Performance Tip Of The Week

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY: WHY EXERCISE MAY REDUCE DEPRESSION
NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN that the incidence of depression is higher in the elderly.  It has been suggested that this pattern is associated with serotonin, a brain chemical that influences mood and behavior.  Normal aging is associated with a decline in serotonin levels.  At the same time, there have been many documented studies showing that people who exercise experience less depression.  These studies suggest that exercise provides a protective effect against the development of depression in older individuals. A recent study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise may help... Read more...
ARE TWO PROTEINS BETTER THAN ONE?
IN THE LAST DECADE sports scientists have made great strides in understanding how muscles work during exercise, how muscles recover, and the primary causes of fatigue. A result of this research has been the development of nutritional formulas that are far more effective in improving muscle performance. Protein is an excellent example. At one time carbohydrate was considered the only macronutrient essential for improving exercise performance. Research conducted at leading universities in the ‘90s clearly demonstrated that protein could improve endurance, reduce muscle damage, and even enhance rehydration. Most of... Read more...
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...
FEAR OF FRUCTOSE
Fructose is having a public relations crisis. Its reputation started to take a nosedive several years ago when some nutrition experts suggested that Americans eat far too much of it and that it is a major cause of the so-called obesity epidemic. Things got worse when studies provided a measure of support for this opinion. While fructose is a natural sugar found in many fruits, most of the fructose in the American diet takes the form of high-fructose corn syrup, a processed sugar added to soft drinks, candy, and other... Read more...
CONSIDER NUTRITION WHEN CHOOSING WHICH MARATHON TO RUN
I just signed up to run the Wine Country Marathon in Sonoma County, Calif. Several important considerations influenced my choice of this event over others. First, the timing is good for me. The race falls in mid-October, the ideal time to take advantage of my summer training. Second, the location couldn’t be better. Healdsburg, where the marathon starts and finishes, is less than three hours by car from where I live and it’s in the heart of wine country—a great destination for a weekend getaway with my wife whether or... Read more...
GIVE YOUR PERFORMANCE A JOLT
For many athletes, especially those who exercise in the morning, workout begins with a cup of coffee.  For athletes and non-athletes alike, coffee jump starts their day.  This caffeinated boost wakes us up and makes us more alert.  With the proliferation of coffee shops on every corner and caffeinated products sold in grocery and convenience stores, we have become a caffeinated nation.  Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world.  Although the benefits of caffeine in endurance exercise were first reported over 30 years ago, new studies reveal... Read more...
BEATING THE COMPENSATION EFFECT
I’ve never been hungrier than I was when I trained for Ironman Wisconsin in 2002. I trained hard for that race—up to 20 hours a week—and the harder I trained, the hungrier I became. I like to eat, so for a while I enjoyed the increased eating I needed to do in order to quiet my tummy. But eventually my appetite became an outright burden. I would eat a huge dinner at six o’clock in the evening and 90 minutes later I was hungry again. During the last few weeks... Read more...