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Never too old to make gains

1/3/2021

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“Effects of High Intensity Dynamic Resistance Exercise and Whey Protein Supplements on Osteosarcopenia in Older Men with Low Bone and Muscle Mass. Final Results of the Randomized Controlled FrOST Study.” 

Key Takeaways

The takeaway from this is that it is never too late to make a difference in your health. To quote the authors 
  • “In general, exercise or more dedicated resistance exercise—ideally supported by dietary supplements—might be the most promising strategy to positively affect all physiologic and functional outcomes related to the osteopenia/sarcopenia/obesity complex.”.  
  • By utilising a resistance training program that is structured and combined with a higher protein diet including a whey supplement, it is becoming clear that our parents and soon to be us can improve health in many ways. 
  • Bone health, lean muscle mass can all be improved with strength training and increased protein.
  • This age group is at risk of further deterioration in muscle mass, bone structure and mobility if a similar intervention is not applied​.

Why is this important? 
Whilst I appreciate this paper does not relate directly to triathletes, I think we can all accept that we will all become old at one point in our life or know some people (read parents or grandparents) that are older than us and this can be applied. Recently there has been a lot of interest in sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity and osteosarcopenia. For those unaccustomed to these words, they relate to progressive loss of muscle as we age, loss of muscle as we age whilst getting fatter and loss of muscle with concurrent loss of bone density respectively. All pretty grim reading and a very real issue in today’s society and potentially a major health crisis in the making.

​What was studied?


This study was cool because they recruited a group of 74+-year-old men - think about your dad right about now. Forty-three in total and had them follow a resistance training program on machines over the course of 18 months. The training was performed twice a week and they periodised the training with changes to repetitions, sets, time under tension and speed of lifting in line with a training program that someone much younger may follow. 

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The Importance of sleep - what the experts are saying.

1/3/2021

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Consensus statement - Sleep and the athlete: narrative review and 2021 expert consensus recommendations

Key Takeaways
  1. Interruptions to sleep quality and duration will affect the individual in differing manners
  2. Despite a hard lack of research on the ideal amount of hours, there is no evidence to suggest increasing your hours is going to be detrimental. Increasing to at least 8 hrs per night is sound advice and then play around with more or less as required. (7-9 hrs range)
  3. Educate yourself on sleep hygiene and how to improve it (part of the Tinlane program).
  4. Take naps when you can if you are having poor quality sleep during the night - they can really help. Limit naps to 20 minutes.
  5. Train in line with your chronotype. “Larks” train early in the morning, “Owls” train during the day (if possible and practical).
  6. If you are having real issues with sleep and perhaps are worried about your sleep data, see a sleep specialist and get assessed. Dr Google is not your answer.

Why is this important?

Sleep is increasingly being recognised as a crucial element to health, recovery and ultimately performance. This performance element extends beyond the swim, bike or run and into everyday life and performing at your best. I have recently written a new article for Triathlete magazine that reviews the effect of alcohol on sleep, heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) with me being the N= 1. There were certainly some insights and I encourage each of you to read it and to also explore what I describe with your own social experiment.
Please remember that wearables are only as good as the information they collect and as discussed later, most are likely to be inaccurate and overestimate (much like activity performed and calories burnt). Also, important to note, data is one thing, don’t obsess over it - how you wake and feel on a day to day basis is likely to be just as good an indicator to how you are sleeping.



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Coffee anyone?

12/26/2020

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Why is this important?

Another interesting study that looked at glucose control in relation to sleep quality and coffee consumption. The role of caffeine and its role in improving exercise capacity is well established yet the role of caffeine on fat burning and glucose control is a little less clear.

Conventional Wisdom

There is a fair bit of media coverage at the moment relating to sleep and its effect on glucose control and insulin sensitivity. It has been proposed that one night of bad sleep can negatively impact the following days control from a physiological standpoint - poor glucose control and reduced insulin sensitivity. Further to this, a bad night's sleep can impact your decision making by influencing areas of the brain that like reward and push you towards sweet and fatty foods. Pretty incredible. Couple this with prior research highlighting differing responses to coffee in the morning, the study sought to answer a few questions relating to the impact of sleep quality, black coffee and a high carbohydrate drink on glucose control.

Tinlane Perspective

The issue I have with this study is that who the hell drinks a sugar containing beverage for breakfast? If you are doing that, you have bigger concerns than your morning black coffee. It would have been great to compare the sugar drink with a high protein food choice and reveal the blood glucose response. This would have been minimal despite the coffee and perhaps led to some further insight into the choice of food for breakfast can significantly impact your blood glucose levels. The other interesting aspect about this study is that research completed in 1967 reported a similar effect on glucose levels after black coffee consumption. 

Key Takeaways

I will keep it succinct, 
  • Effectively one night of bad sleep does not affect your glucose metabolism, so you can hold despair and not worry about your newly implanted continuous glucose monitor attached to your left tricep (this is extremely trendy right now if you did not know). 
  • If you have a coffee before a high glucose containing beverage then you will see a significant spike in blood glucose levels and subsequent insulin response. 
  • Other research investigating short time frames (e.g. 1-3hrs post consumption of coffee) have found black coffee consumption to increase the area under the blood glucose curve (spikes blood sugar),
  • Long term studies have found it actually improves blood glucose control.
  • Regardless of the short term or long terms studies on black coffee consumption - DO NOT DRINK A SUGAR DRINK FOR YOUR STANDARD BREAKFAST.  Problem solved.

  1. Harry A. Smith, Aaron Hengist, Joel Thomas, Jean-Philippe Walhin, Philippa Heath, Oliver Perkin, Yung-Chih Chen, Javier T. Gonzalez, James A. Betts. Glucose control upon waking is unaffected by hourly sleep fragmentation during the night, but is impaired by morning caffeinated coffee. British Journal of Nutrition, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1017/S0007114520001865
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Fuel for the Work Required

12/26/2020

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I am including this paper as it was part of the inspiration for the Tinlane system. James Morton and Graeme Close were lecturers of mine in London and their research has been a major influence on my approach to nutrition with clients. In this paper it describes how macronutrients, in particular carbohydrates, can be periodised in a similar fashion to exercise training and that the fuel being consumed should reflect the work that is to be done and also what the intended goal of that session is to achieve.For me, this makes complete sense and really helps me describe to clients what my strategy is with regards to carbohydrates as a fuel source. 

Conventional Wisdom

What is frustrating in the nutrition world is the notion that only one approach can be utilised when it comes to creating a meaningful change in an individual. This may be the result of research often investigating single nutrition strategies and then those results being misinterpreted or misrepresented to the wider public, especially when a marketing label can be applied. 

Tinlane Perspective

Something I tend to repeat is that carbohydrates and fat are both worthy fuel sources for the right type of training. Science has shown that depending on intensity, differing fuel substrates will be used. If you manipulate those fuel sources in line with your training then you can achieve many differing goals, whether that be fat loss, peak power output, time to fatigue or gut training. 

Key Takeaways
  • A higher fat diet can assist with body composition goals, inducing improved FATMAX and higher maximal fat oxidation (MFO) yet it will likely reduce your ability to oxidise carbs, hit peak work numbers and perform at your absolute maximal capacity. 
  • A higher carb diet could induce unfavourable body composition results if the intake is above what is required yet could result in peak performance during training and racing. 
  • It is possible to structure a nutrition plan that meets both these goals.


Take your time and read this free article online. It makes a lot of sense to me and hopefully to you as well.

  1. Impey, Samuel G et al. “Fuel for the Work Required: A Theoretical Framework for Carbohydrate Periodization and the Glycogen Threshold Hypothesis.” Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 48,5 (2018): 1031-1048. doi:10.1007/s40279-018-0867-7
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3 Steps to Hiring the Right Coach

10/17/2020

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With some careful thought, a rewarding athlete-coach relationship can be yours.
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 by Jordan Blanco of Avid Endurance

You may be considering getting yourself a triathlon coach. But how exactly does a person go about choosing the right coach? We caught up with three triathlon coaches for their advice on finding your perfect match for the new year. 

Step one: 

Define your goals: as with any decision, selecting the right coach starts with a review of your needs and goals. Work through the below checklist of things for you to consider before talking to coaches.

A. Level of experience. Are you a beginner lining up for your first IRONMAN race with the single goal of completing it within the time limit? Or do you have several seasons of racing under your belt and you’re now looking to take your abilities to the next level? 
​

AJ Johnson is a USAT Level I coach with D3 Multisport. "If you are looking to be on the top step of the podium you want a coach that has previously coached athletes to that level," he says. "Conversely, beginner athletes would be best served by hiring a coach that specializes in first-time athletes." 
​

Being very clear about your goals and needs will help you better evaluate the variety of coaches and coaching plans available.
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 "Being very clear about your goals and needs will help you better evaluate the variety of coaches and coaching plans available." Jordan Blanco

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