Spark Your Endurance: Why Intensity is the Secret Ingredient Your Training is Missing
I see so many athletes, including those that work with coaches logging endless miles without seeing significant improvements in their endurance performance, and often getting easily avoided overuse injuries. It seems it is still believed that volume is the only thing that matters.
It’s time to shake up your training routine and truly embrace the power of intensity. While building volume is crucial for endurance athletes, relying solely on long, slow distance workouts is like trying to win a race with only half your engine firing.
Properly and precisely incorporating high-intensity training into your regimen isn’t just a trend—it’s a scientifically backed, well researched game-changer and it can unlock your true potential, boost your performance, and make those gruelling races feel a whole lot easier, taking you from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
Benefits of adding Intensity Work
Improved VO2 max: High-intensity workouts can increase the body’s ability to utilise oxygen during exercise, leading to better overall endurance performance.
Enhanced lactate threshold: Intense training helps the body become more efficient at clearing lactic acid, allowing athletes to maintain higher intensities for longer periods.
Increased power output: High-intensity intervals can improve an athlete’s ability to generate force quickly, which is crucial for sprints and hill climbs in endurance events.
Time efficiency: Intense workouts can provide significant fitness gains in shorter training sessions, which is beneficial for athletes with limited training time.
Mental toughness: High-intensity training can help athletes develop the mental resilience needed to push through discomfort during competitions.
Improved economy: Intense workouts can enhance an athlete’s efficiency of movement, leading to better performance with less energy expenditure.
Metabolic adaptations: High-intensity training can boost the body’s ability to use fat as fuel, potentially improving endurance performance.
Injury prevention: Incorporating intensity can help maintain muscle strength and power, which may reduce the risk of overuse injuries common in endurance sports.
Avoidance of training plateaus: Mixing high-intensity workouts with traditional endurance training can prevent adaptation stagnation and continue performance improvements.
Race-specific preparation: Intense workouts can simulate the demands of racing, helping athletes prepare for the varying intensities they’ll face in competition.
Common Types of Intensity Training
Interval Training: Short intervals: 30 seconds to 2 minutes of high-intensity effort followed by equal or slightly longer recovery periods. Long intervals: 3-5 minutes of hard effort with 1-3 minutes of recovery.
Fartlek Training: Swedish for “speed play,” this involves alternating between high and low intensities during a continuous run. Can be structured (e.g., 1 minute hard, 2 minutes easy) or unstructured (based on feel or landmarks).
Tempo Efforts: Sustained efforts at or slightly above lactate threshold pace. Typically last 20-40 minutes or can be broken into shorter segments with brief recoveries.
Hill Repeats: Short, intense uphill runs (30 seconds to 2 minutes) followed by easy downhill recovery. Helps build strength and power while improving running economy.
Pyramid Workouts Intervals that increase in duration or intensity, then decrease (e.g., 1-2-3-2-1 minutes of hard effort with recovery between).
Sprint Training: Very short (10-30 seconds) all-out efforts with full recovery between repetitions. Improves neuromuscular coordination and power output.
Tabata Protocol: 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times (4 minutes total). Highly effective for improving both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
Lactate Threshold Workouts: Efforts at or just below the lactate threshold, often done as longer intervals (e.g., 2 x 20 minutes) or as a continuous effort.
VO2 Max Intervals: Work periods of 3-5 minutes at or near VO2 max intensity with equal rest periods. Highly effective for improving maximal oxygen uptake.
Race-Pace Training: Intervals or sustained efforts at goal race pace, helping to improve efficiency and pacing at race-specific intensities.
Example of a Weekly Plan for an Advanced Triathlete (70.3 – Specific Prep Phase, nearing Peak Week)
Monday Rest Day
Tuesday AM: Bike – 90 min, including 5×5 min threshold intervals PM: Strength training – 45 min full body workout (Speed + Power Focus)
Wednesday AM: Swim – 45 min endurance with technique drills PM: Run – 60 min, including 8x400m repeats
Thursday AM: Bike – 60 min steady endurance ride PM: Mobility and flexibility work – 30 min
Friday AM: Swim – 60 min, including 10x50m sprint intervals PM: Run – 45 min tempo run
Saturday AM: Long bike ride – 2.5 hours, including 3×15 min race-pace efforts; plus Transition practice – 30 min brick run off the bike
Sunday AM: Long run – 90 min, with last 30 min at race pace
Key features of this plan:
Multiple disciplines each day to improve overall endurance
High-intensity sessions (intervals, tempo runs) to boost performance
Long endurance sessions, especially on weekends
Recovery and cross-training activities (yoga, easy swims)
Brick workout (bike-to-run) to practice transitions
REMEMBER…
As you embark on your journey to elevate your endurance performance, remember that intensity is not just about pushing harder—it’s about training smarter.
By strategically incorporating high-intensity workouts into your regimen, you’re not only maximizing your training time but also unlocking new levels of physical and mental resilience. Embrace the challenge, listen to your body, and watch as your performance soars to new heights.
The path to endurance excellence isn’t just about going far; it’s about going far, fast, and with purpose. So lace up, gear up, and get ready to redefine your limits. Your best performance is waiting on the other side of intensity.
Mental Muscles: Visualise Your Way to Endurance Supremacy
Visualization may sound like New Age mumbo-jumbo to skeptics, but the science backing its efficacy in endurance sports is hard to ignore.
Far from being a mystical practice, visualization is a concrete mental technique that leverages the brain’s neuroplasticity to enhance athletic performance. When an athlete vividly imagines executing their sport, their brain fires in patterns strikingly similar to those observed during physical practice.
This mental rehearsal strengthens neural pathways, improving muscle memory, reaction times, and even physiological responses like heart rate and breathing patterns.
For endurance athletes facing long hours of grueling physical exertion, this powerful mental tool can be the difference between hitting the wall and pushing through to victory.
How athletes use visualisation:
Mental rehearsal: Athletes can use visualisation to mentally rehearse their performance, imagining themselves successfully completing their event or overcoming challenges. This helps build confidence and familiarity with the task.
Stress reduction: Visualising calm, successful performances can help reduce pre-race anxiety and stress. Try to experience every part of the race. See it, hear it, Feel it.
Goal setting: Athletes can visualise achieving their goals, which can increase motivation and commitment to training.
Technical improvement: By mentally practicing perfect form and technique, athletes can reinforce proper movement patterns.
Race strategy: Visualising race plans and tactics can help athletes prepare for different scenarios and make better decisions during the event.
Recovery and healing: Visualisation can be used to promote relaxation and potentially aid in the recovery process.
How to effectively use visualisation:
Make the imagery as vivid and detailed as possible, engaging all senses
Practice regularly, ideally daily
Visualise both the process (training, race execution) and the outcome (crossing the finish line, achieving a goal time)
Include positive self-talk and emotions in the visualisations
Transform Pain into Power
One of the most interesting uses of visualisation is relating to Pain management.
Endurance athletes often face discomfort during long events. Visualisation can be used to imagine managing pain effectively, helping athletes prepare for and cope with physical challenges.
When the body screams and every fibre begs to stop, endurance athletes face their greatest challenge: managing pain. While physical training is crucial, the mind plays an equally vital role in pushing through these moments of intense discomfort.
Enter visualisation – a powerful mental technique that transforms the abstract concept of “mind over matter” into a tangible, practical tool.
Far from being mere imagination, these mental exercises can rewire an athlete’s perception of pain, turning it from an insurmountable barrier into a manageable aspect of performance.
By harnessing the brain’s incredible plasticity, endurance athletes can develop a mental toolkit that not only helps them cope with pain but can actually alter how they experience it.
Let’s dive into some specific visualisation techniques that can make the difference between hitting the wall and breaking through it.
Specific visualisation exercises for pain management
The Pain Colour Transform Visualise your pain as a specific colour, perhaps red or orange. As you breathe deeply, imagine this colour gradually changing to a cool, soothing colour like blue or green. With each breath, see the colour shift and the pain diminish.
The Numbing Glove Imagine putting on a special glove that has numbing properties. Visualise this glove slowly covering your hand, then your arm, and eventually your entire body. Feel the numbing sensation spread, dulling any pain or discomfort.
The Pain Dial Picture a dial or slider in your mind, representing your pain level. Visualise yourself slowly turning down this dial, reducing the pain intensity. As you turn the dial, feel the pain decreasing throughout your body.
The Healing Light Imagine a warm, healing light entering your body through your breath. With each inhale, see this light spreading to areas of discomfort. As you exhale, visualise the pain leaving your body as dark smoke.
The River Flow Picture your pain as leaves floating on a river. As you run or compete, see these leaves (your pain) flowing away downstream, leaving you feeling lighter and more comfortable with each passing moment.
The Strength Absorber Visualise your body as a sponge, absorbing strength and endurance from your surroundings. As you take in this energy, see it pushing out any pain or discomfort, making you stronger and more resilient.
The Pain Bubble Imagine encapsulating your pain in a bubble. See this bubble slowly floating away from your body, taking the discomfort with it. As it drifts further away, feel the pain becoming more distant and manageable.
To use these effectively:
Practice regularly, not just during competition
Combine with deep, rhythmic breathing
Be as detailed as possible in your imagery
Experiment to find which techniques work best for you
Use positive self-talk along with the visualisations
Mastering these visualisation techniques for pain management is not an overnight process, but rather a skill honed through consistent practice and personalisation.
As athletes integrate these mental strategies into their training regimens, they often discover benefits that extend beyond pain tolerance – improved focus, enhanced recovery, and a deeper mind-body connection.
Ultimately, the power of visualisation lies not in escaping discomfort, but in redefining one’s relationship with it. By embracing these mental tools, endurance athletes can transform pain from a formidable foe into a familiar companion on their journey to peak performance, unlocking new levels of endurance and achievement previously thought impossible.
In Conclusion:
Visualisation, for all of it’s benefits, isn’t just for elite athletes or new-age enthusiasts; it’s a practical, scientifically-backed tool accessible to anyone seeking to elevate their performance and well-being.
By harnessing the power of your mind, you can unlock hidden reserves of strength, resilience, and focus that you never knew existed.
So why not give it a try? The only limit is your imagination, and the potential rewards – both on and off the field – are boundless.
Conditioning, a cornerstone of athletic preparation, extends far beyond mere cardiovascular endurance.
It encompasses the holistic development of an athlete’s physiological systems to meet the specific demands of their sport or activity.
So many PT’s will be claim to be Strength and Conditioning Experts, or tell you their specialism is S&C but don’t be fooled. While most might be good at the “S” part – Strength training, the “C” is a far more complex.
This multifaceted approach to fitness enhances not only stamina, but also an athlete’s ability to perform at high intensities, recover rapidly, and maintain technical proficiency under fatigue.
By systematically stressing and adapting various energy systems, conditioning sculpts the body into a more efficient and resilient machine, capable of withstanding the rigors of competition and training. Whether it’s a marathon runner pushing through the final miles or a soccer player making a crucial play in extra time, effective conditioning can often be the difference between victory and defeat.
Conditioning refers to the cardiovascular and muscular endurance component of fitness training in the context of Strength & Conditioning (S&C).
While strength focuses on developing muscular power and force production, conditioning aims to improve an athlete’s ability to perform repeated efforts over time without fatigue.
Key aspects of conditioning:
Cardiovascular endurance: Improving the heart and lungs’ capacity to supply oxygen to working muscles during prolonged activity.
Muscular endurance: Enhancing the muscles’ ability to perform repeated contractions over extended periods.
Sport-specific energy systems: Targeting the predominant energy pathways used in a particular sport (e.g., aerobic, anaerobic lactic, or anaerobic alactic).
Recovery: Improving an athlete’s ability to recover between bouts of intense activity.
Work capacity: Increasing the overall volume of work an athlete can handle in training and competition.
Conditioning methods:
High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
Circuit training
Sport-specific drills
Tempo runs
Repeated sprint training
Cycling and swimming for low-impact conditioning
The goal of conditioning in S&C is to prepare athletes for the physical demands of their sport, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of fatigue-related injuries.
The art and science of conditioning in Strength & Conditioning programs is a dynamic and ever-evolving field.
As our understanding of human physiology and sports performance deepens, so too does the sophistication of conditioning methodologies.
The key to successful conditioning lies not just in pushing physical limits, but in intelligent program design that balances intensity, specificity, and recovery. When implemented thoughtfully, conditioning transforms athletes into more robust, adaptable, and efficient performers.
It builds not only the body, but also the mind, fostering mental toughness and confidence that transcends the training ground.
Ultimately, effective conditioning empowers athletes to push beyond their perceived limitations, setting new standards of excellence in their chosen disciplines and unlocking their full athletic potential.
If you’ve ever twisted an ankle or pulled a muscle, you’ve probably heard the age-old advice: RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. For decades, this has been the go-to protocol for managing acute soft tissue injuries. But what if I told you that sports medicine has moved on, and there’s a new approach in town? Enter the PEACE & LOVE protocol, a more nuanced and scientifically-backed method that’s changing how we treat everything from sprains to strains.
In this post, I’ll explore why it might be time to put RICE on ice and embrace a more dynamic approach to healing.
PEACE & LOVE Protocol:
PEACE (Immediately after injury)
Protection: Unload and avoid painful movements for 1-3 days to minimise further injury and reduce the risk of aggravating the damaged tissues.
Elevation: Optimise fluid flow by lifting the injured limb higher than the heart, which can help manage swelling in the acute stage.
Avoid anti-inflammatory modalities: Let the natural inflammatory process run its course, as it’s a necessary part of the healing process. Avoid ice and anti-inflammatory drugs, which can potentially delay healing.
Compression: Use elastic bandages or taping to reduce swelling and provide support to the injured area.
Education: Understand that pain is normal and doesn’t always indicate tissue damage; adopt an active approach to recovery.
LOVE (After first few days)
Load: Introduce gradual, pain-free loading to stimulate repair and remodeling of injured tissues.
Optimism: Foster a positive attitude and realistic expectations about recovery to improve outcomes and reduce the risk of chronic problems.
Vascularization: Engage in pain-free cardiovascular activities to increase blood flow to the injured tissues and promote healing.
Exercise: Restore mobility, strength, and proprioception through targeted exercises specific to the injured area and overall function.
Uses of PEACE & LOVE
The PEACE & LOVE protocol is applicable to a wide range of acute soft tissue injuries, not just sprains.
Here’s an overview of the types of injuries where this approach can be beneficial:
Muscle strains: Injuries to muscle fibres or tendons. Ligament sprains: Stretching or tearing of ligaments (not just ankle sprains, but also knee, wrist, or other joint sprains). Contusions (bruises): Injuries caused by blunt force trauma. Tendinopathies: Acute inflammation of tendons. Minor tears: Partial tears in muscles or tendons. Bursitis: Inflammation of the small, fluid-filled sacs that cushion bones, tendons, and muscles. Overuse injuries: When caught in the acute phase. Sports injuries: Many common sports-related soft tissue injuries. Whiplash: Neck strain often associated with auto accidents. Repetitive strain injuries: When they flare up acutely. Minor joint injuries: Where there’s no fracture or dislocation.
The PEACE & LOVE protocol is particularly useful for injuries where inflammation and tissue repair are key parts of the healing process. It’s designed to support the body’s natural healing mechanisms while promoting optimal recovery and return to function.
However, it’s important to note that this protocol is not suitable for all types of injuries. For example:
Fractures Severe tears requiring surgical intervention Dislocations Head injuries Internal injuries Wounds requiring stitches
These types of injuries require immediate medical attention and specialised treatment. Additionally, for chronic conditions or injuries that aren’t improving with self-care, it’s always advisable to consult with a healthcare professional for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.
In conclusion, the PEACE & LOVE protocol represents a significant shift in how we approach soft tissue injuries. By working with our body’s natural healing processes rather than against them, we can potentially achieve faster and more complete recovery.
While RICE served us well for many years, it’s time to embrace this up to date and truly beneficial approach.
Remember, however, that every injury is unique, and it’s always wise to consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice. As we continue to learn more about the intricacies of healing, who knows what future innovations in injury management might bring?
For now, give PEACE & LOVE a chance – your body might thank you for it.
The Surprising Strategy That’s Boosting Speed for Runners at Every Level
Running faster isn’t just about pushing harder – sometimes, it’s about knowing when to slow down.
Enter the run/walk method, a training technique that’s revolutionising how runners of all levels approach speed improvement.
While it may seem counterintuitive to incorporate walking into your training regimen when aiming to get faster, this strategic approach can lead to significant gains in speed and endurance.
By alternating between periods of running and walking, you can train more efficiently, recover more effectively, and ultimately run faster than you ever thought possible.
In this post, we’ll explore how run/walk intervals can be your secret weapon for unlocking new levels of speed, whether you’re a beginner looking to run your first 5K or an experienced marathoner aiming for a personal best.
Benefits of the Run/Walk for all levels of run ability
Reduced risk of injury: By allowing regular recovery periods: The walk intervals give your muscles and joints brief respites from the impact of running. This reduced cumulative stress can help prevent overuse injuries, especially for new runners or those returning from injury. It also allows you to maintain better form throughout your workout, further decreasing injury risk.
Improved endurance and cardiovascular fitness: By alternating between higher and lower intensities, you challenge your cardiovascular system in ways similar to interval training. This method allows you to spend more total time exercising than you might if running continuously, leading to greater endurance gains over time.
Mental breaks during longer runs: The walk intervals provide short mental respites, making longer distances feel more manageable. This can be especially beneficial for newer runners or those tackling longer distances, as it breaks the run into smaller, less daunting segments. It can also help reduce the mental fatigue that often accompanies endurance running.
Easier transition to continuous running: For beginners, run/walk intervals offer a gentler introduction to running than trying to run continuously from the start. As fitness improves, you can gradually increase the running intervals and decrease the walking periods. This progressive approach helps build confidence along with physical ability, making the transition to continuous running feel more natural and achievable.
Remember to adjust intervals based on individual fitness levels and goals. Gradually reduce walking time as running ability improves.
How it works for the different levels of runners
Beginners: Start with shorter running intervals and longer walking intervals, such as 1 minute running and 2 minutes walking. Gradually increase running time and decrease walking time as fitness improves. Aim for 20-30 minutes total workout time, 3 times a week. Focus on consistency and building a habit rather than speed or distance.
Intermediate runners: Increase running intervals to 3-5 minutes with 1-2 minutes of walking. Experiment with different interval ratios, like 4:1 or 5:1 (run:walk). Aim for 30-45 minutes total workout time, 3-4 times a week. Incorporate one longer run per week using run/walk method.
Experienced runners: Use run/walk intervals for specific purposes, such as recovery runs or long distance training. Try advanced interval patterns, like 10 minutes running with 1 minute walking. Use this method to gradually increase distance in marathon training. Implement run/walk strategy in races to maintain overall pace and reduce fatigue.
Detailed strategies for using run/walk intervals to improve speed
Progressive Interval Training: Start with a 3:1 run-walk ratio (e.g., 3 minutes run, 1 minute walk) Gradually increase the running interval and decrease the walking interval Aim to eventually reach a 9:1 or 10:1 ratio Focus on maintaining a faster pace during the running segment
Fartlek-style Run/Walk: Incorporate varying speeds during your running intervals Example: 3 minutes easy run, 1 minute walk, 2 minutes hard run, 1 minute walk This trains your body to handle different paces and improves overall speed
Tempo Run/Walk: Use run/walk intervals during tempo runs (runs at a “comfortably hard” pace) Run at tempo pace for 5-10 minutes, then walk for 1 minute Repeat for the desired workout duration This helps you maintain a faster pace for longer cumulative distances
Hill Run/Walk: Find a moderate hill and run up for 30-60 seconds, then walk back down Repeat 6-10 times This builds leg strength and power, translating to improved speed on flat ground
Descending Intervals: Start with longer run/walk intervals and gradually shorten them Example: 5 min run/1 min walk, 4 min run/1 min walk, 3 min run/1 min walk, etc. Increase your pace slightly with each shorter interval
Race Pace Practice: Use run/walk intervals to practice your goal race pace Run at your target pace for 3-5 minutes, then walk for 30 seconds to 1 minute This helps your body adapt to the faster pace while still allowing for recovery
Long Run Speed-Play: During your long runs, incorporate faster-paced run/walk intervals Example: Every 10 minutes, do a 2-minute faster run followed by a 30-second walk This maintains the endurance benefits of long runs while adding a speed component
* Remember to warm up properly before these workouts and cool down afterwards. Also, don’t do speed work more than 2-3 times per week to allow for proper recovery. Gradually increase the intensity and duration of these workouts over time.
Summary
Incorporating run/walk intervals into your training routine isn’t just a strategy for beginners or a way to build endurance – it’s a powerful tool for runners at all levels to boost their speed and performance.
By allowing for strategic recovery, higher-intensity efforts, and increased training volume, this method can help you break through plateaus and achieve new personal bests. Remember, improving your speed is a gradual process that requires consistency, patience, and smart training.
Whether you’re tackling your first 5K or aiming to shave minutes off your marathon time, give run/walk intervals a try. You might be surprised at how taking periodic walks can lead you to run faster than ever before.
So lace up your shoes, set your timer, and embrace the power of the run/walk method – your next PR might be just a few intervals away.
RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport is a serious thing and something all endurance athletes should have a little bit of awareness of, as well as anyone who is active and looking to shed some body fat and change their body composition.
Studies suggest that 20-60% of endurance athletes may experience LEA which can then lead to RED-S. Female endurance athletes are at higher risk, but male athletes are also affected. Ironman triathletes and ultramarathon runners are particularly susceptible due to extremely high energy demands.
Definition:
RED-S refers to impaired physiological functioning caused by relative energy deficiency and includes, but is not limited to, impairments of metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular health.
Evolution of the concept:
Originated from the Female Athlete Triad (disordered eating, amenorrhea, osteoporosis). *The Female Athlete Triad is a syndrome of the three interrelated conditions that was first recognised in the 1990s. It’s an important concept in sports medicine and women’s health
Expanded to include all athletes, regardless of gender.
Recognises a wider range of health and performance consequences.
Health consequences:
Menstrual function: Irregular or absent periods in females
Bone health: Decreased bone mineral density, increased fracture risk
RED-S is more prevalent in endurance athletes due to the potentially high training volumes, which is one of the key risk factors. It can also be seen in sports where leanness is seen as the ideal, and also sports utilising weight categories as these can lead to rapid weight loss practices. Other common risk factors are disordered eating, a lack of nutrition knowledge leading to excessive calorie deficits and also perfectionist personality traits.
Diagnosis and assessment:
There is no single diagnostic test, instead the usual routes to diagnosis involve: – Comprehensive assessment including building a detailed history of medical records, nutrition, psychological mapping, training history etc. – Physical examination – Laboratory tests ( hormones, bloods, bone density etc)
Challenges specific to endurance sports
As touched on above endurance athletes are an at risk group due to training volumes. The key to be aware of and manage to avoid LEA and RED-S is consuming enough calories during long training sessions and also proper management of pre and post fuelling.
Where some athletes struggle is: – Suffering gastrointestinal issues during prolonged exercise. – Having a suppressed appetite after intense endurance exercise. – Dealing with the pressure to maintain low body weight for perceived performance benefits.
Prevention strategies for endurance athletes:
Regular monitoring of energy intake, body composition, and performance
Emphasizing fueling for performance rather than weight loss
Incorporating strength training to maintain muscle mass and bone density
Periodizing nutrition to match training cycles
Education on nutrition and the importance of adequate fuelling during long training sessions and races
Final Thoughts
As we navigate the complex landscape of athletic performance and health, it’s crucial to remember that our bodies are not mere machines, but intricate systems requiring balance and care. RED-S serves as a stark reminder that the pursuit of athletic excellence should never come at the cost of long-term well-being. I hope that by fostering a culture of open communication, prioritising education, and embracing a holistic approach to training and nutrition, I can help create an environment where athletes thrive both on and off the field. The journey towards peak performance is a marathon, not a sprint, and maintaining energy balance is the fuel that will carry athletes through their careers and beyond. I want to champion a future where athletic achievement and vibrant health go hand in hand, creating a legacy of sustainable excellence in sports.
Cracking the Code: 8 Periodization Models to Revolutionize Your Training
Ever wonder how top athletes seem to peak at just the right moment?
The answer lies in a powerful training strategy called periodisation.
This systematic approach to planning workouts isn’t just for Olympians—it’s a game-changer for athletes at all levels.
By strategically varying training intensity and focus over time, periodization helps you build fitness, prevent burnout, and hit your peak performance when it matters most.
Whether you’re training for your first 5K or gunning for a podium finish, understanding periodisation can take your endurance game to the next level.
Let’s dive into the different models. I have listed them in the order from most commonly used / easiest to understand to the most complex model.
The Different Periodisation Models:
Linear Periodisation
This is the traditional model, involving a gradual progression from high-volume, low-intensity training to low-volume, high-intensity training as the competition approaches. It’s divided into distinct phases: – Preparatory phase (building base fitness) – Competitive phase (race-specific training) – Transition phase (active recovery) Best suited for: Novice to intermediate athletes, or those with a long preparation phase before a main event. Strengths: Simple to implement and understand. Allows for steady progression. Weaknesses: May lead to performance plateaus for advanced athletes. Less flexible for multi-peak seasons.
Reverse Linear Periodisation
As the name suggests, this model reverses the linear approach. It starts with high-intensity, low-volume training and progresses to higher volume, lower intensity work as the competition nears. This can be beneficial for some endurance events. Best suited for: Athletes in sports where maintaining power or speed is crucial even as endurance increases. Strengths: Can help maintain power while building endurance. Useful for sports like rowing or swimming. Weaknesses: May not provide sufficient base endurance for some athletes.
Undulating Periodisation
This model involves more frequent variations in training volume and intensity, often on a daily or weekly basis. It can be further divided into: – Daily Undulating Periodisation (DUP): Training variables change daily – Weekly Undulating Periodization (WUP): Training variables change weekly Best suited for: Advanced athletes, those needing to maintain multiple fitness components simultaneously, or athletes with frequently changing competition schedules. Strengths: Provides variety, potentially reducing burnout. Allows for simultaneous development of multiple fitness attributes. Weaknesses: More complex to plan and implement. May not allow for optimal development of any single attribute.
Block Periodisation
This approach concentrates on developing specific abilities in blocks, typically lasting 2-6 weeks. Each block focuses on a particular aspect of fitness (e.g., aerobic endurance, lactate threshold, VO2max). Best suited for: Elite athletes, those with multiple performance peaks in a season, or athletes needing to dramatically improve specific aspects of fitness. Strengths: Allows for concentrated development of specific abilities. Flexible for multi-peak seasons. Weaknesses: Requires careful planning to avoid detraining in non-focused areas. May be too intense for novice athletes.
Polarized Periodisation
This model emphasizes a distribution of about 80% low-intensity training and 20% high-intensity training, with very little moderate-intensity work. It’s gained popularity among endurance athletes in recent years but needs to managed very carefully. Best suited for: Endurance athletes in sports like running, cycling, or cross-country skiing. Strengths: Mimics the natural training patterns of successful endurance athletes. May reduce risk of overtraining. Weaknesses: May not provide enough specific preparation for some events. Can be psychologically challenging due to the intensity of the hard sessions.
Wave-Loading Periodisation
This involves alternating periods of high and low training stress, creating a wave-like pattern in training load over time. Best suited for: Athletes prone to overtraining or those who respond well to frequent recovery periods. Strengths: Built-in recovery periods can prevent burnout. Allows for multiple peaks within a season. Weaknesses: May not provide enough consistent stimulus for some athletes. Requires careful monitoring to ensure proper loading.
Conjugate Periodisation
Originally developed for strength sports, this model simultaneously develops multiple fitness components and can be adapted for endurance athletes. Best suited for: Multi-sport athletes or those needing to maintain a wide range of physical abilities. Strengths: Allows for simultaneous development of multiple fitness components. Can prevent boredom and staleness. Weaknesses: Complex to design and implement. May not allow for optimal development in any single area.
Fractal Periodisation
This is a more complex model that applies similar training patterns across different time scales (days, weeks, months), creating a fractal-like structure. Best suited for: Highly advanced athletes or those with very long-term development plans. Strengths: Provides a coherent structure across multiple time scales. Can be highly individualized. Weaknesses: Very complex to design and implement. Requires sophisticated monitoring and adjustment.
Key Considerations:
Athlete’s experience level: Novice athletes often respond well to simpler models like linear periodisation, while advanced athletes may benefit from more complex approaches.
Competition schedule: Single-peak seasons might suit linear models, while multi-peak seasons often require more flexible approaches like block or undulating periodization.
Sport-specific demands: Some sports require maintaining multiple fitness components simultaneously, favoring models like conjugate or undulating periodisation.
Individual response: Athletes respond differently to training stimuli. Some may thrive on variety (undulating), while others may need more focused blocks of training.
Available time: More complex models often require more time to see significant benefits, which may not be suitable for athletes with shorter preparation phases.
Sometimes, the most effective approach often involves combining elements from different models to create a personalised plan that addresses the specific needs and constraints of the individual athlete and their sport.
LEA occurs when an individual’s energy intake is insufficient to support the body’s functions after accounting for energy expended in exercise.
It’s essentially an energy deficit that can occur in both athletes and non-athletes.
It’s calculated as energy intake minus exercise energy expenditure, relative to fat-free mass. This can be a complex calculation involving a lot of monitoring but there is a simple explanation further below.
LEA can occur even when total calorie intake seems adequate, if exercise energy expenditure is high. It can lead to various physiological and performance issues, including REDs which we will discuss in the next post.
It can, paradoxically, lead to weight gain in some cases. This is most commonly seen in women and is definitely something active women should be aware of if they cut calories and or/up the activity levels.
Weight Gain
Consuming less calories and then gaining weight might seem counterintuitive, but there are several mechanisms through which this can occur:
Metabolic Adaptation: Chronic LEA can cause the body to lower its metabolic rate to conserve energy. When normal eating resumes, this lowered metabolism can result in weight gain.
Hormonal Changes: LEA can disrupt hormonal balance, particularly affecting thyroid hormones and cortisol. These hormonal changes can lead to increased fat storage and water retention.
Increased Appetite: After periods of restriction, the body may signal increased hunger, leading to overeating. This can result in rapid weight gain, often exceeding the original weight.
Changes in Body Composition: LEA can lead to loss of lean muscle mass. When weight is regained, it’s often in the form of fat rather than muscle, changing body composition.
Insulin Sensitivity: Prolonged LEA can affect insulin sensitivity, potentially leading to increased fat storage when normal eating resumes.
Disrupted Hunger and Fullness Cues: Chronic undereating can disrupt natural hunger and fullness signals, making it harder to regulate food intake.
Psychological Factors: The stress of restrictive eating can lead to binge eating episodes, contributing to weight gain.
Edema: In some cases, especially when LEA is severe, the body may retain water, leading to temporary weight gain.
Rebound Effect: When energy intake is increased after a period of LEA, the body may overcompensate by storing extra energy as fat.
It’s important to note that while LEA can sometimes lead to weight gain, the primary concern should be overall health and performance rather than weight alone.
All Impacts of LEA
Physiological impacts: Metabolic rate reduction Bone Mineral density decrease Impaired protein synthesis Cardiovascular changes; i.e. lower heart rate, blood pressure Hormonal disruptions; i.e. decreased estrogen, testosterone
Addressing LEA involves gradually increasing energy intake to support bodily functions and athletic performance, which may or may not result in weight changes.
How to calculate LEA
LEA is defined as dietary energy intake minus exercise energy expenditure, normalized to fat-free mass (FFM). The formula is: Energy Availability = (Energy Intake – Exercise Energy Expenditure) / Fat-Free Mass.
The Thresholds are: Optimal energy availability: >45 kcal/kg/FFM/day Reduced energy availability: 30-45 kcal/kg FFM/day Low energy availability: <30 kcal/kg FFM/day
Let’s look at an example of someone weighing 70 kg with 20 body fat%
Step 1: Calculate Fat-Free Mass (FFM): Body Fat Mass = 70 kg × 20% = 14 kg Fat-Free Mass (FFM) = 70 kg – 14 kg = 56 kg Step 2: Energy Availability (EA) Calculation EA = (Energy Intake – Exercise Energy Expenditure) / Fat-Free Mass
For our 56 kg FFM individual: Optimal EA threshold: 56 kg × 45 kcal/kg = 2,520 kcal/day Low EA threshold: 56 kg × 30 kcal/kg = 1,680 kcal/day
Example scenarios:
A. Optimal EA: Energy Intake: 3,000 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 400 kcal EA = (3,000 – 400) / 56 = 46.4 kcal/kg FFM/day (Optimal)
B. Reduced EA: Energy Intake: 2,500 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 600 kcal EA = (2,500 – 600) / 56 = 33.9 kcal/kg FFM/day (Reduced)
C. Low EA: Energy Intake: 2,000 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 800 kcal EA = (2,000 – 800) / 56 = 21.4 kcal/kg FFM/day (Low)
These calculations demonstrate how increased exercise energy expenditure or decreased energy intake can lead to reduced or low energy availability, even when total calorie intake might seem adequate.
When you are looking to achieve a body composition change and loose fat the one key thing is a Calorie Deficit, which means burning more calories than you eat. When we think calorie burn, most of us will immediately think “Exercise” but thats just a small part of the puzzle.
Here are all the ways our bodies burn calories:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the energy your body uses to maintain basic life functions while at rest, such as breathing, circulation, and cell production. It accounts for the majority of calories burned daily.
Physical Activity: Any movement burns additional calories. This includes:
Exercise (e.g., running, swimming, weightlifting)
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): daily activities like walking, cleaning, fidgeting
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The energy used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food. It typically accounts for about 10% of total daily energy expenditure.
Adaptive Thermogenesis: The body’s ability to generate heat in response to environmental changes or diet.
Growth and Development: Children and adolescents burn extra calories for growth. Pregnant women also burn additional calories to support fetal development.
The component that contributes most to our daily calorie burn for most people is the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
BMR typically accounts for 60-75% of total daily energy expenditure for sedentary individuals. This means that even if you were to lie in bed all day, your body would still burn a significant number of calories just to keep your basic life functions operating.
The exact percentage can vary based on factors such as:
Age: BMR tends to decrease with age.
Body composition: More muscle mass increases BMR.
Gender: Men generally have a higher BMR than women due to greater muscle mass.
Genetics: Some people naturally have a higher or lower BMR.
Health conditions: Certain medical conditions can affect BMR.
It’s important to note that while BMR is the largest contributor to calorie burn for most people, physical activity can significantly increase total daily energy expenditure, especially for very active individuals. For athletes or people with physically demanding jobs, the calories burned through activity might approach or even exceed their BMR.
The one that generally gets overlooked but can actually end up having a BIG effect on your daily burn is NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
Tips for increasing NEAT in daily life:
At Work Use a standing desk or treadmill and vary your position throughout the day. Take walking meetings instead of sitting in a conference room. Set a timer and stand up at least once every hour. Add in a stretch if possible, or a walk around the building. Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
At Home Do more vigorous versions of chores (scrub the floor rather than mop for example). Stand or pace while using your phone. Do simple exercises or stretching during tv commercials, or between episodes. Dance while listening to music.
During Commutes / Errands: Park further away from entrances of buildings. Get off public transport one stop early and walk the rest of the way. Carry groceries instead of using trollies for small shops. Walk or bike instead of using your car wherever possible.
Social Activities: Suggest active things to do; mini golf, bowling etc. Play active video games that require movement.
Throughout the day: Fidget more; drum your fingers, tap your feet etc. Increase your daily step count wherever possible. Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
At Night: Do some light stretching or yoga before bed. Tidy your living spaces before going to bed.
Remember, the goal is to make movement a natural part of your day. Even small increases in activity can add up over time and contribute to higher overall calorie burn.
Whether you’re lining up for a marathon, ultra-endurance event, or all-day sufferfest, proper pre-race nutrition can be the difference between bonking at the wall and unlocking next-level performance.
While pretty much all endurance athletes understand the importance of staying fuelled during an event, I find that the actual understanding how to do this can be pretty lacking.
It can feel like a mindfield… so I’m going to break it down and make it as simple as I can for you.
In a nutshell it means optimising what you eat in the days beforehand and it is a massively underrated part of the high-performance equation.
By strategically carb-loading and topping off fuel stores through precise nutrient timing and food choices, you can start your biggest races topped up with maximum muscle glycogen levels – allowing you to go harder, longer, and put your training to its fullest test.
Carbohydrate loading to maximize glycogen stores
Glycogen stores can deplete relatively quickly during prolonged endurance events, which is why carbohydrate loading in the days leading up to the event is so important.
Here are the headlines:
Muscles store glycogen as the primary fuel source for high-intensity exercise lasting longer than 90-120 minutes.
A well-trained endurance athlete may have 350-700g of glycogen stored in their muscles prior to carb loading.
During a marathon or long endurance event, these glycogen stores can become depleted after about 2-3 hours of activity.
Glycogen depletion is a major cause of hitting “the wall” or bonking during prolonged exercise when the muscles run out of easily accessible carbohydrate fuel.
The carb loading protocol aims to maximize muscle and liver glycogen levels by tapering training and consuming a high-carb diet (7-12g/kg bodyweight) in the 1-3 days before the event.
Proper carb loading can increase the total glycogen stores by 50-90% over normal levels, delaying fatigue.
The timing of carb loading is important – loading too early results in glycogen depletion before the event.
Good Pre Race Foods to Include in your Carb Load Phase:
White rice or pasta with a simple tomato/marinara sauce
White or sweet potatoes
Bagels or English muffins with jam/honey
Bananas
Rice cakes or crisp breads
Sports drinks and electrolyte beverages
Low-fiber cereals such as porridge, Ready Brek or Shredded Wheat.
Simple Pre-Race Meal Examples:
Baked potato with salt, small side salad, and a sports beverage
Plate of pasta with marinara sauce and a banana
Bagel with peanut butter, a handful of pretzels, and a smoothie
White rice, grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and an electrolyte drink
Oatmeal with honey, a piece of toast with jam, and a fruit cup
The key things that make these “simple” are:
Easily digestible carb sources like rice, potatoes, pasta
Limited fiber, fat and protein to avoid GI distress
Hydrating fluids like sports drinks
Familiar, bland foods that the athlete tolerates well
Single-plate or bowl meals for easy consumption
The focus is on providing high-quality carbs to top off glycogen stores, along with some protein, antioxidants, and fluids – without overwhelming the system before the endurance event begins.
Other things to consider:
Optimal Timing and Composition of the Pre-Event Meal:
Timing is crucial – the pre-event meal should be consumed 3-4 hours before the start to allow for proper digestion and absorption
Composition should be high in easily digestible carbs (e.g. white rice, pasta, potatoes, bread) and low in fat/fiber to minimize GI distress
Fluids should be included to top off hydration levels
Some protein can be included, but the focus should be on carb-rich foods
Individualize based on personal tolerances – avoid any foods that typically cause GI issues
Portion sizes depend on the event duration but usually around 3-4g/kg carbs
Hydration Strategies Before the Event:
Begin hydrating heavily 2-3 days out by increasing fluid intake
Aim to consume 5-10mL per kg bodyweight about 2-4 hours pre-race
Include sodium in pre-race hydration to better retain fluids
Monitor urine color to ensure proper hydration levels
Don’t over-hydrate excessively, as this can cause hyponatremia
Customize hydration based on individual sweat rates and event conditions
Summary:
The key for pre-event fueling is to maximize carb/fuel stores through proper loading, time the final fuel intake for optimal digestion and utilization, and ensure adequate but not excessive hydration levels heading into the endurance event.
This primes the body’s energy systems for the upcoming demands. It ensures you have done everything you can via your nutrition to back up the hard work you have put in via your training.
Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
As we know, the human body has an incredible ability to adapt and become stronger in response to the physical demands placed upon it.
This adaptive process, when done specifically, is known as supercompensation. It is a fundamental principle that underpins effective training for athletes across a wide range of sports and disciplines.
At its core, supercompensation describes how, after being exposed to a new training stimulus that causes short-term fatigue, the body overcompensates during the recovery period by enhancing its capabilities beyond the pre-training level.
By strategically applying the supercompensation model, endurance athletes and those following supporting strength and conditioning programs can maximise their performance gains, avoid overtraining, and unlock their full physical potential.
Supercompensation is more than just regular training because it follows a specific pattern and principles.
Here are some key points that distinguish it:
Overload Principle; Supercompensation requires exposing the body to greater stress/workload than it is accustomed to, through increased volume, intensity, or new training stimuli. This overload causes temporary fatigue.
Recovery Period ; After the overload, there must be a recovery period where the training load is reduced to allow the body to adapt and rebuild itself stronger than before.
Cycle Pattern; Supercompensation follows a cyclical pattern of overload -> fatigue -> recovery -> enhanced capacity. This cycle is repeated as fitness levels increase.
Timing; There is an optimal timing element. If the recovery period is too short, the body won’t fully supercompensate. If too long, detraining can occur before the next overload.
Individualization; The overload stimulus and recovery time required varies per individual based on factors like training age, genetics, nutrition, etc.
Progressive Overload; As the body adapts, greater overload is required to continue supercompensating and making fitness gains over time.
Specificity; The supercompensation effects are specific to the muscles, energy systems, and skills trained under overload.
Whether you’re a marathoner looking to shave minutes off your PR, a cyclist striving for that extra watt of power output, or a weightlifter aiming to break through frustrating plateaus, strategically applying the principles of supercompensation can be a game-changer.
By precisely calibrating periods of overload training followed by optimal recovery, you unlock the ability to push past previous limits and take your physical capabilities to newfound heights.
The human body’s supercompensatory powers are remarkable – learning to precisely harness this phenomenon is what separates those who achieve extraordinary gains from those who stagnate. It is also where a coach can really help you make the difference as a great coach will know how to read your training data and apply the right cycles at the right times to get you your best results. .
Embrace the cycle of overload and renaissance, and prepare to redefine your personal performance potential.
Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
Even endurance athletes with true mental grit and mental toughness will inevitably face dark moments when shit gets tough, motivation plummets and the prospect of quitting seems tempting.
The ability to overcome these psychological slumps separates the middle-of-the-pack finishers from the podium contenders.
While physical conditioning is paramount, having an arsenal of mental strategies to deploy when the inner voice turns negative can mean the difference between succumbing to the brain’s quit signals or finding renewed focus and determination.
Your Emergency Mindset Toolkit:
This is your emergency mindset toolkit – a collection of psychological techniques to reboot mental grit when the shadow of burnout and despair looms large over your endurance ambitions.
Breathing Exercises
Specific rhythmic breathing patterns to use to re-center and recover mentally (e.g. box breathing, 4-7-8 technique)
Positive Visual Cues
Having predetermined positive images/visions to call upon to rebuild inspiration (e.g. loved ones, past successes)
Memory Anchors
Pre-planned positive memories to vividly recall and reconnect with sources of determination
Body Scanning
Systematic tension-release routines to bypass mental fatigue and reconnect with the physical
Chunking
Breaking down races into motivational segments rather than focusing on the whole daunting distance
Power Postures
Adopting postures and stances associated with confidence, resilience to reset the mindset
Cognitive Reframing
Countering negative thoughts by consciously reframing them in a more empowering light
External Anchors
Identifying motivational competitors, pacer groups or markers on the course to re-engage with
Endurance races create an inevitable ebb and flow of emotional peaks and valleys.
When the tides of motivation go out, the greatest endurance athletes have a toolbox of psychological tactics to draw from.
By implementing these mental coping strategies – whether it’s breathing exercises, positive visual cues, or cognitive reframing – you build resilience against the forces trying to derail your mindset.
You develop the capacity to override the brain’s impulses to quit and instead access renewed focus and determination. Cultivate and practice these techniques, and you’ll fear no motivational abyss, armed with the mental ammo to charge through the lowest lows en route to the finish line.
The mind quits long before the body, but with these coping tools, you’ll be the master of both.
Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
As I approach a weekend with a DB Athlete undertaking another massive challenge (their second 100 mile Ultra in 6 weeks) the subject of managing your mindset during a BIG event is clearly on my mind.
So… I’m sharing one of my favourite concepts, first introduced to me by ‘The Iron Cowboy’ James Lawrence during his “50” challenge where he completed 50 IronMan distance triathlons in 50 US States in 50 days.
This is the Concept of: “Don’t Get Too High. Don’t Get Too Low”
The ability to regulate emotions and maintain an unwavering mental focus can separate the champions from the also-rans in grueling endurance competitions.
While physical preparation is crucial, how you manage your mindset and psychological state during the inherent ebbs and flows is equally vital.
This emerging philosophy emphasises cultivating a even-keeled, balanced state of mind – steadfastly avoiding the pitfalls of overconfidence during high points and despondency during low points.
Here are some key aspects of this mindset approach:
Emotional regulation: Endurance events involve physical and mental ups and downs. The theory suggests regulating emotions to avoid getting carried away by momentary feelings, whether positive or negative, which could disrupt pacing and focus.
Consistency: Maintaining a consistent level of effort and concentration is considered ideal, rather than expending too much energy in bursts of over-enthusiasm or letting negative emotions drain commitment.
Pacing: Getting too high can lead to starting out too fast and burning out prematurely. Getting too low can cause one to slow down unnecessarily or even give up. An even pace matching one’s training is recommended.
Objectivity: The idea is to objectively assess the situation at each point, without the extremes of over-optimism from temporary good feelings or despair from temporary setbacks.
Resilience: Avoiding emotional peaks and valleys can help cultivate resilience to overcome the inevitable challenges that arise.
The ultimate goal is to stay level-headed, stick to one’s race plan, and persist with determination throughout the ups and downs until the finish line.
Proponents believe this balanced mindset allows athletes to perform closer to their full potential over the entire distance.
If you want to truly become the best athlete you can be, you have to first master and the weaponise your mindset and this is a key asset.
The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
Periodisation… a term every endurance athlete has probably heard but it is obvious from many conversations I have had recently that few actually understand what it is all about. Even if you have a coach who plans your training it is still beneficial for you to have a basic understanding of this concept.
What is it all about?
Periodisation is a strategic way of structuring your training program to maximize results and prevent burnout or injury. It involves cycling through different phases of training with varying intensities and volumes.
The basic idea is to alternate between periods of harder, more intense training (like lifting heavier weights or increasing your mileage) and periods of lighter, lower-intensity training. This allows your body to work hard and make gains during the intense phases, while also giving it a chance to recover and avoid overtraining during the lighter phases.
For example, you might have a 4-week block of really challenging workouts where you’re pushing yourself hard. Then, you’d follow that with a 1-2 week period of easier, recovery-focused training to let your body rest and adapt to the previous training stress. This cycle of hard work followed by planned recovery is repeated throughout your overall training plan.
The benefits of periodisation:
It helps prevent plateau by constantly introducing new training stimuli
It reduces your risk of injury or burnout from doing too much too soon, and ensures you’re fresh and rested for important competitions or events.
It’s a way of strategically managing your body’s finite energy resources over time for long-term, sustainable progress.
How periodisation allows athletes to maximize training adaptations while preventing overtraining and burnout:
Periodisation is designed to facilitate the body’s adaptive responses to training stress while also allowing for adequate recovery and replenishment of energy stores.
This is achieved through structured periods of overload followed by planned periods of reduced training load or complete rest.
During the overload phases, the body is exposed to increased training volumes, intensities, and often both.
This overload stimulus initiates physiological and metabolic processes that lead to adaptations such as increased muscle strength, improved cardiovascular fitness, and enhanced energy utilization.
However, if the overload continues indefinitely without respite, the body’s finite energy resources will eventually become depleted, leading to overtraining and burnout.
To counteract this, periodisation incorporates recovery phases or periods of reduced training load.
These recovery periods serve several crucial functions:
Energy replenishment: They allow the body to replenish depleted energy stores, such as glycogen in the muscles and liver, which are essential for high-intensity training and performance.
Tissue repair and adaptation: Recovery periods provide the necessary time for damaged muscle fibers to repair, for the body to adapt to the previous training stimulus, and for the central nervous system to recover from the accumulated fatigue.
Psychological recovery: Periods of reduced training load help alleviate mental fatigue and burnout, allowing athletes to maintain motivation and enthusiasm for their sport.
By respecting the body’s need for recovery and replenishment through periodisation, athletes can maximize their training adaptations without exceeding the body’s finite energy resources or pushing it into an overtrained state.
This strategic approach to training not only enhances performance but also reduces the risk of injuries, illness, and burnout, enabling athletes to train consistently over the long term.
Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
Building on from the previous DB Conversation, All About Stress (https://differentbreed.io/the-relationship-between-training-stress-and-recovery/) I am going address the importance of monitoring and managing fatigue levels during endurance training. This topic aligns nicely with the discussion about balancing training stress and recovery, managing the body’s finite energy source, and optimising performance and adaptation in endurance training.
This should provide valuable insights and practical strategies for endurance athletes and coaches seeking to maximise training gains while mitigating the risk of overtraining and burnout.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining:
Persistent fatigue: Feeling unusually tired and sluggish, even after adequate rest and recovery periods.
Decreased performance: A noticeable drop in athletic performance, despite maintaining the same training load.
Muscle soreness: Prolonged and excessive muscle soreness that persists for days after training sessions.
Increased injuries: Experiencing more frequent or nagging injuries, which can be a sign of overtraining and insufficient recovery.
Disturbed sleep: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, or experiencing poor quality sleep.
Mood disturbances: Changes in mood, such as increased irritability, anxiety, depression, or a lack of motivation.
Suppressed appetite: A noticeable decrease in appetite or a loss of interest in food.
Increased resting heart rate: An elevated resting heart rate, which can indicate the body’s inability to fully recover.
Increased susceptibility to illness: Frequent colds, flu, or other illnesses due to a compromised immune system.
Menstrual irregularities: In female athletes, overtraining can lead to changes in menstrual cycles or amenorrhea (absence of menstruation).
* It’s important to note that overtraining is a complex condition, and individuals may experience different combinations of these symptoms. Monitoring and addressing these signs and symptoms promptly is crucial to prevent more severe consequences, such as burnout, prolonged performance decrements, or long-term health issues.
5 Simple Strategies for Assessing Fatigue Levels
Resting Heart Rate Monitoring: Monitor your resting heart rate (RHR) first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. An elevated RHR compared to your baseline can be an indicator of fatigue or incomplete recovery from previous training sessions.
Subjective Rating Scales: Use a simple rating scale (e.g., 1-10) to quantify your perceived level of fatigue, muscle soreness, motivation, or overall well-being. Tracking these subjective measures over time can help identify patterns and potential overtraining.
Performance Tracking: Monitor your performance metrics during training sessions or competitions. If you consistently struggle to hit your target paces, power outputs, or lift the same weights as before, it could signal accumulated fatigue.
Sleep Quality Assessment: Pay attention to your sleep quality and quantity. Persistent poor sleep, difficulty falling asleep, or frequent waking during the night can be signs of overtraining and inadequate recovery.
Mood and Motivation Monitoring: Keep track of your mood and motivation levels. Persistent irritability, anxiety, depression, or a lack of enthusiasm for training that you previously enjoyed could indicate overtraining and the need for a recovery period.
By incorporating these simple strategies into your training routine, you can gain valuable insights into your body’s fatigue levels and make informed decisions adjusting your training load, incorporating more recovery periods, or seeking professional support if necessary.
Hopefully this helps and gives you some better insight into how to monitor and manage your fatigue levels.
To fully understand fitness and how to make lasting and meaningful changes to your endurance you really have to understand the key concepts of stress and recovery.
Training is just a form of stress and training stress refers to the physical and mental demands placed on the body during exercise or athletic activities.
Recovery, on the other hand, is the process by which the body repairs and adapts to the stress imposed during training.
It should be simple right. You put your body under stress through your training and then you take a bit of time to recover, and the improvements happen. Rinse and Repeat…
Unfortunately though, it isn’t quite that simple, especially for those trying to reach a new level of performance. This is because both stress and recovery utilise the most important resource the body has: Energy!
The relationship between training stress and recovery:
This is a delicate balance that athletes and fitness enthusiasts must maintain for optimal performance and injury prevention.
Adequate recovery is crucial for allowing the body to replenish energy stores, repair muscle damage, and promote adaptation.
Without proper recovery, excessive training stress can lead to overtraining, increased risk of injury, and diminished performance.
Therefore, it is essential to strike a balance between training stress and recovery, allowing for appropriate rest and recovery periods to maximise the benefits of training and prevent burnout or overuse injuries.
The human body has a finite energy source:
Proper management of this energy is crucial for making gains in fitness and avoiding overtraining or burnout.
Here’s an explanation of how this works:
Energy stores: The body’s primary energy sources are glycogen (stored in the muscles and liver) and fat. These energy stores are limited and can be depleted during intense or prolonged exercise.
Depletion and replenishment: During training, the body utilizes these energy stores, leading to depletion. If the energy stores are not adequately replenished through proper nutrition and rest, the body will eventually reach a state of fatigue and diminished performance.
Recovery and adaptation: After a training session, the body needs time to recover and adapt to the stress imposed during exercise. During this recovery period, the body replenishes its energy stores, repairs muscle damage, and adapts by becoming stronger and more efficient.
Overtraining and burnout: If the body is not given sufficient time to recover and replenish its energy stores, it can lead to overtraining and burnout. This can result in decreased performance, increased risk of injury, and prolonged recovery times.
Making gains in fitness while managing the body’s finite energy source:
To do this it is essential to follow these principles:
Periodization: Incorporate periods of high-intensity training followed by periods of lower-intensity training or active recovery to allow the body to replenish its energy stores and adapt to the training stimulus.
Nutrition: Consume a balanced diet with sufficient calories, carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats to fuel the body and support recovery and adaptation.
Rest and sleep: Allow for adequate rest and sleep, as these are crucial for recovery, energy replenishment, and muscle repair.
Monitoring: Pay attention to signs of fatigue, decreased performance, or increased susceptibility to illness, as these can indicate the need for more recovery time.
By respecting the body’s finite energy source and implementing proper training, nutrition, and recovery strategies, athletes and fitness enthusiasts can maximize their gains in fitness while avoiding overtraining and burnout.
Last week I gave you some insights into why how you breathe really does matter if you want to take your endurance performance to the next level.
If you missed it, you can read it here
This week I am going to give you some practical tips and exercises to help you develop and maintain that regular breathing pattern.
1)Rhythmic Breathing:
Practice inhaling for a specific count (e.g., 3 or 4) and exhaling for the same count, syncing the breath with your movement patterns.
2)Nasal Breathing:
Breathe through your nose as much as possible during low-intensity activities to promote diaphragmatic breathing.
3)Breath Counting:
Simply count your breaths (e.g., 1-2-3-4 inhale, 1-2-3-4 exhale) to reinforce a consistent rhythm.
3)Use a Metronome or Music
Set a metronome or select music with a consistent beat per minute (BPM) that matches the desired breathing rate. Try to synchronise your inhalations and exhalations with the metronome or music beats.
4)Breathing Ladders
Start with a short breathing pattern (e.g., 2 steps per inhalation, 2 steps per exhalation) and gradually increase the length (e.g., 3 steps per inhalation, 3 steps per exhalation).
Alternate between shorter and longer patterns to challenge breathing control.
5)Straw Breathing:
Breathe through a small straw during low-intensity activities to promote controlled, diaphragmatic breathing.
This can help you become more aware of your breathing patterns and maintain a consistent rhythm.
6)Visualisation and Cue Words:
Visualize and mentally rehearse your desired breathing patterns before and during activities.
Use cue words or phrases (e.g., “inhale, exhale,” “rhythm,” “control”) to reinforce consistent breathing.
8) Focused Breathing During Warmups and Cooldowns:
Dedicate specific segments of your warmup and cooldown routines to focus solely on controlled breathing exercises.
This can help you establish a consistent breathing pattern before and after intense efforts.
The key thing when practising any of these methods is to start with shorter durations and gradually increase the time and intensity as you become more comfortable with maintaining a regular breathing pattern.
Consistency and regular practice are key to developing this important skill.
Now for the longer answer:
The more efficient your breathing the better you will perform. In endurance aerobic capacity is such a key element of your fitness. Oxygen is your primary energy source and your heart rate spikes when your brain doesn’t know when the next hit of oxygen is incoming.
Therefore, the more regular the breathing pattern, the lower and more stable the heart rate.
To break it down further here are the key reasons building and sustaining a regular breathing pattern will elevate your athletic performance.
1) Oxygen Efficiency: It can help improve the efficiency of oxygen uptake and utilisation during exercise. This in turn can enhance endurance and delay the onset of fatigue.
2) Respiratory Muscle Training: It helps train the respiratory muscles, such as the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, to work more efficiently. Stronger respiratory muscles can improve breathing economy.
3) Stress Reduction: It has been shown to have a calming effect on the body and mind. You can better manage stress and anxiety, which can negatively impact performance.
4) Pacing and Rhythm: It can help establish a steady pace and rhythm during activities where maintaining a consistent effort level is crucial.
5) Recovery: Proper techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing or nasal breathing, can aid in recovery. They can help facilitate the removal of metabolic waste products and promote faster recovery.
6) Mental Focus: Focusing on breath work can help you stay present and focused during your sessions. It can also improve concentration and mental toughness, which are essential for optimal performance.
7) Technique Reinforcement: In some endurance sports, like swimming or rowing, a regular breathing pattern is closely tied to proper technique. Emphasising good breath work can reinforce good technical habits and improve overall efficiency.
Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
A thought-provoking question recently popped up in my Instagram inbox, courtesy of one of my athletes: “Is athletic success determined by genetics or mental toughness?” It sparked a lively debate, prompting me to delve into this topic for this week’s blog.
Firstly, it’s crucial to acknowledge that opinions on this matter vary widely. If you have thoughts to share, head over to my social media post and join the conversation.
In my view, success in athletics is influenced by a combination of genetics and mindset. Undoubtedly, genetics endow certain individuals with predispositions for particular sports due to factors like muscle fiber distribution and oxygen efficiency. However, it’s essential to emphasize that genetics are individualistic, and attributing success to race is unfounded.
Nevertheless, genetics merely provide a foundation; it’s the interplay of nature and nurture that molds elite athletes. Rigorous training and opportunities are indispensable for realizing one’s athletic potential. Different sports demand diverse innate abilities, but achieving true greatness requires more than sheer effort.
While hard work is vital, I’m inclined to believe that innate physical aptitude often outweighs it. Occasionally, exceptional individuals defy this notion, almost transcending humanity with their prowess. Yet, for most, achieving extraordinary feats hinges on mental fortitude.
The stories of David Goggins, James Lawrence, Sean Conway, and Ross Edgley exemplify the power of the mind in overcoming physical barriers. For recreational athletes, irrespective of their level, nurturing mental resilience is as crucial as physical training. That’s why at Different Breed, we emphasize both the five Training Pillars and five Mindset Pillars, laying the groundwork for success.
I’ve witnessed remarkable transformations in athletes when their mindset shifts. Enhanced self-belief, focus, and determination invariably elevate performance levels. To unlock your true potential, set audacious goals that intimidate you, and pursue them relentlessly.
Yet, few are willing to embark on this journey. What sets exceptional individuals apart is their unwavering commitment to improvement and their aversion to mediocrity. As one of my athletes aptly puts it,
“Training talks. Bullshit walks (with a whole of excuses).”
Are you ready to step up your game? If you’re driven to push your limits and aspire for greatness, join our community. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or aspiring podium finisher, together, we’ll redefine your boundaries.
Sign up for our athletic endurance performance coaching today or leave a comment below to be part of the discussion. Let’s embark on this journey to excellence together.
Embrace the lows, they’re the launchpad to your highs.
The 5th Training Principle of Different Breed focuses on recovery and understanding that the highs and the successes are only possible due to the dips and the down time.
This can be one of the hardest things for some athletes to put into practice
Everyone I work with is more than happy to do all the training sessions but often I get a lot of push back or reluctance regarding rest days, active recovery days, deload weeks and taper phases.
One of the main reasons given is guilt. Guilt for taking time off when they could be doing something, which feels lazy. I totally understand this notion but it is not a healthy attitude or a smart logic.
These aspects of training are just as important as the work. Without them the effort you are putting into to your training could end up wasted.
So, let’s break it down a little, one by one…
Rest days during a training block are crucial to allow your body to adapt to the stress of hard training. On rest days, avoid strenuous activity and let your body and mind recharge. Minimum one rest day a week which involves nothing more than walking and mobility work is the standard rule.
Proper rest days enable you to come back stronger for your next hard workout. Without adequate rest, you’ll experience fatigue, loss of motivation, and increased injury risk. Plus you could experience a progress plateau, or even a regression as your body fails to recover and absorb the level of training stress you are enduring.
Active recovery days involve light exercise that increases blood flow to enhance recovery without producing additional fatigue. This could be an easy jog, swim, spin or even involve some light bodyweight strength work as long as it done at low intensity. The increased blood flow will transport nutrients to fatigued muscles while removing metabolic waste products. Staying moving on recovery days will help you feel fresher when returning to hard training while still allowing adaptation to occur. If only having one rest day every 7 then including one active recovery day could make a massive difference.
Deload weeks should occur every 3-4 weeks of hard training. The purpose is to back off and allow more complete physiological, mental, and emotional recovery – not just within a week but accumulated over weeks of training. Reduce your training volume by around 50% during the deload week. You can maintain some intensity but this should not be high for every session. You’ll return rejuvenated and ready to stress your body with hard training again during the next mesocycle. Deloads prevent overtraining, burnout, and loss of enjoyment.
Tapering prepares you to perform at your peak on race day. Gradually reduce your training volume by 30-50% over 1-3 weeks leading up to your key event. Frequency and intensity stay higher to maintain fitness. The reduced load allows time for any accumulated fatigue to dissipate. You’ll feel refreshed, motivated and ready to give your best effort. An effective taper requires patience and avoidance of the temptation to overtrain during this crucial phase.
Hopefully this helps you understand a bit more about the how and why of effective endurance training and how recovery plays such a critical role. You should now fee l totally confident to put these key phases in to your plans without a hint of guilt, knowing you are doing exactly what you need to do to help move the needle on your fitness, outside of the hard graft of training.
The 4th Training Principle of Different Breed focuses on being consistent with your training, but also being adaptable and not letting life’s curveballs completely derail your progress.
We all know that sometimes ‘life gets in the way” but having a solid plan in place and building commitment and discipline is the true way forward to race day success.
Let’s talk first about why consistency is so important.
Consistency in endurance training is key to seeing continued improvements and being prepared on race day. By training regularly – following a plan and sticking to a steady weekly mileage or hours training – your body adapts to the stress of exercise. Consistency allows physiological changes like increased aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, and lactate threshold. It also prevents overtraining injuries.
Athletes who train sporadically, or too much, often find themselves injured, exhausted, or hitting a performance plateau.
Showing up regularly and putting in the miles, intervals, strength & conditioning, core and cross training outlined by your training plan is equally important in those last key weeks leading up to race day. Consistency sets you up to taper and fully absorb all the hard work you’ve put in.
By settling into a regular routine and habits, you don’t need to think about motivation or readiness. You’ve trained your body and mind to deliver a peak performance. A consistent training block pays off on race day.
However, sticking to the plan can sometimes be extremely taxing when you have a full and busy life that demands you pull focus from your training plan.
But, it doesn’t mean you just give up. If what your are working towards is truly important you will find a way through the tough times.
If you are lucky enough to be working with a coach, the first thing is to talk to them. They will help you figure out what you can do, to keep you progressing.
If you are flying solo, you have to figure it out on your own.
In both scenarios, here are the two key pieces of advice:
1) Be honest with yourself about how much time and energy you actually have available.
There is no point putting a plan in place that you know deep down is just too much for you. Progress can still be made, even if you have to accept that your gains are going to come a little bit slower. The takeaway is that you will still making progress… which is the goals right!
2) Focus on what you CAN do. Not what you can’t.
OK, so life is going to look a bit different for a little while, and it doesn’t look how you want it to. So what? Change the picture, you are where you are and you can either adapt, or you can fail… and remember, at Different Breed you only truly fail when you give up completely.
When you are dealing with life’s curveballs remember:
Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly:
Every small step fortifies your foundation. When hurdles appear, leap higher.
Staying flexible and adjusting your expectations are key to dealing with life’s curveballs that negatively impact your training. Rather than getting fixated on a specific race goal or mileage target for the week that is now unattainable, shift your mindset to maintenance and damage control.
Accept that you may need to take a few days off, cut back intensity or distance temporarily, or modify your workouts. The priority becomes holding onto the baseline fitness you built up without trying to forcibly progress.
Use crosstraining and active recovery to keep moving when you can. Mentally prepare for the fitness setback but know it is temporary. Stay focused on getting through this short detour without losing too much ground by supporting overall health first. Trust that when life stabilizes again, you can gradually ramp back up.
The successful athlete understands that they need to be flexible and that unexpected interruptions as part of the training process.
Hopefully this helps you understand a bit more about the how and why of effective endurance training plans.
Now, don’t get it twisted when reading that headline… I am not saying minimum effort as in you can sand bag your training sessions.
What I am talking about it the Minimal Dose Response, the third training principle of Different Breed.
Endurance training aims to improve the body’s ability to sustain prolonged physical activity. As you do more endurance exercise, your fitness and endurance capacity improves. However, there is a minimal amount of training that produces most of these adaptations.
If you train beyond this minimal dose, additional benefits become smaller and more gradual. The body can only adapt so quickly – extra training stimulates diminishing returns. So more endurance exercise is not always better once the minimum stimulus threshold is surpassed.
In fact, training well beyond the minimal dose without proper recovery can lead to overtraining, fatigue and burnout. This impairs performance and endurance capacity. So for efficient and sustained fitness gains, the minimal effective training dose with good recovery time optimized long-term development.
Simply put, more endurance exercise is not always more beneficial if the minimum dose is already achieved.
The second reason this principle is so important is because it minimises the injury risk.
When you regularly train well beyond the minimum recommended endurance training volumes and intensities, it dramatically increases repetitive impact and strain on the body. For example, ramping up running mileage too aggressively places a lot of stress on joints and tissues.
This accumulative overload over weeks and months gradually fatigues structures like tendons, cartilage, and bones beyond their capabilities.
It makes them more vulnerable to microtears and inflammatory conditions – this manifests as painful overuse injuries like stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, patellofemoral pain.
By sticking closer to the minimum effective endurance training you ensure adequate rest and recovery between sessions. The body has more time to adapt and get stronger to withstand subsequent sessions. Tendons, bones and muscles are strengthened overtime before being exposed to heavier loads.
So in every way, less training can equate to more in the long run.
Hopefully this helps you understand a bit more about the how and why of effective endurance training plans.
Your ability to sustain is your ticket to success and is the substance behind my second principle of training. You must adapt, endure and then you can conquer.
Specificity develops the physiological capacities, technical skills and fortitude in the exact muscles, energy systems and movements needed to excel in your chosen endurance activity. It puts focus into every training session for everyday athletes.
The SAID principle is commonly used by coaches in all sports and it stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
It is a key training principle for endurance that states your body will adapt specifically to the type of training you do and the amount of training stress you endure.
Some of the key points regarding the SAID principle:
It targets the specific energy systems and muscles needed for your sport/activity. Endurance activities like running, cycling, swimming etc. rely heavily on aerobic energy systems and slow twitch muscle fibers. Training plans tailored to these systems and muscles will optimize endurance capabilities.
It matches the specific movements and mechanics. The motions and techniques of running are different from swimming or cycling. Sport-specific drills and training adapts the body to handle those unique demands efficiently.
It allows for proper recovery and adaptation. Endurance training causes microscopic tears and fatigue in muscles and energy systems. Sport-specific training doses the right amount of stress so you can recover and bounce back stronger in time for your next training session or event.
It prepares you for the specific rigors and conditions. Training should mimic the motions, duration, terrain and conditions of your goal event as closely as possible. This sport-specific overload principle boosts specific fitness and skills.
The SAID principle highlights the need for specificity in training and endurance athletes need to focus their training on taxing the aerobic system.
However, if you just repeat the same session over and over again your body will soon adapt to that training stress and your progress will plateau as there is no demand there any more. Similarly just doing generic exercise won’t necessarily improve endurance, not to any great degree anyway. It certainly won’t yield the results you are truly capable of.
This means you have to do a variety of different training sessions that specifically target different outcomes if you want to be able to race faster for longer.
Here is a 4-session running plan that provides different stimuli for endurance athletes:
Long Slow Distance (LSD) Run: A long run at an easy, conversational pace. This builds aerobic endurance and teaches the body to burn fat as fuel. Aim for 60-90 mins.
Tempo Run: Run at lactate threshold pace, which is slightly faster than marathon pace. This improves speed and efficiency at higher intensities. Aim for 20-40 mins.
Interval Training: Short, fast intervals (e.g. 800m-1200m) with rest periods in between. This builds speed and anaerobic capacity. Aim for 6-10 x 800m with 2 min rest.
Hill Repeats: Short, fast hill repeats targeting max effort. Builds leg strength and power. Aim for 6-10 x 30 sec uphill sprints with jog back recovery.
The long run provides an endurance base, while the faster sessions develop speed and efficiency. The intervals add anaerobic and leg power.
Combining these different stimuli allows runners to become stronger and faster overall.
Rest and recovery around the hard sessions is also key.
This week we are going to delve a little bit deeper into the first training principle of Different Breed:
Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance.
To excel in your chosen endurance sport you obviously need to practise the disciplines of your sport and build an extraordinary level of fitness in all required i.e running, cycling, swimming
However, the key to racing your true best performance lies in developing a robust strength foundation.
Full-body compound movements such as the squat, deadlift and bench press will provide the muscular endurance to maintain proper form through the later miles when fatigue sets in. During the early off season while you are in the General Prep Phase you should focus on maximal strength, so lifting heavy, to bulletproof your body meaning you will be less prone to injury and able to sustain high levels of training stress.
Accessory exercises improve balance, engage stabiliser muscles, increase your range of motion and help prevent overuse injuries. Unilateral exercises (single leg or arm) allows athletes to identify and improve any muscular imbalances.
Core exercises train the abs, obliques, lower back and hips through their full range of motion. Developing endurance in these muscles leads to better form, injury prevention and stronger overall core stabilization. This allows endurance athletes to maintain power and efficiency even after many miles on the course when fatigue sets in. A strong core is a must for excelling over any long distance event.
Very smart and specific sprint intervals performed at the end of a strength session boost stamina and fatigue resistance.
Committing to an S&C program encompassing all these elements will give you a huge payout on race day.
Right now is the perfect time in the season to implement a smart S&C program so get on it, if you haven’t already.
Remember, if there is a particular subject you want covered, drop me a message and let me know. I want this conversation to be as useful to you as possible.
I had a great response to my New Year’s message email earlier this week and some of you shared some really inspiring “word for 2024”
Better. Balance. Focus. Energy. Achieve. These are just a few.
Hold on to your word and use it to shape and guide your year.
As promised, the DB Conversation email will be back to dropping weekly, every Thursday, full of information that will help you become the best version of you, as both an athlete and a person, as possible.
To start the new year right I thought the first thing I would share is the 5 underlying principles of the Different Breed training methodology that I apply to all my athletes programming to ensure they have the best chance of hitting their goals.
1) Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance:
There’s no such thing as too strong for an endurance warrior.
2) Minimum Effort, Maximum Impact:
Train smarter, not harder. Extract the most from the least.
3) Specificity is King:
Adapt, endure, conquer. Your ability to sustain is your ticket to success.
4) Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly:
Every small step fortifies your foundation. When hurdles appear, leap higher.
5) Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs:
Embrace the lows, they’re the launchpad to your highs.
I’ll expand on each one separately in future communications but this gives you all an understanding of the basics I use without exception to build ultimate endurance warriors.
Remember, if there is a particular subject you want covered, drop me a message and let me know. I want this conversation to be as useful to you as possible.
The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
I was recently interviewed for a magazine and one of the questions I was asked was:
Q: What are the biggest mistakes people make with their overall endurance training?
As this is clearly such an important topic I thought I would share my answers with you here 🙂
A: People make so many mistakes when left to their own devices but here are the main three that are the most common, and the most serious.
1) Ignoring S&C!
I speak to so many triathletes who just run, bike and swim and think that time doing S&C work is time wasted. Or, they do it but they don’t take it seriously. They do it to just tick the box.
Smart S&C can be the thing that truly elevates someone’s endurance performance as there are so many benefits: Better running economy, better posture, better form, improved speed and power, better muscle fibre recruitment, faster reflexes… to name just a few 🙂
You will never be the best endurance athlete you can be if you are not doing really good S&C… and the ‘C’ is important. A lot of people focus on the Strength and not the Conditioning.
Plus S&C is the biggest prehab tool for injury prevention. It’s how you become a bulletproof racer.
2) Repetitive training.
I see people share their run/cycle/tri training plans and they include the same sort of session week in, week out. The same sort of runs, the same rides etc.
The SAID principle is so important in both Endurance and S&C.
Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
You need to force your body to adapt to different stimulus to ensure progression. If you only ever run at a similar pace, lift a certain weight or bike for a certain time or distance you are blunting your progress because there is nothing for your body to adapt to.
3) Thinking more is more, and wanting to do way too much.
I know so many athletes that think deload weeks are wasted weeks and that tapering means just not doing anything for a couple of days before the race. It can be a real struggle to help someone truly understand, appreciate and most importantly execute a strategic and meaningful deload or taper period.
Too many endurance athletes either break themselves, burn out or hold themselves back simply by doing too much.
Personally I am a fan of the minimal dose response – using the minimum amount of good, targeted, specific work, to gain the maximum amount of benefit. I have honed this technique over my years of coaching and my athletes really benefit. One of the common pieces of feedback I get is ‘I cant believe how much I’ve improved. I thought I would have to do way more to achieve these results.’
Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
The SAID principle stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
It is a key training principle for endurance that states your body will adapt specifically to the type of training you do.
Some key points about the SAID principle:
Your body adapts to the specific demands and stresses placed on it during training. The adaptation is very specific to the type of training.
To improve endurance, you need to do endurance training that stresses the aerobic energy system. To improve strength, you need to stress the muscles with resistance/strength training.
The training needs to be progressive, gradually increasing volume, intensity and frequency over time to see continued adaptation and improvement.
There needs to be enough recovery between training sessions for the adaptation to take place.
Variety and periodization of training is important to promote continued adaptation. Always doing the same training will lead to a plateau.
The SAID principle highlights the need for specificity in training.
Endurance athletes need to focus their training on taxing the aerobic system.
This means doing a variety of different training sessions that specifically target different outcomes.
Just doing generic exercise won’t necessarily improve endurance. It certainly won’t yield the results you are truly capable of.
The training stimulus needs to match the specific demands of the sport/event.
That’s why the SAID principle is so foundational – it underpins the need to tailor training properly for the athletic goals and events being targeted.
Here is a 4-session running plan that provides different stimuli for endurance athletes:
Long Slow Distance (LSD) Run: A long run at an easy, conversational pace. This builds aerobic endurance and teaches the body to burn fat as fuel. Aim for 60-90 mins.
Tempo Run: Run at lactate threshold pace, which is slightly faster than marathon pace. This improves speed and efficiency at higher intensities. Aim for 20-40 mins.
Interval Training: Short, fast intervals (e.g. 800m-1200m) with rest periods in between. This builds speed and anaerobic capacity. Aim for 6-10 x 800m with 2 min rest.
Hill Repeats: Short, fast hill repeats targeting max effort. Builds leg strength and power. Aim for 6-10 x 30 sec uphill sprints with jog back recovery.
The long run provides an endurance base, while the faster sessions develop speed and efficiency. The intervals add anaerobic and leg power.
Combining these different stimuli allows runners to become stronger and faster overall.
Rest and recovery around the hard sessions is also key.
Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
Over the past couple of weeks we have been discussing Lactate Threshold Testing and why using your Lactate Threshold is better for endurance training than Max Heart Rate.
Now you know how to test and how to set your zones, here is some information about how to use those zones to best effect and leverage heart rate training to achieve yous race goals:
Zone 1 – Recovery: Below 80% lactate threshold
Zone 2 – Aerobic: 80-90% lactate threshold
Zone 3 – Tempo: 90-99% lactate threshold
Zone 4 – Lactate Threshold – 100%-104%
Zone 5 – VO2 max: 105% – Above lactate threshold
Zone 1 Recovery: Below 80% lactate threshold
This is light, conversational pace training. Running in this zone helps develop basic aerobic fitness, allows for recovery runs, and serves as a good warm up/cool down. It shouldn’t be the bulk of training but is useful.
Zone 2 Aerobic: 80-90% lactate threshold
This is general aerobic training.
Running in this zone builds aerobic base, improves fat burning capabilities, and prepares the body for harder efforts. It makes up the largest percentage of easy/long run training.
Zone 3 Tempo: 90-99% lactate threshold
This is tempo/threshold training.
Running in this zone starts to challenge the lactate threshold which improves speed and efficiency. It also develops mental toughness crucial for racing. Including tempo runs helps build strength, both physically and mentally.
Zone 4 Lactate Threshold – 100%-104%
This is lactate interval training.
Running in this zone stresses the VO2 max to increase it over time. The hard efforts tap more into speed and anaerobic power. Including lactate work builds speed and tolerance to pain/fatigue.
Zone 5 VO2 max: 105% – Above lactate threshold
This is full-out sprint training.
Running all-out in this zone boosts max speed and form. The intense bursts train the nerves to fire faster and recruit more muscle fibers. Including sprints develops power and leg turnover.
Following a training plan that incorporates all the heart rate zones will provide physiological and mental benefits to fully optimize your fitness for your goal race distance.
I’m currently 44 and for the last year or so I’ve been feeling like I’m suffering from some perimenopausal symptoms. Not enough to warrant talking to my doctor about HRT but enough to make me look for some answers and find some help.
Having opened up the conversation within Forza Fitness, talking very open and honestly with pretty much all my female clients, it’s clear a lot of feel the same way. We might be experiencing different effects, we might be different ages but we’re all looking for things we can change to help us with this period of hormonal chaos.
I had a lot of people who’s voices I trust talking about herbal adaptogens so I decided to explore this avenue as they were all saying how this has helped.
I’ve been taking Ashwagandha and Schisandra now for over 7 months, as they were the two best suited to help me with my particular symptoms, and I can honestly say they have been the answer for me. I am under no illusion that further down the line I may need to look seriously at HRT and if that time comes, trust me, I will not hesitate, but for now this is enough and I feel like myself again.
As your oestrogen levels decline your stress levels increase which in turn upsets your mood and concentration – brain fog was a big one for me for sure – I have, in the past, even forgotten my own post code!
To help your body combat this stress, you can introduce adaptogens. Herbal adaptogens work by increasing your body’s resistance to stress and they do this by targeting the neuroendocrine system that controls your reaction to stress and regulates multiple bodily functions such as mood, temperature control, immunity and digestion.
Taking adaptogens means that over time, they build up in the body and block your cortisol response. This means you experience less stress.
Here’s the low down on the three different herbal adaptogens that have come up most often in my research:
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha increases your DHEA testosterone, which helps lower anxiety and cholesterol. It also improves insulin sensitivity meaning you’ll better blood sugar control and less prone to storing fat.
Research on athletes has shown that it can help increase endurance and power.
It is also an anti-inflammatory so can help reduce soreness after those tough workouts.
It has also been known to help regulate body temperature so can help reduce hot flashes.
Recommended Dose: 250 to 300mg twice a day (tablet)
Contraindications: Can affect your T3 and T4 thyroid hormones so those on thyroid medication should avoid.
Schisandra
Schisandra is widely used in Chinese Medicine and is commonly known as Five Flavoured Fruit.
It is is the adaptogen for brain fog as it stimulates the central nervous system and improves cognition. This means it can clear the fog and help with your concentration and focus.
It helps strengthen your mitochondria (where energy is created in the cells) so it can improve aerobic capacity.
Finally it can help regulate fluctuating hormone levels and reduce hot flashes.
Recommended Dose: 500mg to 2grams a day (powder)
*I add mine to my morning coffee
Caution: It has a caffeine like effect increasing alertness so can disrupt sleep. It best taken in the morning and avoided in the afternoon / evening.
Maca
Maca Root is often referred to as Peruvian Ginseng and is a hormone modulator. It also works as a steroid hormone so is a powerful herb!
It helps improves the onset of night sweats, hot flashes.
It can increase mood and help overcome the onset of anxiety and/or depression which are common during perimenopause.
Research has found it can improve energy levels as well as mood and some people describe Maca as giving them a natural high.
It also has anti inflammatory properties so can help reduce muscle soreness after workouts/
Recommended Dose: 450mg three times a day (tablet)
Contraindications: Can affect adrenal and thyroid function so those on thyroid medication should avoid.
Some products containing Maca are also on the WADA banned substance list so if you are a competing athlete subject to drug tests either avoid or be 100% the product you are taking is ok.
***Please remember I am not a doctor. The information shared here is purely for general information purposes. It is not medical advice.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is everywhere. Gyms run HIIT classes, people can download a HIIT timer on to their phone… it’s a really popular way of training due to its efficiency and effectiveness but unfortunately the more popular it’s gotten, the less it actually looks like an actual HIIT workout. Most HIIT classes advertised by gyms are actually just moderate intensity circuit classes!
There seems to be a common thought process which is ” wow, 5 minutes of that was great… so 10 must be even better… and if I can do 10 then lets go for 20!” This is usually followed with “I don’t need 30 secs rest, I can cut that to 20, actually who needs rest, I’ll cut it to 10 seconds, or get rid of it all together”
To get a true and effective HIIT session, this is the opposite of what you want to do.
Constantly adding more work doesn’t make the workout better… in truth it is probably destroying your chance of achieving the desired outcome and effect of the session.
The rest time must be AT LEAST equal to the work time, and ideally more. If it isn’t you end up with a session that becomes moderate intensity and this isn’t the goal.
Moderate intensity can still leave you feeling smashed, but it hasn’t done what it was supposed to. *This is especially true for Peri Menopausal and Menopausal women. Moderate intensity sessions drive cortisol levels up but not to the level needed to get the right hormonal responses needed to dampen that cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels are one of the reasons women in this age group often struggle with weight and body fat gain.
What I want to do in this blog is give you a little more detail and understanding so that if and when you do a HIIT session, it really counts.
Lets start with the fundamental, the Why;
Why is HIIT so effective?
As I said up top, the name of the game is efficiency. You can see great results in less time using High Intensity… if it’s done right.
Good HIIT programming does everything it can to maintain the intensity. If you lose the intensity then all you have is a shorter workout and that just wont get you where you want to be. The point of HIIT is to gain all the fat burning, muscle building, cardiovascular benefits that come from longer workouts in a shorter space of time. Essentially you need to go hard, rest and repeat.
The amount of work versus rest depends on your goal. If your goal is purely cardio/aerobic then longer bursts of effort with shorter amounts of rest are fine. True Sprint efforts must be 30 seconds or less though. However, if you want to throw some strength gains in their too then you will have to change it up as when you work out for too long, with not enough rest the intensity drops quickly.
So, now you get why it works, lets look at the How;
How should you design a HIIT session?
As you can see long HIIT sessions with short rest periods will likely lead to a drop in intensity. The other issue is burnout. Trying to work at that pace and level consistently will just leave you feeling drained.
So, a good starting point for designing a HIIT is to look at the rest time. If you insist on having shorter rest times, you need to also have shorter workouts. Remember, the goal is to maximise intensity (so that you can maximise your results).
A common and effective HIIT timing is 20 secs work, 40 secs rest. Now to a lot of people reading this, this is going to seem backwards as they would have been expecting 40 secs work, 20 secs rest but I wrote it the right way round, trust me.
If you stick to a static work/rest timing for your workout then understand that in the latter rounds you will likely experience some drop off in intensity as you become fatigued.
A great way to program HIIT is to increase the rest as the rounds progress so that you can maintain the same level of output for the whole workout i.e. 20 secs work, 40 secs rest. 30 secs work, 60 secs rest. 40 secs work, 120 secs rest. The idea is that you rest just enough to recover, while being able to maintain maximum output each set and/or round.
As for how long the total session should be, well, that will vary from person to person. You should stop your HIIT session at the point where you notice your intensity dropping. Ideally you should start with a shorter session, to try and avoid the drop off, and as you improve you can increase the length of your session.
Ok, so now we have a how, we need the What:
What exercises should be used in a HIIT session?
As has been said many times, the output is High Intensity so the exercises you chose must be ones that can be performed in that way.
The cardio choices are quite straightforward. You could use a stationary bike or elliptical for example and just go hard during the work periods.
Other good cardio choices are Sprinting, Rowing, Skipping, Ski Erg and the dreaded Assault Bike (other bikes are also good but I do love to hate the Assault Bike).
Strength is a little more complex as the weight needs to either be that you can lift it quickly and be explosive or that you can only do maybe 6 to 8 reps (depending on the movement and your timeframe). People often don’t think of strength work as intense but anyone that has done heavy barbell cycling will understand.
Some of my favourite HIIT choices are Kettlebell Swing, Power Clean, Deadlift, Dumbbell Snatch, Slamball, Box Jumps, Battleropes and Power Bag Burpees.
And now as we have got our What, we need the final piece of the puzzle, the When;
When should I do a HIIT session.
Given the demands on the body you shouldn’t do a HIIT session more than 3 times a week and just as you should build up the length of the session you should also build up the amount of sessions you do.
Start with one session. Do it well and do it right. After a couple of weeks, add in a second session if you feel like you want to. After another couple of weeks add in a third and stop there!
Just as intensity can drop during a long session, trying to do too much too often will have the same negative effect on your sessions, and therefore your results.
In last week’s conversation I discussed why Lactate threshold is a better guide than maximum heart rate for heart rate run training.
In a nutshell it’s becuase it gives you a more personalized and accurate measure of your aerobic capacity.
As promised, this week I’m going to lay out a simple way to test your lactate threshold on your own, meaning you need no fancy equipment (beyond your watch and ideally a heart rate chest strap for better accuracy) or a coach to deep dive into a load of data and do a lot of analysis.
The method I am going to explain here is not the only one, but it is the most accurate I have found for an athlete to do by themselves.
The Incremental Step Test
1) Complete an easy 10 minute warm up.
2) Run progressively faster 1/2 mile intervals, starting easy and increasing the pace each mile and take note of your average heart rate during each mile
Aim for a pace increase of 30 seconds per interval.
Take a short break between intervals to allow your heart rate to come down.
When you start to struggle to complete an interval or your heart rate stops increasing with increased effort, you are nearing lactate threshold.
The interval before you start struggling is around your lactate threshold pace and heart rate.
For example, if you struggled to complete the 7:30 pace interval but the 8:00 pace felt sustainable, your threshold is around an 8:00 mile pace. If your average heart rate during that 8:00 mile interval was 158, then your lactate threshold is 158.
You then confirm this by running a 30 minute time trial at your lactate threshold heart rate.
If you can sustain it for 30 minutes, it’s likely a valid measure of your lactate threshold.
Only do this test after a full period of recovery. If you try to go off to soon you will skew the data.
I advise doing this as a two day process, following a full rest day with the Incremental Test on day 1 and the Time Trail on day 2.
Retest every few months as your fitness improves. Using lactate threshold for training helps target the right intensities to build your endurance and speed.
Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
Lactate threshold is a better guide than maximum heart rate for heart rate run training because it gives you a more personalized and accurate measure of your aerobic capacity.
As you exercise harder, lactic acid builds up in your muscles and bloodstream.
Lactate threshold is the exercise intensity where this buildup rapidly accelerates.
For most runners, this occurs between 80-90% of maximum heart rate.
The problem with just using max heart rate for training is that it varies widely between individuals based on factors like genetics and fitness level.
So a heart rate that’s 80% max for one runner could be too easy or too hard for another.
Lactate threshold is a more functional measure of your ability to work aerobically.
Knowing your lactate threshold heart rate zone allows you to tailor your training to target the ideal intensity for building endurance – hard enough to challenge your body, but not so hard that you’re wheezing or struggling.
Using lactate threshold for heart rate training helps optimize development of your aerobic system.
Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.
I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. So far I’ve discussed Rule #1 Control the Controllable, #2 Find the Positive, #3 Focus on You and #4 100% Effort.
Time for the last piece of the Mindset puzzle…
#5 – Extreme Ownership
Hands up, this one isn’t mine. I stole it from Jocko Willink, ex Navy Seal.
If you haven’t heard of him or heard of his theory of Extreme Ownership before do yourself a favour and look it up. He has many YouTube clips, there is a short 13 minute TedxTalk and he has actually published a book called Extreme Ownership and it is 100% worth a read, or a listen.
In a nutshell Extreme Ownership means having a unwavering “the buck stops here” attitude.
It means owning your failures and your mistakes. It means never looking for someone else to blame, even if other people did contribute to the situation.
Why? Because when we own our problems we find solutions. When we take ownership we get shit done.
Ultimately you are responsible for your life. If you want to be a success, take full responsibility.
Stop blaming the fact you are tired, you are busy blah blah blah. Most people are tired, most people are busy. You aren’t so different, your circumstances arent all that special. You are just getting in your own way.
If it is something worth chasing, find a way to make it happen. It might look a little different to how you thought it would but if it works, it’s working.
If you want to truly be the best version of you, it’s time to take
Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.
I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. So far I’ve discussed Rule #1 Control the Controllable, #2 Find the Positive and #3 Focus on You.
Time for…
#4 – 100% Effort
This should be the easiest of all the rules to absorb and commit to quickly.
If you can’t you are, for whatever reason, just not fully ready for the journey yet.
It doesn’t require any deep mindset practice or any great amount of thought… and really, is pretty self explanatory!
It simply requires you to show up and do what it required, giving your true best effort every time, all the time.
It means never dialling it in. It means not cutting a warm up, a RAMP, an interval, a set/rep or a piece of mobility as they all have value and meaning and are there to make you better.
It means not looking for the shortcut or quick fix as you know such things don’t exist. True champions know this all too well.
100% effort means just that. 100% effort. In EVERY aspect of your life that requires it in order for you to achieve your goals. In sport and in life.
Everyone has a different level of ability which means that your 100% and mine may look a little, or a lot different. That does make one less valuable than the other – and if you have truly taken on board rule 3, Focus on You, you won’t be aware or concerned about what anyone else is doing anyway!
It comes back to ‘better athlete = better person’. 100% effort means having integrity and doing the work, regardless of who is watching as you know that it has to be done.
If you want to be the best you, you will do the work. All of the work.
Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.
I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. so far we have covered Rule #1 Control the Controllable and Rule #2 Find the Positive.
Time for…
#3 – Focus on YOU
This can be the hardest one for some athletes to get.
It sound simple but in a world of social media and Strava (Social media for sport) there are a thousand and one distractions.
It is one of the reasons I advise all my athletes to leave the facebooks groups etc at least two weeks before their events. Those places become a drain and if you have trained right, they are not needed. They mostly just become a source of anxiety and annoyance – not great for building the right headspace to head into an event with.
Thanks to the ability now to constantly see what everyone else is up to, you can be fooled in to thinking that your goal is to go faster than other people.
It isn’t. Your only goal is to go as fast as YOU can go.
You are put in a start pen, or on a starting line, against other athletes but your job is not to race them. It is to be the best that you can be.
I get so much push back from athletes when I tell them I want them to come off Strava. “I like seeing what others are doing” “I’m only looking at ‘X’” are common replies.
If you are focusing on other people, you are not 100% focussed on yourself. And that means wasted time and wasted energy.
My most successful athletes are the athletes that really buy into this way of thinking.
Their only focus is on their pacing, their Heart Rate zones, their FTP, their preparation etc. They don’t engage with other people about what they are doing in their training as it is of no concern to them.
This doesn’t mean they don’t support others. It is not about being selfish or shut off. It doesn’t mean they don’t want the best for their fellow athletes. They do. They just don’t need to see the numbers or hear about the details.
As their coach, I need to know the numbers. I am data driven when planning their training. I need to know what results we are aiming for. But thats another part of what a great coach will do for you. They will unburden you of all the noise and distraction and build you the stage on which you can rise to your true, full potential. You just have to want to perform.
If you are still looking all around you at what others are doing, you are just not there yet. You are not really ready.
If your focus is anywhere but on your own capacity and capability you will never reach your true best.
So cut the noise and cut the distractions.
If you want to become Great stop competing with others and start only competing with yourself.
If the race is important to you, nothing new on race day!
Do not be tempted to try that snack new bar in the vendor village. You have trained hard for this event so no point screwing up your chances by putting something in your system that may not agree with you, or not digest properly leaving you feeling sluggish, or worse, with digestive issues.
Breakfast
You will need to be prepared to consume a few hundred calories in the morning to ensure that you start the day right and end up properly fuelled to begin the event. *This may be hard for some athletes, so be sure to practice prior to the event.
Breakfast should be easy on the stomach so it needs to be low in fibre and easily digested. Stick with simple carbohydrates again like a bagel or even rice, possibly some fruit and just a little bit of easy to digest protein like egg or nut butter.
Include your normal coffee/caffeine routine.
In an ideal world you would finish breakfast 2 hours before race start and once you have eaten you should aim to consume 500ml of water every hour until you are out on course.
Race Start At the 10 minute countdown to race start, you should be drinking 1/2 to full bottle of sports drink or a sports gel plus water for a final carbohydrate boost. Do not take the gel without water as it will not digest well.
Avoid taking in this fuel in the 30-60 minute pre-start window as you will lose the benefit of the boost and are more likely to suffer a drop in blood sugar at race start.
Front Half of the Race In the “front half” of the race (especially the early stages) your gut is able to absorb the nutrients much easier than when your body begins to shut down blood flow completely to the gut in the closing stages of the race.
In the closing stages your body will be sending all blood flow to your working skeletal muscles, which means limited flow will be sent to the gut and this often results in those dreaded GI issues.
A common mistake people make is going too hard in the early stages and then failing to hydrate and refuel efficiently. This leads to a big drop off in performance thanks to the combination of fatigue, dehydration and low energy.
General Rule of Thumb Endurance athletes should aim to eat 60-90 grams of carbohydrate per hour during their event. You will need to practice and experiment to see what exact levels work for you.
Fluid Intake Your fluid intake plan needs to take into account the hourly amount of fluid you need (example, some athletes need about 1 litre/hour to match their sweat rate – others need half that amount and some need nearly double that). *The only accurate way to really know is to perform a sweat rate test which means taking pre and post body weight checks when racing in similar conditions and intensity as you have on race day
Ensure you have practiced with your chosen electrolyte fluids and that it has enough of the critical component; sodium 800 mg/litre of fluid is a good “starting” amount. If racing in particular hot conditions this may need to be closer to 1000-1,500mg/litre while some people suffice with only 400-500mg/litre,
Back Half of the Race The total fuel intake here is typically lower. However, you still need to ensure you are maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance (again – the importance of sodium) and going with more fluid energy intake, rather than eating bars/chews.
Consuming a caffeine liquid, such as a flat coke on the last couple of laps is common place in endurance sports such as Ironman and can be beneficial but I generally wouldn’t recommend starting to drink coke until you’re at least half way through the back half. Ideally you would, if needed, consume something like this in the last 10K to 10 miles.
There Three Big Mistakes
Not hydrating early enough. If you wait to start your hydration plan this can result in early dehydration. This can have a huge negative impact on your race as your body then has a reduced ability to process fluids and fuel for the rest of the day.
Not having enough sodium in your fluids. This means you do not ingest enough sodium which at best can cause bloating and at worst, potentially dangerous hyponatremia (low blood sodium) which can result in coma and even death.
Taking on too much fuel and/or taking on too much fuel in one go. If the body needs to work at digesting food it will divert blood flow away from the working muscles to the digestive system and your race will suffer.
As you are heading into your race week your training phase will be Competition Phase.
During the Competition Phase your macronutrient intake will switch slightly to slowly increase your carbohydrates and fully build your glycogen stores.
During the Prep Phases you will most likely sit somewhere around a 40%P, 30%C, 30%F split (as a guide) as we are looking to build lean muscle to increase power and speed as well as maintaining a strong base of muscular endurance and cardio ability.
In Competition Phase the split will be a little more carb heavy to ensure you are properly and fully fuelled for racing. Not the best for body composition but that’s not the concern now as that work has been done
A Competition phase will look more like 25%P, 50-55%C, 20-25%F (again as a guide, each athlete will have there individual needs).
Do not leave your carb loading until the night before and just eat all the carbs thinking you’ll be good… you won’t be!
Best Carbohydrate Sources
Increasing carb intake should be done smartly, using the best sources possible to maximise your results.
You don’t want to smash the chips, crisps and pizza thinking “hey, it’s carb loading!”
You want to include foods that are low on the Glycemic Index, especially the closer to race day you get as these are broken down more slowly in the body and do not cause spikes in blood sugar.
Some of the best food choices are: Bananas Berries Brown Rice or Quinoa Yogurt Oats
Avoid Food that causes inflammation
This sounds obvious but some people are not aware of the inflammatory actions of some foods. As you approach race day you want to reduce and ideally eliminate your intake of all these bad boys.
Biggest Offenders are:
Red Meat and Processed Meat Refined Grains including White Bread/Rice/Pasta and a lot Breakfast Cereals Snack Foods such as Crisps, Cookies, Pastries etc Dairy Products Fried Food Anything with added sugar Soda and Sweetened Drinks Alcohol
Let’s talk about chasing that feeling… the burn, the agonising soreness.
Any session can be curated to make you feel burnt out, sore and sweaty but not every workout will actually be curated to make you better.
Here’s the hard truth: You don’t need to destroy yourself in the gym every day. You don’t need to feel dead inside and out every workout. You don’t need to torture and punish yourself to get results.
Brutal/long/crazy doesn’t mean better. Only better means better.
Walking away from your session tired, beaten up, sore and sweaty doesn’t automatically mean your workout was better or more effective. It does mean you are tired, beaten up sore and sweaty… but maybe thats it.
You might be working your butt off and not getting results. If this sounds like you then its time to rework the problem and sort out a new plan.
Because here’s the thing. It doesn’t take a great coach to program a workout that will beat you up.
It sometimes feels like some “coaches” are constantly trying to outdo each other with how “hard” they can make a session.
But… it’s easy to make a session hard and have your athletes or clients finish feeling like they left their soul behind… but what did it actually achieve?
I’d bet that if I asked for someone to put together a session that will make everyone exhausted and sore, most of you reading this could do that.
However, it does take a great coach to produce meaningful outcomes for their programmes. A great coach knows what is required to get those real, visible, tangible results.
I personally am a huge fan of implementing the Minimal Dose Response, which basically means getting my athletes to do the minimum amount of work for the biggest amount of progression.
Endurance athletes often suffer overuse injuries due to amount of training they do and I have spent a long, long time cultivating and mastering a program that means I can minimise these risks.
Let’s not get it twisted though. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t hard work, and that it isn’t going to completely suck at times. It is and it will.
There will still be long sessions and hard sessions but every session has a point. There is a specific planned stimulus and a clear objective.
As I tell my athletes often “If I cannot explain why you are doing something, we shouldn’t be doing it”
Real results take real work but you have to be smart about it. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, and thats where a great coach can really make all the difference.
If you are not seeing the results you believe your hard work deserves it’s because the work isn’t quite right. It may be hard, and it may feel like you are doing all the right things but the proof is the results.
Focusing on recovery is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of proper sports nutrition.
An effective nutrition recovery plan supplies the body with the right nutrients at the right time.
Recovery is the body’s process of adapting to the previous workload and strengthening itself for the next physical challenge.
The key nutritional components of recovery are: Carbohydrates to replenish depleted fuel stores. Protein to help repair damaged muscle and develop new muscle tissue. Fluids and electrolytes to rehydrate.
A full, rapid nutritional recovery plan supplies more energy and hydration for the next workout or event, which improves performance and reduces the chance of injury, meaning we become fitter and improve our endurance.
Rapid recovery is especially crucial during periods of heavy overload training and anytime two or more training sessions happen within 12 hours
When to start replenishing carbs
Training will generally deplete muscle glycogen.
The first 30 minutes or so after exercise provide the best opportunity for nutritional recovery due to factors such as increased blood flow and insulin sensitivity, which boosts cellular glucose uptake and glycogen restoration.
To maximise muscle glycogen replacement, you should consume a carbohydrate-rich snack within this 30-minute window. Ideally this should include foods providing 1.0-1.5 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight. Since it can be difficult to eat whole foods so quickly after exercise liquid and bar supplements may be useful and convenient choice.
For endurance athletes especially, if you are going to do another intense session within 24 hours you should ideally repeat this carbohydrate load for 2-hour intervals for up to 6 hours,
Consuming smaller amounts of carbohydrates more frequently may be the way to go if the previous recommendation leaves you feeling too full.
Now on to Protein
Recovery nutrition is essential for muscle tissue repair and muscle growth. Whether you’re focusing on endurance or strength training – or both, taking on protein after your session provides the amino acid building blocks needed to repair muscle fibres that get damaged and promote the development of new muscle tissue.
As a rough guide, as protein requirements vary from person to person, consuming 15-25 g of protein within 1 hour after exercise can increase the muscle rebuilding and repair process and help you achieve those all important strength gains. It will also help those trying shift, or maintain, their body composition from fat to lean muscle and can be worked into a calorie restricted diet.
Effective Rehydration
Pretty much all weight lost during exercise is fluid, so weighing yourself (without clothes) before and after exercise can help gauge net fluid losses. Knowing this is something recommended for endurance athletes especially.
Be sure to replace fluids gradually and not by gulping down an entire litre of water as soon as you are done. The recommendation is, over the course of 4 to 6 hours drink 1/2 a litre of your chosen recovery fluid or water for every pound of weight lost.
It is essential, for performance levels, to properly rehydrate before your next exercise session. If your sessions are an hour or less as low to moderate intensity than water should suffice. However, if you are in hot or humid conditions, or undertaking long or high intensity sessions you will likely find rehydration more effective if sodium is included with the fluid and food consumed.
GET IT RIGHT
As with effective pre workout nutrition, post workout nutrition will need personal experimentation regarding the best fluids and foods to deliver the necessary nutrients.
Everything here is a guideline, a recommendation and a starting off point. There are no exact hard and fat rules that suit every individual.
Pay attention to how you feel during your sessions. Notice when you feel like you have no energy to being with or when you book really quickly on your runs and/or rides.
Play around with timings and quantities until you hit upon what really works for you and your body.
The main goal of eating before a workout is to replenish your glycogen, the short-term storage form of carbohydrate. Glycogen supplies immediate energy needs and is especially crucial for morning workouts, as the liver is glycogen depleted from fuelling the nervous system during sleep. The muscles, on the other hand, should be glycogen-loaded from proper recovery nutrition the previous day if you hit the post workout routine right.
The body does not necessarily need a lot (depending on the timing and type of session), but it does need something to prime the metabolism, provide a direct energy source, and allow you to perform the session at the planned intensity and for the given
As for what the something is, following the basic guidelines it is best to experiment with a few different snack and meal choices and see which works best for you.
What to Eat Before a Workout
As stated above, this will come down to personal preference.
The majority of nutrients in a pre workout meal should come from carbohydrates. You also need some protein, but not a significant amount as protein takes longer to digest and does not serve an immediate need at the beginning of your workout. Fat and dietary fibre also should be marginal to minimise the potential for gastrointestinal upset – we’ve all been there right!
Research has shown that the type of carbohydrate consumed does not directly affect performance across the board. Some thrive on regular foods (e.g., my personal favourite; a bagel with peanut butter). Some reach for the convenience options such as an energy bars or replacement shakes.
One crucial element that is often overlooked is Pre-workout fluid intake. This is critical to prevent dehydration, which results in a severe drop in performance as best and serious help issues at worst. Be sure to time your fluid intake so that you are not busting for the loo during your workout. Ideally start 4 hours before and aim for 5-7mls per kilo of bodyweight.
When to Eat Before a Workout
When is a huge consideration for pre workout nutrition and almost as important as what.
Eat too early and the calories are gone by the time the exercise begins. Eat too late and the stomach is stealing all your energy trying to do its digestion thing, and making you feel uncomfortable in the process.
As a general rule the ideal time for most people to eat is about 2-4 hours before activity. Again, you can play with this depending on the session/day you have and figure out in different situations, what works best.
If your meal time is 4 hours before your workout you can safely consume up to 1,000 calories. If the gaps between eating and training are much shorter (a pre-7 a.m. workout, for example), eating a smaller meal of around 300-400 calories or less, about an hour before the workout, can suffice.
A general recommendation that can be a good jumping off point to figure out what works for you is to consume about 1 gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight if working out 1 hour after eating, 2 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight if working out 2 hours after eating… and so on.
To avoid GI issues it is advised that anything consumed less than 1 hour before an event or workout be in liquid form, such as a sports drink or smoothie.
Get it Right
An effective pre workout nutrition plan should be planned based on the duration and intensity of session. You should also take into consideration your ability to supplement during the activity (if longer than 45-60 minutes), your personal energy needs and environmental factors; is it hot, humid, cold etc.
Determining how much is too much or too little and getting the timing right can be frustrating, but experimenting is vital for success.
Previously I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.
I’m diving a little bit deeper in to each one in separate posts. Last week was Rule #1 Control the Controllable
This week it’s Rule #2
Number 2) Find the Positive
Like the first Golden Rule, this one takes a lot of practice and commitment. You can’t just wake up one day and change your mindset. It takes work.
Finding the Positive, like Control the Controllable, means embracing the Stoic way of thinking and controlling your reaction to situations.
As an Endurance Athlete finding the positive is crucial to success.
You are going to have bad races. You are very likely going to experience a DNF. You are very likely going to get injured at some point.
Endurance events are tough. You are going to spend a lot of time feeling beaten up and wondering “why the hell am I doing this”
How you handle being placed in tough situations, as well as dealing with the lows, are what is going to make you as an athlete.
Race DNF – sure it sucks, but what went well.
Why did you DNF? What can you learn? I had a mechanical failure very early on the bike leg at an Ironman, which was my first DNF ever. It was devastating BUT I had a great swim. I took that away with me. Attempt 1 done… live it, learn it… head back for Attempt 2. Yay, I get swim in the gorgeous lake again.
Injured – yep, its annoying for sure but injuries are opportunities.
Can you train around it?
Yes, then let’s go and it might be the chance to work on a new strength or skill!
No, ok great. Then you now have a bunch of time to devote to developing a different skill that will help you become a better athlete, and a better person.
Jocko Wilink, ex Navy Seal, calls his take on this theory ‘“Good”.
Whatever happens, the response is “Good”
Didn’t get the promotion you wanted.
Good. It gives you more time to sharpen your skillset and become better in your current role.
Can’t afford that fancy piece of equipment you wanted.
Good. It gives you more time to become a savage using the basic things you have available.
As I said, this one isn’t easy but it is worth it.
People love to complain. People love to make excuses… but those people are the ones content with being average at best.
If you want to rise up, you will find the positive and say “Good”
In a previous blog I gave a little bit of insight into my Coaching Ethos and Athlete Philosophy and my 5 golden rules.
I’m going to dive a little bit deeper in to each one, starting here with Rule Number 1
Number 1) Control the Controllable
Only certain things are within our control. If it isn’t something you have any say over, forget it. Only expend energy on the things that you can directly influence.
My personal belief system and ethics are shaped by philosophies and teachings of Buddhism and Stoicism.
At the heart of Stoicism is the understanding that the only thing we can truly control is our reaction to the things that happen. If we can learn to control our reactions and remain steady there is no situation that can either completely undo us or over inflate us.
It doesn’t mean not feeling joy or celebrating the wins. It also doesn’t mean never feeling sad, angry or let down.
What it does mean is learning to control those emotions so that they don’t overtake your life and screw you up.
Learning this lesson as an athlete can help set you free and elevate your performance.
Weather looks bad on race day – nothing you can do about it and it’s the same for everyone. What can you control? Having the right kit. Practising in all conditions throughout your training so you know how it feels.
Can you actually turn this into an advantage? Going to a hit race? So many people underperform in heat – can you heat train? I did some of my turbo sessions in front of my fire in my living room, in a hat and long sleeves to prepare for the weather in Spain)
Forgot a piece of kit, maybe a piece of clothing or nutrition – What can you do about it? Is ranting, swearing, getting stressed out helpful? Absolutely not. So what can you do? Do you have time to source something? Can others around you possibly help? If not, whats the best case scenario.
At an Ironman event this year someone got to the swim having left their wetsuit back at their hotel. They spoke to the IM announcers. The announcers asked over the PA system if anyone had a spare wetsuit and within 5 minutes that athlete had their pick of 4 wetsuits!
These are just two examples.
Anyone that knows my story from IronMan Vitoria Gastiez in 2022 knows that I came up against obstacle after obstacle in a race that ended in a mechanical DNF 20km into the bike. Without all of the work I have done on my mindset over the last 5 years that situation probably would have broken me, especially as that race was 4 years in the making.
Yes I got upset. Yes I was bitterly disappointed. But I was also making a plan for my come back before the first athletes had even crossed the finish line that same day.
Another big lesson – Its only failure if you give up completely. Otherwise, it’s just an attempt.
For me, that race was merely attempt 1. I hadn’t failed yet. Attempt 2 was July this year, one year later, and I finished that damned race!
My personal ethics and belief system are a mixture of Buddhism and Stoicism and this heavily influences who I am, both as an athlete and a coach.
As an athlete, I hold myself accountable to same 5 rules that I apply to my coaching, and I try and instil these into my athletes.
As an Endurance Expert these 5 rules have been shaped over many years of racing and they are the foundation I believe every great success can be built upon.
*I’ll go into each one in more detail as the subject of their own conversation.
1) Control the Controllable
Only certain things are within our control. If it isn’t something you have any say over, forget it. Only expend energy on the things that you can directly influence.
2) Find the Positive Even in the most disappointing situation (that race DNF, that training injury) there will be a positive IF you are willing to look for it.
3) Focus on You
This is one of the hardest ones for athletes to really internalise and act upon. Looking at what others are doing on Strava and/or comparing yourself to other athletes is a waste of your time and mental energy. All of your focus should be on your own performance.
4) 100% Effort In everything you do. This feeds into the message of the previous weeks conversations…Integrity to do the work even when none is looking and acting like the athlete you want to become.
5) Extreme Ownership
Thank Jocko Willink for this one. No matter what the situation or anyone else’s involvement, take ownership. Don’t find someone else to blame. Make it your problem and find a solution.
Let me ask it another way… Are you truly acting like the person, and athlete, you want to be?
I work with a range of athletes across various endurance sports; Triathlon, Obstacle Course Racing, Hyrox etc.
Every single one of them has a goal they are working towards. For some it’s an age cat or podium finish. For others it’s simply to complete their A race and finish it well.
Every goal, regardless of size, requires some level of sacrifice alongside a huge amount of hard work and dedication.
Most people have a good idea of what it takes to achieve their goal. The hours of training required, the organisation of daily life to make that time, the dialled in nutrition, the early nights, the early mornings, saying no to certain social gatherings, saying no to certain favourite races or events as they just don’t mesh with the overall Big Goal … the list goes on and for some, it just doesn’t sound worth it.
Thats why so many people are content with just being average…if that.
Some are content to make the excuses, hide behind busy lives and find all the reasons not to do what is truly required.
Others say that they really want it, but their actions just never quite meet their words.
It may be that they just aren’t quite ready yet, or maybe they like the idea but in practise they really aren’t willing to do what it takes.
I’ve definately been guilty of this in the past. I would say I really wanted to achieve “X” but I wasn’t acting the person who would do that. I wasn’t watching my nutrition, I was still eating badly, watching my weight creep up but not doing a damn thing about it. I would say I was too busy to count macros but come on – it seriously only takes a few extra minutes of effort to weigh food and log it correctly. I was just being lazy. Plus, that still didn’t explain the amount of crap I was eating! I was hitting my training sessions, for the most part, but I was content that that was enough. I wasn’t truly ready or willing to do everything it would take.
Luckily I have managed to shed that person and now I can, hand on heart, say that I truly act like the person I need to be to achieve my goal.
The first step – getting real with yourself and figuring out if you are truly willing, and able, to do what it takes.
This might involve a conversation with your coach as you may be willing but not be actually sure exactly how to make it work, especially if you have a very busy life that seems inflexible. As I said in the beginning, it will require some sacrifice but a smart coach will be able to help you figure out how to lessen the impact and make it work.
Is it hard? Yes… but then so is dialling it in, living behind excuses and not living your true potential. Both are hard. One is infinitely more worthwhile than the other.
We’ve all met those people. You know the ones. They turn up on the start line and immediately tell you all the “ reasons” why they are likely not going to have a good event. They got a poor night sleep / They woke up that morning with a weird niggle / Their dog ate their training plan…. Preloaded excuses give weak minded people a get out of jail free card. It doesn’t matter if they suck, because they already told you they would… and it’s not their fault.
Do not be one of these people.
Do the work that’s required, ALL of the work that’s required and whether you do or not, own your shit.
Also, remember this (one of my favourites: No one Cares. Work Harder.
Once you have set your sights on a goal, make sure you go all in and back yourself 100%
Is it true that people who are working hard to become better athletes also become better people?
In my experience yes, and a lot of it comes down to one thing – Integrity.
Integrity means doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.
It means putting in the hard work because you know it’s the right thing to do and will yield the best results.
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
This is true in sport, and also true in life.
When you examine your training can you put your hand on your heart and say that you never cut corners? Can you say with 100% truth that you completed every meter, every rep, every set AND every rest break?
Becoming a better athlete teaches us discipline and commitment. We set goals and we work hard to achieve them. We learn that if we can do this for our sport, we can apply these same skills to other areas of our lives such as work and family. As we achieve our goals we build confidence. We feel seen and feel that we have a greater sense of purpose.
When we encounter setbacks we learn how to deal with them, we develop critical thinking and problem solving, the art of not sweating the small stuff and always finding a positive.
Through all of this we become a better version of ourselves and the best bit is that those around us, that matter most to us, benefit from the person we are becoming.
Work hard to become a better athlete. Become a better person.
I opened it up to everyone I knew to see who, if any, would set up to the plate. The first time 6 of us started it and only myself and my friend Chris finished it. This time 13 of us started it and only 4 of us; myself, Chris, Pete and Lindsay (and despite this success rating so many people tell me it doesn’t sound that hard!)
I’ll be honest, Lindsay was one of the last people in my team that I thought would do it but she grabbed the challenge by the horns and fucking ran with it.
I asked her if she would share her experience and her it is, in her own words:
Last year my friend and coach Liza asked if I wanted to try the 75HARD challenge designed by Andy Frisella. I dismissed her as when she explained it I thought no way I can’t do all of them.
The rules are ,
Follow a diet to match your goals, no cheat meals and no alcohol – I could do that I thought
Take a progress picture every day – I could do that as long as no one could see them
Read 10 pages of a non fiction book – I could do that and a good excuse to have some me time I thought
Drink 4 litres of water a day – wow that’s a lot of water, wasn’t sure if I could mange that
Complete two 45 minute workouts every day, one must be outside – absolutely not I thought I haven’t got time for that and it was starting in January, not a good time to be outside.
Later on at the beginning of December she suggested it again and once again I said I couldn’t do it, ‘All I’m hearing is excuses’ I was told.
Those words must have resonated with me as later on that evening I thought yes she’s right all I’m doing is making excuses and after all this is a mindset challenge not a weight loss programme or an exercise challenge. So why not give it a go. So I toasted the New Year in with Nosecco and began.
I completed this challenge on 17th March and wow it was tough but I did it.
What did I get out of it?
To start with I am the lightest I’ve been for many many years, I lost over 13 inches from my body and my fat% is down by a whole 5%.
I have proved to myself that I have the mental toughness to take on a challenge like this even when it was tough. I had a 30th and an 80th birthday to go to and a funeral where I was told, ‘go on just have one drink, surely it won’t matter and no one will know’ Well I would have known and I wasn’t going to fail so stuck to it.
I cut out refined sugar which meant no cake, chocolate, biscuits, yummy deserts etc and surprisingly once the cravings went I was okay with this. Even when at work the usual ‘cake and cookie table’ looked very appealing I didn’t succumb. Once my manager found out what I was doing I was asked to talk about the challenge to everyone in my office on our monthly coffee and cake catch up. After this I was told that I was inspirational and what an amazing thing to do.
I went to London for the weekend and was doing a 45 minute yoga session on the hotel floor late in the evening and got back home late so had to cram 3 litres of water in when I got home, I didn’t sleep well that night!
I spent many hours walking in the rain when it was miserable and cold thinking why am I doing this to myself when I could be in the warm and dry having a coffee.
My Results
My body composition has changed as I lost 5% of my body fat and my muscle percentage is up. I feel stronger and healthier than I ever before and ran my first sub 30 minute 5K.
The 4 litres of water was a challenge to begin with as that’s a lot of water but my body adapted to it and my skin loved me drinking that amount as it now feels softer than before.
Weight – Day 1 75.3kg; Day 75 67.9kg Total loss 7.4kg
Body Fat% – Day 1 32.8; Day 75 27.7 Total Loss 5.1%
Bust – Day 1 38”; Day 75 36.5” Total Loss 1.5”
Waist – Day 1 34”; Day 75 30” Total Loss 4”
Belly – Day 1 40”; Day 75 35.5” Total Loss 4.5”
Hips – Day 1 42”; Day 75 38” Total Loss 4”
Total inches lost – 14”
It’s been two weeks now since I finished this challenge and I am still sticking to most of the rules. Not because I am deliberately trying to but they have become a habit. I still drink at least 4 litres of water, I still generally do two workouts every day(not always one being outside) I am still not eating refined sugar apart from the one cake I had which although tasted good wasn’t as amazing as I expected, I still read most days as this was a great bit of me time.
Was it tough? – yes but it’s called 75HARD for a reason.
Did I Surprise myself with what I achieved? – yes physically and mentally, my day 1 photo is very different to my Day 75 photo.
Would I do it again? – yes definitely and if you are thinking of trying this challenge I would say go for it as you may just surprise yourself.
Creatine has been a popular supplement in the UK for a few years now but just recently it seems to have blown up and I get a lot of my athletes asking me “ Should I be taking it?
In short, my answer is usually YES! Male or Female… just YES!
Here are the things you should know about Creatine:
1) It is one of the most researched supplements within the fitness market. Many have tried to (falsely) claim that it causes damage to the kidneys but through all of the highly detailed research and testing done no adverse effects to health have been found.
2) Its main benefit is an improvement in maximal strength and power. It is NOT a steroid. Creatine is an energy which saturates the ATP stores hence greater performance comes from greater amounts of creatine stored in the body.
3) When taken over time, Creatine can help increase strength, muscle mass and athletic performance.
4) Creatine is naturally found in foods such as fish, beef, pork and lamb but the quantities are small so you will never see a real benefit from food.
5) Despite what some brands say you do not need to complete a loading phase. A daily dose of 3-5g a day will suffice.
6) Beyond the physical benefits latest research also shows there are some amazing cognitive benefits, with improvements in concentration and memory.
7) Some people will be non responders – which means they see no real benefit after 3 months of supplementation. This is usually because their body’s already have a high level of muscle creatine storage.
My Personal Experience.
I started taking Creatine in mid January this year and can honestly say I have seen massive improvements in my overall strength and power – which has a carry over to my endurance sports. Without specifically training strength in additional way and just following my normal weekly routine of CrossFit, Indoor Cycle, Running and Swimming I have PR’d pretty much every Power and Olympic Lift – in the 5RM, 3RM and 1RM range. My FTP (cycling power measurement) has increased more in tis time frame than it usually would in a 3 and 6 month period and running just feels easier.
In my opinion, Creatine is the one supplement where I would say it is definitely worth a try. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Hitting this period of life, regardless of the age you go through it, can be so tough.
Some women are lucky and feel very few, if any, effects. The more common story is one of weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, crazy body temperatures and frustration.
There are 4 things Perimenopausal women should be doing in their training to help overcome these negative symptoms. Trust me when I say you can still be competitive, you can still PB and PR your workouts and you def don’t have to stop and let this change take over your life.
1 – HIIT Training Now most that know me know that “HIIT” is a particular annoyance of mine as it is one of the most over used, and wrongly used phrases in the fitness industry. Check out my blog post here to learn more (HIIT – are you doing it right)
However, executed properly it is has huge benefit and for this you def shouldn’t be doing any interval for more than a minute and the ideal for menopause is 30 seconds.
Firstly, it improves insulin sensitivity and lowers fasting blood sugar levels. This is especially helpful during the menopause transition when blood sugar can be harder to manage. It is also good for your general cardiovascular and metabolic health.
Secondly, it improves your fat burning ability and helps manage visceral fat (the deep internal fat) which usually increases during menopause.
Finally, when done right, it puts a high demand on your muscles, which in turn sends a message to your brain that you need more human growth hormone (HGH). This increases your testosterone levels, which helps build or regain muscle mass, increasing your power and performance.
2 – Strength Training This doesn’t necessarily mean throwing a heavy barbell around, although if thats your jam then do it. Strength training can mean free weights (kettlebells and dumbbells), resistance bands and even bodyweight exercises. It needs to be strength work though rather than muscular endurance work to be truly effective so think heavier weights and shorter reps per set, rather than long sets of 15/20 reps.
The risk of osteoporosis rises substantially following menopause due to the decrease in estrogen, which is needed to help build, repair and strengthen bone) so strength training is especially vital.
Effective strength training will help to build bone as well as increase muscle strength, burn fat and help boost your metabolism.
3 – Plyometrics (or Jump Training) Jumping is often overlooked but it is brilliant for building strong muscles, bones and joints and making them overall more resilient. It also helps produce and reinforce strong and powerful muscle contractions and as our estrogen levels decrease we lose the hormonal stimulus to do this so jumping overcomes this loss.
Adding in some plyometrics to your weekly routine can also increase your bone density building stronger bones. It can strengthen your joints, especially knee and hip joints and help keep the joint cartilage healthy plus it’s generally good for your cardiovascular health.
Simple ways to add jump training into your weekly routine: Box Jumps, Skipping, Jumping Jacks, Squat Jumps and Jump Lunges. *As always though make sure you know the correct form for these movements as done incorrectly you can mess yourself up so seek a coaches help if unsure.
4 – Balance Work Balance is a neurological skill, which means it can’t be trained. It has to be practised. Doing some balance work is hugely beneficial for all athletes but adding it to your regular routine for combatting the menopause is a really smart move.
Women suffering with vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats etc) can often find they become less stable so it makes sense to work on building your stability and balance.
It can be as simple as practising standing on one leg, and then once you get good at this, doing it with your eyes closed or add in throwing and catching a ball. Or, you can work on moves that also combine some strength work such as Single Leg Deadlifts or Single Leg Squats.
I have been programming active recovery sessions once a week for one of my athletes for the last couple of months, since he completed his B race, and is building to his A race.
Last week I received a message from said athlete, asking (in their own words) “WTAF is recovery training?”
What I loved about this was that they had been doing the sessions religiously each week, regardless of not really understanding the purpose of them. This to me proved the trust they have in me. However, I didn’t love that I had an athlete in my camp blindly following workouts without knowing the why.
Now I get that not every athlete wants to understand everything (“thats your job” is something one of my guys likes to point out. “Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey gets results” as he says) but I like to try and share the methodology behind everything we do so that they can execute every session to maximum advantage.
One of my biggest things, across every form of coaching that I do, is that if a client asks me “why are we doing this” if I can validate that question and explain the reason for the movement, or the workout, we shouldn’t be doing it.
As one of my experience athletes didn’t understand Recovery Training, I figure there must be others out there in the same boat so here’s the overview:
Recovery Training is a workout focussed on speeding up your recovery, rather than putting your body under any further stress.
To avoid stress we need to avoid high intensity, high impact, fast pace, or heavy loads. Recovery Training is ideally a maximum of 45 minutes and performed at a low intensity, keeping the heart rate down at around 30-60%. (*Note – It is NOT a zone 2 run. A zone 2 run occurs at a higher % of heart rate and although these often feel easy compared to the speed and power sessions, they are definitely still training and not recovery!)
I generally program indoor cycle sessions as active recovery sessions for my Ironman athletes but it can be swimming, walking, or maybe even some active mobility.
The goal is to move the body into a recovery state; a lowered heart rate, a lowered blood pressure – pushing your body to become more parasympathetic. This can drive up Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and people with a high HRV may have greater cardiovascular fitness and may be more resilient to stress.
Getting the body moving without stress will stimulate blood flow and help push fresh blood (and fresh oxygen) to every muscle fibre which will speed up recovery.
Working out at low intensity means you will be able to focus on the quality and rhythm of your breathing and the quality of your movement. Under fatigue we are all aware our form can go to shit and we are often gasping for breath any way we can get it. Recovery Training gives us time to build or reinforce our foundations, thus improving future workouts. I often spend some of my sessions focussing on my breathing patterns so that it becomes ingrained and less likely to fall apart under stress.
In a nutshell a Recovery Training session should make you feel better than when you started. It should help you feel more mobile, re energised and lessen the effects of the heavy, intense sessions that have come before.
The response to that interview has been big and a lot of you have positively responded to it, telling me that changing the way you think about it, and even just renaming it, has allowed you to build a better relationship with the rest day.
However, I know there are some of you that are either still not convinced, or still struggling to get your brain to get on board. You know its a good thing to do but still, that little voice inside your head is telling you to stop being lazy, get up, get out etc etc.
I decided to reach out to another one of the people inside my village to look at it from a slightly different angle. I asked my friend Louise, a Sports Therapist and owner of LP Sports Massage, to give me her thoughts.
Here’s what she had to say:
First off Louise, have you ever struggled with taking rest days or have you always embraced them?
I have actually always tried to have at least one day but definitely when I was new to the gym I would try and do a fitness class or my own hit session pretty much every day and it also became a routine. Its only now that I see the benefit of giving my body time to recover so I altered my routine and aim to have rest days on a Thursday and Sunday to split my week out. I try and listen to my body though and if I need to move a rest day around because I am feeling fatigued and aching I will, so I can hit my session hard the following day and get the most out of it.
If you struggled, why do you think that was?
Probably the fear of missing out on a workout because I enjoyed Group Exercise classes (pre CrossFit love). And I thought, initially before getting better educated about nutrition and the big part is has to play, that training every day was the way to get fit and lose weight.
Demi now thinks of them as Grow days, as these days off help her ‘grow her muscles’. For those that are still struggling with this idea… without getting too technical, can you break this down a little more?
Your muscles store carbs in the form of Glycogen which are used during exercises. Rest allows you to replenish these stores before your next bout of exercise. When they are depleted and the stores aren’t replaced you experience muscle fatigue and soreness know as DOMS.
Muscles also need rest to repair the microscopic tears that exercise causes, to help make them get stronger and also fight through plateaus in training. The rest days are actually when this magic happens!
If you try and workout whilst fatigued even the most basic movements feel hard work and your technique falls down. If you can’t do the basics then you definitely shouldn’t be pushing your body to add weights to the mix.
I talk to my clients all the time about the dangers of overtraining. The two big ones being 1) your performance will start to plateau or even worse, decline and 2) you’ll damage yourself!
Do you see a lot of injuries caused by people not taking enough recovery?
Yes!! The most common injuries I see are overuse – where people increase their volume too quickly and they haven’t been used to that amount of training, or they are just not resting enough/at all and letting their bodies recover.
In simple terms fatigued muscles make you susceptible to injuries.
For example fatigued Triceps from loads of push ups can cause strain on the joint (the elbow) as that aims to help take the load from the muscles that are struggling to still perform the movement. But this can result in inflammation within the joint, potentially causing a pinched nerve so tingling down the arm or reduced range of motion in your elbow. This consequently has a knock on effect on your training. You see where I am going…
Also tightness from not stretching post workout or a build up of knots (build up of muscle tissue) can restrict blood flow and oxygen to your muscles- basically depriving muscles from working at their full potential. If niggles or tightness are ignored the little issues get worse causing more problems or referred pain, and potentially bigger injuries so you end up being out of training longer anyway.
Anything specific people can do on their grow days to aid their recovery?
Making sure you keep up your water and protein intake. – protein for grown and repair of your muscles – water because it is a key nutrient in the makeup of the synovial fluid, which helps lubricate your joints and allows for ease of movement. Also it helps to reduce muscle cramping and can make you more alert and have more energy for workouts.
If you sit at a desk all day or even sit on the sofa a lot try to just get your body moving not vigorous exercise but more a gentle walk, utilising any free time to really stretch out your hips, shoulders and lower back especially. You’d be surprised how stiff these areas can get from sitting in the same position for approx. 8 hours a day. This will all help make the basic patterns easier anyway and you will soon notice the difference.
Thinking more in general – how often should someone stretch and can you stretch too much?
Doing 5-10 mins every day is great for improving flexibility and can alleviate tight muscles, but being realistic it is unlikely people would stick to that. A couple of times a week would be beneficial and probably more likely to stick to. So maybe instead of sitting on the sofa all evening you could do a bit of stretching on the floor whilst watching your programme on tv? Or focusing on doing longer stretching sessions on your rest days, whatever works best for you.
Using an app such as GOWOD can be a great tool as it can be tailored to your weaknesses and give you great stretches if you don’t know what to do for all different areas of the body.
Whats your best piece of advice for all us regular people who are just working hard to become better?
Enjoy the process, don’t push yourself so much you burn out physically and mentally you will soon see it isn’t sustainable powering through muscle pains and training exhausted!
Enjoy those days off training because you’ll appreciate how much harder you can hit your sessions after them and start seeing your performance in training improve and even hitting PBs which of course everyone gets excited about!
Rest Days. For anyone that really cares about their performance they are as important as Training Days… so why do so many people struggle with them?
I’m one of the lucky ones as I have never really struggled with taking my rest days.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been involved in various sports from a young age, maybe it’s because I work within the fitness industry and all my training has taught me well, or maybe I’m just a little bit lazy and just like the idea of taking a day off (this last one is only true once about every 4 months just FYI!)
As I say, I’m one of the lucky ones as I know that many of my clients, class members and training friends at CrossFit Iron Duke struggle with whole concept of taking a day off from training.
I’ve asked a few of them what the issue is and the things I get told range from “I can’t face taking a day off and hampering my progress” to “I need to exercise every day”
These are not good reasons not to take your rest days and actually there is no good reason not to take your rest days. It has been proven over and over again that rest days are as essential to your progress as the training you do.
My friend and fellow CrossFitter, Demi Stephens (also a qualified Nutrition Coach) recently wrote a post on Instagram about her ‘Grow Day’ and I instantly loved the concept. I could see that this different way of thinking might help other people so I decided to ask her a little more about it.
Here’s what she had to say…
How long did you struggle with the concept of the Rest Day?
Probably ever since I first really got into the gym and training… so it was probably about 10 years!
I am definitely someone that has over-trained in the past.
Why was that?
I used to think that I was ‘missing out’ on a workout, or that I needed to train every day to get fitter and stronger.
If my muscles weren’t hurting then what was I resting for? I didn’t realise that my overtraining was working against me and I just wasn’t given my body a chance to catch up with itself.
Even though I was pretty much injured all the time, I still trained. I couldn’t see that my lack of recovery was probably responsible.
You now call them ‘Grow Days’… how did this come about?
This actually evolved from a conversation with my Coach at CrossFit Iron Duke – Toby Cooley – a couple of years ago. He would programme me specific ‘rest days’ and more often than not (if I actually had one) the rest day would end up being a mentally low day too.
So back in March 2019 the idea of referring to them as a “Grow Day” was born … and the idea that when I am “growing” the magic is happening!
How does this change of name help you?
It took a bit of time but it shifted how I viewed the day, I wasn’t missing out. instead I was literally ‘growing my muscles’. So it began to feel like I was accomplishing something and working towards my goals.
Grow days then became a thing… If I had a day away from the gym due to work or to study, it was still ‘a grow day’.
If I couldn’t make it to the gym due to a niggle or an injury, it was just another grow day.
With your Nutrition Coach hat on, is there anything else you think is important to understand?
I honestly didn’t realise just how much recovery was part of the process.
If I could go back in time and have a word with my 30-something self I would!
Recovery is SO important.
Simply put, exercise = a stressor.
So even though we often use exercise to relieve our stresses, it also puts our body under physical stress.
All those body systems that we simply don’t see and take for granted have to work a little bit harder to restore a happy balance.
If you think of yourself as your mobile phone, once that battery starts getting nearer 0% and that red line appears you know you’re going to need to give it a full charge to get it working again.
Well that IS your body.
You know that feeling when you can’t perform the way you are used to, weights feel heavy, you feel achy, tired, moody and generally ‘meh’… this is your internal systems trying to get your attention as they are starting to struggle.
If you don’t give yourself a chance to recharge that battery (recover) then your body will end up deciding for you and force you to stop – usually with an illness or an injury.
Can you use your nutrition to enhance the effectiveness of your “Grow Day’?
There is that saying “muscles are torn in the gym and fed in the kitchen”. Well this is just as important on a ‘grow day’.
I make sure I hit my protein targets – so that my muscles can repair themselves.
I keep my water intake up – so that I remain hydrated.
I make sure I eat my carbs – so my glycogen levels are restored.
My body needs “feeding” so it can recover, repair and refuel itself so I can smash my next workout!
Do you ever still struggle to take the day off?
I actually now look forward to a ‘grow day’ and I treat myself to 2 a week!
I am still active on these days and will usually go for a nice walk to keep my body moving, but I see it as a day to give my muscles some TLC so that I am ready for the next day.
Is your fitness suffering thanks to overtraining ?
One of the things we have likely all seen a lot of during this lockdown period is unqualified Fitness Influencers (seriously, someone still needs to explain what this even is!) and even in some cases PT’s and fitness brands setting up crazy bodyweight challenges as a way to “help” people maintain their fitness during lockdown.
Think being challenged to do 100 squats, then add 100 push ups, oh and 100 lunges and hey, why not, do 100 burpees while you’re there… and lets do that every day for 7/14/30 days!
So, maybe you are thinking that sounds banging, its hardcore, Yeah! push the limits!… and you’d be right, IF you did that workout maybe twice a month, although that could still be deemed excessive, depending on your current fitness level.
Indeed, one of my favourite workouts is one of the CrossFit Girls – Angie; ‘For Time 100 Pull Ups, 100 Push Ups, 100 Sit Ups and 100 Air Squats’ However, as much as I love it, it’s a workout I will likely do 3 times a year, at the most! In fact I think I’ve done it twice in the last two years. There is a value to doing high rep work but doing so often is just counter productive and probably a waste of your time.
Personally, I am huge fan of the minimal dose response, which basically means achieving the desired result with the minimum amount of work required. Do you really need to do 100 squats for 7 days? I’m going to guess that the answer is no! Its a pretty safe bet you can get where you want to go with a smarter approach.
You have to ask the question “why I am doing this?” “what is it achieving?” and if you don’t know and the person setting the challenge cannot give you a good explanation beyond “Do it! “Go Hard or Go Home’ then do you know what… don’t do it!
These are the main issues to consider:
Form Can the average gym goer actually maintain proper alignment and form for 100 reps? Take the squat as one example… Let’s be frank, there are a fair few videos circulating showing people doing these types of challenges and squatting with poor form. Now, I know not everyone has the hip or ankle mobility to be able to squat to or below parallel but a good majority of people don’t even know that this is the standard to aim for. We see shallow depth, knees pushed in front of toes, chests falling forward and hunched shoulders to name but a few issues. Whats the point of doing 100 reps when the first rep isn’t good? Quality over quantity at all times and if you know you cannot squat to parallel with good form then put the work in on your mobility to fix the issue. This would be a much better use of your time! Same goes for every other movement.
Injury Risk Let’s just take a second to consider the injury risks for the volume of repetitive work, especially when repeated over multiple days. The possible shoulder, knee or hip problems that might arise are plentiful so why would you take the risk. So many people are willing to push through workouts suffering from aches and pains and I never understand why. I constantly have to talk to class members about long term success over short term gain.
Overtraining – Volume and Intensity Simply put overtraining occurs when you the work you put in exceeds the bodies ability to recover. So, doing the same movement pattern over and over again, and then again, and then again will not allow the muscle groups involved to recover. When the muscles aren’t allowed to recover, they can’t perform properly so the end result is a drop in output. There is a huge difference between overloading and overtraining. When done right and applied properly, the overload principle will yield brilliant results. Maybe some of these people plan these excessive workouts thinking that they will achieve overload but unfortunately not! They have tipped over into over training.
Overtraining – Duration Some say over training, some say under recovery. Both amount to the same thing and both are correct. As well as programming excessive amounts of reps and high volume work, the other way to over train the body is by skipping rest days. Often these challenges are set with “Hey, lets do this every day for a month!” Yeah, great, let me know how that works out for you in the end! Why is it seen as hardcore to say screw it to the rest day? Anyone with this attitude clearly doesn’t understand how to programme fitness effectively.. if this is your coach, please… walk away now! The body needs recovery time. It’s as simple as that. Without recovery not much will happen in terms of progress. It often feels like rest is a dirty word. How often have I heard “it’s ok, I’ll rest when I’m dead”! OK then. But why not send your time alive actually making positive adaptations and seeing progress rather than just wearing your body and mind into the ground. Yes, to see change you need to force an adaptation. You need to stress the body and trigger it to adjust to the new stimulus. Just not all the time!
There are so many negative effects related to overtraining aside from the injury risk and drop in performance and ability. Maybe you aren’t actually injured but it is likely you will suffer from increased inflammation. It can also affect your amount and quality of sleep.
Ask yourself.. is it worth it?
Train smart, rest well and achieve something truly bad ass!
A few months ago I decided to try the bio hack that Dr Stacy Sims talks about in her book ROAR. (Side note – if you are female and care about your athletic performance, you really need to read this book!) I got pretty decent results so thought I would share it here as it may help many of you.
In the book she shared an action plan that she created for a mother daughter duo who were talking the mountain biking world by storm, with both women rising to the top of their game.
This action plan helped both women master their cycles and not let PMS affect their power or performance.
The plan
The plan is in four stages and is this:
Peak Performance during PMS: For the 7 days before your period starts, at night take the following; 250 milligrams of magnesium, 45 milligrams of zinc, 80 milligrams of aspirin (baby aspirin) and 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acid (flaxseed and fish oil)
Pre-training: Take 5 to 7 grams of BCAAs (branched chain amino acids). *Stacy doesn’t state how long before training you should take this. I did this around 30 minutes before starting my session. The science behind taking the BCAAs is that these amino acids cross the blood-brain barrier and therefore help to decrease the estrogen-progesterone effect on central nervous system fatigue. In other words it can hep fight the lack of mojo and help you find some energy.
In Training: Consume approx 0.45 gram of carbohydrate per pound of body weight, per hour. During this high hormone phase you want to consume a few more carbs per hour and should be aiming to get close to the above amount. During the first 2 weeks of your cycle, the low hormone phase, you can go lower at about 0.35 gram per pound of bodyweight, per hour. *I used this for longer endurance based sessions only. For my CrossFit classes I only ever consume water during and make sure my pre and post fuelling strategy is on point. I am however going to rectify that and follow this part of the plan too.
Post Training Consume 20 to 25 grams of protein within 30 minutes of finishing your session. Recovery is key. It is often overlooked yet so critical, especially as this point in your cycle. Progesterone, which is peaking during this phase, is extremely catabolic, which means it breaks down muscle. Getting that protein in post workout means you will be able to fight this process and boost, rather than inhibit, your recovery.
What did I notice? It definitely helped me beat the bloat and keep my usual energy levels… something that never normally happens. I’m lucky that I don’t get super moody (although my husband may say otherwise!) but I do get a bit lazy, a bit “can’t be arsed” and a bit “m’eh”. Following this protocol meant I felt like me regardless of the time of the month 🙂 Who doesn’t want that!
If you feel PMS is holding you back, give this power protocol a go and see if you can learn to master your cycle too.
Usually it means the person asking the question is only focussing on the number on the scale and that is not something I’m a huge fan of (but you can read all about that in my next blog!).
Hopefully you know by now that to achieve fat loss you need to be in calorie deficit.
The number one reason people who are tracking their calorie intake don’t see movement on the scales is simple… They are under estimating the amount of calories they eat.
Whether they are tracking via an app such as My Fitness Pal or Chronometer… or keeping a manual diary, it is very common, and very easy to record less calories than you consume.
Main ways to wrongfully track:
Not weighing / measuring your food and estimating the amount.
Not tracking EVERYTHING you eat and drink – the snacks, that latte, that slice of cheese… it all adds up.
Eating out and not taking into account the added fat etc of restaurant meals.
Choosing similar meal options in your tracker app/calorie book which is less than the meal you actually eat.
The second reason is related to the first and again, really common… Over estimating the amount of calories burnt through exercise.
FitBit, Apple, Garmin… all the activity trackers, the machines at the gym… nearly all will over inflate your calorie burn. AND if you have your activity tracker linked to your My Fitness Pal, all this will encourage you to do is eat back the calories you burnt.
DO NOT link your activity tracker to your MFP account, or you chosen calorie tracker app of choice. Figure out what your calorie intake should be to achieve fat loss at a sensible rate (read about that here: Calorie Deficit) set that in your app and eat to that… do not make it more complicated than that!
Following on from my last post about Protein (Understanding Protein-the basics) now lets look at the next macronutrient – Carbohydrate or Carbs.
Now, Carbs get a really bad rep and a lot of fad diet trends will preach the virtues of removing carbs from your diet. The true fact is though, there is no good reason to remove carbs from your diet. Carbs are not the enemy. Carbs provide us our energy for exercise, and for general life and they help our brain function.
I am sure we all know at least one person that did some low carb diet and said how easy it was and how much weight they lost. Hell, I’m one of them – back in 2003 I did the Atkins diet and yep, I lost a tonne of weight… for a while.
The truth of it is any diet where you cut a quantity of food will work for weight loss in the short term, as you are creating a calorie deficit. But cutting carbs for a period of time means that your body becomes carb resistant and when you reintroduce carbs, your body has a hell of time trying to figure out what to do with them and in the main, this results in some pretty serious weight gain. 2004 was my fat year, after I couldn’t sustain Atkins any longer, and to be honest, nor did I want to.. I wanted Pizza!
The key to sustainable fat loss is calorie deficit. Not Keto, Not Paleo, Not Intermittent Fasting (especially not this for women as it has proven to have detrimental effects for women, especially menopausal women). You can achieve calorie deficit by those means and if thats your way then hell, you do you but for most of us, we want to enjoy our food, ALL our food and that includes the energy boosting, brain boosting carbohydrate.
We know, as I talked about it in my Protein blog, that the body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients. You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process. That figure drops to 5 to 15% for carbohydrate. Therefore you consume 200 calories of pure carbs, around 10 to 30 calories will be burned by digestion.
In the ideal your carbohydrate consumption should be based on food rich in fibre, as fibre helps keep you fuller for longer and has many benefits for gut health.
Wholefood carbohydrates such as grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables are also rich in micronutrients and have wide ranging benefits for body function.
Carbs are split into two types; Simple and Complex, based on their chemical structure and how easily they are absorbed by the body.
Simple carbs are easily absorbed by the body and include fruits and honey.
A lot of processed and refined foods are simple carbs and these are the ones that need to be limited within a diet to achieve fat loss. Think biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate bars.
Complex carbs take longer to digest and include things like rice, beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, potatoes parsnips, wholemeal bread and pasta and wholegrain cereal.
If you are trying to change your body composition then you need to get to grips with calorie deficit (you can read more about that here in a previous blog; Calorie Deficit ) AND balancing your macros.
Calorie deficit will equal weight loss. Balancing macros will ensure fat loss.
When it comes to fat loss, understanding protein is key so here are the simple facts about protein and fat loss.
1) We digest protein more slowly that the other macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats) which is the reason we feel fuller after eating protein. Including a good lean protein source at every meal will help you feel full and less prone to snacking due to hunger. Protein at breakfast is THE best way to start your day.
2) The body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients. You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process. As an example; you consume 200 calories of pure protein, around 40 to 70 calories will be burned just by digesting it. This means eating protein can both increases your energy expenditure and your calorie deficit. Win Win.
How much Protein should you be eating:
As a general rule of thumb you should be consuming 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. This will help keep you feeling full, support fat loss while also maintaining muscle mass.
If you are an athlete or you train heavily several times a week you will need to increase this to 2.2 to 3.4kg per kilogram of bodyweight.
Some Good sources of Lean Protein: Chicken / Turkey breast, 5% fat Beef Mince, Pork Fillet, Tuna, Cod, Prawns, Egg White, Low Fat Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Seitan, Edamame, Tofu, Tempah. *this list is not exhaustive
Back in December last year, after seeing my friend Hannah’s results, I decided to take on the 75Hard challenge. I’d looked at it earlier in the year but dismissed it as I didn’t understand it properly. 75 days of training without a rest day? No thanks! I don’t even do 14 day challenges that don’t factor in rest and recovery as that’s just a straight road to overtraining, loss of performance and possible injury.
Hannah posted her results and I immediately messaged her to ask some questions. She gave me all the info I needed to finally understand this challenge and decide that yes, this could actually be one for me.
I shared it with the 3 other Team NBR members (my accountability group)that I would be starting this on 1st Jan and in sharing it for accountability reasons I actually inspired (although he’ll say peer pressured) Chris James to do it with me. We had several discussions about our individual ‘Why’ as we both had similar thoughts… “it doesn’t actually sound that hard”, “thats pretty much what we do anyway” “I don’t really know what I’d get out of it”… and I think we both came to the same conclusion; This is the Why… because we think it’ll be easy/simple and it must be called 75Hard for a reason. I was also still massively motivated by Hannah’s results but also aware that she is an absolute beast when it comes to fitness so it was unlikely I could achieve what she had.
What is 75 Hard?
It a mindset challenge, not a fitness challenge, designed by Andy Frisella, also known as the MF CEO. It’s 75 days of discipline abiding by the following 6 rules: 1) Two 45 Minute workouts. 1 MUST be outside. They cannot be consecutive and 3 to 4 hours apart at least. 2) Follow a diet. You choose the diet to match your goals but it must be strict. If you decide on calorie deficit and macro counting you cannot just have a takeaway pizza one day and make the rest of the day fit. It must be clean. 3) No alcohol or cheat meals. 4) Take a progress photo every day. 5) 1 gallon of water a day. This is a US gallon which is basically 4 litres. 6) Read 10 pages of a non fiction book every day. Not a e-book, not an audio book. An actual book.
I completed day 75 yesterday and can honestly say this is one of the most surprising challenges I have ever done. I didn’t expect it to be so worthwhile or interesting. I got so much more out of doing this than I ever imagined. It was also a better experience for doing it alongside Chris as we had a lot of the same revelations and thoughts.
Ok, so what did I get out of it?
Well for starters I look better. I start there because it’s the most obvious change. I’m the lightest I’ve been for about 20 years maybe, but the body composition shift is all the right way. Fat% down and muscle % up.
I’m stronger than I was. During the 75 days I PB’d my 1RM Deadlift and Strict Press and have been challenging myself to use heavier options during CrossFit classes.
I read more, I read better. I have loved carving out a little bit of time everyday to sit down with a book and this is definitely something I will be continuing. I’m always listening to audiobooks and reading my kindle but very rarely read an actual book and this is staying. I found it makes such a difference putting the book in my hands. Its a different focus as there are no devices, no electronics and I really liked that a lot. I finished 6 books and am a third of a way through the 7th.
I have proved again to myself that all the stuff I say about myself is true. I am disciplined. I have strong mental grit. I have a strong work ethic. If I say I’m going to do something I do it. There were days when it got to 8pm and I still hadn’t hit the workout criteria so had to get shit done before I could think about going to bed. I’m Ironman training so many days I would hit 2, some days even 3 workouts but because they were either brick sessions, or all indoors or outdoors, I hadn’t followed the rules. In this situation a few people said to me “what does it really matter” “you’ve done 2 workouts” and thats true, but thats not the rules and you can say the rules are stupid/not fair/whatever but I knew the rules going in so bitching about them would have been pointless. I could have quit, saying the rules don’t suit my lifestyle… but thats the point. It’s meant to be difficult, it’s meant to be inconvenient so head down, mouth shut, do the work!
I discovered how much of a difference refined sugar makes to how I feel day to day. Both Chris and I cut refined sugar as part of the diet rule. Neither of us are mass consumers and we were both surprised as how a small change made such a big difference. I followed a strict high protein, calorie deficit diet with no refined sugar. I’ve been doing the high protein, calorie deficit thing for a while, although not as strictly, so the major difference was the sugar piece. After the cravings on day 5 and 6, it was actually really easy to stick to. I thought this would be the hardest bit but not at all. I feel a bit in love with no sugar me. I had more energy, I didn’t feel the need to power nap every afternoon (although I still love a nap – I just didn’t need one), I was just, well, better. Thats not to say I’m never eating refined sugar ever again but it was a learning experience and will for sure shape my diet moving forward.
I finally found a type of yoga I can get on board with. As mentioned at the start, the bit I struggled with when I first heard about 75Hard was the 75 days of 2 workouts a day. After speaking to Hannah, and listening to Andy’s podcast ( a must for anyone thinking of doing this), I understood that you can still have rest and recovery days. An outdoor workout can be a walk and an indoor workout can be yoga. I’ve never been a fan of Yoga but Hannah was using the downdog app and suggested I look at the Yin Yoga. Ok, game changer! I LOVE Yin Yoga. I’m a huge fan of mobility work so this was perfect for me and although I only did maybe 1 or 2 sessions a week, my mobility improved, my squat technique improved and I genuinely enjoyed every session. Like the reading an actual book, weekly yoga is staying as part of my new routine.
The Results: *for the before and after photos you’ll need to check my social media. Body Compostion: Weight – Day 1; 82.4kg – Day 75; 74.6kg (Total loss: 7.8kg)
Body Fat % – Day 1; 32.8 – Day 75; 27.5 (Total loss: 5.3%)
After The Grizzly on the previous Sunday this week was always going to be a bit of a slow builder while I gave my body some time to recover. I was honestly expecting to feel a little worse after all those miles and hills but I’m generally ok. A little tired but thats about it. My foot feels no different to how it did a week ago so it’s still all systems go!
Mon – Rest Day 6pm – Restorative Yoga (via Down Dog App) *Just a 45 min easy restorative yoga session this evening, rather than Yin as this is very gentle, after a nice long dog walk in the morning.
Tues – Rest Day 8:45 – Yin Yoga via Down Dog App *Another day of dog walking and Yoga… feeling good and ready to get back to it.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 12 of 12; The Vortex. A max interval session. 4 min blocks of 105% FTP+ holding 85/90RPM with increasing amounts of full recovery down in the white zone.
7:40am – 2 mile Brick Run *Easy 2 miles of the bike with George, one of my Forza Performance clients who also attends my Indoor Cycle classes.
12:30pm – CrossFit Class 50-40-30-20-10 Kettlebell Swing, Sit Up +30 Double Under each rd *If there was a workout made for me, this would be it. I can’t swim this week as I had my hair done on Monday and I cant get it wet for a week so the stars aligned and gifted me this joy of a wod. I’d gone to the box with the thought of RX’ing this one as DU’s are the one RX skill I have. However, I’d expected the RX KB weight to be 20kg and it was 24! Luckily Pam (good friend and owner of Big Croc) was in the class and convinced me to go for it still… she RX’d it with me saying “we can fuck ourselves up together” and sometimes you need someone like this around you to give you that push. I am very much a coward when it comes to a lot of CrossFit and one of the things I’m working on is to try and be braver.
Thur 12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 40 Min EMOM- Min 1-3 30 sec on (you can do 40 but this is active recovery for me), Min 4- 60s 1; Plate Ground to Overhead, 2; Burpee to Plate, 3; Goblet Squat, 4; Alt Run. Row, Bike Ski 5; Rest *No, I didn’t swim today either. The sessions available didn’t fit my day so easy indoor conditioning it is.
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Open 22.3 This wod is too long to write in full so you can go find it elsewhere online if you really care. *I completed the first set of thrusters and single unders and spent about 10 minutes fighting to get 10 Pull Ups out. The video of my struggle to get these pull ups out is on my socials if you want to giggle -they are not pretty but they were effort!
2:00pm – Just Move EMOM with Head Coach Toby (and James & the hubby) 30 Min EMOM 1:16 DB Snatch 2: 20 Air Squat 3: 14 Hang Power Clean 4: 16 Down Up 5: “Recovery” Assault Bike
Sat 8am – CrossFit Class, Partner WOD with Si 25 Min AMRAP; 400m run together then 20 Weighted Box Step Up, 30 DB Snatch, 40 Cal Row, 30 KBS, 20 Devil Press (split reps) * I’d planned for this to be an easy, light recovery session but as often happens with Si and I, we went all in and pushed each other to the max. I didn’t go super heavy but I didn’t go as light as I’d planned.
9am -7k Row with Si I’d planned to run after class but Si said he was doing a row instead so I jumped in on that instead 🙂
5:45pm – 45 Min C2 Bike (easy recovery) As I haven’t finished the 75hard yet I still needed an outdoor workout to meet the rules for the day so I dragged the C2 bike into the garden, set up the 2018 CF Games film on my iPad and just peddled. No stress, just moving.
Sun – Extra Rest Day 5:45pm – Restorative Yoga via Down Dog App * I was feeling VERY beaten up today so I gave myself permission to take life easy. I got up with the dog at 6am and we went for a gorgeous 2 hour walk around Staunton Park and The Thicket before the rest of Havant woke up and then a yoga session in the evening. Even though these yoga sessions are low intensity I am feeling the benefits greatly as my mobility has improved no end since discovering Down Dog. My squat form continues to get better and better and I am definitely more flexible. It really is time well spent.
This week was a tense one. Sunday saw the arrival of my first big race of the season, The Grizzly, and the first big test for my foot. Since my initial sit down with my CrossFit coach, Kerry, back in January, when we agreed I’d take a small step back to focus on my IM training, we’d put this race as a marker. If my foot didn’t make it my IM/Tri season was probably dead in the water. If it survived it was 100% game on!
It was also week 2 of The Open and I was feeling pretty good about my performance in week 1… would that com crashing down come Friday. It doesn’t matter, right – I’m not focussing on the Open. This was what I had to keep telling myself many, many times.
Things were a little quieter this week leading up to The Grizzly, although not a lot… here’s how it went:
Mon 6am – CrossFit Class For Time: 50 Air Squat, 40 Box Step Over, 30 Jumping Pull Up, 20 Hanging Basket, 10 Jumping Bar Muscle Up * This was fast, and fun. Still not jumping on boxes due to my foot but if it survives the weekend I will try and few box jumps next week.
1:15pm – 45min Zone 2 Run *Threw all the layers on to try and make myself more uncomfortable and still control the HR to zone 2.
Tues – Rest Day 3pm – Yin Yoga via Down Dog App *45 min mobilty session with a lower body boost in prep for the weekend.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 11 of 12; Faster, Better, Stronger. A repeated pyramid session of tabata sprints, heavy climbs and rest.
7:40am – 2 mile Brick Run *Easy 2 miles of the bike with George, one of my Forza Performance clients who also attends my Indoor Cycle classes.
12:30pm – CrossFit Class 18 Min AMRAP; 21 Wall Ball, 12 Cal Row, 9 Over Rower Burpee *I was supposed to swim today but I really, really liked the look of the workout so decided to switch my days around and Crossfit today and swim tomorrow. I love, love, LOVED this workout.
Thur 12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 42 Min EMOM- 30 sec on, 30 sec rest (you can do 40/20 but this is meant to be active recovery 1; Weighted Box Step Up, 2; Row, 3; Goblet Squat, 4; Ski, 5; Down Up, 6; Ski *No, I didn’t swim today either. The sessions available didn’t fit my day so easy indoor conditioning it is.
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Open 22.2 For Time: 1 to 10 to 1 – Deadlift @ 43kg + Bar Facing Burpee (Time Cap – 10 minutes) *Not a bad workout overall. I’m not the biggest fan of fast deadlifts for time but I don’t mind a Bar Facing Burpee. It got gassy real quick but it was only 10 minutes so you could push.
2:00pm – Just Move EMOM with Head Coach Toby (and James & the hubby) 30 Min EMOM 1: 1 Snatch, 3 Bar Muscle Up Progressions + 15 Air Squat, 2: 30s Handstand Hold, 3: 50 Double Under, 4: 20 Sit Up, 5: Rest
Sat 8am – CrossFit Class, Partner WOD with Si 9 Min AMRAP; 3,6,9,12,15,18.. Hang Power Clean, Push Press, Hanging Leg Raise (split reps between you) 6 Min – to establish a heavy 3 Thruster 9 Min AMRAP; 8 Front Squat, 20 Double Under (1 rd each, U Go, I Go) * After the day before and all the deadlifts my hamstrings were feeling a little tight so no heavy weights todaybut still moving fast.
Sun Race Day – The Grizzly 20 Miles, All Terrain with a total of 1065m of elevation. *This race is nuts. Carl and I always run this one together as it’s so challenging. It’s down in Seaton in Devon and it is the hardest 20 miles I’ve ever run in one go. This was our third time doing it so we knew what to expect as the route rarely changes from year to year. I was bricking it that my foot would blow up and that would be it but I did what I tell my clients to do – control the controllable and find the positives. My foot has been “ok” since January. No, it isn’t 100% right but it hasn’t stopped me doing anything (except box jumps) all year. After some reassurance from my close friends, who also form Team NBR (No Bling required) – my accountability group, and lots of good luck messages from my coaches and friends I felt ready. The headline of the day is: “Liza’s Foot is OK and happily survived the full 20 miles with no repercussions” I was ELATED on the drive home (and pretty much all the way round to be honest) and it now really feels like this season is here and happening. It really is time to get to work!
This week saw the start of the CrossFit Open. I wasn’t going to join in the fun this year, apart from as a Judge, as it detracts from my primary goal but when my box said they were going to run an In House Comp and all proceeds would be reinvested back in the gym, well, how could I not sign up! I now have three weeks of competition where I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not taking it seriously and I AM NOT bothered about how it goes… honest! Fun times 🙂
I had an Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation treatment with Muscle Therapies 640 on Monday and we focussed solely on the foot and connecting areas. Paul managed to trace some of the issue to my achilles so hopefully this issue will get sorted once and for all within the next couple of months.
Other than that, nothing much has happened this week beyond the norm so here’s what my week looked like.
Mon 6:30am CrossFit Class Every 3 mins x 5; 30 x Double Under, 20 x Pistols Squat (Foot behind ankle), 10 x Handstand Push Up from a box
Tues – 11:45am – 2000m Pool Swim *Boom! Longest swim to date, after only a few weeks of swimming and the only reason I stopped was because the pool session is capped to one hour!
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 10 of the 12 week Program = The Force, or as my husband calls it, The Kitchen Sink as I’ve thrown everything at this one. It’s a full on interval session that flies by. No brick run today as, following my treatment Monday I’m not allowed to run until Saturday.
12:30pm – CrossFit Class Deadlift; 3 Reps every 3 mins x 5 Then Every 90 seconds; 5 Deadlift + 10 Burpee over the Bar
Thur 12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 42 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 4 40sec, Min 5 60sec) 1 – Down Ups, 2 – KB Swings, 3 – Top Of Plank Hold, 4 – Weighted Box Step Ups, 5 – Alt Row/Ski, 6 – Rest
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Open 22.1 18 Min AMRAP; 3 Scaled Wall Walk, 12 Alt DB Snatch, 15 Box Step Over *A fun start to The Open. Very happy with Snatches and Box Step Overs… not practiced Wall Walks a lot lately but the scaled version was simple enough.
2:00pm – Just Move EMOM with Head Coach Toby (and James & Jack) 30 Min EMOM 1: 1 Snatch, 3 Bar Muscle Up Progressions, 2: 16 Wall Ball, 3: 100ft Dbl KB Front Rack Carry, 4: 12 Hanging Leg Raise, 5: Rest
Sat 8am – CrossFit Class, Partner WOD with Si 25 Min AMRAP (U go, I go but run together); 1000m Row, 200m Run, 75 Thurster, 200m Run, 50 Bar Facing Burpee, 200m Run, 25 Hang Power Clean, 200m Run.
Sun Rest Day * Myself and a couple of the Forza Performance crew went to Southsea to support one of our own, George, participating in the Portsmouth Duathlon. That was ahard fought race in brutal wind whipped conditions. I was very glad I hadn’t signed up!
8pm – Yin Yoga (via DownDog App) * A chilled way to end the week 🙂
This week I had my first dark day. My foot has been playing up more than usual and I was still a week away from treatment. I knew I had to cut back the running and thats not great for someone less than 5 months away from a 140.6, with no more than 8 continuous miles under their belt.
Still, the first things I try to instil in my athletes is “Control the controllable” and “Find the positive”. I am usually pretty good at this and up until Wednesday I was doing ok. However, for whatever reason, I woke up feeling less than chipper. I then had a disaster session in the pool and my mindset went black. I’d been feeling a little guilty for all the training hours taking me away from my husband, my dog and my home but I know my husband understands (and has never complained so this is ALL in my head) and while things are going great it’s ok as it all feels worthwhile.
Normally one bad session wouldn’t be enough to derail me but this week, for whatever reason, it was. I am only human after all and sometimes things get the better of you. Realising that I’d forgotten to check in with a close friend, who is really going through something shit, pushed me over the edge. It all seemed pointless. Thoughts of “whats the point in doing all this, if you’re going to fail anyway” plagued me, along with “this just isn’t worth it, you’re a shit triathlete and all this is going to count for nothing” and more along the same theme. Dramatic right! I know! But when you get beat down, you get beat down and it happens to the best of us.
What really matters though is what you do next.. how you deal with the black thoughts and whether you pull yourself out of the quagmire. Obviously I did. I quit the swim as it clearly wasn’t working. I went home, ran a bath and took 15 minutes of relaxed silence to reprogram my thoughts. I told myself it’s inevitable to have bad days. I always tell my team its the bad days that define us. Its easy when everything goes right. It’s how we deal with the tough times that show us who we really are. So, who am I? Oh right, I’m a muthafucking badass bear and badass bears don’t wallow in self pity. They take charge, they fix shit and they keep moving forward. Once out of the bath I first messaged my friend, then rescheduled my week to attack the swim again at the end of the week and got back on with my day.
Why am I sharing this? Because everyone will have self doubt at some point, especially anyone training for an Ironman (or crazy ass endurance event) as it takes such a commitment and so many other things have to take a back seat. Its a dark side of endurance training that we need to normalise and learn how to deal with. We all know the mantra; It’s ok not to be ok and it’s true. We just have to be kind to ourselves, take a few deep breaths and rationally look at the big picture, not just that one bad day!
Overall, my training week was pretty good so here it is:
Mon 12:30pm CrossFit Class 15 Min AMRAP 100m Farmer Carry 2x DB then 2 Rounds of DB DT (12 x Deadlift, 9 x Hang Power Clean, 6 x STOH) *This was, as you can imagine, a grip burner. I survived better than I thought I would and my forearm only really went on my lefthand side. More unilateral grip strength work needs to be done clearly!
Tues – Rest Day 6:30am – Active Recovery Session at CFID *Usual mobility and HR Z1 cardio to just move and focus on some deep mobility.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 9 of the 12 week Program = My favourite week of the program. It’s called Le Tour and is basically an homage to my favourite stage of the 2019 Tour De France. It was an Alpine stage so lots of heavy, heavy climbs and a bit of fast racing in between.
No brick run today as my foot has been a more tender than usual so had to cut it. Already by this stage of the week I was getting a little concerned that my training activity had dropped from it’s usual level, which as contributing to the dark mood I described in the opening of this blog.
In reality I’d missed a session on Monday (which is an added bonus if I do it anyway) and a 20 min run but today was the day my PMS kicked in and my mood dropped as a result of a hormone change but I wasn’t being rationale at this stage and mentally berating myself pretty damn hard.
12:45pm – Pool Swim 1 mile for time – was the plan but the world had other ideas (or, I let my mindset slip and get the better of me so I quit!) *I have been saying in every other IM blog so far this year that my swim karma was seemingly a bit too good. Well, today it all changed. I was already being down on myself. When I arrived at the pool the changing room was loud, busy, chaotic and everything about it just rattled me. Then I went to put on my swim hat and it snapped. I was stood, in front of the mirror with my swimsuit on, watch set, googles in hand staring at my now useless swim hat thinking “well that’s that then. I cant swim today” Ridiculous maybe, but I have long, thick dreadlocks which do nothing to aid buoyancy or aerodynamics and weigh a ton when wet. I did tell myself I was being ridiculous though, pulled my hair into something i thought might work in the water and hit the lane. It was a DISASTER. My hair fell out of the ponytail/bun thing I had tried to secure it as, it pulled my head and neck down in the water. I retied it and tried to keep going but it kept slipping and threw my whole swim off. My feet were hitting the bottom of the pool, I was over-rotating, everything was just wrong. I persevered for 400m and then gave up. Another contributing factor to my dark mood and building sense that this week was going to shit.
I teach my athletes three key things when it comes to mindset; 1 – Control the controllable 2 – Find the positive 3 – Learn the lessons I tried to apply these to this situation, both in the moment and after. Doing this is one of the main reasons I pulled myself out of my funk. Instead of not swimming I thought “what if this happens on race day, what if you end up having to swim without hat” – actually, this is not only unlikely but would probably secure you a disqualification as generally, all swimmers must be wearing the issued swim cap so they can be easily identified, and I would have spare hats so that if one split or snapped when putting it on, I would just grab another. The positive was that at least I tried. I managed 400m. Ok, it wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things but it was something. Lessons learned – buy a couple more swim hats (I need a special size swim hat because of my hair so couldn’t even just go to reception and buy one) and keep spares in your bag.
Thur 11:30am – Mono-structural Cardio Conditioning Session 45 Min; 5 Min Row, Assault Bike, Ski – Each 5 min starts with 400m run *I pulled my head out my ass and decided that if my main concern was my lack of activity this week, find some space and add a session in. I had 60 minutes spare before the CF class so went in early and got some shit done. I could have stayed at home and done this session in my own gym but I like going to the box. Its separate to my work and my home and if I’m going there, it’s for the purpose of training (or to drink coffee, but thats usually only ever after training!)
12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 42 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 4 40sec, Min 5 60sec) 1: Alt Devil Press, 2: Goblet Squat, 3: Sit Up, 4: Box Step Up, 5: Row, 6: Rest
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Class Part A: For Time 10-9 -8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 2xDB Front Squat + Bar Facing Burpees At minute 10: 6 mins to establish a heavy complex for the day; 1 x Clean, 1 x Front Squat, 1 x STOH *This was a variation of an Open workout from 2018. Part A was an exact copy so we got to test ourselves against our previous best. I was really pleased as I beat my score by over a minute. Happy Liza! The complex was new as in The Open it was only a 1RM Clean. I was strong with the Clean and Front squat but as usual my confidence in/fear of pushing a heavy bar over my head let me down. Once this Ironman is done and dusted I am going to spend a few months focussing mainly on overcoming some of the major weaknesses in my CrossFt repertoire.
2:00pm – Work on your Weaknesses EMOM with Head Coach Toby 30 Min EMOM 1: 1 Snatch, 3 Bar Muscle Up Progressions, 2: 16 Box Step Over, 3: 6/6 DB Hang Clean & Jerk, 4: 2 x 16kg KB 100ft Farmer Carry, 5: Rest
Sat 7:15am – 4 Mile Run
8am – CrossFit Class, Partner WOD with my husband 25 min AMRAP; Run 400m – Together (row for me) 30 x Power Cleans, 20 x Box Jumps (Steps for me, Stoopid foot!), 30 x STOH 20 x Pull Ups TeamSmith got to train together today as my usual CF Partner was out with a bad back. Carl and I don’t often train together so it’s really fun when it happens. We both agreed to push ourselves with a heavier barbell weight and go hard on the run/row. We both tried, and we both succeeded. Go Us 🙂
Sun
9am – Coach By Colour Indoor Cycle Class * as a participant rather than coach.
10am – 1650m Swim * yep, thats right I redid my swim session and it was fine. It was better than fine. It was good. It also helps that I’m on restricted running right now as normally I’d run on Sundays but rather than sulk about not being able to run, find the positive. No running means time available. What sucked this week, what can I put right? What can I try and fix?
This biggest thing this week I re-engaged with my Nutrition Coach, Demi @ Deep Health Nutrition, as I’m still dropping weight quite quick due to the 75Hard and the increased training levels that come from IM training. I’m hitting protein goals (30% of daily intake every day) and I am still losing fat and building muscle but I just need to ensure I’m eating enough, at the right times etc to maximise my performance and not let all this hard work go to waste.
I definitely had fat and weight to lose so I’m not at all concerned about dropping weight, but 5kg in 6 weeks is quite fast and if I had done it any other way I would know its not sustainable. It just shows that my calorie deficit was a little too aggressive, although occasionally in the very short term, this can be ok. I PB’d a couple of lifts in this time and both my running speed and bike power has improved so all signs show this was all perfectly ok. But, I know it wont last… soon, if I’m not careful I will lose performance due to being inadequately fuelled and that cannot happen.
Now, I could absolutely sort my nutrition myself but a) I don’t want to have to think about that as well as program my own training etc b) I want to be accountable to someone and c) I am smart enough to know what I don’t know and would rather lean on another expert to help me get this right. You should all know that one of my biggest beliefs is that the best coaches are ultimately coachable and have coaches. I stand by my beliefs.
And with that out of the way… on to the weeks activities.
Mon 6am – CrossFit Class 2k Row for Time – A classic cardio test * I equally love and hate the 2k row test. I love it because rowing is something I am strong at but man the 2k hurts. If it doesn’t, you didn’t do it right. No PB today but I was too conservative in the first 1000m. Still 5s off isn’t too bad.
Tues – Rest Day 6:30am – Active Recovery Session at CFID *Once again my coach Kerry let me crash the early morning class, hide up the back and just do my own recovery session. 5 minute rounds of 3min easy (Z1) row or ski and 2 min mobility. I have had a few people ask me what sort of mobility I do here and it standard stuff; couch stretch, pigeon stretch off the box, lizard stretch, back extensions using the GHD, deep squat holds etc. Nothing fancy, just basic shit that works.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 8 of the 12 week Program = Get Stronger, which basically means climbing week. One of my favourites as I much prefer to climb than race.
7:30am – 2 Mile Brick Run
10am – Pool Swim 1 mile for time *Still got good swim karma. One mile, no stopping and it was both easy and enjoyable. Surely this enjoyment of swimming can’t last. I don’t ever remember liking it like this, or finding it so easy. I am also aware that I have not even hit half distance of what I require on race day but leave me alone, let me enjoy this while it lasts 🙂
12:30pm CrossFit Class Back Squat Day Lift every two minutes: 5 reps, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2 *My squats have never felt so good, or looked so good according to Toby, who was coaching the class. I think the Yin Yoga is paying off. Who know… oh right, almost anyone who’s done any amount of decent yoga.
1:30pm Post CF 4 Mile Run * This run sucked. I felt so tired, which is completely justified after everything else I had done today. I would normally only Cycle, Run and Swim on a Weds but I had no clients after 10am so I took full advantage and snuck in a couple of extra sessions. Let’s face it, being able to run tired, on fatigued legs is a skill all Ironman and potential Ironmen should develop so as much as it sucked, it was also great.
Thur 12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 42 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 4 40sec, Min 5 60sec) 1: Plank DB Taps, 2: SA DB Thruster L, 3: DB Box Step Up, 4: SA DB Thruster R, 5: Assault Bike, 6: Rest *As per last week, I used this class as active recovery so easy intensity all the way through, a med weight DB, not too heavy but also not crazy light.
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 11am – Conditioning with Head Coach Toby 60 Min AMRAP 5 can Row, 5 Cal Bike, 5 Cal Ski, 2m Burpee Broad Jump *add 5 class every round. * The goal here was to keep Heart Rate in Zone 3. This meant having to pull back on the bike but push a little harder on the Ski. 60 minutes passed fairly easily.
12:30pm – CrossFit Class 4 Rounds for Time 400m Run, 50ft SA DB Overhead Walking Lunge, 25 DB Push Press *Not a lot to say about this one. It wasn’t as horrific as I thought it would be so happy days… move on.
2:00pm – Work on your Weaknesses EMOM with Head Coach Toby 30 Min EMOM 1: 1 Snatch, 3 Bar Muscle Up Progressions, 2:2 x 16kg KB 50ft Farmer Carry , 3: Alt 8 Pull Up / 30s Active Hang, 4: 8 Toes to Rings 5: Rest
Start of the week brings me to 31 Days complete of the 75Hard challenge. This means I still need to hit the 2 x 45 minute workouts, one must be outdoors and they must not be consecutive rule so most days, due to bricking a lot of my sessions, my activity level continues to rise 🙂
Mon 12:30pm – CrossFit Class Barbell Day WOD For Time: 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 Hang Power Snatch and Clean & Jerk *Loved this workout. Grip strength held out and my plan for the WOD worked well. I finished just within the time cap, as in, with literally seconds to spare.
6:30pm 45 min Zone 2 Run *Lots of layers, hat and gloves as it was pretty bitter outside. Still took over 5 minutes to get my HR out of zone 1 and in to zone 2 but once it was there, it was a steady run. It felt a little harder than a usual zone 2 due to me being completely ready for my rest day tomorrow.
Tues – Rest Day 8:20pm – 45 min Yoga Practice via DownDog App *Another Yin Yoga session. Definitely more my style of yoga and definitely what I needed today to help me recover from the last few days of effort.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 7 of the 12 week Program = Unbreakable. A no rest, pyramid session using a mix of racing and climbing peaking in the middle with a brutal mountain climb.
7:30am – 2 Mile Brick Run Two of my clients who also come to Indoor Cycle Class kept me company on the run this week. Its what I called a “Naked” run – I set the watch but don’t look at it while moving. This is a great way to test if your perceived effort matches your actual effort. The goal of this run was to keep it comfortable and the data showed a mix of Zone2/3 so not far off.
12:45pm – Pool Swim 1000m for time *Aiming to continue my positive experience with swimming I decided to just swim this week. No repeats, no stopping, just swim 1000m and see what happens. I’m not going to break any speed records thats for sure but that isnt my goal. My only goal is to get through the swim relatively unscathed and without exerting too much effort. Today’s 1000m was fairly effortless, i enjoyed it and when I uploaded it to garmin, it turns out it was 3 minutes quicker than back in 2020… Result!
Thur 6:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 42 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 4 40sec, Min 5 60sec) 1: Ski Erg, 2: No Push Up Burpee, 3: Double Under, 4: Alt DB Hang Clean & Jerk, 5: Row, 6: Rest *Used this class as active recovery so easy intensity all the way through. First time having skipping in a conditioning class so I took the opportunity to play with all my different ropes and alternated my speed rope, heavy rope and drag rope. I’m easily pleased and found this fun 🙂
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Same as Weds am.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Class 15 Min AMRAP 800m Run + AMRAP 12 Alt DB Snatch, 6&6 Devil Thruster, 12 Weighted DB Step Up *This was brutal! And yes, you read that right… Devil Thrusters! Do A S/A Devil Press, add a S/A Thruster and boom – one Devil Thruster. Another genius move from our Head Coach Toby.
2:00pm – Conditioning EMOM with Head Coach Toby 60 Min EMOM1: 30s Active Hang, 2: 20 Air Squat, 3: 30s Handstand Hold, 4: 60 Alt Single/Double Under 5: 20 Kettlebell Swing, 6: Rest *It was Toby’s deload week so a it was a bit different this week…no crazy programming today. It was good but I’m looking forward to getting back to normal next week.
Sat 7:15am – Pre CrossFit 3 Mile Run *With my CF training partner Simon, and my husband Carl 🙂
8:00am – CrossFit Class (Partner wod with Simon) 30 Min AMRAP Part A – P1 400m Farmer Carry, P2 Max Effort Row Part B – Combined Row Cals x 2 = Wallball total to be completed (split reps) Part C – Establish max weight for BB complex: Deadlift, Clean, Hang Clean, Jerk *This looked horrific and while it was tough, both Simon and I really enjoyed it.
9:00am – Post CF 4 Mile Run *Carl stayed to drink coffee and be sociable while Simon and I went back out for a few more miles. We hit the trails not far from the box and I discovered there are nicer places to run in Waterlooville than I realised.
6:00pm – Yoga Practice via DownDog App
Sun
6:00pm – Yoga Practice *Originally I was going to do my usual Indoor Cycle Class and run, then I was going to go for a swim instead as that would be a little less, but I went to bed exhausted Saturday night so decided to just give myself permission to wake up without an alarm and have a lie in. Carl and I went for a long dog walk in the morning which was just perfect. Took an extra rest/active recovery day and didn’t stress about it at all as I knew I needed it.
Last week in my first IM training blog of 2022 I outlined my approach for this 6 month block of training, which will take me from 0 to 140.6.
There isn’t really much to say about this week so on to the specifics:
Mon 9:30am Outdoor Upper Body Strength & Core EMOM 1: 10 Min 3xPull Up, 2: 10 Min 3xPush Up 3: 10 Min 30s Hollow Hold, 4: 10 Min 30s Arch Hold All with 2 min rest between
12:30pm – CrossFit Class Mono-structural Cardio day today 30 Min AMRAP – 400m Row, 400m Run, 50 Double Unders *My goal was to keep every round consistent and hope my foot holds out with the combo of running and double unders – I did, and it did 🙂
Tues – Rest Day 6:30am – “Just Moving” Recovery Session at CrossFit *Same as last week – without 75Hard I would likely just do the dog walk and that would be but as I need that second workout I went to hang out with the early morning crew again and did an easy (zone 1 max) session. I threw in the Ski Erg as well as the Assault Bike for of 9 x 3 min cardio + 2 Minutes mobility – and I threw in the GHD to work on some deep back extensions.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Week 6 of the 12 week Program = Get Faster aka Speed Week. I’m a better climber than racer so this is a good week for me to work on my weaknesses. No brick run post class this week as I had no one to run with (meaning I had no one to store my bag with as I cycle to the gym). I know I could have done it once I got home but I got through the door and Cracker dog was so happy to see me I couldn’t turn round and leave hime again straight away… weak sauce I know but dog owners, you will understand.
12:45pm – Pool Swim 14 x 100m repeats with 1 min rest. *Building on the positives of my first session last week I simply aimed to add two more 100m repeats. I ended up doing 4 more, with the intention of completing 16 to get the mile but I ran out of time as the session ended. Note to self – find out how long the session is so I can plan accordingly.
Thur 12:30pm – CrossFit Conditioning Class 40 Min EMOM (Min 1 to 3 40sec, Min 4 60sec) 1: Burpee Box Step Up, 2: Alt Ring Row/Push Up, 3: KB Swing, 4: Alt Row/Ski, 5: Rest
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) *Thurs night is the same as Weds morning so a second crack at speed week. It’s always interesting to compare the two efforts and weirdly there isn’t a clear pattern of best performance. One week my morning session will be stronger, another the evening.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Class Heavy Strength Day today Every 3 min x 10 = 1 Deadlift + 10 Hanging L Raises (add one deadlift every set) *The deadlift was advised to be 50/60% of your 1RM and completed in unbroken sets. My current 1rm is 95kg so I went for 55kg. It felt solid, I could maintain good form and consistent pacing on each set and more importantly my grip lasted the workout. I split the hanging leg raises from the start into 2 sets of 5 and held this throughout.
2:00pm – Conditioning AMRAP session with Head Coach Toby 100 Wallball for time + 4 min rest. *The goal here was to complete as big a set as possible for the first set, same again for second set getting it done as quickly as possible with as few breaks as possible. I hit a set of 50, 20, 20, 10. Toby, because he’s a rock star hit 70, 30! 1 min on, 1 min off: 5 cal row + 2 Burpee over Rower. Add 2 Burpee until you cannot finish. *A twisted take on Death by Burpee -I got the round of 14 but could only get 12 reps. Toby, again because he’s a rock star got to the round of 20 but got timed out at 19 reps; EMO2M 5/5 Single Arm Dumbbell Squat Snatch x 6 * I cannot squat snatch a dumbbell I found out. I had never tried before and it did not go well. I cannot even really single arm squat with a dumbbell so I went back to basics, removed the weight and just worked on bodyweight single arm squats. I def found something I suck at which I will need to work on.
Sat 8:00am – CrossFit Class (Partner wod with Simon) 25 Min AMRAP (Run together, split the reps) 400m row, 50 Wallball, 50 Burpee Box Step Over 400m row, 50 Alt Devil Press, 50 Weighted Box Step Up 400m row, 50 Hang Power Clean, 50 Push Jerk *It was meant to be a run but I cant run in my CF shoes so Simon ran while I rowed. We both decided we wanted to push ourselves so we both went heavier with the dumbbell and barbell. During the warm up I genuinely felt done and was properly worried about how this was going to play out. I shouldn’t have worried. I loved every second of it. I worked harder than I honestly thought I could and thoroughly enjoyed it.
9:00am – 4 Mile Run w/ weight vest *No Simon to run with this week so I decided if I didn’t have him to push my pace, I would throw on my weight vest and mix it up that way. I ran 2 miles out, 2 miles back, so I couldn’t be tempted to dial it in early. It was practically spring like outside so no layering up required. Shorts, vest top, weight vest – Go.
7:00pm – Yoga Practice via DownDog App *So I discovered Yin Yoga on the app and let me tell you, I am a fan. I bought a new yoga matt in the week, one with the alignment lines on it (which actually helps a lot) as new kit always helps right 🙂 These two things combined mean that I think I can say, I enjoyed yoga.
Sun 9:00am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class *Again, not coaching the session I upped my FTP and just let Chris tell me what to do. It must have been a good session as at least twice when he gave an instruction I told him to fuck off (in my head of course). It’s like I tell my athletes, if every so often you aren’t cursing me during a session, I’m probably not doing my job right. No, it shouldn’t be high intensity, max effort all the time but occasionally you need to go to war with yourself and I did that in the class today.
10:00am – 400m Hill Reps *Post Cycle Brick Run session but this week focussed on building leg strength, cardio endurance and quick recovery. Once again Lorraine was the only one willingly to jump in with me and we spent around 40 minutes running 200m up 200m down the same incline for 3.5 miles. The goal is not to sprint up and jog down, the goal for this run was consistency. Same pace up, same pace down.
7:00pm – Yoga Practice *The exercise rule of 75Hard, is as you may remember, 2 45 minute workouts (can be longer), 1 must be outdoors, they cannot be consecutive. I’d hit the first two parts of the rule but same as yesterday, they were consecutive so I had to hit a third workout to meet the rules. Let’s face it, Yoga is never going to be a bad thing to do and I am determined to get to a place where I like yoga – yes I enjoyed the practice yesterday but that doesn’t yet make it something I relish and look forward to. I tried a second Yin Yoga session and I think because it feels more like the mobility sessions I’m used to it’s more comfortable (mentally, not necessarily physically). Again, I enjoyed it and could def feel the pain points in my body releasing a little.
I stopped drinking alcohol back at the end of 2019, purely because I wanted to see what life would be like. I didn’t have a problem with alcohol at all, I didn’t ever really drink to excess but just wanted to see if would make a difference to my life, my training and my relationships – but mostly my training.
It’s safe to say, I have never looked back. I do not need a drink to relax, I do not need a drink to be sociable or have a good time and I would definitely much rather use my calories for food than alcohol.
The only downside of being alcohol free is that I am occasionally judged by others, and have even been excluded from a couple of social events as “I wont enjoy it as I don’t drink!”. Its a minor downside as most of the people I choose to spend my time with are not judgemental but occasionally I come up against the “well, thats really boring” “go on, have one, you’ll have more fun” kinda nonsense that I know says more about the person saying these things, than about me but still, it can be tiresome.
While I do not like alcohol, I do love Beer – or rather the taste of beer so the recent explosion of alcohol free beer has made me very happy. The other drink I did really enjoy was a glass of red wine, as does my friend Kerry. Now, I say I like a glass of red wine, I think it’s safe to say that Kerry LOVES a glass of red wine, so when she was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour and told to stop drinking this was one of the things she struggled with. Life is tough enough right now without taking away one of her little pleasures in life.
The Forza Fitness Squad do what we do best. We rallied round and found a supportive solution. We decided to have a Non Alcoholic Red Wine Tasting as a few of us had bought a bottle here and there and no one has found anything good. Now though, we had a reason to get serious so we did.
Kerry did the research, did the buying (as, as she said herself, she has not a lot else to do right now) and she hosted, with the most gorgeous spread – yes, thats it in the featured image. We tried 5 different wines and here are the results of our tasting. We scored each wine out of 10 and yes, there was a clear winner we all agreed on. *Please remember we are just a few women who like a glass of red wine occasionally, we are not wine connoisseurs by any means so these are not sophisticated tasting notes. This is just a brief bullet point rundown of our thoughts.
DC DeAlcoholised (£6) Shiraz Felt and tasted like a Red Wine Palatable and strong Shiraz flavour *Denise was not a fan of this one hence the single low score, but also isn’t a huge red wine fan anyway (she was mainly along for the company and the chat!) Scores: 9, 9, 9, 7.5, 3 Total: 37.5
Eisburg (£4) Cabernet Sauvignon Again a good red wine taste and feel A little thinner than the DC but as good as the more expensive options A strong berry taste so again sweeter than the DC and the Merlot but not too sweet. Scores: 7, 5, 5, 8, 7, Total: 32
Vintense (£10) Merlot Generally tasted closer to a wine but still a little too thin Also a bit too watery A good Merlot flavour though. Scores: 6, 5.5, 6, 7, 7, Total: 31.5
Carl Jung (£10) Cuvee Rot Still a good red wine feel Sweeter than the DC and Merlot. A little too sweet for two of us. Scores: 5, 4, 7, 6, 8 Total: 30
WIN12 (£12) Tempranillo Very strongly tastes of berries, and Kerry said also Chocolate. Very thin Very, very Sweet *My personal thought on this one was that if you liked drinking this you might as well opt for a ribena, especially at £12 a bottle! Scores: 2, 3, 3, 6, 6 Total: 20
As we know, I am not going to quit CrossFit, as I love it and its been proven again and again that it works to build a brilliant training base encompassing strength, speed, power and overall conditioning.
My aim for this 6 month training block is to continue pretty much as normal at CrossFit (with a few tweaks here and there which I will discuss as they happen) and hit 8 to 10 hours of specific Ironman Training alongside. This duration will increase as we get closer to the event but not by a huge amount, I expect.
It’s worth mentioning that I am also currently doing Andy Frisella’s 75Hard challenge, which I started on Jan 1st. I will be posting a separate post about this challenge on my Fitness Blog so head there if you want to ready anymore about this. What this does mean is that I have to do two workouts a day, min 45 minutes, 1 must be outdoors and they must not be consecutive, and at least 3 hours apart. I walk my dog every day for around an hour and as this often constitutes the outdoor workout I have turned it into a ruck, taking the weight plates out of my weight vest and putting them in my rucksack.
So, on to my week and the training specifics:
Mon 12:30pm – CrossFit Class 3 x 3 Min AMRAP of 20 Box Step Over, 12 Cal Row, 5 Hanging Leg Raises
3:30pm – Concept 2 Bike Erg Session Zone 2 HR for 50k – took just over 1hr 45. *Why use a C2 bike and not a turbo – Simply the C2 bike is there in my studio and to use the turbo I have to get the turbo out, put the bike on the turbo, load up a program blah blah blah. No it means I’m not putting the time in on my bike but right now, building bike endurance is all that matters and that can happen anywhere. There will be time to build bike craft and work on technique later.
Tues – Rest Day 6:30am – “Just Moving” Recovery Session at CrossFit *Without 75Hard I would likely just do the dog walk and that would be but as I need that second workout I went to hang out with the early morning crew and did an easy (zone 1 max) session of 9 x 3 min Assault Bike, 2 Minutes mobility – holding static stretches for 1 minute or 1 min per side.
Weds 6:45am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) Coaching Indoor Cycle is a blast. It’s where I started my FitPro life. Coach by Colour is power based training using your FTP and power zones. Its now the only type of Indoor Cycle I will do as its meaningful and measurable. I run my classes on a 12 periodised program (which I created) with FTP testing every 13th week. Luckily, as its expected for the coach to be in with the participants I can actually use this session as a training session. Good coaches are not “paid to train”. That is the mantra of lazy, crap trainers. Coaches are paid to Coach and I believe one of the very few expectations to this rule is on the bike.
7:30am – 2 mile Brick Run As soon as the class is over me and one of my clients and friends, Gary, hit the road for a 2 mile blast. Nothing special, nothing fast, just a bit of a brick session to build endurance and ability. Plus, it gives us a chance to catch up, which is always nice!
Thur 6:30am – CrossFit Conditioning Class 2 x 20 Min EMOM 1: Down Ups, Air Squats, Row, Rest and 2: Ski, Alt Sit Ups/Plank, 600m Assault Bike, Rest
12:45pm – Pool Swim 10 x 100m repeats with 1 min rest. *This was my first session back in the pool since March 2020 and I was dreading it. I had to really force myself to go to the pool. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. I have never been, nor will I ever be, a good swimmer but I get by and this session was a huge confidence builder.
6:30pm – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class (as Coach) Back in the Cycle Studio for Class 2. Same session as Weds as I keep both classes on the same schedule. This week was Wk5 in the 12 wk program and that meant Power Pyramid. 3 Repeats of Hill Climb, Tabata Sprint, Rest. A brutal but effective session and a firm favourite amongst my squad.
Fri 12:30pm – CrossFit Class Benchmark WOD Nancy – 5 Rds of 400m Run, 15 Overhead Squat. I had to row this one as I have been dealing with a crazy foot injury that is finally healing. However, it not healed enough to allow me to run in my CF shoes, and I cannot OHS in my Running Shoes so rowing was the solution.
2:00pm – Conditioning AMRAP session with Head Coach Toby 9 Min AMRAP: 15 Burpee Box Step, 30 Lunge, 15 Power Clean and Push Jerk, 4 Min Rest 9 Min AMRAP: Ring Muscle Ups and Double Unders (no need to write the specific rep scheme!) *Every Friday I jump in with our Head Coach Toby on whatever he has programmed, purely so he has someone to train alongside. I call myself his “Anti Sandbagger” His coach Matt has a bit of an evil streak and some of these sessions are the worst I have ever encountered (but in that really good way). This one was waaayyyy spicer than I thought it would be. Fun though.
Sat 8:00am – CrossFit Class 3 Min Max Effort Row for Meters, 2 Min Rest 6 Min Build to Heavy 3 Thruster, 2 Min Rest 3 Min Max Effort for Meters, 2 Min Rest 10 Min AMRAP (partner WOD) 2, 4, 6, 8, etc Cal Row, Thruster, Burpee Over Bar *Saturdays are Partner WOD at our box and I am lucky to have landed on my feet with my regular training partner, Simon, another triathlete, who is this year again attempting the DECCA (thats 10 full 140.6 Triathlons in 10 days)
9:00am – 5 Mile Run Layer up, change shoes and Simon and I were out the door straight after class. My plan was to run 4 miles, he needed 5 so 5 it was. It was one of those beautiful runs where you felt you could run forever. Again, it wasn’t fast, the HR was a bit too high (thanks to that beast of a CF class – that isn’t a complaint, I bloody loved it) but it felt comfortable and we had a really good chat all the way round.
4:15pm – Yoga Practice via DownDog App I am not a yoga fan but I am trying to find some love for it. I had to add something else in today to meet the 75Hard requirements and a bit of yoga seemed like the sensible choice. This was my 2nd session and I liked it a bit more than my first – I guess thats something right. We are going in the right direction at least.
Sun 9:00am – Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class This time I was on the other side of the class and not coaching. In this weather I am not risking outdoor rides os decided to head to the gym and see my favourite Indoor Cycle Instructor – who also instructs Coach By Colour. Not being the one on the stage I didn’t have to think. I didn’t have to talk. I just had to ride so I whacked my FTP up by 10 watts to see how I’d get on and I held it ok. Will be keeping this up the next few weeks while the weather is questionable.
10:00am – 5 Mile Run Again, layer up, change shoes and straight out the door after class for a run. This time Lorraine met me. Its so nice having so many people around me, willing to jump in and train with me. Lorraine is another friend and client and she’s training for her first attempt at competitive OCR so was more than happy to work on her running.
5:00pm – Yoga Practice Again, as the first two sessions were back to back I needed a second session for 75Hard. Yoga practice was about all I was up for and again, I “enjoyed” it a little bit more BUT I cannot breathe that slowly. I guess all that comes with time… I find it ok for the first few minutes but then the voice on the app is saying “and breathe out” and I’ve taken 3 breaths! Is this normal? Do others struggle with this?
*As this was a Goggins event I thought I would use his suggestion in his book ‘Cant Hurt Me’ and file my challenge review as an AAR, After Action Review.
4x4x48 – After Action Report
Establish the Intent:
The 4x4x48 is a training tool that David Goggins (DG) has been using for however many years – I don’t know. I first heard about it while listening to Jessie Itzler’s book ‘Living with a Seal” as DG puts Jessie through it in the book.
Its a simple format: Run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. If you can’t run you do your chosen alternative activity for 45/60 mins instead.
It became an event that people took part in last year but because of work etc I didn’t even consider it. I first talked about doing it this year with my very good friend Chris James in January – as I knew he’d be up for it and probably already mentally signed up. I then sat down to discuss it with Carl, my husband, at the beginning of Feb (as he would have to take over dog walking duties etc, plus it would just be generally disruptive to his weekend) and once it was clear he was on board I was committed.
Up until the start of Lockdown 1 (23/03/21) my running was pretty ok. I was training for my IronMan and had been running a marathon or Ultra a month since September. I’m not a fast runner but I’m pretty good at staying the course and I’m a stubborn bitch so I will get the distance done. However, as soon as Lockdown hit I stopped running as I wore myself out doing so many online classes trying to keep my fitness business going. That has levelled out as this Covid situation has progressed but I hadn’t run more than 22 miles in any one month, with a couple months registering a big fat zero!
My intent for the event was simple… Align with David Goggins (he started at 8pm Friday, which meant 4am Saturday here) despite it being a pig time wise and finish It. And finish it injury free, with minimum recovery required. I had no pacing goals. Speed, Cadence, Pace etc were not my concern. The aim is to run each lap as a zone 2 run to minimise stress.
Outline the Performance
I met my goal and completed every one of the 12 runs. I stuck to the timing schedule and completed the event as prescribed. Run times ranged from 44min18 to 52min56. I achieved the goal of maintaining a zone 2 HR as much as possible. There were instances of walking to either get out of zone 3, or just because I needed to walk. Again, pace was not part of my game plan so this was not an issue.
Report on the Learning
Positives/ What went well
I met the objective. I completed the challenge and am injury free. Recovery is looking good so far, 16 hours post event finish.
I ran every lap on my own, testing my true mental grit. I wanted to see what happens when its just me. No eyes on me, no one to cajole me alone, no one to cheer me on. I realised that all the things I say in relation to mindset, grit etc are really true. I don’t just talk the talk, I do actually walk the walk.I am proud of myself for this.
While I ran every lap on my own I did have the best pit crew at home. Carl made it so that I didn’t have to think about anything other than running and what to do during the down time. He had coffee, tea, baths waiting as required and made everything that little bit easier.
Forming a team with my 3 fellow badasses was a great idea. We quickly became Team NBR, No Bling Required – which sums up our ethos quite well. We were not together physically but supported each other via our WhatsApp group. The pre run check ins and check outs reminded me I was part of something bigger than just my efforts. Although it was a solo mission, we were still there for each other as all good team people are.
Changing up the route where possible (i.e. during daylight hours) helped break the monotony. (It still got boring though)
Finding two different 1 mile loops that started at my house made me feel safer during night ops, but also gave me at least a little bit of choice.
Kit choices were smart. I have done enough other events to know how to dress for running in all weathers I am fully aware that you need to stay warm and that, once you get cold, it is too late. In the cold icy nights, layers are your friend. I also had the right clothing for running in the dead of night plus a second head torch and spare batteries.
Creating an event schedule that tracked the run times, plus essential warm up timings, hydration requirements and carb/protein intakes ensured I didn’t miss anything key, meaning I enhanced my goal of finishing injury free and minimising my recovery time.
Forming an UK event facebook group (Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge UK (Unofficial) https://www.facebook.com/groups/230741878545765 with Chris, which grew quicker than either of us expected, gave us a sense of community and allowed us to connect with other people who actually get shit done, rather than just talk about it. These are the people I want to know and hopefully even learn from.
Deciding to add a fundraising element, as a team, meant that we got to put something good out in to the world. No member of the team usually does any of the events we do (Obstacle Courses, Marathons/Ultras, Triathlons, Sportive’s etc) We do them purely to test ourselves, or just to have fun with our friends in the mud. We are always asked “oh, why are you doing that? Is it for charity?” so we decided to add that element to this challenge. Not because we needed it, but just because we figured that, even if we raise only a few £££, that has to be a good thing. We all know people that have been effected by this past year so chose Mind, the Mental Health Charity as our benefactor. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/liza-chris-pete-4x4x48
Negatives/What went wrong
The week of the event was planned as a Taper week but I got taken down ill on the Monday with a fever and spent the next 3 days in bed unable to work or really even move. I went for a Covid test Wednesday morning but luckily that came back negative. It was left as a down to the wire decision as to whether I would participate or not.
Lack of run training. Having decided for sure a month before the event that I would definitely take part, I ramped up my run training. I broke every rule in the book about how to increase volume etc and my lack of talent as an endurance athlete showed itself after the first 24 hours. Luckily talent was not required as I had the mental grit to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. Coming from a CrossFit background helped the lack of run training not become an issue as my general fitness carried me through.
Felt nauseous on both 8pm runs. I have examined my food diary and the break between the 4pm and 8pm run is when I ate most solid food. It is clear I have not yet built up the endurance athletes ability to consume food… and I def should not have had that extra pizza slice on the Saturday!
Finding a way to make the 3 hours pass in between runs, once you have stretched, foam rolled etc gets tough, especially the 9pm to midnight gap!
Inability to sleep. A lot of people in the group were talking about getting their heads down in between runs, and some saying the key to success was sleep gaps. I managed a grand total of 4 and a half hours sleep from 3am Saturday to 1:30am Monday. This isn’t a massive downer for me as I am able to function on little sleep, if and when required – as long as this isn’t too often. This is because I abide by the main rules all year round – get 8 hours sleep, hydrate like its your job and fuel your body for what you want it to do. Getting these basics right massively improves your chances of success, in all situations.
Provide a Future Outlook
If participating in this event again next year the only real thing I will do differently is ensure that my running is on point way in advance of the event. Now that I have completed it relatively stress free I would take it to the next level, increase the difficulty and the obvious way to do this would be to push the pace and set myself specific targets for each run.
I enjoyed the event the way I did it, for me the challenge was definitely more physical than mental. At no point did I question whether to get moving, ready for the next run… I did have a small negative moment after the penultimate run (8pm) as midnight seemed so far away and I just wanted to go out and get it over with. Having to hang out and wait for 3 hours began to annoy me, a lot!
Knowing that I can mentally handle it the way I did it I would push the envelope and see if I can hold on to that if I make it tougher. I saw the DG changed it up although I only saw his 11th leg, where ehe did 45 minutes of Jumping Jacks… maybe this is an idea to play with. There are many options, IF, I decide to do it again.
Hopefully, if I do do it again, these crazies will be right there with me… maybe even in person if the world sorts itself out.
No! I hear you cry indignantly… and maybe thats the truth but something I see all the time is people sabotaging their chances of success and the reason boils down to ego.
Ok, what do I mean…
You know that person in your fitness class or on the gym floor that always puts a bit too much weight on the bar and then lifts with poor form meaning they are doing more harm than good? Ego.
How about that one person that always goes out way too fast on a run and gets overtaken by those that took it slow and steady? Ego
What about that person who is always saying “oh I would’ve/could’ve done x/y/z but unfortunately I got injured/felt a niggle/ had a stomach issue/it was too hot/too cold? One time, ok, it’s probably genuine but that person who always seems to come armed with excuses? Ego.
If you cannot recognise yourself if these examples I’m betting you can recognise someone you know. And, maybe if you are honest with yourself, you can probably think of at least one time when you have let your ego get the better of you and your training session or event has been crap because of it.
Hell, we’ve all done it. Maybe you loaded the bar a bit too heavy and then skipped a couple of reps every round as your workout is taking way longer than everyone else’s. Maybe you stepped outside to do your run, realised it was really hot but didn’t adjust your pace and burned yourself out.
If we all do a little bit of critical (and honest) analysis, we can probably all identify one time when we let our ego get the better of us and it came back to bite us in the ass.
This week, the worldwide CrossFit community took on one of the most famous Hero Workouts in the world, Murph. It’s a gruelling suckfest of a 1 mile run, 100 Pull Ups, 200 Push Ups and 300 Squats, plus another 1 mile run… oh, and you do it in a weight vest.
I saw so many posts and had so many people comment on my social things like” oh I wish I could but I can’t even do one pull up so I’m out” or “oh it would be amazing to be able to do this but I can’t :0(”
I would point out that there are many, many scaling options (especially this year as more versions of Murph were released to accommodate those without equipment and those that hadn’t been near their gym in 10 weeks). The responses were upsetting! Along the lines of ‘oh scaling is cheating, either do it or don’t do it!’
Now, at this point I would like to make sure you know, I scaled Murph. I always scale Murph. I don’t have a choice as guess what, I can’t do 100 pull ups! I split that fucker down into 20 rounds of 5 Ring Rows (for the pull ups) 10 Push Ups (to a 12″ box as I prefer to do a full push up on an incline, than do them on my knees and I can’t do 200 good push ups on my toes) and 15 Squats.
The point of Murph, and any workout, is not to be exclusive. The point is to challenge yourself to do something tough, something unpleasant and prove to yourself that you are a true bad ass because you finished it.
It shouldn’t be easy and if you’ve adapted it to the point where it’s easy and you’re posting ‘Hey, Murph smashed sub 30 mins, Boom!” (yep, I saw many of these) You missed the point and do you know why? Yep, you guessed it… Ego!
But this is the other way ego can hold you back… you make excuses to not do stuff, or you only do the stuff you know you can do, because really, you are too afraid to try.
It’s pretty obvious that doing something is better than doing nothing and honestly, what is the worst that can happen? You’re a little slower than others you know? You lose your shit mid workout and throw something across the gym (this one is based on personal experience!)? You cry? You scream? You even quit maybe? So what! I truly believe we learn way more in the bad times and in the mistakes than we do when everything is good.
I am the first one to celebrate the wins with my clients whether they are achieving a new pb, learning to take rest days, dropping fat and inches, or fitting into old clothes but I will spend more time talking about the bad times as thats where the big lessons are.
I have this one mantra when it comes to my own training: No one cares. Work harder. Now I know that of course Kerry, my coach, and Toby, Head Coach at my gym, absolutely care about my progress but this mantra just sums up the required absence of ego.
Focus on the lessons. Stop holding yourself back. Unleash your inner bad ass.
Body Comp Stats My weigh in is on a Sunday morning at the end of each week and as we were out the door at 6am on Sunday for an Ultra race I didn’t weigh in!
Mon: 12:15pm 6 Hour Hell Session
Last Monday of each month between now and the IronMan is Hell Session Day 🙂 Workout 1: 6 rounds of 30 cal Ski Erg and 15 Double 10kg DB Front Squats. Rest 1:1. Workout 2: Accumulate 5 Minute Wall Sit (total time to achieve = 7:26) Workout 3: Accumulate 10 Minute in Dead/Active Hang off rig (I broke this into 2 sessions doing the last 4 minutes after workout 5). Attacked this Tabata style hanging for 20 secs, dropping for 10 secs and repeating. Workout 4: Build to a heavy set of 5 Deadlifts and then 5 x 5 @ 80% – this one was cut short as my back wasn’t playing. At 45kg I could feel my back pulling despite good technique so not worth pushing through. Workout 5: 8 Rounds of approx 1km run loop and 15 squats… in my weight vest! This one was done in the pouring rain and one of my favourite workouts as I love running in the rain. That doesn’t mean it was easy, I just really liked it.
Workout 6: 3k Assault Bike + 50 Bar Facing Burpee 6k Assault Bike + 40 Bar Facing Burpee 9k Assault Bike + 30 Bar Facing Burpee 12k Assault Bike + 20 Bar Facing Burpee 15k Assault Bike + 10 Bar Facing Burpee Total time = 1:50:35 This workout was the worst thing my coach, Kerry, has ever programmed for me. I told her as much and she looked very pleased with herself. Maybe if I had done it first it would not have been so bad and pretty much after finishing it I was considering when I would do it again to test that theory!
Tue: Rest Day
Wed: 6:45am Indoor Cycle Class + 2 mile run
Same as usual, coach a 45 min cycle class and head out the door for a run. Not much more to say really 🙂
Wed: 1pm Pull Up and Push Up work
Again, with my friend Amy we worked through 5 as slow as possible Negative Pull Ups, a 10 minute Pull Up EMOM of 3 strict banded reps and a 10 minute Push Up EMOM.
Thu: 9:30 Indoor Cycle Class
Week 5 of my programme sees the return of the Power Pyramid, the first indoor cycle session I ever created and 5 years later it still forms an integral part of the periodised programme. It is a brilliant session for increasing both aerobic and anaerobic fitness and improving recovery. Who doesn’t want that.
Thu: 6:30 Coach by Colour Indoor Cycle Class
Power Pyramid take 2… oh my god I nearly died on the final round but the Coach By Colour system is a great motivator, especially when you are up on a platform with the entire class able to see if you turn down, slow down or give up.
Fri: Rest Day
Another extra rest day this week in preparation for the South Coast 50 on Sunday… a 50km+ ultra race.
Sat: Rest Day
Sun: 8am South Coast 50 Race
5 repping the Forza Fitness Squad today 🙂 It was quite simple… start is on the pier in Littlehampton and, via a self directed route with check points/aid stations roughly every 7 miles, run 33 miles back to Portchester Castle. I had a really lovely day on this run. Unfortunately the boy (My husband, Carl) voluntarily withdrew at mile 23 in Emsworth, but still hit his longest run distance to date so went home happy.
As you can probably tell from these training logs I don’t actually do what most would call traditional training runs, partly because I find them quite boring but mainly because of the way I train I don’t feel the need. I don’t care enough about pace and times to give up my other training (or time at home with the boy and the dog) to hit the pavement. I run for enjoyment enjoy. I can comfortably run decent distances and thats enough for me. I get asked quite a lot about why (and how) I rock up to these endurance events without properly training for them and my answer is that I do train for them, just not how most people expect. If I was more competitive, or cared more, or wanted to focus just on running, I could probably become a much better runner but honestly, who cares. I definitely don’t. In a year, a month, or even a years time will it matter how fast I ran this race? No it won’t, What I will remember is having a brilliant day out with my husband and my friend Claire, who, until this race I hadn’t spent any one on one time with and now know much better.. I am very grateful for this and means more to me than a time.
* I am not including the classes I coach in this training log (apart from my indoor cycle classes) but for reference I also coach 2 Insanity, 2 Boxercise, 1 LBT, 1 Core Strength and 1 Tabata class a week between Tuesday and Friday.
After the back spasm last Wednesday this week was all about protecting myself ready for my run race on Sunday. It was already planned as a de-load week so with the back issue as well things were pretty quiet.
Mon: 12:15pm Total Body Conditioning
As always. Mon is Row, Bike, Ski. The twist this week was that it was to be sprint efforts. 36 minutes of work, 4 minutes spent on each machine at a time varying the sprint time. This is a session I will revisit as it was a little bit wasted on me this week given that I couldn’t give it my all.
Mon: 6:30pm Physio with Louise
First session with the wonderful Louise. Bless her for being available at short notice. I’d gotten into the habit of having semi regular appointments with my sports therapist but for one reason or another I got out of the habit. This last week has taught me that this is something I cannot overlook. One hour of pretty intense therapy on my back, glutes and hamstrings and my mind is finally at ease knowing that there is nothing serious wrong. The diagnosis; extremely tight hamstrings and glutes so even more stretching required. I’m not sure how much more I can do but OK!
Tue: Rest Day
I wouldn’t normally rest on the Tuesday of a race week but given I only had physio last night and coached Insanity in the morning rest was the only sensible option.
Wed: 12:15pm Total Body Conditioning
After a chat with Kerry, forever looking out for me and putting out the sensible suggestions it was agreed I would forego PT this week, so as not to risk anything post physio and pre race, and just come in for some modified conditioning. I started with a 10 min consistent Row and then moved between intervals on the Assault Bike and various mobility stretches.
Wed: 6:45am Indoor Cycle Class
Week 7 of the programme and it’s Climbing week. Exactly as it sounds, 40 minutes of a variety of hills, presented in different ways. One of my favourite weeks as I am all about the climbing and not as strong with the speed stuff.
Wed: 1:15pm Week 1 Row Programme
On 18th January 2020 CrossFit Iron Duke are hosting their second charity row event. This time it’s The 2 Million Meter Row… teams of 4 people per rower, each team has to row 100,000 split into 25k per person. How we split the meters is up to us as long as each person does their bit. To support us in the build up to the event the coaches are releasing a weekly programme. Week 1 is 3 x 1000m, with 3 minutes rest. The goal is to be consistent with both pace and stroke rate. I took this really easy but my consistency was on point 🙂
Thu: 9:30am Indoor Cycle Class (with MyZone)
Second time for Climbing Week. Having the MyZone screen in the studio definitely helps with the effort levels. A lot of the guys in my class embraced it and bought the MyZone heart rate monitor. The screen shows everyones Heart Rate, Calories and Effort levels… I have some quite competitive people in my class, it makes it interesting for sure. What didn’t help was dropping a 20kg plate on my left foot during a session with my first PT client of the day. It landed directly on my big toe and the pain was pretty intense. I didn’t really want to know how bad it was so just got on with my day without removing my socks or shoes.
Thu: 6:30pm Coach By Colour Indoor Cycle Class
Week 5 for my evening lot which means the Power Pyramid. I talked about this in last weeks log so will not repeat myself. I did finally take my sock off for the first time after the class and it wasn’t tooooo bad. The nail was split and the right half was pretty black. I cut the nail down as low as possible but I got next to no sleep due to the pain!
Fri: Rest Day
I had planned to hit a Conditioning Class today but my morning ran away with me and food became a priority so I skipped class in favour of lunch. Given I had plans to run a Marathon, or possibly an Ultra on Sunday I wasn’t at all concerned about taking an extra rest day. Especially as my Friday morning is spent at Nuffield Chichester coaching Insanity, LBT and Tabata pretty much back to back!
Sat: Rest Day
Sun: Festive Frolic Run, by On The Whistle
I won’t go into massive detail about the race here as I will write a separate race report blog but I will say I achieved my goal of a marathon plus, (6 laps equalled roughly 28 miles).
*I am not going to include the classes that I coach in my training log but for reference per week between Tuesday and Friday I coach 3 indoor cycle , 2 Insanity, 2 Boxercise, 1 LBT and 1 Tabata class .
Mon: Rest Day
As a rule Saturday is my one rest day but given that I did 8 days on the bounce due to the weekend being the last Tough Mudder Classic weekend of the year Monday was my well earned rest day. I had PT clients and other than that I took Cracker Dog for a long 2 hour-ish walk and that, as they say, was that.
Tues: 1pm CrossFit class
Now, I want to make one thing clear. As soon as I booked my IM, after my husband and my parents, the next person I contacted was my coach. I asked if we could have a chat the next day and we sat down and discussed how I could adapt my time and the workouts at CrossFit Iron Duke to make it viable to continue to train there. So yes, get used to it, my training is going to still involve a lot of CrossFit.
This class involved a deceiving brutal partner workout containing Wall Balls, Push Ups, Double Unders and Pull Ups. My triceps were shot after two days at Tough Mudder pulling people up Everest and the like so my poor partner, Ben, had to deal with me being shockingly slow on the push ups – sorry again Ben!
Weds: 1pm PT Session
I have been working with my coach, Kerry for almost two years now and I get a lot of surprise from people who wonder why a coach needs a coach. I find this really shocking but am saving this subject for a future blog.
This week was another strength week, focussed on building lower body strength and power. We are both still very mindful that my cracked/broken rib(s) are healing so there are a few things we are staying away from but there was definite progress this week when throwing the 50kg D Ball on and off the jerk blocks so obviously things aren’t as bad as they were. Other activities included a lot of DB Romanian Deadlifts and DB Walking Lunges.
Thurs: 11:15am Barbell Club
Work has conspired against me for a lot of this year and that, teamed with “the rib” has meant that I haven’t been able to make Barbell Club so now that I am free for a while I am going to go. Again, this may seem like an odd choice for someone training for an IM but I have already explained that I refuse to just run, bike, swim and there is more than one way to skin a cat! Barbell Club focusses only on the two Olympic lifts, Snatch and Clean & Jerk and this week was all about maxing out your Snatch. Having been away for a while and losing a lot of confidence, I maxed out at a not so impressive 25kg.. But, I got to throw a barbell around and I got a thumbs up from Harry on two occasions (if you know him, you’ll know!) so I’ll take it.
Thurs: 12:15pm Threshold Heart Rate Test
To help build my endurance I am currently focussing on working out while keeping my heart rate low. I mainly use my indoor cycle classes for this work. The one thing I haven’t done for a long time is do a test to figure out actually what my threshold heart rate is. As I sold my turbo trainer a couple of years ago I decided that it would be a good idea to do this test on the most disgusting piece of equipment I love to hate, the assault bike! It is now Sunday and the memory of this 30 minute max effort test is still haunting me but I did it and now I just have to figure out how to change the heart rate zones on my Garmin to most effectively use the data.
Fri: 12:15pm Total Body Conditioning Class
I was actually feeling more than a little beaten up while coaching so in between my three classes in the morning I messaged Kerry to ask if the TBC class was featuring all the burpees again (last Friday had been burpee frikkin central with a different type of burpee in every section of the class). I really didn’t think I would be able to cope with more of the same and luckily, no burpees were programmed and no Liza’s were harmed for asking such a question ( still not sure how I got away with it!) However there were 10kg Plate Clusters, 200m Sprints, Assault Bike and Ski Erg efforts, Single Arm DB Clean and Jerk (now they take some concentration!) and Box Steps. We (being me and the two other girls in my section) managed to put a smile on everyone’s faces with our synchro box step skills so yay for making people happy while training our asses off!
Sat: Rest Day
Rest Day activities included a long dog walk and watching Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet Ballet because, you know, balance! I did find it amusing how surprised people were, that don’t know me well, that I was going to the ballet. Tough Mudder one week, Ballet the next and just for balance we’re back to Tough Mudder next Saturday for the final UK event, the Urban 5k in Clapham.
Sun: 9:30 Forza Fitness Squad Strong Girl Sunday Funday
This started with a couple of the girls in my squad after I was moaning about never being able to box. I coach 2 Boxercise Classes a week, boxing features heavily in the sessions with some of my clients. I love it but I never got to put the gloves on myself. These girls offered to come over and put the pads on for me and from that grew our Sunday Funday session. It’s one hour of boxing and whatever else anyone fancies which could be running, battleropes, rope climbs, you name it. It is very democratic; we all write the work outs and everyone that joins us has to add at least two songs to the playlist.
It’s been 4 days since I put it out into the world that I am doing an Ironman and already the response has been interesting.
Originally I wasn’t going to go public until after the event. I prefer to talk about what I’ve done, rather than what I am going to do. Hence why I’d had this booked for well over a month before anyone other than my inner most inner circle knew anything about it. It was only a chat with Mr Chris James that convinced me to do the blog thing so here we are (thats what I get for having a branding expert in said circle!) He pointed out that people might relate to my challenge and find my journey interesting and indeed, that already seems to be the case.
So far though, people that have spoken to me about it fall into two very distinct tribes:
Those that have done an Ironman before. This tribe have only ever said things about how much time I have. This is especially true of those in this tribe that know me well and are either trained by or train with me.
Those that have not done an Ironman before. This tribe is a lot less positive and the general vibe is that I have no time at all to get ready. That is not to say they are not encouraging, it is just interesting that the opinions are clearly divided.
Right now, I am more tempted to listen to those that have done one but I guess we will see which is right 🙂
One of the first things I knew I had to do as part of my IM journey is lose a bit of fat and get as lean as possible.
I am by no means big but by making myself as lean as possible I give myself another key for success, alongside my training.
This was one of the things I discussed with my coach, Kerry, in that initial meeting. Literally the week before I had signed up for the IM I had set new goals for all of my lifts and was going to focus on improving all things barbell related. Funny how things can change so quickly! All that had to go out the window and the focus now has to be using lighter weights and moving faster.
Anyway, back to the fat loss bit. I had my daily macro targets, I had the different targets for different days depending on how active I was on each day so now it was time to invest in the paid version of MyFitnessPal and get to work.
In my first 6 weeks this is the change in my body composition:
Weight: -1.5kg
Fat %: – 2.8%
Muscle %: – +1.8%
And, this is the change in my measurements:
Bust: -1 inch
Back: -+/- 0
Waist: – 1.5 inch
Stomach: – 1 inch
Hips: – 1.5 inch
Not a bad start, I still need to lose about another 4kg in total but it’s careful and slow process as quick weight loss usually means muscle loss and my goal is fat loss and becoming lean. It isn’t just about the number on the scale, nor should it ever be.
Although it’s careful and slow, it isn’t complicated. Companies like Slimming World and Weight Watchers make it complicated but they are businesses and their main aim is to make money. They thrive on repeat business and sadly, their businesses are booming. We all know roughly what we should and shouldn’t eat. We are generally all aware of foods that are nutritionally good and those that bring us little or no benefit.
If you want to lose some fat and change your body composition for the better you just need to do the following… and it’s all free! It’s simple, you can have the things you want, nothing is off limits, you just can’t have everything you want. Then you can take that money you give to these crappy “weight loss” companies and use it for something good.
Figure out your calorie deficit (read my previous blog post for more info)
Download the MyFitnessPal app and set up a free account
Track your daily consumption and be honest about it
Keep your daily macros at roughly 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein
Make sure that less than 10% of your daily calories come from junk food and things that have little or no nutritional benefit.
Give yourself a break if you have a day where it all goes wrong. Forget about it and make sure the next meal you have puts you back on track!
It really is that simple. No, it isn’t always easy but for the general population, it isn’t anymore complicated than this.
I’ll check back in in a month and update you with my progress 🙂