Mike Roussell, Ph.D.
Greens supplements are one of the fastest-growing supplement categories on the market. Who wouldn't want a day's worth of fruits and veggies in a convenient pill or powder? It is a fact that greens supplements allow you to consume a concentrated version of several fruits, vegetables, and herbs, but their purpose and effectiveness in a hard-training, clean-eating diet are often accompanied by fictional claims.
If used correctly, greens supplements can aid your dietary health but, if used incorrectly, they can potentially sabotage insulin sensitivity and future muscle growth. Green doesn't always mean good. Before you surge through the green light, let's go behind the scenes and separate fact from fiction when it comes to everything green.
1. Fiction: Greens Can Replace Your Multivitamin: Why eat four daily servings of veggies when you can just pop a few pills to get the same nutritional benefits? Well, because you can't. Greens supplements might be full of concentrated fruits and vegetables, but most companies don't formulate their products to meet essential vitamin and mineral levels. This is especially true for hard-training lifters, who require an increased intake of minerals like zinc and magnesium. Unless your greens supplement lists out all the vitamins and minerals it contains in their total amounts—or at least in percentages relative to the recommended daily value—don't look for them to become your new daily multi.
2. Fact: Greens Might Restore Your pH Balance: The human body likes to maintain balance, aka, homeostasis. Your acid-base balance, or pH balance, is no different. What you eat may influence the body's pH. This is where green supplements can be beneficial. Grains, dairy, and protein are acidic, while green leafy vegetables are alkaline, or basic. Greens supplements are alkaline, and one of their main benefits is their ability to improve your body's acid-base balance.
Some people design entire diets solely around optimizing pH. This seems a little extreme—and is based on fluctuating research—but there is some logic behind it. An unbalanced pH may lead to decreased bone health, excessive cortisol, and slightly impaired thyroid function. Eating more alkaline foods, like fruits and vegetables, isn't a bad idea from a pH perspective.
Since greens supplements are vegetable powerhouses, it's been proposed that they're a good way to optimize your body's pH. They might actually work that way. A study published in the "Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition" found that two weeks of daily supplementation with greens led to significant improvements in urinary pH, moving subjects from an acidic pH to one considered optimal. The results from this pilot-type study suggest that a daily greens supplement may improve an acid-base balance that is out of the optimal range.
3. Fiction: All Greens Are Created Equal: It's important to look for ingredients you can quantify in a greens product. You wouldn't use a creatine supplement without knowing how much creatine was in it, right? While the dose-to-effect relationship with greens supplements isn't as clearly defined as creatine, it's still important to be as informed as possible. If a greens supplement advertises that it has green tea extract, it would be good to know how much green tea extract the product contains. Don't take everything at face value. The company might just be sprinkling in enough of the supplement to say that it's there instead of adding the amount necessary for you to experience a quantifiable effect.
4. Fiction: Buy greens based on their oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC): Oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) was developed by a group of USDA scientists in an effort to quantify the antioxidant capacity of foods. In theory, it was designed to create a level playing field in which we could know how well one food ranks in antioxidant capacity compared to another. Since greens supplements are concentrated fruits and vegetables, their ORAC values have always been very high. This is the main reason greens supplements can be touted as "equivalent to X servings of fruits and vegetables."
The downside: Despite the excitement surrounding it, the use of ORAC isn't as relevant as initially expected. The USDA has even gone as far as removing ORAC ratings from its database. While many products use a high ORAC rating as padding for their main selling point, don't let that be the driver behind your buying decision.
5. Fiction: Greens Supplement Timing Isn’t Important: This is one case where timing does matter—sort of. But, as long as you don't take a greens supplement immediately post-workout, you can take it any time. Exercise is a physiologically disruptive process. It promotes inflammation and oxidation. At first glance this would seem like the perfect time to take a supplement loaded with anti-oxidants ... but it isn't. Training is all about recovery and adaption. The inflammation and oxidation that occur as a result of hard training are part of the natural process your body undergoes to create lasting change. Research shows that dosing your body with high amounts of antioxidants post-workout can put the brakes on your capacity to build muscle.
How? Intense exercise leads to the production of compounds called reactive oxygen species (ROS). In other areas of healthcare, those are considered bad. When you hear people talk about oxidative stress, that's ROS at work. However, with intense exercise, ROS may promote the growth of muscle by enhancing the activity of cells in your muscles that are responsible for rebuilding and repairing muscle tissue.
Increased insulin sensitivity is one of the biggest benefits of exercise, but supplementing with antioxidants after exercise can also decrease insulin sensitivity. This means potential gains may go down the drain. To avoid this, don't take your greens supplement within three hours of training.
6. Fiction: Greens Override the Need For Whole Fruits & Vegetables: Greens supplements are not a replacement for eating fruits and vegetables and, if you're already eating 10 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day, they're probably unnecessary. The additional antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals won't provide much more of a benefit compared to the fruits and vegetables you're currently eating. However, if you eat a low-carbohydrate diet or a small amount of fruits and veggies, then a greens supplement can be a beneficial addition to your supplement regimen.
I especially recommend greens supplements to clients when they travel. Even if you try your best, eating on the road is never as clean as eating at home. The major deficient generally comes in the limited amounts of fruits and vegetables you have access to. Traveling is also stressful on your system, and the added antioxidant power in a greens supplement is a welcomed ally.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Caffeine For Performance
by Stacey Penney, MS, NASM-CPT
Caffeine has become a regular part of our daily diets, found in items such as chocolate, coffee, tea, and soda, even over-the-counter medications, supplements and cosmetics. It stimulates the central nervous system, heart, and musculoskeletal system. Part of the appeal of caffeine is that it has minimal health consequences for generally healthy individuals when taken in low-to-moderate amounts. Typical side effects include sleep disturbances, headaches, tremors, or increased anxiety, but overall benefits include improved concentration, alertness and mood.
Many athletes turn to caffeine not only for this stimulating buzz, but also to
enhance sports performance. Between 1984 and 2004, caffeine was on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances as evidence implicated caffeine as an ergogenic aid. It was eventually removed from the list as violation threshold levels were well beyond doses giving athletes a competitive edge. Though not currently banned, it is still a substance being monitored by WADA. Along these same lines, the NCCA bans caffeine at urine concentration levels of 15 ug/mL or higher for student-athletes to test positive, so it is still important to monitor just how much caffeine could be ingested from different sources (which will be listed later).
In the Body: Caffeine is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and quickly metabolized by the liver. It begins circulating in the blood stream within 15-45 minutes, with peak concentration appearing an hour after consumption. Caffeine research, overall, finds that it effects both the central and peripheral systems. It easily crosses the membranes of nerve and muscle cells, and even the blood-brain barrier. Caffeine can also enhance fat oxidation and spare muscle glycogen. When combined with a carbohydrate source during recovery, caffeine is also shown to improve glycogen repletion, but timing becomes a factor so that it does not negatively impact sleep patterns.
Health Benefits and Cautions of Caffeine: Just about every week a new piece of research on caffeine and its health benefits makes the headlines. Caffeine consumption (especially coffee) has been correlated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, various cancers, diabetes, and also improvements in cognitive functioning and asthma relief. If you are a regular caffeine consumer, you are probably aware of the dependence you may have on caffeine. Withdrawal can make you cranky, cause headaches, drowsiness, and even nausea. Caffeine beyond small amounts is not recommended during pregnancy, and those with high blood pressure, anxiety, sleep problems, heart issues, and stomach concerns may want to avoid caffeine. Caffeine may interact with prescription or over-the-counter medications, so consulting with a health care provider is advised.
Benefits for Performance: Need to improve ball-passing accuracy in a field sport? Caffeine may be able to improve that by 10%. Caffeine has been shown to improve performance by decreasing reaction time, sustaining maximal endurance and intermittent high-intensity long-duration exercise by extending the time to exhaustion. Caffeine may offer benefits for strength-power and sprint activities, and potentially reduce RPE, but research in these areas has been equivocal. Recent research has also shown that caffeine ingestion an hour prior to resistance training increased total repetitions that could be performed, but more importantly, significantly decreased DOMS in the days following compared to placebo. These researchers left us with an interesting question to ponder- would caffeine allow for more training sessions to be completed because of decreased soreness?
Caffeine Dosing and Sources: Optimal dosing for improving performance is between 3-6mg/2.2 lbs body weight, where lower amounts do not offer a significant benefit and higher doses offer no additional benefits, and can even have negative performance consequences. As an example, for a 150 pound athlete this would equate to 204 to 409 mg caffeine. Some common caffeine sources include:
Cola (12 oz.): 30-47 mg
Green tea (8 oz.): 24-40 mg
Black tea (8 oz.): 14-61 mg
Chocolate (bittersweet 1 oz.): 25mg
Coffee (8 oz.): 95-200 mg
Espresso (1 oz.): 40-75 mg
Over-the-counter medications are another source of caffeine to be aware of. As you can see, caffeine concentrations can vary widely, especially in coffees and teas due to brewing or even bean roasting methods. For those seeking a more controlled dosing using caffeine anhydrous, a dry powder form, can provide that.
For the regular caffeine consumer, a cup or two of coffee an hour before training doesn’t seem that extreme, but what about for the caffeine naïve athlete? Would a vente from the corner coffee shop on the way to a competition put them over the edge? Probably not, but a competition wouldn’t be the best time to discover an athlete’s response to caffeine. To evaluate how long the ergogenic effect of caffeine lasts and how it differed between regular caffeine users and nonusers, Bell and McLellan (2002) had study participants ingest either 5 mg/kg of caffeine or a placebo and complete one of six randomized submaximal (80%) exercise tests to exhaustion trials, at 1, 3, or 6 hours after ingestion, once per week. Caffeine significantly improved (increased) time to exhaustion and was greater for nonusers who had a longer lasting ergogenic effect that was still evident at the 6 hour post ingestion trial. For those who are caffeine experienced, caffeine clears from the blood stream between 3 and 6 hours after ingestion, whereas for our caffeine naïve consumers it takes a bit longer.
What do Athletes Know? During the 2005 Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon World Championship, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to discover what their knowledge about caffeine and exercise was, along with the sources they received their information from. 73% of the respondents perceived that caffeine had a positive or strongly positive effect on performance, with the most common sources of caffeine information being fellow athletes, magazines, journal articles, and coaches, in addition to self-research and experimentation. 53% of these athletes planning on using caffeine indicated they did not know how much caffeine would improve their triathlon performance! This research highlights the need for more athlete education on the topic of how to correctly use caffeine to enhance performance—if its use is being considered.
Caffeine Wrap-Up: Though we are not promoting the use of caffeine, this article shares some of the benefits and dosing strategies for improving performance. The ergogenic effects of caffeine can vary depending on dosing, timing, exercise intensity, duration, and habitual or naïve caffeine use. Athletes should use caution if considering using caffeine if they have medical conditions or prone to sleep disturbances and consult with their healthcare provider.
Caffeine has become a regular part of our daily diets, found in items such as chocolate, coffee, tea, and soda, even over-the-counter medications, supplements and cosmetics. It stimulates the central nervous system, heart, and musculoskeletal system. Part of the appeal of caffeine is that it has minimal health consequences for generally healthy individuals when taken in low-to-moderate amounts. Typical side effects include sleep disturbances, headaches, tremors, or increased anxiety, but overall benefits include improved concentration, alertness and mood.
Many athletes turn to caffeine not only for this stimulating buzz, but also to
enhance sports performance. Between 1984 and 2004, caffeine was on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances as evidence implicated caffeine as an ergogenic aid. It was eventually removed from the list as violation threshold levels were well beyond doses giving athletes a competitive edge. Though not currently banned, it is still a substance being monitored by WADA. Along these same lines, the NCCA bans caffeine at urine concentration levels of 15 ug/mL or higher for student-athletes to test positive, so it is still important to monitor just how much caffeine could be ingested from different sources (which will be listed later).
In the Body: Caffeine is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and quickly metabolized by the liver. It begins circulating in the blood stream within 15-45 minutes, with peak concentration appearing an hour after consumption. Caffeine research, overall, finds that it effects both the central and peripheral systems. It easily crosses the membranes of nerve and muscle cells, and even the blood-brain barrier. Caffeine can also enhance fat oxidation and spare muscle glycogen. When combined with a carbohydrate source during recovery, caffeine is also shown to improve glycogen repletion, but timing becomes a factor so that it does not negatively impact sleep patterns.
Health Benefits and Cautions of Caffeine: Just about every week a new piece of research on caffeine and its health benefits makes the headlines. Caffeine consumption (especially coffee) has been correlated with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, various cancers, diabetes, and also improvements in cognitive functioning and asthma relief. If you are a regular caffeine consumer, you are probably aware of the dependence you may have on caffeine. Withdrawal can make you cranky, cause headaches, drowsiness, and even nausea. Caffeine beyond small amounts is not recommended during pregnancy, and those with high blood pressure, anxiety, sleep problems, heart issues, and stomach concerns may want to avoid caffeine. Caffeine may interact with prescription or over-the-counter medications, so consulting with a health care provider is advised.
Benefits for Performance: Need to improve ball-passing accuracy in a field sport? Caffeine may be able to improve that by 10%. Caffeine has been shown to improve performance by decreasing reaction time, sustaining maximal endurance and intermittent high-intensity long-duration exercise by extending the time to exhaustion. Caffeine may offer benefits for strength-power and sprint activities, and potentially reduce RPE, but research in these areas has been equivocal. Recent research has also shown that caffeine ingestion an hour prior to resistance training increased total repetitions that could be performed, but more importantly, significantly decreased DOMS in the days following compared to placebo. These researchers left us with an interesting question to ponder- would caffeine allow for more training sessions to be completed because of decreased soreness?
Caffeine Dosing and Sources: Optimal dosing for improving performance is between 3-6mg/2.2 lbs body weight, where lower amounts do not offer a significant benefit and higher doses offer no additional benefits, and can even have negative performance consequences. As an example, for a 150 pound athlete this would equate to 204 to 409 mg caffeine. Some common caffeine sources include:
Cola (12 oz.): 30-47 mg
Green tea (8 oz.): 24-40 mg
Black tea (8 oz.): 14-61 mg
Chocolate (bittersweet 1 oz.): 25mg
Coffee (8 oz.): 95-200 mg
Espresso (1 oz.): 40-75 mg
Over-the-counter medications are another source of caffeine to be aware of. As you can see, caffeine concentrations can vary widely, especially in coffees and teas due to brewing or even bean roasting methods. For those seeking a more controlled dosing using caffeine anhydrous, a dry powder form, can provide that.
For the regular caffeine consumer, a cup or two of coffee an hour before training doesn’t seem that extreme, but what about for the caffeine naïve athlete? Would a vente from the corner coffee shop on the way to a competition put them over the edge? Probably not, but a competition wouldn’t be the best time to discover an athlete’s response to caffeine. To evaluate how long the ergogenic effect of caffeine lasts and how it differed between regular caffeine users and nonusers, Bell and McLellan (2002) had study participants ingest either 5 mg/kg of caffeine or a placebo and complete one of six randomized submaximal (80%) exercise tests to exhaustion trials, at 1, 3, or 6 hours after ingestion, once per week. Caffeine significantly improved (increased) time to exhaustion and was greater for nonusers who had a longer lasting ergogenic effect that was still evident at the 6 hour post ingestion trial. For those who are caffeine experienced, caffeine clears from the blood stream between 3 and 6 hours after ingestion, whereas for our caffeine naïve consumers it takes a bit longer.
What do Athletes Know? During the 2005 Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon World Championship, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to discover what their knowledge about caffeine and exercise was, along with the sources they received their information from. 73% of the respondents perceived that caffeine had a positive or strongly positive effect on performance, with the most common sources of caffeine information being fellow athletes, magazines, journal articles, and coaches, in addition to self-research and experimentation. 53% of these athletes planning on using caffeine indicated they did not know how much caffeine would improve their triathlon performance! This research highlights the need for more athlete education on the topic of how to correctly use caffeine to enhance performance—if its use is being considered.
Caffeine Wrap-Up: Though we are not promoting the use of caffeine, this article shares some of the benefits and dosing strategies for improving performance. The ergogenic effects of caffeine can vary depending on dosing, timing, exercise intensity, duration, and habitual or naïve caffeine use. Athletes should use caution if considering using caffeine if they have medical conditions or prone to sleep disturbances and consult with their healthcare provider.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Five Key Strategies for Mature Lifters
by Charles Staley
As we get older, many of us view strength training as a young-person's game. There just seems like too much risk and not enough reward. Plus, nobody likes to start at the absolute bottom. In terms of risk and reward, there's far more of the latter than the former. However, building and maintaining muscle mass and strength is one of the absolute best things you can do to boost your quality of life at any age. It's no coincidence that studies have shown muscle mass to be a better predictor of lifespan than the ever-popular (but deeply flawed) BMI.
As for the humiliation factor, being able to deal with that is what allowed me to get in my best-ever shape at age 55. Sure, it demanded humility, but that's not a bad thing. Luckily, for the most part, training for older athletes is the same as for their younger counterparts. In fact, the principles involved are exactly the same. The primary differences lie in the starting point and pace and tone of progression.
But a handful of unique intangibles must also be addressed if you want to do this right and do it for the long term. And to be clear, you should want both of those things!
1. Learn to Reconcile Needs with Wants Many of us older lifters are still in decent or even great shape, at least in the context of the activities we love most. But we have a strong desire to be noteworthy. Actually, the word I typically use is "badass." Maybe the goal is a great physique, or to be very strong, or be highly ranked in some type of master's athletics. We want to stand out. We want to be great at something.
Make no mistake, the desire to be remarkable is completely healthy, and it can fuel you through those tough workouts. But the training it'll take for you to achieve your greatness doesn't always lead to the best possible health in later years. So, if you want to be great and healthy, you'll need to reconcile these two somewhat conflicting goals.
One way to reconcile them is to engage in sports or activities that fit your body type and physical attributes. I've personally violated this recommendation in recent years, spending my 40s and 50s competing in weightlifting and powerlifting, neither of which is ideally suited to my 6-foot-1, 198-pound frame, and my relatively poor mobility. I've been lucky so far, and reasonably successful, especially in powerlifting. But I'm always entertaining new possibilities to keep myself challenged and engaged with physical training. You should similarly keep an open mind.
2. Training Economy: Think Like an Accountant I tell my clients, "Whenever you put your hands on a bar, there's always a cost. Whether or not there's a benefit is another matter."
When it comes to fitness—and this especially holds true as you get older—you always need to consider possible costs and benefits when planning your training activities. Costs are paid not just in time and energy, but often in injury risk, time away from other life pursuits, and orthopedic wear and tear years down the road.
Ideally, you want to purchase your gains at discount, not premium, prices. Here are just a few examples to stimulate your thinking:
a). If you have low-back issues, front squat variations might be a "lower-cost" way to improve leg strength than barbell squats.
b). Doing a relatively high number of reps with correspondingly lower weight might be a better way to gain muscle than doing lower reps with more weight. It's also usually more time-efficient, no matter what your orthopedic status might be.
c). Seek to minimize waste in your workouts; put exercises for already well-developed muscle on the back burner.
d). Don't rest 4 minutes between sets if you can do just as well with 3-minute rests.
e). Focus your mobility efforts on your 1-2 tightest muscle groups.
f). If you need better cardiorespiratory endurance and you weigh 250 pounds, maybe jogging isn't the best tool for the job. Opt for the bike or elliptical.
You get the idea. The bottom line is that the older you get, the more training economy becomes a priority. Think in terms of Pareto principle: What are the 20 percent of inputs that can enable 80 percent of your outcomes? Identify and work hard on those things. When time and energy are limited, you'll know which things you can skip without significant consequence.
3. Identify and Shore Up Your Weakest Links Fitness is composed of a variety of adaptations and capacities that all tend to decline with age and/or disuse, but at different rates. For example, it's relatively easy to maintain strength in later years, but the same can't always be said for mobility or power. So here's a simple question to sharpen your focus on this topic: What could you do easily at age 18 that you can't do so easily today?
Running? Jumping? Throwing or catching a ball? Getting up off the floor? Touching your toes? Seeing your toes? Whatever it is, your answer to this question is a glimpse into the physical capacities that have significantly declined for you over the years.
The various physical characteristics that comprise physical fitness are an interrelated web. The development of each quality affects the potential development of all the others. These capacities are like the strands of a spider web; you can't touch one without affecting the others.
4. Eat More Protein As we age, the anabolic effects of training and nutrition become gradually less and less potent. So, in order to stay in the game, you'll need to do more in order to get less. In particular, the effects of protein intake on muscle protein synthesis seem to dwindle in our later years. We also tend to tolerate carbohydrates a bit less effectively than we did when we were younger. These two conclusions argue for budgeting some of those carb calories toward protein. Dr. Layne Norton proposes the following recommended protein intake ranges for older athletes:
< 18 years: 0.6-0.8 grams per pound of body weight
19-40 years: 0.8-1.1 grams per pound of body weight
41-65 years: 1.1-1.3 grams per pound of body weight
65 years: 1.3-1.5 grams per pound of body weight
Eating that much protein can seem like a chore, but supplementation helps a lot.
5. Don't Be Afraid to Be a Generalist
Ideally, very young athletes usually start out training in a very generalized manner. They might participate in soccer, swimming, gymnastics exercises, or track and field skills. You can envision this as the top or wide end of an hourglass. Only later, in their mid to late teens, depending on the sport, do they begin to specialize to help them excel at their chosen sport. Think of this stage as the narrow "neck" of the hourglass.
As you move into your later years, I recommend shifting back to a more generalized training strategy. Imagine that you're 25 years old, and it takes you 20 minutes to "run" a mile. By any standard, that sucks, but the good news is that at age 25, it'll be pretty easy to fix. On the other hand, if you're 55, and it takes you 20 minutes, getting faster is going to be a battle. In fact, you may never re-establish a reasonable time.
The answer isn't to beat your head against what you can't do, but to search out what you can do. Regardless of your chosen athletic discipline, you should strive to improve at a broad range of fitness characteristics, even if they're not directly applicable to the sport or activity you love. The good news is that once a fitness trait has been established, it doesn't really take a lot of work to simply maintain it.
Here's a practical suggestion to ensure that you maintain all-around fitness as you age: Find a measurable way to assess your current status for strength, cardiovascular ability, body composition, and mobility. Next, "draw a line in the sand" for each: a level that is personally acceptable for you. There are no absolute rights and wrongs when it comes to this. The point is, define your personal standards for the fitness landmarks that matter to and are accessible you, then get to work by attacking your weakest areas.
You Can't Cheat the System! The older you get, the more that the "minor details" really matter: things like meal frequency, thorough warm-ups, adequate sleep, and stress management. You can definitely "cheat the system" on many of these items when you're younger, but you don't have that luxury later in life.
So, if you want to be a badass at 50, 60, or beyond, there's a price to pay in hard work and personal discipline. But the rewards are well worth it. The only downside? You can't let things drift away from you anymore like you could in your 20s. It's time to get to work!
As we get older, many of us view strength training as a young-person's game. There just seems like too much risk and not enough reward. Plus, nobody likes to start at the absolute bottom. In terms of risk and reward, there's far more of the latter than the former. However, building and maintaining muscle mass and strength is one of the absolute best things you can do to boost your quality of life at any age. It's no coincidence that studies have shown muscle mass to be a better predictor of lifespan than the ever-popular (but deeply flawed) BMI.
As for the humiliation factor, being able to deal with that is what allowed me to get in my best-ever shape at age 55. Sure, it demanded humility, but that's not a bad thing. Luckily, for the most part, training for older athletes is the same as for their younger counterparts. In fact, the principles involved are exactly the same. The primary differences lie in the starting point and pace and tone of progression.
But a handful of unique intangibles must also be addressed if you want to do this right and do it for the long term. And to be clear, you should want both of those things!
1. Learn to Reconcile Needs with Wants Many of us older lifters are still in decent or even great shape, at least in the context of the activities we love most. But we have a strong desire to be noteworthy. Actually, the word I typically use is "badass." Maybe the goal is a great physique, or to be very strong, or be highly ranked in some type of master's athletics. We want to stand out. We want to be great at something.
Make no mistake, the desire to be remarkable is completely healthy, and it can fuel you through those tough workouts. But the training it'll take for you to achieve your greatness doesn't always lead to the best possible health in later years. So, if you want to be great and healthy, you'll need to reconcile these two somewhat conflicting goals.
One way to reconcile them is to engage in sports or activities that fit your body type and physical attributes. I've personally violated this recommendation in recent years, spending my 40s and 50s competing in weightlifting and powerlifting, neither of which is ideally suited to my 6-foot-1, 198-pound frame, and my relatively poor mobility. I've been lucky so far, and reasonably successful, especially in powerlifting. But I'm always entertaining new possibilities to keep myself challenged and engaged with physical training. You should similarly keep an open mind.
2. Training Economy: Think Like an Accountant I tell my clients, "Whenever you put your hands on a bar, there's always a cost. Whether or not there's a benefit is another matter."
When it comes to fitness—and this especially holds true as you get older—you always need to consider possible costs and benefits when planning your training activities. Costs are paid not just in time and energy, but often in injury risk, time away from other life pursuits, and orthopedic wear and tear years down the road.
Ideally, you want to purchase your gains at discount, not premium, prices. Here are just a few examples to stimulate your thinking:
a). If you have low-back issues, front squat variations might be a "lower-cost" way to improve leg strength than barbell squats.
b). Doing a relatively high number of reps with correspondingly lower weight might be a better way to gain muscle than doing lower reps with more weight. It's also usually more time-efficient, no matter what your orthopedic status might be.
c). Seek to minimize waste in your workouts; put exercises for already well-developed muscle on the back burner.
d). Don't rest 4 minutes between sets if you can do just as well with 3-minute rests.
e). Focus your mobility efforts on your 1-2 tightest muscle groups.
f). If you need better cardiorespiratory endurance and you weigh 250 pounds, maybe jogging isn't the best tool for the job. Opt for the bike or elliptical.
You get the idea. The bottom line is that the older you get, the more training economy becomes a priority. Think in terms of Pareto principle: What are the 20 percent of inputs that can enable 80 percent of your outcomes? Identify and work hard on those things. When time and energy are limited, you'll know which things you can skip without significant consequence.
3. Identify and Shore Up Your Weakest Links Fitness is composed of a variety of adaptations and capacities that all tend to decline with age and/or disuse, but at different rates. For example, it's relatively easy to maintain strength in later years, but the same can't always be said for mobility or power. So here's a simple question to sharpen your focus on this topic: What could you do easily at age 18 that you can't do so easily today?
Running? Jumping? Throwing or catching a ball? Getting up off the floor? Touching your toes? Seeing your toes? Whatever it is, your answer to this question is a glimpse into the physical capacities that have significantly declined for you over the years.
The various physical characteristics that comprise physical fitness are an interrelated web. The development of each quality affects the potential development of all the others. These capacities are like the strands of a spider web; you can't touch one without affecting the others.
4. Eat More Protein As we age, the anabolic effects of training and nutrition become gradually less and less potent. So, in order to stay in the game, you'll need to do more in order to get less. In particular, the effects of protein intake on muscle protein synthesis seem to dwindle in our later years. We also tend to tolerate carbohydrates a bit less effectively than we did when we were younger. These two conclusions argue for budgeting some of those carb calories toward protein. Dr. Layne Norton proposes the following recommended protein intake ranges for older athletes:
< 18 years: 0.6-0.8 grams per pound of body weight
19-40 years: 0.8-1.1 grams per pound of body weight
41-65 years: 1.1-1.3 grams per pound of body weight
65 years: 1.3-1.5 grams per pound of body weight
Eating that much protein can seem like a chore, but supplementation helps a lot.
5. Don't Be Afraid to Be a Generalist
Ideally, very young athletes usually start out training in a very generalized manner. They might participate in soccer, swimming, gymnastics exercises, or track and field skills. You can envision this as the top or wide end of an hourglass. Only later, in their mid to late teens, depending on the sport, do they begin to specialize to help them excel at their chosen sport. Think of this stage as the narrow "neck" of the hourglass.
As you move into your later years, I recommend shifting back to a more generalized training strategy. Imagine that you're 25 years old, and it takes you 20 minutes to "run" a mile. By any standard, that sucks, but the good news is that at age 25, it'll be pretty easy to fix. On the other hand, if you're 55, and it takes you 20 minutes, getting faster is going to be a battle. In fact, you may never re-establish a reasonable time.
The answer isn't to beat your head against what you can't do, but to search out what you can do. Regardless of your chosen athletic discipline, you should strive to improve at a broad range of fitness characteristics, even if they're not directly applicable to the sport or activity you love. The good news is that once a fitness trait has been established, it doesn't really take a lot of work to simply maintain it.
Here's a practical suggestion to ensure that you maintain all-around fitness as you age: Find a measurable way to assess your current status for strength, cardiovascular ability, body composition, and mobility. Next, "draw a line in the sand" for each: a level that is personally acceptable for you. There are no absolute rights and wrongs when it comes to this. The point is, define your personal standards for the fitness landmarks that matter to and are accessible you, then get to work by attacking your weakest areas.
You Can't Cheat the System! The older you get, the more that the "minor details" really matter: things like meal frequency, thorough warm-ups, adequate sleep, and stress management. You can definitely "cheat the system" on many of these items when you're younger, but you don't have that luxury later in life.
So, if you want to be a badass at 50, 60, or beyond, there's a price to pay in hard work and personal discipline. But the rewards are well worth it. The only downside? You can't let things drift away from you anymore like you could in your 20s. It's time to get to work!
Friday, February 08, 2019
There’s More To Whole Grains Than Just Whole Wheat
for NASM by Stacey Penney, MS, NSAM-CPT
What’s all the interest in grains? Dietary guidelines recommend that at least half of the grains we eat are whole grains. Whole grains, gluten-free, enriched, refined, and pseudo-grains, what does it all mean to your diet and health? Here we’ll take a look at some whole grain alternatives and their nutritional values.
Whole Grains Versus Refined Grains
Whole grains contain the endosperm, the germ, and the bran of the grain kernel (1,2).
With minimal processing, whole grains deliver the naturally occurring nutrients in the same proportions found in the kernel. Refined grains, on the other hand, have been processed to a point that much of the bran and even part of the germ have been stripped away, along with much of the fiber, iron, and B vitamins (1,2). Manufactures now “enrich” this processed refined grain with various vitamins and minerals, but usually do not add back in the dietary fiber or original nutrients lost in the processing (1).
Benefits of Whole Grains
Whole grains are high in fiber. Many of us don’t get the recommended amount of fiber in our daily diet, that being 38 g per day for men and 25 g per day for women (1,3). Consuming high fiber foods, such as whole grains, has been associated with many health benefits including lower total cholesterol, blood pressure, decreased cardiovascular disease risk, a lower incidence of certain cancers, lower body mass index, blood glucose control, and feelings of satiety (1-3).
An Intolerance for Gluten
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and sometimes oats (via cross-contamination) (1). Celiac disease is the inability to digest gluten. When intestinal villi are exposed to gluten they become inflamed and can cause flattening of the villi in the intestine, leading to a mal-absorption of nutrients, including iron, vitamin D and calcium (1,4). For people with celiac disease, following a gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment (1,5). The good news is that there are many other whole grains and pseudo-grains (seeds such as amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa) that are gluten-free, some of which are highlighted in the list below.
Nutritional Value and Health Research
Below is a list of grains beyond whole wheat to add variety to your menu. The nutritional information is based on 1 cup for ease of comparison. Nutrient data was gathered from the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 26.
The staple we grew up on. It’s better than white flour, but lets explore and compare some of the other whole grains we have available.
High in calcium (307 mg) and magnesium (479 mg), amaranth has been studied for its anti-inflammation, cancer and CVD prevention possibilities (6,7). Amaranth is gluten-free.
Buckwheat, a pseudo-grain, is gluten-free and great for making pancakes and soba noodles. Added benefits of buckwheat include that it is high in magnesium and niacin, is a prebiotic, helps control diabetes by lowering blood glucose levels, lowers cholesterol and is high in satiety (8,9).
Health research on millet shows it could be helpful in preventing cardiovascular disease and controlling blood glucose levels in diabetics (10,11). Millet is also high in antioxidants and is gluten-free. When baking, you can substitute about 30% millet flour in recipes (2).
Not only is quinoa easy to cook with and makes a great dish, but it is also high in magnesium (335 mg) and rich in the antioxidant quercetin. Health benefit claims include diabetes and hypertension management (12).
Sorghum is high in magnesium and phosphorous, and also gluten-free. Health benefits include cholesterol management, protection against diabetes and insulin resistance, and it has even been tried in the treatment of melanoma (13-15).
Teff is one of the smallest grains in the world, about the same size as poppy seeds. Because of its tiny size, teff is eaten in its whole form or ground into flour. It is very high in calcium (347mg), is gluten-free, and also high in resistant starch that is beneficial for blood-sugar management.
Next up alternative?
Expect to see coffee flour on your shelves sometime soon. It’s made from the outside pulp that covers the coffee bean, also called the cherry, which is often discarded after the beans have been extracted for roasting. According to the website, coffeeflour.com, this gluten-free flour alternative is touted as having more iron than spinach, more protein than kale, more potassium than a banana, and five times more fiber than whole grain flour. It doesn’t even taste like coffee nor pack that high of a caffeinated punch. A variety of recipes are being tested ranging from pastas, sauces, breads, cookies, muffins, and beverages. Part of the mission of the company, coffee flour, is sustainability: social, environmental, and economic.
What’s all the interest in grains? Dietary guidelines recommend that at least half of the grains we eat are whole grains. Whole grains, gluten-free, enriched, refined, and pseudo-grains, what does it all mean to your diet and health? Here we’ll take a look at some whole grain alternatives and their nutritional values.
Whole Grains Versus Refined Grains
Whole grains contain the endosperm, the germ, and the bran of the grain kernel (1,2).
With minimal processing, whole grains deliver the naturally occurring nutrients in the same proportions found in the kernel. Refined grains, on the other hand, have been processed to a point that much of the bran and even part of the germ have been stripped away, along with much of the fiber, iron, and B vitamins (1,2). Manufactures now “enrich” this processed refined grain with various vitamins and minerals, but usually do not add back in the dietary fiber or original nutrients lost in the processing (1).Benefits of Whole Grains
Whole grains are high in fiber. Many of us don’t get the recommended amount of fiber in our daily diet, that being 38 g per day for men and 25 g per day for women (1,3). Consuming high fiber foods, such as whole grains, has been associated with many health benefits including lower total cholesterol, blood pressure, decreased cardiovascular disease risk, a lower incidence of certain cancers, lower body mass index, blood glucose control, and feelings of satiety (1-3).
An Intolerance for Gluten
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and sometimes oats (via cross-contamination) (1). Celiac disease is the inability to digest gluten. When intestinal villi are exposed to gluten they become inflamed and can cause flattening of the villi in the intestine, leading to a mal-absorption of nutrients, including iron, vitamin D and calcium (1,4). For people with celiac disease, following a gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment (1,5). The good news is that there are many other whole grains and pseudo-grains (seeds such as amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa) that are gluten-free, some of which are highlighted in the list below.
Nutritional Value and Health Research
Below is a list of grains beyond whole wheat to add variety to your menu. The nutritional information is based on 1 cup for ease of comparison. Nutrient data was gathered from the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 26.
The staple we grew up on. It’s better than white flour, but lets explore and compare some of the other whole grains we have available.
High in calcium (307 mg) and magnesium (479 mg), amaranth has been studied for its anti-inflammation, cancer and CVD prevention possibilities (6,7). Amaranth is gluten-free.
Buckwheat, a pseudo-grain, is gluten-free and great for making pancakes and soba noodles. Added benefits of buckwheat include that it is high in magnesium and niacin, is a prebiotic, helps control diabetes by lowering blood glucose levels, lowers cholesterol and is high in satiety (8,9).
Health research on millet shows it could be helpful in preventing cardiovascular disease and controlling blood glucose levels in diabetics (10,11). Millet is also high in antioxidants and is gluten-free. When baking, you can substitute about 30% millet flour in recipes (2).
Not only is quinoa easy to cook with and makes a great dish, but it is also high in magnesium (335 mg) and rich in the antioxidant quercetin. Health benefit claims include diabetes and hypertension management (12).
Sorghum is high in magnesium and phosphorous, and also gluten-free. Health benefits include cholesterol management, protection against diabetes and insulin resistance, and it has even been tried in the treatment of melanoma (13-15).
Teff is one of the smallest grains in the world, about the same size as poppy seeds. Because of its tiny size, teff is eaten in its whole form or ground into flour. It is very high in calcium (347mg), is gluten-free, and also high in resistant starch that is beneficial for blood-sugar management.
Next up alternative?
Expect to see coffee flour on your shelves sometime soon. It’s made from the outside pulp that covers the coffee bean, also called the cherry, which is often discarded after the beans have been extracted for roasting. According to the website, coffeeflour.com, this gluten-free flour alternative is touted as having more iron than spinach, more protein than kale, more potassium than a banana, and five times more fiber than whole grain flour. It doesn’t even taste like coffee nor pack that high of a caffeinated punch. A variety of recipes are being tested ranging from pastas, sauces, breads, cookies, muffins, and beverages. Part of the mission of the company, coffee flour, is sustainability: social, environmental, and economic.
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