The Peak Performance Podcast

PAIN: Why Pain Is Your Friend And Not The Enemy!  

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today’s topic is Pain!  Pain is the number one reason people seek medical care, however, despite how common it is, pain is the most poorly understood and unfortunately the most poorly handled of all symptoms. 

In our modern society we have been mis-lead to believe that pain is bad.  Pain is something we must eradicate or kill as quickly as we can, hence the wide variety of painkillers found in every drug store, grocery store or even convenience store and the number of prescription painkillers are too many to name, included in this class of drugs are the deadly Opioid drugs, which in the US ALONE kill over 47,000 people per year!

In reality, pain, is not bad at all!  In fact, pain is a GOOD thing and not only is it a GOOD thing, Pain is very IMPORTANT!  Yes, it is, now why do I say that …. Think it about this; Pain is a message from your body to your brain telling you that something is not right.  Pain is a check engine light for your body. Because pain is your body’s way of letting you know that something is not right with your body, the last thing you should do is rush to cover it up without addressing what it is that IS wrong.  Consider the following example: You buy a new car and one week later the check engine light comes on. So, you take your new car back to the dealership where you bought it, and they take it in to their service bay. Five minutes later the service manager comes out and tells you the following, “I fixed the problem, I covered up the check engine light with a nice thick piece of electrical tape.  You will no longer be bothered by that light. Have a great day”. Now what would you say to this person? Of course, you or I would never settle for that fix! We would want to know WHY the check engine light was on and what truly needs to be fixed and then we would not be satisfied until the problem was properly corrected. Right?

Still not convinced about the danger of being quick to cover up pain?  Here is another example; You wake up in the middle the middle of the night to the sound of smoke alarms going off.  You jump out of bed, smelling smoke, you call the fire department and rush outside. 10 minutes later the fire department arrives, by now there are flames in the basement.  The firefighters rush inside, grab all of the smoke detectors… and come back out. Then, they break all of the smoke detectors so they are no longer making any noise. The fire chief turns to you and says, “there, that should do it.  You will no longer be bothered by those alarms”. The firefighters pack up & leave, meanwhile your whole house Is now going up in flames! Would you be cool with that response? Of course not, but think about it. Really think about it.  Every time you have pain and quickly run to the medicine cabinet and take either an OTC or prescription drug to make it go away but do NOTHING to address the underlying CAUSE of your pain, you are treating your body just like that service manager wanted to treat your car and just like those firefighters treated your house!  Really, it’s true! This is true for all types of pain. 

Now think about this, how many people go to pain clinics every day only to receive drug after drug or injection after injection yet for most of these suffering people their pain never does go away permanently because the CAUSE has not been addressed.   The sad reality is; despite the pain care providers having the best of intentions as they trying to alleviate their patient’s pain, since they are not focusing on the underlying CAUSE of the pain, the patient’s body will continue, in vain, to send pain messages to the brain until the true problem or problems are addressed.  This is exactly why people often need stronger and stronger drugs to cover their pain, their bodies are working exactly as they have been designed to work: Their bodies are desperately trying to get the person’s attention so the pain signals have to become stronger and stronger to overcome the drugs or injections that are trying to simultaneously block those very same pain signals. 

I want to share some words of wisdom from the late Dr. Fred Barge, specifically an excerpt from his book “One Cause One Cure”, chapter 3 which is aptly titled, “Pain”

So there you have it folks, it is long overdue that we as a society shift how we think about Pain.  If we really want to live a long & healthy life, it is imperative that we see pain, not as something bad that must be covered up at all costs, rather we need to see pain for what it really is; a very important “check engine light” for our body that indicates the need to take some action to address an underlying cause, thereby allowing the body to actually recover and or heal and eventually after that to return to optimal function. 

What are some of the most common actions that need to be taken?  Here are the top 6 most common action steps needed to address pain. 1. Have your spine & extremity joints checked for subluxation (simply put, the chiropractic subluxation is a joint that is not properly moving).  If any subluxations are found, get adjusted to correct the subluxations. Pain is often an indication that there is subluxation in one or more joints. Joint dysfunction in the spine is a common cause of neck pain, headaches and back pain.  Subluxations in extremity joints such as the foot and ankle can cause changes in the gait which can result in pain in the foot/ankle, knee and or hip joints. Meanwhile subluxations in one or more joints in the shoulder and or arm can cause pain in the hands, wrist, elbows and shoulders.  2. Rest. In our go, go, go society, many of us are overworked and many athletes are overtrained. Rest is when the majority of healing & regeneration occurs. The most important form of rest is sleep. Adults need 8 hours per night plain and simple. Adolescents need 9-10 hours per night.  For more information on this topic read the book, “Why we sleep” by Matthew Walker PhD. 3. Clean your diet up. The standard American diet (SAD) is based on inflammatory producing refined grains & sugars. For more information on this topic read the book, “The Paleo Cardiologist” by Dr. Jack Wolfson, he was a guest on The Back to Health Chiropractic Podcast episode 21. 4. Exercise.  Our bodies are designed to MOVE. Sitting is the new smoking. Movement promotes the flow of blood & lymph throughout out the body, movement improves oxygenation to all of our tissues including the brain! 5. De-stress. Excessive stress can is linked to most chronic disease. Take time each day for meditation, prayer, yoga, reflection. Lastly: 6. De-toxify. Post WWII there have been over 87,000 new chemicals released into our environment, many of which have been shown to cause inflammation and cancer.  Eat a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables, drink plenty of clean, filtered water and if possible, use a sauna on a regular basis to encourage the body’s own detoxification systems. 

I hope this sheds some new light on Pain and on what we need to do when we have pain.  Let us know what you think, please leave comments on our show notes page which can be found at: www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com

Thank you very much for listening & have a great day!

links:

Dr. Fred Barge’s Books

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD

The Paleo Cardiologist by Jack Wolfson, DO, FACC

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The post PPP: 016 Xterra Racing & Training Secrets with 3X Xterra World Champion Lesley Paterson! appeared first on .

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

 I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today’s topic is a big one.  It seems that everyday more and more athletes are showing signs of gluten sensitivity yet at the same time many conventional providers are saying that such a problem just does not exist.  What is the truth on this topic? I fully expect to blow up some of the very core beliefs that you and even your doctors may have about gluten and all of the disorders associated with it. Well, if you are ready, roll up your sleeves, have a notepad ready and I will drill down deep into these issues in order to get past the myths, the rhetoric and get down to the truth about gluten.  Here we go.

I think the first thing we must do is to accurately define some of the key compounds & substances we are dealing with.  I think you as well as many health care providers who have not been adequately trained in this topic will be surprised to learn what some of these substances actually are.   

First and foremost: What IS Gluten?  Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in ALL grains.  Yes, you heard me correctly, gluten is a mixture of proteins found in ALL grains including corn and rice!  

What are Grains?  Grains are the seeds of grass.  

While we are on this topic, what is a Cereal Grain? A cereal grain is any grain that is grown for food.

Okay, what is in a seed of grass? Each seed of grass contains a casing that is made of bran and inside the casing is the starchy endosperm along with the plant’s embryo (also called germ).  The starchy endosperm is the food source for the developing plant embryo.  The endosperm also contains 90% of the seed’s protein including the plant’s gluten.

Let’s get back to Gluten.  Did you know there are over 400 different proteins that make up gluten.  These proteins fall into two major classes, (1) Prolamines and (2) Glutelins.  Different grains contain different percentages of these protein groups.  Now, the most well known of all these proteins is the prolamine gliadin.  The prolamine gliadin is the most well known because this protein has been most focused on in the medical literature.  Why, simply because this is the protein that is related to celiac disease.   To further complicate things, the prolamine proteins, themselves,  can be further broken down into 4 subfractions: alpha, beta, gamma and omega.  The subfraction of the prolamine gliadin that is linked to celiac disease is alpha gliadin.  Now, not all grains have alpha gliadin protein. This leads to the common mistake that many people make which is to assume that if a grain does not have this ONE protein then they believe the grain is gluten free (like corn of rice).  Now you know why this is incorrect, there simply is no such thing as a truly gluten free grain. There are alpha gliadin free grains. However, alpha gliadin free grains like corn and rice still contain literally hundreds of other gluten proteins and as we will get to shortly, research is showing that many of these other gluten proteins have the capacity to wreck just as much havoc on our bodies as the more heavily studied gliadin proteins.

What is celiac disease? Before we define celiac disease, we must mention the first key takeaway of today’s discussion.  Celiac disease does NOT equal gluten sensitivity. I repeat, celiac disease does NOT equal gluten sensitivity.  Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine caused by gluten induced damage from the prolamine alpha gliadin, in a genetically predisposed person. Celiac disease is diagnosed by visual confirmation of small intestinal damage via biopsy.  

What is Gluten Sensitivity? The best definition of gluten sensitivity can be found in The Lancet Neurology journal and is as follows, “Gluten sensitivity is a systemic autoimmune disease with diverse manifestations.  This disorder is characterized by abnormal immunological responsiveness to ingested gluten in genetically susceptible individuals.” Basically individuals with gluten sensitivity are reacting poorly to ingesting gluten however instead of the damage occurring in the small intestine, they have signs of damage in OTHER bodily systems and or regions.  

What are the most common symptoms of gluten sensitivity?  There are four major classes of symptoms common in gluten sensitivity.  There are:

What actually is leaky gut?  Here is a rough overview.  The lining of the intestinal tract is a highly specialized filter, capable of allowing only certain small well digested food remnants, vitamins, minerals and other complexes across its barrier and into the bloodstream for utilization by the body.  Now anything that makes it across this barrier is seen by the immune system. A properly functioning intestinal barrier is like the fly screen that is in our modern windows. Now think of a mid summer’s night in Maine in a cabin in the woods at midnight.  Outside the cabin there are literally millions of mosquitos. The windows are open, the lights inside the cabin are on, but with flyscreen in place we are happy inside and are not being eaten alive by those pesky mosquitos. Now image what would happen if we replaced the flyscreen with chicken wire… How many of those mosquitos would make it right into the cabin….right, get ready to be eaten alive!  Now this is what happens to our intestines when we develop leaky gut. After enough rounds of intestinal damage, most commonly from eating foods that trigger increased inflammation (foods that we are allergic to or sensitive to), ingesting inflammatory chemical toxins (pesticides, herbicides, food preservatives, artificial sweeteners etc), food poisoning and even after taking a number of common prescription drugs (especially antibiotics), this amazing intestinal lining begins to break down.  Now instead of blocking many particles from crossing over its lining and into the bloodstream, now it lets far too many substances in. Remember, anything that makes it across the intestinal barrier is seen by the immune system as many key immune system cells live in our blood streams and are on duty 24 hours per day 365 days per year. This results in an almost non stop activation of our immune system each and every time we eat. This can make an immune system become hyperactive. A hyperactive immune system is much more likely to become dysfunctional and can begin attacking itself!  This is what research is showing is the likely mechanism behind ALL autoimmune conditions, increased intestinal permeability or leaky gut.   Now you know why autoimmune symptoms can result from gluten sensitivity.

The next big issue to tackle is this: Why is there such a growing prevalence of gluten related disorders?  Has it always been present but we just have better methods to test for it?  The short answers are: There seem to be 8 major reasons that can explain the tremendous rise in gluten related disorders.  No, it has not always been present at the frequency we are seeing today. Now to further explain; A fascinating study in the journal Gastroenterology in 2009 showed that this is indeed a growing problem.  Did you know that armed forces stores blood samples from servicemembers for 30 years? They compared blood samples from almost 10,000 healthy young adults from 1948-1954 to almost 13,000 healthy young adults from recent sampling and what they found was this, “The prevalance of undiagnosed celiac disease seems to have increased dramatically in the United States during the last 50 years”  

Lets drill down on the 8 major reasons behind this tremendous rise in gluten related disorders.

Testing For Gluten Sensitivity:

Before we get into how to test for gluten sensitivity we must talk about common testing errors.  Due to the abundance of focus on alpha gliadin, many providers when ordering a “gluten” test will only order labs that test for only alpha gliadin.  Furthermost most of these tests are only looking at the classic true allergen response, that being IgE antibody production. Well, research now shows that some individuals that are gluten sensitive may have a normal IgE antibody response, however, they can have abnormal IgG, IgA, IgM & IgD antibody responses and or abnormal T-cell reactions or even abnormal immune complex system reactions.  Therefore testing needs to go above and beyond simple IgE antibody testing and it cannot be limited to only looking at responses to alpha gliadin. To Better test for gluten sensitivity labs should be ordered that will test a variety of antibody responses to a variety of gluten proteins as well as a variety of gluten related enzymes and peptides which gives a more thorough view of the variety of ways one can be reacting abnormally to gluten ingestion.  Cyrex labs is a leader in this sort of advanced testing. I will put a link to their website on our show notes page for today’s episode.

So there you have it, I hope I’ve been able to give you a more solid understanding of gluten sensitivity and that yes, it is real and yes we are seeing more cases than ever before and now you know why.  We began this talk defining some of the key terms like gluten, grains and gliadin. We discussed the difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. We talked about common signs & symptoms of gluten related disorders and how to test for it.  Athletes, especially endurance athletes: you are more likely to be at risk for developing gluten sensitivity due to the higher levels of carbohydrates typically being consumed and for many it comes in the form of wheat and many of the other gluten-associated cross reactive foods, so be alert for the discussed signs and symptoms and know that if you are dealing with any unexplained drops in performance this could be an underlying factor.  For those of you looking for more information I will put some relevant links on our show notes page which you can find at www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com.  Curious about getting tested yourself, call our office at 207-324-7098 and ask to set up a functional medicine & nutrition visit.

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

Links

Gluten Free Society

Research from the journal Interdisciplinary toxicology, “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance”.

Cyrex Labs

The post PPP: 015 Gluten Sensitivity: Real or Imagined? appeared first on .

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today’ conversation is likely to blow up many of the basic ideas & beliefs you have about how to train for endurance events.  The information we are about to cover comes from an extensive body of research based on the actual training plans of the world’s best runners, cyclists, swimmers, nordic skiers and more!  What we are going to cover aren’t just good ideas, no, these are actual strategies and plans used by numerous Olympic & world champions.

Let’s begin; Most of us are very familiar with the 5 zone model of exercise intensity and have been using it extensively as the basis behind our training plan focused primarily on a wide variety of higher intensity interval training sessions which in theory will best increase our VO2Max and FTP to improve our performance.  Many of these interval sessions focus on performing work somewhere between 80-100% or 80-110% of our FTP or Vo2Max depending on what methods are available for testing/retesting the athlete.

FTP or Functional Threshold Power is the highest amount of power one can output over 45-60 min. Vo2Max is the maximum oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity.  Now, many amateure + age group athletes, especially in the winter months will utilize 3 or more of these types of sessions per week. These sessions are often called, “FTP sessions”, “Threshold sessions”, “sweet spot sessions” or “VO2Max sessions”. Training like typically puts the long slow distance workout on the back burner. Often an athlete’s time constraints combined with an unjustified belief that there is little to gain by long slow distance workouts are the main reasons behind the lack of emphasis on them.  I have heard of these type of workouts called garbage miles. Three other things have contributed to a lack of favor in doing multiple sessions of long slow distance on a weekly basis;

Here comes the Big Curveball:  When you look at how the world’s best endurance athletes train and when you look at the SCIENCE behind best practices, what you learn is this: The world’s best athletes train dramatically different than those us using the standard high intensity interval program based on the 5 zone model of exercise intensity.  What is most surprising & the biggest difference is this: The best endurance athletes do FAR LESS interval work, In fact, the majority of elite level endurance athletes do upwards of 80% or more of their time working out in what we would call Zone 1 or Zone 2, at long slow distance pace!  That’s right, 80% or more of their time is spent well below their FTP or Vo2max intensities.

Now there is a catch, and it’s a BIG catch.  When elite athletes do perform high intensity interval sessions, they go ALL IN and are often willing & ABLE to push into sessions of higher FTP / Vo2Max %’s than what amateure & age groupers are able to do.  Why can elite athletes often train at intensities higher than non-elites? One likely reason is that many non-elites are carrying an excess of accumulated fatigue from the doing so many high intensity intervals sessions each and every week.  Remember that after doing high intensity based workouts, you may have lingering musculoskeletal soreness that can take 1-3 days or more to recover from, well your nervous system can take 7 times longer than the musculoskeletal system to recover!

Let’s review: When analyzing how elite endurance athletes train you will typically find they spend a majority of time on either far end of the spectrum in terms of training intensities. In general about 80-90% of their time is spent doing long slow distance and about 10-20% of their time is spent doing high intensity interval training.  Because these athletes spend so much of their time in such a polarizing set of intensities, this type of approach has been aptly named, Polarized training.

When it comes to intensity zones, Polarized training better fits a three zone model of exercise intensity as opposed to the conventional 5 zone model.  For this discussion we will refer to these three zones as; polarized training zone 1, polarized training zone 2 and you guessed it, polarized training zone 3.  Polarized training zone 1 is similar to zones 1 & 2 in the conventional 5 zone model. polarized training zone 2 would be roughly equal to zone 3 in the 5-zone conventional model and polarized training zone 3 would be roughly equal to zones 4 & 5 in the conventional 5 zone model.  What is particularly interesting is that elite athletes spend very little time in the polarized model zone 2, since this is known as the dead zone. Essentially you are not going hard enough to reap any significant benefits of high intensity intervals, however, you are going hard enough to still be accumulating excessive bodily stress.  Now when you think about it, many of us amature and age group athletes spend the MAJORITY of our time in what would be classified as Polarized training’s Zone 2!

An an example of how this happens is as follows: How many times have you done this…I know I have done this alot: You have a two hour long slow distance workout but are pressed for time so you think, “Since I only have an hour, I will push harder to make it “worthwhile”. Everytime we do this we are robbing ourselves the opportunity to acquire the benefits of LSD yet in going harder than we should for that workout we are  placing undue / unplanned stress on ourselves while not getting any real benefit of the increased intensity in this example since we are not going hard enough. Bottom line, research supports that most of us go too hard when we should be going easy and do not go hard enough when it’s time to truly get after it.

Because elite athletes push so hard during their intervals many of them only do 1 or 2 sessions per week!  This highlights one of the biggest training mistakes made by age group & amateur athletes: The belief that if some interval training is good, then more must be better.  We have to appreciate the fact that high intensity interval training puts a significant strain into the muscles, joints, ligaments, connective tissue, and it puts a significant stress on the energetic system, nervous system and endocrine system, as it activates heavily the Hypothalmus-Pituitary-Adrenal-Axis which can lead to overtraining and ultimately poor performances, sickness and injury.  

Now here is where the long slow distance workout shines.  Keep in mind that any event that lasts longer than 10-12 seconds will require some aerobic metabolism.  Therefore, anything that we can do to train our body on a cellular level at becoming a better aerobic engine will aid in such event.  Performing long slow distance workouts has been shown to improve not only our cellular aerobic metabolism but also improve cellular signalling which in turns improves many key processes such as DNA transcription, RNA translation and the building of proteins which is critical in connective tissue repair, bone & muscle building and even hormone synthesis!  However, unlike high intensity interval workouts which result in significantly more stress on the body, long slow distance workouts are relatively low stress, especially in regards to adrenal glands and entire HPA axis!

If you are not yet convinced about the power of polarized training, let’s dive deep into some real world examples:

Research by Billat and others in 2001 looked at elite French & Portuguese marathon runners in the 12 weeks leading up to the Olympic trials.  What they learned was these elite marathoners spent 78% of their training time at speeds well below marathon pace, which for them would be considered long slow distance.  Meanwhile they ran just 18% of their time at either 10km or 3km pace and just 4% of their time at actual marathon speed.

Mujika and others in 1995 looked at training data from national and international class swimmers over an entire season.  Now these athletes specialized in shorter events, 100m and 200m races. These races only last on average between 60 and 120 seconds nevertheless as we discussed earlier, even these events require aerobic metabolism.  These athletes spent 77% of their time swimming at an intensity that would fall into periodized zone 1, categorized as long slow distance pace.

Steinacker and others in 1998 looked at training data from elite German rowers that were preparing for the world championships.  This event requires athletes to row over 2000m. This event will typically last 6 to 7 minutes. The researchers found they spent 90% of their time training at an intensity that would fall into periodized training Zone 1 (long slow distance pace), virtually NO time training at threshold (periodized training zone 2) and just 10% of their time at high intensity (polarized zone 3).

In 2006 Seiler and others looked at training data from national level elite cross country skiers.  These athletes average Vo2Max was an astonishing 72ml.kg.min. What they found when looking at how these athletes train was this; 91% of their training time was at long slow distance intensity (polarized zone 1), about 6% of their training time was spent in polarized zone 2 and just under 3% of their time was spent at high intensity (polarized zone 3).

In 2004 Fiskerstrand and Seiler looked at data from 27 elite Norwegian rowers who won either Olympic or World medals.  They were able to look into three decades (1970’s, 1980’s & 1990’s) of evolving training plans and this is what they learned.  Over this span of time the average Norwegian rower was able to increase their Vo2max by 10% which is incredible for athletes of this caliber.  The researchers found two major adjustments to the athletes training plans over this period of time. Number one; “Overall training volume increased by about 20% and become more dominated by low-intensity volume” (polarized zone 1).  Number two; “very high intensity overspeed sprint training had declined dramatically in favor of longer interval training at 85-95% of Vo2max (polarized zone 3).”

Cyclists & triathletes listen to this; Schumacher and Mueller in 2002 looked at training data for the German gold medal winning track cyclists (Sydney Olympics).  What these athletes were able to do was truly remarkable. They had trained themselves to be able to hold 670W in the lead position and when falling back into the draft maintain an output of 450W!  The researchers learned that the majority of their training plan consisted of low to moderate cycling not on the track but on open roads and their total ride volume at this pace was huge (29-35,000km/year).  Now this is particularly interesting: In the 200 days before the olympics, where one would think they must have done incredibly high intensity intervals in order to get them in ready to push almost 700W on race day, they did just the opposite.  70% of their training days consisted of long slow distance rides at 50-60% of their Vo2max. 20% of their training days consisted of stage racing. Less than 10% of their training days were spent on the track at olympic race day intensity! Of that 10%, most of those days were done farther out from the olympics, in fact, in the 110 days leading up to the olympics, they only spent 6 days or just 5% of their days training at olympic race pace!  The take home message, training a massive aerobic engine is key to achieving elite level performance in endurance sports!

So there its folks, data from some of the worlds best runners, swimmers, cross country skiers, rowers and cyclists that support the use of polarized training plans as a means for achieving elite level performance.   For those interested in learning more I highly recommend reading the following from Seiler and Tonnessen, “Intervals, Thresholds, and Long Slow Distance: the Role of Intensity and Duration in Endurance Training.” It can be found in the journal Sportscience.  I will put a link to it in the show notes.

I hope this provides some food for thought, especially since this episode will be released in November, a time when a lot of us especially in the northeast are heading into winter and are in the midst of planning how we will train throughout this season.  My best advice; heed the information covered here today, resist the trap of doing too many high intensity interval sessions each week. Do not get fooled into going for a KOM or QOM every time you are outside or virtually training. Most importantly, take some time and focus on the long slow distance workout now and throughout the year to ultimately get stronger, fitter FASTER!

Links

http://www.sportsci.org/2009/ss.htm

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

The post PPP: 014 Polarized Training – Used by the World’s Best Endurance Athletes and Why YOU should Too! appeared first on .

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today I am excited to share with you an ever-expanding list of Performance Improving benefits that comes with adding sauna time to your training & recovery plan!  Also and perhaps of even greater importance; We are learning that there are Numerous health promoting benefits that come with regular sauna use.  

Did you know that for decades many of the top Scandinavian endurance athletes both past and present incorporate regular Sauna use as a key component of their training AND recovery?  This is something that we in North America have been way behind in, however, as the research continues to pile up hopefully we will no longer be left out in the cold on this one!

Let’s Dive right in and look at the Top Athletic Benefits that result from Sauna use:

Improved Cardiovascular Function:

Regular sauna use has been shown to allow the athlete to utilize a lower HR in higher ambient temperatures compared to non-heat trained athletes.  The translation: Sauna use makes athletes become more efficient! For those familiar with Polarized Training, which science is showing to be the best way to optimize endurance training, that is the end result, to do more work at lower heart rates!  Therefore regular sauna use would be a perfect complement to Polarized Training. If you are not yet familiar with Polarized Training, do not worry, we are going to be drilling down on this topic soon in an upcoming podcast, so stay tuned.

Sauna use has been shown to improve muscle perfusion.  

Sauna use has been shown to increase the heart’s Stroke Volume.

Sauna use improves the rate at which muscles can clear metabolic waste and decreases the rate of glycogen depletion (meaning you can do more work on less fuel).

Sauna use has been shown to increase red blood cell count due by stimulating an increase in erythropoietin (EPO) and also increase Growth Hormone output!!!

How does sauna use do all of this:  It’s actually pretty straight forward:  Sauna use provides a benefit similar to exercise.  It is all about overcoming applied stress. With traditional exercise the stress comes from physical resistance in a variety of forms depending on what we are doing; For example; when running we need to exert ground contact force to overcome gravity, when cycling we need to exert power to overcome the resistance from the pedals, gears, etc.  With sauna use the the applied stress is maintaining core temperature in a hot environment. Both exercise and sauna use result in increased heart rate, increased respiration rate, increased stroke volume and increased sweat rate. Now this is important: There is one one major difference between sauna use and traditional exercise: When we do traditional exercise weather it be weight training, running, biking, elliptical use etc, of course we experience increases in everything we just mentioned, BUT, it also causes an adrenal response (our adrenal glands produce stress hormones as a result of the body sensing it is under stress) causing a spike in cortisol output.  Now this is can a good thing because cortisol triggers the subsequent changes in hormones and dietary fuels that we need to get through whatever is stressing us weather it be a workout, running away from that bear, making those split second decisions to avoid say a car crash and cortisol also sets the stage for recovery (in fact that is just the beginning of what cortisol does, we could literally spend an hour on that). But, there is a problem which is this; So many of us are under so much stress on such a regular & on-going basis that our adrenal glands are actually fatigued. The harder you push in training results in greater strains to the adrenals glands. Continuing to push hard ie TRAIN when you are in adrenally fatigued leads to becoming overtrained which leads to poor performance, injury and sickeness.  Now when using a sauna, the body must try to cool which creates a stress on the cardiovascular system similar to what occurs when working out, however, sauna use has been shown to actually Decrease cortisol levels!  Therefore; you get the benefit of a cardiovascular workout without putting stress on our adrenal glands!  This takes us right into the next major benefit of sauna use:

Enables Downregulation of our Nervous System

Here are two applicable studies:

#2.  1989 European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology: (2) 20 min sauna sessions at 176 degree F sauna with a 30 min cooling period resulted in 2X’s growth hormone secretion vs control

Now let’s get into some of the General Health Promoting Benefits of Sauna use:

Improved Detoxification:

Improves Hypertension

Weight Loss

Decreased incidence of Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Helps to reduce chronic pain

There you have it folks! In addition to boosting your overall athletic performance, regular sauna use has been shown to promote relaxation and reduce stress, improve detoxification, downregulate the nervous system, decrease risk of hypertension, stimulate weight loss, decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s & Dementia and reduce chronic pain!

Now for my personal experience:  I began researching the benefits of sauna use a few years ago and last winter purchased a small home unit so I could perform my own research and this is what I have learned so far.

#1. Better sleep.  Now this was something I was not expecting as I am extremely fortunate to be a good sleeper.  But when using the sauna in the evening for as little as 20 minutes, I come out feeling so incredibly relaxed that the night my sleep is another level, I would say in all honesty, it’s fantastic!

#2. Noticeable Stress Relief.  This ties in with the previous finding.  I had some extremely stressful times in our clinic this past winter as we had to switch over to a completely new electronic health record, deal with some difficult insurance companies and we were simultaneously rebuilding our team.  On some of the most stressful days, if I were to get into the sauna for a session, I would have to say afterwords, if I had to put a number on it, it would be no stretch to say I felt 90% less stress after the session, no doubt I had experienced some much needed downregulation.

#3.  Absolute improvement in dealing with race day heat.  This past winter in the Northeast was brutally cold and the cold temperatures continued on into the spring and even early summer.  One of my earlier season races was Xterra French River, which I would highly recommend, by the way, but the temps on race day were over 90 degrees.  Many people suffered during that race, however, after drawing back to my many sessions in the 140-150 degree sauna I can say it made the 90+ degree heat that day seem not that bad.  Based on how I felt during the race, I know that the degree of power I was putting out was much more than I could have done prior to regular sauna use.

That wraps up my personal observations regarding regular sauna use.  If any of you have your own stories about how sauna use has helped your training and performance, please share them with us by commenting on this episode on tunes, facebook or on our website directly, the links for all the ways to do so will be in the show notes.

I will put links to the research discussed in the show notes as well as links to the Clear Light sauna that I am currently using.  And as a special thank you to our listeners, if you are interested in purchasing a sauna, use this link and enter the promo code SPINE to get $450 dollars off and a special Gift with purchase!  That is promo code SPINE!

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

Links

Clear Light Saunas:  Remember to use the Promo Code, SPINE to get $450 off & a Gift with purchase

Research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Effect+of+post-exercise+sauna+bathing+on+the+endurance+performance+of+competitive+male+runners

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Effect+of+post-exercise+sauna+bathing+on+the+endurance+performance+of+competitive+male+runners

http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/19/11/1288

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27932366

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16088266

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28633297

The post PPP: 013 The Sauna – A Secret Weapon to Boost Endurance & Much, Much More! appeared first on .

Welcome to The Peak Performance Podcast

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guest”

Dr. Tyler Kuntz is the newest member of our team here at Back to Health Chiropractic.

He grew up in the small town of Mildmay in rural southern Ontario. He completed his ungraduated studies at the University of Guelph in June of 2014. While there he received his bachelor’s degree in Human Kinetics as well as a minor in Nutrition and Nutraceutical Sciences. From a young age Dr. Kuntz was very active in a variety of sports including hockey, softball, cross-country running and rugby. While playing many different sports Dr. Kuntz frequently relied on chiropractic care to overcome the injuries he sustained. It was also during this time that Dr. Kuntz realized the many benefits associated with chiropractic care in achieving optimal function, ultimately helping him perform at the highest level. This led Dr. Kuntz to pursue a career in chiropractic. 

In February of 2018 Dr. Kuntz graduated Magna Cum Laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. While studying at Palmer Dr. Kuntz was a Clinical Radiology Intern and a Chiropractic Rehabilitation and Sports Injury Intern.

After completing two marathons, a 50K race and several unsupported ultra-distance runs, Tyler has shifted his athletic focus on ultra-marathon racing

In this discussion we cover a wide range of topics related to ultra marathon training, racing and recovery.  I hope you enjoy this conversation, without any further ado, Here is my conversation with Dr. Tyler Kuntz.

Conversation Overview

What is an ultramarathon?

In the most general term an ultramarathon is a run or race that covers more than the 26.2-mile distance associated with a marathon. From an organized race standpoint, the most common distances are 50 km (31 miles), 50 miles, and 100 miles with a wide variety of special distance and races found in between and even races stretching well beyond the 100-mile distance. There are also timed events that are becoming more popular 6, 12, 24 hours and further.

Who can run an ultramarathon?

At lot of times I hear people say things like “I could never run that far” or “I’m just not made for running” or “I couldn’t find the time to train for anything like that” but, I have no doubt in my mind that any healthy person with a strong will and determination can train to run an ultramarathon.  Going to the finish line of an ultramarathon sure you will see the lean, long legged runners crossing the finishing line but towards the middle of the pack you see people of all ages, shapes and sizes. This is not just a sport dominated in terms of numbers by the super fit athletes.

How do you train for an ultramarathon?

Mileage

This is where most people feel they won’t have the time to train for an ultramarathon, but you can easily train for an ultramarathon only running four days a week. As a rule of thumb, I like to build my plans in a stepwise fashion. What that looks like is two weeks where I would increase my mileage from the previous week by about 10% following by a cycle down week where the mileage is dropped by about 10-15%. You can repeat this strategy up until two weeks before the race where you will begin to taper to prepare for the race.

Key Runs/workouts

Long runs and back to back long runs on weekends – Getting in one long run a week is key and an absolute must. If there is one day not to miss during your weekly training this must be it. These runs should be done at a pace that is slower than your race pace. These runs are important to train the body to be moving forward for extended periods of time. The point of the back to back long runs is that you will train your body to run on tired and sore legs. Gaining the mental ability to do this huge come race day when you are at distances you’ve never ran before. These runs are also important in developing a nutrition and hydration plan that you will use on race day.

Try to get one running-type workout per week – Some different types of workouts that I enjoy and mix into my training plans are tempo runs, fartlek runs, intervals and hill repeats. You will never be running this fast or hard in your race, but this is a great way to build strength, increase your lactate threshold and improve VO2 max. All of these will allow you to run harder for longer come race day.

Splitting mileage during the week into two runs.

Cross training – This is a great way to build strength by lifting weights which can improve your running economy. Other endurance sports cross training is also a great way to give your running muscles a day off while also building cardiovascular endurance.

Nutrition pre/during/post

Nutrition and hydration is one of the most important and often neglected aspect of ultramarathons. Failing to create a nutrition plan that works for you is a recipe for disaster. Anyone who has ever bonked or hit the wall in a race knows how miserable this is. Eating and drinking throughout the course of the race is important in preventing this from happening. There are all kinds of gels, chews, sports drinks out there. There is no one plan for every person, this is something that is trial and error and greatly depends on your metabolism, ability to digest different types of food while exercising, how much you sweat. Getting calories in towards the end of the race even when you don’t feel like eating is super important as well. Setting a timer on a watch for every 20 minutes or so to remind yourself to take a sip of water or sports drink and grab a little something to eat can really help. I try to consume around 300-400 calories per hour when doing long runs and races, but this varies based on temperature, effort level. GI issues in ultra-running are huge, it is not uncommon to see participants throwing up along a race course, so by dialing in your nutrition prior to race day can prevent this from happening.

Rest

Rest days are critical to letting the body heal, repair and rebuild.

How hard is ultra-running on your body?

Most of the 50km races will not be as hard on your body as a traditional 26.2-mile road race that will batter your body on tarmac for the entirety of the race. A lot of ultramarathon races on run on trails allowing for a softer surface for running while also letting the body use different muscle groups over the varying terrain.  The key to running these long-distance races is to slow yourself down, walk the up hills.

How do you fit running around your daily life and events?

One of my biggest tips that I can offer to train for these races is to be flexible. Start with a plan that you think you have reasonable shot at being able to stick to. Print this out, get an app on your phone or whatever works best for you to have this somewhere you can look at it every day and see what you need to do for the day. Now where the flexibility comes in is that we all have things come up from day to day that maybe don’t allow our training to go as planned but knowing these setbacks will happen and knowing it won’t ruin our entire training plan can go a long way. Don’t feel up to running as far as your plan calls one day? Run a little less. Feeling great one day, do a little more. Having flexibility in your training is key to a successful training block before a race.

Another big one training tool to use is to try and run in the mornings if possible. Having your gear laid out and ready go at a time of day when nothing is going on goes a long way. Getting home at the end of the day its so easy to just see the couch and want to kick back and relax.

For me on days when I don’t feel like running there is saying I always say to myself “Just get out there and run for 10 minutes and if you feel like stopping then you can stop, but just get out there for 10 minutes” I’ll tell you what I don’t know if there has been one time where after 10 minutes I have actually taken that out and turned around for home. There’s something about getting the blood flowing that wants you to keep going.

What about mental toughness?

Bar none being mentally tough is essential for successful ultra-running. There will be moments in training and races that you want to pack it in a give up. The pain will be unforgiving at times and see unbearable. In my opinion running races of these distance is over 90% mental. Going into the “pain cave”, is the lowest of lows but each time you push through that and come out on the other side give you such a sense of accomplishment. Experiencing these tough spots in and ultramarathon happens frequently. There will be highs and lows throughout the race but knowing that and being able to ride them out. When things are feeling good and you have that rush of endorphins slow down and make it last, enjoy it for as long as its there because you know that you’re going to be on the other end of it sooner. A couple phrases I like to repeat to myself over and over when I’m running are: “you’re stronger than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can” and an ultra-running favorite “it’s going to get worse before it gets better”.

What draws you to ultrarunning?

I think it’s a combination of things. I really enjoy races that ae on trails and I think that comes back to our innate desire to connect with nature. Being outdoors is something I love and being able to cover a lot of ground on your own two feet and take in so many views and stuff is a very primal feeling. I love pushing my body’s limit to find out what it is capable of. As human’s our cardiovascular endurance is something that is truly remarkable and pushing that limit and finding out what I can do is very rewarding.

Do your feet get blisters?

They will but getting a good pair of socks and shoes can really help prevent blisters from happening. I like to buy my shoes from local running stores that take the time to analyze your gait and make recommendations based on your running style and training. Also, having different pairs of shoes that you switch between is something that I think is very important. Your toenails will die and fall off. Looking at an ultrarunner’s feet is like something out of a horror movie a lot of the time. My toenails are constantly in varying shades of black, blue and purple.

 Links

Hydration Pack: Nathan Vapor Air

Anti-Chafe Salve

Manchester 2 Monadnock Ultra

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

The post PPP 012: Ultra Marathon Training Secrets with Dr. Tyler Kuntz appeared first on .

PPP: 011 Why Endurance Athletes Should Do CrossFit

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

Welcome to The Peak Performance Podcast

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guests:

Kyle Sikes is the head coach and owner of CrossFit 207. He went to school at the University of Maine, originally for Molecular and Cellular Biology, but it was there that he started doing CrossFit. After discovering what he really loved to do, he changed his degree around to something more relevant to fitness. That being a Zoology degree with an Exercise Science minor. During his time at UMaine he started his first affiliate, CrossFit Black Bear, which has been passed down class to class and has since grown tremendously. Kyle has had his share of success in the competitive CrossFit world. He placed 57th in the world out of 70,000+ athletes in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Open. He made it to the Reebok Games Northeast Regionals in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and enjoys competing in local fitness competitions around New England.

Ryan Loshaw is a CrossFit 207 Coach & CrossFit Hack Co-ownerWNER

Beginning at the age of 8 with daily 5 mile runs with his father, a passion for competition and athletics grew. From high school cross country, track, swimming, ultramarathons and triathlons, he maintained an endurance background until his mid 20s. After breaking his femur in a race, he stumbled into CrossFit where his first coach (and future wife) opened his eyes to the benefits of CrossFit methodology and proper biomechanics. He has a passion of helping people utilize CrossFit to make them more successful, not only athletically but in their job and everyday life.

Kyle & Ryan, welcome to the show!

Okay, that was just a quick introduction, can you take a minute to fill in some of the gaps for our listeners, maybe tell us a little more about yourselves and what has made you into the athletes, coaches & Crossfit owners that you are today?

 Let’s jump right in, for those listeners who are not familiar with CrossFit, can you take some time to explain what exactly is CrossFit and what is it about CrossFit that is different from what you would experience in a more traditional gym setting?

One thing that has really stood out for me in regards to the people that I know that belong to CrossFit 207 is the tremendous sense of community that exists amongst your members.  Is this unique to your brand of CrossFit or is there something about this overall training model that makes it so successful in building such a supportive, tight-knit group?

Can you talk about the open gym format that is available to members?

 I have heard a lot of positive feedback from the classes that you have been launched earlier this year, can you take a few moments and explain what some of these classes look like, in terms of how long are they and what the overall layout is or flow of the class?  Are certain levels of experience required to be able to take the classes?

 What are some of the biggest misconceptions that people have about CrossFit?

 What are some of the most common mistakes that you see or hear of people making who are working out on their own often consistently but without making any real or lasting gains?

 Let’s switch gears for a moment and talk about endurance athletes.  Many of our listeners are triathletes and competitive distance runners.  Last month when I interviewed Michi Weiss, a 3X Ironman Champion, Xterra World Triathlon Champion and Olympian, he explained that the number one reason he strength trains is for injury prevention.  We discussed at length that often endurance athletes will skip out on the gym for the better part of their competitive season.  Can you take a few minutes to expand on not only how endurance athletes can utilize CrossFit to help prevent injuries but also what are some other benefits to incorporating this particular style of training into their year- round plans?

 One major thing that you guys do very well that very few fitness facilities even address is incorporating information on nutrition & diet.  Can you take a few moments and expand on this topic for our listeners, perhaps how you educate your members on this topic and some of the food challenges you have ran and the impact it has had…

Super Sprint Round: Featuring 3 questions from our listeners:  I will fire them off quickly BUT answers do not need to be quick:

What is your favorite post workout recovery meals?

If you could only do one exercise for the next year, what would it be and Why?

Airdyne Bike or Rower till EXHAUSTION?

As we get ready to wrap up, I have two final questions for you:

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners and HOW can we CONNECT WITH YOU?

Folks, I will put a links to each of the ways to connect with Kyle & Ryan in our show notes page @ www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com

Kyle & Ryan, THANK YOU Both for taking time out of your busy schedules to be with us today, best of luck in all that you two are up to!

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

The post PPP: 011 Why Endurance Athletes SHOULD Do CrossFit appeared first on .

PPP 010: Athletic Nutrition 101; Fueling for a winning season!

 The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 Today’s topic: Athletic Nutrition 101; Fueling for a winning season!

Now more than ever figuring out what we should eat as athletes has never been more confusing.  The internet and social media is overflowing with information from so many self-proclaimed experts. Trying to sort through and separate fact from fiction is enough to make most people’s head spin.  Therefore today’s goal is to cover the basics.  The information I will teach you today comes from the highest quality research available and has been verified by thousands of laboratory tests that I have reviewed on countless athletes over my 14+ years in clinical practice.

So, buckle up, lets jump right in!

Baseline Nutrition:

Fats: Anything nature made or that is MINIMALLY processed is good vs anything made in a lab/synthesized bad (trans(partially hydrogenated))

Protein: Best sources are wild caught cold water fatty fish, free range chicken, fowl & eggs, grass fed beef. Limit use of protein powders, however, cold filtered whey protein with branched chain

Carbohydrates: Best sources are fresh organic fruits (avoid buying conventionally grown members of the “dirty dozen”(due to increased contamination)), potatoes, sweet potatoes.  

Micros: Vitamin COMPLEXES, mineral COMPLEXES, trace minerals. Necessary for energy production at the cellular level, tissue integrity and countless enzymes.  This is why organic food matters, as organic products often have much higher levels of vitamin/mineral complexes.  Beware of junk science sponsored by major food industries that claim that organic food is not better.  Often these studies only look at macro-nutrients and neglect micro-nutrients.  Whole foods always best, if supplementing use Whole Food products which contain

Hydration:  Water, not coffee, not tea…. How much? Roughly ½ body weight in oz, with pinch of

Nutrition is the 4th leg of triathlon!

Athletes have 1-2 hr of stored fuel in form of glycogen (liver muscles) available

Assumption: You have made sure glycogen stores are ready ~24 hr before (food in stomach

Special Considerations

So there you have it folks, that is a brief overview of nutrition for the athlete.  As always if you have any questions reach out to us via the contact tab on our website, www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com .  There you will find a page for today’s show along with detailed notes of our discussion!

LINKS

Dominic D’agostino

Skratch Labs

Allen Lim’s Book

Macca’s Book

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

The post PPP 010: Athletic Nutrition 101; Fueling for a winning season! appeared first on .

PPP 009: Interview with 3X Ironman Champion, Xterra World Triathlon Champion and Olympian Michael “Michi” Weiss

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guest:  Xterra World Triathlon Champion, Ironman Champion, and Olympian, Michael “Michi” Weiss!!!

.Michi, welcome to the show!

Okay, that was just a quick introduction, can you take a minute to fill in some of the gaps for our listeners, maybe tell us a little more about yourself and what has made you into the elite athlete that you are today?

What were some of your most memorable moments of being an Olympic Athlete and being able to represent your home country, Austria, on the world’s greatest stage during the 2004 Athens Olympics for Mountain Biking?

How has your background in mountain biking helped in your development as a triathlete, obviously it helps a ton in off road triathlon, but I am curious as to how it has helped or has influenced you in what I will call standard road based triathlon?

One thing I would love to delve into is the variety of training you incorporate throughout your year.  I follow a number of different pro’s and I cannot think of too many others that utilize such a wide variety of sports such as cross-country skiing, mountain biking, trail running and snow-boarding etc.  What is it that keeps you involved in so many different ways to train, is it a love of the outdoors, love of those sports or are there aspects of training in these other sports that spill over and create gains in triathlon?

Let’s dive into strength training for a minute.  It seems that quite often that is one aspect of training that gets left out especially among us age groupers.  If time is limited, many think the gym should be the workout to skip.  For those that do work in some strength training, often it is only in the few months of the off-season and then these folks too, tend to drop these workouts from their plans as the season gets underway.  Can you speak for a minute to our listeners about why strength training is so important for us endurance athletes and why we need to train throughout the year?  

Now let’s focus a bit on long course triathlon, for those listening that are not familiar, we are talking about ½ Iron and Full Iron distance events.  What are some of the most common mistakes that you see age groupers making, in regards to their training?

One thing that I have come to appreciate in long course racing is the benefit of having your head on straight during those long days.  Do you have any specific tools or strategies you have used over the years to build your mental game?  God knows you have had to bring your A-game on a number of occasions especially while running the marathon segment of the Ironman World Championships through the extreme head & humidity of lava fields of Kona!

The last topic I would love to dive into that you seem to do an excellent job of is recovery.  This is perhaps one of the biggest issues I see in the age groupers I work with in our clinic.  So many of us are working full time time jobs, have family obligations and are training numerous hours per week, all together which can create the perfect storm that is Overtraining which leads to illness and injury.  What are some of the most important strategies to monitoring and maximizing recovery between workouts and training blocks that you utilize?

As we get ready to wrap up, I have two final questions for you:

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners and HOW can we CONNECT WITH YOU?

Michael, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to share such valuable information with our listeners!  We wish you the best of luck during the remainder of this year and beyond!

https://www.instagram.com/michaelweisstriathlon/

www.facebook.com/trimichaelweiss

http://www.wiki-miki.com

https://twitter.com/michi_weiss

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

The post PPP 009: Interview with 3X Ironman Champion, Xterra World Triathlon Champion and Olympian Michael “Michi” Weiss appeared first on .

PPP 008: Interview with the Dynamic Duo behind Braveheart Coaching: 3X World Triathlon Champion Lesley Paterson & Her husband, Performance Psychologist for the BMC World Tour Professional Cycling Team, Dr. Simon Marshall!

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

  They are the Amazing Duo behind Braveheart Coaching in San Diego California!  These two are about as well rounded as any two that you could ever come across:  Lesley is a 2X Xterra Triathlon World Champion, is an ITU World Cross Triathlon Champion, and is a co-owner of Braveheart Coaching. In addition to her athletic pedigree, she also has a Master’s Degree in Theater, and is the co-owner of her own production company, Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment Inc.

Dr. Simon Marshall has a PhD in sport and exercise psychology, is the Performance Psychologist for the BMC World Tour Professional Cycling Team, is the other half of Braveheart Coaching and has years of experience in competitive cycling.  By combining their passions and expertise they have created a unique coaching program where Simon trains your brain and Lesley trains your body and… they have some Exciting news:  Their new book, The Brave Athlete is due to be out in stores in late spring:

The Brave Athlete is a practical, step-by-step guide that solves the 25 most common mental conundrums athletes face in their everyday training and in races. In this mental makeover from professional athlete Lesley Paterson and sports psychologist Dr. Simon Marshall, you’ll find new speed and joy in your sport by overcoming patterns of thinking, feeling, or acting that sabotage your potential and enjoyment.

 Lesley & Simon, welcome to the show!

Okay, that was just a brief introduction for each of you, can you take a minute to fill in some of the gaps for our listeners, maybe tell us a little more about yourselves, what made you create Braveheart Coaching and why or how on earth with all that you two do, did you decide to go ahead and write what sounds to be a great new book!?!?

  Let’s kick things off with a question for both of you?  As we just touched on, you each have a wide variety of interests that I am sure require their own degrees of time.   How do you manage to keep yourselves fresh, not only mentally but physically when working on so many different projects simultaneously?  

  I for one cannot wait to get my hands on your new book, 1st off to see just how many of those 25 most common mental conundrums run through my coconut throughout each block of training & racing.  For many of us, between careers, family, finances and trying to train as if we didn’t have full plates, the related mental battles that come up while trying to juggle everything are probably some of the biggest challenges we face!  Those common challenges that you two write about, is it us amateurs and age groupers that primarily have these issues or do they also pose challenges for professional athletes?

  Both of you grew up being exposed to a wide variety of sports, Lesley: Holy crap, the only lass playing rugby with 250 boys, Simon also grew up playing rugby as well as soccer & tennis: What did you two bring from those experiences into coaching endurance athletes?

 How do you integrate brain training into your body training plans, what does a typical drill or session look like?

 What are some of the biggest misconceptions that athletes and perhaps coaches have about mental training?

 What would be one thing that any athlete can begin today that would have the greatest impact on improving their mental toughness?

Super Sprint Round: Featuring 3 questions from our listeners:  I will fire them off quickly BUT answers do not need to be quick:

 In addition to your new book, which we will have a link to in our show notes, are there any other resources that you would recommend to our listeners to learn more about some of the things we talked about today?

As we get ready to wrap up, I have two final questions for each of you:

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners and HOW can we CONNECT WITH YOU?

Folks, I will put a link to each of the ways to connect with Lesley & Simon in our show notes page @ www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com

Lesley & Simon, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to talk with us today and for sharing such useful information with our listeners!

Links:

Home of Braveheart Coaching

Direct Link to Lesley & Simon’s New Book: “The Brave Athlete Calm the F*uck Down and Rise to the Occasion

Simon’s recommended reading list

Best brain training apps

HOST’S SIGN OFF

 This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

The post PPP 008: Interview With The Dynamic Duo Behind Braveheart Coaching: 3X World Triathlon Champion Lesley Paterson & Her Husband, Performance Psychologist For The BMC World Tour Professional Cycling Team, Dr. Simon Marshall! appeared first on .