Performance Tip Of The Week

5 WAYS TO PREVENT GI PROBLEMS FROM RUINING YOUR NEXT TRIATHLON
Up to 70% of triathletes experience GI problems during a triathlon.  The symptoms can cause mild discomfort or be so debilitating the triathlete has to withdraw. The reason GI distress is so common in triathlons is that, during intense exercise, 80% of the blood that normally goes to the GI tract is shunted to the muscles thereby affecting the movement of food from the small intestine. Here are five ways to minimize GI upset: Graze, don’t feast.Your body can absorb about 70g of carbohydrate per hour.  If you consume those... Read more...
CAN YOU IMPROVE POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO THROUGH CRASH DIETING?
EVERY SERIOUS CYCLIST RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANCE of improving their power-to-weight ratio.  A high power-to-weight ratio can translate into a significantly faster finishing time.  There are two ways to improve power-to-weight ratio.  One is increasing power output by doing high-intensity intervals, and the second is dropping weight. A 2009 study conducted at Southern Connecticut State University compared the individual and combined effects of interval training and weight loss on the power-to-weight ratio.  They found that training or weight loss alone each produced the same improvement, about 9%.  When both weight loss... Read more...
COULD YOU BE LOSING MUSCLE INSTEAD OF FAT? (HERE’S HOW NOT TO DO THAT!)
Most endurance athletes are concerned about their weight and periodically diet.  Since each pound contains about 3,500 calories, if we reduce caloric intake by 1,000 calories a  day, we lose about two pounds each week. Logically, the higher the daily caloric deficit, the faster the weight loss.  But not all weight loss is good weight loss, and unfortunately, the faster you drop weight, the more muscle you lose. This observation was made by researchers at Rockefeller University. Researchers looked at the effect of different daily caloric deficits on weight loss. ... Read more...
COULD YOU BE LOSING MUSCLE INSTEAD OF FAT? (HERE’S HOW NOT TO DO THAT!)
Most endurance athletes are concerned about their weight and periodically diet.  Since each pound contains about 3,500 calories, if we reduce caloric intake by 1,000 calories a  day, we lose about two pounds each week. Logically, the higher the daily caloric deficit, the faster the weight loss.  But not all weight loss is good weight loss, and unfortunately, the faster you drop weight, the more muscle you lose. This observation was made by researchers at Rockefeller University. Researchers looked at the effect of different daily caloric deficits on weight loss. ... Read more...
HOW DO OLYMPIC ATHLETES EAT?
Those among us who are athletes ourselves not only draw inspiration from the performances of these men and women but also seek to learn from them. How do they train? What do they eat? If we could only emulate some of their methods, perhaps we could raise our own performance to a higher level. I am fortunate. It is my job to study the training and nutrition practices of the world’s best athletes—endurance athletes specifically—and pass them along to folks like you. Recently I completed work on a second edition... Read more...
THE POWER OF PASSION
At PacificHealth, our mission is simple: Power Your Passion. Here’s how unleashing your passion can not only power a better body, it can power a better life. Kids know passion. They don’t have to think about it. They just instinctively follow their bliss. They are naturally passion-powered. It’s beautiful to behold. FOR A MOMENT, picture your passion. Visualize a time when you were immersed in your favorite activity. Perhaps it was a refreshing run on the beach, a soothing session of yoga or an uplifting hike up a mountain—anything that... Read more...