Links Beyond Well -- Eggs, Travel and Protein, 'The Doubler'

Todays reads help clarify how to decipher the language of eggs, offer some great insights on travel, and look further into the roles of protein in the diet and how we can find the best sources.  Enjoy!

The Truth About Free Range, Organic, Cage Free Eggs Nutrition – Which Ones Should You Buy And Are They Safe Raw? -- Scott Kustes, Fitness Spotlight

"A pastured egg from a chicken eating something very close to the primal version of a chicken diet is our baseline, not the conventional egg. It’s not that pastured eggs are packed with more vitamins. It’s that conventional eggs have less nutrition."

More on eggs ...

The Conscientious Omnivore: Eggs -- Whole9Life

" “cheap” eggs are not really cheap when you factor in all of the hidden costs to the environment, animal welfare, society and your health. In addition, reading and interpreting the claims made on an egg carton is a confusing and complex task. Labels like “vegetarian fed”, “all natural” and “cage-free” may sound healthier, but often these stamps are worth less than the ink with which they’re printed. "

20 Things I've Learned From Traveling Around The World For Three Years -- Gary Arndt Guest Post on The Blog Of Tim Ferriss

"8) You Don't Need A Lot Of Stuff: Condensing my life down from a 3,000 sq/ft house to a backpack was a lesson in knowing what really matters. I found I could get by just fine without 97% of the things I had sitting around my home. Now, if I purchase something, I think long and hard about it because anything I buy I will have to physically carry around. Because I have fewer possessions, I am more likely to buy things of higher quality and durability."

*Also see 8 Exotic Destinations You Can Afford for some travel ideas--a great way to spend some time away from the daily grind.

Does Eating More Protein Reduce Fat and Increase Muscle Mass? A Paleo Diet Advantage -- Don, Primal Wisdom

"Many people notice a decrease in fat mass and an increase in lean mass when they increase the protein and decrease the carbohydrate content of the diet. This results from the hormonal effects of these nutrients, which are ignored by those who assert that 'a calorie is a calorie.'"

I procured a freezer full of grassfed beef straight from the farmer who raised it via eatwild.com

 Eat Wild -- eatwild.com provides:

• Comprehensive, accurate information about the benefits of raising animals on pasture.
• A direct link to local farms that sell all-natural, delicious, grass-fed products. 
• Support for farmers who raise their livestock on pasture from birth to market and who actively promote the welfare of their animals and the health of the land.

Can Geeking Out on Energy Pathways Improve Your Performance and Sex Life?

This post discusses how our body uses energy during exercise, the primary ways it replaces energy in order to keep moving, and some of the dietary-, health-, and body composition-related implications of exercise at various intensities.
Estimated read time: 9 minutes + videos

If you have a background in exercise physiology, have been to a level one certification, or remember the CFJ article What is Fitness, then this discussion of energy pathways will probably look familiar to you and hopefully provide some further insights and topics for reflection.

If you don’t have any interest in physiology, then this may bring back nightmares of your biology or biochemistry classes.

The graph below shows the three primary energy pathways and ~ how much they contribute during activities of various intensities and duration.

Graph courtesy of What is Fitness

Before we get our elbows dirty, let’s preface with the agreement that we are almost never using exclusively one energy pathway. Rather, at any given time, we are using multiple energy pathways/fuel sources in various amounts dictated by the type, duration, and intensity of activity.

We’ll start with short duration high intensity and work out way to long duration, lower intensity.

The phosphagen (a.k.a. ATP-CP) energy system can produce the greatest power outputs, but it is depleted rapidly.

WHAT THE BUNS ARE ATP?

ATP (Adenosine Tri-Phosphate) is the energy currency of life. It is a molecule containing 3 phosphates, and the bond to each of those phosphates releases energy when it broken (when ATP releases energy, a phosphate is released and it becomes Adenosine Di-Phosphate – now containing 2 phosphates).

WHAT ABOUT CP?

CP (Creatine-Phosphate) a.k.a PCr (Phosphacreatine) is another high energy molecule that can rapidly replenish ATP by donating it’s phosphate to ADP.

CP + ADP = ATP + Creatine

There is only enough ATP in the body to fuel a few seconds of activity, or to sprint ~ 15-20 yards. There Is about 3-5 times as much PCr stored in the body, and as such, the ATP-CP system [if running exclusively] could fuel about 10 seconds of activity or sprint just under 100 yards.

Note: the primary logic behind creatine supplementation is in that if we are able to store a greater amount of PCr in the body, then we could maintain maximal efforts for an extra few seconds (or perhaps an extra few pounds or an extra couple reps). Hence, studies have found creatine monohydrate to be useful to performance in short duration activity, resistance training, and power sports, but relatively useless to aerobic/endurance exercise.

Ruth The Farmer Hooks Me Up

I love Farmer's Markets.  Fruit and Vegetables taste so much fresher when they are picked the day (or occasionally a few days before) they are sold than if they are sitting on a supermarket counter for a week.  Local food doesn't have to travel as far and leaves less of a carbon footprint on the planet.  The prices are comparable and sometimes even better than at your local grocer.  And there's something really special about meeting and talking with the person who grows your food.  (Maybe not quite as special as growing your own ... still very cool)

Meet Ruth:

It's 12 o'clock, do you know where your food is growing?

Ruth has been a key part of the Eglin/Fort Walton Beach Farmer's Market since 1982.  She brings her fresh produce, honey, and canned goods to the Farmer's Market at the Fair Grounds off Beal pkwy from ~0630 to 1200 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  She and her late husband began Farming when he retired from the Air Force.  After he passed away, she continued the tradition with her children and now grandson comes out to help.  Ruth doesn't like chemicals and uses very minimal amounts when she grows her crops.  Many small farmers don't see a financial benefit from going through the high expense and long process of being certified as "organic".  However, when nutrient content of fresh local fruits and vegetables are compared to "supermarket organic" the local foods will almost always win.

I found this Farmer's Market the first week I got to Florida with a simple google search for "Farmers Market near Eglin Air Force Base".  The first day I went out on my motorcycle because I was still waiting for my car to arrive from my last base.  I remember trying to stuff as many zucchinis, sweet potatoes, and peppers as I could fit in my backpack and riding back to billeting with a big smile, thinking "I wish I didn't have to cook these in the hotel microwave."

If you're in the Fort Walton Beach area, go meet Ruth on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.  If you're outside of the area, do some sleuthing and find a market near you.  The food tastes better! and if we don't support our small farmers, I fear it won't be long until corn and soy are the only "vegetables" in our stores.

Today's bounty.  Which goes in the belly first: the turnips or their greens?

Debbie Does ... Nutrition?

Uhh Ohh ... the media is at it again ... 

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 Pounds -- Madison Park, CNN Health

"For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals ... On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months."

My take ...

Links Beyond Well -- Women And Children Lift Weights, Sleep, Training Wisdom, And More ...

Greetings!  A lot has happened over the past two months.  I moved on from my position at Ramstein, I visited home to Oregon for some excellent R&R (hiking, camping, farmers markets, beaches, parks, workouts at CrossFit Excellence, and lots of time with the family), I moved on and began my new job/assignment in the hospital at Eglin Air Force Base and have also begun studying for a C.S.C.S, working on a ton of household projects getting settled in, and am attempting to learn to garden.  Feel free to donate to my compost pile ...

I haven't written or read as much as I usually like to; however, I have a piece in the works discussing the various metabolic fuel systems, how they work during what types of exercise and why that matters.  Keep an eye out for that in the next couple weeks.  In the mean time, the articles below made it through my filter as being particularly interesting/useful and I'd like to pass them on to you.  Enjoy!

Crater Lake, Oregon

Should women lift heavy or light weights? -- Jill Coleman, Metabolic Effect

"There should be no fear of bulking up when fat-burning is being maximized."

The Big Sleep -- Stephan Guyenet, Whole Health Source

• "Lack of sleep appears to predispose to obesity and diabetes, and probably sets us up for the Big Sleep down the line."
• "Keep your room as dark as possible during sleep. It also helps to avoid bright light, particularly in the blue spectrum, before bed (4). "Soft white" bulbs are preferable to full spectrum in the evening. If you need to use your computer, dim the monitor and adjust it to favor warm over cool colors. For people who sleep poorly due to anxiety, meditation before bed can be highly effective."

*Also see Stephan's clarification of the data from the study, here

On a similar thread, my sister and I experimented with some de-stressing techniques while I was visiting home to Oregon last month.  Here is what we came up with:





Trainer Tells All -- What I have Learned About Health and Fitness -- Mike OD, Fitness Spotlight

"Today I just wanted to share some of the things this 36yr old has personally learned about all things health and fitness….in no certain order…

• There is no such thing as spot reduction…but there is a great business in selling that concept (Ab-reclining chair anyone?)
• It’s a lot easier to stay fit and strong….once you get there
• If I had to pick one sport for a child to start with it would be gymnastics, the strength/speed/balance/body control they will learn can be applied to any sport down the road."

What do fasted training and low carb athletes have in common?

I saw this excellent blog post by Martin Berkhan over at Lean Gains and my thought-track went on a tangent which led me to writing this post.  I've been meaning to write a series of posts on our fuel systems and our carbohydrate needs for various activity levels and goals for quite some time.  Unfortunately, a perfectionist mindset held me back from tackling such a large [and somewhat ambiguous] beast.  It has to start somewhere ...

Fasted Training For Superior Insulin Sensitivity And Nutrient Partitioning -- Martin Berkhan, Lean Gains
A few highlights:

• "When exercising at higher intensities than 65% VO2Max, fat oxidation is progressively reduced and becomes almost non-existent at 82-87% VO2Max.
  
• C [fed/carbohydrate group] saw a greater increase in VO2Max ...  C improved VO2Max more as they could train harder due to providing the proper substrates for fueling the activity. On the other hand, F [fasted training group] became progressively more efficient at oxidizing fat at higher levels of intensity as evidenced by the increase in FATmax. This is, in turn, could be explained by the substantial increase in the fat burning enzymes FAT/CD36 and CPT1.
• The fasted training group saw significant improvements in all parameters relevant to improving body composition and health [glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, GLUT4/AMPK increased, markers for fat metabolism, body composition], where as the fed training group saw comparatively lackluster results here."

My notes: There is a lot of neat stuff in that post and in the study's linked.  Read between the lines: fasted training appears to improve markers related to insulin sensitivity, health, and body composition.  However, the fed athletes appeared to be capable of a higher work output (while they also gained a little wieght).

Should I eat those potatoes?

I'd like to point a few things out:

• At rest or low intensities, we can use fat as our primary energy source.
• Ketogenic diets and physical performance recounts a few examples of groups and individuals who survived for a year or more on a diet mostly or entirely devoid of carbohydrates--as well as presenting a study where cyclists improved their performance after adapting to a strict protein and fat only diet.
• On the other hand, fat is metabolized to ATP slower relative to carbohydrate and cannot be burned anaerobically.  At high intensities, we are using primarily carbohydrate for fuel.  Period.
• With clever diet modifications and time to adapt, our body can begin to burn greater amounts of fat at various exercise intensities (which spares glycogen), however, we will still be burning some glycogen/glucose. 

Links Beyond Well -- Get Mobile

If you've been following the fitness industry the last few years, you are probably aware of a growing body of evidence suggesting that static stretching before workouts does not prevent injuries and may actually hurt physical performance (see Phys Ed: Does Stretching Before Running Prevent Injuries  for a decent review).  However, it's reasonable to propose that if you are fighting against your own muscles to get in proper positions, you are wasting valuable energy.  The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (USACHPPM --go military acronyms!) Physical Training Injury Prevention Toolbox also reviewed much of the (lack of) current research on stretching muscles before or after exercise and summarized:

"Studies to date have not specifically targeted individuals with limited flexibility. Studies show that stretching can increase flexibility, although these suggest that the most efficient timing of stretching may be when muscles are warm (possibly after exercise). Additionally, epidemiological data indicate that both extremes of flexibility (too much or too little) are associated with increased injury rates."

Conversely, performing a dynamic warmup and gradually increasing heart rate, body temperature, and mobility through actual movement before a workout can be very useful to prepare for certain ranges of motion.

Athletes commonly compensate for tight shoulder musculature by hyper-extending the lumbar -- not under Mads' watch.

From the New York Times article (Phys Ed: Does Stretching Before Running Prevent Injuries) above:

"The best science suggests that an ideal preworkout routine “consists of a very easy warm-up, followed by a gradual increase in intensity and then dynamic stretching,” he said. Dynamic stretching, or exercises that increase your joints’ range of motion via constant movement, does not seem to invoke the inhibitory reflex of static stretching" 

Additionally, mobility can be an all day endeavor -- work on it day and night, not just before or after your workout.  The below resources are full of excellent articles and videos explaining concepts of anatomy, stretching, mobility, stability, and more.  Spend some time and explore your mobility.


Thames CrossFit Mobility -- Great articles and videos on mobility, stretching, nutrition and more from London-based Jami Tikkanen.

"We all know to take our hips back as we descend to a squat or a deadlift but the problems arise when we run out of space at the hips. This is the point where most of us start to push our knees forward or lose our lumbar curve (but then again, we didn’t like our knees and intervertebral discs anyway, did we?)."

Mobility Wod -- San Fransisco-based Kelly Starrett puts out a daily video demonstrating high quality mobility movements and bonus entertainment.

"Movement restrictions happen within the context of the entire kinetic chain. In an overhead squat for example, tight hips will challenge even the best shoulder positioning. Or conversely, restricted shoulders will force greater movement demands on the hips. The solution?

More of everything."