Heath Conditioning - Diet and Training

[RayMondo]

Put here any recognised input for improveing health and conditioning. Such as Diet, Detox, Specific exercises, Flexibility techniques. Recovery etc.

I'll kick off below and later by reposting a couple of bits from current threads...

[RayMondo]

I believe, and speak from personal experience that, mental stress is the biggest detrimental effect to an athlete's performance.

Basically, we are a machine driven by subconscious desires, despite that we see them mostly as conscious desires. What got us here is survival. Survival came from being able to escape predation. Our tools are fright or flight. Driven by hormones, we can generate instant power to escape harm. This comes from the release of adrenalin and other hormones.

In ancient life they served a good purpose, but in modern day life, predation has turned to stress without escape. We have fright (stress) but not flight. So these stressor hormones are not rapidly consumed by the body and can do us harm.

Why, in the modern day, we can feel stress without phsysical predation is because it has become psychological predation. And much of it has come from our programming as we each grew up in our family nest. A person's character is largely generated from home, and we feel those influences in how we interact, at work and in society.

Okay, so why do the these stressor hormones affect athletic performance. Simple. If unused and remain circulating, they shut the bloodflow down in the limbs. Worse at the extremities - hands and feet (an effect called Tetany, in my experience). Reduced bloodflow means less oxygen and less glycogen delivered. Shagged already before you start. Excercise consumes and neutralises their effect, but they are still a bad effect.

So, how to rid ourselves of stress effects. Simple. A happy life. A happy life gives amazing performance and wellbeing. How to achieve it is complex. Deal with problems, not sit on them. Take a more relaxed view, chill out, laugh are some of the methods.

To assist us, we can avoid stimulants. In moderation they are okay. But alchohol, tea, caffeine etc can be detrimental. Though a happy person has much greater tolerance to soak up unsuitable foods and stimulants.


So what are the things that reduce stress, enabling us to achieve great health and performance.

1. Bodily pleasure (XES, generated Spam warning). Yes, the greatest thing that subconscious monkey left us is bodily pleasure. Why. Very clever - so we procreate and survive. Why is xes_ual pleasure so enjoyable. Simple, wonderful calming and pleasure hormones flood the body. Neat. And really healthy.

2. Good relations with people. We have to work on that. But first is don't respond to agression with more aggression. We show aggression only as a defence mechanism. If the agressor sees no threat, his agression will subside.

3. Attitude of mind. That's the chilling out part. Let it go, forget it. But mental satisfaction also comes from winning.

4. Enjoying our work. If we go to work already thinking about finishing time, then the whole day is negative. Thinking that Friday is the best part, then the whole week is negative. Negative thoughts = negative health = negative performance. Find the enjoyable parts of the work and use the less enjoyable as stages to reach the enjoyable ones.

5. Mindfulness. This how we achieve contentment in small portions. Small portions of contentment all add up. Mindfulness is a Budhist technique where we focus solely on each minute, separate actions to create a whole action. It is a diversionary technique to focus the mind. However, it develops amazing clarity of thought and prevents "mind chatter".


So, we can train all we want, but never achieve our peak performance unless we are totally happy. Work on that as much as training, using the 5 points above. And any more you can add.

[Visentin]

Thanks for launching this topic. Yes, we must split a bit the commute/training thread !

[RayMondo]

Last ride, I avoided the coffee afterwards. Seemed to work - no feeling of being trashed. Will monitor it. Though makes sense not have caffeine or other stimulants when the body is trying to recover from exertion.

[junodirtrider]

Wonder about this myself although not to worried about it as I always, without fail, swim in the mornings only after polishing off a pint of refrigerated java joe. Ever drink choco milk as a recovery beverage? Tried it and like it... only because its chocolate milk. Don't know if it helps recovery but it tastes great you know!

[AnimalFromSpace]

At the seminar last month, the Sports Nutritionist, said it was important to replace things within 30 minutes of the exercise. So everything would be fine for the next days workout.

We've got an insane heat wave here in NYC. I didn't grasp quite how much fluid I'd lost until a coupla hours after my workout yesterday. Though I was shoving down the Perpetuem immediately after. May pay for that today.

[RayMondo]

Been full of stamina the past couple of days. Can't figure out why. Unless it's the increased level of activity that created it - maybe just fitter.

The only food difference is, been having honey with mid morning toast. Instead of just peanut butter on toast. Honey is said to be a miracle food. I'll try a double dose.

Choco milk used to be one of my favourites, though I've disliked milk for years - since practically living off it as a kid. Then learnt that it just bungs up the system (due to casein in milk - which is a glue). I could go for the soy milk and chocovate it

Thing with milk is, it's another acid-forming food, which the health pundits say lowers body pH (more acid), which is bad for joints. It's a fallacy that giving milk to people with arthritic conidtions gives them extra calcium, as the consequential acidity eats out the calcium. That's the milk marketing people for you . Truth is, unless you are a Masai tribesman, we don't retain the full complement of enzymes to digest milk, once past being a kid. After all, once weaned, we are hardly meant to go suck on a cow's udder

Have oils with salads:I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cider Vinegar mix.
If budget permits, get the "cold pressed olive oils" as heat and chemical extraction of the oil is detrimental to the oil.
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/fat-free- ... d-oil.html

[RayMondo]

Information on alcohol. Note the formation of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a poison which is a close relative of formaldehyde - formaldehyde is used to pickle (preserve) laboratory specimens. Those poor creatures you see in jars.

http://hamsnetwork.org/metabolism/

It appears it's a myth that alcohol is converted to sugar in the bloodstream. The lower paragraphs may explain why alcohol makes you sleepy: paragraph Cytochrome P450 states: This reaction takes energy rather than producing it. Alcohol and Blood Sugar Although alcohol may cause a slight rise in blood sugar levels when initially ingested, the overall effect of alcohol is to cause a drop in blood sugar. The more you drink the more the blood sugar drops. Eating before, during or after drinking can help to alleviate this blood sugar drop somewhat. Drinks with lots of carbs like beer or mixed drinks with sugary mixers can lead to blood sugar spikes preceding the blood sugar drop.

And: The Problem with Too Much NADH
Alcohol metabolism produces excess amounts of NADH (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide plus Hydrogen). This excess of NADH can lead to acidosis from lactic acid build-up and hypoglycemia from lack of glucose synthesis. It can also lead to weight gain, fatty liver, and heart attack.

Read all the article. Interesting information.

[RayMondo]

Sleep: The importance of

The importance of a regular sleep pattern cannot be understated. A solid, uninterupted 7 to 8 hours sleeps for adults, is about right. When we sleep without waking we gain the full benefits.

Sleep is both a physical recovery mechanism, and a mental one. It's easy to appreciate the physical part. The mental part has not been understood since recent times. It's main purpose is to sort and file data ! Something like a disc defragment every night.

As active folk, we should already be ready for good sleep. But things can interupt sleep, and prevent the start.


A few pointers before sleeptime:

Avoid alcohol. It's helps you get to sleep, but causes you to wake in the early hours.

Avoid caffeine

Avoid mental activity - using the computer, computer games etc, busies the mind - when it should be winding down.

Avoid heavy meals and hard to digest food

Keep the same hours. A lie in on the weekend of no more than an hour shouldn't affect the sleep pattern.


What if you are can't get to sleep ?

You need to shorten the time in bed. Rise earlier and go to bed later.

Rest the mind from worries near bedtime.

Try a strong brew of camomile tea.

Choclate is restive - milk cocoa etc. Warm milk is a real knockout.

Achieve good sleep and the phsical form will improve, and reduce the likelihood of injuries.

[junodirtrider]

BULLS-EYE!

[RayMondo]

Sports Drinks - Debunked.

V. interesting BBC TV program - Panorama. The program berated and debunked the whole sports drinks industry for making absurd claims on performance enhancement.

Key, was the illustration that middle athletes and gym-goers gain no real benefits from them. Generally, the main content was refined sugar - in large amounts. One brand, as used by a British Olympian contained 8 teaspoonsful of sugar in 500ml. Just imagine the sugar consumption in just 2 litres ! That's an attack on the body's sugar balance. A quick shot, but with a consequential and large increase of insulin release - with the possible effect of hypoglycemia (insufficient blood sugar).

A UK bike recordholder gained his achievements on buttered bread and jam, and plain water. The jam, the quick energy followed by the carb prevented the dive in sugar level, and the fat in the butter a longer absorbtion without being heavy to digest.

Especially the diet sport drinks - artificially sweetened were deemed a complete waste of money - because they had virtually no calorific content.


More to follow when I've gone through program.