Tiana Rockwell, FNTP
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The Best Way to Stay on Your Nutrition Game in the Off-Season

8/26/2020

1 Comment

 
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There is something I’ve noticed about many endurance athletes over the years (which includes me), we either don’t take an off season (or at least not a very long one) or we completely forget about health and fitness and let ourselves go for a few months.

I’ve done both.  And what I’ve personally learned is I don’t like the way I feel either way. 

The first year or two I got into triathlon, I completely stopped training (for the most part) and just ate whatever I wanted for about 3 months after my last race. Pretty much the entire holiday season I justified eating mostly crappy food and not really doing too much activity. 

I justified to myself that after 9 months of training, I deserve a break from all of it. But after a 3 month hiatus from training and a very lackadaisical approach to my eating, I wondered why in the heck I ever thought that was a good idea when I: 

1. Had to get back into a bathing suit, and 
2. Tried to actually do a swim workout. Holy moly you can lose some serious fitness in 3 months! 

So then I switched up my approach. I’ll put a late race on the calendar so I keep training into the holiday season, then make sure I have an early event next year so I get right back after training ASAP. 

I flipped my justification to ‘why the heck would I want to lose all that fitness I built up last season!?!’ It wasn’t until mid season that I realized just how burnt out I was and how much I needed a break! 

Years later, I finally learned that there is actually a middle ground. 

I’ve spent the last 3 weeks talking about how to use your off-season wisely so you feel rested going into your next race season, but also strong and fit...like you haven’t started back over from the very beginning! 

We’ve discussed strength training, optimizing sleep, and managing stress...all things that can be improved on in the off-season. But there is something else that is SOOOOOO critical to ensuring a successful off-season (and therefore, a successful next race season) and that is nutrition. 

Just like your heart and muscles can be trained, so can your metabolism. 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could consume less race food and still have stable energy levels? You can. How nice would it be if you could eat healthy meals that are quick to prepare and not feel like you're starving or deprived all the time? It’s possible. 

And that whole bonk thing that happens to athletes at the end of a long training day or towards the end of your event. Wouldn’t life be great if that didn’t happen anymore. 

Well….you can actually train your body to prevent it. This week, we’re going to talk about why you want to optimize your nutrition in your OFF-SEASON and how to do it.


Fat Adaptation
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I’m sure by now you’ve heard all about getting fat adapted.

If not, to put it simply, when your body is “fat adapted” that means it is efficient at utilizing fat for energy (rather than just relying on carbohydrates for energy!).


If you’ve heard of fat adaptation before, maybe you think it’s a hype, or maybe not. Here is where I stand on the subject...you never know if it will work for you until you try it. 

Maybe you follow the traditional recommendations for endurance athletes and eat a high carbohydrate diet and feel amazing. You carb load with pasta and bread the night before your long workout and have a great session the following day. 

Your annual blood tests are all great, you sleep great, you have high levels of energy that are stable throughout the day and you have a body composition you LOVE. Good for you! 

My advice for you is: don’t change anything. Clearly what you are doing is working for you. 

However, if you are not in love with your body composition, your energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, you bonk easily during longer workouts especially if you don’t consume enough sugary race food, you feel like it takes you forever to recover from workouts and your sleep could certainly use a little help...it’s time to consider doing something different. 

My advice to you is: get fat adapted. 

Fat adaptation is the process of changing your diet so your body can access energy from both sugar/carbs and fat, instead of just sugar/carbs. The diet consists of eating low amounts of carbohydrates, moderate amounts of proteins, and higher amounts of healthy fats. This process of turning yourself from a sugar burner to a fat burner can take about 6-8 weeks for endurance athletes to really feel a difference in their training. 

For this reason, I highly recommend you consider this process in your off-season.


​The longer you give yourself to get fat-adapted, the more benefits you’ll see when you get back to training and racing.

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Just like your muscles have memory, so does your metabolism!

So the longer you eat a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet, the better and better you’ll feel. So instead of following the ‘take 3 months off’ approach and then trying to slam home this process 6-8 weeks before your first event next year, here is what I’d recommend:

  • Take 2 weeks off of structured training and structured nutrition after your final event of the year (or in the case of COVID, the 2 weeks after the cancelation of your final event). This doesn’t mean you should sit on the couch and eat bon bons for 2 weeks. It means you should be active in ways that feel really good for your body and eat mostly healthy whole foods without doing any calorie counting, weighing or measuring. Just eat.
  • ​After 2 weeks of unstructured movement and eating, complete a 2 week supported liver detox. My 2 favorite liver detox kits are Biotics Research NutriClear Plus and Designs for Health Pure Paleo Cleanse. There are 3 reasons I’m a big fan of this:
    1. ​​It supports the liver to clear out excess toxins that are often burdening the body during the training year. I personally spend an ungodly amount of time in a chlorinated pool which is NOT good for you! If you apply loads of sunscreen to protect yourself from sun damage, consume processed foods during training or for regular meals and/or rely on caffeine to help you get going in the mornings or alcohol to help you relax at night, you should consider this too.
    2. The protocol I use gives the digestive system a break from consuming so many calories. It does this by providing the supporting nutrients in the form of 2 shakes per day. This allows you to consume 1-2 healthy whole food meals + the 2 shakes and still feel nourished and satisfied. 
    3. It prepares you for the process of fat adaptation by decreasing your caloric intake without you feeling hungry all the time. One of the best ways to help your body start burning more fat is to eat less often. So instead of 3 meals and 2 snacks throughout the day (which many of us do with a pre and post workout snack/meal plus our regular meals), you would consume 2 shakes and 1 or 2 meals. If you follow these recommendations you will be helping your body transition to burning more endogenous fat as energy. ​

After the Detox​

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After the 2 week liver detox, slowly change your diet to be lower in carbs, moderate in protein and higher in fat. What exactly does that mean? 

There are 3 ways I recommend this:
​
3-2-1
You can simply prepare 2-3 meals per day that include 3 cups of non-starchy vegetables, 2 tablespoons of healthy fat, and 1 serving (palm sized amount) of healthy protein. 

Macro Tracking
You can open a free online food tracker (like MyFitnessPal) and set up the account to be 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs. You may not settle on these exact macro ratios in the end, but I find that the majority of endurance athletes get the benefits of fat adaption when following these ratios for 6-8 weeks.

Ketone Testing
You can purchase any whole food keto book of your choice, follow the recommended recipes in the book and test your blood ketones to ensure your body is burning fat. Some of my favorite books are: The Ketogenic Bible by Jacob Wilson, The Keto Paleo Kitchen by Vivica Menegaz and The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney. 

Once you have changed your diet, ideally, you’d follow this style of whole food LCHF eating for 4-6 weeks. This allows your body to transition from prioritizing sugar as the main source of energy to being capable of tapping into your over 30,000 calories of stored body fat for energy. 


What Happens After
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I get it.  If you’re not someone who already eats a lower carb diet, the idea of doing this may be intimidating.  That is why I created The Keto RESET Program, a 6-module course that walks you through the entire process so that you can become fat adapted and experience more energy, better sleep, less cravings, and your desired body composition!

I am opening the doors to the program again later this month BUT you can get on the waitlist now by clicking HERE!  By joining the waitlist, you’ll be the first to find out when the doors open AND you’ll snag an exclusive discount not offered anywhere else!
JOIN THE KETO RESET PROGRAM WAIT-LIST
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Stress: The Real Reason You're "Not in the Mood"

8/19/2020

2 Comments

 
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Ok, so last week I talked all about sleep, one of the 4 biological needs of a human.  The others being food, water and mating (aka- sex).

This week, we’re talking about stress, which also means we’re talking about sex, because when you are too stressed out, guess what commonly happens...you lose your sex drive.

I hear it ALL THE TIME from athletes. “I’m too tired."

Yes, maybe. But you’re probably also releasing so much cortisol from training, working, balancing family needs, financial obligations and just life in general that your body can’t actually produce enough of the hormones that actually create a sex drive.

​This is a problem because it’s one of the biological requirements for human survival! Not having a sex drive should be a big fat sign that something isn’t right. So let’s talk about it…


​The Steroid Hormones

The steroid hormones are one classification of hormones that are secreted by the steroid glands: the adrenals, the testes, the ovaries, and the placenta during pregnancy.

Steroid hormones can be grouped into two classes: corticosteroids (typically made in the adrenal cortex) and sex steroids (typically made in the gonads or placenta). Within those two categories, there are five main steroid hormones secreted by these glands:
  • Androgens including testosterone and androstenedione
  • Estrogens including estrone, estradiol and estriol
  • Progestogens including progesterone
  • Mineralocorticoids including aldosterone
  • Glucocorticoids including cortisol

Steroid hormones are classified as fat-soluble and can pass through cell membranes, where they bind to their receptor site inside the cell wall (as opposed to water soluble hormones which bind to receptors on the cell wall). Being fat-soluble, it is no surprise that the building block required to create all steroid hormones is also a fat, which is cholesterol.

Approximately 75% of all cholesterol in the body is made within the body (mainly in the liver). The other 25% comes from diet.

When there is a growing demand for higher amounts of the steroid hormones, our liver can respond by producing more cholesterol. If the liver cannot keep up with the demand of cholesterol required to meet the need of all the steroid hormones, the body will be forced to choose which steroid hormones are more important than others.

Typically, this results in a phenomenon known as the “pregnenolone steal”.
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Pregnenolone is considered the “master hormone,” and is used as a precursor for the creation of most of the steroid hormones. Cholesterol is used to create pregnenolone.

If enough pregnenolone is produced to meet all the demands of the steroid hormones, that pregnenolone will be used to create cortisol in the liver, estrogen and testosterone in the gonads, and aldosterone in the adrenals to act upon the kidneys.

In this case, hormones are balanced and you feel great! However, all too often, there is dysfunction in the steroid hormone production pathway. Oftentimes this imbalance is created from not enough of the hormones precursor (cholesterol) and/or too high of a demand for hormones (usually chronic cortisol aka high level of stress).


Our body was built to successfully manage acute bouts with stress. However, with the busy pace of our modern world, the stress response is often activated for extended periods.

With chronic stress that is often unmanaged, the cortisol pathway is prioritized and your body pushes all available pregnenolone to be used for cortisol production, since this is considered life or death.

This results in less pregnenolone being available for conversion to the sex hormones and aldosterone for electrolyte balance. The end result? High cholesterol, low/no sex drive and salt cravings!


​Cortisol & Adrenaline

In psychological terms, stress is the reaction to something that threatens our physical or mental equilibrium. This means that it can come from a ferocious tiger threatening to eat us, an overdue credit card bill that we don’t have the funds available to pay, or exercise.

Genetically, our body is hard wired to deal with stressors in a way that is meant to protect us from things like predators and angry enemies. Historically, these types of threats were typically quick to come and quick to go.

Between threats, our body could unwind and had time to recover before another threat revealed itself. Today, most of us no longer have to worry about dangerous animals threatening to eat us, or our neighbors busting into our hut with a spear. Today’s threats are much different. 


In the book The Adrenal Reset Diet author Alan Christianson says: 

“within the last few decades our world has gotten more toxic, a lot noisier, and much faster pace. Our food has more sugar, less fiber, and many more chemicals. We spend less time in sunlight and we sleep less. We take more medications, feel less certain of our financial futures, and have fewer friends.”

Not only are all of these things causing increased stress, but the type of stress has turned from acute to chronic. This type of chronic stress has a completely different effect on our adrenal glands than acute stressors.


The adrenal glands are responsible for the production and output of our main stress hormones: cortisol and adrenaline. Neither of these hormones were intended to be in the system for the long term. These hormones help you survive immediate threats by raising your blood pressure and shunting blood to your working muscles and brain, so you can fight or flee.

In today’s world, where threats are not solved in a single afternoon, these hormones are working overtime to try to protect you. Meanwhile, your blood pressure remains high, your immune system is weakened, your digestive system slows down and does not work properly, your sleep is affected because you are wired (and exhausted), and your ability to learn decreases.

There is plenty of scientific evidence that shows how chronic stress plays a sizable role in mental illness and pathological physical states such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity and immunosuppression. This is mostly due to the inflammatory nature of these two stress hormones.

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​Endurance Athletes & Stress

Endurance athletes are ESPECIALLY prone to this chronic stress state because many of us have the usual life stressors (financial obligations, family needs, work schedules to follow, etc) and then we tack on 10-15 hours (or sometimes more) per week of exercise.

Exercise is a stressor even though many of us use it as a “stress reliever” from regular life.

Our body doesn’t know if we’re running for fun, or running from a threat. We’re running... and that means we’re releasing hormones to help us do that...cortisol being one of them.

One of cortisol's main jobs is to release stored sugar from our liver into our blood so the muscles have the energy they need to fight or flee. It’s not a bad thing that this happens, it can just create a problem when it happens all the time.

For many athletes, the solution is a really hard pill to swallow. It’s called rest. The body needs down time to “restock” the cortisol reserves so next time you run, it can do its job!


​So What Can You Do About It?

Currently, treatment for anxiety and depression involves mostly psychological and pharmacological interventions; however, mind-body interventions are becoming increasingly popular as a means to reduce stress.

A great place to start before jumping to supplements and/or medications is by actually managing your life's stressors. It has been suggested by many anthropologists that most ancient cultures spent equal or more time in the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest”) than the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”).

If you find yourself with a schedule packed with things to do from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed, racing thoughts of finances, to-do lists, life commitments constantly moving through your brain, lots of training days or you don’t have many moments to just sit down and do nothing…you are likely not balanced!

Taking a look at your schedule/life to find things that can be eliminated and/or places to make time for yourself to decompress from the GO!GO!GO! might be exactly what you need to reduce and or eliminate symptoms of imbalanced hormones.


Meditation is one of those activities that should be considered as part of your daily routine. Meditation is known to drive your autonomic nervous system from the sympathetic into the parasympathetic where body healing and repair can happen. 

It is well known that the habit of meditation is best when done daily, rather than in large amounts a few times per week or month. In other words, 5 minutes every day is much better than 35 minutes one time per week. There are many books, blogs, podcasts and apps that you can access to help you get started. 


Anything in your life that creates a chronic stress response can create an imbalance in the steroid hormone pathway. Many of these stressors are things that have become part of our normal day-to-day and therefore we don’t look at them as a stress anymore. But how does your autonomic nervous system feel about that?
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Some of the areas to really explore when trying to reduce the stress load are:
  • lack of sleep, lack of sleep, lack of sleep!
  • exposure to toxins (chemicals, molds, etc)
  • nutrient poor diet (aka- too much processed food)
  • poor digestion, which creates a lack of nutrient absorption
  • Not enough physical activity 
  • TOO MUCH physical activity 
  • lack of social face-to-face interaction (hello COVID!)
  • guilt, grief, depression, anxiety, lack of self-esteem
  • increased financial obligations
  • illness
  • lack of sleep (did I already mention that?!?)

And the list goes on and on. If you lack a sex drive; crave sweets and salt; get dizzy when you stand up quickly; have achy joints or other body aches; have low blood pressure; suffer from mild depression; require stimulants to get moving in the morning or stay awake in the afternoon; or have been told that your cholesterol is high, these areas need to be explored.

​Reducing the load on the adrenals and supporting your system with the proper nutrients can help balance your steroid hormones.


​Testing

Testing is a tool that can be used to measure the health of your adrenal glands, especially if you feel unsure about your state of stress. Like all testing, it requires the financial ability to test and a knowledgeable practitioner to help you interpret and create a treatment plan with the results. 

The gold standard in testing cortisol levels is with a salivary cortisol panel that captures 4 samples per day.

Since a healthy cortisol pattern is highest in the morning (that is what wakes us up) and lowest before bed, seeing cortisol levels throughout the day is important to know how well the adrenals are managing daily stressors.

Typically, you are able to see a cortisol pattern with test results that can result in 1 of 4 diagnosis:

Healthy Adrenal Function

Phase 1: Hyper-Cortisol This is the first sign that the body is not handling the stress load optimally.  On test results, you see high levels of cortisol throughout the day. Symptoms are typically: anxiety, low immunity, restlessness and insomnia.

Phase 2: Resistance Response This phase is often called the “wired and tired” phase. Here, additional hormone irregularities are seen (especially with blood sugar, electrolyte imbalances and low sex hormones) which can lead to mood and sleep issues along with frequent energy crashes.

Phase 3: Hypo-Cortisol Often described as exhausted, at this phase people are typically feeling completely wiped out. Simple tasks become difficult, motivation across the board is lacking, and people are often described as being “tuned out.” Symptoms are typically: depression, chronic pain all over the body, low immunity and additional hormone imbalances.

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Supplements
​

Using exogenous supplements and/or herbs to help your adrenals get additional support can be a helpful tool while you are reducing the chronic load on the adrenal glands (did you hear that...just taking a supplement and changing nothing about your life is not the answer to your excess stress).

It can not be emphasized enough that certain supplements can make your stress pattern worse if they are used incorrectly. If adding supplements to your daily routine to help ease mental stress and support healthy adrenal function is important to you, talk to a
knowledgeable practitioner about your symptoms before starting a protocol.

With that said, some of the more common supplements used are:


LICORICE ROOT- For people who do not produce enough cortisol. It has been found to improve energy levels and help regulate cortisol levels.

CURCUMIN- a compound with antioxidant qualities found in turmeric. It has been found to enhance mood and reduce inflammation (especially in the brain). Note: Curcumin extracts are the most potent form of turmeric supplements that will give you the most curcumin compound. Concentrated extracts pack up to 95% curcumin, whereas turmeric in powder form usually contains around 3% curcuminoids.

PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE- a phospholipid found in cells that influence immune function and muscle metabolism. It has been found to help rebalance cortisol levels following exercise.  

ASHWAGANDHA- an adaptogenic adrenal supplement. It has been found to improve resistance to stress along with decreasing depression and anxiety.


In Summary

The bottom line is that stressful events are facts of life, and not all stress is a bad thing. Learning ways to help manage the impact that chronic stressful events have on you is a critical piece to finding optimal health, especially if you feel like you cannot change your current situation. 

In an athletes off-season, taking more down time can be critical to recovery. Pay attention to the signals your body is giving you as you take more time doing more relaxing activities (like paddleboarding, yoga, walking, etc) can help you learn where your balance point is.

One athlete may be completely fine doing 3-4 interval sessions per week, where another athlete may become completely exhausted doing that. You can learn to identify what triggers a stress response in you and how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of these stressful situations and the off-season is a perfect time to do that.

We call it recharging the battery and it’s important! So next time your body is screaming for a nap, listen. It’s okay to skip a few training sessions to allow your body to recover from life's chronic stressors. It doesn’t make you lazy...it makes you smart.

You’ll be surprised how much harder you can hit your next training session (or even your entire next season) when you learn how to find a better balance between your life’s stressors and relaxation!



REFERENCES:
1. Lowman, Amy Ancient Stress Response vs Modern Life October 23, 2016. 
2. 5 Key Strategies and Best Supplements for Adrenal Support. 
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Why Sleep Should Be a Part of Your Training Plan

8/12/2020

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Sleep- one of four biological needs (the others being: eating, drinking and mating). So important to our overall health that the Guinness World Records no longer recognizes this category because long term sleep deprivation has been shown on multiple occasions to pose serious and permanent health risks, both physically and mentally. 

Take for example the infamous sleep deprivation experiment in 1959 by New York DJ Peter Tripp. He locked himself in a glass booth located in Time Square and made it 201 hours (8.4 days) before falling asleep (the last 66 hours he required stimulants to remain awake). On day 3, Tripp was found laughing hysterically at nothing, and following that day, he continued to hallucinate, reporting mice and kittens running around the room. By the end of the experiment, Tripp was convinced that he was no longer himself, but an impostor. After the experiment ended, Tripp’s family reported permanent changes to Tripp’s personality, including moodiness and depression.

Sleep has been shown to have a direct impact on overall health, lifespan, productivity, safety and ability to learn. Sleep is one of the top five reasons that patients visit a clinic for care every year and lack of sleep has been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimers disease, and even cancer. Along with being an integral part of the recovery and adaptive process between bouts of exercise, accumulating evidence suggests that increased sleep duration and improved sleep quality in athletes are associated with improved performance and competitive success.

This week, we’re focused on sleep. Why? Because it’s something that everyone, especially athletes, tend to neglect when we get busy. We think that shortening our sleep by just one hour will help us get more done, and won’t really affect our health and/or performance. But will it? With COVID thrusting many athletes into an early off season, now is the PERFECT time to start working on finding YOUR perfect sleep routine. To convince you why this is so important, we’re going look at the physiology of sleep, but also the consequences of not getting enough quantity and quality sleep, how to get more (and better) sleep, what to do if your life isn’t set up for optimal sleep, and why prioritizing sleep is something you want to do right now to help your performance in the future!

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The Science Behind the Circadian Rhythm
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In order to optimize our sleep and wake cycle, we must understand our biological clock, also known as our circadian rhythm. Inside of the hypothalamus, deep inside our brain, lies a group of nerves called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). This group of nerves is made up of approximately 20,000 neurons and is responsible for generating neurotransmitters that regulate bodily functions, such as core body temperature, blood pressure, hormonal regulation, digestion, metabolism, brain wave activity, and arguably the most important feature of all, the sleep and wake cycle. The SCN regulates these bodily functions in a timely rhythm, known as our circadian rhythm. Every organism on the planet has been shown to have a circadian rhythm, including plants, bacteria, fungi and mammals. Across all of these organisms, scientists have found that specific genes (although different in each species) are responsible for establishing this biological rhythm. The circadian rhythm is a natural, internal clock that repeats itself in an approximately 24-hour cycle. Although it is established by genes and is internally driven, the circadian rhythm is influenced by the external environment, most specifically by light and temperature. It is thought that the circadian rhythm is established in species as an evolutionary selective advantage. The timely prediction of seasonal weather conditions, food availability, or predator activity is crucial for survival of many species. We most commonly see the circadian rhythm play out in nature among species who have regular migratory, hibernating, and reproductive patterns.

Since our circadian rhythm affects everything from our digestion and appetite, to blood pressure and sleep, a circadian rhythm disruption can have some serious consequences on recovery after exercise and overall health. A study on mice published in 2005 showed the health effects of mutations to a gene that aids in regulating the circadian rhythm in mice, known as Clock. In the study, Clock gene mutant mice were shown to have a greatly altered diurnal feeding rhythm, were excessively hungry, became obese, and developed many metabolic syndromes including hyperlipidemia (an abnormally high amount of fats in the blood) and hyperglycemia without proper insulin production (the hallmark of type 2 diabetes). These results indicate that the circadian Clock gene network plays an important role in mammalian energy balance that involves a number of central and peripheral tissues, and disruption of this network can lead to obesity and the metabolic syndrome in mice.

There are several studies that have looked at how a disrupted circadian rhythm can affect endurance performance, most of which have demonstrated that sleep deprivation inhibits performance. In a small study of 11 male subjects who completed a 30 minute self-paced treadmill test after a normal night sleep and again after 30 hours of sleep deprivation in a randomized order, the subjects distance covered was decreased after sleep deprivation, without differences in thermoregulatory function or oxygen consumption. Several other studies on endurance athletes have found a decrease in time to exhaustion along with an increased rate of perceived effort after just one night of reported poor quality sleep. Preexercise muscle glycogen stores have also been found to be decreased after sleep deprivation, suggesting an alteration in endogenous fuel availability that could translate into impaired performance in endurance sports.

With so much evidence leaning towards optimizing sleep to improve athletic performance and optimized health, there is no reason why learning more about how you can optimize your sleep routine shouldn’t be a focus of your off-season. The off-season is a perfect time to test different activities, methods, foods, workouts, etc to find what works best for your body. N=1 couldn’t be more true in this situation. For one person, eating dinner at 7pm may not affect their sleep whereas another person may not get into deep sleep if they eat after 5pm. Use the quality time you have WITHOUT a race on your calendar to fine tune your sleep routine.

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The Sleep Cycle
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Our sleep cycle is one of our many circadian rhythms. Our sleep cycles occur in approximately 90 minute cycles and consist of 2 major states: REM and non-REM. REM, standing for rapid eye movement, is the sleep phase where our brain waves are active and resemble similar brain waves as wakefulness. Non-REM, standing for non-rapid eye movement, is the phase of sleep measured by calm brain waves and little to no eye or muscle movements. These 2 states can be further broken down into 4 distinct and measurable phases:

Non-REM Stage 1
Starts at the onset of sleep and lasts for approximately 20 minutes. In stage 1, our heart rate slows down, our temperature begins to drop, and our brain transfers learned muscle memory into permanent memory. Stage 1 of Non-REM sleep is very light sleep and one can be easily woken in this stage.

Non-REM Stage 2
This is the transitional period between light and deep sleep.

Non-REM Stage 3
This stage is considered complete deep sleep. In stage 3, Delta brain waves are produced which help move blood to the muscles to initiate recovery and repair, the parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated which supports immune function, and human growth hormone is produced.

REM Stage 4
Stage 4 is considered REM sleep and the stage in which we dream. In stage 4, the hippocampus (part of the brain) transfers information to the neocortex and our memories are formed.

A full night of sleep is important because the stages are not divided equally throughout the night. In the early hours of sleep, the majority of our sleep is made up of non-REM sleep and very little REM sleep. In the second half of a night's sleep, our cycle shifts to be mostly REM sleep and less non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep is deeper and more restorative than lighter, dream-infused REM sleep. Additionally, the major period of human growth hormone release occurs during the first period of stage 3 non-REM sleep during the night, about an hour after you first fall asleep.

 These are just some of the reasons that Dr. Matthew Walker, head of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, and other sleep experts say that sleeping from midnight until 8am is not the same thing as sleeping from 10pm-6am because the shift from non-REM to REM sleep happens at certain times of the night regardless of when you go to bed. If improved memory and tissue growth/repair isn’t enough of a reason to get to bed early, maybe learning more about the consequences of poor sleep will be.​


​Consequences of Poor Sleep
​

There are hundreds of studies that have been completed since the 1950’s to show the systemic consequences of poor sleep on humans (and other animals). Dr. Michael Twery, a sleep expert at NIH, states that “poor sleep affects growth and stress hormones, our immune system, appetite, breathing, blood pressure and cardiovascular health.”

Here are a few studies, which are reminders that things like blood sugar, weight, and memory are not affected from our diet alone!

Blood Sugar/Insulin Resistance

A study performed at the Leiden University Medical Center took 9 healthy individuals, with healthy blood sugar response, and restricted sleep for one night (subjects were allowed to sleep from 1am to 5am). The result was insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in all subjects.

Data from large published studies, including: Sleep Heart Health Study; Finnish Type 2 Diabetes Study; Quebec Family study; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; National Health Interview Study; and Isfahan Healthy Heart Program, have all demonstrated that middle-aged to elderly subjects with self-reported short sleep duration are approximately twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and are at higher risk for impaired glucose tolerance.

Weight Gain

A 2004 study took 1,024 volunteers from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, a population-based longitudinal study of sleep disorders, and looked at morning fasted blood samples for serum leptin and ghrelin (two key opposing hormones in appetite regulation), adiponectin, insulin, glucose, and lipid profile. Results showed that participants with sleep shorter than 8 hours per night had reduced leptin  (the satiation hormone) and elevated ghrelin (the hunger hormone) as well as higher BMI.

Immunity

A study published in 2009 took 153 healthy men and women and had them report on sleep duration and sleep efficiency for 14 days. Subsequently, participants were quarantined, administered nasal drops containing a rhinovirus, and monitored for the development of a clinical cold for 6 days. Results showed poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration in the weeks preceding exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness.

Death

A study published by the University of Bristol which examined working men and women looked for the associations between sleep duration, cardiovascular disease risk factors and mortality, while also taking into account the perceived stress of the individuals. The findings: the men and women who reported sleeping fewer than 7 hours in a 24 hour period had greater risk of dying from any cause over a 25 year period than those who reported sleeping 7-8 hours in a 24 hour period. 

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9 Foundations of Sleep
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To optimize your performance, health, productivity, lifespan, safety and ability to learn, not only do you need to get regular sleep, but that sleep needs to be quality sleep. 

To ensure the right quantity and quality of sleep, there are some sleep foundations you should follow:

Follow a sleep schedule. Every single night at the same time, you should start a series of actions that should stay the same from night to night. The sun setting can be a good trigger to start this routine in the winter, however, in the summer when days are long, setting a standing alarm can help remind you that it’s time to finish eating, put on your blue light blocking glasses, turn off all screens and start winding down.

Eat a diet that promotes quality sleep at the right times.
  • Eat a dinner full of melatonin rich foods, such as: tart black cherries, almonds, walnuts, corn, rice and ginger root.
  • Avoid caffeine, including chocolate after 12pm
  • Avoid alcohol before bed
  • Avoid large meals and beverages 2 hours before bedtime
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Avoid intense exercise 2-3 hours before bedtime. If your fasted morning blood sugar is higher than ideal, choose 20-30 minutes of a relaxing activity before bed, like gentle walking.

Get your daily dose of natural sunlight for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. If you work in front of a computer all day and wear blue light blocking glasses, make sure you take them off periodically throughout the day and allow your eyeballs to see the natural sunlight. If you can not get out into the natural sun, consider morning exposure to artificial light for at least 1 hour.

Only nap before 3pm.

Schedule time for relaxation for at least 20 minutes before bed. Espom salt baths, foot soaks, reading and meditation are all great options.

Create a bedroom that is most conducive for proper sleep.
  • Avoid electronics in the bedroom
  • Create complete darkness
  • The general suggested temperature for an ideal night's sleep is between 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Invest in comfortable and non-toxic clothing, pillow, mattress and linens.

Avoid medications that cause stimulation before bed. Some examples of these medications are hypertension, allergy, and thyroid medications. Consult with your doctor about options for taking these medications at earlier times of day in order to optimize your ability to sleep.

Don’t stay in bed if you haven’t fallen asleep after 30 minutes. Instead, move to another room and do something relaxing, like read a paperback book. Avoid jumping onto your phone to check social media, emails or play games. Once you start to feel tired again, move back into bed.

​If you are consistently following the 9 sleep foundations above, and are still experiencing constant fatigue and irritability during the day after getting 7-9 hours of sleep, waking up several times during the night, staying awake for more than an hour without being capable of falling back to sleep, or taking longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep, it might be time to seek out a sleep specialist for help.


Helpful Tools for a Good Night's Sleep
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There are several tools that can help you assess your quality and quantity of sleep, along with helping you learn more about why it’s so important. 

For more info on the topic of sleep, I love Matthew Walkers book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. He also did a really great podcast with one of my favorite doctors, Dr. Peter Attia which you can find HERE. 

If you think you’re getting enough quality sleep, but aren’t quite sure, definitely look into getting an Oura Ring. The Oura Ring is exactly that, a ring that you wear every day and every night that tracks everything from heart rate, body temperature, HRV, sleep cycles and more. Oura interprets these signals while you sleep so you can wake up to the insights you need to take on the day. With the data, you are empowered to understand and define your health on your terms, based on your personalized data. I have personally been using an Oura ring now for over a month and have already been surprised at how small changes to my evening routine have had a profound effect on my deep and REM sleep (and therefore my recovery).

Temperature has a pretty pronounced effect on your sleep cycles. If you share your room and/or household with someone who doesn’t love the bedroom between 60-67F, consider getting a Chili Pad. This pad lives between your mattress and your sheet and can help control the temperature on your side of the bed. You can even set the temperature to increase in the early morning hours to wake you up peacefully. Say goodbye to the BEEP BEEP BEEP alarm. That’s a terrible way to wake up!

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In Summary
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I get it, we’re all busy. But in a time when training doesn’t have to be our tip top priority, doesn’t it make sense to focus on a few other things that can help make you a healthier human being?

By taking the time now (while you have it), to learn more about what helps you get better sleep (which translates into better performance) you can apply your own best practices when it matters most.

Sure, eating dinner at 5pm may not be your reality year around, but if you find that eating early unlocks more deep and REM sleep, don’t you want to make that a priority during your hard training weeks and leading into your future events?

Now’s the time to start playing and tracking some metrics. If you can’t afford a trackable device like an Oura ring, start a journal.

​Change 1 thing for 7 days in a row and see if you notice a difference in how you feel the next day in regards to your energy, recovery, mood and hunger levels. You might be surprised how small changes can have a big impact on your health and performance!


RESOURCES:
  1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-009-1103-9
  2. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2011/07000/Intermittent_Sprint_Performance_and_Muscle.22.aspx
  3. Mesarwi, Polak, Jun and Polotsky, Sleep disorders and the developments of insulin resistance and obesity. Endocrinology Metab Clin North Am. 2013 Sep; 42(3): 617-634
  4. Taheri S, et al. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin, elevated ghrelin, and increased body mass index, 2004
  5. Cohen S, et al. Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold, 2009​
  6. Heslop P, et al. Sleep duration and mortality: the effect of short or long sleep duration on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in working men and women, 2002
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HOW STRENGTH TRAINING CAN HELP YOU AS AN ENDURANCE ATHLETE

8/5/2020

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While the goal(s) for many endurance athletes change over the course of their career, for many age groupers who train and compete “for fun,” it usually starts off with a health goal. 

“I want to fit into my skinny jeans again.”

“I want to feel stronger.”

“My doctor told me I need to be more active.”

“I want to be able to play with my grandkids when I’m 90+ years old.”

Whatever your initial reason was for starting, most of us continue to participate in our favorite sport because we have fallen in love with the feeling we have doing it, and hopefully, it makes us a healthier, happier version of ourselves!

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, many of us became event driven. My circle of training friends had a running joke for years that you never completed an event without having already signed up for at least one other (usually it was like 3-4 other events). This is completely fine to be motivated by races on the schedule, however, let’s not lose sight of why we do all of this. With most of the races being wiped off the calendar in 2020, it’s a fantastic opportunity to reframe your lens and refocus on why you are an athlete.

There's More to Life Than Training!
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I’ve been a nutrition coach to endurance athletes since 2014 and more recently in 2017 expanded my coaching services to start providing training plans as well. It’s been a great combo for my athletes because, let’s face it, reaching your performance goals isn’t just about checking boxes on a training plan. 

It involves many other aspects of your life like nutrition, sleep, recovery, strength, mobility, relationships, and so much more.

But the reality is we ALL only have 24 hours in a day. And despite what you may be trying to convince yourself of, we ALL need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. That means that when we get into the thick of training, in order to thrive in one area (our athletic goals), oftentimes other areas are neglected.

In the peak of an ironman training block, I can guarantee you’re giving up time with your non-triathlon friends or family members to get in the long days of training. Hopefully you’re not sacrificing sleep, but some athletes do.

With loads of swimming, biking and running on the schedule, family dinners are often sacrificed for strength training and mobility sessions. This is all fine and dandy for a period of time, but at some point, balance has to be achieved.

Keep focusing on swimming, biking and running and neglecting your strength and mobility (especially as an aging athlete), I can guarantee your risk of injury goes up! Same thing for athletes who only have friends within their training circle. What happens when you get hurt and you can’t join your friends for runs anymore? Your social life disappears? No! We need to have people in our lives who understand, love and support our efforts as endurance athletes, but DO NOT like to play our game.
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The Most Common Areas of Neglect
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With COVID thrusting us into a year with less or maybe even NO events on the calendar, it is a PERFECT time to focus on some of the areas of our training that we tend to neglect when we are training for events. 

The most common areas of neglect I have seen over the years with endurance athletes are:
  • Strength and mobility
  • Sleep
  • Stress-management
  • Nutrition

This month, I’m giving my tips on how to use this time to be productive to improve your health and wellness and avoid taking massive steps backwards!

You do these sports because you want to be healthier, right?! Throwing in the towel because your events have all been canceled is most definitely NOT my advice. Sure, take some time off if you haven’t done that already but then use this time to optimize your health and athleticism so you can come back in 2021 (or whenever we’re getting back to racing) a better version of yourself.

Honestly, do you really want to start all over again?
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Strength & Mobility
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This week, I’m focusing on strength and mobility. Why? Because it is the biggest weakness I see with endurance athletes.

Majority of our resiliency is terrible. It seems like every time I hear about someone taking a training break due to an injury, it’s from some regular daily life event, like lifting a grand kid, or trying to get up off the floor, or my favorite from last week was driving a boat.

Seriously people...we are supposed to be “fit.” And if you want your fitness to apply beyond the moments in your life where you are doing your specific sport, you have to be strong and mobile!

During the season, most of us are afraid of taking what limited time we have for training away from our specific sport and using it for strength training. But with no specific race on the calendar, now is the perfect time to focus on strength and mobility. 

Areas like the core, glutes and hamstrings (the posterior chain), lower back, and upper body seem to be “weak spots” for most endurance athletes. By replacing 3-4 workouts each week with a strength training session, athletes can see a significant improvement in power and resiliency when they get back to pre-season training next season.

Easy Workouts You Can Do at Home

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I recommend making time for 4 workouts per week. With each workout, the focus is pull, push, deadlift and squat.

​To make things easier for you, here are 4 workouts (1 in each category) that you can try:
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PUSH
  1. Dumbbell Bench Press 4x10 with 90 seconds rest between sets
  2. Superset: Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3x12 - Tricep Dips- Max Effort (no more than 15)*
  3. Core

Rest 2 minutes between supersets
*If 15 is easy, add weight to your lap or put on a weight vest to make it more challenging.


PULL
  1. Single Arm Dumbbell Bent Over Rows on a Bench 4x10 with 90 seconds rest between sets
  2. Superset: Dumbbell Bent Over Reverse Fly 3x15 - Max Effort Pulls Ups (no more than 15)*
  3. Core

​Rest 2 minutes between supersets
*If 15 is easy, add weight by putting on a weight vest or adding weight around your waist with a weight belt.

DEADLIFT
  1. Single Leg Dumbbell/Kettlebell Deadlift- 4x8 each leg with 90 seconds rest between sets
  2. Superset: Weighted Glute Bridge Ups- 3x15 - Weighted Toe Raises- 3x15 - Banded Lateral Monster Walks- 3x20 each direction
  3. Core

Rest 2 minutes between supersets

SQUAT
  1. Dumbbell Front Squat- 4x8 with 90 seconds rest between sets
  2. Superset: Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Walking Lunges- 3x10 each leg- Squat Jumps- 3x10 
  3. Core

Rest 2 minutes between superset
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You Don't Have to Do This Alone!

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I get that doing these movements for most endurance athletes can be awkward at first. And the fear of getting hurt picking up weights definitely exists (it’s the thing I hear the most from athletes when I ask why they don’t do strength training).

So if any of these movements make you uncomfortable or you’d prefer to have someone with training in strength training watch you do it, then you should find a professional to help you!

So many personal trainers have been forced to become creative during this unusual time when many gyms are closed. I have distance clients who are using the strength training programs that I personally have created for them and hired personal trainers in their home town to meet them at an outdoor park and walk them through it.

There are also tons of personal trainers and coaches (including myself) who have their clients video themselves doing a movement and send it to them for critique. Honestly, you don’t have to be face to face with a trainer or coach to get help with strength training. So no more excuses. Start picking up heavy shit and become a better athlete! 

Obviously as a coach I’m  a huge believer in following a structured program (both for endurance training, strength training, AND nutrition). It is the best way to optimize health and your future performance.
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Don't Look Back on 2020 and Wish You Did Something Differently
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If you don’t have a structured program and you are floundering around without an event on the calendar, reach out to me for a free discovery call so we can see if working together is right for you.

If it’s not, I can still help point you in the right direction so you feel like you used your “off time” in 2020 wisely and don’t look back at this time in 2021 and wish you had done something different.
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“I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.” -Unknown
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    Tiana Rockwell is a certified nutritional therapist, avid endurance athlete and dark chocolate lover.  She believes that by eating REAL food, we can balance our body and reach optimal health and wellness!

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