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How Science Can Help You Meet Your Fitness Performance Goals

Outline● Training structured in phases

○ Busy professionals

○ Tools to maximise training time you have

● Nutrition framework can be built around needs during different

phases

● Metabolic efficiency & metabolic flexibility

○ Optimizing fuel utilization for training and competition goals

Training Philosophy - Science balanced with Experience

● Comprehensive, balanced training plan

● More is not better

● Something, done well, is better than nothing->Consistency

● Purposeful Training

● Rest is training!

Fitness is a year-round not three month prospect

● “Periodization”

● Training is relative to each individual

○ Goals

○ Life schedule and time availability

○ How the individual adapts to and tolerates the training “load”

● Training focuses on “weak links” in fitness and performance

● Replicates the demands of the individual’s goal event

● Training provides Mental and Physical conditioning

Science and Technology to Maximize Training Time

● Testing at Kaiser Sports Medicine Endurance Lab

○ Physiologic testing

○ Lactate threshold testing to determine intensity zones

■ Theoretically the highest intensity we can hold one hour

■ All zones built off percentages of this value

■ Each zone trains specific physiologic and/or metabolic systems

● Tools - provide more objectivity to the training vs perceived exertion

○ Heart rate monitor

○ Power meters

Metabolic Efficiency

● How do our bodies generate energy?

○ Two main fuel sources: Carbohydrate & Fat

● Hybrid Car

○ Optimize engine to utilize more infinite fuels and conserve the finite

fuels

● Athlete

○ Phasing nutritional choices with the specific phase of training

○ Provides the most efficient and effective approach to achieve results

Metabolic Efficiency● ATP (energy for movement)

○ Generated from Fat & Carbohydrate

○ Both can be used to fuel exercise

● Carbohydrate

○ Stored as glycogen, converted to ATP quickly -> higher intensity

○ Limited storage

● Fat

○ Slower process to generate ATP->lower intensity

○ Large amounts stored in the body

Metabolic Efficiency

● Fuel Conservation

● Save glycogen for when you need it

● Consuming a large amount of food during exercise is challenging

Metabolic Efficiency testing

● Calculates proportion of Glucose

vs. Fat being used for fuel

● ‘Cross-over point’ = 50/50 fuel

usage

● Training coupled with nutrition can

push this point to the right to a

higher intensity

Metabolic Efficiency testing

Increasing Efficiency

● Increase ability to use fat for fuel, but… without inhibiting glucose burning

ability

● Train at prescribed intensity, especially on endurance days

● Reduce carbohydrate intake, increase fat intake and time food intake with

training

● Transition phase is an ideal time to experiment with this

Training a Competitive Road Cyclist

● Training planned in phases, each with specific objective

○ Stress the body then allow to adapt with rest/recovery

● Phases begin more general and increase in specificity

○ Each phase is 3/4 week stress phase + one week rest-active

recovery

● Rest is training!

Phase 1: Rest and Recovery

● Post-competitive season

● Mental and physical hall-pass from structure and intensity

● Do what moves you, no obligation to schedule

● Two to four weeks

Phase 2: Transition/Base Season● Mental and physical variety

● Aerobic and endurance base building-> Improve metabolic efficiency

● Improve functional strength and stability, global mobility, symmetry,

neuromuscular recruitment

■ Injury prevention, improved performance

● General strength

○ Strength endurance->Hypertrophy->Max strength->Power

Transition season - timing your nutrition● Train body to metabolize fat better

● Time your consumption of carbohydrates (eat earlier in the day)

● Morning workouts don’t always need fueling

● Time workouts around meals

● Rest days & weeks

○ Reduce carbohydrate intake even more (fat intake will need to

increase - don’t sacrifice calories)!

● These strategies also increase lean body mass

Transition season - what to eat

● Nutrition dense, whole foods

○ Reduce inflammation

● Eat a rainbow

○ Vegetables & fruits

● Meats, fish, nuts, seeds, legumes

● Cut out grains, especially processed

ones

● Focus on body composition

What do I eat exactly?● Breakfast can be anything!

● ‘Meat & 2 veg’ (or 3 or 4…)

● Keep it simple

● Make time for prep

Phase 3: Preparation Season

● Objectives - meeting specific demands of the event

● Higher intensity workouts require fast burning fuels, ie carbohydrate

● Recovery becomes much more essential

Phase 3: Preparation Season● General strength - one day maintenance

○ Energy and time invested toward higher intensity sport specific work

● Cycling specific workouts take priority

○ Workouts become more specific based on heart rate or ideally power

○ Training zones ideally based on an in-lab lactate threshold test

● Trunk stability, hip activation and stability, and global mobility

continue year-round

Phase 4: Competition Season

● Fine tune performance and physiologic systems based on the specific

demands of the race

○ Vo2, anaerobic capacity and neuromuscular power

○ Higher intensity workouts require fast burning fuels, ie carbohydrates

● Train hard, rest hard, race hard, recover

○ Recovery is essential, supported with good nutrition, hydration and sleep

● Volume decreases, intensity increases

Nutrition: Preparation & Competition season

● Transition season should have provided a base

● Increase carbohydrates for increased training volume & intensity

○ Maintain nutrient density

○ Add in Oats, Quinoa, Rice (many will benefit from mostly avoiding

processed grains and gluten)

● Recovery

○ maintain low inflammatory diet (& high antioxidants)

Nutrition: Preparation & Competition season

● Rest weeks & lower intensity days revert to transition season menus

○ Maintain/train fat burning skills

● Don’t eat fuel you don’t need on low intensity days

○ ‘Are you fuelling your desk job?’

Recreational/Fitness Athlete● Fitness as a lifestyle

● Concepts are the same

● Differences

○ Training playful, adventuresome, social

○ “Looser” structure

Refining your nutrition

● Everyone is unique

● Food sensitivities?

What not to eat!● Processed foods

● Added sugar

● Gluten?

● Corn?

● Soy?

● Dairy?

● Alcohol?

● Caffeine?

Conclusion

● Couple training with nutrition to optimize fitness

● Not just ‘what’ you eat but ‘when’

● Consistency and keeping it simple

○ takes time for body to adapt

● Experiment

● Make good choices and maintain balance and sustainability

● Relative to each individual

○ Plan strategies in context - what are you trying to achieve?