Training is going great! I feel very strong on the water.
We had some testing done last week with our physiologist. Since December 2009 I have lowered my body fat from 10.3% to 9.3% and have increased my total power output on the arm crank test from 29.0 kJ to 31.4 kJ on a 45 sec max effort test.
Hopefully this will make me go FASTER!!
Cheers!
Richard
[Richard Dober is a two-time Olympian and Chiropractor from Trois Rivieres, QC and has been a member of the Canadian National Kayak Team for over 7 years. In 2008 Richard placed 1st at several World competitions in Europe.]
Much of Beta-Alanine’s effects come through boosting the synthesis of an intramuscular dipeptide (two amino acids) called carnosine. To function effectively, muscle cells rely on the powerful intracellular buffer carnosine to avoid becoming acidic (low pH) during exercise. If you want your muscles to remain strong and maintain powerful contractions, they need to be in an optimal pH range. If they don’t and the pH drops below that optimal level, you have significantly less strength and fatigue more quickly.
You know this is happening when you feel that familiar burn in your muscles or even when you’re lifting heavy and reach muscular failure. Muscle pH has dropped and it’s largely a result of an increase in hydrogen ions (H+) which build up when you break down the high energy compound ATP during exercise. The breakdown of ATP and the subsequent rise in H+ concentrations occurs in all of our energy systems but is most prevalent in an energy system called glycolysis which also produces lactic acid. Lactic acid releases H+ ions, contributing further to the pool of H+ that’s filling your muscles from the breakdown of ATP.
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Get Big-Get Strong-Get Fast
How strong are you? I’m too strong! -Gerry Bertire, “Remember the Titans”
Starting Phase #2 Get Strong
While taking into consideration that due to an extremely successful Hypertrophy phase you now have cut the sleeves off your t-shirts and have hung several mirrors throughout the house, resulting in a high level of self motivation to begin phase #2. Get Strong or “Maximal Strength Training” will require you to increase your load. In doing this you will be required to set you repetition goal to 10, while using a weight that is much closer to your single rep max, approximately 85%. Moreover this may appear to be a barbaric task to accomplish and personally I believe this phase will require extreme discipline along with a superb self motivational mind set.
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A vacation can do wonders for reducing stress levels, but it can derail a healthy fitness regimen. Even some of the most die-hard exercisers find it difficult to stick with a workout program when away from home. Sure, many have good intentions. They may even pack their workout attire. Unfortunately, their gear never makes it out of the suitcase until they’re back home.
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Creatine is a nitrogen-containing compound naturally produced in the body and/or consumed in the diet from red meat and seafood and derived from reactions involving the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. Skeletal muscle creatine content is dependent on muscle fiber composition. Type II muscle fibers have high levels of free creatine (Cr) and phosphocreatine (PCr) which is needed to resynthesize adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and maintain adenosine triphosphate (ATP) during muscle contraction (i.e. PCr + ADP ATP + Cr). Intramuscular creatine stores range from 120-160 mmol/kg dry muscle with approximately 60% being PCr. Creatine supplementation increases intramuscular total creatine (i.e. Cr and PCr) and the increase in PCr may possibly allow one to train with a greater volume of resistance-exercise leading to muscle accretion. In addition to its primary role as a component of high-energy phosphate metabolism, creatine supplementation may increase muscle hypertrophy possibly through an increase in satellite cell activity, cellular hydration status, hormonal proliferation, myogenic transcription factors such as MRF-4 and myogenin or by reducing protein catabolism.
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With the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games now a glowing, golden memory, the eyes of the country inevitably turn to the next generation of Canadian athletes. As we all know, being an elite athlete means intense physical and psychological preparation, not to mention personal and financial sacrifice. With so much invested in their performances, it makes sense that top athletes also pay close attention to how they fuel their bodies.
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If you’re a runner, chances are you’ve been told that years of hitting the pavement are tough on the knees. And for fitness fanatics with sore knees, rest – not more exercise – is usually recommended for a speedy recovery.
Turns out both suggestions are outdated. More and more research points to exercise being good for your knees. And in some cases, exercise is just what the doctor ordered to get rid of persistent knee pain.
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Now that the 2010 Winter Games are over, many people are confronting the effects of Olympic celebrations on both their waistlines and energy levels.
If you’re one of the many planning to put yourself on a program of healthy eating and exercise to shed extra party pounds and restore energy levels, keep the following dieting pitfalls in mind.
Not getting enough sleep
Sleep is an important part of your healthy lifestyle or weight-loss program (aim for seven to eight hours per night). Sleep is when your body repairs and rejuvenates itself, so if you deprive it of sleep, you’ll be more likely to be sluggish and unmotivated in your daily activities. Lack of sleep can also lower your metabolism, which means your body will burn fewer calories and therefore slow the weight-loss process.
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As an athlete it is extremely important to give your body lots of rest after a long rigorous and physical season. However this can be harder than you may think. Most dedicated athletes are too pig headed to get the proper rest required to readjust the body’s needs for recovery. Personally I believe a week is a minimal staple that should be used to put your body and mind on pace for maximal recovery.
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One of the hardest things to do as an athlete is to stay motivated on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. It can often be hard to keep your focus due to distractions of work or the sacrifices we all make in our lives to further our training and reach our goals.
There are always those days when you don’t feel like going to the gym, track, pool, arena or whatever facility your sport requires of you that day. There are always going to be the days when you are there and cannot seem to get your head into it, where you cheat your last few reps or you dont push yourself as hard as you know you should. It is at these times when you need to step back and take a serious look at what it is you are doing and why, To find out what what is fueling your competitive engine. Sometimes it is as simple as remembering coming up short at your last contest, Or remembering that feeling after a race when you thought… Did I go as hard as I possibly could have, Did I leave everything I had out there? This is the simplest form of motivation sometimes. Other times you might decide to look at some of the results of your fellow competitors and tell yourself that there is no way that person should have beaten you the way they did. To read published print media articles about your event and tell yourself that it will be your name in the headlines the next time. Perhaps it is finding some influential character in your sport and reading through some of their old quotes or articles they have produced.
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Training is going great! I feel very strong on the water.
