Details from a new study linking this compound with muscle recovery

L-carnitine is a natural compound comprised of the amino acids lysine and methionine. Its primary function in the body is to transport fatty acids across cell membranes so that they can be metabolized in the mitochondria. Some endurance athletes supplement with l-carnitine in the belief that it increases the body’s fat-burning efficiency during exercise. Unfortunately, studies have repeatedly shown that l-carnitine supplementation has no effect on fat utilization either at rest or during exercise and no effect on endurance performance. While l-carnitine is essential for fat utilization during exercise, it appears that athletes get as much as they need in the diet (mostly by eating meat) and that supplementation offers no additional benefit.

New Research on Muscle Recovery

A study conducted recently at the University of Connecticut, however, suggests another possible benefit of l-carnitine supplementation: enhanced post-exercise muscle recovery. Eighteen men and women received either a daily l-carnitine supplement or placebo for three weeks, then performed a single weightlifting workout. After a one-week “washout” period, the entire protocol was repeated, with the subjects who received the placebo the first time getting the supplement the second time.

The researchers found that biomarkers of muscle stress were significantly reduced after the weightlifting session when preceded by three weeks of l-carnitine supplementation. The study’s authors concluded, “These findings support our previous findings of l-carnitine in younger people that such supplementation can reduce chemical damage to tissues after exercise and optimize the processes of muscle tissue repair and remodeling.”

A Closer Look

But here’s what those in half-marathon training, marathon training, and triathlon training really need to know about this study: L-carnitine supplementation made no difference in how quickly muscle strength and power were restored after the workout. Since the whole point of accelerating muscle recovery through supplementation is to hasten the restoration of muscle function specifically, these results offer little cause for excitement.

It is also worth mentioning that the participants in this study were non-athletes. Supplements that are found to have physiological effects in non-athletes often have no effects in athletes, because training has the same effects as the supplements.

The Bottom Line

So while l-carnitine supplementation is safe, it seems to be useless in terms of enhancing endurance sports performance. If the results of the University of Connecticut study are enough to make you curious, however, you can find l-carnitine supplements in both pill and liquid forms at most supplement retail stores. Typical recommended dosages are 1 to 2 grams daily.

Endurance sports nutrition advice to help you fend off injuries

No matter how good your half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training makes you feel, it still increases your risk of injury. But by ensuring that your endurance sports nutrition plan includes enough calories on a daily basis, you can help keep injuries at bay. That’s because, as it turns out, the worst nutritional mistake you can make with regard to injury prevention is to eat too few calories. When your body doesn’t get enough calories to meet all of its tissue maintenance and energy needs, it will enter a catabolic state—which means your muscles begin eating themselves. Consequently, catabolism compromises your body’s ability to repair tissue damage incurred during workouts, which slows muscle recovery and increases your risk of injury.

How do you know if you’re eating enough? No need to obsessively count calories. Instead, monitor your workout performance, your body weight, and your body composition. When you’re not eating enough, the first indication is likely to be a decline in your workout performance. And when you’re in a catabolic state, your body weight will go down while your body-fat percentage remains the same, indicating that you’re losing muscle, not fat.

How to get the most out of your 10K training, marathon training, or triathlon training as you age

Sure, age is just a number. But as that number inches upward, typically so do your race times. That’s because the physiological processes of aging start to slow you down by reducing your aerobic capacity, muscle power, muscle recovery capabilities, and so forth.
 
You can, however, blunt the effects that aging has on endurance performance by tweaking your 10K training, marathon training, or triathlon training in little ways that most younger athletes simply don’t consider. Aging athletes, for example, should factor in a bit more time for strength training to promote strength maintenance, injury prevention, and optimal body composition. And while getting regular sports massages can help athletes of any age, older athletes in particular stand to benefit from them because they can help speed muscle recovery. Even eating right and supplementing with sports nutrition products such as ARX become more important as we age.

Younger endurance athletes tend not to do these little things, in part because their youth allows them to “get away with” inattention to general health, muscle recovery, and injury prevention. But the older we get, the less we can get away with. So start doing these little things today to gain a competitive advantage over those who don’t.

An endurance sports nutrition recipe to help boost tomorrow’s workout

Last week, Matt Fitzgerald wrote about the importance of sleep for proper muscle recovery (check out his post Hit the Sheets). In a nutshell, your body rebuilds muscle tissues damaged during exercise and remodels muscle tissue in response to training while you sleep. And research has shown that if you have a protein-rich snack before going to bed, you can aid this muscle-recovery process even further—allowing you to wake up feeling ready for your next marathon training run or triathlon training workout. The following bedtime snack, created by Kimberly Day, a triathlete and Founder/Chief Decadence Officer of Decadent Health LLC (www.decadenthealth.com), contains the quality protein you need to help you repair and rebuild muscle as you sleep.

Just Peachy
Makes 1 serving

½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons walnut pieces
¼ cup peaches, cubed

1. Place cottage cheese in a bowl.
2. Add walnuts and peaches.
3. Mix well before enjoying.

Nutritional Info (per serving): Calories 195, Total fat 10 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbs 10 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 18 g

Endurance sports nutrition advice on fueling your long workouts and races

During long marathon training runs or triathlon training rides you need to make like the Energizer Bunny and just keep going and going and going. And the best way to do that is to continually fuel yourself with specially formulated sports nutrition products such as sports drinks and energy bars, gels, and chews that contain carbs in rapidly metabolized forms to provide quick energy to the muscles during exercise.

But if you bolt down an energy bar just before your workout to top off your muscle glycogen stores, then guzzle sports drink and gobble energy gels and chews the whole time you are out on the road, you risk taking in too many carbs, which can cause gastrointestinal distress. So to keep your energy levels high without developing a stomachache, stick to an overall fueling schedule that has you consuming carbohydrate at a rate of 60 to 80 grams per hour from all sources—whether you decide, for example, to use energy chews alone or energy chews in combination with gels and/or a sports drink.

Sports nutrition advice for weight-conscious individuals in half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training

Every endurance athlete knows that body weight (as well as body composition, or body-fat percentage) affects endurance performance. It pays to be light and lean. Consequently, the average endurance athlete struggles to attain his or her optimal body weight just as much as the average non-athlete struggles to attain a healthy weight.

Non-athletes commonly diet, or reduce their food intake, to lose weight. For those in half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training, however, it’s often not so simple because endurance exercise places high energy demands on the body and reducing food intake can deprive the muscles of the energy they need for optimal performance and subsequent muscle recovery.

Short-Term Slim-Down Study

There is some new evidence, however, that endurance athletes can lose weight through dieting without sabotaging their training if they take a careful approach. In a 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, scientists from George Washington University placed 10 competitive cyclists on a reduced-calorie diet (up to 40 percent) for three weeks and modified their training to include morning workouts in a fasted state (no breakfast). All of the subjects submitted to a variety of tests, including body composition and resting metabolic rate measurements and a performance test—both before and after the intervention.

The diet yielded no changes in fat burning during exercise, maximum power output on the bike, or power at VO2max. However, the cyclists’ rating of perceived exertion during two hours of submaximal exercise decreased (meaning the same effort felt easier) and their body composition and power-to-weight ratio improved significantly.

This study shows that endurance athletes can shed excess body fat relatively quickly and maintain their performance while on a fairly restrictive short-term diet. But there was no control group, so we can’t rule out the possibility that the diet prevented these cyclists from improving their power output and power at VO2max over the three-week study period.

The Diet’s Downside

I actually spoke with one of the participants in the study, who told me that the diet was not easy. He struggled with all-day hunger throughout it and went straight back to his normal eating habits as soon as the intervention was completed. So while the diet was effective in the short-term, it was not sustainable in the long-term. Undoubtedly, his performance and that of the other subjects would have begun to suffer if they had kept up caloric deficits of as much as 40 percent much longer than three weeks.

Other studies, involving athletes in weight-class sports such as rowing and wrestling, have shown that the severe dieting methods engaged in during the final weeks and days before competition do in fact sabotage performance. So there is clearly a limit to what we can get away with.

Developing a Smart Endurance Sports Nutrition Plan for Weight Loss

Based on the totality of available research, I believe that those in half-marathon training, marathon training, triathlon training, or any other type of endurance-sport training should generally try to lose excess body fat gradually through sustainable improvements in diet quality (get specific tips on how to do this in my earlier blog Weight Loss for Endurance Athletes) and sensible increases in training load whose primary intent is to boost fitness. Occasional efforts to lose weight more quickly are OK, but avoid cutting calories so much that your training suffers, keep these efforts relatively brief (2 to 4 weeks), and use them early in the training process, not close to races.

How adequate sleep can enhance your half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training

Nothing promotes muscle recovery—and full-body recovery—from the stress of exercise like good old-fashioned sleep. In fact, lack of adequate sleep is itself a stressor, so if you consistently under-sleep, you will not recover from your workouts as quickly and you will also be unable to handle as much marathon training or triathlon training as you could handle if you did sleep adequately.

Consider this: As few as four nights of partial sleep deprivation result in skyrocketing levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which inhibits muscle recovery and repair. In addition, research in non-athletes has shown that short-term partial sleep deprivation increases circulating levels of C-reactive protein, a biomarker of inflammation. Therefore, the muscle damage-related inflammation often caused by training is likely to be exacerbated by inadequate sleep.

Muscle Recovery Aside

The impact sleep has on athletic performance doesn’t stop with recovery. Insufficient sleep reduces the body’s ability to process glucose, and therefore to produce energy. Human growth hormone, the muscle-building hormone that plays the biggest role in rebuilding tissue after exercise, requires sleep for full activation, so the less sleep you get, the less muscle you wake up with. Sleep loss also weakens the immune system by reducing the activity of interleukins, molecules involved in signaling between cells of the immune system.
 
The latest neuroscience suggests that sleep even plays a crucial role in relation to motor skill refinements—such as those that make you a more efficient swimmer, cyclist, and runner. During sleep, the brain’s motor center appears to “practice” movements performed by the body during the day. So, in a sense, if you miss out on sleep, you miss out on some of your training.

The Pros and Pillow Time

Looking for real-world evidence that endurance training increases sleep needs? Take a poll and you’ll find that most elite endurance athletes sleep a lot. Marathoner Deena Kastor sleeps 10 hours a night and takes a two-hour nap every afternoon. Most amateur endurance athletes find that their sleep needs increase as their training load does. This may be because exercise causes the muscles to release particular cytokines that induce sleepiness and prolong sleep.

The effect of exercise on sleep needs, however, has been little researched. Some athletes go by propound rules of thumb, such as the suggestion that every mile a runner runs each week increases his sleep needs by 10 minutes per night. But there is no scientific basis for these formulas. They may be accurate for everyone, or just some people, or nobody. We just don’t know.

Snooze So You Don’t Lose

So how do you determine how much sleep is enough? Sleep experts believe that there is a high degree of variation in sleep needs between individuals. It’s best to sleep until you are “slept out,” regardless of how much time it takes. In other words, you should sleep long enough so that you awaken spontaneously in the morning and couldn’t sleep more if you tried. And you will probably find that it takes longer to sleep yourself out when your marathon training or triathlon training is in high gear. Quite simply: Trust your body and do as it tells you.

Endurance sports nutrition advice to help you meet your daily calorie and fluid requirements

It’s probably pretty obvious to you that your half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training ups your food and fluid needs. I know my hunger and thirst certainly increase in direct proportion to my mileage. But compared to your non-athletic friends, how much more food and drink do you really need? Check out the following, which provides a comparison of the approximate one-day calorie and water needs of a 150-pound person who does not exercise and a 150-pound person who completes one hour of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in a warm (70 degrees) environment. (Note that hydration needs can be met through pure water, other drinks such as fruit juice, and water-containing foods.) This listing gives you a ballpark estimate of what your endurance sports nutrition plan should contain to keep you optimally fueled.

150-Pound Non-Athlete’s Daily Needs:
2,000 calories & 75 ounces of fluid

150-Pound Endurance Athlete’s Daily Needs:
2,775 calories & 87 ounces of fluid

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

A sports nutrition technique to get the most out of your half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training

There was a time when coaches withheld water from athletes during training to “toughen them up.” Now we know better. Allowing athletes to become dehydrated in training does nothing except harm their performance. There is, however, new evidence that the old-school logic of toughening up athletes through deprivation may be valid when applied to carbohydrate intake in training.

Recent studies indicate that while consuming carbohydrate during exercise does enhance immediate performance, it can also inhibit some of the body’s beneficial adaptations to training. By contrast, exercising in a carbohydrate-depleted state, which makes workouts tougher for the body, stimulates a stronger fitness-boosting physiological response.
 
Explaining This Sports Nutrition Finding

In a newly published study, researchers from McMaster University showed that, compared to exercise in a state of normal carbohydrate fueling, exercise in a carbohydrate-depleted state might increase the capacity of the muscle cells to burn fuels aerobically by boosting the production of mitochondria. The mitochondria are tiny organelles within muscle cells where aerobic metabolism occurs. Increased mitochondrial density is one of the most important performance-enhancing effects of aerobic exercise.

As part of this new study, ten men performed a workout consisting of 4 x 5 minutes at high intensity on stationary bikes. They completed this workout twice on the same day with three hours of recovery between sessions. One week later, this double-workout protocol was repeated. In the first trial, half the men were given a high carbohydrate drink after the morning workout, while the others were given a zero-calorie placebo drink that ensured the men were in a carbohydrate-depleted state for the second workout. In the second trial, the drinks were switched.

The authors of the study found increased levels of a compound known as p38 MAPK that is involved in mitochondrial biogenesis following the afternoon workouts that were performed in a carbohydrate-depleted state. This finding suggests that p38 MAPK is a nutrient-sensitive signaling molecule that is most active when exercise is performed in a carbohydrate-depleted state.

Further Sports Nutrition Evidence

Other research has shown that exercise in a carbohydrate-depleted state is beneficial in another way. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an immune system agent and large amounts of it are released into the bloodstream by the muscles and the brain during exercise. IL-6 is believed to facilitate many of the body’s post-workout fitness gains, ranging from increased fat burning capacity to greater resistance to muscle damage.

The primary trigger for IL-6 release during exercise is glycogen (i.e. muscle carbohydrate) depletion. So it follows that training in a glycogen-depleted state will tend to produce stronger training adaptations than training in a glycogen-replete state. Studies have shown that the muscles produce much less IL-6 when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise.

Incorporating Under-Fueling Into Your Endurance Sports Nutrition Plan

Despite the findings of these studies, it would be overreaching to conclude that athletes should consistently avoid consuming carbohydrate during and immediately after workouts. While intentional under-fueling may have the benefit of boosting the body’s fitness response to workouts, there are other benefits that come from consuming carbohydrate during and after workouts—namely, better performance and faster recovery. So, until more research is performed to determine the optimal balance of normally fueled and carbohydrate-depleted workouts, it is probably best only to pick certain workouts to perform in a carbohydrate-depleted state, either by not taking in carbohydrate during them or by not taking in carbohydrate immediately afterward, or both.

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.

An endurance sports nutrition recipe to help you meet your performance and weight goals

Just like sedentary folks, endurance athletes often resolve to lose a little weight once the New Year rolls around. That’s because those of us in serious marathon training or triathlon training know that a lean body composition is needed for optimal endurance performance. So, what’s the key to getting leaner? You need to consistently satisfy your appetite without consuming excess calories. This lunch, created by Kimberly Day, a triathlete and Founder/Chief Decadence Officer of Decadent Health LLC (www.decadenthealth.com), provides lasting satisfaction with a modest amount of calories due to its high protein and fiber content. Try it to fill up without filling out.

Chili Out
Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon marjoram
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
28 ounces black beans, drained
28 ounces tomatoes, chopped and undrained

1. Sauté onion, red pepper, and garlic in olive oil.
2. Add ground turkey and cook until brown.
3. Add cinnamon, paprika, chili powder, cumin, allspice, marjoram, nutmeg, and cinnamon stick and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add salt, pepper, black beans, and tomatoes and simmer 45 minutes.
5. Serve warm.

Nutritional Info (per serving): Calories 459, Total fat 15 g, Cholesterol 90 mg, Carbs 47 g, Fiber 18 g, Protein 34 g

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.

Reasons to consider treadmill workouts as part of your winter 10-K training, half-marathon training, or marathon training

Last week I posted three great workouts that were better suited to treadmill running than to running outdoors. But there are no doubt many endurance athletes out there who consider treadmill running a lesser substitute for running outdoors and, therefore, hesitate to incorporate treadmill workouts into their winter 10-K training, half-marathon training, or marathon training. For those skeptics, consider these three distinct advantages to running on a treadmill:

1. Treadmills are convenient. One of the great things about running is that you can do it almost anywhere, anytime. But there are certainly situations when outdoor running is impractical, making treadmill running preferable. If, for example, you often run before the sun comes up, a treadmill can spare you from having to run in the dark. Or if the sidewalks get icy in the winter, a treadmill can spare you from a nasty fall.

2. Treadmills facilitate controlled and precise workouts. Even when you can run outdoors, running on a treadmill may be a better option for certain workouts. Let’s say that as part of your marathon training you want to practice running at your goal pace before the upcoming race. On a treadmill, you can take advantage of your ability to dial in a precise pace to get your body and mind accustomed to holding that pace steadily.

3. Treadmills offer flexibility. Working out on a treadmill can be a good fallback option when you have certain minor injuries. For instance, when you need a lower-impact workout, you can crank up the gradient and go slower for less pounding.

The Bottom Line for the Belt: Despite the negative connotations associated with treadmill running, it is most definitely effective. In fact, both the male and female winners of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathons, Rod DeHaven and Christine Clark, were heavy treadmill users. DeHaven routinely did all of his easy morning runs on a treadmill in his basement. And Clark, an Alaskan, did almost all of her training on a treadmill in her basement in preparation for the Trials. If the marathon training techniques of two Olympians are not enough to convince you, remember the research, which has shown that while heart rate is slightly lower at any given pace on a treadmill than it is outdoors, the difference is very slight, and you can counteract it by running at a 1 percent gradient on the treadmill—a very easy fix that makes your miles on the treadmill just as worthwhile as those logged out on the road.

Benefit more from your marathon training or triathlon training without increasing training time

There’s no doubt that marathon training, triathlon training and the like are time-consuming pursuits. And as you begin to flesh out your endurance sports goals for this New Year, you might be wondering how you’ll ever find all the training time you need to achieve those goals. But before you start to look for ways to increase the quantity of your training, first determine how you can increase its quality. That’s because most endurance athletes can get more out of the time they’re already spending on their marathon training or triathlon training programs by simply bumping up the quality of some of their workouts.

A high-quality training program should be well-rounded and include a real mix of workouts every week. Endurance athletes often waste time by doing too many similar workouts—lots of prolonged, steady, moderate-paced aerobic workouts—and not enough threshold work, speed intervals, technique work and/or resistance training. If you’re a cyclist or a runner, make sure your training program includes three quality workouts per week—two high-intensity sessions and one long endurance session. If you’re in triathlon training, do two quality workouts—one high-intensity workout and one long endurance workout—per week in each discipline.

Boost your sports nutrition program with supplements

Still wondering if dietary supplements should be part of your marathon training diet or triathlon training diet? Well, at the beginning of this year we reported on a survey by the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance that stated that 90 percent of the 11,000-plus athletes who participated in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics used one or more nutritional supplements in their training. And now as the year comes to an end, we bring you more news of support for the use of nutritional supplements. According to new research from the “Life…supplemented” 2009 Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study, eight out of 10 registered dietitians say they believe dietary supplements are important for maintaining optimal health.

Eighty-one percent of the registered dietitians who were surveyed acknowledged that most people don’t eat perfectly, which results in nutritional gaps that could be bridged by taking vitamins or other dietary supplements. Most of these dietitians (nine out of 10) said they take nutritional supplements themselves and recommend them to their clients, particularly for improved bone health and for overall health and wellness.

Of course, when it comes to cultivating optimal health and peak athletic performance, there is still no substitute for a healthy diet and a sensible training plan. But these two studies certainly demonstrate the confidence both elite athletes and dietitians have in using nutritional supplements in conjunction with diet and exercise to promote prime health and well-being.

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.

An endurance sports nutrition recipe to help you meet your performance and weight goals
 
Sometimes when you’re in half-marathon training, marathon training, or triathlon training it seems like you’re hungry all the time. And that can be a hard thing to deal with if you are trying to maintain your optimal racing weight. So to keep those hunger pangs at bay—and reduce the amount of mindless nibbling resulting from those hunger pangs—beef up your breakfast. Research has shown that eating a substantial breakfast (as opposed to a small breakfast or no breakfast) reduces appetite for the rest of the day and consequently results in fewer total calories consumed throughout the day. The following breakfast, created by Kimberly Day, a triathlete and Founder/Chief Decadence Officer of Decadent Health LLC (www.decadenthealth.com), will give you lasting satisfaction and help you manage your weight for peak performance.

Fabulous Fritatta
Makes 2 servings

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 teaspoon dill
½ teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper to taste
1/3 cup feta cheese
½ avocado, sliced

1. Heat oil in 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook until soft.
3. Add eggs, broccoli, dill, salt, pepper, and feta. Stir often and cook until eggs are done.
4. Divide mixture equally between two plates and top each with ¼ avocado.
5. Serve warm.

Nutritional Info (per serving): Calories 402, Total fat 27 g, Cholesterol 396 mg, Carbs 24 g, Fiber 7 g, Protein 20 g

Injury may postpone your marathon training or triathlon training—but you can still stay fit

Injuries are inevitable in the life of the endurance athlete. When they happen they are painful, debilitating, and frustrating. The most frustrating part of being injured is knowing that your hard-earned fitness from your marathon training or triathlon training is deteriorating while you take time off to heal. In fact, this frustration can be so great that athletes are often unwilling to take time off or tempted into resuming training too soon. Consequently, injuries become worse or last longer than they should.

One way to prevent this sort of self-sabotage is to choose a favorite go-to activity that you can switch to whenever an injury makes normal training impossible or unwise. The best alternatives to your primary sport discipline are those that are most similar to it. For example, activities such as swimming and rowing are not great alternatives to running because, while they stimulate the cardiovascular system, they are arm-dominant versus leg-dominant movements. Following are the best two activities for “training through” cycling, running, and swimming injuries.

Whichever activity you choose to pursue while recovering from an injury, try to replicate your main sport workouts as closely as possible in terms of frequency, intensity, and duration. This will serve to minimize fitness losses during the period of convalescence.
 
Cycling Alternatives

Indoor/Recumbent Cycling

Among the most common cycling injuries are low back pain, tendonitis of the knee, and collarbone fractures suffered in falls. While low back pain and knee tendonitis make normal outdoor riding painful, it is often possible to ride pain free on a recumbent indoor bike at low resistance levels despite these injuries.

During his 2009 comeback season, Lance Armstrong suffered a collarbone fracture in a race crash. Four months later he still managed to finish third at the Tour de France. How? He trained hard on an indoor bike trainer for four weeks while his collarbone healed and thereby kept his fitness from plummeting.

Slide Boarding

Ice-skating and inline skating are quad-dominant aerobic activities like cycling, making them good alternatives for the injured cyclist. But it’s not always easy to find good places to skate, so the next time you have an injury that takes you off the bike, consider doing what many skaters do for cross-training: slide boarding.

A slide board is a flat sheet of plastic that you slide back and forth on while wearing fabric booties to simulate a skating action. Physiologically it is almost identical to ice- and inline skating, but you can do it in the comfort of your own living room. Quality slide boards such as the Goaler One start at around $250.

Running Alternatives

Steep Uphill Treadmill Walking

Research has shown that the human brain uses exactly the same motor pattern to run or walk briskly on steep uphill gradients. In other words, when you crank the treadmill incline up to 12 to 15 percent, running becomes walking and walking becomes running. Therefore, walking on a steep incline is a highly specific way to maintain running fitness when you’re injured and need to avoid the impact of running.

Many runners, however, don’t think of walking as a good running alternative because they assume they cannot match their normal intensity. Trust me: You can. Set the incline at 12 to 15 percent, increase the belt speed to 4 mph or so, check your heart rate, and you’ll see!
 
Bicycling

Bicycling may seem less running specific than other running alternatives such as pool running, but a lot of noteworthy runners have used it with great success. For example, in 2004, Meb Keflezighi relied heavily on bike training to build fitness for the New York City Marathon because of injuries. He still managed to finish second.

Swimming Alternatives

Modified Swimming

The most common swimming injury is shoulder impingement syndrome, which causes pain during the recovery phase of the arm cycle in freestyle swimming (when the arm is overhead). But despite this pain you may still be able to perform modified swim workouts that include technique drills, kicking drills, single-arm freestyle swimming, and alternative-stroke (e.g. breaststroke) swimming.

Rowing

Machine rowing is an upper body-dominant aerobic activity like swimming, and therefore a good alternative for the injured swimmer. Because rowing does not involve overhead arm movements, swimmers suffering from shoulder impingement syndrome can usually row pain free.

How to alter your marathon training or triathlon training when battling illness

When you are experiencing symptoms of a cold or the flu, should you continue your marathon training or triathlon training as normal, do you need to cut back, or must you stop entirely? It all depends on the type and severity of your symptoms:

Conquering a Cold

Most experts agree that it is okay to continue exercising as normal when you have a mild or moderate head cold with symptoms such as sinus pressure, runny nose, cough and sore throat. But a cold that has moved into your chest, with symptoms such as chest congestion and tightness, is more likely to negatively affect your training—and if a cold negatively affects your training, then your training may negatively affect your cold! So in such cases, listen to your body and use common sense. If you are reasonably comfortable when you train despite your symptoms, and if training does not worsen your symptoms, go for it. Otherwise let discretion be the better part of valor and take a day off.

Fighting the Flu

Until recently there was virtually unanimous agreement in the medical community that one should not exercise while battling flu symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and body aches. Newer research, however, has called that dictum into question. For example, a 2009 study by researchers at the University of Iowa found that moderate daily exercise improved flu symptoms in mice infected with a flu virus. The key word here is “moderate.” Attempt only short, low-intensity workouts when you are experiencing flu symptoms, stop exercising immediately if you feel horrible while working out at a low intensity, and simply avoid exercise completely if you feel miserable even thinking about working out. So, as with colds, listen to your body and use common sense in deciding whether to train with the flu.

Protecting Your Immune System

While exercise generally strengthens the immune system, strenuous individual workouts such as long marathon training runs or lengthy speed sessions temporarily suppress immune function. Therefore you should also consider your training workload when trying to decide how to respond to symptoms of illness. If you’re feeling under the weather yet you’re training moderately, it is unlikely that you’re suppressing your immune system and making it harder to beat the virus. But if you’re in very heavy training, it might be best to cut back your workouts to give your immune system a quick boost so it can beat the virus instead of letting it linger and possibly affect your training for many weeks.

This recommendation receives support from the results of a 2002 study by Ola Ronsen of the Norwegian Olympic Training Center. Ronsen measured various markers of immune system activity in endurance athletes after completing a pair of workouts on a single day on two different occasions. On one occasion they rested for three hours between workouts and on the second occasion they rested for six hours. And guess what? There was a significantly greater increase in stress hormones that compromise immune function in the short-rest trial than in the longer-rest trial.

These findings suggest that an endurance athlete who’s already sick will probably get well quicker if he or she takes measures to train in a more rested state, either by reducing the frequency of workouts or by making them less challenging. In this regard then, colds and flus should be dealt with much like those aches and pains that indicate incipient injuries. In other words, responding to impending illness or injury by “aggressively taking it easy” may prevent a much greater setback from developing.