I know this is always something that needs to be taken with a thought process that allows you a learning curve that is outside an obvious physical exertion but the relationship between the thought and the action is very conected
Diet, Sport, Nutrition,
Diet,sport and nutrition
By getting Your Nutrition from Real Food you create a Good Habit for Life.
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There is a tendency to think popping a multi-vitamin supplement to get nutrients is just as good as what comes from real foods.
during training and competition, the body requires more whole nutrients and quality food sources. Sometimes, the quantity and quality is hard to keep up when you are pushed for time to not go down the road of reaching for a convenient pill or some quick fix it is far better to get vitamins and minerals from natural foods and juices.
Sometimes before, somebody takes up training. Their awareness of how their body reacts to different foods is somewhat blunted and the body perception that you have, is not tuned how our body operates
Our bodies utilize the vitamins and minerals from real foods more efficiently.It can be much easier to select a variety of whole foods to enjoy eating instead of trying to make heads or tails of the entire selection of vitamin and mineral supplements that are available.
A multi-vitamin or a mineral supplement is without a doubt a taste that leaves a lot to be desired
Some supplements can be difficult for our bodies to break down and use, or by taking a singular supplement it is not as efficient and makes it difficult to get the full benefit from the vitamins and minerals they contain.
And when consuming plenty of nutrient-dense food nutrients are going to be easier for the body to process and utilize, and less likely to be wasted.
Many of the supplements available today use fillers and binders to hold them together, plus coatings on the tablets themselves. These are products the body does not need and will not use. Some people find they are allergic to the dyes and fillers used in vitamin pills.
However, the body uses the fiber that binds fruits and vegetables. Often the “skin” of a vegetable, like the potato, is the most nutritious part. In addition, sometimes the vitamin and mineral supplements can upset our stomachs, making taking them even more difficult the next day.
When embarking on any new training or indeed starting an active life after years of inactive and and perhaps unhealthy eating practices there can be a chance that In many cases, combining supplements can counteract their effectiveness and can produce stomach upset.
On the other hand, a variety of fruits and vegetables enhance the flavor of a nutritious meal and their fiber aids digestion.
Raw foods,vegetables nuts and seeds provide us with all protein source that you want if you’re looking to lose weight, eating fresh food is vital to a weight loss plan, which generally goes hand in hand with the needs and desires when starting a training program you cannot expect to achieve a positive athletic outcome, if your body is carrying excess weight.
Also, eating fresh fruits and vegetables help hair, skin and teeth stay attractive and healthy. Fruits and vegetables are the original fast foods.
It’s simple to grab for an orange, apple, banana, grapes, or quickly toss a few vegetables together for a salad to take to work.
If you have equipment like food dryer. It is easy to make up your own nutrition bars to take with you,I know for myself, When mango season
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comes around I in spend the day, putting mangoes into the drier and seal them wonderful foods that are full of all the nutrients needed .
So when you’re looking for well-balanced, healthy diet for your sport nutrition, don’t reach for the bottle. Reach for the food!
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Triathlon Weight Training
Back to basics
As regular readers will know, This is not a how to fine-tune your performance type of blog.
A theme I do comment on however, is about improving performance by going back to some training and nutrition basics and examining the validity of accepted and blindly followed training methods .
You have to question the popular approach to triathlon, of simply piling on the distance and that triathletes have much to gain and virtually nothing to lose by incorporating some specific strength training into their programmes, and
volume of training and time spent training for the actual event itself.
I see quite regularly that it’s all about wearing a badge of honour for the number of hours spent running, cycling or swimming.
This is a pretty flawed approach,with the mass of research showing that volume of training is one of the main culprits of overtraining and injury incidence.
Amongst the triathlon community there has been overemphasised the benefits of endurance-based training and underestimated the benefits of strength training.
Triathletes will spend hours completing endurance sessions in the hope that they can squeeze a little bit of extra performance from their cardiovascular system, but are reluctant to spend just a couple of hours a week in the gym.
By forgeting the huge potential that the musculoskeletal system has to offer to performance, many triathletes have forgotten about and pay scant regard to its training benefits.
When the musculoskeletal system cannot handle the stress of thousands of repetitions (which is what happens when you are training for a triathlon) then you need to condition the musculoskeletal system first.
You should program your body based on the movements it’s going to perform - not based on the cardiovascular system, an upside down method of programming!
Strength training in the gym can make a real performance difference Typically triathletes have had so little structural integrity , a resistance training programme to work on muscular weaknesses and imbalances should be the first approach.
I will continue with some more on the the subject later
The fact is that for many triathletes, moving the body is the biggest problem - not their ability to transport oxygen!
For years Triathletes have been focusing purely on improving their cardiovascular system but more often than not, they’ve broken down at some point during their season through illness or injury. I know this to be so very true it is always a conversation piece about what injury are you working through.
A better approach is to set to work improving the chassis and bodywork first and tune the engine later.
Shifting the mindset
Typically three main areas of concern are voiced when considering a strength programme:
1. Increased mass - fear of weight gain and subsequent drop in performance done correctly a balanced training programme will develop relative strength and power (ie improved power and strength to weight ratio) without significant increases in weight;
2. Lack of time - This is flawed thinking! Many triathletes have lots of time to swim, cycle and run but won’t consider adding just a small proportion of strength training into their training schedule. Just make sure that your programme is time efficient - 30-45 minutes duration (maximum):
I personaly find 40 minutes is good and with home based body weight training you save time and money by not having to travel to the training site.
3. Increased risk of overtraining - triathletes are often (rightly) concerned about overtraining, so there is a very real concern that extra strength work may tip them over the edge. The key is to ensure that the strength training sessions are quality focused and don’t have too much volume in them. The greater risk of overtraining is much more likely to arise from hours and hours in the pool or on the road than a couple of 40-minute gymworkouts!
The key is to develop a program that will have a positive impact on performance.
Flexibility Flexibility Flexibility
No that is not a typo corrective stretching and dynamic movement preparation should play a major role in every triathlete’s programme.
You do not need to adopt a ’stretch everything’ mentality but you do need to recognise that the nature of the sport means you undoubtedly have to address some flexibility issues before you even think about working on developing strength.
I truly believe prioritize the development of flexibility before moving on to strength.
Miserable Pommy
I wrote about the Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg in early post
http://www.watzzupsport.com/2007/09/07/hamburg-triathlon-age-group-hero/
One of the contestents Emma-Kate Lidbury, is now down under it is amazing the way life takes you if you are prepared to steup to the start line
A news reporter has swapped the gloomy British winter for some sun down under.
But it’s not all lazing on the beach for as the journalist is putting herself through a strenuous triathlon training regime.
Two years ago Emma-Kate decided to take part in a triathlon for a feature for the Oxford Mail.
She enjoyed it so much that she became hooked on the three-discipline sport and is now training in the small town of Noosa, north of Brisbane.
Bosses at the Oxfordshire daily have given the 27-year-old unpaid leave so she can race and train in Australia until the new year.
In September, Emma picked up a bronze medal in the women’s 25 to 29 age category at the Triathlon World Championships, in Hamburg.
She said: “Things are going brilliantly in Oz, I’m absolutely loving it. I’m certainly not missing the notepad and newsroom much when there’s permanent sunshine, gorgeous beaches and brilliant training facilities here in Noosa.
“I am training with some of the world’s best triathletes and I’m building on my fitness day by day ready for a stonking season next year. Life is pretty damn good and I do have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that this is all real.
“Most days go a little like this - up at 5am for a 5k swim session in the pool where Aussie Olympic swimming hero Grant Hackett is currently training. Then it’s back home for breakfast and a mid-morning snooze before catching up on e-mails and writing up training logs before lunch.
“I do a late-afternoon bike or run then a stretching session, shower, dinner and bed. Obviously not all days are like that - some have involved the beach - and I’ve also done a bit of sightseeing. “I’m off to the idyllic Whitsunday Islands in a fortnight or so for a few days R&R so all in all pretty darn brilliant. It’s crazy to think I only got into this triathlon lark in order to do a feature on it.”
So I guess her life has changed somewhat to a place that it was before she stepped up to the start line
Obese guy triathlon training
Vic Biberston knows what it’s like to be the fat guy, the last one chosen for sports teams. He knows what it’s like to ride the diet roller coaster of weight loss and gain.
As he says Let me be clear, I alone am responsible for my physical condition. My weight is the empirical evidence of simple nutritional mathematics, I have eaten more calories than I have burned. When calories in is greater than calories burned you gain weight. Do that year over year, and you end up shopping in the big and tall men’s store because the other stores simply don’t have your size.
Weight and the ability to control it has many causes but at the end of the day how you treat your body by what goes in and what measures you take to exercise will by the result you look at in the mirror.
One of his co-workers, a former triathlete, casually mentioned he’d like to get in shape to compete again.
For the past nine months, he has made it his goal to take part in a triathlon. He even created a Web site, www.obesetotriathlete.com, to share his experiences and track his progress.
I so encourage this sensible approach to using sport as motivational anchor to make positive changes to your life, when problems arise from weight challenges it is a tilt towards the real depression cycle that impacts a wider circle of people.
Any time you undertake a training program The list of general , specific training activities need to be organized.
With any program, skills must go from general to specific, basic to complex.
* Athletes must establish general conditioning , this is a most important factor I have seen so many athletes get hurt and disillusioned by not being prepared
before doing complex lactic acid workouts.
* You must develop the ability to accelerate before doing speed endurance. Again this could be a issue to be debated but I believe good form and the ability to
know how to run fast is the first and intrinsicely important element of training
* And beyond that these skills must be broken down further as well as addressing other biomotor abilities
Establish a clear, specific goal for the training plan.
Do you want to win a State Title ? beat joe bloggs on the bike who always trashed you last season, but you had him in the run.
You have to set your intention on a specific goal by focusing on the end result and then working backwards.
This is one of the most overlooked , difficult components of the training plan.
1. But if you don’t start with the end goal and end date and work backwards, you can’t get a true understanding of how to progress your training.
Don’t forget that competitions must be factored into the overall conditioning plan as well.
You can get going with out the surgery of gastric partitioning or gastric stapling that Joe went through.
I know diet is a four-letter word.But if you need something as a motivator and tie it inClick Here! with your training remember though… If you’re dieting, that’s a temporary state of being. At some point, the diet has to end.’’ look at eating as nutrition: ‘‘Let’s call it that. It’s a lifestyle.’’
Go Joe and everyone else out there that has the courage to step up to the start line
Fittness or sport specific
Saw this piece does a good job explaining the Aerobic vs Anaerobic. side of training
from the crossfit blog
YOU will always get the raging debate over training routines
Which of these energy pathways you should train is the source of much controversy… Thus the Aerobic vs Anaerobic dilemma.
I found this piece on high intensity training and really liked it. Chris Lomax found out on his own what CrossFit has been saying all along. If you want to get, and stay fit, you must train anaerobically. In addition you need to vary your exercise modalities.
There seems to be a great deal of debate as to which type of metabolic training is the best… Aerobic vs Anaerobic.
Ok, what is metabolic training?
What is all this aerobic vs anaerobic talk?
Metabolic training is conditioning exercises performed with the intention of increasing the capacity and efficiency of the energy pathways to store and deliver energy for activity.
Most people commonly refer to this as… cardio.
There are three energy pathways used to provide energy for activity… one aerobic and two anaerobic.
Aerobic Activity
Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen… and any activity that is performed at a low to moderate intensity for more than 90 seconds, allowing oxygen to release energy through metabolism, is usually called an aerobic activity.
The benefits of aerobic activity are…
Increased Cardiovascular Function Decrease in Body Fat
The negatives of aerobic activity are…
Decreased Muscle Mass
Decreased Strength
Decreased Power
Decreased Speed
Decreased Anaerobic Capacity
Most people in favor of aerobics in the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy rely heavily on the ability of aerobic activity to reduce body fat… but fail to mention that you are also losing muscle, strength, power, speed and anaerobic capacity along with fat reduction.
And here is the really shocking news… Low Intensity Exercise = Greater Fat Loss is a myth!
OK… let me clarify.
Low Intensity Exercise burns about 50% fat for fuel while High Intensity Exercise burns about 40% fat for fuel… so you could say that Low Intensity Exercise burns more fat for fuel than High Intensity Exercise.
But, let’s say you burn 100 calories in 20 minutes of Low Intensity Exercise (50 fat calories), and you burn 160 calories in 10 minutes of High Intensity Exercise (64 fat calories)… you still burn more over-all fat with high intensity exercise than with low intensity exercise.
There is also another advantage of High Intensity Exercise… it increases your metabolism long after the exercise is completed.
More fat burned in less time and an increased metabolism for hours after the workout… sounds pretty good to me.
Anaerobic Activity
Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen… and any activity that is performed at a medium to high intensity for less than 2 minutes, where energy is derived without oxygen, is usually called an anaerobic activity.
There are two anaerobic energy pathways…
The Anaerobic System (ATP-CP) is where energy is derived from the re-synthesis of Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) from Creatine/Phosphate (CP) until the stores are depleted… about 5-7 seconds.
The Anaerobic Lactate System (Glycolytic) happens after the (CP) stores have been depleted where the body resorts to the breakdown of glucose for energy.
This results in the production of lactate and hydrogen ions… ultimately leading to fatigue.
The benefits of anaerobic activity are…
1.Increased Cardiovascular Function
Decrease in Body Fat
Increased Muscle Mass
Improved Strength
Improved Power
Improved Speed
Increased Aerobic Capacity
The negatives of anaerobic activity are…
Anaerobic activity requires an aerobic foundation
When I look at the differences between the benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic metabolic training I often wonder why there is a Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy… the choice seems obvious.
What’s all the aerobic vs anaerobic controversy about?
I think the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy comes about due to an improper understanding of fitness and the use of a bad fitness definition.
Physical fitness is a compromise of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness .
To pursue fitness excellence you must physically train to “optimize” your performance in all of the physical abilities… and not “maximize” your performance in one ability at the expense of all others.
For people that do not understand that fitness is a compromise, the idea that more, longer aerobic training is indicative of a higher level of fitness is predominate.
However, what they fail to realize is that by focusing on extended aerobic training they are doing little or nothing to improve the other physical abilities needed for fitness excellence… and are actually decreasing their over-all fitness level.
And no, mixing extended aerobic training with body building “isolation” exercises is not the answer.
So what is the answer?
Simple… train ALL of the energy pathways by varying low intensity, long duration - medium intensity, medium duration and - high intensity, short duration metabolic training.
End the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy by making a compromise between the two.
Let’s be honest… unless you are training to be an endurance athlete, there is no need to train like one. to add I believe even for endurance when you are combininng job, kid and life short sharp strength training will give you better benifit than pointless trash ks
The truth is, most activities encountered in sport, work and life are a combination of all the energy pathways seamlessly flowing from one to another.
Instead of aerobic vs anaerobic it should be aerobic and anaerobic!
To exclude the training of any one energy pathway will greatly diminish the performance improvements from your metabolic training.
My advice… Put an end to the Aerobic vs Anaerobic Controversy!
Add high intensity, short duration metabolic training to your fitness workout plan and vary the intensities by changing methods and modalities of your training.
Coach Lomax, founder and president of the Optimum Fitness Network LLC,
Bike riding core muscle strength
Your bulging quads and razor-cut calves are the envy of your pack, and you start every ride strong. As the ride progresses, though, your hips seesaw in the saddle, your lower back aches, and you slow in corners. The problem? Your core cries uncle long before your legs wear out. Although a cyclist’s legs provide the most tangible source of power, the abs and lower back are the vital foundation from which all movement, including the pedal stroke, stems. “You can have all the leg strength in the world, but without a stable core you won’t be able to use it efficiently,” says Graeme Street, founder of Cyclo-CORE, a DVD-based training program, and a personal trainer in Essex, Connecticut. “It’s like having the body of a Ferrari with a Fiat chassis underneath.” What’s more, a solid core will help eliminate unnecessary upper-body movement, so that all the energy you produce is delivered into a smooth pedal stroke. Sadly, cycling’s tripod position, in which the saddle, pedals and handlebar support your weight, relies on core strength but doesn’t build it. To develop your high-performance chassis, try this intense routine, designed by Street. It takes only about 10 minutes to complete and focuses on the transverse abdominus, the innermost abdominal muscle, which acts as a stabilizing girdle around your torso, and also on your lower back, obliques, glutes, hamstrings and hip flexors, so your entire core–and then some–becomes strong and works as a unit. You’ll notice that it skips the rectus abdominus, or six-pack muscle, because, says Street, “it’s the least-functional muscle for cycling.” Do this intense routine, in this order, three times a week to create a core that lets you ride faster, longer, more powerfully–and finish stronger than ever.
CORE EXERCISES
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1. Boxer Ball Crunch
What It Works: Transverse abdominus, obliques, lower back
A. Lie with the middle of your back on a stability ball, your knees bent 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your head, but don’t pull on your neck.
B. Squeezing your belly button toward your spine, lift your upper back off the ball. Keeping your shoulders off the ball, trace a clockwise oval with your torso. Apply pressure with your lower back to keep the ball still through the entire motion. After 15 clockwise ovals, trace 15 counterclockwise.
Why It Works: Despite the straightforward motion of the bike, your body moves in three directions: forward as you head down the road, vertically as your legs pedal up and down, and laterally as your hips and upper body rock side to side. “This fluid, circular exercise builds control,” says Street, and that helps you minimize lateral torsion and wasted motion.
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2. Power Bridge
What It Works: Hip flexors, glutes, lower back
A. Lying on your back, bend your knees and place your heels near your glutes. Arms are at your sides, palms down.
B. In one smooth motion, squeeze your glutes, raise your hips off the floor and push up from your heels to form a straight line from shoulders to knees; toes come off the floor slightly. Hold for two seconds. Keeping your toes raised, lower yourself three-quarters of the way to complete one rep. Do 20 repetitions.
Why It Works: In addition to stretching the hip flexors, often extremely stiff in cyclists, the bridge strengthens the link between your lower back and glutes.
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3. Hip Extension
What It Works: Lower back, hamstrings, glutes
A. Lying with your hips and stomach on the stability ball, put your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders, and extend your legs with toes resting on the floor.
B. With a straight spine and shoulder blades back, as if you’re trying to make them touch, lift both legs off the floor, keeping them straight. If possible, raise them slightly higher than parallel to the floor. Hold for two seconds and lower. Do 20 reps.
Why It Works: This movement builds backside strength, for added efficiency on the second half of the pedal stroke.
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What It Works: Transverse abdominus, upper and lower back
A. Lying on your stomach, place your elbows under your shoulders with forearms and hands on the floor.
B. Lift your hips off the floor, keeping your back straight and abs tight, and rest on your toes. Aim for 60 seconds.
Why It Works: The plank builds the strength and muscular endurance you need to ride powerfully in the drops or in an aero position long after others have surrendered to the top of the handlebar.
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5. Transverse Plank
What It Works: Transverse abdominus and obliques
A. Lie on your right side, with your right elbow under your shoulder, forearm in front for stability, and stack your left foot on your right. Raise your left arm over your head.
B. In one motion, lift your hips to create a straight line down your left side. Lower your hips a few inches off the floor; do 10 to 15 reps, then switch sides.
Why It Works: Strong obliques improve your stability in the saddle, letting you take on hairpin corners with more control and speed.
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6. Scissors Kick
What It Works: Transverse abdominus, hip flexors, inner and outer thighs
A. Lying on your back with legs straight, place both hands palms down under your lower back.
B. Pushing your elbows down into the floor and pulling your belly button toward your spine, raise your shoulders off the floor and look toward the ceiling. Raise your legs 4 inches off the ground and scissor them: left leg over right, then right over left. That’s one rep. Work up to 100.
Why It Works: A comprehensive movement that connects key cycling muscles, the kick also builds inner-thigh muscles, which help you achieve hip, knee and forefoot alignment for a proper and efficient pedal stroke.
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7. Catapult
What It Works: Entire core
A. Sitting with a slight bend in your knees, press your heels against the floor. Extend arms to the front at shoulder height, palms facing each other.
B. With a straight spine and upward gaze, inhale deeply, then exhale and slowly lower your torso to the floor over five counts as you inhale. Arms are overhead.
C. In one smooth movement, leading with the arms, exhale and explode back to the starting position. Do 20 reps.
Why It Works: Contrary to its name, the catapult encourages supreme body control.
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8. Boat Pose
What It Works: Transverse abdominus, lower back
A. Sit, resting both hands lightly behind you, and lean back until your torso is at a 45-degree angle.
B. Keeping your legs together, lift them off the floor as you extend arms forward at shoulder height. Abs are tight, as thighs and torso form a 90-degree angle. If your hamstrings are tight, you’ll need to bend your knees a little. Work up to holding for 60 seconds.
Why It Works: As with the plank, this pose builds the lower-back stability and core strength needed to remain bent over the handlebar for hours, or to blast up hills without compromising power or speed.
Burning Questions
Why does my back hurt?
Lower-back pain is related to core strength, or lack thereof. “In a leg press at the gym, you can press into the back pad to stabilize yourself,” says Andy Pruitt, Ed.D., director of Colorado’s Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, “but when you push on the pedal, there’s nothing to stabilize you except your core.” If it’s weak, your back fatigues quickly. The pain could also stem from other sources, Pruitt notes, from your cycling shoes to bike fit. A good rule of thumb: Your handlebar shouldn’t be more than one fist-width lower than your saddle, says Pruitt, who suggests a bike fitting for those with chronic back pain. “If a fitter can’t solve your problem in two tries, see a doctor or physical therapist,” he says.
Why do I STILL have a gut?
You log thousands of miles a year, but your jersey fits like a sausage casing. The problem isn’t a lack of fitness; it’s consuming too many calories. Slouching could be exacerbating it. Good posture builds a strong core, but these days we hunch over a steering wheel to get to work, where we hunch over a computer. For a break, we hunch over a handlebar. To shrink your gut, add interval training to your rides to boost calorie burn, lay off the Dunkin’ Donuts at rest stops and start training your core.
Can I strengthen my core while on the bike?
These geeky yet effective exercises by Marc Evans,in Menlo Park, California, work your core on the roll. The key is the Draw In position: Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Squeeze your belly button toward your spine; your pelvis should tilt slightly upward, causing your lower back to be flush with the floor. Try to replicate this on the bike. Evans recommends mastering these moves on a trainer first. For each, do three sets of three 15-second holds; rest 15 seconds between reps.
AERO POSITION: Rest on your aerobar, if you have one, or place your forearms on the top of the handlebar. As you draw in, your back flattens and your pelvis rotates.
SINGLE LEG: Seated with your hands on the hoods, unclip your left foot. As your right foot pedals, extend your left leg back and draw in. Continue to draw in as you clip back into the pedal. Repeat with right leg.
OVERHEAD: Raise your arms overhead and draw in; squeeze the top tube with your knees. (Don’t attempt on the road unless you have the handling skills of Tom Boonen.)
STANDING DRAW IN: With hands on the hoods, stand and bend at the hips. Draw in until your back is flat and pelvis tilts.
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Sometimes when you really do want to get started
BUT
the Motivation is not there try the power of positive therapy to change the way you think CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE
see where it takes you
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