Mind and Matter - There's More to Recovery Than Nutrition

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, September 22/09)

by Kevin Purcell UltraFit.com

I spend a good deal of time speaking with athletes on a daily basis who are interested in learning to become more competitive competitive with themselves and/or competitive with other age groupers, elites or professionals.

Becoming a faster athlete occurs in two ways:

1. Training
2. Recovery from training

Both are as necessary as the other. This article deals with recovery from training.

Workouts are only as powerful as our body’s ability to absorb and recover from them. A great session is wasted if we cannot recover properly before the next training stimulus.

For this reason we should be interested in utilizing all of our available resources that enable recovery. Most of us know that these resources include pre-existing fitness, sleep, limiting stress, total rest, active recovery workouts and scheduling nuances.

I have found two more areas that often are underdeveloped when it comes to recovery. They are nutrition and mental attitude. Perhaps the underdevelopment is because at first glance nutrition and mental attitude can appear so challenging. In reality, the majority of us can simply choose to improve both, with great success.

Nutrition is a topic that can be controversial. It is a personal issue. As such, the topic can polarize a room.

I am not going to go into the science of nutrition or the specifics of fueling for racing. It has been done very well in previous columns. You can read more by Dr Cordain (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/), Joe Friel (Triathlete's Training Bible and www.ultrafit.com), and Gordo Byrn (www.coachgordo.com). They have shared studies as well as personal experiences that can improve an athletes performance.

Large amounts of evidence have been presented to support the correlation between proper nutrition, fueling and race performance. Still, I know athletes who do not use nutrition as a means to improve body composition and speed recovery.

I believe that excellent nutrition translates to increased speed. A good performance while practicing poor nutrition tells me that an athlete may have not yet reached his or her potential.

As an athlete I follow a Paleo plan that employs veggies, fruits and lean protein at every meal and uses higher glycemic foods to aid recovery following long sessions. I have largely eliminated processed foods.

As a coach, I recommend my athletes eat to ensure good training sessions, correct body composition and proper recovery. You can learn more about the Paleo diet modified for endurance athletes by clicking here

I became more serious about my nutrition when I began working one-on-one with Gordo Byrn. Adding more fuel to my quest for knowledge was when my older daughter became ill in January. I began studying nutritional ways to treat her problems stemming from cancer.

I wanted to use nutrition as an adjunct to chemotherapy and radiation and to speed recovery. I bought books and I studied.

Funny thing, all the anti-cancer diets are essentially Paleo. I had already been eating the way much of the literature was suggesting that my daughter should eat, to maximize her return to health.

So here was my 116-pound, 14-year-old girl beginning chemo and getting hit hard. We altered her diet to have her eat in a Paleo manner and increase her protein intake. She began working this program like her life depended on it, because it did.

We discussed the importance of her attitude and that it was essential that she remain positive. We worked with her mental strength and she brought her mind and a positive attitude into the fight. It was all about her recovering as best and as quickly as possible.

Initially, I was worried that she might lose weight with this nutritional strategy, but she has gained lean body mass over the last 11 months. I bring this up for a good reason: not just to tout Paleo, but to support lifestyle changes that develop overall health and a lack of disease (dis-ease) in both mind and body.

My daughter now eats as well as I do. In addition, she has gained lean body mass while I am losing weight. This is important to note because if we eat well — we don't "diet." Our bodies naturally find the correct weight for us as individuals. That may be a slight body type. It may be a larger more solid one. But it is the correct weight for you.

As endurance athletes, we compromise our skills if we place specific weight and caloric intake above common sense and recovery. The body must be fueled before, during and after training or we may be wasting some benefits, while risking injury and sickness.

What did I mean when I said my daughter brought her mind and a positive attitude along for the ride? Recovery is healing. The mind is responsible for a great part of our recovery. Plato was quoted 2,300 years ago as saying, "Mental fitness and physical fitness go hand in hand."

It does not matter whether we are recovering from sessions on a bike or run, or sessions in chemotherapy — we need all of our resources to be our best. This includes a positive attitude and mental strength.

I deal with people interested in bettering their fitness as a coach and as a chiropractor. Some folks rarely, if ever, get sick. These people are invariably happy, positive people. There is a healing force in the body that is enhanced by positive attitudes.

This healing force is something no one can dispute, no one can say is philosophical rhetoric.

When you boil recovery down to a healing art and science it becomes easily clear to see how powerful our choices are.

Kevin Purcell, D.C., is a USAT Level 1 certified coach for elite and age-group triathletes who compete at both Ironman and short-course distances. "KP" has completed 7 IM's and qualified for the 2003 IM Hawaii. Dr. Purcell practices chiropractic with an emphasis on sports medicine in San Diego, Calif., and can be reached at kevprcll@aol.com.

Carbs, Carbs, Carbs

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, September 21/09]

BY KATHLEEN WOOLF, PhD, RD

Swimmers, like most athletes, use carbohydrates as fuel during exercise. Unfortunately, the body only stores a limited amount of carbohydrate, and it can easily be depleted after a vigorous workout. To maximize your body’s carbohydrate stores, consume carbs before, during and after exercise.


Carbs Before Exercise
Before every practice or competition, include carbs as part of a pre-event meal to “top off” your muscle stores. Select foods that can be quickly digested and absorbed. Depending on the time of your pre-event meal, vary your meal patterns. When a pre-event meal occurs 4 hours before your event, consume foods such as a turkey sandwich, apple, oatmeal cookie and low-fat milk. If your pre-event meal occurs less than one hour before an event, limit your intake to a small amount of juice or fruit or a sports beverage. Research consistently supports that eating a pre-event meal improves performance. However, a single pre-event meal will not compensate for an overall poor training diet.


Carbs During Exercise
When exercise lasts more than an hour, carbs are recommended during exercise to provide additional fuel for your body. Carbohydrate intake during exercise allows athletes to exercise longer and harder. Consume 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour during long duration exercise. To provide your body with 30 grams of carbs, choose 2 cups of a sports beverage or 1 medium banana or 3 large graham crackers.


Carbs After Exercise
Immediately after every practice or competition, consume carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages as part of your recovery. Choose fruit, 100% fruit juices, low-fat milk, cereal, sports beverages and bagels to replenish your carbohydrate stores so that you are ready for your next event. What you eat after a hard practice affects your ability to perform during your next workout.

Carbs Always
Because carbohydrates are the predominant fuel for most events, swimmers need to focus on a carbohydrate-rich diet. For optimal performance, make it a habit to consume high-carbohydrate meals and snacks, before, during and after exercise.



Kathleen Woolf, PhD, RD is a registered dietitian and a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionist Dietetic Practice Group, and the American College of Sports Medicine. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University.



5 Fat-Fighting Foods to Add to Your Diet


From Team Beachbody - Join Today and Workout to Win!





Here's a twist on dieting you might like: instead of pointing out all the forbidden chocolates and other sweets and treats you can't have, let's talk about what you can have! Of course, just adding these "fat-fighting" foods to a poor diet of pizza and potato chips won't give you a figure like Anna Kournikova. But if you replace some of the bad calories you're currently consuming with calories from these foods, you might just be nicely surprised next time you step on the scale.

1. Apples. The skin of apples contains pectin, an insoluble fiber that serves as nature's own appetite suppressant. It's also believed that the scent of green apples is an effective stress reducer so keep a few out on your kitchen counter or at your desk.

2. Beans. High-fiber beans such as chickpeas, lima beans, and kidney beans make you feel fuller longer so you eat less and temper those unnatural cravings.

3. Dairy. Eating 3 to 4 daily servings of dairy, such as low- or nonfat milk, cheese, and yogurt may help burn more fat by shifting energy stored in fat cells to working muscles, according to a recent study. Not only will it help get rid of old fat cells, but it'll make it easier to keep the weight off for good!

4. Oatmeal. Try starting your day with a bowl of oatmeal instead of a Krispy Kreme. The regular, slow-cooking kind is much better for you than the sweetened, over-processed "instant" type. Oatmeal is a great source of the essential fatty acid GLA, and it contains a cholesterol-fighting combination of fiber, protein, and complex carbohydrates.

5. Nuts and seeds. These contain a lot of fat-fighting protein and fiber that will help you lean downas long as you don't overdo it as they're also high in calories and fat. Filling an empty Altoids container with raw almonds or walnuts will help with portion control and give you a healthy and filling snack when you're on the go.

Creed for the Ancient Marathoner

by Dr. Walter Bortz

1. Honour the run. Train enough, but not too much. Don’t rely on yesterday’s experience for today’s challenge. Be true to the task. Know that you are the torchbearer for those younger. You show them not just what you can do but what they will be able to do. You show them their future.

2. Don’t be surprised. Train in the heat and in the cold. Know how to drink and eat. Know where each step is taking you.

3. Don’t take any extra weight along with you; be spare.

4. Be rested, be fresh, and arrive at the start ready for a full go. Know that each part of you is ready to go the full course.

5. Age is not an excuse. It is an advantage. Each of us has been up our personal hill more often than the younger runners. We are older, we have experienced more, we have more to give—and we understand more.

6. Don’t make excuses. Don’t rely on someone else. You are in charge. You alone can crest the rise, fight the fatigue, master the moment.

7. Although you are in charge of yourself, you are not alone. Your number increases. You run in the footsteps you have made—but also in the paths of Emil, Frank, Johnny, Grete, Clarence, George, and others. You tie your shoes with their laces. You are one with the heroes and heroines.

8. Don’t compete with your yesterday. No one can defeat you. Be the best that you can be this day. Be being your best today, you will prepare for being your best tomorrow.

9. Listen to the wisdom of your body. It is older. It has been tested. It knows how. Pay respect and learn from its teachings.

10. Have fun, don’t take the run too seriously, be confident.

Train Like Lance Armstrong

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, September 10, 2009]

From Team Beachbody

Lance Armstrong became the best Tour de France rider in history by revolutionizing the way cyclists train. But instead of following the time-honored principles of training longer and harder with Rockyesque fervor, he and his coach, Chris Carmichael, decided to train more efficiently. It's no longer enough, or even a good idea, to try to simply outwork your opponents. Instead, the most efficient way to win the Tour is to outsmart them.

Here are five ways Carmichael and Armstrong outsmarted their opponents to win six straight Tours. These principles can help you achieve your own goals.



1. Motivation. Not one aspect of your training is as important as motivation. In fact, nothing else is even close. With enough motivation, you will succeed at some level. It's the one ingredient that assures success and, when lacking, will lead to failure. Here is what Carmichael has to say about Lance and motivation:

"Lance Armstrong can be beaten at the Tour de France, but only by an athlete who is better prepared than he is. To accomplish that, an athlete would have to be more motivated than Armstrong, and I believe the depth and intensity of Lance's motivation comes from a place very few people can understand, let alone match. He's the hardest working man in the peloton, perhaps in the world of sport, and his commitment to excellence in training, nutrition, equipment, and team selection have elevated him above everyone else." [1]

Also, being motivated yourself makes motivating others a natural extension. A few years ago, Armstrong recruited a young rider for the Postal team, Floyd Landis, who was talented but unfocused. Taking him under his wing, he taught Landis the importance of treating his training and racing as a job. As a result, Landis has turned into a major force in the pro peloton. This year, he's won a handful of races, and he's led Armstrong through the mountains in the Tour, finishing fourth in the final time trial.

Champion rock climber Wolfgang Gullich once said, "The hardest part about training is making the decision to start training at all," meaning that once your mind is focused, every subsequent step is easier.


2. Singularity of Focus. Again, breaking with tradition, Carmichael and Armstrong work toward one goal, winning the Tour de France. This was instigated by Johan Brunyeel, the director of Lance's U.S. Postal Service team. There are many races in cycling, but the Tour is the biggest, by far. Winning the Tour is more important than winning every other race of the season. With this in mind, Armstrong trains with one objective, while most of his rivals still look toward winning numerous races. This single-minded focus is a huge advantage.

Armstrong's Postal squad is built entirely around helping Lance win the Tour. Most other teams are not structured this way. In fact, the team of his main rival, Jan Ullrich, attempted the dual task of helping him win the Tour and helping sprinter Eric Zabel win the sprint stages. They paid for this lack of focus on both ends—Ullrich fell to fourth place in the general classification and Zabel failed to win a single stage.

The lesson is that those with a singular goal will always have an advantage.


3. Efficiency. Motivation alone is enough to give you results, but if you have an efficient plan, those results are likely to happen much quicker. The entire Beachbody concept is based on efficiency. Most of us don't have hours a day to spend exercising. But Armstrong makes his living by winning one bike race, so it makes sense that he should spend all day long training, right?

Wrong. Traditionally, cyclists have done this, even going so far as setting early-season mileage goals that aim to "get a lot of miles in the legs." Many still train this way. But Carmichael strayed from this old-school attitude, instead trying to cut down on time spent on the bike:

"Lance doesn't waste time on his bike. He knows the goals of the day's workout before he leaves the house, and once his power meter tells him he has ridden long enough to accomplish those goals, he goes home. Extra time on the bike isn't necessary and just leads to more fatigue and longer recovery periods." [2]

Carmichael thinks that efficient training leads to not only more time away from training, but also a more relaxed attitude. With the belief that's he's been as efficient as possible, Armstrong can more freely go about his daily tasks of being a father, businessman, philanthropist, and rock star accoutrement.


4. Periodizational Training. Armstrong trains in blocks, starting in the off-season, leading toward a peak during the race in July. His blocks have different goals than most of yours, but the principles are the same. You should not train your body the same way all year long. Instead, focus on different energy systems.

In Armstrong's case, weaknesses, or places where radical change may be needed, are focused on in the off-season. Then he'll work on more and more subtle items as he gets closer to his goal period. You can't peak all year long, so it's better not to always try to be in your best condition. Sometimes, we let ego get in the way of the goal. We only focus on our strengths or do what we're good at. But that is not the best way to reach a goal, because if you train your hardest you will have good days and bad, even good periods and bad. Each time you switch your training you go through an adaptive period where your performance suffers, but this will make you fitter in the end.

A case in point: Armstrong got creamed by two of his primary rivals in a time trial just over a month before the start of the Tour. There was panic in the press, but for Carmichael and Armstrong, it was business as usual. Those other guys had peaked too early, whereas Lance was still coming into form. During the first mountain stage in France, he gained massive time on both of them.


5. Nutritional Periodization. Again, a revolutionary concept. Actually, it's only revolutionary in that it was planned periodization. Traditionally, cyclists would gain weight in the off-season and then try to burn it off at the beginning of the race year, which is a type of random periodizational training that isn't too effective. But Carmichael figured that if Lance didn't gain so much weight, he could instead focus on getting his body to use fuel more efficiently. Therefore, he cycles his eating throughout the year.

In the winter, he eats far fewer carbs because he isn't burning so many calories. Because high performance isn't necessary (i.e., no races), he will train his body to more efficiently burn fat for energy but will restrict his carbohydrate intake. This comes in handy during the race season, when he needs to hold onto glycogen stores as long as possible. So by withholding some carbs (he still eats some and never approaches anything resembling an Atkins approach), Lance trains his system to be more efficient.

During the season this will change, and he'll add more and more carbs as the races get more intense. Your body will not function at its highest level without carbs (which you know if you've read almost anything I've written). So as Lance starts to race, his diet becomes more carb-oriented. During the Tour, Armstrong may consume up to 1000 grams (4,000 calories) in carbohydrates alone. Carmichael says, "If Lance tried to race on a low-carb diet, he'd die."

If this strategy sounds familiar, it's because we're always prescribing similar eating styles at Beachbody, especially for P90X®. Some form of periodizational nutrition works for almost every individual, because it's very rare that we do the same thing, in the same way, throughout the year. In a very basic sense, proteins make muscle, fats make the body function properly, and carbs give it energy for both athletics and brain function. So the more sedentary you are, the fewer carbs you need, but as your activity level changes, your carb level must change too if you want to perform your best.

Climbing Out Of Your Comfort Zone

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, September 2, 2009]

The Ultimate Secret to Lasting Change and High Achievement
By Tom Venuto - author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

Take a moment and think about the sum total of everything you’re currently doing to improve your health, fitness, physique and athletic performance. Think of every detail you can - the workouts, the dieting, the level of effort, the sweat, the time - everything.

Now grab a pen or pencil and draw a small circle - about the size of a golf ball - in the center of a sheet of paper. Imagine that all the work you’re doing is contained in that small circle. Inside your circle, write the words, “Where I am now: My comfort zone.”

Next, take your pen and draw another circle outside the first one so you have two concentric circles. (If you didn’t draw the first one yet, go ahead and do it now so you have a visual).

The larger circle represents personal growth, increased performance and positive change. In the fitness arena, that might mean better health, higher levels of cardiovascular fitness, increased strength, larger muscles or decreased body fat. In sports it might mean performing a skill or event at a higher level of competency.

If you’re not seeing the changes you want – a frustration so many people are experiencing today - it means you’re staying completely inside that circle of comfort most of the time. In order to make a positive change in your life, you have to expand your boundaries by climbing outside your comfort zone.

If that’s all there is to it – if a little step outside your comfort zone is all it takes to grow and improve, then why don’t more people do it? What makes that little step so difficult?

The answer is simple: In the space between your two circles, write the word, "pain" a few times, all the way around the circumference.

You see, the second you leave your comfort zone, you experience pain, DIS-comfort and awkwardness. Since all positive changes take place outside the comfort zone, change is painful. The very instant most people feel the pain, they pull back inside the comfort zone. This is the reason why most people fail to improve themselves or create lasting changes in their lives: They are unwilling to put up with the pain of change.

The pain we’re talking about may be: (1) the physical pain of muscles aching and lungs burning, (2) it may be the emotional "pain" of feeling awkward and clumsy at doing something new (such as a complicated exercise or athletic maneuver), or (3) it may be the “pain” of discipline and sacrifice. (For example, saying no to dessert, getting up at 5:30 a.m. for cardio, or passing up on a night out at the bars with your friends). Most likely, it’s all three types of pain.

The statement “no pain, no gain,” has been misinterpreted, criticized and labeled a fallacy by many. However, the people doing the criticizing are almost always “comfort zoners” who haven’t achieved much with their lives. Don’t listen to them. Never follow the herd (unless you want to step in a lot of manure). Instead, follow the small percentage of people who step out and achieve great things.

Achievement expert Brian Tracy says, "90% to 95% of people will withdraw to the comfort zone when what they try doesn't work. Only that small percentage, 5 or 10 percent, will continually raise the bar on themselves; they will continually push themselves out into the zone of discomfort, and these are always the highest performers in every field."

Studies at the University of Chicago by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, concluded that the highest achievers are those who consistently push themselves out of their comfort zones. Instead of withdrawing to their comfort zones when they don't get immediate positive results, they force themselves to stay at this awkward, uncomfortable and painful (but higher and better) level of performance until the pain finally subsides and they become comfortable at the new higher level.

Here’s something important you need to know about pain: Tom Hopkins, a sales trainer and one of the world’s top motivational speakers, taught me this lesson many years ago and It's been burned into my brain ever since. He said, “The pain of every change is forgotten when the benefits of that change are realized.”

If you ask a champion in any field of endeavor, you will find that rather than avoid pain, they embrace it and accept it as part of the game they must play to win. Champions realize that pain equals growth and the benefits far outweigh the discomfort.

Seven-Time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenneger said, "I realized that pain could become pleasure. We were benefiting from pain. We were breaking through the pain barrier and shocking the muscles. I looked at this pain as a positive thing, because I grew."

Cyclist Lance Armstrong put it this way: "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however, it lasts forever."

Muhammad Ali said it like this: "I hated every minute of the training. But I said to myself, bear the pain now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

Go back and look at your circles again. Do you realize that it may be entirely possible to continue expanding your circles to infinity? Draw a third one. And a fourth. Imagine yourself climbing up out of your comfort zone to these higher levels and look back at how small the space is that you used to occupy. You have far greater potential than you’ve ever imagined.

In William James’ essay, On Vital Reserves: Energies of Men, he wrote, "Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are dampened, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources. The human individual thus lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and he behaves below his optimum."

It’s a widely accepted fact that we only use a tiny fraction of our physical potential and even less of our minds. However, no true expert in human potential today would ever dare set a definite limit on what we are ultimately capable of achieving because for all practical purposes, our potential is literally infinite.

Have we seen any slowdown in athletic, intellectual, spiritual and scientific advancement during our lifetimes? Quite the opposite; the curve of progress is accelerating thanks to the brave souls who had the courage to step out their comfort zones. Meanwhile, the mediocre masses are left further and further behind because they would rather pull back into the apparent comfort and stability of their small “circles” rather than step forward through pain and into growth.

Ironically, when someone says, “I’m happy just staying right where I am,” he or she is demonstrating their ignorance of a basic law of nature. It’s the natural law that all things in the universe are either growing or decaying. There is no standing still. “Comfortably maintaining” is an illusion. Truth is, you must grow. You must push yourself beyond what you’ve done in the past if you want to avoid falling behind.

You don’t necessarily have to aspire to become Mr. Olympia, Tour De France winner, or heavyweight champion of the world, but you must continue to grow, whatever that means to you. All you have to do is step outside your comfort zone and endure the “pain” of effort, discipline, sacrifice, frustration and hard work, and your reward of growth is as certain as the sun rising in the East tomorrow.

Soon the pain subsides, you enjoy the benefits of the change, and the pain is forgotten. You’ve reached a new, and higher plateau of achievement. Be on guard, though, for it’s not long before that higher level becomes your new comfort zone, and then it’s time to press on again.

Ultimately, you can’t avoid experiencing pain of one kind or another. Project yourself into the future for a moment; see yourself in your final days, reflecting on what you’ve achieved in your lifetime…and reflecting on what you wanted to achieve, but never attempted. As you visualize this scene, remember the words of Jim Rohn: "We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons."