In this podcast we discuss the top 5 things to do NOW to ensure a Great 2022 Race Season!

PPP: 016  Xterra Racing & Training Secrets with 3X Xterra World Champion Lesley Paterson!

 

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

 

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 

Today’ I’m Pumped to be bringing back to the podcast, professional triathlete, 3X World Xterra champion & Braveheart Coaching Co-founder, Lesley Paterson!

Lesley, welcome back to the show!  Okay, a lot has happened since we last talked, most notably, in 2018 you won the ITU World Cross Championship and then capped off the year by winning your 3rd Xterra World Championship, congratulations!  

For those of you listeners that are not familiar with Lesley’s long battle with Lyme’s Disease, can you share with us how you were able to overcome this debilitating health challenge?

Today’s topic is: Xterra Racing & Training Secrets.

As a 3X Xterra World Champion, I can think of nobody better to help us drill down on training and racing tips, tools & strategies for this exciting form of triathlon.

After racing road triathlons for well over 10 years, last year I finally toed the start line of my first two Xterra triathlons and they were blast!  What was interesting was that despite going into those races with decent fitness, it was a totally different world and I got smoked!! It’s not quite as simple as just swapping out your TT bike for mountain bike and getting some beefier running shoes is it?

Let me ask a broad, 3000 ft view question first, then we can drill down: what are some of the biggest differences between Xterra training & racing vs road triathlon training & racing?

Let’s focus on training for the mountain bike leg.  When comparing power & heart rate files over the course of a ride, mountain bike files seem much more erratic than road bike rides, it seems like all ride long you can end up going from zero to redline and the more technical the trail is the more erratic the output becomes.  What are some of the best ways to design training rides when the trail terrain can make holding certain power numbers or heart rates difficult?

 

Because maneuvering a mountain bike over technical terrain requires much more upper body strength, are there any specific weight training exercises that Xterra athletes should be doing to better help them handle their bike and also help to limit rider fatigue?

 

What are you thoughts on mixing in road bike or TT bike work into your plan?  Is this helpful and if so, how often?

 

Let’s Talk Gear: Is there  any essential or just plain cool mountain bike gear that you found helpful in Xterra racing?

Let’s now jump into the RUN

One of the most surprising things that I learned on my very first Xterra race last year was just how much technical skill good trail runners have compared to us novice trail runners.  There were a few slick sections down a rocky descent where I thought I was going a good pace then BOOM I got passed by some experienced racers that made it look like I was just standing still!

What are the top 2 or 3 things that people can work on to help them become better, faster trail runners?

Do you recommend Xterra athletes do most of their run training on trails or do you like them to mix in some road or track workouts as well?

Now the Best Part; Racing!

One of the biggest questions I have for you is how do you handle pacing on the mountain bike leg?  It seems so easy to overdo it especially on those technical courses that require big surges of power to climb hills & overcome big obstacles.

Any favorite forms of nutrition for the bike leg, this was more of a challenge than I expected especially when you can go many minutes before even feeling comfortable taking one hand off the handlebar!?

Similar questions for the run, any tactics for pacing yourself during the run or is pacing even necessary?  On some technical courses is it a good idea to hammer every smooth section you can knowing that you may be able to recover a bit on the more technical sections?

Recover:  Should Xterra athletes be doing anything different to maximize their recovery between sessions & races?

What are some of your favorite “must do’s” to maximize recovery?  This could be nutrition tips, modalities etc.

I think that covers a TON of helpful topics for our listeners!

Lets talk for a moment about coaching.  You along with your husband Simon who has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology are the founders of Braveheart coaching.  Do you offer coaching for athletes like us that are way out here on the east coast or in other areas of the globe?

Lesley as we get ready to wrap things up today, do you have any last words of wisdom for our listeners?

Lesley, thank you for providing our listeners so much actionable advice!  One last question: How can people connect and follow you?

I will put a link to each of ways you can connect with Lesley in our show notes page @ www.peakperformancepodcast.com.

Lesley thank you so much, I wish for you an abundance of success this year and in they years ahead!! Cheers!!

Links

 

Braveheart Coaching

The Brave Athlete Book

Lesley Paterson's 6-minute 6-pack

Nino Schurter Workouts

Togs Thumb Grips

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

 

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 

Today’ conversation is likely to blow up many of the basic ideas & beliefs you have about how to train for endurance events.  The information we are about to cover comes from an extensive body of research based on the actual training plans of the world’s best runners, cyclists, swimmers, nordic skiers and more!  What we are going to cover aren’t just good ideas, no, these are actual strategies and plans used by numerous Olympic & world champions.

Let’s begin; Most of us are very familiar with the 5 zone model of exercise intensity and have been using it extensively as the basis behind our training plan focused primarily on a wide variety of higher intensity interval training sessions which in theory will best increase our VO2Max and FTP to improve our performance.  Many of these interval sessions focus on performing work somewhere between 80-100% or 80-110% of our FTP or Vo2Max depending on what methods are available for testing/retesting the athlete. FTP or Functional Threshold Power is the highest amount of power one can output over 45-60 min. Vo2Max is the maximum oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity.  Now, many amateure + age group athletes, especially in the winter months will utilize 3 or more of these types of sessions per week. These sessions are often called, “FTP sessions”, “Threshold sessions”, “sweet spot sessions” or “VO2Max sessions”. Training like typically puts the long slow distance workout on the back burner. Often an athlete’s time constraints combined with an unjustified belief that there is little to gain by long slow distance workouts are the main reasons behind the lack of emphasis on them.  I have heard of these type of workouts called garbage miles. Three other things have contributed to a lack of favor in doing multiple sessions of long slow distance on a weekly basis;

1. The rise in popularity of Interval training fueled by the marketing of many top products & software programs used by so many athletes, such as power meters, smart trainers and training software such as Strava, Zwift & Trainer Road just to name a few.  When you are constantly racing your fellow teammates or racing people from all over the world, in live time, it makes it very difficult to have the discipline to keep a long slow distance workout just that; long and SLOW.
2. Recent research revealed performing high intensity interval workouts 2-3 times per week for 2-8 weeks can result in “rapid & substantial metabolic and cardiovascular performance improvements” in athletes.  However, and this is a big However, what most athletes and especially most coaches do not realize is this: Those rapid and substantial gains as reported in the research… they were in untrained or only moderately trained individuals.  The athletes studies were NOT well trained or elite level athletes.   What is critical to know is this: Once you have a solid base of training behind you and you want to improve further, your training approach needs to change, and change dramatically.  
3. The proliferation of new coaches, trainers and fitness instructors that have bought into the hype from the fitness industry and are riding the wave of high intensity interval training popularity.  Many of these individuals are more than happy to provide classes and training plans that fit what people are asking for & expecting rather than using actual best practices.

Here comes the Big Curveball:  When you look at how the world’s best endurance athletes train and when you look at the SCIENCE behind best practices, what you learn is this: The world’s best athletes train dramatically different than those us using the standard high intensity interval program based on the 5 zone model of exercise intensity.  What is most surprising & the biggest difference is this: The best endurance athletes do FAR LESS interval work, In fact, the majority of elite level endurance athletes do upwards of 80% or more of their time working out in what we would call Zone 1 or Zone 2, at long slow distance pace!  That’s right, 80% or more of their time is spent well below their FTP or Vo2max intensities. Now there is a catch, and it’s a BIG catch.  When elite athletes do perform high intensity interval sessions, they go ALL IN and are often willing & ABLE to push into sessions of higher FTP / Vo2Max %’s than what amateure & age groupers are able to do.  Why can elite athletes often train at intensities higher than non-elites? One likely reason is that many non-elites are carrying an excess of accumulated fatigue from the doing so many high intensity intervals sessions each and every week.  Remember that after doing high intensity based workouts, you may have lingering musculoskeletal soreness that can take 1-3 days or more to recover from, well your nervous system can take 7 times longer than the musculoskeletal system to recover!

Let’s review: When analyzing how elite endurance athletes train you will typically find they spend a majority of time on either far end of the spectrum in terms of training intensities. In general about 80-90% of their time is spent doing long slow distance and about 10-20% of their time is spent doing high intensity interval training.  Because these athletes spend so much of their time in such a polarizing set of intensities, this type of approach has been aptly named, Polarized training.

When it comes to intensity zones, Polarized training better fits a three zone model of exercise intensity as opposed to the conventional 5 zone model.  For this discussion we will refer to these three zones as; polarized training zone 1, polarized training zone 2 and you guessed it, polarized training zone 3.  Polarized training zone 1 is similar to zones 1 & 2 in the conventional 5 zone model. polarized training zone 2 would be roughly equal to zone 3 in the 5-zone conventional model and polarized training zone 3 would be roughly equal to zones 4 & 5 in the conventional 5 zone model.  What is particularly interesting is that elite athletes spend very little time in the polarized model zone 2, since this is known as the dead zone. Essentially you are not going hard enough to reap any significant benefits of high intensity intervals, however, you are going hard enough to still be accumulating excessive bodily stress.  Now when you think about it, many of us amature and age group athletes spend the MAJORITY of our time in what would be classified as Polarized training’s Zone 2! An an example of how this happens is as follows: How many times have you done this...I know I have done this alot: You have a two hour long slow distance workout but are pressed for time so you think, “Since I only have an hour, I will push harder to make it “worthwhile”. Everytime we do this we are robbing ourselves the opportunity to acquire the benefits of LSD yet in going harder than we should for that workout we are  placing undue / unplanned stress on ourselves while not getting any real benefit of the increased intensity in this example since we are not going hard enough. Bottom line, research supports that most of us go too hard when we should be going easy and do not go hard enough when it’s time to truly get after it.

Because elite athletes push so hard during their intervals many of them only do 1 or 2 sessions per week!  This highlights one of the biggest training mistakes made by age group & amateur athletes: The belief that if some interval training is good, then more must be better.  We have to appreciate the fact that high intensity interval training puts a significant strain into the muscles, joints, ligaments, connective tissue, and it puts a significant stress on the energetic system, nervous system and endocrine system, as it activates heavily the Hypothalmus-Pituitary-Adrenal-Axis which can lead to overtraining and ultimately poor performances, sickness and injury.  

Now here is where the long slow distance workout shines.  Keep in mind that any event that lasts longer than 10-12 seconds will require some aerobic metabolism.  Therefore, anything that we can do to train our body on a cellular level at becoming a better aerobic engine will aid in such event.  Performing long slow distance workouts has been shown to improve not only our cellular aerobic metabolism but also improve cellular signalling which in turns improves many key processes such as DNA transcription, RNA translation and the building of proteins which is critical in connective tissue repair, bone & muscle building and even hormone synthesis!  However, unlike high intensity interval workouts which result in significantly more stress on the body, long slow distance workouts are relatively low stress, especially in regards to adrenal glands and entire HPA axis!

If you are not yet convinced about the power of polarized training, let’s dive deep into some real world examples:

Research by Billat and others in 2001 looked at elite French & Portuguese marathon runners in the 12 weeks leading up to the Olympic trials.  What they learned was these elite marathoners spent 78% of their training time at speeds well below marathon pace, which for them would be considered long slow distance.  Meanwhile they ran just 18% of their time at either 10km or 3km pace and just 4% of their time at actual marathon speed.

Mujika and others in 1995 looked at training data from national and international class swimmers over an entire season.  Now these athletes specialized in shorter events, 100m and 200m races. These races only last on average between 60 and 120 seconds nevertheless as we discussed earlier, even these events require aerobic metabolism.  These athletes spent 77% of their time swimming at an intensity that would fall into periodized zone 1, categorized as long slow distance pace.

Steinacker and others in 1998 looked at training data from elite German rowers that were preparing for the world championships.  This event requires athletes to row over 2000m. This event will typically last 6 to 7 minutes. The researchers found they spent 90% of their time training at an intensity that would fall into periodized training Zone 1 (long slow distance pace), virtually NO time training at threshold (periodized training zone 2) and just 10% of their time at high intensity (polarized zone 3).

In 2006 Seiler and others looked at training data from national level elite cross country skiers.  These athletes average Vo2Max was an astonishing 72ml.kg.min. What they found when looking at how these athletes train was this; 91% of their training time was at long slow distance intensity (polarized zone 1), about 6% of their training time was spent in polarized zone 2 and just under 3% of their time was spent at high intensity (polarized zone 3).

In 2004 Fiskerstrand and Seiler looked at data from 27 elite Norwegian rowers who won either Olympic or World medals.  They were able to look into three decades (1970’s, 1980’s & 1990’s) of evolving training plans and this is what they learned.  Over this span of time the average Norwegian rower was able to increase their Vo2max by 10% which is incredible for athletes of this caliber.  The researchers found two major adjustments to the athletes training plans over this period of time. Number one; “Overall training volume increased by about 20% and become more dominated by low-intensity volume” (polarized zone 1).  Number two; “very high intensity overspeed sprint training had declined dramatically in favor of longer interval training at 85-95% of Vo2max (polarized zone 3).”

Cyclists & triathletes listen to this; Schumacher and Mueller in 2002 looked at training data for the German gold medal winning track cyclists (Sydney Olympics).  What these athletes were able to do was truly remarkable. They had trained themselves to be able to hold 670W in the lead position and when falling back into the draft maintain an output of 450W!  The researchers learned that the majority of their training plan consisted of low to moderate cycling not on the track but on open roads and their total ride volume at this pace was huge (29-35,000km/year).  Now this is particularly interesting: In the 200 days before the olympics, where one would think they must have done incredibly high intensity intervals in order to get them in ready to push almost 700W on race day, they did just the opposite.  70% of their training days consisted of long slow distance rides at 50-60% of their Vo2max. 20% of their training days consisted of stage racing. Less than 10% of their training days were spent on the track at olympic race day intensity! Of that 10%, most of those days were done farther out from the olympics, in fact, in the 110 days leading up to the olympics, they only spent 6 days or just 5% of their days training at olympic race pace!  The take home message, training a massive aerobic engine is key to achieving elite level performance in endurance sports!

So there its folks, data from some of the worlds best runners, swimmers, cross country skiers, rowers and cyclists that support the use of polarized training plans as a means for achieving elite level performance.   For those interested in learning more I highly recommend reading the following from Seiler and Tonnessen, “Intervals, Thresholds, and Long Slow Distance: the Role of Intensity and Duration in Endurance Training.” It can be found in the journal Sportscience.  I will put a link to it in the show notes.

I hope this provides some food for thought, especially since this episode will be released in November, a time when a lot of us especially in the northeast are heading into winter and are in the midst of planning how we will train throughout this season.  My best advice; heed the information covered here today, resist the trap of doing too many high intensity interval sessions each week. Do not get fooled into going for a KOM or QOM every time you are outside or virtually training. Most importantly, take some time and focus on the long slow distance workout now and throughout the year to ultimately get stronger, fitter FASTER!

Links

 

http://www.sportsci.org/2009/ss.htm

 

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast

 

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 

Today I am excited to share with you an ever-expanding list of Performance Improving benefits that comes with adding sauna time to your training & recovery plan!  Also and perhaps of even greater importance; We are learning that there are Numerous health promoting benefits that come with regular sauna use.  

Did you know that for decades many of the top Scandinavian endurance athletes both past and present incorporate regular Sauna use as a key component of their training AND recovery?  This is something that we in North America have been way behind in, however, as the research continues to pile up hopefully we will no longer be left out in the cold on this one!

Let’s Dive right in and look at the Top Athletic Benefits that result from Sauna use:

Improved Cardiovascular Function:
Consistent sauna sessions train and improve your body’s ability to not only disperse heat better but to metabolically function better in higher temperature environments.  Think about how many races you have done or are planning to do that could be in very hot temperatures. That can be a worry to many of us especially in the Northeast where an early season hot race can shatter our performance because we just came out of winter often without having any chance to acclimate to increased temperatures.  Obviously if there is a way, like using a sauna to simulate heat training during the winter months, this would be of huge benefit come race season.

Regular sauna use has been shown to allow the athlete to utilize a lower HR in higher ambient temperatures compared to non-heat trained athletes.  The translation: Sauna use makes athletes become more efficient! For those familiar with Polarized Training, which science is showing to be the best way to optimize endurance training, that is the end result, to do more work at lower heart rates!  Therefore regular sauna use would be a perfect complement to Polarized Training. If you are not yet familiar with Polarized Training, do not worry, we are going to be drilling down on this topic soon in an upcoming podcast, so stay tuned.

Heat trained athletes are able to maintain lower core temperatures compared to non-heat trained athletes.  This can be huge for long course events such as Iron distance races, ultra-marathons etc where maintaining lower core temperatures can help prevent the digestive tract from shutting down which is one of the major causes of GI distress in these events.   

Sauna use has been shown to improve muscle perfusion.  

Sauna use has been shown to increase the heart’s Stroke Volume.

Sauna use improves the rate at which muscles can clear metabolic waste and decreases the rate of glycogen depletion (meaning you can do more work on less fuel).

Sauna use has been shown to increase red blood cell count due by stimulating an increase in erythropoietin (EPO) and also increase Growth Hormone output!!!

How does sauna use do all of this:  It’s actually pretty straight forward:  Sauna use provides a benefit similar to exercise.  It is all about overcoming applied stress. With traditional exercise the stress comes from physical resistance in a variety of forms depending on what we are doing; For example; when running we need to exert ground contact force to overcome gravity, when cycling we need to exert power to overcome the resistance from the pedals, gears, etc.  With sauna use the the applied stress is maintaining core temperature in a hot environment. Both exercise and sauna use result in increased heart rate, increased respiration rate, increased stroke volume and increased sweat rate. Now this is important: There is one one major difference between sauna use and traditional exercise: When we do traditional exercise weather it be weight training, running, biking, elliptical use etc, of course we experience increases in everything we just mentioned, BUT, it also causes an adrenal response (our adrenal glands produce stress hormones as a result of the body sensing it is under stress) causing a spike in cortisol output.  Now this is can a good thing because cortisol triggers the subsequent changes in hormones and dietary fuels that we need to get through whatever is stressing us weather it be a workout, running away from that bear, making those split second decisions to avoid say a car crash and cortisol also sets the stage for recovery (in fact that is just the beginning of what cortisol does, we could literally spend an hour on that). But, there is a problem which is this; So many of us are under so much stress on such a regular & on-going basis that our adrenal glands are actually fatigued. The harder you push in training results in greater strains to the adrenals glands. Continuing to push hard ie TRAIN when you are in adrenally fatigued leads to becoming overtrained which leads to poor performance, injury and sickeness.  Now when using a sauna, the body must try to cool which creates a stress on the cardiovascular system similar to what occurs when working out, however, sauna use has been shown to actually Decrease cortisol levels!  Therefore; you get the benefit of a cardiovascular workout without putting stress on our adrenal glands!  This takes us right into the next major benefit of sauna use:

Enables Downregulation of our Nervous System
Let’s talk some more about STRESS!  Stress in all its forms attacks our nervous system first?  Why? Simple. It’s been estimated that 80% of our entire nervous system is dedicated to sensing what is going on in our environment. It’s an innate survival mechanism.  Is there a bear chasing me? Where is my food source? Is a storm coming? Do I need to take shelter and warm up, cool down? Etc. Get it? There are two major subdivisions of our nervous system.  The sympathetic or “fight or flight” system and the parasympathetic or “rest and digest” system. They are opposing systems, like a light switch so they cannot both be fully “on”. As I just mentioned, when we are under stress, weather working out, being chased or are being hit with a myriad of emotionally based stresses…work, money, relationships, that triggers the fight or flight sympathetic system.  Which is okay if we need to run from that bear, crush that workout or figure out how to resolve that emotional challenge. The problem is, we are not supposed to be chased by a bear all day long. As we just talked about, Constant sympathetic stimulus stresses out adrenal glands as they try to put out an abundance of cortisol. Now we only have so many building blocks for hormones, so if we spend all day trying to produce cortisol we begin to see drops in other critical hormones responsible for repair, healing and longevity such as DHEA and growth hormone!  Now to further complicate things, of the two systems, the sympathetic system is the only one capable of winding itself up. The end result we get stuck in sympathetic overdrive and then big problems start showing up. In addition to poor performance, injury and sickness, our digestion system becomes impaired, often resulting in excessive gas, bloating, heartburn, irritable bowel symptoms. We start putting on weight around the midsection despite how much we work out or how little we eat. Often, we are so tired but when we go to bed we are actually so wound up we do not sleep well, the list goes on and on.  This is where down regulation comes in. Simply put; down regulation refers to anything that can calm down the sympathetic system while simultaneously stimulating the critically important rest and digest parasympathetic system and sauna use has been clinically shown to do this! This is probably the most important health benefit that is behind the longevity of sauna use dating as far back as to the Greek & Roman empire era

Here are two applicable studies:
#1. 2007 Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport: 30 min post exercise sauna session in 190 degree F over a duration of 2x/wk for just 3 weeks resulted in
32% greater run time to exhaustion.

#2.  1989 European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology: (2) 20 min sauna sessions at 176 degree F sauna with a 30 min cooling period resulted in 2X’s growth hormone secretion vs control

Now let’s get into some of the General Health Promoting Benefits of Sauna use:

Improved Detoxification:
Folks this is huge. Never before have we been exposed to so many toxins on such a regular basis.  Increased toxic load is proposed to be a major contributing factor to many of the leading chronic diseases, including cancers, due to the inflammation that so many of these toxins create in our bodies.  Therefore, it is absolutely critical to do all we can to improve our bodies ability to detoxify. It has been proven that our skin plays a major role in detoxification and sweating is how we release numerous toxins.  Research in the publication Clinical Chemistry showed that Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and Mercury can be readily eliminated from the body via sweat, which is why sauna use is so effective in promoting detoxification.

Improves Hypertension
Recent 2017 research in the American Journal of Hypertension found that regular sauna use resulted in lower rates of hypertension.  Likely the same factors that generate the improved cardiovascular function as talked about earlier help in the overall balance of blood pressure.  

Weight Loss
There are at least two major factors that can help sauna users lose weight.  The first is reduced cortisol levels. Remember when we talked about saunas being able to help us downregulate the nervous system.  This results in lowering cortisol output which can have a significant impact on weight. Cortisol, among many things, induces the body to store body fat as part of the alarm response.  Simply put; your body thinks you are being chased and you may be running far away from your food source so you better store fat for future fuel just in case. The second way sauna use can help people lose weight is through direct calorie burn.  Depending on your size, weight and sweat rate, the average person burns somewhere between 200-600 calories per 30 min session.

Decreased incidence of Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Very promising, recent research in the Journal of Age and Ageing showed lower risks of developing both Alzheimer’s and Dementia with increasing rates of sauna use.  This was an interesting study because it followed a large sample size, over 2300 males for over 20 years. This is consistent with other research that has shown that the more you sweat the greater amount of BDNF Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor is produced, which is critical for improving the health of the neurons in the brain!

Helps to reduce chronic pain
An interesting 2005 study in the Journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics found that daily sauna use for 4 weeks not only reduced the participants chronic pain, 77% of them showed signs of continued progress 2 years after the sauna trial was completed.  There are likely multiple factors tied to sauna use that can help those with chronic pain. Improved circulation and metabolism helped improve their healing response and they most likely benefited from sauna induced downregulation. Those in chronic pain are typically deep in sympathetic wind up since pain directly stimulates that fight or flight system therefore these individuals need as much help as anyone in downregulation.

There you have it folks! In addition to boosting your overall athletic performance, regular sauna use has been shown to promote relaxation and reduce stress, improve detoxification, downregulate the nervous system, decrease risk of hypertension, stimulate weight loss, decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s & Dementia and reduce chronic pain!

Now for my personal experience:  I began researching the benefits of sauna use a few years ago and last winter purchased a small home unit so I could perform my own research and this is what I have learned so far.

#1. Better sleep.  Now this was something I was not expecting as I am extremely fortunate to be a good sleeper.  But when using the sauna in the evening for as little as 20 minutes, I come out feeling so incredibly relaxed that the night my sleep is another level, I would say in all honesty, it’s fantastic!

#2. Noticeable Stress Relief.  This ties in with the previous finding.  I had some extremely stressful times in our clinic this past winter as we had to switch over to a completely new electronic health record, deal with some difficult insurance companies and we were simultaneously rebuilding our team.  On some of the most stressful days, if I were to get into the sauna for a session, I would have to say afterwords, if I had to put a number on it, it would be no stretch to say I felt 90% less stress after the session, no doubt I had experienced some much needed downregulation.

#3.  Absolute improvement in dealing with race day heat.  This past winter in the Northeast was brutally cold and the cold temperatures continued on into the spring and even early summer.  One of my earlier season races was Xterra French River, which I would highly recommend, by the way, but the temps on race day were over 90 degrees.  Many people suffered during that race, however, after drawing back to my many sessions in the 140-150 degree sauna I can say it made the 90+ degree heat that day seem not that bad.  Based on how I felt during the race, I know that the degree of power I was putting out was much more than I could have done prior to regular sauna use.

That wraps up my personal observations regarding regular sauna use.  If any of you have your own stories about how sauna use has helped your training and performance, please share them with us by commenting on this episode on tunes, facebook or on our website directly, the links for all the ways to do so will be in the show notes.

I will put links to the research discussed in the show notes as well as links to the Clear Light sauna that I am currently using.  And as a special thank you to our listeners, if you are interested in purchasing a sauna, use this link and enter the promo code SPINE to get $450 dollars off and a special Gift with purchase!  That is promo code SPINE!

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 

Links

Clear Light Saunas:  Remember to use the Promo Code, SPINE to get $450 off & a Gift with purchase
https://pl127.isrefer.com/go/hwhhome/marcdupuisdc

 

Research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Effect+of+post-exercise+sauna+bathing+on+the+endurance+performance+of+competitive+male+runners

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Effect+of+post-exercise+sauna+bathing+on+the+endurance+performance+of+competitive+male+runners

http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/19/11/1288

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27932366

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16088266

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28633297

The PPP episode 12: Ultra Marathon Secrets w/ Dr. Tyler Kuntz

Welcome to The Peak Performance Podcast

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guest”

 

Dr. Tyler Kuntz is the newest member of our team here at Back to Health Chiropractic.

He grew up in the small town of Mildmay in rural southern Ontario. He completed his ungraduated studies at the University of Guelph in June of 2014. While there he received his bachelor’s degree in Human Kinetics as well as a minor in Nutrition and Nutraceutical Sciences. From a young age Dr. Kuntz was very active in a variety of sports including hockey, softball, cross-country running and rugby. While playing many different sports Dr. Kuntz frequently relied on chiropractic care to overcome the injuries he sustained. It was also during this time that Dr. Kuntz realized the many benefits associated with chiropractic care in achieving optimal function, ultimately helping him perform at the highest level. This led Dr. Kuntz to pursue a career in chiropractic. 

In February of 2018 Dr. Kuntz graduated Magna Cum Laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. While studying at Palmer Dr. Kuntz was a Clinical Radiology Intern and a Chiropractic Rehabilitation and Sports Injury Intern.

After completing two marathons, a 50K race and several unsupported ultra-distance runs, Tyler has shifted his athletic focus on ultra-marathon racing

In this discussion we cover a wide range of topics related to ultra marathon training, racing and recovery.  I hope you enjoy this conversation, without any further ado, Here is my conversation with Dr. Tyler Kuntz.

Conversation Overview

What is an ultramarathon?

In the most general term an ultramarathon is a run or race that covers more than the 26.2-mile distance associated with a marathon. From an organized race standpoint, the most common distances are 50 km (31 miles), 50 miles, and 100 miles with a wide variety of special distance and races found in between and even races stretching well beyond the 100-mile distance. There are also timed events that are becoming more popular 6, 12, 24 hours and further.

Who can run an ultramarathon?

At lot of times I hear people say things like “I could never run that far” or “I’m just not made for running” or “I couldn’t find the time to train for anything like that” but, I have no doubt in my mind that any healthy person with a strong will and determination can train to run an ultramarathon.  Going to the finish line of an ultramarathon sure you will see the lean, long legged runners crossing the finishing line but towards the middle of the pack you see people of all ages, shapes and sizes. This is not just a sport dominated in terms of numbers by the super fit athletes.

How do you train for an ultramarathon?

Mileage

This is where most people feel they won’t have the time to train for an ultramarathon, but you can easily train for an ultramarathon only running four days a week. As a rule of thumb, I like to build my plans in a stepwise fashion. What that looks like is two weeks where I would increase my mileage from the previous week by about 10% following by a cycle down week where the mileage is dropped by about 10-15%. You can repeat this strategy up until two weeks before the race where you will begin to taper to prepare for the race.

Key Runs/workouts

Long runs and back to back long runs on weekends – Getting in one long run a week is key and an absolute must. If there is one day not to miss during your weekly training this must be it. These runs should be done at a pace that is slower than your race pace. These runs are important to train the body to be moving forward for extended periods of time. The point of the back to back long runs is that you will train your body to run on tired and sore legs. Gaining the mental ability to do this huge come race day when you are at distances you’ve never ran before. These runs are also important in developing a nutrition and hydration plan that you will use on race day.

Try to get one running-type workout per week – Some different types of workouts that I enjoy and mix into my training plans are tempo runs, fartlek runs, intervals and hill repeats. You will never be running this fast or hard in your race, but this is a great way to build strength, increase your lactate threshold and improve VO2 max. All of these will allow you to run harder for longer come race day.

Splitting mileage during the week into two runs.

Cross training – This is a great way to build strength by lifting weights which can improve your running economy. Other endurance sports cross training is also a great way to give your running muscles a day off while also building cardiovascular endurance.

Nutrition pre/during/post

Nutrition and hydration is one of the most important and often neglected aspect of ultramarathons. Failing to create a nutrition plan that works for you is a recipe for disaster. Anyone who has ever bonked or hit the wall in a race knows how miserable this is. Eating and drinking throughout the course of the race is important in preventing this from happening. There are all kinds of gels, chews, sports drinks out there. There is no one plan for every person, this is something that is trial and error and greatly depends on your metabolism, ability to digest different types of food while exercising, how much you sweat. Getting calories in towards the end of the race even when you don’t feel like eating is super important as well. Setting a timer on a watch for every 20 minutes or so to remind yourself to take a sip of water or sports drink and grab a little something to eat can really help. I try to consume around 300-400 calories per hour when doing long runs and races, but this varies based on temperature, effort level. GI issues in ultra-running are huge, it is not uncommon to see participants throwing up along a race course, so by dialing in your nutrition prior to race day can prevent this from happening.

Rest

Rest days are critical to letting the body heal, repair and rebuild.

How hard is ultra-running on your body?

Most of the 50km races will not be as hard on your body as a traditional 26.2-mile road race that will batter your body on tarmac for the entirety of the race. A lot of ultramarathon races on run on trails allowing for a softer surface for running while also letting the body use different muscle groups over the varying terrain.  The key to running these long-distance races is to slow yourself down, walk the up hills.

How do you fit running around your daily life and events?

One of my biggest tips that I can offer to train for these races is to be flexible. Start with a plan that you think you have reasonable shot at being able to stick to. Print this out, get an app on your phone or whatever works best for you to have this somewhere you can look at it every day and see what you need to do for the day. Now where the flexibility comes in is that we all have things come up from day to day that maybe don’t allow our training to go as planned but knowing these setbacks will happen and knowing it won’t ruin our entire training plan can go a long way. Don’t feel up to running as far as your plan calls one day? Run a little less. Feeling great one day, do a little more. Having flexibility in your training is key to a successful training block before a race.

Another big one training tool to use is to try and run in the mornings if possible. Having your gear laid out and ready go at a time of day when nothing is going on goes a long way. Getting home at the end of the day its so easy to just see the couch and want to kick back and relax.

For me on days when I don’t feel like running there is saying I always say to myself “Just get out there and run for 10 minutes and if you feel like stopping then you can stop, but just get out there for 10 minutes” I’ll tell you what I don’t know if there has been one time where after 10 minutes I have actually taken that out and turned around for home. There’s something about getting the blood flowing that wants you to keep going.

 

What about mental toughness?

Bar none being mentally tough is essential for successful ultra-running. There will be moments in training and races that you want to pack it in a give up. The pain will be unforgiving at times and see unbearable. In my opinion running races of these distance is over 90% mental. Going into the “pain cave”, is the lowest of lows but each time you push through that and come out on the other side give you such a sense of accomplishment. Experiencing these tough spots in and ultramarathon happens frequently. There will be highs and lows throughout the race but knowing that and being able to ride them out. When things are feeling good and you have that rush of endorphins slow down and make it last, enjoy it for as long as its there because you know that you’re going to be on the other end of it sooner. A couple phrases I like to repeat to myself over and over when I’m running are: “you’re stronger than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can” and an ultra-running favorite “it’s going to get worse before it gets better”.

What draws you to ultrarunning?

I think it’s a combination of things. I really enjoy races that ae on trails and I think that comes back to our innate desire to connect with nature. Being outdoors is something I love and being able to cover a lot of ground on your own two feet and take in so many views and stuff is a very primal feeling. I love pushing my body’s limit to find out what it is capable of. As human’s our cardiovascular endurance is something that is truly remarkable and pushing that limit and finding out what I can do is very rewarding.

Do your feet get blisters?

They will but getting a good pair of socks and shoes can really help prevent blisters from happening. I like to buy my shoes from local running stores that take the time to analyze your gait and make recommendations based on your running style and training. Also, having different pairs of shoes that you switch between is something that I think is very important. Your toenails will die and fall off. Looking at an ultrarunner’s feet is like something out of a horror movie a lot of the time. My toenails are constantly in varying shades of black, blue and purple.

  

Links

Hydration Pack: Nathan Vapor Air
https://www.amazon.com/Nathan-VaporAir-Hydration-Running-Reservoir/dp/B06XHJDPQ6

Anti-Chafe Salve
https://www.amazon.com/Squirrels-Nut-Butter-Natural-Applicator/dp/B07BR8TFZ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1525795674&sr=1-1&keywords=squirrel%27s+nut+butter

Manchester 2 Monadnock Ultra
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=51417

 

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

 

 

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guests:

Kyle Sikes is the head coach and owner of CrossFit 207. He went to
school at the University of Maine, originally for Molecular and Cellular
Biology, but it was there that he started doing CrossFit. After
discovering what he really loved to do, he changed his degree around
to something more relevant to fitness. That being a Zoology degree

2
with an Exercise Science minor. During his time at UMaine he started
his first affiliate, CrossFit Black Bear, which has been passed down
class to class and has since grown tremendously. Kyle has had his
share of success in the competitive CrossFit world. He placed 57th in
the world out of 70,000+ athletes in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Open.
He made it to the Reebok Games Northeast Regionals in 2010, 2011,
2012 and 2013 and enjoys competing in local fitness competitions

around New England.

Ryan Loshaw is a CrossFit 207 Coach & CrossFit Hack Co-

ownerWNER

Beginning at the age of 8 with daily 5 mile runs with his father, a
passion for competition and athletics grew. From high school cross
country, track, swimming, ultramarathons and triathlons, he
maintained an endurance background until his mid 20s. After
breaking his femur in a race, he stumbled into CrossFit where his first
coach (and future wife) opened his eyes to the benefits of CrossFit
methodology and proper biomechanics. He has a passion of helping
people utilize CrossFit to make them more successful, not only
athletically but in their job and everyday life.

 

Kyle & Ryan, welcome to the show!

Show Notes

 

 

 

PPP 010: Athletic Nutrition 101; Fueling for a winning season!

 

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

 

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 

Today’s topic: Athletic Nutrition 101; Fueling for a winning season!

 

Now more than ever figuring out what we should eat as athletes has never been more confusing.  The internet and social media is overflowing with information from so many self-proclaimed experts. Trying to sort through and separate fact from fiction is enough to make most people’s head spin.  Therefore today’s goal is to cover the basics.  The information I will teach you today comes from the highest quality research available and has been verified by thousands of laboratory tests that I have reviewed on countless athletes over my 14+ years in clinical practice.

So, buckle up, lets jump right in!

 

 

Baseline Nutrition:
Critically important yet often neglected due to extensive calorie burn and feeling like we can eat anything we want.

Macros: Fat, Protein, Carbohydrates

Fats: Anything nature made or that is MINIMALLY processed is good vs anything made in a lab/synthesized bad (trans(partially hydrogenated))
50-70% of total calorie intake should be fat (Dominic D’agastino leading ketogenic researcher, see his papers on cancer)
Best sources: avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut, butter (from grass fed cows), olives, cold water fatty fish-wild caught
butter from grass fed cows, sardines, flax seed
Oils: extra virgin olive oil (low heat only), avocado oil, coconut oils, grapeseed oil
AVOID all vegetable oil (highly processed)!

Protein: Best sources are wild caught cold water fatty fish, free range chicken, fowl & eggs, grass fed beef. Limit use of protein powders, however, cold filtered whey protein with branched chain
amino acids appear to be most bioavailable.  [Heat denatures proteins (therefore rare
temp for cooking meat is best)] Avoid SOY due to phytoestrogen properties.  Pea
protein, rice protein are better vegetarian alternatives

Carbohydrates: Best sources are fresh organic fruits (avoid buying conventionally grown members of the “dirty dozen”(due to increased contamination)), potatoes, sweet potatoes.  
Avoid refined carbohydrates ( white flour based products). Go organic or at least GMO
free whenever possible.  GMO products have been shown to cause harm to animals that ingest them #1.  #2, GMOs are heavily sprayed with pesticides due to the nature that they are specifically created to be resistant to pesticide use.  Note phytic acid in all grains interferes with mineral absorption and promotes inflammation in additional to having a poor omega 3:6:9 ratio.

 

Micros: Vitamin COMPLEXES, mineral COMPLEXES, trace minerals. Necessary for energy production at the cellular level, tissue integrity and countless enzymes.  This is why organic food matters, as organic products often have much higher levels of vitamin/mineral complexes.  Beware of junk science sponsored by major food industries that claim that organic food is not better.  Often these studies only look at macro-nutrients and neglect micro-nutrients.  Whole foods always best, if supplementing use Whole Food products which contain
essential VITAMERS which act as co-factors needed in order to utilize said vitamin.

 

Hydration:  Water, not coffee, not tea…. How much? Roughly ½ body weight in oz, with pinch of
Himalayan salt every 16 – 32 oz.  (Hamstring pulls 80% attributed to dehydration)

Training & Racing:

Nutrition is the 4th leg of triathlon!
Fueling

Athletes have 1-2 hr of stored fuel in form of glycogen (liver muscles) available

Assumption: You have made sure glycogen stores are ready ~24 hr before (food in stomach
1-2 hrs, plus small intestine digestion/absorption…)
Workouts 1 hr or less, no special fueling requirements so ditch specialty drinks, gels etc, just hydrate with water!
Workouts 1 -2 hours length: Strive for 2 bottles/hr Skratch/Infinit ~100cal/bottle + 100g gel/bar
Workouts 2+ hours, 1/2IM, IM: Bike 200-300 cal/hour Run 150-200 cal/hour
Many calculators, example: 2 calories/lb body weight per hour bike 75% of that number per hour while on run
Test, test, test, each of us is different in what we can tolerate.  TDF motto: Drink your hydration, eat your food
Allen Lim, portables cookbook, Skratch hydration mixes
SALT:  Best to prepare 3-5 days ahead of time to ensure salts get into soft tissues!  Questions as to how much sodium can actually be absorbed while racing with elevated core/stomach temp and associated changes with guts permeability. Nevertheless many reputable sources suggest 4-5 salt tablets per hour on the bike and high sodium gels 1-2 per hour on the run.  St. Croix Story  Book: Macca “I’m Here to Win”

Recovery
Workouts 1+ hour: within 20 min of completion critical to replenish glycogen stores, in this window there is enhanced absorption.  4:1 Carbohydrate/Protein, branched chain amino acids, LIMIT fat due to delaying gastric emptying.  Alternative strategy for long course due to greater depletion “The Paleo diet for athletes”.  
Remainder of day resume baseline nutrition
When training hard such as during an over-reaching training block, have additional serving of whey protein 20-30 grams before bedtime.

Special Considerations
IM & ½ IM

5 days before race: every day sip on electrolyte drink 1-2 servings throughout each day
2 nights before race day: BIG Dinner, Heavy on carbohydrates!!
Breakfast the day before race day: Go BIG or Go Home, Heavy on carbohydrates!!
Lunch and dinner the day before: Normal portions, avoid heavy/rich preparations
Breakfast 3 hours before start time
Bland, limit dairy, vegetarian protein, banana, organic oatmeal/bars.  Bring a bottle of sports drink with some carbs/electrolytes to sip on while you prepare transition.  15 min before go time, have an easily digestible gel, then RIP IT UP!!

So there you have it folks, that is a brief overview of nutrition for the athlete.  As always if you have any questions reach out to us via the contact tab on our website, www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com .  There you will find a page for today’s show along with detailed notes of our discussion!

LINKS

Dominic D’agostino
https://dominicdagostino.wordpress.com/

Skratch Labs
https://www.skratchlabs.com/

Allen Lim’s Book
https://www.amazon.com/Feed-Zone-Portables-Cookbook-Go/dp/1937715000/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504275369&sr=1-1&keywords=allen+lim

 

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 

Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

PPP 009: Interview with 3X Ironman Champion, Xterra World Triathlon Champion and Olympian Michael “Michi” Weiss

 

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

 

I’m your host Dr. Marc Dupuis on this show we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness!

 

Today I’m Excited to bring you our featured guest:

Xterra World Triathlon Champion, Ironman Champion, and Olympian, Michael “Michi” Weiss!!!

.

 

Michi, welcome to the show!

 

Okay, that was just a quick introduction, can you take a minute to fill in some of the gaps for our listeners, maybe tell us a little more about yourself and what has made you into the elite athlete that you are today?

 

What were some of your most memorable moments of being an Olympic Athlete and being able to represent your home country, Austria, on the world’s greatest stage during the 2004 Athens Olympics for Mountain Biking?

 

 How has your background in mountain biking helped in your development as a triathlete, obviously it helps a ton in off road triathlon, but I am curious as to how it has helped or has influenced you in what I will call standard road based triathlon?

 

 One thing I would love to delve into is the variety of training you incorporate throughout your year.  I follow a number of different pro’s and I cannot think of too many others that utilize such a wide variety of sports such as cross-country skiing, mountain biking, trail running and snow-boarding etc.  What is it that keeps you involved in so many different ways to train, is it a love of the outdoors, love of those sports or are there aspects of training in these other sports that spill over and create gains in triathlon?

 

 

 Let’s dive into strength training for a minute.  It seems that quite often that is one aspect of training that gets left out especially among us age groupers.  If time is limited, many think the gym should be the workout to skip.  For those that do work in some strength training, often it is only in the few months of the off-season and then these folks too, tend to drop these workouts from their plans as the season gets underway.  Can you speak for a minute to our listeners about why strength training is so important for us endurance athletes and why we need to train throughout the year?  

 

 Now let’s focus a bit on long course triathlon, for those listening that are not familiar, we are talking about ½ Iron and Full Iron distance events.  What are some of the most common mistakes that you see age groupers making, in regards to their training?

 

 

One thing that I have come to appreciate in long course racing is the benefit of having your head on straight during those long days.  Do you have any specific tools or strategies you have used over the years to build your mental game?  God knows you have had to bring your A-game on a number of occasions especially while running the marathon segment of the Ironman World Championships through the extreme head & humidity of lava fields of Kona!

 

 

The last topic I would love to dive into that you seem to do an excellent job of is recovery.  This is perhaps one of the biggest issues I see in the age groupers I work with in our clinic.  So many of us are working full time time jobs, have family obligations and are training numerous hours per week, all together which can create the perfect storm that is Overtraining which leads to illness and injury.  What are some of the most important strategies to monitoring and maximizing recovery between workouts and training blocks that you utilize?

 

 

 

 

Super Sprint Round: Featuring 3 questions from our listeners:  I will fire them off quickly BUT answers do not need to be quick:

 

 

1. What is one of your favorite post workout recovery meals?

 

2. What is one thing that someone can begin implementing tomorrow they can lead to them becoming a stronger biker?

 

3. This question deals with the bike leg of the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii: With all the action in terms of breakaways, who covers, who stays back etc, is there any talking between competitors or are you running on pure instinct?

 

 

As we get ready to wrap up, I have two final questions for you:

 

 

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners and HOW can we CONNECT WITH YOU?

 

 

Michael, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to share such valuable information with our listeners!  We wish you the best of luck during the remainder of this year and beyond!

 

Links:  How to Follow Michael

https://www.instagram.com/michaelweisstriathlon/

www.facebook.com/trimichaelweiss

http://www.wiki-miki.com

https://twitter.com/michi_weiss

 

 

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 

Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

PPP 008: Interview with the Dynamic Duo behind Braveheart Coaching: 3X World Triathlon Champion Lesley Paterson & Her husband, Performance Psychologist for the BMC World Tour Professional Cycling Team, Dr. Simon Marshall!

 

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

 

 

They are the Amazing Duo behind Braveheart Coaching in San Diego California!  These two are about as well rounded as any two that you could ever come across:  Lesley is a 2X Xterra Triathlon World Champion, is an ITU World Cross Triathlon Champion, and is a co-owner of Braveheart Coaching. In addition to her athletic pedigree, she also has a Master’s Degree in Theater, and is the co-owner of her own production company, Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment Inc.

Dr. Simon Marshall has a PhD in sport and exercise psychology, is the Performance Psychologist for the BMC World Tour Professional Cycling Team, is the other half of Braveheart Coaching and has years of experience in competitive cycling.  By combining their passions and expertise they have created a unique coaching program where Simon trains your brain and Lesley trains your body and… they have some Exciting news:  Their new book, The Brave Athlete is due to be out in stores in late spring: 

 

The Brave Athlete is a practical, step-by-step guide that solves the 25 most common mental conundrums athletes face in their everyday training and in races. In this mental makeover from professional athlete Lesley Paterson and sports psychologist Dr. Simon Marshall, you’ll find new speed and joy in your sport by overcoming patterns of thinking, feeling, or acting that sabotage your potential and enjoyment.

 

 

Lesley & Simon, welcome to the show!

 

 

Okay, that was just a brief introduction for each of you, can you take a minute to fill in some of the gaps for our listeners, maybe tell us a little more about yourselves, what made you create Braveheart Coaching and why or how on earth with all that you two do, did you decide to go ahead and write what sounds to be a great new book!?!?

 

 

Let’s kick things off with a question for both of you?  As we just touched on, you each have a wide variety of interests that I am sure require their own degrees of time.   How do you manage to keep yourselves fresh, not only mentally but physically when working on so many different projects simultaneously?  

 

  

I for one cannot wait to get my hands on your new book, 1st off to see just how many of those 25 most common mental conundrums run through my coconut throughout each block of training & racing.  For many of us, between careers, family, finances and trying to train as if we didn’t have full plates, the related mental battles that come up while trying to juggle everything are probably some of the biggest challenges we face!  Those common challenges that you two write about, is it us amateurs and age groupers that primarily have these issues or do they also pose challenges for professional athletes?

 

 

Both of you grew up being exposed to a wide variety of sports, Lesley: Holy crap, the only lass playing rugby with 250 boys, Simon also grew up playing rugby as well as soccer & tennis: What did you two bring from those experiences into coaching endurance athletes?

 

How do you integrate brain training into your body training plans, what does a typical drill or session look like?

 

What are some of the biggest misconceptions that athletes and perhaps coaches have about mental training?

 

What would be one thing that any athlete can begin today that would have the greatest impact on improving their mental toughness?

 

 Super Sprint Round: Featuring 3 questions from our listeners:  I will fire them off quickly BUT answers do not need to be quick:

 

 

1. Lesley, have you ever raced against Catriona Morrison? How has your fellow countryman inspired you in sport?

 

2. Favorite methods/means/modalities to speed recovery?

 

3. Do you coach athletes outside of San Diego?

 

In addition to your new book, which we will have a link to in our show notes, are there any other resources that you would recommend to our listeners to learn more about some of the things we talked about today?

 

As we get ready to wrap up, I have two final questions for each of you:

 

 

Do you have any final words of wisdom for our listeners and HOW can we CONNECT WITH YOU?

 

 

Folks, I will put a link to each of the ways to connect with Lesley & Simon in our show notes page @ www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com

 

 

Lesley & Simon, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to talk with us today and for sharing such useful information with our listeners!

 

Links:

Home of Braveheart Coaching
http://www.braveheartcoach.com/

 

Direct Link to Lesley & Simon’s New Book: “The Brave Athlete Calm the F*uck Down and Rise to the Occasion
https://www.velopress.com/books/the-brave-athlete/

 

Simon’s recommended reading list
https://www.velopress.com/dr-simon-marshalls-recommended-reading-list/

 

Best brain training apps
https://www.velopress.com/brain-training-apps-athletes/

 

 

HOST’S SIGN OFF

 

This concludes today’s episode of The Peak Performance Podcast, where we discuss tips, tools and strategies for optimizing athletic performance, overall health & wellness! Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss future episodes, also PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.

 

Finally, Thank you very much listening and until next time, have a Fantastic Day!

What you will learn in this podcast

1. What is whole body periodic acceleration
2. The difference between concentric and eccentric muscular contractions
3. Why whole body periodic acceleration speeds recovery from muscle damage
4. How it can help you
5. How to apply it to your restoration & regeneration (recovery) plan

Research Review:
Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise
The official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine
Volume 48 * Number 8 August 2016

Whole Body Periodic Acceleration Improves Muscle Recovery after Eccentric Exercise
Jose Rafael Lopez, Alfredo Mijares
Dept. of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis

This is a very interesting study and is useful for most athletes, since virtually all athletes utilize some degree of eccentric movements (from  power lifter lifters, gymnasts, Cross-fitters, obstacle racers, runners or team sports players). 

To begin, let’s just briefly review what is meant by eccentric exercise.

Eccentric Exercises involve movements that require muscles to produce a contraction force while lengthening.  Best example is doing a negative, where one lays on a flat bench, grabs a weighted bar off the rack and slowly lowers the weight to their chest.  The pectoral muscles and anterior deltoids and triceps are firing or producing a contraction force while the muscle fibers themselves are lengthening.  These types of movements have long been shown to produce more muscle damage as compared to concentric exercises which involve movements that require muscles to produce contraction forces while shortening.  Any of you who have done negative workouts will attest to this, how much more sore you after such a workout compared to a typical more concentric based workout.

Because Eccentric exercise creates more damage compared to concentric exercises they are often better choices for those looking to make the most strength gains because the added damage induces the body to rebuild the worked muscles a greater degree than what occurs after concentric exercise (greater supercompensation).  The only catch is, and it is a significant one, is that recovery from eccentric exercises is longer.

The majority of athletes that that strength train will utilize eccentric exercise at some point to maximize their gains, often done in the off-season when the focus is on building overall strength & power.

Many sports require eccentric movements throughout each training session or competition.  Rapid deceleration, is probably the most commonly seen eccentric movement in all of sports.  The examples are really endless.  Pitchers eccentrically fire muscles to slow down their arm after they immediately release the ball, as do tennis players the moment they strike every ball.  Football, basketball and soccer players need to eccentrically fire leg muscles when quickly breaking to change direction and so on.  

THE Essence of Study;

Took mice, had them run on a downhill simulating treadmill which produced the additional muscle damage as expected compared to standard running.  The underwent 1 training session of 45min to produce the muscle damage.

Control group: received no recover tx.
Test group: received 1 hr per day of whole body periodic acceleration by means of a motion platform (Scilogex, SK-L 180 Pro)

Results: Whole body periodic acceleration group showed statistically significant improvements in recovery as compared to the control group.  What is particularly interesting is how many different aspects of physiology where positively affected.

1. Accelerated the recovery of muscle cell contractions of both calcium ions and sodium ions
2. Accelerated the return of normal membrane potential
3. Decreased the degree of muscle actual damage, which typically peaks 24-48hr after the EE

Mechanisms of action, the headward-footward (vertical displacement) direction of the repetitive motion caused by the motion platform is responsible for a number of positive physiological effects in the muscle cells.  

1. Induces the formation of nitric oxide which itself does the following
   1. improves circulation by causing vasodilation of blood vessels
   2. Improves muscle glucose uptake, speeding recovery
   3. Improves mitochondrial function
   4. Aids to regulate inflammation and improves myogenesis by stimulating myoblast proliferation

Application:

For Athletes that undergo eccentric exercise muscle damage (planned or unplanned) incorporating whole body periodic acceleration, beginning on the day of exercise may significantly speed the recovery process.

How:

Whole body vibration plate.  They have exploded in popularity over the last 10 or so years and can now be found in many sports medicine centers, athletic training facilities and even individual homes as smaller more cost effective units are now available. 

Looking for a low tech solution: Try a rebounder 10-15min.  Although the frequency and amplitude will be significantly different than any motor driven vibration plate, one would think that there should be some gains to be had in terms of recovery since the body will be moving in a headward-footward motion with a relatively even period…outside the box but cheap, easy to implement and already proven to improve lymphatic system flow….that’s my final cent or two on that. 

I hope you found this study as interesting as I did, again it can be found in

Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise
The official Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine
Volume 48 * Number 8 August 2016

LINKS

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Whole+Body+Periodic+Acceleration+Improves+Muscle+Recovery+after+Eccentric+Exercise+Jose+Rafael+Lopez%2C+Alfredo+Mijares

http://www.fitnesssuperstore.com/Power-Plate-Pro5-Vibration-Platform-p/61ngg3100.htm?gclid=CJnMxrKjjtICFcKEswodJqcIqQ

https://jet.com/product/detail/d271c52ae0b142ffaaff74b6502d1595?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_sporting_goods_a1:exercise_fitness_vibration_exercise_machines_a1_other:na:PLA_345660300_23686986420_pla-163576760700:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&gclid=CPDkzr-jjtICFVhYDQodqJQBTw

https://www.amazon.com/Stamina-35-1625-36-Inch-Folding-Trampoline/dp/B000JC2ZHA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487030331&sr=8-3&keywords=rebounder

www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com

That is it for now folks!  Please take a moment to subscribe to our podcast so that you will never miss a new episode, also please review & rate us on iTunes.  I also love feedback, if there are any topics you would like me to cover, let me know and I will do my best to address them!

Lastly, thank you very much for listening and until next time work hard, train hard, play hard! 

 

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Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

In this podcast you will learn:

1. What is Non-surgical spinal decompression
2. What is it used to treat
3. Who can it help
4. Are there any contra-indications
5. Where can I learn more

Summary

Nonsurgical spinal decompression therapy is a revolutionary, life changing technology used primarily to treat disc injuries in the neck and lower back. Clinical research has also shown spinal decompression therapy to be effective in treating facet syndrome, radiating arm pain, leg pain, degenerative disc disease and more.

This effective treatment option consists of decreasing pressure within the spinal discs through distracting and positioning the vertebra to create negative intra-discal pressure, In other words, it creates a vacuum inside the discs that are being targeted in treatment in order to alleviate pressure.

In nonsurgical spinal decompression, the vertebrae are gently separated while the patient lies comfortably on the decompression table. In addition to decreasing the intra-discal pressure, it may also induce the retraction of the herniated or bulging disc to the inside of the disc, which then can take pressure off the nearby nerve root, thecal sac, or both.

There are numerous benefits of spinal decompression which is why this treatment has grown in demand. The cycles of decompression and partial relaxation that occur microscopically in this treatment can cause results that are quite dramatic. Over a series of visits to the clinic, the torn and degenerated disc fibers under consideration can begin to heal as water, oxygen, and nutrient-rich fluids outside the discs are diffused within.

The issue with the majority of conventional treatments offered is that not only do they not promote the healing process, typical treatments such as steroid injections and oral anti-inflammatory drugs actually hinder the body’s innate healing process.  Injections and drugs do limit swelling which can significantly decrease pain, but the cost comes with a lowered ability to actually heal.  When tissues are swollen and inflamed your body is trying to send key nutrients and specific cells such as fibroblasts to the damaged area in order to begin the repair process.  That swelling itself is often painful, which does have an important function of telling us to rest and to not continue to use the damaged tissue in stressful ways.  The better injections and anti-inflammatory drugs work in limiting the pain, the greater their side effect is in terms of shutting down the healing response.  Because spinal decompression promotes your body’s healing process, the latest research has shown it to be 80% EFFECTIVE, no matter how badly the disc is damaged.  Compare this to the fact that back surgery has a greater than 50% failure rate!

It is important to keep in mind that although spinal decompression is highly successful, 80% is not perfect.  Therefore research has shown that around 20% of people with significant damage to their discs will need surgical intervention.  However, it only makes sense to have the proper evaluation to see if one is a candidate for decompression therapy and to try that FIRST before resorting to drugs and or surgery.     

To find out more about the benefits of nonsurgical spinal decompression, contact us Back to Health Chiropractic, 207-324-7098, www.bthconline.com. Due to the tremendous results we have seen with numerous patients, we are pleased to report that we have added a second decompression unit to our state of the art facility. #injureddiscsCANheal #chiropractic#drugfreepainrelief

Contra-indications

Pregnancy

Previous surgery with implanted hardware

Spinal injuries that resulted in instability

Related Links

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Spine.+2006+Jul+1%3B31(15)%3A1658-65

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8720408

www.mainedisc.com

www.bthconline.com

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39658423/ns/health-pain_center/t/back-surgery-may-backfire-patients-pain/#.WHuqb1MrK00

 

 

 

In this podcast you will learn:

1. What wearable physical activity monitors are being worn for
2. What are they actually recording accurately
3. What do they not do well and why you need to IGNORE certain information

Summary

What started out as mainly tools to count our daily steps, the next generation of wearable activity monitors are now trying to also count the number of calories we burn throughout the day.  With more and more people relying on these devices to monitor their daily fitness, one needs to ask, “Just how accurate are these devices?”.

This is the question that the researchers wanted to know in todays featured study:

Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast!  I am your host Dr. Marc Dupuis.  Today’s goal is to introduce myself, describe why I have decided to launch this podcast, what you will learn, topics we will cover, the format we will use, and lastly, the frequency at which you can expect new episodes to be released!

I am a Board Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician and an Internationally Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician.  I have had the privilege of studying elite sports science at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY and at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. I provide the chiropractic services for the Sanford Mainers Baseball Team which is a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.  I see athletes of all ages in my clinic from middle/high school and college ranks up to professional athletes and pretty much everyone in between.

I founded my clinic, Back to Health Chiropractic in 2004 in my hometown of Sanford, Maine, where our mission is two-fold.  #1: To help as many athletes as we can perform at their best! 2#: To become the leader of the lifetime family wellness movement.  In my free time you will likely find me outside swimming, biking, running, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, there are not many outdoor activities that I do not like to do.  I am an avid triathlete, I am a 2X Ironman Lake Placid Finisher, a 5X Half Ironman Finisher and 2X Sea to Summit Extreme Triathlon Finisher.  

Originally from Southern CT, my family relocated to Sanford, Maine in 1987 where I completed grades 6-12, before moving on to college at the University of Maine, Orono & then graduate school at New York Chiropractic College.  I now reside in Saco Maine with my wonderful wife and our two fur children.

Why did I start this podcast?  The answer is simple, I have been so fortunate to learn from many of our nation’s best sports medicine doctors and combined with what I have learned studying functional based nutritional therapies I have more and more information to share with the athletes I work with in my practice but can only see so many practice members in one day.  For a long time I have been trying to figure out how to share this critical information with more and more athletes.  Naturally, doing it through a podcast seemed like the perfect answer, since anyone with an internet connection would be able to gain access.  So here we are!

My hope is to make this podcast your go to source for tips and strategies on improving your peak athletic performance.  This podcast will cover information for team sport athletes, Crossfit athletes, triathletes (short course, 1/2 Ironman & Ironman athletes) runners, swimmers and more.  Interview episodes will feature professional athletes as well as experts in the world of sports medicine, rehabilitation, strength training and athletic coaching.  As we embark on this journey, please subscribe to the podcast so that you will never miss a new episode and PLEASE, give me feedback, if there are topics you would like me to cover, let me know and I will do my best to address them!

Frequency:  We launched this podcast with a special 3 pack of episodes to kick things off.  Future episodes will be released on a bi-weekly basis.  

So THAT is it for now folks, for each episode you can go to our website;  www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com where you will find a clickable link for each episode.  There you will find the show notes for that episode.  In the show notes you will find a list of what you will learn, a summary of the show itself and links Welcome to the Peak Performance Podcast!  I am your host Dr. Marc Dupuis.  Today’s goal is to introduce myself, describe why I have decided to launch this podcast, what you will learn, topics we will cover, the format we will use, and lastly, the frequency at which you can expect new episodes to be released!

to related information.  Stay tuned, I hope you enjoy future episodes and lastly, thank you very much for listening. Have a great day!