Ask An Olympian: Can Food Really Improve Your Athletic Performance?

Like with everything else, when you reach a plateau you must go into reset mode and it’s really not that complicated – just hard to maintain until you’re able to live it and breathe it. Simply put, if you want to become faster and stronger, pay attention to the foods that you eat. Achieving and maintaining the proper levels of the right nutrients is the key to peak performance. So what are some of the main nutrients necessary to build and maintain a strong body?

Luke Walton, USA Olympic Rower suggests “HYDRATION is key to proper nutrition. There are too many positive effects of water to list here. Flushing toxins is one big one! Hydrating muscles, cells, etc. Water also aids proper digestion and absorption”.

Walton also suggest healthy fats. The kind found in avocado, coconut oil, flax seed oils, nuts, etc. “Too many people try to avoid fat completely and that is a terrible thing to do, especially for endurance athletes”.

Calcium is probably the most important nutrient for an athlete and calcium intake should be monitored by those who train seriously and consistently. Calcium is essential in the growth, maintenance, and repair of bone tissue, maintenance of blood calcium levels, regulation of muscle contraction, nerve conduction, and normal blood clotting. So it’s no shocker that low levels of calcium can increase the risk of low bone mineral density and stress fractures. And recent research shows that male endurance athletes of all ages experience testosterone deficits that can also cause osteoporosis. Say what?! Ok so let’s make sure we stock up on those dairy foods like milk, yogurt, and cheese, as well as dried beans and leafy green vegetables. Dairy intolerant? Then make sure you find the right supplements.

Iron is an essential nutrient and part of hemoglobin, which is a protein in the blood that transports oxygen to all the cells in your body. The brain has a big demand for oxygen. Shocker! That being said, without proper levels of iron in your system, you will find it hard to concentrate and will start feeling tired and irritable. Inadequate iron levels can decrease the delivery of oxygen to tissues and therefore reduce the capacity of muscles to use oxygen for the production of energy. Athletes have higher iron needs which puts them at a higher risk to experience iron deficiency (did you know that iron is lost in sweat?). So to improve your iron levels, be sure to increase your intake of iron-rich foods like red meat, rice, wheat, oats, nuts, dark leafy greens, dried fruit, beans, iron-fortified cereals, breads and pasta.

Here is a great article on Blood Iron Levels and Athletic Performance article by the Inside Tracker you might find helpful.

Proper levels of Protein will help maintain a good metabolism rate, good recovery times and will decrease susceptibility to infections. Interesting fact: endurance athletes need more protein than strength athletes because endurance athletes use protein primarily for maintaining aerobic metabolism, while the strength athletes use it to increase tissue-repair needs. In short, protein helps replenish depleted energy stores and prepares your body for its next workout, and in case of a protein deficit the body will take its needed dose from lean tissue. Not good! So make sure you get your daily protein requirements. Animal protein sources include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy products but if you’re a vegetarian get them from plant-based sources such as beans, peas, nuts, and soy products. I mean, who doesn’t like peanut butter?

Photo: Anna Mos, amosportfolio.com

Article Source: http://lordwallington.com/ask-an-olympian-can-food-really-improve-your-athletic-performance/

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Menstrual Cycle and Athletic Performance

How you store and use carbohydrate depends on your cycle.

After British tennis star Heather Watson was knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round last month, she blamed her poor play on "girl things." That sparked a series of articles in the British press on a generally neglected topic: the effect of menstrual cycle on athletic performance. The BBC's take has some interesting details, like Paula Radcliffe's negative experiences with a drug called norethisterone that's sometimes used to delay periods, and the fact that she subsequently set her first marathon world record on the first day of her period (with no drugs).

I decided to take a look at this topic for my column in the Globe and Mail this week. There has actually been quite a bit of research on the effects of menstrual cycle on endurance performance, but with few definitive conclusions, in part because the effects seem to be highly individual. One key point: it's not just about the period itself – hormone levels vary throughout the cycle, with effects on various things like temperature regulation.

The most interesting detail to me was the effects of estrogen-to-progesterone ratio, which flips halfway through the cycle, on carbohydrate, protein, and fatmetabolism:

[Dr. Andrew] Bosch [of the University of Cape Town] and his colleague Dr. Tanja Oosthuyse of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa have found that these hormone fluctuations hamper pre-exercise carbohydrate storage during the first menstrual phase, and may compromise carbohydrate and protein availability during prolonged exercise during the second phase.

That means that carbohydrate loading the day before exercise is more important for female endurance athletes during the first phase, say Oosthuyse. During the second phase, it becomes more important to refuel during prolonged exercise, primarily with carbohydrates, but perhaps also with protein if you’re out for more than a few hours.

Moreoever, there may be a "sweet spot" a day or two before ovulation where a spike in estrogen leads to optimal endurance performance. Oosthuyse and Bosch found some hints of this effect in a cycling time trial study.

Here's my rough sketch of a figure (based on a graph Ooosthuyse sent me) showing how the hormones vary, and where the different performance effects take place (this figure didn't make it into the newspaper article, which is I'm including this highly artistic sketch):

By Alex Hutchinson

Article Reference: http://www.runnersworld.com/womens-running/menstrual-cycle-and-athletic-performance

Picture Reference: http://www.robertharding.com/

Time of Day Affects Athletic Performance

Researchers have found that an individual’s personal circadian rhythms can affect the physiological processes that are integral to athletic performance. Based on their natural circadian rhythms, athletes were classified into either “larks”, those who rise and sleep early, “owls”, those who rise and sleep late, or intermediates. Larks and intermediates hit peak performance levels six hours after they woke up while owls peaked 11 hours after waking up (1).

Larks and intermediates have better athletic performances about 6 hours after they wake up while owls best perform 11 hours after waking up​.

20 field hockey players were selected as a representative group with fitness levels and circadian rhythms matching the general population (25% larks, 50% intermediates, and 25% owls). Researchers conducted cardiovascular testing six times a day. Across individuals, there was an average performance difference of 11.2% between the lowest and highest performance. Lark and intermediate performance changes ranged from 7% to 10% whereas owl performances had an average range of 26% (1).

The larger variance in owls may explain why a majority of elite athletes are larks (2). Even a difference of 1% in performance can drastically change results. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics a 1% increase in the performance of the fourth place competitor in the men’s 100 m sprint would have resulted in a silver medal. A 1% increase in the women’s 400 m spring and 400 m freestyle would have given the fourth place a gold.

Larks, intermediates, and owls performed best at difference times of the day. However, when the data was viewed based on each individual’s biological clock rather than standardized time, larks and intermediates had nearly identical performance curves. This suggests that sleep and waking times have a relatively small effect on performance and a physiological condition controls performance (1).

A possible explanation is that larks have higher cortisol levels in the morning and more variation in cortisol levels throughout the day whereas owl have lowered cortisol levels in the morning and static cortisol levels throughout the day (3).

Article Source: http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/news/time-of-day-affects-athletic-performance#.VOmCfrOUd2c

Sources:

1. ScienceDirect (2015). The Impact of Circadian Phenotype and Time since Awakening on Diurnal Performance in Athletes. Retrieved January 31, 2015 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221401639X

2. Br. J. Sports Med. (2012). Sleep quality evaluation, chronotype, sleepiness and anxiety of Paralympic Brazilian athletes: Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Retrieved January 31, 2015 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221401639X

3. Biol. Psychol. (1991) Morningness-eveningness and early-morning salivary cortisol levels. Retrieved January 31, 2015 from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221401639X

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The Sun Shine Vitamin (Vitamin D) and Athletic Performance

  


You have likely heard that vitamin D plays a key role in bone health. But did you know it is also essential to physical performance in relation to muscle strength, power, reaction time, balance, coordination, and endurance? It is well known that particular groups of the population are more likely to have low or insufficient blood levels of vitamin D, and some recent studies have shown low levels of vitamin D in athletes. Low levels of vitamin D can not only lead to increased risk for stress fractures but also respiratory infections and muscle injuries. The following explains the many roles vitamin D plays- make sure you get enough so you can keep performing.

Vitamin D plays significant roles in many functions in the body, including:

• Bone Health: Vitamin D is needed for bone growth and maintenance. Low levels can enhance the rate of bone breakdown and increase the risk of bone injury such as stress fractures.

• Muscle Health: Vitamin D helps to improve muscle protein synthesis, overall muscle strength and body stability/balance. Some studies show that vitamin D supplementation in athletes with insufficient levels can increase the size and amount of the fast twitch muscle fibres, which are important for short energy burst-type activities found in power and anaerobic sports.

• Inflammation/Immunity: After intense periods of exercise, such as long-distance activities, there is a significant increase in inflammatory markers throughout the body, which can contribute to “overtraining” or “overreaching” syndrome. Studies show that enhancing vitamin D levels can reduce inflammation, therefore allow training to be resumed more quickly and with a less negative impact on overall performance. Maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels  may decrease the frequency of illness such as respiratory infections, gastrointestinal upset, and the common cold, which can all adversely affect athletic training and performance.  If you are not healthy enough to train, your performance can be negatively affected.

How much vitamin D is needed for benefits?
The current recommendation for vitamin D daily intake in adults 18-70 years old is 600 IU and should not exceed 4000 IU unless prescribed by an appropriate health care professional. This latter is the upper limit (UL) of vitamin D daily intake above which there is a risk of harm.  More is not better!

How can you increase your vitamin D?
Vitamin D is called the “sunshine” vitamin because our bodies can make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to a sufficient amount and strength of sunlight (specifically ultraviolet B rays). A number of factors hinder this process: training or competing in northern latitudes (especially during the winter months), practice indoors, consciously avoiding sun exposure (including using sunscreen and/or covering your skin when outdoors) or if you have a darker skin pigmentation.
Due to public health concerns about the increased risk of skin cancer associated with sun exposure, the DRIs for vitamin D assume individuals have minimal sun exposure and that all vitamin D must come from food, beverages or supplements.
Well recognized good food sources of vitamin D include fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, and tuna), egg yolks and milk (including flavoured milks), and fortified soy beverages. Check the labels of other potentially fortified beverages such as orange juice.

Bottom-line: It is well known that particular groups of the population have insufficient or low levels of vitamin D, and there have been recent studies that have shown low levels of vitamin D in athletes. It’s important for all athletes to get enough vitamin D because it is essential for several body functions needed for peak physical performance.
Don’t forget – chocolate milk is a great source of vitamin D and is an easy and delicious way to help boost your D intake for the day!

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