FAO/WHO
It also has an intermediate fast digestive rate which is exactly what is preferred especially for an endurance athlete.

What protein am I talking about?
Pea protein isolate is what I am on about. As a plant based protein it is genuinely  a very powerful, clean and healthy protein for anyone whether  pro-athlete or just a gym bunny. Aside from its strong amino acid profile, it is not unnaturally processed, it has a smooth texture and actually tastes great. It is superior not just in using it for a natural recovery shake but also in a pre training or racing meal. I feel this is the most complete protein and there can be no questions asked around allergens, hormones or food safety.

Once I was happy with the certificate of analysis from the supplier and my own testing phase. I gave it out to a large number of athletes to do some testing for me as well. The feedback was unanimous the pea protein isolate needed to come to market to provide a healthier option of protein to the health conscious consumer. It was very well received across a variety of amateur and elite athletes in various sporting disciplines. Pea protein is gaining a lot of momentum globally and it fast becoming a protein of choice.

The NEW 32Gi Recover Formula
32Gi has decided to re-formulate its 32Gi Recover. Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out our new 32Gi Recover formula to all 32Gi retailers globally. The new Pea Protein formula will be replacing our previous vegetable based protein recovery shake.

At 32Gi we are continuing to strive to provide the healthiest supplement choices to our consumers and we will continue to pioneer and innovate to ensure that all 32Gi users can be assured that we are a trusted brand in which health always comes first.

About 32Gi Recover Pea Protein Formula

32Gi Recover is a high quality ratio blend of 100% organic pea protein isolate combined with carbohydrates. 32Gi Recover contains all the essential and non-essential amino acids to maximise muscle recovery

Recover is an excellent protein supplement with no unnecessary ingredients only those critical to muscle and glycogen recovery. Recover can also be consumed as pre training or racing meal or even as a meal during a long endurance event. Recover is suitable for vegans and diabetics.

Recover Facts:

  • Assists with Muscle Repair
  • Assists with Glycogen Recovery
  • High Protein absorption rate
  • Cholesterol Free
  • Naturally High in Glutamine
  • Wheat, Gluten, Soy and Lactose Free
  • Improves Strength and Recovery
  • Strong Amino Acid profile
  • Digestive Friendly
  • Vegetarian
  • Kosher / Halaal Certified
  • Recover is available in Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla flavours

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Categories
Nutrition

The Tru Magnesium

Often I get asked by people what supplements they should be consuming. My general opinion when it comes to supplementation is that it’s just that “supplementation”. I always advocate that the proper vitamins and minerals to ensure your system functions at its optimum can mainly be acquired from proper nutrition. There can be no substitute for real nutrient dense foods. If you are not eating correctly then your body doesn’t deserve supplements. It might sound harsh but I always put health first and there are no quick fixes.

With that in mind what about those that actually do eat balanced healthy meals and exercise. One of the minerals that constantly comes to mind is magnesium. Magnesium of course exists in natural foods, pumpkin seeds, almonds, Brazil nuts, spinach rice, sesame seeds and the list goes on. Even though the magnesium found in these food sources are fairly high the volume and frequency with which they are eaten does not offer a fair supply to someone who is very active in particular an endurance athlete.  An athlete following a LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet, such as myself consumes these types of foods in abundance but is it sufficient?

The answer to that in my opinion is not. In all the curiosity surrounding magnesium I decided to run some blood tests. The two types of tests run are serum magnesium and red cell magnesium. In any persons case serum magnesium is critical for heart function, if it’s too low or too high you risk cardiac arrest, but this level is pretty much controlled at the expense of magnesium in the cells. Generally when a typical blood test is done it’s the serum magnesium levels that are measured and not the red cell magnesium. This is a problem as it doesn’t reflect the true status of where your magnesium levels need to sit. I insist on a red cell magnesium count, this is what you should be focused on.

In my case even with an incredibly clean diet high in magnesium rich foods, my red cell magnesium count was truly on the very low end and I was actually not surprised. I noticed it specifically worsen during harder weeks when bouts of physical fatigue or tiredness set in. The solution of course was to supplement. I know you are going to ask me if I had a low magnesium count prior to supplementation and the truth is actually not. What I discovered is that my magnesium levels were not purely dependent on what I ate, but also the volume and intensity of exercise that I performed at.

Why Exercise and Magnesium?
Quite simply, athletes need more nutrients than less-active people. We demand a lot more from our bodies than the average gym goer and there is a need to compensate with the right nutrients from foods first then supplement to ensure proper physical health, performance and recovery.

Magnesium is a vital nutrient in many of the body’s chemical processes and is required in nearly every single cell in the body for proper function. Magnesium plays a crucial role when it comes to energy production. It is a major element required for the body to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is basically what fires the muscles and gets them to function. Low magnesium in the cells will ultimately lead to lowered ATP production which will equate into fatigue, cramping, reduced power and nausea.

Some scientific studies on magnesium have found that endurance athletes that supplemented themselves with magnesium were able to perform at a maximal intensity for a longer period time and also had increased VO2 max.

There is evidence that magnesium requirements are elevated in athletes, and that performance can benefit from higher intakes. Aside from being used up in the production of energy, magnesium can also assist performance by reducing accumulation of lactic acid and reducing the perception of fatigue during strenuous exercise through its action on the nervous system. Magnesium is also lost through sweat so an athlete training in a hot and humid environment will probably require more.

Magnesium deficiency is quite common especially among the athlete population. This is mainly due to poor eating habits and also rigorous exercise where the magnesium demand is just not met. Magnesium is not produced by the body, it needs to be ingested daily through the consumption of magnesium rich foods and in an athlete’s case recommended supplementation.

The Test
I began supplementing my diet with magnesium and after 2-3 weeks I began to notice an major difference in my energy levels, ability to perform and also better sleeping patterns at night (I monitor my sleep with Azumio Sleep Time ). There was a noticeable difference and I will even put myself out there to state it was a major difference in my performance ability. A re-test of bloods 8 weeks later showed my red cell magnesium levels had climbed and it directly correlated with how I felt.

What magnesium supplements should you take?
There are so many different magnesium supplements on the market and it’s good to question what you should be looking for when it comes to selecting a magnesium supplement.  The most important thing to consider is the bioavailability and concentration of the product, in other words how much actual magnesium is there and of it how much will actually be absorbed and utilized by the system. Magnesium Citrate has been shown to have one of the highest levels of bioavailability, but a low concentrate of magnesium whereas magnesium oxide is highly concentrated but lower on the bioavailability end. Magnesium chloride lies in the middle of these two and it has moderate concentrations of magnesium but a fairly decent bioavailability. There are others but the ones that should be avoided are magnesium glutamate and magnesium aspartate they become neurotoxic due to lack of amino acid binding. Of course the preparation of the mineral will ultimately determine the outcome of impact and absorption.

What is meant by preparation?
Magnesium can of course come in its raw format often encapsulated of or coated such as an enteric coating which slows the breakdown of tablet to ensure it reaches the lower bowels where absorption is maximized. In truth this does help reduce the risk of stomach irritation by processing it lower down in a less acidic environment.

Typical magnesium absorption involves:

  • 40% of magnesium intake absorbed in the small intestine
  • 5% absorbed in the large intestine
  • 55% leaving the body as waste

Depending on the type of magnesium ingested and the magnesium status of the individual, these figures can be higher or lower. Studies have shown overall absorption of magnesium in some individuals as low as 20%.

Aside from the delivery mechanism many magnesium supplements are bound with other minerals such as calcium or zinc. Some companies that manufacturer magnesium/calcium combination supplements promote a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio as being ideal for absorption of these elements. However, there is no credible research to support this claim.

Now recently a new patented formula has been brought to market and this was something that completely caught my attention 2 years ago. A product that I used extensively in testing on myself and many athletes for a period of 18 months.
What garnered my attention was the fact that the patent holder had completed extensive bio-availability testing which demonstrated a 100% absorption rate with the highly concentrated magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride which is known to be lower on the bio-availability side. With magnesium this is unheard of. Generally we athletes take multiple large doses to get the desired result. The second thing that I found highly attractive was the fact that this magnesium supplement had a consistent release time of 8 hours. Yes, you read correct, 8 hours. Meaning that consuming this would ensure I was getting a consistent and stable release of magnesium over a long period of time and this is what made it highly bioavailable. Then a third element popped into the picture which closed the deal.

This magnesium compound was infused with L-Carnitine. This completely switched me on. L-Carnitine is critical to an endurance athlete. It transports long chain fatty acids into the mitochondria for ATP production and it also transports short chain fatty acids and metabolites out of the mitochondria. In simple terms it carries fat to the cells to be used for energy as well as slowing down lactic acid build up (it acts as a buffer). As a minimalistic fueller that predominantly relies on fat for fuel this was a shining light.

I decided to put this to some ultimate testing. Not that I didn’t trust the doctor who invented the product, but as an athlete I needed to experience it for two main reasons.

–          Digestive Comfort

–          Functionality

I am not prone to cramping and generally I blame muscle cramping on undertrained muscles in most athletes. In my case I wasn’t sure what parameters to set but decided to follow the dose directions and first off verify the impact on my sensitive digestive system.

This passed with flying colors and even under high intensity sessions when consumed prior to exercise there was no negative digestive impact whatsoever. Then within a short period of time I began noticing two major benefits of this patented compound.

  1. I could exercise at a high intensity for a lot longer than previously. There was definitely a noticeable delay to the onset of muscle fatigue
  2. DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Stiffness) was reduced significantly so much so that I forgot I actually had compression garments ;-). In all seriousness after very hard sessions I had a major reduction in muscle stiffness.

After 3 months of testing I decided to give this out to some elite athletes for further testing and the feedback was completely in line with what I was experiencing. Except for one thing which I could not account for was that one of my elite athletes in particular who had a severe cramping issue noticed a difference in that the onset of his cramps were delayed or even mitigated. Once I had completed thorough testing with many professional and amateur athletes there was no doubt that this patented compound had to be made available to the public. This is where 32Gi’s Trumag® came into being.

I have tested many magnesium products over the years in many different variations and forms, but this is definitely a true slow release magnesium formula which has an incredible benefit for any endurance athlete. Another thing I found quite impressive is that for a person that cramps during sleep this becomes a simple solution due to its 8 hour release. It means that your magnesium requirements will be catered for throughout the night.
Trumag is definitely a New Generation Magnesium supplement.

CONCLUSION
In short magnesium supplementation is definitely high on my list of DO’s especially for an endurance athlete. There is more than enough evidence to support the benefits of magnesium supplementation.

I plan on holding a webinar in the coming weeks with the Doctor who invented Trumag® as well as some of the athletes that have been testing it to provide some insight and feedback on the product.

Trumag

ABOUT 32Gi TruMag®

32Gi is proud to announce the launch* of patented TruMag™ a true slow release and 100% bioavailable magnesium tablet.
TruMag™ is a unique fusion of two very important compounds required for endurance athletes, these being Magnesium & Carnitine.
Unlike most magnesium supplements on the market TruMag™ breaks down in the body of a period of 8 Hours and is completely absorbed by the system, making a single dosage extremely effective. The unique patented infused combination of Carnitine makes it a powerful formula for any endurance athlete due to Carnitines unique property of transporting free fatty acids to the mitochondria (muscle cells) to be utilized as a source of energy.

Due to the prolonged release an athlete can take a single tablet prior to a sporting event and know he will be well covered for the duration.

32Gi TruMag is a patented true slow release magnesium formula which is infused with Carnitine to provide maximum absorption

  • Delays the onset of muscle fatigue
  • Promotes Fat burning
  • Aids muscle recovery
  • Assists in exercise performance
  • Reduces the risk of muscle cramping
  • Overall immune system health

*32Gi Trumag is now available at Dischem and rolling out to more stores country wide

Categories
Performance Training

The Pipe Club

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I often see runners get asked how can they run?

In the sporting community it usually comes from the cyclists and swimmers, and when these athletes switch to triathlon the one discipline that is sometimes the toughest for them to grasp is the dreaded run.

Pushing hard on the swim, or destroying the bike hoping one has made up enough time to hold the runners back on the run. No chance. The strong runner comes cruising by with ease, leaving you behind wondering what you did wrong. A multisport athlete that comes from a running background is often at a great advantage. I often tell people that a runner can learn to ride a bike but for a cyclist to switch to running is not so easy and it takes a lot of hard work and effort to get to a stage where you feel very comfortable.

I was fortunate to have quite a bit of swimming and running in my school days, but then for many years I let it slip away and switched my focus to weight lifting and then finally coming back to mountain biking, road cycling and then to triathlon. 
My bike was always a strong leg and with all that leg power I was very confident to sit on the bike and smash the pedals for long periods of time, but once I neared transition I used to dread that run that lay ahead.
I knew it would be a hard slog and definitely not a cruise. No matter how much time I put into my competitors especially in the longer distance races they would just eat it back and some more leaving me feeling very frustrated. 

I would hear a lot of talk from the running community about the runners high and I thought man you guys are smoking some awesome pipes because I could not imagine any such thing. I decided to make a conscious effort and switch all my core focus to running, reducing my cycling and swimming focus and seeing where it would lead me. 

Day after day I would pound the tar, searching for something which in my mind was fictitious and only existed in the minds of the “Pipe Smokers”. Months went by and I was still battling through. Muscular legs and a muscular upper body didn’t help my runners frame and the conscious effort of becoming the runner was one of hard physical training, learning proper technique and training the gut with proper nutrition. More months went by and I was convinced that no such thing as the runners high existed and if it did exist why did I not experience it on the bike or the swim, why were these “runners” so special? 

I built up speed, I built up distance and my running improved dramatically but that one single thing was still eluding me.

Two years later, on a Sunday morning I was headed out on a 25km training run, and all I could think about was my reasoning for the run was because I had to. I had some races coming up and needed the mileage. Understand one thing, running was still not enjoyable for me even though I was running well and it had improved drastically. I truly dreaded long runs, I found them tedious and boring and couldn’t wait to get to the finish to bank the session. It was in my mind a painful drag.
I headed out with some music to keep me company and at around 10km’s in I was thinking man still another 15km’s of darkness to go. I just kept pushing through, legs one in front of the other and trying to keep my focus on getting to the finish.
At around 15km’s I started to feel pretty okay and then as time went on I started to feel better. I wasn’t so much focused on the finish line anymore but the present.
Then suddenly it hit me, like a molecular nuclear explosion from absolutely nowhere. Extremely heightened senses, shivers in every single part of my body where sweat ran and my mind just completely drifted into a zone where I felt completely superhuman. My pace lifted my legs floated, and my mostly used frowning facial muscles which were always there during a run slowly eased off and put an extremely rare smile on my face, which seemed so ridiculous but there was no ways it was going anywhere it was there to stay. Complete elation and euphoria, the Runners High. 

I finally became a member of the “Pipe Club” and never doubted them again. I wondered if this was a once off, or only under certain conditions. There are many articles on the subject and the physiology behind the euphoric conditions have been explained in many ways, but as runners who cares as long as its there we love it. It allows us to contemplate to strategize, to think to dream, to create, to destress and to smile its all encompassing and makes us feel alive.

Ten years later and I can honestly say this I experience the high every single time I run, it does not matter if its track, short or long, at some point in my workout that smile hits my face and every single thing around me disappears while I relish my own little piece of heaven even if it is for a short while. 

My advice to anyone taking on running or switching their focus to running, keep turning over those legs, keep persisting and I can guarantee you that the pot of gold will eventually be waiting at the end of your rainbow. 

 

Categories
Nutrition Training

“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

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Recently I have been receiving a lot of questions on training and racing nutrition. My last blog was focused on becoming more fat efficient, keeping your fuel intake to a minimum and adapting the body to using its natural fat stores as a predominant source of fuel in an endurance session. It’s an awesome position to be in when you can just get up and go long and not worry so much about fuelling yourself.

As mentioned previously in sessions under 2 hrs you can perform extremely well at a high intensity on no fuel at all, if you do consume anything it’s purely to make your brain happy and give you that extra mental boost to up your performance. This has been shown in the famous “Carb taste not swallow test” where athletes purely rinsed the drink in their mouths without and a percentage increase in performance was demonstrated (The Effect of Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse Cycle Time Trial Performance-Jeukendrup) It shows that the mind has a lot to do with an athlete’s ability to perform and Prof. Tim Noakes has often presented the central governor theory where the brain is completely in control by the body and understands all physiological feedback mechanisms. It determines based on conditioning and ongoing readings it gets from the body during exercise as to what point it will control your ability to perform or under perform in a means of ensuring you are protected. If you are not trained to go out and race at a particular effort, the central governor will surely tire you with feelings of fatigue under those conditions in order to slow you down and ensure the body is safe. There is of course opposition to this theory, but there is one thing that both sides still agree on and that is the body needs to be trained to perform.

Last week on a whim I decided to run 42km’s to celebrate my 42nd birthday. Maybe not a normal thing to do, but my running coach said go easy and get it out the system. Even if he said no I think I would have been stubborn enough to do it. With no race pressure, and not the best night’s sleep, I got up early had a cup of strong black coffee, took a waste belt with two 250ml water bottles and headed out with a friend. I ran at a very comfortable and evenly controlled pace, I got back home in 3h19 minutes with a little water to spare and felt great.

The big question I get asked is how you can go and run for that long and not eat anything, and the answer is simple I had all the fuel I needed for that long run inside me BUT more importantly my body was conditioned and gut trained extensively to do that quite comfortably.
That run probably didn’t touch much glycogen at all, it was primarily fuelled on fat. Also the time of running was way less than say some of the rides I do on water only which can go anywhere between 5-6 hours so it wasn’t a worry.  The point is the body is trained over a long period of time with proper nutrition consumption to allow for this. The brain and body work together to understand the body’s ability and limitations and with time you will understand as your body gives you constant feedback. (Check out a previous blog “Listen to your messages”)

The big questions I got after that is if this is how I will race? My answer to that is absolutely not. This is where the title of this blog comes into play, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail”.  It’s very critical to properly prepare for racing conditions as well, and even though I do a lot of water training, I definitely set aside time for what I call racing “nutrition training”. It’s an important area of being able to race at your best. There is no ways any athlete can go into a race not properly prepared for what he has to consume and under which conditions to ensure that he performs at his or her best. Racing is done at a much high pace for a longer period of time than a training session and it requires a different type of fuelling.

It’s not a difficult aspect of training but I need to stress that it’s a critical aspect and something that cannot be left to the last week or two before a race, because you will want to have your race nutrition down packed way before that in order to make sure that you have a plan and you can habitually stick to it.

My recommendation is to choose a day where you test out your race nutrition. This means waking up in the morning eating a pre-training meal as if it was your pre-race meal going out for a few hours at a fairly intensive pace (slightly slower than race pace) and checking the following:

  • Digestive Comfort  
  • Palatability
  • Energy Levels
  • Ability to Perform

I generally do a session like this once every 10 days and know a few elite athletes that will do this once a week. Sessions like this must be planned, well thought out and think about mimicking it close to your race day as possible.

Nutrition of course will vary for each sport discipline and it’s important to understand that what you do on the morning of a 10km race, marathon, triathlon and cycle race can all differ and should be planned, checked and re-tested to ensure you are on track.

If you can finish that session strong and feeling good with all the check marks in the boxes you are definitely on the right track. This does not need to be done too often as you would not want to try and mimic race day efforts too much, but you need to find a winning formula.

If you are doing a stage race it requires even more effort to test your nutrition as you will need to test your day nutrition first, and once happy with it move on to testing your stage racing nutrition. The critical area of stage racing is recovery in order to be able to keep consistent performance’s each day and keeping those energy levels constant. It would be highly recommended to do at least 3 repeat performances each day including pre, during and post racing nutrition which will give you an idea of exactly how you feel day to day and whether your nutrition strategy is working for you.

Each person is unique and what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another so you need to experiment and see what is the best for you.

As a general guideline in deciding what you are going to eat on race day I can suggest the following:

Avoid any Food Consumption that can cause Digestive Issues
There a few foods than entirely ruin a race. You might think they don’t affect you generally so when you are racing they should be fine. However you need to understand that blood i.e.: oxygen is needed to perform digestion. If you are running very fast, oxygen will be diverted away from your stomach to your heart, brain and leg muscles to cater for the exertion. The stomach needs an adequate amount of electrolytes, roughly equal to that of the body tissues outside of the stomach, to perform digestion. If digestion doesn’t occur and the contents of the gastrointestinal tract don’t move, the muscles in the walls of the tract may begin to spasm, bringing on uncomfortable stomach cramps. Triathletes tend to experience more digestive issues than most sport as the positions of 3 disciplines vary. The swim is a lying down position not very conducive to easy digestion and there is buoyancy on top of that, this is usually the setup for cramping that occurs later on during the bike or run. Secondly a triathlete cannot consume during the swim or hydrate so if he or she has consumed something not suitable to that discipline a fair amount of time will pass before the first bit of water can be consumed to try to create some form of balance. In long distance events like Ironman very often consuming a glucose spiking product at the onset will cause GI distress pretty early on. A common mistake that many endurance athletes make.

Running moves the bowels around quite a bit more as the body’s movements gets the organs bouncing and shaking nicely. I am emphasizing that what you eat that’s generally comfortable will still need to be tested during exercise which is what I call digestion under stress.

The main foods to avoid before a race are definitely anything that is high in fiber as this is a certain way of getting your bowels to work nicely and that’s the last thing you need before a race or during it, especially while pre-race nerves are finding their way into every part of your body. Another recommendation I make it to avoid high lactose products. Dairy is a very common cause of digestive problems. Even if you are not lactose intolerant you don’t know what it can do to your body while under stressful conditions. Heavy meats or cheeses are a big no. You want to consume foods that are easy on the digestive system and leave you feeling comfortable.

Size of Meals
Another issue is that many athletes over eat and over hydrate pre-race leaving them feeling bloated heavy and uncomfortable. That is a guaranteed curse under racing or exercise conditions. You need to play with your portion sizes to see what your comfort zone is. I generally recommend a +-300 Calorie food portion pre-race.

Timing and Type of Meals
The timing of your pre-race meal is also critical. I can use a personal example for this one. A few weeks ago, I had a 25km trail race. I made a BIG rookie mistake. I though the start time of the actual race was 7am. There were two races that day and I for some reason just never read the details properly which is not like me, but I was chilled about it nevertheless. I woke up at 4:30am had a nice rolled oats and nut butter meal. I got a lift to the race and on route I get told the race is actually starting at 6am. I was thinking in my mind this is going to be even harder and it was. The timing of my meal to my 7am race was perfect, but to the 6am race it was not. I had to suffer some serious heart burn through the event and I expected to. At least the pain could mentally be bypassed and allow me to come out on top. I am just using this example to stress the importance of meal timing. Preferably minimum 2hrs before the race you want to be done and dusted with your pre-race meal, only requiring some top ups in between. To be honest in this case I shouldn’t have had a pre-racing meal maybe just a small shake or drink before, it wasn’t required at all especially at that time of the morning and I hadn’t run a trail race in years so my nutrition prep was not exactly where it should have been.

I guess this leads into another question. When should I eat a proper pre racing meal and when is it not absolutely necessary. In this case I always look at the type of the event, my pace and expected time. Generally any race for me taking less than 2hrs I won’t eat. I might take a small shake but I certainly don’t require any food. These shorter events as I define them will generally be raced on water. If the pace is extremely high and is closer to the 2hr mark then chances are I will consume some sugary stuff on route to keep my brain a little happier and ensuring a little bit of glycogen sparing on route.

Race Fuel
When events get longer 3hrs or more, you need to understand that at a very high pace you will deplete your glycogen levels and will need to eventually rely on fat as the predominant fuel source. Your body will naturally slow down to cater for the fuel change as fat burning requires oxygen and at too high a pace that’s not going to happen. However this is where fat efficient training plays a massive benefit, because if you have trained your body to adapt to this sort of fuelling it can be trained to do it a slightly higher intensities and this is a great benefit. Also the switch from glycogen to fat caused by glycogen depletion is a shock for some a feeling of fatigue and not being able to move any more. The trained athlete will move through this quite a lot more easily. There is another way around this and that’s to try to pace yourself properly in an endurance event where you won’t burn your glycogen completely and have saved it towards the end where you really need it. In a cycling race it’s sometimes very difficult as the effort or intensity is determined by the bunch and this is where most people get burned, as they are forced to perform at a high intensity to stick with it even if they don’t want to. The wise thing is to try to stick it out in the middle and draft as much as possible to conserve your energy stores. However in an ultra-distance triathlon or long running race you have the ability to determine your own pace and control your intake and predominant energy fuel based on that.

It’s important to remember that if you are going at a controlled pace or intensity consuming a blood glucose spiking product will mitigate you from being able to use your fat stores as energy, so keep fuel intake to lower insulin spiking products which allow for this. When performing under very high intensity conditions you are best suited to taking a blood glucose spiking product as fat is not easily accessible. There of course is a combination of both glycogen and fat being used when doing long events, as pace varies through the event, but fuel intake will ultimately determine this as well, and can upset the balance.

Another point I want to enforce is that endurance fuelling should never be complicated. The simpler you keep it the better. I advocate drip feeding in endurance events. This means smaller more frequently timed feeds as opposed to feeding every hour. It’s easier on the digestive system and it keeps the body and energy levels in a nice equilibrium. I generally will feed every 20-25 minutes in a long endurance event.

Plan and Train the Gut
I was invited to chat to the participants of Ironman 70.3 Western Australia this year as we were event sponsors. The first question I received was shouldn’t we be consuming between 60-90 grams of carbohydrate per an hour of exercise during the event. My immediate response to that was has your gut been trained to consume 60-90 grams of carbohydrates per an hour. The amount of carbohydrate consumption per an hour during exercise is not based on the number of carbs you are consuming, but more importantly how much of those carbohydrates your body is capable of absorbing and using. If your body is only capable of absorbing 50 grams of carbohydrate per an hour because that’s the food you use and that’s what you are used to, then how would your system cope under excessive intake meaning, your gut completely under-trained to deal with the increased consumption. The answer is it won’t. In long endurance events I can easily get away with between 20-50 grams of carbs per an hour in an event. I have never needed to venture into the 60-90 range ever and I don’t feel I would cope in that range either. Another thing that is important to note is the 60-90 gram carb intake is based solely on the fact that you are fuelling with carbs only which means racing at a very high intensity, its doesn’t take into account controlled pace and fat usage. Scientific studies have shown that a combination of specific carbohydrates in unique ratios can maximize the absorption rates however I have witness many an athlete opt for those test results only to be left with severe stomach issues on route. Another thing I don’t agree with is relying on drinking ones calories. I definitely feel that food solids are a far better form of fuelling. Dr Allen Lim well known scientist especially with his involvement in premier Tour de France cycling teams has shown a lot of science behind this and you can view it here.

There are many ways to approach nutrition when it comes to training and racing. It’s something that always needs to be taken into consideration and never left on the side. So the next time you sit down look at your training and racing schedule. Plan your workouts, your swims, cycle and runs, but add another training session into that called nutrition. Train your gut, get on track and make sure you give yourself the best opportunity to perform well and hassle free at your next event.

 

Keep at it 

all the best

M

Categories
Health Nutrition Training

Listen to your messages……………..

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I am a very military oriented personality, just the kind of life I have lead since birth. A naval officer father, nutrition strict mother and then my own life experiences which followed very much similar routes. My clients know when I take them on there is black and white, tolerance levels are low and I demand results.

I travel quite a bit and come into contact with all types of cultures and personalities on many different levels. South Africans generally I see as quite a soft sort of courteous kind of nation, mainly rule followers and breaking them will definitely command some sort of reaction but generally in a very subtle kind of a way to start. In Israel where I currently am it’s a completely different ball game, you can be sure people will be telling you what to do on a daily basis, because they always know better, yet the rules are consistently broken by the big mouths.

It often gets my back up and I am often in a defensive mode which in military terms means strike them down before they even get close to doing or saying something, that way you won’t have to defend. It’s an aggressive approach but generally one that has won many warsJ.

So my resistant personality wherever I am is constantly ready to go to war, don’t tell me what to do or else, because I know my boundaries, I know what I am doing and if I need your advice I will ask for it. Most people tend to similar so I am not unique ;-).

Yesterday I was out on a training ride, I was around 80minutes into the ride, in the country side and just started a climb out of the valley, music in my ears and really just soaking up the view when all of a sudden a car slows down next to me the window open and I can see muttering and hands waving. The sound completely drowned out by some Armin van Burin ASOT in my ears.

My instinctive thoughts was to tell her to shut the hell up and leave me to my training session, I know the rules of the road and I am within my right to ride here. Instead I just ignored her completely she tried several times to shout at me, but Armin kept me calm. Eventually she just drove off and I carried on with my ride.

This is not an unusual situation for me, when running, swimming or cycling, I get told why you riding here, why you running without a water bottle, where is your hat. I know sometimes they mean good but geeeez most of these people have never trained in their lives and they talking to someone that lives it. The frustration of being told what to do just wants to put me into war, sometimes I long for it hoping it will result in vented anger and then some more peace of mind.

Just the other day I was doing a swim session, I did my warm ups and some drills. By the way in South Africa 2 swimmers to a lane is like max, unless you are group training, however in Israel you have to swim counterclockwise, and if you need to overtake then do it with caution because 3, 4 or 5 people can get in your lane without warning, because it’s their right and they know better. I have had many head bashings here and the fast lane means nothing. Even though it’s labelled for fast swimmers you get back floaters, because they consider themselves fast. Anyway back to my story on my swim session. So I get into nice rhythm and start with some clockwork intervals. I was focused on my set, however at around the 4th interval I noticed something strange. Each time I swam passed a woman in the other lane “slow lane” she splashed water on my face as I turned to breathe. I thought ok she is doing some sort of exercise creating splashing, giving her the benefit of the doubt. However as my session continued I realized this was intentional splashing she kept shoving water in my face every time I did a pass. I just ignored her put my head down and finished my set. While taking a breather at the end of the pool I waited for her to reach my side. When she arrived, I asked her why she was splashing me. Of course sniper rifle in my hands ready to take aim and blow her away. She said to me I was splashing her eyes when I swam????? WTF, you in a pool lady wear some goggles and learn to swim. You afraid of water I asked. She said no but my splashes were irritating her and I must get out the pool, and she threw more water at me??

I went a little mad, I unleashed my M23A4 on her, it was locked loaded and I sent a couple of waves in her direction ensuring the water bullets hit her right between the eyes. Of course she carried on throwing water at me. I took a step back and thought no ways, is this what I am resorting to a water fight between 40 and 50yr olds in a pool no ways I was like in shock, like kids having a tantrum in a pool.

I just motioned the rest of my unit “The Lifeguard” and said tell her to stop or get out I need to train. He did just that, war over. I felt an empty victory, thinking could I have handled this slightly differently, but then I thought no screw her, I was within my right.

Anyway back to my training ride. I kept wondering about the car stopping next to me screaming and shouting at me and here I had made judgment and executed her. Something just did not seem right, but I kept on going. Eventually it hit me, I reach around to my rear bottle cage and there it was, the reason for my insubordination. My 600ml water bottle had been flung out of the cage. Leaving me with only 600ml’s of water in 33degrees of heat on a long ride. I should have maybe listened to this driver, however I was stubborn, in attack mode waiting just waiting to unleash my ammunition once again. How mistaken could I have been this time as it was a call to help.

I kept riding conserving my water, and thinking over and over about what had just happened. How stubborn I was and how I had made judgment without listening and giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Eventually at the turn around point I made my way back to that climb out the valley and tried to climb it again from the halfway point and reenact what happened to see if I could track my bottle. There it was lying in the ditch just where that lady was attempting to inform me of the incident. In the end I listened to my message, however the lesson learned was I needed to listen a lot earlier.

I guess you are wondering why I am writing about this?

The truth is most of us are very much the same. Every single day, messages come our way and each and every single one has a meaning. The thing is how many of us actually listen to these messages. We don’t we ignore them because we know better.

I especially see this when it comes to health and wellness. When injured we don’t listen we always know better we focus on the race, on the end goal and absolutely nothing will stop us from getting to the start line. When sick, we brush it off as a head cold, we can’t stop training we cannot lose fitness we just push through it. The overweight will keep eating their pizzas because a large stomach or a double chin is not a strong enough message to make them change their ways.

So which messages do make us change? It’s the messages that come with severity or shock when it’s a little too late to listen and we need to face the consequences of our actions.

When an injury becomes unbearable and crippling, when an illness becomes severe and bed ridding, and when weight issues lead to organ, heart problems or blood pressure and cholesterol worries. Why is human nature generally so stubborn as to know better when it comes to interpreting messages?

A wise man once said ” The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them”, and another

“Big egos have little ears”

The basis of this blog was to instill some thoughts into your minds and get you to understand the importance of listening. Listen to your messages whether from the mouth of another or from your body signaling your brain. You cannot go wrong you can only become wiser stronger, fitter and healthier.

Keep Going……………………..

all the best

m