Reasons to include omega-three fats in your endurance sports nutrition plan

A new study by Iranian and German researchers provides evidence that fish oil supplementation may enhance lung function in athletes. Forty teenage competitive wrestlers were separated into four groups. Two of the four groups received fitness training. One of these two groups also received daily fish oil supplementation. The other two groups received no fitness training, and one of these two groups also received daily fish oil supplementation.

The researchers took several measurements of lung function in all of the subjects before and after the intervention period. They found increases of 41 percent in one-second forced expiratory volume (the volume of air subjects could forcibly exhale in one second) and 53 percent in total lung volume in the fish oil-supplemented groups compared to the non-supplemented groups.

From Wrestlers to Endurance Athletes

Although this study involved strength/power athletes, the results should be of interest to those in 10K training, half-marathon training, marathon training, and triathlon training because the lung function variables measured are associated with endurance performance. But before you get too excited, note that no study has ever found that fish oil supplementation actually enhances endurance performance. For example, a 1997 study by Norwegian researchers found that fish oil had no effect on aerobic power, anaerobic threshold, or running performance in soccer players.

Previous studies have, however, shown other intriguing effects of fish oil supplementation in athletes. A 2008 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, for instance, showed that fish oil supplementation increased heart stroke volume (or the amount of blood the heart pumps with each contraction) and cardiac output (or the total amount of blood pumped by the heart) during low- to moderate-intensity exercise. Again, there is no performance effect shown here, but it is clear that fish oil supplementation does effect the underlying physiology of athletes in ways that can only be described as beneficial.

A Smart Sports Nutrition Strategy

The apparent benefits of fish oil are probably related to the known ability of the omega-3 essential fats in the oil to enhance the flexibility of cell membranes and the elasticity of blood vessels. Omega-3 fats also improve nervous system function and have anti-inflammatory effects.

Because omega-3 fats are scarce in most foods and generally lacking in the American diet, daily supplementation with an omega-3 source such as fish oil or flaxseed oil is widely considered to be a good idea, for health reasons. So even though it still remains to be seen whether endurance athletes can reap specific performance benefits from such supplementation, a daily dose of 2 to 3 g of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA combined can contribute to your overall well-being.

Tips on using cold therapy to ease inflammation and speed muscle recovery

As spring approaches and your 10K training, marathon training, or triathlon training begins in earnest, you may find yourself having to deal with a few aches and pains associated with tissue inflammation. Cold therapy—which is a general term for what is most commonly called “icing,” but also includes techniques such as ice baths—is a proven remedy to help control the tissue inflammation that always underlies injury pain.

How does cold therapy work? It reduces swelling, tissue breakdown, and the associated pain by causing blood vessels to constrict, restricting blood flow to the affected area and decreasing metabolic activity. Here are a few helpful hints to consider when using cold therapy:
 
• Ice often. Cold therapy is most effective when it is done frequently. Try it three or more times per day.

• Keep it short. It used to be that after a long marathon training run or triathlon training ride, athletes would slap an ice pack onto a sore spot for at least a full 20 minutes. But research now suggests that a more effective routine is to ice for 10 minutes, take the ice off for 10 minutes, then ice again for another 10 minutes.

• Try the tub. An ice bath can effectively treat the inflammation in your entire lower body all at once. Just sit for 15 to 20 minutes in a tub filled waist-high with cold water and a couple trays of ice.

• Make your own ice pack. In a one-gallon resealable bag, mix three cups of water and one cup of rubbing alcohol. Release the excess air in the bag, zip it up, and then double bag it to prevent leaks. Store in the freezer for two or three hours. You’ll notice that the pack won’t freeze solid, which makes it easier to mold to an injured body part.

An endurance sports nutrition recipe to help you stay energized as the day draws on

It’s 3:00 in the afternoon, you’re sitting at your computer, and you’re having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. Did you overdo it during your morning marathon training run or triathlon training ride? Probably not. Since your brain runs on glucose from dietary carbohydrate, your mental fog is most likely a symptom of a dip in your blood glucose level. All that’s needed, therefore, to get your mind back on track is a timely dose of carbohydrate. But some carbs are better than others. The low-GI carbs in this healthy mid-afternoon snack, created by Kimberly Day, a triathlete and Founder/Chief Decadence Officer of Decadent Health LLC (www.decadenthealth.com), will fuel your brain longer than a sugary treat.

Energizing Trail Mix
Serving size: ¼ cup

2 cups raw almonds
1 cup raw walnuts
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Place all ingredients into a plastic bag, seal, and shake well to ensure cinnamon is evenly distributed.
2. Keep bag sealed and in refrigerator to prevent oxidation.

Nutritional Info (per serving): Calories 187, Total fat 16 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbs 7 g, Fiber 3 g, Protein 7 g

Endurance sports nutrition advice for athletes sensitive to wheat

Suddenly it seems as if the phrase “Gluten-Free” is printed on every third product package at the supermarket—or at least the natural foods market. Americans are now reportedly spending $2 billion on gluten-free products. What is gluten, anyway, and why are so many people trying to avoid it?

Gluten is essentially wheat protein. More exactly, it is a composite of two plant proteins and starch that is found in the greatest abundance in wheat and is also present in smaller amounts in other grassy grains such as rye and barley. Between 0.5 and 1 percent of the population experiences an inappropriate immune response to the protein, which causes such symptoms as diarrhea, gastrointestinal complaints, weight loss, and anemia. This condition, known as celiac disease, is genetic. Medical research has identified two gene polymorphisms—known as DQ2 and DQ8—that affect white blood cell behavior in a way that creates a predisposition for the disease.

Running The Numbers

One percent of the population is a small figure. It cannot support the large number of gluten-free products now packing the shelves of health food markets. There is clearly a huge demand for gluten-free foods among people who do not have celiac disease. Why? Because there is a rapidly growing population of people who believe they have a milder condition that is variously referred to as gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity, and gluten sensitivity enteropathy.

The mainstream medical establishment does not recognize the existence of gluten sensitivity, perhaps largely because it is not even able to detect it. A PubMed search of the term “gluten intolerance” yields only research on celiac disease proper. A search on the term “gluten-sensitivity enteropathy” yields scores of studies, but a closer look reveals that this term is used synonymously with celiac disease within the mainstream medical establishment. For example, in a recent Spanish screening study for gluten sensitivity enteropathy involving 1,868 subjects, only 15 were found to have the condition.

Yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that some form of non-celiac gluten sensitivity does exist. The typical gluten-free dieter is someone who discovered a pattern of suffering from gastrointestinal issues after eating gluten-containing foods and found relief upon switching to a gluten-free diet.

The Blame Game

Even recognizing that a non-celiac form of gluten sensitivity does exist, the current gluten-free diet trend is no doubt larger than the true prevalence of gluten sensitivity in the population. In other words, gluten is probably being scapegoated to some degree, perhaps because the preceding low-carb diet trend trained the public to think of grains as evil foods.
 
Lately many parents are even blaming gluten for causing or exacerbating the symptoms of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their children. Is there any scientific evidence of such a link? The short answer is no. In a recent Newsweek article on the gluten-free diet trend, Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, is quoted as saying, “All this gluten intolerance, and using the diet to treat autism, ADHD … there's no documented scientific reason for that at all.” Experts like Green attribute the many anecdotal reports of improvement in autistic and ADHD kids placed on gluten-free diets to a placebo effect.

Gluten and Your Endurance Sports Nutrition Plan

If you suffer from regular GI distress with no known cause, it can’t hurt to try a gluten-free diet. How should you adapt your marathon training diet or triathlete diet? Simply remove all foods containing wheat, rye, and barley from your endurance sports nutrition plan and replace them with alternatives made from corn, rice, millet, etc. This is trickier than it may sound, as gluten is hiding in all kinds of foods where you would not expect to find it, such as some brands of soy sauce. To help you, check out one of the several popular gluten-free diet books currently on the market. But don’t be surprised if you don’t experience any relief, as the balance of evidence suggests that non-celiac gluten sensitivity is more hype than reality.

Endurance sports nutrition advice for those who can’t deal with dairy

If you’re lactose intolerant, you probably know it. The most common symptoms are gas, bloating, and stomach pains following the consumption of milk or dairy foods. Some lactose intolerant individuals are able to consume particular dairy foods (i.e. yogurt) without consequences, others are able to consume small amounts of milk and diary foods with minimal discomfort, while still others must completely avoid all dairy products.

What’s the problem?
Lactose intolerance is caused by the body’s inability to produce an enzyme called lactase that is responsible for digesting the natural lactose sugar in milk. When undigested lactose enters the large intestine, it produces the symptoms that every lactose-intolerant individual knows all too well.

Who’s at risk?
With very rare exceptions, nobody is born lactose intolerant. After all, mother’s milk contains lactose, and infants must produce large quantities of lactase to digest it. Lactase production, however, normally drops significantly after the age of weaning. But the amount of that decrease varies significantly between individuals, depending largely on ethnicity. Persons with northern European ancestry tend to continue producing enough lactase to drink milk throughout life, whereas persons of African, Asian, and Native American ancestries typically become lactose intolerant. There are plenty of exceptions, though, and even many who can consume diary foods as young adults develop problems later in life due to a continuing decline in lactase production.

How do you treat it?
Dealing with lactose intolerance is a fairly straightforward matter. Just avoid consuming the dairy foods that give you problems, or limit your consumption of such foods to amounts that do not produce symptoms. It may take a little trial and error to figure out exactly what you can and cannot get away with.

Why should endurance athletes be careful when ditching dairy?
Excluding diary foods from your diet means missing out on the unique combination of nutrients they provide—particularly protein and calcium, which are very important to those in marathon training, triathlon training, or any other endurance sport training. Fortunately, many other foods are rich in protein, such as meat, eggs, fish, and nuts. But when it comes to calcium, dairy foods contain much greater amounts of the mineral than almost any other foods. The average American already gets significantly less than the recommended amount of calcium per day (1,000 mg for men and 1,300 mg for women), and if you do not consume any dairy foods due to lactose intolerance, it is even more likely that your calcium intake will fall short—unless you make a consistent effort to get calcium from other sources.

Which calcium sources are best for lactose intolerant individuals?
The top non-dairy natural sources of calcium are sardines (324 mg per serving), tofu (138 mg per serving), and dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach (120 mg per serving). You can get additional calcium from fortified foods and beverages, including many breads and breakfast cereals and some juices. Read labels to find out whether specific products are calcium fortified. Finally, for insurance, you can take a daily calcium supplement or multivitamin-multimineral with calcium.

Endurance sports nutrition advice for vegetarians

Some endurance athletes are vegetarian for ethical reasons, others for health reasons, and still others because they just don’t like meat. Whatever your reason may be for going vegetarian, you will want to pursue it in a way that helps rather than hurts your marathon training or triathlon training. Luckily there are many successful vegetarian endurance athletes who offer proof that performing well on a meatless diet is possible. For example, Spanish triathlete Eneko Llanos went vegetarian as a teenager, and it did not stop him from winning two XTERRA World Championship titles and placing second in the 2008 Hawaii Ironman.

The key to working vegetarianism into a successful endurance sports nutrition plan is to make sure your diet includes abundant plant (and supplemental) sources of a few key nutrients: protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12.

Protein

Meats, fish, eggs, and dairy products contain much more protein than plant foods. The proteins in animal foods are also more complete and readily used by the body. The protein needs of endurance athletes, however, are relatively low: up to about 20 percent of total calories. That amount is sufficient to promote muscle recovery and enable the muscles to adapt to training. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, you can easily get this much protein by eating fish, eggs, and/or dairy foods.

If you are a strict vegetarian, though, be sure that your diet includes higher-protein plant foods such as beans, nuts, and seeds. Soybeans are the best protein source among plant foods. Also consider drinking soy protein shakes after workouts, when your protein demands are the greatest because of the need for proper muscle recovery.

Calcium

The recommended daily intake of calcium is 1,000 to 1,300 mg. The average adult consumes only 500 to 700 mg daily. The major consequence of this common deficiency is weakening of the bones, which increases the risk of stress fractures in runners and other athletes. Some research even suggests that calcium deficiency contributes to weight gain.
 
As everyone knows, dairy foods are the best sources of calcium. If you do not include dairy foods in your diet, you need to be sure that you get enough calcium from other sources. Alternative natural food sources of calcium include spinach, collard greens, salmon, and tofu. Many breakfast cereals and bread products are also fortified with calcium. For insurance, consider taking a calcium supplement to meet the recommended daily intake.
 
Iron

A study by researchers at Ball State University compared iron levels in vegetarian and non-vegetarian runners and found that iron levels were much lower in the vegetarians. The reason is that animal foods and plant foods contain different types of iron (heme and non-heme, respectively), and the heme iron in animal foods is much more bioavailable. Iron deficiency is common in endurance athletes, and if you are a vegetarian you may be at even greater risk.

Apricots, baked beans, peas, and spinach are among the plant foods with relatively high concentrations of iron. But again, they are all non-heme iron sources, so they may not provide enough. It’s a good idea to get your iron levels checked by a physician. If they are normal, you can continue eating as you have been with confidence. If they are low, your doctor may advise you to take an iron supplement.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is important for red blood cell formation, and, of course, endurance athletes need as many red blood cells as they can get for oxygen transport during exercise. Animal foods contain plenty of vitamin B12, while plant foods contain almost none in its active form. Therefore, vegetarians are bound to be B12 deficient unless they eat fortified foods such as cereals and breads or take a B12 supplement. The daily requirement is 2 to 6 micrograms.

The findings of a new endurance sports nutrition study

A few weeks ago, I reported on two different studies that showed that drinking cherry juice can ease post-exercise pain. Definitely good news for all of us involved in marathon training, triathlon training, or any other type of endurance sports training. Now I bring you the findings of another recent study investigating the powers of another type of juice: beetroot juice. While almost certainly not as tasty as cherry juice, it seems that beetroot juice may have the power to enhance endurance performance.

In a new study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom had eight men drink 500 ml of either beetroot juice or blackcurrant cordial every day for six days and perform a series of moderate-intensity and severe-intensity exercise tests over the last three days. They found that during moderate-intensity exercise, the participants drinking beetroot juice used 19 percent less oxygen than those drinking the blackcurrant cordial. And during the severe exercise test, those consuming the beetroot juice were able to exercise 92 seconds longer than the blackcurrant cordial drinkers.

What’s in beetroot juice that might explain this increase in endurance and decrease in oxygen use? Nitrate. Beetroot juice is a good source of nitrate. And nitrate can help the body synthesize nitric oxide, which helps your muscles use oxygen more efficiently and increases blood flow through muscles.

Clearly, this was a small study (only eight participants), so more research is needed. That said, it probably couldn’t hurt to try a little beetroot juice in the days leading up to your next long marathon training run or tough triathlon training workout. And if beetroot juice isn’t your cup of tea, nitrate is a natural compound found in varying degrees in plant-based foods. In particular, green leafy and root vegetables, such as spinach and carrots, are good alternative sources of nitrate.

Could your marathon training or triathlon training make you anemic?

The Journal of Adolescent Health recently published a study that may be alarming to endurance athletes. Israeli researchers reported finding high levels of anemia (or low red blood cell count) and iron deficiency (a common cause of low red blood cell counts) in young male military recruits. Levels of anemia and low iron were already above normal—at 18 percent and 15 percent, respectively—at the start of training, and increased to 50 percent and 27 percent after six months of training. The Reuters news agency picked up the story and distributed it under the headline, “Intense Exercise May Lower Your Blood Count.”

If this is true, it is cause for concern, as anemia not only causes troublesome symptoms such as weakness and fatigue, but it also sabotages exercise performance, making marathon training, triathlon training, or training for any endurance sport extremely difficult. But is it really true? The idea that intense exercise could, as a normal outcome, reduce the body’s capacity to perform intense exercise seems rather absurd. Yet this new Israeli study is not alone in finding high rates of anemia among athletes.

Curious Connection

The fact of the matter is that the link between exercise and iron deficiency anemia, if there is one, is mysterious. As a recent review by Australian researchers stated, “Commonly, athletes are diagnosed as iron deficient, however, contrasting evidence exists as to the severity of deficiency and the effect on performance.”

One source of confusion is the fact that there are many ways to measure anemia. The two general categories of measurement, alluded to above, are red blood cell count and iron status. In the past it was believed that anemia was rampant among athletes because they often exhibit low blood hemoglobin concentrations. But an important 1992 study by South African researchers dismissed this phenomenon as a harmless “pseudo-anemia” caused by the expansion in blood volume that results from exercise training—a beneficial adaptation that increases the body’s capacity to transport oxygen to the working muscles.

So while the balance of evidence does indicate that iron deficiency is more common in endurance athletes than in the general population, it seems that only in a small minority of cases do iron-deficient endurance athletes exhibit symptoms of anemia. A 1996 study by Turkish researchers found no link between changes in iron status and performance in a group of female athletes.

Running Risk

Interestingly, iron deficiency and anemia appear to be more common among runners than other endurance athletes, among female runners than male runners, and among high school and college female runners than older female runners. A 2008 study by researchers at the University of Minnesota found that 89 percent of the members of a women’s college cross-country team were anemic at one time or another during the season. Experts have proposed various explanations for the higher rates of iron deficiency and anemia seen in these populations. They include iron loss through sweating, destruction of red blood cells on footstrike in running, and iron depletion associated with tissue inflammation. My personal belief, based on real-world experience rather than research, is that iron deficiency and anemia are most common among young female runners because of low intake of iron-rich foods associated with internal and external pressure to maintain a low body weight. In other words, I speculate that low iron levels are common among young female runners primarily because they take in less iron, not because their bodies lose or destroy more iron.

Confused?

Despite all the inconclusive study findings, avoiding anemia is usually pretty easy. First, make sure you’re getting at least 10 mg of iron daily if you are a man or a postmenopausal woman, and 15 mg daily if you are a premenopausal woman. Second, as an endurance athlete you should be sure to get your iron status checked at each annual physical exam, or anytime you experience persistent fatigue with no obvious cause. If it is found that you have low iron levels but you lack any symptoms of anemia, iron supplementation may not be necessary—follow your doctor’s recommendation. But if you have low iron and symptoms of anemia, doctor-supervised supplementation may leave you feeling—and performing—like your old self again.

Endurance sports nutrition advice to combat muscle pain

Red cherries are one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits on the earth. Antioxidants boost health in lots of ways, ranging from maintaining healthy blood vessels to preventing the growth of cancerous tumors. But some specific antioxidant compounds found in cherries called anthocyanins, which give cherries their bright red color, seem to confer even more health benefits that would be of particular interest to those involved in marathon training, triathlon training, or any other type of endurance sport training.

Two different studies have now shown that drinking cherry juice can ease post-exercise pain. In one study done at the University of Vermont, competitive rowers who added cherry juice to their diets experienced significantly less muscle soreness and strength loss after taking a test designed to cause muscle damage than did a group of fellow rowers who received a placebo. Then in a second study out of Oregon Health & Science University, researchers found that runners who drank 10.5 ounces of tart cherry juice twice a day leading up to and on the day of a long-distance relay race experienced significantly less muscle pain after completing the race than did runners who drank an artificial fruit drink.

In both instances researchers speculate that the post-exercise benefits of cherry juice are most likely due to the anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory powers. So consider adding cherry juice to your diet, especially when your marathon training or triathlon training is peaking. You just might find that those NSAIDS you often have to pop after at tough workout are no longer necessary.

All of us here at Faster Tomorrow love talking with endurance athletes. So it goes without saying that we had an absolute blast this past weekend hanging out at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo in Washington, D.C. And perhaps the coolest part of it all was that since we had attended the 2008 expo as well, we got the chance to catch up with marathoners we met last year. Some of these folks have been receiving our every-other-week endurance training and sports nutrition e-letter ever since last year’s expo, and we were thrilled to hear that they find the e-letters useful in their marathon training, triathlon training, and race preparation. If you’re interested in subscribing to the Faster Tomorrow e-letter, just enter your e-mail address in the Sign Up Now! box that appears to the right of this blog.
 
We were also happy to be in D.C. telling all the marathoners about our endurance and muscle recovery supplement ARX. An all-natural blend of mushroom extracts and herbs, ARX helps the body process and recycle lactate more efficiently so that you can use it as an additional source of fuel. This allows you to keep exercising longer and stronger, and enables you to recover faster afterward—all of critical importance to those involved in half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training.

Thanks to all who stopped by our expo booth this past weekend. And we hope to see you again at next year’s Marine Corps Marathon or at one of the other endurance events we’ll be attending throughout 2010. In the meantime, try out our e-letter to stay up-to-date on the most current endurance training techniques and sports nutrition news.

On Sunday October 25th, thousands will flood the streets of our nation’s capital for the 34th running of the Marine Corps Marathon. It’s always a spectacular event for both the marathoners and spectators, with hundreds of brave U.S. Marine Corps members lining the course while serving as either race volunteers or participants. Another part of this outstanding race weekend is the Marine Corps Marathon Health and Fitness Expo, which this year will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday October 23rd and Saturday October 24th from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. This expo boasts more than 200 exhibitors and vendors, and the Faster Tomorrow Team is excited to be a part of it all.

Our mission at Faster Tomorrow is to help endurance athletes achieve peak performance through sports nutrition products and supplements. So stop by our expo booth—number 435—at Marine Corps to find out about our unique endurance and muscle recovery supplement ARX, an all-natural blend of mushroom extracts and herbs that boosts the body’s ability to process lactate so that you can exercise longer, stay stronger, and recover faster.

And for those of you running Marine Corps, we know how important these last few days of training can be—especially the final two days before the race. The workouts and logistical planning you do, the meals you eat, as well as the equipment and mental preparations you make during this window can have a major impact on your performance, for better or worse. So to get the most out of all the hard marathon training you’ve already done, follow the advice in our free report called Race Faster Tomorrow, which counts down the last 48 hours of race preparations. And best of luck on Sunday!

Tips to improve endurance sports performance at high elevations

One of the toughest challenges endurance athletes can face is completing all of their marathon training or triathlon training at their low-elevation residences, then traveling to compete in a race at high altitude (above 5,000 feet). At elevations above 5,000 feet, the “thin air” factor begins to have a measurable effect on endurance performance. At 8,000 feet, for instance, the barometric pressure is 25 percent lower than it is at sea level—meaning you get 25 percent less oxygen per breath than you get at sea level.

Fortunately, there are some effective measures you can use to limit the negative effects of thin air on your racing performance. Admittedly, some of these tips are more practical than others. But any one of them—or any combination of them—can assist you in preparing to race at high altitude and help ensure you get the most out of your triathlon training or marathon training.

Arrive really early. Athletes who live at high altitude perform better in that environment than athletes of equal fitness who live close to sea level. That’s because the body adapts to the lower air pressure at altitude by producing more oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Those, like elite marathoner Ryan Hall, of Mammoth Lakes, California, who are born and raised at high altitude have the greatest advantage, but the body can make measurable progress in adapting to high altitude in a matter of days. How early would you have to arrive at your high-altitude marathon or triathlon in order to see an improvement in your performance? Unfortunately, research shows that it takes at least two weeks to acclimate to high altitude sufficiently to see a performance benefit.

Make your own thin air. A more convenient alternative to arriving at the site of your high-altitude race two weeks early is using a hypoxic generator. These machines simulate a high-altitude environment by generating reduced-oxygen air, which the user breathes through a mask or inside a special tent. Because it is necessary to breathe hypoxic air for several hours a day to enjoy the same physiological adaptations that come with living at high altitude, most owners of hypoxic generators choose to sleep inside the tent nightly. This equipment isn’t cheap, with the least expensive generators costing roughly $2,500. But some companies offer short- and long-term rentals. For example, you can rent a unit from Higher Peaks for two months for $699.

Supplement with green tea extract. As mentioned, the primary cause of reduced endurance performance at high altitude is the inability of the body to supply the muscles with as much oxygen as it can at sea level. But there is also a secondary cause, which is increased production of free radicals by the working muscles. And there is a simple, scientifically proven way to address this secondary cause of reduced performance at high altitude: Take an antioxidant-rich green tea extract supplement.

A study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas found that cycling time trial performance at simulated altitude was significantly improved when subjects took a green tea extract capsule one hour before exercise. Don’t expect to get the same results from drinking green tea, though, as a single green tea extract capsule contains as much catechins (the primary type of antioxidant in green tea) as about 12 cups of green tea.

Consider sodium bicarbonate. One of the body’s early responses to high-altitude exposure is increased respiration, which increases blood pH. This in turn reduces the capacity of the muscles to buffer acids produced during exercise and thus reduces exercise capacity. One of the muscles’ main acid buffers is sodium bicarbonate—that’s right, plain old baking soda. A recent Korean study showed that consuming sodium bicarbonate before exercise boosted time trial performance in cyclists during acclimation to high altitude. Recommended dosage is 0.2 to 0.4 gram per kilogram of body weight before exercise. Be aware, however, that possible side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The minerals you need most to support your marathon training or Ironman training

Got (enough) minerals? To ensure optimal health, there are 22 essential minerals that we all must include regularly in our diet—regardless of how much we exercise. Add in long marathon training runs or two-a-day triathlon training workouts, and a handful of minerals become especially important. Specifically, triathletes, marathoners, and other endurance athletes need to be certain they meet their calcium, iron, sodium, and zinc needs in order to support peak endurance sports performance.

Calcium

When you think of calcium, you probably think of bone health. While it’s true that calcium is vital for bone health, it plays an equally important role in muscle contraction and even affects fat storage in the body. That means you need enough calcium in your diet to develop stronger bones in response to training stress, get maximum performance out of your muscles, and maintain a lean body composition. But chances are you’re not getting enough calcium. The recommended daily intake of calcium is 1,000 to 1,300 mg. The average adult consumes only 500 to 700 mg daily.

You can avoid a calcium deficiency by consuming three servings of low-fat or non-fat dairy foods per day (an 8-ounce glass of milk equals one serving). But research suggests that calcium supplements are even more effective than dairy foods in maintaining bone density.

Iron

Iron is critical to the formation of red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the working muscles during exercise. Inadequate dietary iron intake causes anemia, which is characterized by persistent fatigue and is a real performance killer in endurance athletes.

Anemia is common among endurance athletes, especially runners. Scientists are not certain why, but there is some evidence that one or more aspects of exercise stress destroys red blood cells and thereby increases iron needs.

The recommended daily iron intake is 10 grams per day for men and 15 grams for pre-menopausal women. Iron deficiency is easily avoided through adequate intake of iron-rich foods including tuna, chicken, and beef. Vegetarians and light meat eaters may need to supplement, but consult your doctor before taking an iron supplement since excessive iron intake is toxic. In addition, all endurance athletes should have their iron levels tested annually by a physician.

Sodium

Sodium is an electrolyte mineral, meaning it conveys electrical signals—including those that cause your muscles to contract—throughout the body. Large amounts of sodium are lost in sweat during exercise, so endurance athletes need more sodium than non-athletes. But this doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to add salt to your diet. Non-athletes require only about 500 mg of sodium daily. The average American consumes seven times that amount. Chronic sodium deficiency is unheard of even among the hardest-training endurance athletes.

It is, however, a good idea to consume sodium during prolonged exercise—especially in the heat. Doing so helps prevent blood volume from decreasing as a result of sweat losses, and this in turn helps preserve cardiac efficiency. Sports drinks  such as Accelerade and Gatorade are formulated to provide the optimal amount of sodium during exercise.

Zinc

Zinc is present in all of the body’s enzymes and it plays an essential role in gene expression, which is the source of many positive fitness adaptations to exercise training. A number of studies have demonstrated the importance of adequate zinc intake to exercise performance. For example, a 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that a low-zinc diet increased heart rate and respiratory stress during exercise in a group of volunteers. That’s because zinc is a critical component of an enzyme that helps remove carbon dioxide from the blood.

The recommended daily intake of zinc is 8 mg for women and 11 mg for men. But because some zinc is lost in sweat, athletes may need slightly more. The best food sources of zinc are beans, nuts, and whole grains.

The vitamins you need most to support your marathon training or Ironman training

Of the 13 vitamins that are essential for human life and health, a certain few may be considered especially important for endurance athletes—either because endurance sports training increases the amount needed or because a deficiency could have an impact on endurance performance, or both. Consequently, the most important endurance vitamins are: B12, C, D, and E.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 plays an important role in red blood cell formation. As an endurance athlete, you depend on your red blood cells to carry oxygen to your working muscles. So a deficiency may compromise the normal increase in red blood cell count that results from training and may even result in anemia.

The recommended daily intake of vitamin B12 is 2 to 3 micrograms per day. Vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods, so strict vegetarians are at high risk of deficiency. Non-vegetarians can avoid a deficiency by eating three servings of meat, fish, and/or eggs daily. Vegetarians require a daily vitamin B12 supplement.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C serves a greater variety of biological functions and is needed in greater amounts than most other vitamins. Its most noteworthy function in relation to endurance training is that of antioxidant—protecting muscle cells from damage caused by free radicals produced during and after exercise.

Research on the effects of vitamin C supplementation in endurance athletes is mixed. A few studies have shown that vitamin C supplementation reduces oxidative stress resulting from extreme exercise, such as ultramarathons. However, other research has shown no benefit or suggested that supplementation with vitamin C and other antioxidants may interfere with certain positive physiological adaptations to endurance training. But as long as total daily intake is kept to 800 mg or less, any negatives are likely to be negligible.

The recommended minimum vitamin C intake is 75 to 90 mg per day, but endurance athletes may need slightly more. The best food sources of vitamin C include plums, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits, and cauliflower.

Vitamin D

Recent studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with a host of diseases and health conditions, including bone loss and some cancers. And a review published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise suggests that vitamin D efficiency may even impair athletic performance. Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of North Carolina speculated that adequate vitamin D levels are needed for optimal athletic performance because the nutrient increases the body's production of calcitriol, a steroid hormone that affects more than 500 different genes. The main source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight and, interestingly, the authors of this review report that athletic performance tends to peak in midsummer when exposure to direct sunlight and vitamin D levels in the body are greatest.

The best food sources of vitamin D are salmon, tuna, mackerel, and fortified milk. The current recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 400 IU, but there is a movement among experts to increase this standard to at least 1,000 IU. It’s best not to rely on diet entirely to get the vitamin D you need. Fifteen minutes of exposure to sunlight without sunscreen at least three times a week will stimulate your body to produce adequate vitamin D, if you are light-skinned. If you are dark-skinned, you may need more sun exposure.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that functions as an antioxidant in the body. Specifically, it prevents cell membranes from free radical damage. This type of damage, known as lipid peroxidation, occurs at high rates during and after exercise. Some studies have shown that vitamin E supplementation significantly reduces lipid peroxidation resulting from extreme endurance exercise. However, as with vitamin C, other studies have shown mixed results, suggesting that it may be best to avoid high levels of vitamin E supplementation.

The recommended daily intake of vitamin E is 20 mg, but endurance athletes may need slightly more. Good food sources of vitamin E include asparagus, eggs, nuts, spinach, and whole-grain foods.

How to finish up your workouts when triathlon training or marathon training

Many endurance athletes believe that swimming, cycling, or running slowly for several minutes at the end of a hard workout accelerates recovery. There is, however, no evidence to support this theory. In fact, the small amount of research that has been done on cooldowns clearly shows that cooling down does not have an impact on muscle recovery. For example, a study conducted last year by scientists at the University of Sydney, Australia, found that while warmups reduced post-workout muscle soreness, cooldowns had no effect.

Does this mean you should skip the cooldown after every workout in your triathlon training plan or marathon training plan? No. It just means a cooldown is not absolutely necessary after every run, bike, or swim. And even though a cooldown may have no impact on muscle recovery, there are a couple of ways that cooling down may enhance your training. Consider these two benefits of cooldowns:

Cooldowns can help you get stronger. When you cool down at the end of a hard workout, such as a set of intervals, that cooldown is performed in a state of fatigue. Moving in a state of fatigue is a strong stimulus for fitness gains. So it’s plausible that tacking a bit of slow movement onto the end of a challenging workout actually enhances the workout’s fitness benefits by increasing your exposure to moving in a fatigued state.

This particular use of cooldowns, however, is only relevant to workouts that include efforts at lactate threshold intensity and above. There is really no point at all in cooling down at the end of moderate-intensity workouts such as base runs and long rides.

Cooldowns can help you monitor your fitness. Another benefit of cooling down is that it provides an opportunity to monitor your fitness and fatigue by measuring your heart rate recovery. Heart rate recovery refers to how long it takes for your heart rate to return to its resting level after a bout of exercise. Heart rate recovery is faster in aerobically fit individuals than in less fit persons. And a new study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports has shown that short-term changes in heart rate recovery within fit individuals can predict performance. In other words, changes are useful indicators of changes in fitness and/or fatigue levels in trained endurance athletes. So a decrease in heart rate recovery time suggests an improvement in fitness level, while an increase in heart rate recovery time suggests a higher level of fatigue.

To measure your heart rate recovery, wear a heart rate monitor before, during, and after workouts. Note your resting pulse before the workout begins. At the end of your workout, time how long it takes for your heart rate to return to that resting level. Be sure to end each workout at the same heart rate, for example by cooling down until your heart rate gets down to 125 beats per minute, then stopping and beginning the heart rate recovery measurement process.

The lowdown on cooldowns. When you do choose to cool down, do so by performing five to 10 minutes of movement at a steady, comfortable pace at the end of a workout. There’s no need to get any fancier.

Race-day recap from the road

Finally we are back home in New Zealand—in the freezing cold—after a long three months of living out of suitcases. Last stop was the Frankfurter Sparkasse European Ironman Championships in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 5th. It was an amazing experience. The course was like nothing I have ever done before. The bike leg wove in and out of small European towns and the four-lap run was on river banks and bridges with thousands of spectators lining the course.

I was lucky to have one of my massage therapists from New Zealand, Ian McKellar, make the trip over to look after my muscles before the race. Boy did I need it. My body was in bad shape from all the travelling, racing, and training. My girlfriend’s sister Amanda and her husband Karl, who were travelling through Europe, also made it up to Frankfurt to help out, which was great. The weather for race week was rather hot, which I enjoyed. We ate at a nice Italian restaurant across the road from our hotel every night, which got a bit much, but the routine was good and the cooking didn’t make me crook. I had four drug tests in five days: one urine sample at 9:30 p.m., another one at 6:30 a.m. two days later, a blood test before briefing on Friday, and finally a urine test after the race. Luckily, I hydrated well.

Every aspect of the event was put on at top level. We had shuttles to take us anywhere and timing was down to an art. If something was meant to start at 11 a.m., it would start at 11a.m.—not 11:02 a.m., which just shows how professional everything was run. Along with the professionalism of the event came the athletes. It was the toughest pro field outside of the World Championships in Kona, with most of the big names present and all of the European names there.

The race kicked off at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday July 5th in a small lake just outside of Frankfurt. Andreas Raelert, who was 2nd behind me at the 70.3 World Championships last year, pushed the pace and we managed to get a small break of six out of the water. The group worked hard on the bike and stayed together for the first lap, where we grew our lead up to 3 minutes. Then a motor bike took half of us the wrong way—a mistake that was quickly fixed. But with two guys getting a bit of a lead and now pushing it to make a break, it was difficult to catch back up—something in hindsight I should not have tried to do. I pushed it for 20km to try and bridge back, but soon I found myself with blown legs and 70km still to go. That’s not a position you want to be in for an Ironman. Soon the group that we had 3 minutes on, which included Macca (2007 world champ) and Timo Bracht (who went on to win) caught up and I had nothing to stay with them. I ended up losing about 10 minutes by the end of the bike, but knew with a marathon still ahead of us anything could happen.

So I went off and tried to find my rhythm. I felt okay, but was still struggling too much too early. I ran the 1st lap well, the 2nd lap a little worse, the 3rd lap…well, I felt sorry for anyone watching me because I am sure I looked horrible, and the 4th lap was much of the same. Now I understand why people walk through aid stations—they need to get more oranges and pretzels. When you are blown, both taste so good.

I was in 8th place at the end of the run and the crowds were wild, so I took my time and soaked in the atmosphere, high-fiving as many people as I could and loving every minute of it. Then 20 meters from the line someone sprinted past me (I was sure there was no one there). I kicked back and passed him through the finish gantry—a true photo finish. He was in front before the line, I was in front after the line. But his correct foot with the timing chip put him on the mat in front of me. I had to settle for 9th. Whoops.

What a great race to finish off a great trip and add a lot more experience to my knowledge of Ironman. Next stop: the Ironman World Championships in Kona in October. Should be an exciting day. If you have the chance, check out my new Web site at www.terenzo.com. And thanks for all your support.

Supplementation strategies to consider if you’re in triathlon training, Ironman training, or marathon training

Real food is definitely the foundation for good health and optimal athletic performance. Yet there are a few key supplements that may enhance performance in ways that food can’t:

• Consider antioxidants—when you want to increase endurance and reduce muscle damage. Studies have shown that certain antioxidant supplements—including n-acetyl cysteine, quercetin, and green tea catechins—effectively boost endurance performance.

• Consider beta-alanine—when you want to increase fatigue resistance in short, high-intensity efforts. This amino acid appears to reduce the rate at which the muscles become acidic during exercise, which leads to increased endurance.

• Consider caffeine—when you want to improve endurance performance and reduce perceived effort. Caffeine has been proven to enhance endurance performance by increasing the efficiency of muscle contractions and reducing how “hard” it feels to exercise at any given intensity.

• Consider creatine—when you want to increase fatigue resistance in short, high-intensity efforts. Even though creatine is typically thought of as a bodybuilder’s supplement, it appears to enhance performance in the shorter, high-intensity interval workouts that most endurance athletes do.

• Consider mushroom extracts, like the ones contained in the endurance and muscle recovery supplement ARX—when you want to increase endurance and accelerate muscle recovery. Sports scientists now know that the lactate produced by muscles during high-intensity exercise can be recycled by the body and used as an additional fuel source to increase endurance. So anything that enables you to use more lactate faster as fuel will help boost performance. That’s what ARX appears to do—it increases the body’s capacity to transport lactate and process it for energy. How does it do this? The functional ingredients in ARX are herbal and mushroom extracts that have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. These ingredients are believed to increase muscle perfusion, or blood flow through the muscles, which could explain how ARX accelerates the shuttling and recycling of lactate.

What to drink when to improve your marathon training, triathlon training, or Ironman training

In the good old days, sports drinks were sports drinks. Sure, there were multiple brands, but their formulas were very similar, and they were all marketed for general use before, during, and after all kinds of exercise. In recent years, however, the sports drink market has exploded, and there are now several different types of sports drinks formulated for very specific uses. Many endurance athletes have trouble keeping these different types of drinks straight and knowing which ones they should use when. This short guide will help clear up the confusion by outlining the five major categories of sports drinks and highlighting how to use each for optimal endurance sports performance.

Regular Sports Drinks
This category of sports drinks includes products such as PowerAde that offer the traditional mix of water, 6 to 10 percent carbohydrate, and electrolyte minerals. Research has shown that regular sports drinks effectively limit dehydration, maintain blood glucose levels, and enhance performance in interval workouts and in workouts and races lasting longer than one hour. Therefore, regular sports drinks are helpful before exercise (to hydrate and increase blood glucose levels) and during exercise lasting 60 minutes or longer, especially in hot weather. They may not, however, be able to meet your body’s nutritional needs during multi-hour workouts and races.

Low-Calorie Sports Drinks
Low-calorie sports drinks, such as Propel, typically contain little or no carbohydrate and are sweetened with artificial flavorings. Most low-calorie sports drinks perform similarly to plain water—which means they hydrate effectively, but because of their minimal energy content they do not enhance endurance performance as well as regular sports drinks. However, some endurance athletes with sensitive stomachs are able to tolerate low-calorie sports drinks better than regular sports drinks. If you have trouble with regular sports drinks, use the highest-carbohydrate low-calorie sports drink that your body accepts, as there is a direct relationship between carbohydrate levels and performance in sports drinks (up to 8 to 10 percent carbohydrate).

Enhanced Sports Drinks
Some newer sports drinks add various ingredients to the regular sports drink mix, such as vitamins, lactate buffering compounds, and ergogenic ingredients. But the only ingredient extras really worth considering are added sodium, caffeine, and protein or amino acids. Sports drinks with higher concentrations of sodium do a better job of replacing what you lose through perspiration than those containing less sodium, so you may want to consider using a sports drink with extra sodium, such as Gatorade Endurance, during longer exercise bouts that occur in hot weather.

Caffeine is proven to enhance endurance performance, and caffeinated sports drinks, such as some flavors of Accelerade, provide a convenient delivery mechanism for caffeine. But because the performance-boosting effect of caffeine is minimal for those who consume caffeine regularly, reserve caffeinated sports drinks for races and put yourself on a one-week caffeine fast before the event.

The added protein in sports drinks such as Accelerade has also been shown to increase endurance, reduce muscle damage, and accelerate the restoration of muscle performance. Some athletes, however, don’t like the taste associated with the extra protein while others experience GI problems with protein-enhanced sports drinks.

Ultra-Endurance Sports Drinks
If you participate in endurance events that are long enough to cause you to miss regular meals, such as a 24-hour mountain bike race, you may want to consider using a sports drink like Perpetuem. Such products are really a cross between regular sports drinks and meal replacement shakes, as they contain fats and vitamins that are needed in multi-day hikes and other such events. Yet because of the additional ingredients in them, ultra-endurance sports drinks are not as easily digested during high-intensity exercise as other sports drinks, so they may not be appropriate for some athletes during events such as Ironman triathlons, where exercise intensity can be relatively high.

Recovery Sports Drinks
Formulated especially for use immediately after exercise, recovery sports drinks, such as Ultragen, typically contain large amounts of carbohydrate (more than regular sports drinks) for fast muscle refueling, amino acids and/or protein for muscle tissue repair, and electrolytes to facilitate rehydration. Research has shown that recovery sports drinks accelerate muscle recovery compared to regular sports drinks. But because they are much more calorically dense than regular sports drinks, recovery sports drinks generally should not be used during intense exercise, as they may cause stomach upset.

Since the dawn of endurance sports, athletes have believed that one factor more than any other has gotten in the way of stronger training and better performance: the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles. But suddenly, the concept of lactic acid or lactate has been turned upside down. Scientists now know that the lactate produced by exercise can be reused by the body to fuel continued activity. And researchers have discovered a new combination of endurance sports nutrients called ARX that clears lactate quickly and recycles it into a constant supply of new fuel as you perform. As a result, you can:

• Train harder
• Race better
• Recover faster

ARX is already making a big stir in the endurance sports community. Get introduced to the basic science behind it and find out how it can specifically help you achieve your endurance goals like nothing you've ever tried before.

No matter what your endurance sport, you'll experience improved performance and faster recovery with ARX. Try it today and SAVE $10, plus get FREE Shipping. 

Offer subject to the terms of the promotion.

The 2009 Eagleman Ironman race results are in, and if you where one of the thousands who came out to Cambridge, Maryland, to either watch or participate, you were not disappointed. The weather was spectacular and the race was even better. The current World 70.3 Ironman champion Terenzo Bozzone and ARX -sponsored athlete was back to avenge his second-place finish at last year's Eagleman. In fact, the field was full of world-class athletes like Michael Lovato, Mirinda Carfrae, Richie Cunningham, Desiree Ficker, and Natascha Badmann.

On Saturday, a few pros served on a "Pro Panel" to field some Q&As. Michael Lovato was the panel MC, while Terenzo Bozzone, Desiree Ficker, and others answered questions about Ironman training, endurance sports nutrition, and even recovery supplements! That's right, we got lucky, and the panel was asked about "recovery" and how important recovery is to Ironman training. As you would guess, all of the athletes talked about the importance of muscle recovery and how it's critical when training for any event to recover faster, so that you can work out hard the following session. This is even more important when Ironman training. And, of course, Terenzo stressed the importance of the ARX recovery supplement to his daily regimen. ARX is an endurance and recovery supplement that helps you to recycle lactate faster to provide additional fuel to your muscles, giving you the extra gas in your tank to drive hard every day.

The team here at Faster Tomorrow certainly believes strongly in endurance supplements, and ARX is not only clinically tested, but also now seems to be race tested--thanks to Terenzo's latest Ironman win at the 2009 Eagleman 70.3 Ironman. Congratulations Terenzo! I guess you could say he is "Naturally Fueled by ARX".

 

Below are the Eagleman 2009 race results for the top 20 men and women. Congratulations to all of the racers this weekend at Eagleman!

Mens Top 20
Place	Name	Age	City/State	Time
=====	======================	===	=====================	=========
1	TERENZO BOZZONE	24	AUCKLAND	3:51:11
2	RICHIE CUNNINGHAM	36	BROOKLINE MA	3:51:27
3	MICHAEL LOVATO	36	BOULDER CO	3:56:51
4	MIKE CAIAZZO	33	WESTBROOK ME	3:58:12
5	PAUL FRITZSCHE	32	STATE COLLEGE PA	4:01:07
6	NICK FRANK	32	CHARLOTTE NC	4:02:06
7	KEVIN LISSKA	30	CHARLOTTE NC	4:03:02
8	CHRIS MCDONALD	31	ALBURY	4:06:07
9	JOHN KENNY	29	ATLANTIC CITY NJ	4:06:07
10	MARK ROCHON	34	DOWNINGTOWN PA	4:06:32
11	OMAR NOUR	31	WASHINGTON	4:08:47
12	KARL KAHSAR	21	RICHMOND VA	4:09:36
13	DOUG CLARK	41	MORRISTOWN NJ	4:10:53
14	RYAN BATES	29	COPLEY OH	4:10:57
15	DAVE SLAVINSKI	38	POINT PLEASANT NJ	4:12:01
16	LUCAS MCCOLLUM	29	FREDERICK MD	4:12:05
17	KEVIN CROSSMAN	33	SOUTH GLENS FALLS NY	4:14:48
18	BRIAN SHELDEN	39	WASHINGTON	4:15:01
19	DAVE SMITH	25	VIRGINIA BEACH VA	4:15:03
20	PHILIPPE KOZUB	34	PORTLAND OR	4:15:19

 

Womens Top 20
Place	Name	Age	City/State	Time
=====	======================	===	=====================	=========
1	MIRINDA CARFRAE	28	BOULDER CO	4:13:28
2	NATASCHA BADMANN	43	OFTRINGEN	4:17:01
3	DESIREE FICKER	33	AUSTIN TX	4:24:50
4	AMANDA STEVENS	32	COLORADO SPRINGS CO	4:27:30
5	KELLY HANDEL	32	AUSTIN TX	4:28:19
6	LAUREL WASSNER	34	NEW PALTZ NY	4:29:45
7	KATE PALLARDY	24	NEW YORK NY	4:29:52
8	AMY KLONER	32	ATLANTA GA	4:30:02
9	LINDSEY JERDONEK	25	WASHINGTON DC	4:31:14
10	ANNE BASSO	26	RALEIGH NC	4:33:24
11	CASSIE MCWILLIAM	43	RYE NY	4:35:14
12	MARY MILLER	29	ELIOT ME	4:39:31
13	LINDSAY ZEMBA	30	PALMYRA PA	4:39:59
14	JESSICA CHONG	24	ALLENTOWN PA	4:41:21
15	HEATHER LEIGGI	34	BRYN MAWR PA	4:41:45
16	SHANDRA RICHARDSON	29	GAINESVILLE VA	4:43:10
17	DIANE HAUPT	43	VIRGINIA BEACH VA	4:43:22
18	KRISTIN ANDREWS	28	BETHESDA MD	4:44:43
19	JENNIFER HARRISON	38	WEST DUNDEE IL	4:45:30
20	ANGELA KIDD	32	CLARENDON HILLS IL	4:46:03