When Not To TrainWritten by Matt Russ
Training, simply, is adding specific stress to body. Your body then adapts to stress load, and gets stronger, faster, or more powerful. There are times when completing your work out is detrimental to your training and perhaps your health. Knowing when these times are will reduce your risk of injury, and ultimately make your training more efficient and productive. •When you are sick: You may not need to stop your training with a minor cold, but if you have a more severe illness your body needs to devote its energy to healing itself, just like an injury. Generally, if your symptoms are above neck (nasal congestion), you may be able to train. If your symptoms are below neck, such as gastrointestinal problems, upper respiratory issues, fever, body aches, and sore throat you should wait until you are better. •When you are injured: In my experience, body usually gives you an indicator when an injury is impending - such as a small amount of pain when training. If you listen to your body, and give it a few days to heal, injury may quickly resolve itself. When you try to train through minor sprains and strains you will greatly increase your risk of a more serious injury that could keep you from training for some time. If you are experiencing pain when you are not exercising, you definitely need to let your injury heal before placing further stress on body. •When you are over stressed: Training can help alleviate stress, but when you already have a high stress load placed on you from work, family, etc., sometimes it is best to take a day off. This is largely a judgment call of course, but if your sleep has been affected and you are already exhausted from a tough day at work, it may be better to get some rest. •When you are hung over: Alcohol dehydrates body and affects a variety of other body systems. Getting up after a night on town and training can be dangerous. Make sure you are rehydrated before resuming training.
| | The Athletic Performance DietWritten by Matt Russ
Interestingly athletic diet has changed very little over years. The reason being is that there are not many pathways to fueling body most efficiently. A diet consisting of 60-65% carbohydrate, 20-25% fats, and 15-20% protein is proper ratio of macro nutrients for most athletes and has been mainstay for years. A highly trained endurance athlete would not last very long on a high protein diet, because their glycogen stores would quickly become depleted and they would no longer have energy or reserves to train effectively. There is little controversy in athletic nutrition when compared to general population. I believe reason for this is athletic nutrition is based on hard science and fact, rather than sensationalism and circumstantial evidence. Coaches rely on clinical studies and proven methods rather than latest hype. Remember, most diets have to have a "hook" or gimmick to get you to purchase their plan or products. That is not to say there is not hundreds of performance enhancing athletic supplements, many with dubious value. But overall big picture on how to fuel an athletes body really has not changed all that much. This is what most athletes should focus on, rather than latest supplement, performance enhancing product, or fad diet plan.Complex carbohydrates such as starches and fiber should be cornerstone of athletic diet. Complex carbohydrates include breads, pasta, cereals, vegetables, rice and other grains, and potatoes. I try to choose carbohydrates that are in there "natural" form such as whole grains because they have more fiber and nutrients, and give a slower steady release of energy. If you are trying to loose weight, these foods have added benefit of requiring more energy (calories) for break down. Processed carbohydrate foods such as pasta and bagels are great for loading your body with energy before and after competition. Simple sugars are good during a competition and for quick energy replacement afterwards (sports drinks). I try to avoid fruits before competition. They can upset your stomach and type of sugar, fructose, can be harder for your body to process during exercise. Carbohydrates are broken down and stored as glycogen; bodies fuel source, or converted to energy to compete and train. When glycogen stores run out you may "bonk" or "hit wall." You feel lousy, lethargic, and slow. Your body begins breaking down your muscles to use as fuel. Several days of hard training can also deplete glycogen stores. This sluggishness and inability to train hard is often misdiagnosed as overtraining. A good post work out recovery plan is crucial to maintaining glycogen stores for repeated training and competition. This means eating carbohydrates and a little bit of protein (4:1 ratio), immediately after training. Fat is also a fuel source used during training, especially at lower intensities. But fat can't be broken down very fast. As intensity of exercise increases carbohydrate becomes main fuel source, but total amount of fat burned can remain same, and calories burned will be much greater. Don't fall into fat burning "zone" exercise plan. Fat is not a good source of energy to consume during exercise, but is crucial to processing certain vitamins and performing body functions. The best fats are mono / poly unsaturated fats. A good way to remember these types of fats is that they are liquid at room temperature (oils), and generally come from plant sources. Examples are avocados, canola, olive, safflower, and other oils, and nuts. Saturated fats generally come from animal sources and include cheese, lard, butter, meat fats, and cream. Your body only needs a small amount of saturated fats; about 10% of your diet. These are considered your "bad" fats that can raise cholesterol.
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