NO FUEL OR LOW FUEL STRATEGIES

In today’s world of nutrition and sport, the word "carbohydrate" is like mentioning a four letter word. It seems that every other headline is talking about another food fad or the next latest and greatest low-carbohydrate diet. The majority of these diets and food fads are suggesting nutrition such as high-protein, high-fat and low-carbohydrate. For endurance athletes, the idea of burning fat rather than carbohydrates is gaining popularity.

No Fuel or Low Fuel Strategies

Many of the athletes adopting the low-carbohydrate/high-protein, high-fat diets are also adopting a "no-fuel/low-fuel" strategy during exercise and training. Many times, these athletes thought process is, "Why should I put calories in during exercise? The less I eat during exercise, the more calories and fat I will burn." Often times individuals are drawn towards such food fads and diets because they are looking for a fast weight loss. Sure, reducing carbohydrates can create fast weight loss, however the loss this is very temporary and the weight typically goes back on quickly. This is where an athlete should ask themselves if they are looking for "change" or if they want results; meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime. There is a big difference between these two options. A food fad or diet that brings about a quick weight loss and then an even quicker weight gain did not bring about results. Rather, it simply brought about change. The body changed temporarily and then went right back. Instead, athletes should adopt a nutrition lifestyle that will produce meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime.

The Fat Burning Myth

Many athletes avoid carbohydrates in an attempt to teach their body to burn fat as the major fuel source. The thinking has become that consuming carbohydrates and the ability to burn fat do not go together. The truth is that athletes can burn fat and consume carbohydrates. Always keep this statement in mind, “Fat burns in the carbohydrate flame.” Not only do carbohydrates provide energy for working muscles, they also assist in enabling fat metabolism. In short, carbohydrates need to be present in order for fat to be utilized for energy.

Avoid the Diet Carousel

Listening to the verbiage of many of these individuals that jump on the food fad and diet bandwagon there is a common theme. Say the high protein-high fat/low carbohydrate diet is called Diet-X. An individual will start Diet-X and they are super motivated. Then, within a very short period of time (sometimes as soon as one day or one week), many of these individuals will say something like the following when asked how the Diet-X is going, "Well, I am now 70/30 Diet-X.” What happened to All-In Diet-X? Well, what happened is that these individuals’ bodies began screaming for carbohydrates and thankfully these individuals listened. They are not ignoring their body and they are feeding their body the carbohydrates that have been cut out. Of course, when their energy, performance and recovery are still not up to their expectations the 70/30 quickly becomes 60/40 and so on and so forth.

The Mental Benefits of Carbohydrates

The need for carbohydrates is not limited to the body. Glucose from carbohydrates is the fuel the brain uses to produce the energy that moves and motivates you.  According to Dr. Carol Greenwood, "Not only does a diet lacking in carbohydrates cut off the brain's main energy supply, a scarcity of glucose can impede the synthesis of acetylcholine, one of the brain's key neurotransmitters.” When she tested the memory of older adults after they ate a breakfast of mashed potatoes or barley, she found that "Eating carbohydrate foods can improve memory within an hour after ingestion in healthy elderly people with relatively poor memories." (The Human Brain).

Vegetables are not Carbohydrates

In this world of high-protein diets, it seems as if there is a big misunderstanding regarding vegetables. All too often, a follower of these diets says something like, "Yes, I eat vegetables as my carbohydrate." Well, taking a closer look at this shows that the body is not getting the necessary carbohydrates from vegetables alone. For example, one cup of broccoli has only 5.8g of carbohydrate. The bottom line is that vegetables are not carbohydrates. Sure, they may add a few grams of carbohydrates to a meal, but they are not a carbohydrate source. For example, a slice of whole grain bread has a few grams of protein but it’s not a protein source.

Athletic Performance and Carbohydrates

When it comes to athletes and performance and their in-training fuel, once again, carbohydrates remain vitally important just as they do in everyday meals and snacks. In order to maximize and optimize performance and recovery,  athletes need to continually load and reload muscle glycogen stores. This process can not happen with a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet. According to Ashley Chambers, M.S. and Len Kravitz, PhD, muscle glycogen is the primary fuel (followed by fat) used by the body during exercise. Low muscle glycogen stores results in muscle fatigue and the body's inability to complete high intensity exercise. The depletion of muscle glycogen is also a major contributing factor in acute muscle weakness and reduced force production. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise decreased glycogen stores, so the need for carbohydrates is high for all types of exercise during this energy phase¹. Jeukendrup, PhD, and Michael Gleeson, PhD mention that there is convincing evidence from numerous studies indicating that carbohydrate feeding during exercise of about 45 minutes or longer can improve endurance capacity and performance².
In summary, athletes looking for maximal and optimal mental acuity, performance, recovery, body composition change and meaningful and sustainable results for a lifetime, should avoid jumping on the bandwagon of the latest food fad and diet. When it comes to nutrition, there are three key components to be spot-on with when it comes to daily nutrition:

1. The proper eating frequency.
2. The proper nutrient timing. When it comes to eating frequency and nutrient timing keep it simple. Fuel up immediately upon awakening and then every 2.5-3.5 hours thereafter. Being accurate with eating frequency and nutrient timing, helps assist the body in stabilizing blood sugar, insulin and serotonin levels. This will result in high and stable energy levels all throughout the day as well as reduced if not completely eliminated food cravings.
3. The proper macronutrient balance. At every meal/snack, seek the proper balance of carbohydrate-protein-fat. Maintaining a macronutrient balance at every meal/snack that contains 45-65% calories from carbohydrate, 15-30% calories from protein and 15-30% calories from fat will help to stabilize blood sugar, insulin and serotonin levels. This will help to properly load and reload muscle glycogen stores.

Proper fueling is important for endurance athletes to be able to put in the hard hours day in and day out. Don’t be afraid of carbohydrates, avoid the 70/30, 60/40 Diet-X mentality and fuel the body and brain the right way. These simple steps will help any athlete move to the next level.


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Five Questions You Should be Able to Answer by Now

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 9:03AM

As the weather warms up and you start moving from the treadmill and trainer to the trail and road, your thoughts are likely turning to your racing calendar. Actually, you’ve probably already got your first few early season races under your belt. But did you really do all your “homework” in the base period to set yourself up for success? Take our pop quiz and find out. Here are five questions that all athletes should be able to answer by this point in the early season.

Q1. Which events are your “A” races and which are your “B” races? 

You likely have a calendar of races set up by April, but is it prioritized? Prioritizing your schedule is one of the first things that should be done when planning your season. “A” priority races are the ones you want to peak for and be at your best. “B” races are events that will help you prepare for your A race or are events you want to do more for the fun of it.

This is a task that can get complicated if you let it. In a perfect world, your A races are well spaced out through the season. Realistically, you can only have two to three A races per season. The shorter the distance of your A events the more you can have, but you still need to beware of over-racing.

With your A races set, you can find B priority races that will prepare you for the A race. There are several questions regarding B races. When should they be, how many and how to train for them are the most common. In a perfect world these B events are the right distance and timeframe away from your A race and don’t require travel. While it is impossible to set concrete rules regarding A and B races, there are guidelines. The longer in distance the A race, the farther out on the calendar the B race should be. If it is a long event like an Ironman, it is better to have two or more B races. It would also be good to start with shorter distances and work your way to longer events. Running a 5k two weeks before an Ironman won’t hurt, but it isn’t the best race prep either. In the real world, you will have to make some decisions.

Q2. How much are you traveling and how will you train through your travels?

In this process, consider your summer travel schedule. Family vacations or work travel can have a huge effect on your training and racing. There are obvious scenarios to avoid, like traveling just before your A race. Even if you are not travelling just prior to a race, you want to consider how it will affect your training. A two-week vacation during your build phase is less than ideal - unless of course you can fit your training into the vacation. Running is the easiest to work around, with cycling and swimming being harder to accommodate. Your ability to train while traveling will depend greatly on where you are going, what you plan on doing and the facilities available, like a pool or gym with a stationary bike. Research facilities ahead of time and have a plan for when you will get your workouts in. Minimize the interruption of travel as much as possible.

Q3. Should I race my B events, or should I train through them?

Once the B events are scheduled you can turn your attention to the training. While they may only be a B priority event, it can be hard to go into an event less than 100 percent. Hopefully your B races line up well with the A races. If so, your training should be progressive and you can train hard for the B race while still preparing for the A race. As a general rule, if the B event closely mirrors the A event, race it, if not, train through it. 

Remember, just because you make a race a B event, that doesn’t mean you don’t take it seriously. It is only your preparation for that event that is not optimal. B events are great for determining where your fitness is, working on nutrition strategies and choosing equipment. B events are also a great way to work on a specific weakness or aspect of the A race. For instance, if you are not a good hill runner, or your A marathon is on a hilly course, find a hilly 10k or half marathon, focus on hill training, then use the B event to gauge your improvement. B events are the stepping stones that prepare you for the big A day.

Q4. When are you starting your race-specific build?

With the A race in mind, you should know when exactly your training is going to become more race specific. By “race specific” we mean training at the goal heart rate/pace/power you want to achieve in the race, and training on a course similar to the race. After all, if you don’t train at race intensity you can’t expect to race there.

In general, an 8 to 10 week block of race specific training is good for long events, and 6 to 8 weeks is ok for shorter ones. This is where a properly placed B race can be a great advantage. Having a half marathon that you will run at a faster pace than your goal marathon pace 8 weeks later, is a great race specific workout. Keep in mind that for an A race, your build phase should end 2 to 3 weeks prior to the event to allow for a taper period. There is little you can do training-wise to improve your fitness in the last 2 to 3 weeks (simply not enough time for the body to fully adapt), but doing too much can have a negative impact by putting too much fatigue on the body.

Having a coach is the best way to ensure that you get your race specific build right (and in fact your whole season), but if you want to follow training plan instead there are many options. Plans will vary depending on the event, your goals and experience. You want to find a plan that strongly mirrors your own commitment level and available time. Once you have decided on your plan, stick with it and don’t second guess three weeks into the plan. Like any plan in life, you need to allow for enough time to see the true fruits of your labor.

Q5. What are your current threshold and zones?

Threshold is a very important element to your training. It is a zone that you should train in, and it also sets your other zones, like aerobic capacity and recovery. Threshold is the effort you can steadily maintain for one hour. It is a powerful predictor of fitness and can be used for pacing in all sports and distances. You can monitor your threshold via heart rate, pace or power depending on your sport and the device you have.

Hopefully you already know your threshold pace, power and/or HR, but if not you can determine it with a simple field test. With this determined, your other training zones will be properly set so that you can do structure zone training and proper periodization. Here’s the key though - as you do more work at threshold, especially during your race specific phase, this value changes. For instance, you may start with a run threshold heart rate of 160, then six weeks later after some training at threshold, it may increase to 170. This would also change your other training zones. That’s why we recently created the Threshold Improvement Notification Option to help you stay on top of your threshold value. (Read more about why you would want to make sure you have this feature turned on at this point in the season)

So, how did you score? Can you answer the above questions with certainty? If not, now is the time to get on it and play some catch up! If you can finalize your plan and set your preparation in stone within the next couple weeks, you will be on the right track throughout the year

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GET THE MOST FROM YOUR TRAINING

 

How to Get the Most Out of Your Training

By Jeb Stewart MS, PES

Too often these days people can get overwhelmed, frustrated and feel like they aren’t doing a
“good job” if they aren’t getting all of their workouts in to the letter. I can assure you that this is
not the case, but if we don’t know how to adapt our training during these times, then it is likely
to occur. Your coach should be relatively available often for any questions you have regarding
your training or to help you adapt the training when life interferes. Heck, we encourage it
vehemently! However, if you do not have a coach, or even if you do, here are some simple tips
and strategies to help you adapt on the fly and make the most out of the training time you do
have.

In the course of working with my clients, I want them to learn how to adapt their training when
things come up so that they feel empowered and accomplished rather than feeling like they failed
and gettingstressed out about it. I try to create the weekly workouts to give my athletes bang
for their buck training to help make the most out of the days of the week when time is at a
premium. Most coaches are well aware of how hard it is to even get that time in as most of us
have families and full-time jobs just like those who they coach. So, when time is scarce, I show
my athletes a few ways that they can adapt their workouts in a time crunch to still get them in
and make them count.

Key WorkoutsIn an ideal world we would all sleep 7-8 hours, train for 3-4 hours a day, eat perfectly, take naps
and go to bed by 10pm. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen very often, if ever. So, when all else
fails, if you get your KEY WORKOUTS in for the week, you will at least know that you are doing
enough to maintain or even improve your fitness.  For most of us, our key workouts fall on Tue, Wed or Thu and on your long day/days on the weekend. These workouts usually consist of intervals or specific drills during the week and your long days if you are outside on the weekends. If you are stuck inside, your workouts should be kept brief, i.e. 1.5-2 hours or less, and very specific. Your key workout in the gym is your leg and core day. If you are only going to get one gym workout in for the week, make sure it’s that
one. And lastly, always make time to stretch. It only takes 5-10 minutes and is critical to
performance, recovery and injury prevention regardless of what some of the “experts” tell you
these days.

SchedulingIf you miss a workout on the day it falls in your training plan, either skip it and don’t give it
another thought or get it in when you can that week if it is a time of the year when workout
sequencing is not critical. If you have a coach, I would encourage you to contact them to find out
how to adjust your schedule to accommodate your situation. If you miss a KEY WORKOUT, it is
better you get that in, than skip it and do the easier stuff unless you are just happen to be worn
out from stress and fatigue. Then it would be best to take the day off or just ride easy to
rejuvenate your body, mind and spirit. When you are really tired, either riding easy or taking the
day off and pushing that key workout until the next day can be a good call. In the early part of
the season, specific scheduling is not as critical and we need to keep our training fun for it to be
effective long term.

Adjusting on the flyFor most of us, we are keeping the workouts during the week to the meat and potatoes to help
us get in effective training while keeping our lives balanced, but sometimes the workout may be
longer than the amount of time we have available to train that day. In that case, here’s what you
will need to do to adjust it on the fly so that you get in a good workout, even with a minimum of
time.


Cardio and bike workouts
Start by cutting your warm-up and cool-down in half but still get it in. Then if you still need more
time, cut your workload in half by doing less than the recommended number of sets for the day.
Then, if you still need time, you can cut the rest periods in half. If this still isn’t enough, you can
cut the interval times in half. Please go about it in this order as it is designed to eliminate things
in their order of importance. Of course, this is only to be done in case of emergency, in which
case it will allow you to still get in a quality workout in. Contrary to popular opinion, something is
still better than nothing, for our heads as well as our fitness!

Strength & conditioning
To save time here, similarly, start by cutting the warm up and cool down time in half. Make sure
you are super-setting exercises and performing circuits whenever possible to eliminate wasted
time between exercises. (Super-sets involve doing one set using the opposing muscles used in
the first exercise right after another without resting between the two. Circuits involve doing a
number of exercises one right after another without resting between each exercise. Both
concepts will reduce the amount of time you spend in the gym and the intensity of your
workout). Do 2 sets minimum so that you are at least maintaining and then do more next time
when your schedule allows. If you need more time, just do the key exercises for your core and
the biggest muscle groups such as squats, lunges, dead lifts, etc. And lastly, if you need more
time leave the stretching for another time later in the day or in the week and get on about your
day. Once again, this is to be done only when you are in a time crunch.

As you can see, there are many ways to adjust our training to help us get it in and avoid the
negative energy that we create for ourselves when life throws us a curve ball. The goal is to
make the training we do be effective and fun and avoid it becoming a pair of handcuffs or a
source of stress. Give some of these suggestions a try and let your coach or a friend know if you
have any specific issues you may be having with your training program and work on it together
to come up with a solution that leads to success.

For more information, visit www.endurofit.com or contact Jeb Stewart with any questions you
may have, at jstewart@endurofit.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

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