Exercise Demos

3/19/14 Workout

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Happy happy joy joy!! Grins all around, etc!  I got in a workout and it wasn’t half-bad.  (Maybe just 1/4 bad since one limb is offline.) Prior to the workout though I did some range-of-motion (ROM) work yesterday simply to expand the amount of movement available to my knee.  Essentially all I did was bend and straighten my knee back and forth working into the tightness I felt. I am definitely moving better today. Here’s what it looked like:

  • Barbell press: 95 lbs x 5 x 5
  • Good morning: 95 lbs x 3 x 10
  • Pushups (did a bunch of these yesterday too.): 3 x 10
  • Pull-ups: 5 x 5
  • 1/2 kneeling twist: 2 x 10 twists
    • kneeling is actually OK on the knee
    • hands across the chest
    • rotate from left to right
    • keep base as narrow as possible w/o losing balance
  • Pistol squat to bench, left leg only: 3 x 6
  • Bird dog: 2 x 10 w/3 sec. hold
  • 1-leg balance on right leg: Worked for about 5 x 30 sec
  • Terminal knee extension w/band.  Here’s a video:

Overall, I’m very pleased with today’s activity. I felt like I did something and my knee is working fairly well all things considered. I have two main goals here: 1) Keep my healthy parts strong and mobile and,  2) maintain as much mobility and muscular activity as I can on the hurt leg. Very likely I’ll be getting surgery (When?  I have NO IDEA!!!  ARRRRGH!) and there will be quite a bit of muscular atrophy and weakness. I’m trying to front-load all the strength I can. I may get on a recumbent exercise bike today or tomorrow.

 

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The Final Victory Against My Heel Pain Part I: Addressing the Biomechanics

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I’m really thrilled to be writing this post because it seems I’ve finally truly gotten rid of a chronic heel/Achilles/plantar fasciitis issue that has been with me for a long time. (I’ve said this before and I’ve been wrong, but for the record I’ve been running a lot and my heel hasn’t felt this good for this long in years.)

This thing has been with me for maybe three years. It’s never been enough to really knock me out. It didn’t derail me from my first marathon and subsequent 10-milers and half-marathons. However, several weeks ago I did a long trail run and it felt like a nail had been driven into my heel. I figured it was time to sort this out. The solution has been a mix of biomechanical and running technique adjustments, and a deeper understanding of pain science.

Before I met with anyone I put a green Superfeet insert into my shoes. I’m a minimalist shoe advocate.  I don’t want to rely on a crutch but I’m also very much willing to do whatever is appropriate to solve a problem. A lot of what I’ve read for addressing heel and Achilles problems suggests putting some sort of insert into a shoe. The idea here was to unload some of the muscles and structures that hold up the foot, including the Achilles. I’m still using the inserts on a lot of my runs but I rarely wear them at work and I do some of my runs with without the insert.

I next met with a couple of guys with a lot of great knowledge and experience. Mike Terborg and Nick Studholme were both very instrumental in my progress.  Mike is a performance and injury recovery specialist in Boulder and Nick runs Studholme Chiropractic. Mike is heavily influenced through John Hardy and the principles of FASTER Global which teaches a process of biomechanical reasoning. Nick studied under the innovative physical therapist Gary Gray. Both guys speak much the same language when it comes to movement and movement analysis.

They both have tremendous ability to explain what they see and communicate the changes they thought I should make. They both used a fantastic and powerful video program called Spark Motion which was created by Nick and a group of other guys. This was just an amazing way to record and analyze movement. Spark is a great tool that I need to look into.

The visit with Mike Terborg: Running adjustments

I first visited with Mike in Boulder a few weeks ago. We spent a couple of hours looking at how I moved. The major issue we found was prolonged eversion of my left foot. The foot stayed in contact with the ground for what seemed a long time. Mike explains his observations and thought process:

“Adhering to the Biopsychosocial or BPS model of pain (vs the Postural-Structural-Biomechanical model), we couldn’t say for sure what was causing the pain other than it could be a combination of things including but not limited to biomechanics. You had chronic pain of the plantar fascia, like to run, and wanted to be able to run more without aggravating this injury so we needed to look at your physiological skills and tendencies relative to gait. We cannot say for sure that eversion and dorsiflexion of the subtalar joint caused the injury (because these are natural motions of subtalar joint and thus normal motions for the PF to decelerate), but we can deduce that less loading of the plantar fascia (less dorsi/eversion) might be helpful in reducing the amount of stress on the PF during running. Our hope was that less stress/load during gait may allow you to run pain free for longer. In sum, we can say for sure that we crossed some type of stress threshold (bio, psycho and or social), so we wanted to ask your body what happened if we backed off on the biomechanical load to the pissed off tissue. 

“Your ranges and sequencing in the breakout evaluation all looked good, so we went straight to your running technique. Using Spark Motion for gait analysis, we deduced that it was possible for you to run in a way that reduced the stress to your PF and apparently that helped. The drills were all part of a progression to not only teach your body the skills and sequence of a more rapid gait but to train your ability to sustain that gait for longer periods of time (strength endurance of a skill). Nothing fancy, just following biomechanical reasoning to look for clues and strategies.” 

I really like Mike’s explanation of the process. He puts his explanation in a very honest way. In saying that we don’t know for certain why the pain is there, nor do we understand exactly how or why it might go away, he reflects the current cutting edge of pain science which reveals that pain is in many ways a baffling mystery.

He directed me to several exercise progressions of which here are three:


We changed my running gait along these lines:

  • Put less pressure through the heel into the ground. Let the heel touch the ground but only lightly.
  • Quicken the stride so the foot stays in contact with the ground for less time.
  • Swing the right leg through faster to facilitate less time on the ground of the left foot.
  • Run with a metronome set somewhere between 170-190 bpm.  This quickens the stride rate. Experiment.

The resulting new gait felt like I was some sort of prancing fool–La la la la laaaa!!!–dancing through the daisies.  Fortunately the video Mike shot of me indicated that in fact I just looked like I was running with a quicker step. (I could in fact go running in public this way.) Finally, Mike also suggested I visit with Nick so I did.

Analysis from Nick Studholme & fine tuning the lower leg

Nick put me through a muscle testing process and winnowed out some weak and unstable muscles in my lower leg. Specifically, big toe muscles known as flexor hallucis longus, and flexor hallucis brevis weren’t working up to par. The fibularis muscles (aka peroneals) were also a bit off line.

Taken together, when these muscles work they create and control plantar flexion and inversion of the foot as in the push-off of running or walking, and they create/control dorsiflexion and eversion of the foot as when the foot hits the ground.

Of great importance is the ability to anchor the big toe to the ground while the body passes over the foot. I was missing the mark. Nick taped my foot in a way to help facilitate this anchoring and he showed me several exercises to help me feel, create and control better big toe function while running. These exercises were similar in nature to what Mike showed me.

It’s several weeks later and what are the results? The heel and Achilles quickly started feeling better. I did a series of short interval type runs. The quicker pace (around 175-180 bpm) was challenging at first. I didn’t want to become exhausted while running and lose the technique, thus I only ran 1 or 2 minutes at a time. and walked in between. (Running with my dog tends to be a good way to break up the running with walking.)

Some discomfort remained for a couple of weeks in a stubborn way. It wasn’t terrible but it was hanging around like it was ready to pounce. I was worried that there was something we might be missing. This last bit of hanging-around heel trouble would be gone within 48 hrs after I reviewed the current ideas on pain and the brain. I’ll discuss that in the next post.

 

 

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Athleticism Part II: Get More & Make it Better

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In the last post I discussed the big, powerful idea of athleticism and what it looks and smells like. Here are what I believe to be the essential pillars of athleticism and a few ideas on how to expand your own athletic base. In no way have I covered every angle of this vast concept, but I hope I’ve touched on a few useful ideas.

  • Full, pain-free range in the joints:
    • Full movement of our joints is a prerequisite for overall healthy movement. Improperly rehabbed injuries–an old ankle sprain for instance–can contribute to diminished athleticism. Our modern lifestyle (hunched sitting) is also an enemy of athleticism. Our time in cars, at desks and in front of TVs helps destroy hip mobility, thoracic spine mobility, shoulder mobility and the like.
  • Mobility in 3 planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse):
    • This is related to the point above but it goes beyond single-joint movement. This pertains to large movement patterns like squatting, lunging and reaching which are conducted through several joints.
    • A lot of us are very good at moving in the sagittal (forward/backward) plane. Many of our gym exercises (especially machine-based exercises) are sagittal plane dominant.  Endurance athletes are particular specialists in moving  forward only. Start looking for competence in the frontal (side-to-side) plane and transverse (twisting) plane and you’ll often see problems. Ankles, hips and thoracic spine are frequently limited in the frontal and transverse planes.
  • Stability in 3 planes of motion (same 3 planes as above):
    • Mobility and stability are two sides of the same coin. Too much or not enough of either is a problem. Focusing your efforts on improving only one of them will lead to problems. A lack of mobility is a detriment to stability. Here are a few ways to check your tri-plane stability.
    • Watch the video below on half-kneeling and see if you can follow along. (Can you get into the position?  If not, there’s something worth working on.) What do you notice? Are you stable or not? Half-kneeling is a very useful window into 3-plane stability.

    • One leg balance is extremely important. Whether you consider yourself an athlete or not, you spend a lot of time on one leg (walking, running, stair climbing, getting out of a car).
    • Try standing on one leg. Can you do it? If so, for how long? How about a squat?  What happens when you try a one-leg squat? Can you perform a controlled squat or do things start to collapse?
  • Ability to manage forces through the core:
    • The core is everything from your skull to your pelvis.  Your arms and legs attach to your core through your shoulders and your hips. The core is analogous to the foundation of a house. If it’s strong then you’ve got great potential to operate from that foundation. If it’s weak, then everything you try and do from that base will be compromised.
    • If the core doesn’t function correctly then your spine is unstable–and that’s a bad thing.  Spinal stability is critical for both your health and your performance. If you can’t stabilize the spine against external forces (a suitcase, a bag over your shoulder, a shovel full of snow, a lawn mower, heavy door, an opponent and gravity at all times) then you will have many ongoing problems. By expanding your core stability skills in three planes then you’ll be much safer in general.  You’ll be stronger and potentially more powerful.  (BTW, don’t bother with crunches.  They do little and less for core strength.)
    • Dr. Stuart McGill’s work is a good place to start for core competency. His “Big 3” exercises address core stability in three planes.  Here’s a video

 

  • Adequate strength for the task:
    • I compare strength to money in that rarely do we find ourselves having too much. A lot of people come to the gym but they never get stronger. Endurance athletes are classic examples. These good people often spend their time lifting very light weights for very high reps.
    • Many of us would benefit from training in the 1-5 rep range, using weight that is actually difficult to lift. Heavy lifting enables runners to put more force into the ground, helps cyclists put more force into the pedals and helps everyone perform their daily tasks in a safer, more effective fashion. Beyond making stronger muscles, heavy lifting enables us to recruit more muscle fiber plus makes the bones and connective tissue stronger.
    • Now, clearly the power lifter has different strength requirements than a triathlete. So beyond a certain point, training for more strength doesn’t yield more athleticism. For the endurance athlete, there is a point where very heavy lifting may impede endurance training. No need to go there! Just recognize that most of us will benefit from getting stronger.
  • Speed:
    • Lots of grown-ups left speed behind a long time ago.  We quit sprinting and jumping. We started plodding. Go to the “cardio” section of any gym today and you’ll see a zombie-like scenario in which the walking dead sort of lope and limp yet never go anywhere. This is the opposite of speed.
    • But why did anyone ever run in the first place?   To go fast of course!  Humans have had a need and a desire to move across the earth rapidly. We needed to evade predators like the evil older sibling and we needed to chase down prey like the annoying younger sibling. It’s in us and it needs to be done!
    • Many endurance enthusiasts believe they don’t need speed. Nonsense! All good endurance athletes work on speed. The vast majority of athletic endeavors are based on getting somewhere faster than an opponent, so speed is valuable to very nearly every athlete.
    • “But I’m not an athlete,”  you say. So? Ever have to catch a subway or bus or plane and you’re running late? Suddenly there’s no substitute for speed is there? How about in an emergency situation? Can you get yourself out of trouble quickly? How about getting a child out of trouble? Your being able to move fast could help save a life!
    • Speed work can do wonders for the physique. Moving a top speed can be a superb and possibly superior way to remove fat. You can sprint on your feet, on a bike (stationary or real) or a rower.
    • Research (here and here) suggests that high-intensity sprint-type work can is superior for improving the health of cardiovascular patients and it protects against cardiovascular disease.
    • HUGE MAJOR POINT: NEVER LET YOUR QUEST FOR SPEED OVERRIDE YOUR TECHNIQUE! Move perfectly first, then speed up. Don’t get sloppy or at some point you’ll probably get hurt.
  • Coordination/dexterity:
    • This piece is closely tied to the stability and mobility in three planes. Can you change directions quickly? Can you turn and run? Can you jump and land without destroying yourself? Can you catch and throw an object? Can you run, throw, catch, jump and land all in one fell swoop?
    • If you haven’t done this type of thing in a while it can be a lot of fun and can certainly provide a mental break from the same old routine.
    • This isn’t just for “athletes” by the way. Let’s say you’re stepping off a curb and–Whoa! Here comes a cyclist/bus/skateboarder/escaped zoo animal–you need to hop back on to the side walk. Can you get the job done? How about navigating an icy parking lot? Or nabbing your pet before it escapes out the front door? Better dexterity and an ability to move in unpredictable situations is a safety issue for sure.
    • How about getting down on to and up off of the ground? If you fall, can you get up? That’s a highly coordinated activity that demands core strength, mobility and stability. Again, as adults, we spend a lot of time avoiding the ground. It might be a good idea to get down there and so some stuff.
    • Appropriate exercises include: speed ladder drills, three dimensional hopping on one or two legs, throwing medicine balls, juggling kettlebells, battling ropes, shuttle runs, rolling, crawling, the Turkish get-up and tree or rock climbing.
    • Here’s a great video of several speed ladder drills.  Play around with some of them.

  • And here’s a helluva multi-directional jump matrix.  Think I’ll try this soon.

  • Here’s some more athleticism in the form of the Turkish Get-Up. This is a very good breakdown of an exercise that combines strength, mobility and stability in what may be the most complete exercise you can find:

  • Adequate endurance for the task:
    • Greetings very-strong people. Can you walk up a flight of stairs without turning purple? Can you go on a short hike without buzzards circling overhead the whole time? Can you walk 18 holes of golf? Can you go skiing and not spend 10 minutes at the end of every run getting your breath back?
    • A lot of us are endurance specialists but some of us are far from it. Various activities can be a lot more enjoyable if we have the heart and lung capacity to get through them. Being a tourist in Washington, DC during the summer is definitely an endurance activity. Any significant amount of gardening probably requires some endurance as does any sort of house work.
    • I remember in my scuba certification we were required to swim like 2-4 laps across a pool. This was by no means a full-length swim workout. One lady had to stop about halfway through. She was exhausted. She couldn’t complete the swim and she couldn’t muster any energy to complete the class. Her young daughter was OK to keep going. So in her case, a potential fun family activity was curtailed by a conspicuous lack of endurance.
    • Strong, skillful athletic teams are often limited by endurance. If an athlete doesn’t have the stamina to last an entire contest, then they will very likely be beaten by an opponent who can continue to execute their game plan to the end of the game.
  • AWARENESS!
    • None of the above are possible without it! Do you know if your pelvis is tilted? Do you know where your shoulder blades are? Is your neck protruding?
    • Do you have any idea how well you balance or how coordinated you are? When was the last time you tried to move fast? Are you conscious of how you lift heavy things off of the ground?
    • In other words, are you aware of any weaknesses or where along the athletic spectrum you may be lacking? Do you make an effort to try new things in your workout or have you been doing the same thing forever?
    • I often tell clients, “We’re going to find what you’re bad at and then do a lot of it!” We often discover something (or several somethings) that is particularly challenging–not painful–but difficult. (By using exercise, we expose a weakness.) Then we want to find a way to bring up this capacity whatever it may be. But first we must become aware of this weakness.
    • Sit and think for a moment. What do you NOT do? What’s always been difficult? What have you NOT done in a long time? In contrast, what do you do a lot of? What’s easy for you? See if you can turn this paradigm inside out. Can you think of a way to expand your athletic base?
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NSCA Endurance Clinic Summary: Day 3

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David Barr: Nutritional Supplements & Ergogenic Aids

  • NSCA CSCS, USA Track & Field, Precision Nutrition Certified, participated in research with NASA
  • High Return On Investment Supplements
    • Caffeine
      • blocks adenosine which results in
      • less fatigue and
      • lower feeling of exertion during activity
      • concerns include GI distress and diuresis (exessive urination)
    • Carbs
      • type: glucose, fructose, maltodextrin
      • timing: during exercise
      • beneficial in events lasting >2.5 hrs
      • dosing by duration: 60g/hr for 2-3 hrs, 30g/hr if <2 hrs
    • Fish oil
      • effects
        • increased muscle anabolism
        • may enhance recovery
      • Don’t look at total Omega 3s
        • You want EPA = 180 and
        • DHA = 120
      • If eating a high-fat diet (me) then up the Omega 3s.
      • potential synergy with Vitamin E
    • Protein (He seems to be a big protein guy.)
      • Don’t use during exercise (but what about Accelerade?  No good?  Didn’t get a chance to ask.)
      • Consume up to 2 g per kg of body weight or 1 g per lb.
      • Whey post workout: 20-25 g is the limit
    • Nutrient timing:
      • Protein pulse feeding
        • multiple protein feedings per day of 20-30 g
        • ups protein storage
        • Seems the effect of this is separate from the training effects from the workout.
      • Take about 40 g of casein before sleep to help blunt catabolism
      • Carb timing:
      • If you need rapid glycogen replenishment then consume carbs soon.
      • If you have 24 hrs before the next workout then it’s not an issue.
      • Protein and the workout
        • If you’ve eaten soon before a workout then don’t worry.
        • If you haven’t eaten in a while then eat protein pre-workout.
    • Keys to hydration
      • specific prescription better than ad libitum or drinking at will.
      • (Dr. Tim Noakes disagrees and I side with Noakes.)
      • flavor enhances consumption
      • cold increases palatability
      • drink early/often
    • Building the optimal endurance drink
      • 200 ml water/15 minutes
      • sodium: 450 mg/L
      • Carbs: 8-10%, 90 g/hr: glucose and fructose
      • Protein (potentially): 7%
      • You must “train the gut” or use this stuff while training in order to condition the digestive system to put up with it.
    • Antioxidants
      • mitigate free radical damage and aid recovery
      • Don’t take directly after workouts.
      • May be a case for taking antioxidants during activity
    • Lactate
      • Lactate is used as energy.
      • Doesn’t cause burn/fatigue
      • Cytomax makes some sort of drink w/lactate in it.
    • Buffers
      • bicarbonate
        • 300 mg/kg
        • potential GI trouble
      • Beta alanine
      • Theoretically: use both for a systemic effect
    • Nitrates
      • may help power output
      • may mitigate effects of altitude
      • Improved time trial performance in cyclists
    • Immunity
      • CHO
      • Vit C
      • Vit D
      • Zinc
    • Common deficiencies
      • Vit D
        • No toxicity
        • 6000-10,000 IU/day
      • Iron: Test for it.
      • Magnesium
    • Experimental considerations
      • hyperhydration
      • “train low” (carbs): unclear if this benefits performance
      • echinacea: increases EPO
      • ketones: novel energy source
    • Future prospects
      • cobalt chloride
      • guanidinopropionic acid
    • Other resources

Tim Crowley: Program Design: Strength Training for Endurance Athletes

  • CSCS, NASM-PES, USA Cycling Elite Level Coach, 2008 US Olympic Triathlon Coaching Staff, USAT Elite Coach of the Year and Development Coach of the Year, Owner TC2 Coaching, Head Strength Coach at Montverde Academy
  • Huge need for endurance strength & conditioning coach
  • “Great swimmers are great athletes that swim fast and great athletes are strong.” – Richard Shoulberg, Germantown Academy
  • STRENGTH MUST BE THERE FOR SPEED!
  • Program Goals
    • Reduce injury incidence
    • Reduce injury severity
    • Increase athletic performance
    • Improve athleticism
  • If you can read/learn 1 hr per day then you’re way ahead of the crowd.
  • Try stuff out before we give it to athletes: workouts, tools, food
  • Book: Endurance Training Science & Practice, Mujika
  • He covered various research evidence showing that strength training aids runners, cyclists and other endurance athletes
    • Reasons strength training works for endurance athletes:
      • conversion of type IIX fibers into fatigue resistant type IIA fibers
      • improves strength (like money in the bank)
      • rapid force production
      • improved neuromuscular function
      • tendon stiffness (essential for running)
      • improved max speed for fast starts or finishes
    • Common myths
      • Heavy weights make you big
      • Weight training hurts young athletes
      • Endurance athletes need light weight/high reps
      • Heavy weight training reduces ROM
      • Lifting equals bodybuilding
      • Squats hurt knees
      • Only for use in off-season
      • Endurance training will build strength
    • Important considerations
      • Strength work often isn’t to improve the engines of endurance (legs for running for example) but rather to address weaknesses, increase overall athleticism, and avoid injury
      • As pressure mounts on an athlete, find ways to coach less and simply get them to perform at their ability.
      • Time:
        • an obstacle for endurance athletes
        • goal is 30-40 min 2x per week
        • Try high-intensity/low-volume workout to increase muscle activation prior to a track workout
      • Energy
        • finite amount of energy for training
        • can’t interrupt endurance sport training
        • DOMS can be a problem
        • physical effects of high-vs low-volume
        • psychological effects
      • Reciprocal Inhibition
        • Reduced neural drive to opposing muscles
        • Areas of concern
          • scapula/thoracic spine
          • hip flexors/glutes
          • hip adductors/glute medius
          • anterior core/low back
      • Pattern Overload
        • Endurance sports are cyclical
        • high incidence of overuse injury
        • lots of “itises”
      • Force Couplings
        • Key body regions for multisport athletes
          • internal vs. external shoulder rotators
          • hips in saggital plane (flexors vs. extensors)
          • hips in frontal plane (glute medius and quadratus lumborum)
        • Eliminate power leaks
        • Improve movement economy = free speed
      • Masters athletes
        • strength development/maintenance is vital to success
        • loss of power declines faster than strength
        • mobility is crucial
        • compensation patterns
        • slower recovery from injuries
      • Program design
        • foam rolling/movement prep
        • mobility
        • corrective exercise
        • strength
        • keep it simple
        • less is more
        • quality over quantity
        • develop power
      • Self-myofacial release (SMR)
        • foam rollers
        • tennis/LAX balls
        • golf balls
        • the Stick
      • Mobility
        • May be the most important component in the beginning
        • a must for masters athletes
        • Vital concerns:
          • hip mobility
          • thoracic spine
          • ankles
          • 1-leg squat
          • split squat every workout
          • His ACL injury rate is almost 0.
      • Overuse injuries
        • Be proactive
        • shoulders
        • low back
        • glutes/glute medius
        • lower leg/ankle
      • His go-to exercises
        • inverted/TRX rowing
        • anterior core
        • core dynamic stabilization
        • single-leg squatting (priority goes to 1-leg over 2-leg work)
        • glute/hamstring and glutes
        • trap bar deadlifts
        • ankle band walking
        • eccentric calf raises
      • Mobility and Stability
        • Mobility is the combination of muscle flexibility, joint ROM, and the body segment’s freedom of movement
        • 2 types of stability
          • static 1-leg stance
          • dynamic core stabilization during athletic movement
        • Example: Hips are stiff so lumbar spine becomes too mobile/unstable and injury is incurred.
      • 10 exercises to include
        • Cook hip lift

      • Hip flexor stretch
        •  X Lat pull (couldn’t find a video)
        • Reverse cable fly

        • single-leg squat

        • single-leg deadlift

        • stability ball pushup or TRX pushup (unstable surface)

        • lawnmower row

        • cable and tubing lifts and chops (and other similar exercises)

      • single-leg heel raise
  • Resources

Nick Clayton, Power Training for Endurance Athletes

  • Objectives
    • Explain how training with explosive movements benefits endurance performance
    • Correctly perform variations of the Olympic lifts and plyometrics specific to performance in endurance activities
    • Lecture
    • Practical
      • dynamic warm-up
      • Olympic lift variations
      • Plyometrics
    • Why train for power?
      • Rate of force development
      • eccentric strength
    • Non-barbell Olympic lifting
      • Clean, snatch, jerk variations
        • kettlebells
        • dumbbells
        • medicine balls
      • Plyometrics: various 1 and 2 leg jumps, hops, skips
      • Nick said he would create videos of all the exercises and post them.  When/if they’re available I plan to post them here.
      • This was a fantastic session from warm-up to all exercises.
      • It was very much in line with the idea of creating athleticism.
      • These drills exposed a lot of weaknesses and lack of athleticism in a lot of the participants.
      • Exposing these weaknesses could be a huge opportunity to improve athletic performance.

Conclusion:

This clinic was just excellent!  It far surpassed my high expectations and that’s a rare thing.  The combination of theoretical/academic/”sciencey-type” stuff, practical application of the science, and physical participation kept the whole thing extremely interesting.  I came away with my mind overflowing with ideas.

Several things are prominent in my mind right now:

  1. I was re-introduced to some of Gary Gray’s concepts.  I’ve returned to doing the 3D lunge matrix with much greater understanding of hip, spine and knee position, plus how to tweak the lunge matrix in all sorts of ways.  I’m doing it again and all my clients are doing it now.
  2. The concept of athleticism as a necessary foundation is a HUGE concept to me.  We tend to specialize too much.  We devote ourselves to endurance sports which go one direction (saggital plane) and we neglect 3D movement.  We avoid crawling, climbing, rolling, hopping, jumping and engaging in unpredictable movement situations.  Check out the people going into and out of Spinning classes and you’ll see a lot of broke-down people who can barely hobble.  They aren’t athletic.  And I have been one of those people–but not anymore! Every one of my workouts now has a dedicated 3D movement component, power component and I try to do something that I don’t typically do.  Athleticism deserves a blog post of its own.
  3. I’m going to contact Jay Johnson for some coaching.  He did such a fantastic job of distilling academic information into practical application.  I can only coach myself so far.  I need someone who’s been through the process both as a runner and a running coach.
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NSCA Endurance Clinic Summary: Day 2 (I forgot to summarize the final presentation.)

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Maybe I was in a rush to post the Day 2 summary, I’m not sure.  I forgot to summarize the final presentation of the day.

Dr. Jeff Matthews: Running Injuries – The Big Picture

  •  DC, CCSP, CCEP, 1996 USAT National Team, high school track coach
  • Primary shock absorber of the body: FOOT PRONATION
    • Pronation isn’t a bad thing–it’s supposed to happen.
    • Posterior tibialis controls pronation via eccentric contraction
  • Secondary shock absorber: knee flexion
  • Aches & pains of the leg, foot and toes
    • Metatarsalgia
      • Pain at the metatarsal phalangeal joint as the heel leaves the ground too early.
        • Causes
        • limited ankle dorsiflexion
        • tight gastrocnemius
        • weak digital plantar flexors
      • Treatment
        • stretch gastroc with straight leg
        • increase distal plantar flexor strength
        • rigid forefoot in shoes
        • decrease stride length & employ heel strike
      • I have off and on metatarsalgia.  I’m going to work the toe flexors, particularly the flexor hallucis brevis.  I’ll use a band.
    • Hallux limitus and rigidus (aka Turf Toe)
      • Dancers and defensive backs get this as a result of doing a lot of stuff on their toes.
      • Loaded dorsiflexion of the big toe should be 42 degrees at toe off.
      • To check: Sit with knees bent at 90 degrees.  Lift toe with finger while foot is flat on the ground.  If it’s less than 30 degrees then you’ve got a problem.
      • Stretch toe flexors: Pull toe back 20-30x/day.
      • Restore joint motion to big toe.  I’ve been playing with this stuff quite a bit lately.  I’ve got a constantly tight left calf.  I’m wondering if restricted toe dorsiflexion is part of the problem.
      • I’m not only working to stretch the FHB, but also to strengthen it so my big toe can grip the ground.
      • Here’s a good big-toe mobility video:

    • Insertional Achilles tendonitis
      • occurs near the base of the AI
      • common in high-arched, stiff feet
      • common with Haglund’s Deformity.
      • Seems I have a bit of this; more along the lines of a bursitis from what I cant tell.
      • Strengthen with eccentrics.
      • He says “Work on the front of the tendon,” as that’s where the blood flow comes from.
    • Achilles Paratendonitis
      • He describes this as occurring with an audible squeak or creak–I’ve had that!
      • An inflammation of the sheath around the tendon
      • Work on the front of the tendon to increase blood flow.
    • Achilles non-insertional tendonosis
      • degenerative non-inflammatory condition from repeated trauma
      • treatment
        • rest
        • muscle work to stimulate fibrolasts to remodel
        • when appropriate, strengthen posterior tibialis and flexor digitorum longus
        • How do we strengthen the FDL?  Here’s one way:

    • Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome aka runner’s knee
      • comes from abnormal femoral movement
      • hip muscle weakness is the cause; increases with fatigue
      • Testing for PFS: 1-leg squat & check for 3 things:
        • leaning toward stance leg to maintain balance
        • knee caving in
        • falling
      • Treatment
        • retro patellar pain: recruit/strengthen the vastus medialis oblique (VMO)
        • stretch hips, foam roll quads, increase hip flexor strength
    • IT Band Syndrome (ITBS)
      • strengthen hip abductors
      • decrease tension on the tendon with soft tissue therapies
      • stretch glute max and TFL
      • may take 6 weeks (Didn’t take me that long to overcome mine.)
      • Check out my post on IT Band issues for more help.
    • Popliteus tendonitis
      • The popliteous unlocks the knee from the extended position.
      • inserts under the IT band and can cause lateral knee pain
      • if weak then knee may stay locked and send shock to the back
    • Treatment
      • Strengthen the popliteous
      • soft tissue therapy
      • control pronation (probably with foot strengthening drills and more importantly, HIP ABDUCTOR exercises)
      • Here’s a video on recruiting and strengthening the popliteous

  • Hamstrings
    • Hamstring strains have the highest recurrence rate and can take 4 months to resolve
    • Semimembranosus protects the medial meniscus during knee flexion
    • long head of biceps femoris helps stabilize SI joint and is most frequently injured in runners because of the long lever arm decelerates knee extension
    • more proximal the injury the harder to treat
    • Treatment
      • increase length, strength and flexibility
      • evaluate pelvis
      • strengthening abs/stabilizing pelvis can position pelvis correctly thus putting hamstrings at proper length
  • Low back pain
    • Pain causes weakness/looseness
    • Internal or external femoral rotation may become problematic.
    • Treat hips
    • A TFL problem = a glute medius problem.  This is huuuuge to me!
    • Seems to me that sitting too much is maybe the main problem here.

 

 

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Summary of the NSCA Endurance Clinic: Day 2

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Day 2:

  • Dr. Carwyn Sharp – Role of Strength Training & the Endurance Athlete
    • Factors determining successful endurance performance
      • VO2Max – Not nearly as important as we’ve thought for years
      • Lactate/Anaerobic Threshold
      • Economy of Movement
      • Velocity at onset of blood lactate accumulation (vOBLA) – This may be the most important.
      • We need to think of ways to increase performance, not just measurements like VO2Max.
    • Improving Running Economy (RE)/Economy of Movement (EM):
      • strength
      • speed
      • power
      • More force into the ground/pedals/water = speed
      • More force comes from more strength
      • Heavy strength training and plyometrics are best
      • Both are shown to improve vOBLA
      • Plyometrics need to look like running: 1-leg hops, bounds, skipping.  This is SPORT SPECIFIC TRAINING.
    • Good idea to cut strength training during a taper.
    • Strength training guidelines
      • heavy weight training:
      • 3-5 sets of 3-6 RM
      • with 3-5 minutes rest between sets
    • Plyometrics: most convincing performance results.
      • varies depending on training status, mode and intensity
      • work: rest of 1:5 to 1:10
      • 80-140 foot contacts per session; fewer for beginners
        • 2-foot landing counts as 2 contacts
        • 1-foot landing is 1 contact
      • FIRST THERE MUST BE A SOLID STRENGTH BASE!
      • Donald Chu, Jumping Into Plyometrics
  • Coach Jay Johnson, MS – The Strength & Conditioning Coach Meets the Running Coach
    • former collegiate runner and running coach at CU Boulder
    • coached 3 U.S. Track & Field champions
    • 6 main points
      • Athleticism
      • Runners (and everyone else) need to first have a base of athleticism
      • good movement in 3 planes of movement
      • full ROM at the joints
      • strength
      • He builds aerobic metabolism on top of this foundation of athleticism.
      • The idea of athleticism is massively important!
    • Why did your athlete/client get better?
      • Did they simply go from being sedentary to being active?
      • Or did they get better because of the program you designed?
    • Understand the role of glycogen
      • The body must be trained to use lipids as fuel
      • This syncs with Seebohar’s discussion on glycogen.
    • Development of the aerobic metabolism is the most important factor for peak running performance.
    • Runners must  do non-running work to stay healthy.
      • GSM (General Strength & Mobility Work)
      • Gary Gray’s 3D lunge matrix.  I’ve played with this in the past.  I’ve returned to it.  Here’s a video

  • Keep the easy days easy and the hard days hard.
    • Do the intense strength/plyometric work on the hard running days.
    • Take it easy on the off days.
    • This is a key part of the periodized plan
    • His discussion on periodization was very helpful to me
    • Macrocycle
      • When it’s time to progress the runs, do so on the hard days.
      • Run easy or rest on the easy days.  Never up the intensity of easy days.
      • A complete day off every 14 days is a good idea
      • Take an active rest week after every 5k, 10k, and half-marathon
      • He takes three weeks after a marathon.
    • Microcycle
      • 4 days/week running
      • Monday – recovery day: Do strides on Monday; 4-5 x 20-30 seconds at 5k pace with 1 minute easy jogging between reps.
      • Tuesday – workout: High level aerobic workout or race pace workout.  Can include:
        • Threshold/tempo run or
        • Fartlek run or
        • Progression run or
        • Long repetitions or
        • Alternate the above with race pace workouts week to week
      • Wednesday – aerobic cross-training
      • Thursday – off or cross-training
      • Friday – easy run day w/strides
      • Saturday – long run
      • Sunday – brisk walk
    • The lunge matrix is done before every run
    • Runs follow with general strength and mobility work and Active Isolated Stretching
    • Here’s a link to Johnson’s 8-week strength progression.
    • This may have been my favorite lecture.  Johnson did a fantastic job of taking academic information (physiology, periodization, race pace training) and telling us in simple terms how he implements these things.  His point on athleticism was HUGE to me. I plan to contact him for coaching this coming season.
  • Nick Clayton, MS, MBA, CSCS,*D, RSCC – Functional Training for the Endurance Athlete
    • This was an active demonstration in the performance center, not a lecture.
    • Sport specific movement that mimics body position, speed of contraction contraction type of said sport
    • trains the body as an integrated unit
    • Primal movement patterns
      • squat
      • lunge
      • lift
      • push
      • pull
      • twist
      • Squat progression
        • 1-leg balance
        • 1-leg squat
        • 1-leg squat in multiple planes and with other body movement
        • 1-leg squat jump to deceleration
      • Lunge progression
        • stationary with narrow base
        • multi-planar
        • multi-planar with reaching
        • split squat jumps with focus on quiet deceleration
      • Lift (deadlift related movements)
        • hip hinge and balance progression
        • 1-leg Romanian deadlift/deadlift
        • kettlebell swings
      • Push/Press: Discussed mainly addressing the postural and scapular considerations of safe and effective pushing in sport training
      • Pull:
        • Shoulder stability patterns:
        • Y, T, I, W, stability ball roll-out
        • I liked these patterns.  I’m using them now as part of the warm-up or as correctives as needed.
      • split stance dumbbell row
      • cable “lawnmower”
        • It’s a single-leg cable row with a hip hinge.
        • This is a running pattern. Here’s a demo

Prior to the strength and plyo demos, we went through a really cool walking/lunging mobility process. Nick said he was going to email out videos of the warm-up and when/if he does, I’ll post them here.  I may video it myself.

Getting out on the floor to play with these exercises was a lot of fun.  I really liked the 1-leg plyo work.  I definitely got some valuable ideas that I’ll implement in my own training and with my clients. I also liked the shoulder patterns a lot.  I’ve seen the Y, T, I, W patterns before but I understand them better now.  I think it’s key to KEEP THE SHOULDERS AWAY FROM THE EARS WHILE YOU DO THESE.

  • Randall Wilber – Training and Competing in a Hot and Humid Environment
    • Dr. Wilber discussed in great detail how he helped Deena Castor (bronze) and Meb Keflezighi (silver)  prepare for the Athens Olympic marathons in 2004.
    • While not terribly important to my goals, some of this information was new and very interesting.
    • 2 ways to prepare for heat/humidity:
      • Natural acclimatization
      • Arrive 10 days to two weeks out
      • Gradually adjust timing of high-intensity and low-intensity workouts (two-a-days)
      • Gradually creep the workouts towards the heat of the day such that the final day has a HI workout near noon and a LI intensity workout in the evening.
      • Pre-acclimatization (Deena and Meb both did this prior to Athens.)
        • Very simple: Train in more clothing to make the body hot and thus approximate the hot conditions in which you’re to compete.
        • Arrive a few days ahead of the event and do your final workouts.
      • Cooling strategies
      • clothing
        • no cotton
        • lightweight and light color
      • sunscreen: avoid it as much as possible as it clogs pores and inhibits sweating
      • ice packs/towels
      • ice vest
      • Apply cold/ice to hands and feet: I’ve noticed on my own how  in cold weather, I can put on gloves or take off gloves and experience a significant change in my overall temperature.
      • whole body immersion: showers, tubs
      • ice drinks (like Slurpees)
      • Stay as cool as possible right up to the event.
      • Consume more sodium while training in the heat.
  • David Bertrand – Managing the Endurance Athlete
    • MS, USA Triathlon Level II Coach, lectures at SMU in the Applied Physiology Dept, head of DFI Tri Club, Dallas
    • Athlete selection:
      • Very important to coach people with whom you mesh
      • You may not be the best coach for everyone
      • Curiosity: He needs to feel curious about his clients and their goals.
      • “Training with David” document: This was very insightful
        • What does training with David bring…
        • coaching philosophy
        • requirements
        • rates
        • weekly training availability
        • how training is delivered
        • training jargon and abbreviations
        • I need to develop a document like this w/my name in place of David’s
    • Coaching styles and methodologies
      • autocratic: best for groups with both high and low cohesion
      • democratic: best for groups with moderate cohesion
      • Display a vision.  Express belief in the athlete
      • Buy-in: “Here’s how were going to do it.”
    • Communication
      • How am I most effective?  1-on-1?  Small groups?  Big groups?  Ask my clients.
      • LISTENING IS VITAL!
    • Training intensities
      • Most people go too hard.
      • This is in sync with Wilber’s advice that a little undertrained is far better than a little overtrained.
      • HR monitor can help keep athletes in check.
    • Writing and adjusting the plan
      • Adjusting the plan: This is your greatest value to them.  This separates you from the cookie cutter programs.
      • Most people need MORE RECOVERY, not more work.
    • Best practices
      • Don’t over-coach: Take 1 or 2 things and ask, “What did we focus on today?”  Less is more
      • Strive to learn.  Stay curious.  He told a great story about Jon Wooden.
      • Select days of the week for specific tasks.  Get organized.
      • Help athletes with something beyond just training.  Can you inspire them?
    • David gave a really superb lecture on what I call “filling in the cracks.”  That is, he spoke to issues beyond just physiology, heart rate, strength programs and other science. He talked about his time in the trade and how to actually work with human beings. I got a lot out of the lecture even though I’m not a tri coach nor do I plan on becoming one.

 

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Mirror Neurons: Improve Your Skills By Watching Others

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If you don’t know what mirror neurons are then here’s your chance to learn. In short, they’re a major part of why you or I ever decided to stand up and walk–and do all sorts of other things. These neurons in our brain fire up whenever we watch someone else engage in action. Our brain and nervous system actually behaves as if we are doing what we’re observing. Our brain is mirroring the action we’re watching. That may be a big part of why so many of us enjoy watching sports, ballet, Cirque du Soleil, etc. Here’s a video from PBS’s Nova on mirror neurons:

In the case of an infant, no one gives the child a book or a lecture on the benefits of walking or how to do it. The child simply observes the world and sees his or her fellow humans moving about on two feet. He or she then gives it a shot and promptly fails. (Walking probably starts simply with moving the limbs, rolling around, crawling, and attempting to stand.) Another try and another fail follows. Along the way, we discard the ineffective movement patterns and we keep the ones that work. Eventually we are walking. This whole process is based on imitation of others. It’s pretty effective, no?

Guess what. There’s no age limit on using mirror neurons to obtain and improve skills. We can use our eyes to learn movement in a couple of ways. Coaches commonly use video technology to record the movement of their athletes. The athlete can then watch themselves and make correction to their form. I frequently use this process with my clients. It often works far better than a verbal explanation of how to correct a technique.

The other way we can use our mirror neurons to get better at something is to simply watch excellent technique. Youtube is chock full of videos that can help with this. The following are a few videos that have helped me with weightlifting, running, mountain biking and skiing. I watch this stuff and visualize doing what the athletes are doing. I think it helps and the research supports the idea.

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Good Information: Flexion Inspection (Sitting Is The New Smoking), When to Stop Strength Training (Part of Tapering for a Race), Running Technique

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There are so many knowledgable people out there putting out good information. Here’s a little bit that I’ve found recently.

Kinetic Revolution: Better hip flexion for better running plus overcoming our sitting habit

If you’re a runner or triathlete then you should definitely check out Kinetic Revolution. The author is James Dunne and he’s a rehab and biomechanics expert. His recent post is Flexion Inspection: How Long Do You Sit Down Each Day? He discusses the perils of setting, namely tight hip flexors that inhibit the glutes and thus limit your hip extension. He makes two suggestions:

1. Record Your Time Spent Sitting For 1 Week

This is Claire’s brilliant idea… I had to share it!

Keep a simple diary. Much like a food diary, but recording the time you spend sitting down every day. Every single form of seated activity, from working at a desk to cycling.

If you’re anything like me, the results will be ALARMING.

2. Offset Time Spent In Flexion With Specific Extension Exercises

I’m a realist. I get that much of 21st century living requires sitting – not to mention the leisure activities we engage in. Cycling for instance.

I usually suggest for every two hours spent in a flexion pattern, athletes should get up, and spend 5mins working on extension exercises such as hip flexor stretches and glute activations.

And he explains a hip flexor stretch progression here

I can’t really resist posting this video so we’ll meander away from running technique for a moment. Nilofer Merchant gives a TED talk on this dreadful sitting habit we have. She even suggests that perhaps walking while talking may drive creative thinking:

Sweat Science: When is the ideal time to cease strength training?

If you’re a runner who strength trains (And if you’re a runner, you should strength train.) then this piece from Alex Hutchinson’s Sweat Science column at Runner’s World is very much up your alley. It’s titled When to Stop Strength Training. He discusses research from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Here’s the big rock you should know (emphasis is mine):

What you’re looking at is the change in muscular power after resistance training was halted, based on meta-analysis of 103 studies. Note that power is different from absolute strength — power is your ability to deliver large amounts of force in a short period of time, which is often more relevant to athletic performance than plain strength is. And the interesting thing to note is that, 8 to 14 days after stopping, power appears to be a little higher than it was during training, though it’s not statistically significant. (The graph for strength, which I didn’t show, starts declining immediately.)

Speculation aside, if you’re an endurance athlete who includes resistance training in your regimen, you have to eliminate or reduce it at some point before race day. The graph above suggests that one to two weeks in advance might be an interesting time to stop.

 Running technique & mirror neurons: Watch and learn

Humans are visually-oritented people. We primarily learn by watching and imitating others around us. (Why did you ever decide to walk?  Did someone propose the idea to you? Did you come upon the idea of walking from a book you read? No. You decided to give walking a shot because you looked around and saw a bunch of other people doing it.) Mirror neurons are the specialized structures in our nervous system that enable our learn-by-watching process.

The cool thing is that we can improve our skills by watching other people do things. I’ve watched skiing videos to improve my turns and I’ve watched mountain biking videos to improve my switchback riding. We can improve our running technique the same way.

There are a lot of youtube videos out there on running technique and I’ve found a couple that are fairly informative and somewhat entertaining. These videos are a slightly funny compliation of 80s instructional video, current running analysis and in one clip we see vintage black & white footage of the great Roger Bannister, the man who first broke the 4-minute-mile barrier.

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Making Stuff Faster

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Here’s a very interesting video from PBS by way of Scientific American.  It’s part of the 4-part Nova series Making Stuff…  This discussion is on making stuff faster. Here, the host explores how to make faster runners.

The big takeaways here are:

  • 1) Hit the ground harder and
  • 2) Keep the torso stiff.

I haven’t seen the actual episode yet but I love the analysis and advice.  A lot of runners think that simply running more will yield better running.  But if you run the same way more and more then you should expect more of the same.  In this video, the host is given a few instructions on how to run.  The result?  He gets about 2 seconds faster on a 100m sprint.  That’s a great result!

Strength isn’t discussed in this video but I think we can very safely assume that a stronger runner can strike the ground harder than a weak runner.  So squats, deadlifts, 1-leg squats and jumping should aid in this endeavor.  Also, the advice to keep the core rigid falls right in with the research and teaching of experts like Stuart McGill.

Really, though in the end, it’s the brain that’s the target here.  The runner is able to recognize faults in his running technique and alter how he runs.  Thinking and awareness are vital!

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Stuart McGill, Born to Run & Ketogenic Eating

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Here’s what I’m into right now:

Stuart McGill

I recently finished Stuart McGill’s Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance.  It has definitely contributed to how I view conditioning and care of the spine.  For instance:

  • I’m very careful to avoid much if any bending or twisting at the lumbar spine.
  • According to McGill, the core musculature responds best to endurance-type training, so I now go for time rather than out-and-out strength.
  • McGill makes the observation that excellent athletes tend to have a very rigid core–but very mobile hips and shoulders.
  • Here are two videos with McGill.  The first has McGill discussing several myths regarding low back pain and core strength.  In the second video we see demonstrations of three exercises often prescribed by McGill.  These are often called the Big 3: the curl up, side plank and bird dog.?

Born to Run

I’m a little late to the party but I recently finished Chris McDougal’s Born to Run. This book has done more than almost anything to push the popularity of minimalist running.

Born to Run is more than a book about running.  Much of the book concerns the history and culture of the Tarahumara people who live in the isolated Copper Canyon region of Mexico.  Non-runners with any interest in other cultures will find this book very interesting.

The book and author have generated some controversy. Any runner knows about the hot debate over minimalist/barefoot-type running.  I won’t go into all that.  (For just about the most thorough discussion on minimalist running, you can’t do better than the Sports Scientists dissection of the subject.)

Here are some thoughts on both the book and discussions that have followed:

  • The story is quite entertaining.  It’s possible that the entertainment value of the book and a subsequent New York Times article from McDougal have somewhat overshadowed some facts.
  • Alex Hutchinson who writes the Sweat Science blog for runner’s world describes an interview with McDougal that clashes with later statements from McDougal.
  • Hutchinson brings up several points in his response to McDougal’s article titled The Once and Future Way to Run.  One is this:

“4. The one part of the article that made me kind of angry was this passage, about McDougall’s visit to the Copper Canyon in Mexico that led to Born to Run:

I was a broken-down, middle-aged, ex-runner when I arrived. Nine months later, I was transformed. After getting rid of my cushioned shoes and adopting the Tarahumaras’ whisper-soft stride, I was able to join them for a 50-mile race through the canyons. I haven’t lost a day of running to injury since.

I actually interviewed McDougall back in 2009, shortly before Born to Run came out. And that’s not the story he told me. Here’s what I wrote then:

Long plagued by an endless series of running injuries, he set out to remake his running form under the guidance of expert mentors, doctors and gurus. He adjusted to flimsier and flimsier shoes, learning to avoid crashing down on his heel with each stride and landing more gently on his midfoot. It was initially successful, and after nine months of blissful training, he achieved the once-unthinkable goal of completing a 50-mile race with the Tarahumara. But soon afterwards, he was felled by a persistent case of plantar fasciitis that lingered for two years. “I thought my technique was Tarahumara pure,” he recalls ruefully, “but I had regressed to my old form.” Now, having re-corrected the “errors” in his running form, he is once again running pain-free.

I’m in New York right now, and won’t be back home until Monday night, otherwise I’d see if I can dig up my actual notes from the interview. But I remember McDougall telling how stressed out he’d been, because he’d spent all this time working on a book about the “right” way to run — but as the publication date loomed ever nearer, he’d been chronically injured for two years. It was only shortly before publication that he was able to get over the injuries and start running again.”

McDougal responds to Hutchinson’s post here and Hutchinson replies back.

Personally this doesn’t do much to bother me or take away from a) a great story that’s told in Born to Run or b) the value and importance of minimalist running. I think it does suggest that McDougal is not a scientist and that the need to create a compelling story may persuade a writer to drift towards a bit of exaggeration.

What’s your take on this back-and-forth?

Ketogenic Diet (high-fat/low-carb/moderate protein intake)

Here’s another party to which I’m a bit late: the high-fat ketogenic diet.  In fact, most people who’ve tried it probably abandoned it back in the early 2000s. (I think they should’ve have.) You’ve heard of the Atkins diet.  That’s largely what I’m doing now.

In reality, I’m becoming more focused and precise with this type of eating.  I switched to a higher-fat diet when I became familiar with the Perfect Health Diet.My current efforts are informed by the Art & Science of Low-Carbohydrate Performance. Jeff Volek, PhD, RD & Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD are the authors. I like their credentials and their experience. To me, it lends weight to their words. Here’s a rundown of the main points of the book:

  • Their book is well-referenced and fairly easy to understand.
  • They present convincing evidence (to me) in favor of a) greatly reducing carbohydrate and b) greatly increasing fat intake and c) why this strategy can be very effective for athletes.
  • How?
    • Burning fat for fuel (aka ketogenesis) is a cleaner process.
    • Inflammatory stress is lower compared to using carbs for fuel
    • You’ll be less damaged from exercise and you’ll recover faster
    • You have a nearly limitless supply of fat for fuel compared to a limited supply of glycogen.
    • By shifting your metabolism to prefer fat, you’ll avoid bonking.
    • Also, by shifting your metabolism to prefer fat you’ll improve your body composition.  Besides the aesthetic appeal of a lean physique, if you’re lighter then you’ll have a better ability to produce power.  If you’re lighter then you should be able to run and bike faster.
    • Endurance athletes who experience GI distress may do very well on the high-fat diet.

I was motivated to dig into this type of eating after I spoke with my former client and friend Mike Piet.  He’s moved in the low-carb direction after his friend and accomplished ultra-distance runner  Jon Rutherford.  Jon’s experience as an athlete who’s increased his performance is described in  the Art & Science of Low-Carbohydrate Performance. Thus far, I like the results. I’ll talk more about them as this experiment continues.

Look for Mike Piet’s guest blog post as he describes his very interesting low-carb/high-fat experience during the Savage Man Olympic and half-Iron distance triathlons–done on consecutive  days.

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