Endurance Planet

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2016-09-15-at-8.25.33-PM.png"] EP's Kona Specials are brought to you by Life Post Collective, the brainchild of host Tawnee Prazak where she shares her years of expertise on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more and helps you on your path to optimization. Life Post Collective offers practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to lead a healthy, happy life and perform your best and features articles, videos, guides, forums, and more to come including live webinars with Q&A. Through LPC's integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working towards common goals. Life Post Collective is only $10 a month to be a member; check it out now! [/sponsor]

Our annual Ironman World Championships preview featuring expert Thorsten Radde of trirating.com. If you want the full guide to this race, download Thorsten's 2016 Kona Rating Report. On this show we give you all the important need-to-know info to be dialed in for this year's race taking place on Saturday, Oct. 8:

• Last year surprises or standouts
  • Who was faster or slower than expected?
  • Rinny hit by car prior to race (minor) & DNF last year - ready for redemption in '16?
  • TO's huge day, and EP's post-Kona show with TO here to see what he did along with coach Mark Allen for his breakthrough race performance
  • Lots of women ran their way to a top spot last year, including Sarah Piampiano who we had on the show this year, listen here
  • Who had disappointing days and "back" this year? Jodie, Meredith, Luke, Bart. Marino done?
• Pro men's race dynamics
  • How this race is executed and who will be big players this year
• Pro women's race dynamics
  • Besides Ryf and Rinny, the women's race is looking to be a more open field. Missing "big" names like Steffan, Joyce, Blatchford, etc. How will it unfold?
• Podium predictions based on the past
  • When analyzing the results of the previous races in Kona, a few interesting "patterns" emerge on how results change from year to year. While these pattern are in no way certain, they still offer some insights on what to expect from year to year
  • 17 of the last 20 winners came from the Top 4 in the previous year.
• Top 10'er Trends
  • About a third of the athletes between 4th and 10th place have finished there in the year before
  • About a quarter haven't raced in the previous year
  • Only very few athletes manage to take this step the next year from top 10 to podium
  • About a third fall out of the Top 10 in the next race
• Heatmaps
  • A five-level system to show an athlete's strength and weaknesses compared to the best athletes in the field, chances of doing well in one leg and overall
  • Using Luke McKenzie's heatmap rating as an example to see how one might use this to improve in future Kona races
• Who are the rookies this year?
  • Jesse Thomas, Mel Hauschildt, Kevin Collington, Patrick Lange, Kaisa Lehtonen, and more
• By the stats, who will be on the podium/top 5 this year
  • Download the Kona Rating report to follow along and also see the full list of predicted finshes
• Shoutout to oldest and youngest athletes racing Kona as a pro
  • Natascha Badman - legend at 49 and still racing pro
  • More women who are over 35 than men?
• Trivia!

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2016-09-15-at-8.25.33-PM.png"] If you're looking for that extra bit of support to build a richer, fuller, healthier life head to Life Post Collective, the brainchild of host Tawnee Prazak where she shares her "insider" expertise on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more and helps you on your path to optimization. Life Post Collective offers practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to lead a healthy, happy life and perform your best and features articles, videos, guides, forums, and more to come including live webinars with Q&A. Through LPC's integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working towards common goals. Life Post Collective is only $10 a month to be a member; check it out now! [/sponsor]

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/UCAN-logo-rev-nutrition.jpg"]This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code "enduranceplanet" if you're shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN's new bar made with coffee beans![/sponsor]

On this episode of Ask the Coaches with Tawnee & Lucho:

• Clarification from ATC 218 on glycogen depletion: Yes, with MAF and being fat-adapted you are more able to spare glycogen and avoid glycogen depletion, but with harder/longer efforts (racing, long bricks, intensity, and 2-6+ hour days) we tap into glycogen for fuel more, thus we deplete more and need to refuel appropriately. Remember: it's all percentages of fuel being burned; rarely if ever is just fat is being burned for fuel.
• Praise for the Stacy Sims female-focused podcast. Any recommendations for more female-centered podcasts?
• With swim, bike and run intervals and repeats, what comes first: Develop the speed with long recoveries and progress the number of intervals from there, or build to the duration of intervals first at a slower speed and progress from there?
• Repeats and intervals are about speed, yes, but arguably more important is the recovery period!
• Repeats (3k pace) require full recovery, a 1:4+ work-to-recovery ratio.
• Intervals (VO2 and 5k pace) are partial recovery, about a 1:1 work-to-recovery ratio.
• From there it's threshold (10k-15k pace; FTP/LT), HM, marathon pacing, etc. (adjust for swim or bike).
• Help for how to sleep well with a noisy upstairs neighbor?!
• Mention: The noise-cancelling headphones that Tawnee loves
• Best way to do MAF on the indoor trainer when training for Ironman, and how to program workouts.
• With MAF focused-training, is it ok to just jump into a sprint triathlon for a tune-up? Can you continue forward with the MAF/IM focus and just show up on sprint race day and let it rip?
• Why it's important to "brush up" with strides before doing a sprint so it's not an abrupt extreme going from MAF to intensity, which may be a shock to the body and risky.
• Thoughts or advice on long-ride nutrition: before is a high-fat coffee (with butter/egg/coconut oil/cream), and during the ride an electrolyte drink (nuun), UCAN at the 3hr mark, at the 4hr mark working in some carbs like sweet potato or avocado wrap and some Tailwind.
• Does finishing a long ride with carbs defeat fat-adaptation goals?
• Short alactic bursts at the end of my runs are great, but is this something of benefit on the bike rides, too?
• Discussing alactic work in this episode of ATC.
• Stretching appears to get a bad rap. However, there have to be instances when stretching is good for a person? Such as having notoriously tight hamstrings. So, when is stretching actually good for you? Should it only be dynamic? Is static stretching ever ok?
• Why we want to promote flexibility, and how to do this beyond stretching.
• Tightness may be a reflection of your health, such as inflammation, hormonal imbalances, fascia, etc.
• Sock Doc - No Stretching, Move Naturally
• Sock Doc - Why To Stop Stretching

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2016-09-15-at-8.25.33-PM.png"] If you're looking for that extra bit of support to build a richer, fuller, healthier life head to Life Post Collective, the brainchild of host Tawnee Prazak where she shares her "insider" expertise on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more and helps you on your path to optimization. Life Post Collective offers practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to lead a healthy, happy life and perform your best and features articles, videos, guides, forums, and more to come including live webinars with Q&A. Through LPC's integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working towards common goals. Life Post Collective is only $10 a month to be a member; check it out now! [/sponsor]

Martin: How does the MAF Method apply to kids? I have 2 very active boys aged 3 and 6. Tim Noakes seemed to backtrack a bit with his lchf for kids details (perhaps for political reasons but it didn't feel like he was putting out what he really wanted to) saying that carbs for kids wasn't so big an issue but I'd like to know if letting them have the carbs is fine or whether I should be getting them to eat less (I already restrict the processed junk and the sugars etc).

In 1:59 there was mention of training runs not needing to go beyond 2-2.5 hrs. Does this limited volume also apply to the bike for long-course racing? What's a good long bike duration for MAF if racing 70.3, IM and endurance cycling events when following MAF?

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/UCAN-logo-rev-nutrition.jpg"]This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code "enduranceplanet" if you're shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN's new bar made with coffee beans![/sponsor]

Brad Kearns runs Primal Blueprint Publishing, is co-author of Primal Endurance (a book we love and recommend!), and works closely with Mark Sisson.

What you may not know is that Brad was once one of the best professional triathletes in the world back in the day and remained pro for nearly a decade. Among his career highlights: In '89 he recorded the fastest-ever U24 Ironman time in Kona, and in '91 he won Bud Light series and was ranked third in the world. During his triathlon career he hired Sisson as a coach, whose since remained a dear friend and with whom he now works.

On this show, Brad sits down with Tawnee to talk triathlon--as it was in the '80s and '90s--and about being a pro, his health, retiring, his evolution to where he's at now (including regaining health and overcoming chronic fatigue), and the valuable lessons learned along the way that's landed him working with guys like Mark and promoting the healthy way for athletes.

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2016-09-15-at-8.25.33-PM.png"] If you're looking for that extra bit of support to build a richer, fuller, healthier life head to Life Post Collective, the brainchild of host Tawnee Prazak where she shares her "insider" expertise on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more and helps you on your path to optimization. Life Post Collective offers practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to lead a healthy, happy life and perform your best and features articles, videos, guides, forums, and more to come including live webinars with Q&A. Through LPC's integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working towards common goals. Life Post Collective is only $10 a month to be a member; check it out now! [/sponsor]

• Research discussion: The Prevalence of Nonfunctional Overreaching and Overtraining in Young English Athletes
• Running efficiency
• Is it best to be a midfoot/forefoot striker and not a heel striker when doing the MAF method? Why?
• What type of running shoes are best when putting in effort to change foot strike? Maximalist, minimalist, etc?
• Transitioning from long-haul backpacking (PCT) into training for an ultra, in this case the Rocky Raccoon 100.
• How to kickstart a healthy diet after months of backpacking where you have to eat anything you can carry, and not always able to make the healthiest choices.
• The approach of slowly lowering carbs and why not to make a drastic switch to LCHF.
• How to arrange your ideal crew for a long ultra: picking your peeps, making sure your crew knows what they're getting into, and more.
• Pump-up music mention: The Red Hot Chilli Pipers
• Can the MAF Method work with a moderate/higher carb diet i.e. up to 300 grams of carbs a day that still focuses on whole food sources like fruit, veggies, natural starches/tubers, white rice and bit of honey.
• How moderate carbs (not low carb) can still work in your efforts to being a fat-burner and efficient, healthy athlete. It's all about timing, quality and quantity.
• Low carb isn't for everyone, we explain why.
• What's more valuable for the MAF Method: duration or frequency? Eg, running less but more days (6-7 days), or running more each day but less days (4 days per week).
• What was Lucho's diet was like when he was heavily training and had his fastest MAF times?

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/UCAN-logo-rev-nutrition.jpg"]This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code "enduranceplanet" if you're shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN's new bar made with coffee beans![/sponsor]

Ben Greenfield is back for Sports Nutrition 235:

• Neurofeedback training
  • Alpha beta imbalances
  • Decreases distraction
  • More focus
  • Like meditation (but way more expensive)
  • Check out: Peak Brain Institute and Dr. Andrew Hill
• Maffetone's 2-week test to test carb intolerance (CI).
  • What does it mean when you have some positive outcomes such as less bloating and more focused, but also some negative outcomes such as breaking out on the face?
• Detoxing and "coming off" sugar and carbs
  • Glucose restriction causes our body to tap into adipose tissue to burn fat
  • During this process, toxins can be released
  • Ending a higher carb diet also means killing off fungal overgrowths, etc, which can lead to short-term detox symptoms
• How to mitigate the negative effects during a detox:
  • Hydrate to flush out toxins
  • Liver detox supplements: NAC, milk thistle, glutathione, liquid trace minerals
  • Whole foods that detox: cilantro, parsley, onion, dandelion root
  • Infrared sauna
  • Skin brushing

• Beta-alanine supplementation: What does it do, pros and cons, can it benefit endurance athletes, does intensity matter, dosage, and when to take?
• • Precursor to carnosine, which may improve exercise recovery, wound-healing, antioxidant, anti-aging
  • Buffer to lactic acid increases at higher intensities (buffering accumulated hydrogen ions)
  • May increase power output
  • Best for exercise that's short-to-moderate duration and high power output (not as effective for moderate aerobic/MAF exercise intensities)
  • Can cause flushing
  • Combine with baking soda for more effective results, but only microdose baking soda
  • ~5g/d; consume before exercise
• Carbs before a race and "carb-loading" strategies for fat-adapted, health-conscious and/or LCHF athletes
  • Which meal is the "most important" before your race? (Hint: not the pre-race dinner)
  • Have the "bulk" of carbs at breakfast or lunch the day before the race because absorption of carbs takes 8-12 hours (i.e. carbs become muscle and liver glycogen)
  • May consider small frequent snacks the day before instead of large meals
  • Fat oxidation levels and your "diet" - burning fat even if you eat carbs
  • Glucose will always be the preferred energy source even if you're a fat-burner, in keto, etc.
  • Ben and Tawnee share personal thoughts on carbs for athletes from a health and performance perspective
  • More on race-morning breakfasts on SN 230
• Building the ideal healthy aid station for endurance athletes - what would this includes?
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Low-sugar fat-based gels, i.e. chia gels, nut-butter gels, Muir gels, etc
  • Minerals, such as sea salt
  • Sugar-free electrolyte beverage
  • Effervescent electrolyte tablets

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And also to meet your protein needs, especially important for women as we discuss in this show, food alone may not be enough so supplement with the best: PerfectAmino, which has the most important amino acids (including leucine and the rest of the BCAAs) in the exact ratios needed to ensure proper synthesis in the body. PerfectAmino now comes in a sugar-free powder to mix in your workout drink, smoothie, or pre- and post-workout fuel![/sponsor]

Stacy Sims, PhD, joins the show for a second time to talk all about women, and how female athletes can maximize their potential by understanding their bodies, and how women function differently than men. Stacy recently released a new book co-authored with Selene Yeager titled ROAR: How To Match Your Food And Fitness To Your Female Physiology For Optimum Performance, Great Health, And A Strong, Lean Body For Life (available on kindle or paperback). Listen to our previous with with Stacy all about hydration.

On this episode:

Men vs. women

• The basic differences
• Women: type 1 fibers more efficient for burning fat and sparing glucose. But in recovery burn more carbs and metabolism back to baseline faster than men's.
• More prone to catabolism—hormones

Menstrual Cycle & Support

• What happens during a cycle, the phases, hormone fluctuations, ovulation, etc, and how this ties in with performance, training, racing.
• Estrogen and progesterone
• 1st phase – your prime time! Why you're most like a man on Day 1 and that first week of cycle, stronger and it feels easier. Women also access carbs "more easily" during this time
• 2nd phase – high-hormone phase, PMS, and generally not able to perform as well. Reduced reaction time, coordination off, etc. Women burn more calories during this time (5-10% increase in metabolism).
• Fat vs carb burning in 1st vs 2nd phase
• Other issues during the 2nd phase/luteal phase:
  • Loss of plasma volume up to 8%
  • Higher progesterone which has a catabolic effects (more protein and BCAAs especially leucine)
    • Mitigates CNS fatigue
  • Metabolism changes
  • Not as effective at cooling (run hotter), so add more ice and cold drinks
  • Bloating, cramping, GI issues, mood, etc.
  • Most at risk for hyponatremia during luteal phase, no more than 27 oz/hr
  • Is there any reason to believe that being LCHF during the high-hormone phase to mitigate PMS issues?
  • Value of leucine
  • Value of fish-oil during the luteal phase to mitigate PMS and menstruation symptoms
• Why and how things "get better" on Day 1—although, the day you feel great again will vary for women due to cramping and other issues associated with the onset of menstruation
• Cramping is not your hormones
  • Supplements to ease pain: magnesium, baby aspirin OR white willowbark, and 1g/day omega-3 fish oil
• Estrogen spares carbs
• To get into fat-burning you actually need a bit more carb
• Low-hormone (first phase) you can stick to limited fueling with your workouts
• Risks of oral contraceptives 25
• Carbs for women: 130-140 grams a day MINIMUM
  • Ketosis only really works for men
  • Ancestral reasoning

Amenorrhea, missing periods and stress

• Female athlete triad vs. RED-S—not just the three factors, what is RED-S?
• Missing periods even if BF is reasonable, up to 30%.
• What are root causes:
  • Inadequate nutrition and energy availability and/or hypo-caloric diets that don't meet needs as athlete
  • High-stress and high cortisol, stress can be from many things not just exercise
• The science (hormonal response) of what happens with too low carb and/or hypocaloric
• Risks of intermittent fasting (IF) for women: IF can lead to high cortisol > adrenal fatigue
• Cautioning against fasted workouts if you are a woman
  • Fasted training directly increases cortisol, and this can backfire leading to insulin resistance
  • Fuel before esepcially with amino acids
  • Fuel can be a small snack if not hungry like 100-150 calories
• Study mention by Tawnee: Light IF like 12-14 hour overnight actually improved women in the luteal phase. But that longer fasts like up to 24-48 hour or alternating fasting led to negative outcomes and actually decreased glucose tolerance
• However: lowering carb intake to avoid typical Western diets isn't a bad thing, meanwhile increase fats/proteins to avoid too low calories; just avoid too low carb

Peri- and post-menopausal athletes

• The top things we need to know about our later years
  • Estrogen drops off
  • Changes in diet and training needs
    • Two easy days after every hard day
  • Train the high-end to maintain power output
  • Thirst sensation even more dampened
  • More intolerant to carbs and fructose
• Risk of eating fructose, sugar and high GI foods/drinks
  • Not as easy to store excess energy from fructose as fat so instead remain as FFAs in blood—metabolic havoc and IR
  • Harder to convert fructose to glucose
• More sensitive to carbs and carb intolerant, due to less estrogen and DHEA
• Also not as good at fat burning nor retaining/building muscle
• Body composition changes in the post-menopausal woman
• Hormones and sleep issues—60% of Post women complain of insomnia issues, what's the deal?
• Melatonin: progesterone and other hormone's effect on melatonin—and this can go for all women
• Sleep supplements: Tart cherry juice (get the liquid form)

Weight & Nutrition

• On carb quality and Tawnee's one "bone to pick" with Stacy on carb recommendations that include grains, gluten, wheat.... are these the best choices for women if GI issues are a potential or real issue?
• Sports nutrition guidelines
• When to take nutrition and/or focusing on the right pre- and post-fueling vs. when can we go without specific fueling?
• Eating for your physiology: Are you an ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph or combo? And how to eat for your body type

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On this episode of Ask the Coaches #217 with Tawnee and Lucho:

• Wanna run Ragnar SoCal with the EP crew? Email us at [email protected].
• Have a question for any of our shows? Send to [email protected].
• HRV-guided training for athletes being studied, and it works!
  • "The number of moderate and HIT sessions was significantly lower in HRV group compared with traditional training. No other differences in training were found between the groups. But 3000-m running performance improved in HRV group and not in traditional during the intensive training period. VO2max improved in both groups... The results of the present study suggest the potential of resting HRV to prescribe endurance training by individualizing the timing of vigorous training sessions."
• When knee pain sets in after a dozen miles…
• Succeeding in weight loss journey and getting fit, but in a trail race knee pain set in at mile 12. What happened and how to fix this issue so it doesn't become a bigger problem for future training and racing.
• Pros and cons to mountain biking for Ironman bike training
• MTB crosstraining is fine, just make sure to spend time on the TT bike including long rides.

Concurrent training

• It's hard to hold HR at MAF when doing a run after strength training, what's the deal?!
• What the research says on concurrent training and the order of aerobic vs. strength training--pros and cons to each and what you should do if you follow MAF.
• Fatigue generated from one may negatively affect quantity and quality of the subsequent exercise.
• Does Aerobic and Strength Exercise Sequence in the same session affect oxygen uptake during and posteexercise?
  • Few studies have addressed the sequence of AT and ST in the same session and its influence on VO2 during and post-exercise.
  • AT before ST exercises, AT between 2 blocks of 3 ST exercises, and AT after ST exercises.
  • No significant differences in absolute or relative values of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR), and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) exercise when comparing the three sessions.
  • ST and AT, when performed in sequence in the same session, does not seem to affect overall oxygen consumption during the exercise session. Thus, combining resistance training and aerobic exercise in one session does not limit the cardiovascular demand of the exercise session, ie training sessions may include both without noticeable impact on aerobic exercise.
  • A look closer: Aerobic running first then strength could allow for lower HR and lower % of Vo2 max, may be best for MAF (this was not statistically significant but looking at graphs I see lower HRs and lower % of Vo2max). Like, 142 HR when AT first vs. 154 HR when AT second.
  • However, this may not be ideal for strength gains bc acidosis you want from ST to build muscle seems to be impaired if you do AT then ST.
• That's not the final word though. Study by Wang et al:
  • In this study there were two groups: one with only endurance exercise (E), and the other in which endurance exercise followed by a bout of resistance exercise (ER). ER did 60min @ 65% VO2max, 15min rest, strength training.
  • "A novel finding in the present study is that resistance exercise performed after endurance exercise resulted in enhanced expression of genes involved in the signaling cascade of mitochondrial biogenesis/oxidative metabolism, as well as enhanced activation of proteins involved in the regulation of muscle protein synthesis. These results challenge the current view of how to optimize endurance training adaptation." --
• Pan Pacific Conference of Medicine and Science in Sport on Concurrent Training
  • Overall: "No negative performance effects of adding heavy resistance training to ongoing endurance training regimens."
  • Plus: "The 'interference' effect of concurrent strength and endurance training depends on the ability level of the athlete."
  • "Nutrient provision (i.e., protein) can attenuate the 'interference effect' of endurance exercise on hypertrophy signalling pathways."
• Brief recovery period between workouts probably makes a difference, at least 10-15min between.
• ST gives neuromuscular benefits and ability to sprint at the finish.
• Concurrent training is more beneficial for endurance athletes rather than for strength athletes.

Pre-race anxiety

• What to do when pre-race nerves get to the point of a physical illness? How to prevent this before future races?
• Can biofeedback training of psychophysiological responses enhance athletes' sport performance? A practitioner's perspective.
  • Biofeedback helps athletes in experimental group to recognize and control psychophysiological parameters better, in comparison to the control group.
• Stress pulls us apart: anxiety leads to differences in competitive confidence under stress.
  • Low-anxiety individuals become overconfident, and high-anxiety individuals become underconfident. Cortisol responses to stress were found to relate to self-confidence, with the direction of the effects depending on trait anxiety. stress as a major regulator of individuals' competitiveness, affecting self-confidence
• Psychophysiological stress in tennis players during the first single match of a tournament
  • Winners had significantly lower cognitive anxiety and higher Self-confidence scores than losers. Somatic anxiety was significantly higher in the losers. cortisol response to competition, anticipatory rise. cortisol concentrations being the highest at the loser's.
• Psychophysiological stress responses during training and competition in young female competitive tennis players.
  • Match day elicited higher SC levels for losers at all points in time when compared to winners. All players showed significantly lower SC levels during training when compared to the match at all points in time except during the evening for winners. Winners of match and training situations had significantly higher self-confidence and lower cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety scores than losers. Heart rate and RPE were significantly higher for losers only during the match
• Tips:
  • Self awareness
  • Control the controllables, let go of the rest
  • Self talk and performance cues - the mental training; mantras, key words, songs, etc.
  • Don't be rushed
  • Don't fall victim to self-fulfilling prophecy
• Life Story on Netflix, a must watch especially the baby barnacle geese!

More Resources

• Can biofeedback training of psychophysiological responses enhance athletes' sport performance? A practitioner's perspective
• Effect of resistance training regimens on treadmill running and neuromuscular performance in recreational endurance runners
• Resistance exercise enhances the molecular signaling of mitochondrial biogenesis induced by endurance exercise in human skeletal muscle
• Does aerobic and strength exercise sequence in the same session affect the oxygen uptake during and postexercise?
• Effect of resistance training regimens on treadmill running and neuromuscular performance in recreational endurance runners

[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/UCAN-logo-rev-nutrition.jpg"]This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code "enduranceplanet" if you're shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN's new bar made with coffee beans![/sponsor]

Dr. Phil Maffetone returns along with a new special guest, Paul Laursen, PhD, an adjunct professor at Auckland University and performance physiologist who leads the Performance Physiology Team at High Performance Sport New Zealand, which helps Olympic athletes and hopefuls. Paul has published more than 100 refereed manuscripts in moderate-to-high impact exercise and sports science journals, and his work has been cited more than 3,000 times. On this show we talk about one of Paul's recent papers relating to fat burning at high intensities and why the findings offer ground-breaking information for the world of exercise physiology by giving us a further understanding on how much fat-burning athletes can achieve.

Intro

• How Paul and Phil met
• Their co-authored paper: Athletes Fit But Unhealthy
• FASTER Study mention--hear our podcast series with Jeff Volek and Zach Bitter here.

Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER)

• Is the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) as accurate as we've been led to think?
• Brief definition/refresher on RER
• "When the intensity is high; when breathing becomes difficult and talking would be an effort; lactic acid is being formed and when this happens the acid will be buffered by a buffer that the body naturally contains: bicarbonate. As soon as this starts to happen bicarbonate will release CO2 and water. Thus we have another source of CO2, that is not directly related to carbohydrate and fat oxidation. In short, the method of calculating carbohydrate and fat burning cannot be used at high intensities." - What is Fat Max by Asker Jeukendrop
• "This non-respiratory CO(2) excretion can invalidate use of the RER for determination of fat and carbohydrate oxidation."
• Discussion of this study and implications
• Transition...

Fat Burning at High Intensities: More Than We Thought?

• Get the full text here of Paul's study: Rethinking the role of fat oxidation
• Can we/do we actually burn a higher % of fat at higher intensities than we've been led to believe or told even with lab testing?\
• Fat oxidation is explaining performance at high-level intensities
• Can we maintain the same high level of performance burning that much fat?
• "Highly trained participants sustain higher work rates with substantially greater fat oxidation rates, but similar CHOox rates, during intermittent high-intensity exercise."
• Both substrates--CHO and FAT--are important
• It's not about low-carb diets, it's about highly trained athletes
• What were diets of the well-trained (WT) subjects vs recreationally trained (RT)?
• WT had more of a "mixed" diet but were still great fat-burners due to sheer volume of training (25-35 hrs a week)

Practical Applications

• How to fuel for these results
• Fueling approach for maintaining health and performance. Discussion each of our perspectives, gender differences, etc.
• The importance of individualization with diet and health plan
• The "Peter Attia" approach to diet for health and longevity.
• More on pros and cons of too low carb/keto for athletes; can backfire it on our health and performance?
• Besides diet, what about training variables to be a better fat burner i.e. volume and intensity?
• Should we be utilizing more high-intensity to be a better fat-burner and when to add this intensity....Phil and Paul each give their thoughts.
• Principle of specificity

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We are back with Dr. Tommy Wood for another edition of Ask the Doc. Three major areas covered in this episode:

Monitoring of the oxidation reduction potential or redox status of ultra runners post-race

• Discussion on oxidative stress focusing on this new study: "Variations In Oxidative Stress Levels In Three Days Follow-Up In Ultra-Marathon Mountain Race Athletes"
• ROS generation during strenuous exercise:
  • Activated neutrophils
  • Xanthine oxidase
    • Hypoxanthine (high ATP turnover and degradation) produced by exercising muscle. Converted to xanthine and urine acid by XO using oxygen w/superoxide as a byproduct
    • Allopurinol before TdF time trial resulted in lower levels of AST, CK, and lipid oxidation (malondialdehyde) compared to placebo
  • NADPH oxidase
  • Mitochondria - some
• After (ultra)marathons, increases in:
  • CK, IL-6, CRP, 8-OH-2dG, cardiac troponin, ferritin, GSH
• In this study: 12 males sampled at the Olympic Mythical Trail 103km ultra, in effort to find a better understanding of the adaptive mechanisms against oxidative stress induced by athletic events, overall to help improve recovery, health and performance.
  • 24, 48, 72h post-race (8/12 males finished)
  • Lower glutathione (GSH) in red blood cells for 72hr afterwards
  • RedoxSYS Diagnostic System
    • Increased static oxidation reduction potential (sORP)
    • Decreased capacity oxidation reduction potential (cORP)
    • More oxidants (oxidized thiols, superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, peroxynitrite and transition metal ions
    • Fewer antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene and uric acid)
• In the average person, antioxidant supplementation (vitamins C, E, ALA etc) decrease training response (less hormetic stress)
• During repetitive or exhaustive exercise (sprints ie bleep test), NAC supplementation -> increased GSH and slower fatigue
• Overall the data on anti-oxidants and performance is VERY conflicting
  • Depends on dose of drug, dose of exercise, and how trained the person is
  • Supplement or take NAC (or allopurinol?) during long or multi-day races
  • Minimize during training or high stress periods (travel etc)
    • If doing so much you need antioxidants over a long period of time, are you doing too much?
    • Fix other issues?
• Increased intensity of exercise -> gut permeability and LPS translocation
  • Inflammation long-term -> cardiac damage and AF and arrhythmias?
• Study of non-trainers vs moderate vs heavy trainers
  • Moderate groups had highest glutathione

What the heck are lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and why should we care?

• Bulletproof Radio mention
• LPS produced by Gram -ve bacteria
  • Absorbed either through a leaky gut
  • OR bound onto proteins in blood lipid fractions
  • Gets into chylomicrons after a fat-heavy meal
• Causes increased cortisol levels, inflammation, increased cholesterol
  • Inflammation and mood or brain fog
  • Depression
• U-shaped curve of LDL and mortality
  • LDL (chylomicrons, HDL as well) bind to LPS
  • Chronic increases and inflammation -> increased LDL (protective)
    • Indicates low-level endotoxinaemia
  • Acute or more severe inflammation:
    • Decreased liver synthetic capacity
    • Lipoprotein production drops
    • LDL drops
    • Lipids can't leave liver -> fatty liver
    • Those with sepsis who get a drop in HDL and LDL are more likely to die (survivors increase cholesterol production)
  • Decreased LDL -> increased death rate from infections
  • Giving human blood lipids to mice exposed to toxic levels of endotoxin reduces mortality
• Some people think that it ALL comes back to endotoxins
  • Increased LDL
    • Not causative necessarily
    • Chronic inflammation
  • Some bacteria (Strep mutans also inactivated by chylomicrons) incl. Klebsiella are associated with atherosclerotic plaques
  • Circulating endotoxins are higher in those with T2DM and CVD regardless of other factors (BMI, blood lipids, blood glucose etc)
  • T2DM people get increased endotoxin release after a "high fat meal"
    • Higher baseline values in obese and impaired glucose tolerant
    • Suggests increased gut permeability already (more LPS can get in)
  • Short-term insulin peaks can be anti-inflammatory to combat the effect of endotoxinaemia
    • So hyperinsulinaemia might be a protective response to endotoxins
    • Then causes issues with growth and intimal thickening/hypoxia -> greater lipid deposition
  • White adipose tissue inflammation means fat IR therefore fat is no longer a useful defence mechanism against extra calories?
  • Corn oil/PUFA lowers LDL by dramatically increasing endotoxinaemia?
• Introducing fat bombs on top of a bad gut
  • More LPS -> more IR -> greater need to restrict carbs in a feed-forward manner
• What about a high-fat diet causing an increase in cholesterol? Is this ok, and what you need to know about cholesterol and fat in the diet.
• Western diet
  • Acellular carbohydrates promote a more inflammatory gut microbiota
  • Gut inflammation not just LPS-associated
    • Mice infected with E. coli with less inflammatory LPS still get IR and leptin resistance
  • Gluten etc increase gut permeability
  • Large amounts of fat increase translocation of LPS across gut
• Ricardo Carvalho aka O Primitivo
  • WHO death from various causes vs total cholesterol
  • Lowest all-cause mortality at 200-240
  • Lower cholesterol -> increased mortality from infectious diseases

Iron-Deficiency Anemia

• Female athlete hoping for some insight regarding iron deficiency anemia
• Mechanisms involved in the etiology of iron deficiency anemia beyond insufficient iron intake, such as iron absorption and transport.
• Other solutions instead of "eat more red meat"? Something else going on downstream?
• Adverse GI outcomes associated with iron supplementation.
• Studies show reduced iron bioavailability in vegetarian diet despite similar iron intakes.
• Get iron from haem-iron i.e. animal based foods for better absorption and consume with fruits and veggies to enhance absorption further (vitamin C).
  • Proferrin is a haem iron
• What to avoid having when you're eating iron rich foods (i.e. caffeine, etc)?
  • Grains, nuts, seeds (phytates)
    • If celiac, best to just remove all grains
  • Coffee/tea/red wine - polyphenols and tannins
    • BUT moderate alcohol can increase uptake (beer the most?)
  • Dairy products (calcium)
  • Other metals (from supplements)
• Do non-weight-bearing cross-training?
• Most iron "intake" comes from recycling of old RBCs and iron stored in macrophages in the liver and spleen
  • 1-2mg/day vs 22mg/day
  • Need 20-25mg/day
    • Women need ~1mg/day more
  • 70% of body iron is in Hb
• High prevalence of iron deficiency +/- anaemia in athletes (>50% in some studies)
  • Higher sTfR (not an acute phase protein) - TIBC
  • Lower ferritin (
• An athlete's iron stores are compromised via several well-established exercise-related mechanisms:
  • Haemolysis, haematuria, sweating, and GI bleeding
    • Check for FOB
    • Menstruation in females
    • "Regular weight-bearing exercise of moderate to high intensity can increase iron losses by 30% to 70%"
    • Iron lost in sweat decreases with heat acclimation
    • Under intensive training, 5-7ml (doubled) blood loss in the gut per day
      • Lose ~0.5mg/ml of iron
• Exercise duration and intensity are negatively associated with Hb, Hct, and serum ferritin concentrations in highly-trained athletes
  • Replacing iron in iron deficient women leads to improved speed, reduced HR, and reduced lactate in a treadmill test
• Exercise-induced hepcidin regulation
  • Serum iron and inflammation (esp. IL-6) increase after exercise (>70% VO2Max)
    • Direct impact (runners), inflammation (IL-6) and ROS can induce haemolysis to increase serum iron during/after exercise
    • Seen in swimming, cycling, rowing, weight training
    • More IL-6 when glycogen is depleted and in hot environments
  • Results in increased hepcidin production in the liver
    • Variable response - responders vs non-responders?
      • Marathon runners 24-72h after race.
      • Non-responders had higher baseline levels
      • May have sampled too late
    • Can rapidly reduce serum iron and Hb production
      • Decreased ferroportin on brush border of duodenal gut cells (enterocytes) -> decreased iron absorption
      • Sequestration of iron into macrophages
      • Reduced iron recycling
    • Smaller hepcidin response in the iron deficient
  • In matched intensity/volume cycling vs running, running seems to cause a greater increase in hepcidin
• Most studies include single periods of exercise or races, rather than an accumulated effect over time.
  • 9 weeks of military combat training in females leads to decreases in iron status, with decreases associated with worse performance
    • Ferritin decreased
    • RDW increased
    • sTfR increased
    • Of 94 women, 7->17 became iron deficient
    • 1-1.5h of high-intensity exercise 4-6d/week (16,000 steps)
    • Combated with a high-iron supplement bar?
  • 8 Weeks of interval and fartlek training in women
    • Increased sTfR
    • Decrease in Hb and RBCs
    • Decrease in hepcidin (smaller responses due to deficiencies?)
  • More long-term studies done in females
• Experimentally, injecting LPS -> IL-6 (and CRP) -> hepcidin peak 3h later
  • Almost identical to that seen after high-intensity exercise
• People at risk of lower iron stores:
  • Infections esp. H. pylori - blood loss
  • Other gut infections
    • Part of the job of hepcidin is to drive the sequestration of iron to prevent iron being available to pathogens
    • Also used to generate ROS to kill pathogens
    • When iron is scarce, certain bugs upregulate iron sequesters (siderophores)
    • E. coli, Klebsiella, proteus, citrobacter, enterobacter (Gram -ves)
    • Enterochelin - highest affinity of any siderophore
    • Candida - transferrin
  • NSAIDs
  • Vegetarian or vegan diets? Especially females
  • Heavy menstrual bleeding or IUD
  • Genetics
    • 80% of French Olympic champions have some kind of HFE mutation
      • 12 tested
      • More likely in aerobic or fight sports
      • Not necessarily associated with increased Hb
      • May reduce exercise-induced hepcidin increases
      • Maintain a higher serum iron
      • Improved recovery and cardiac function
  • Hypothyroid (thyroid meds?)
    • In one person, changes in thyroid status result in changes in ferritin
• Iron and bugs
  • All bacteria (except, most commonly, Lactobacilli) need iron
  • Old blood in transfusions increases risk of bacteraemia
    • Free iron from haemolysed blood supports bacterial growth
  • Iron deficiency protects against malaria
  • In theory iron supplementation will promote bacterial growth BUT
    • If iron deficient, need to figure out the cause
    • Restricting iron isn't going to fix an infection or improve iron status