i_like_sun

Its so hella F****ing sick when theres 17 inches of fresh snowgasm as Mt. Baker!

Why did everyone stop saying it!? Hella is HELLA fun to say!

Those tests are cool stuff arn't they! I've done tests where they can tell you how much of one substrate you are burning over anther. Last winter, durning a 60% VO2 max test, I reached 14% protein burning (healthy is under 10%). This, I was informed was slowing my metabolic rate down by 500 calories per day, which is A LOT. Since that time, I've spent a lot of time in school and devoting my energy to learning about this shit. I can't tell you how much my athletic performance has increased since I balanced stuff out - I'm 10 times stronger, and my endurance has gone through the roof. I haven't done a VO2 max test since last spring, but I'm curious to see whats going on. Also, that heart rate zone control is a great tool. On active rest days I never let my HR go above 153, whereas on "ON" days I'll let it go as high as I can freaking get it! One last thing I'll throw out there, its probably a really good thing that you are genetically predisposed to type 2 motor units. You've probably got fantastic reflex speed and you are probably less likely to overtrain - you'll build muscle very easily. At at any rate, I'd like to do more research on the genetics of performance; because some people can just "get it" and progress, while others simply don't see any gains despite all their efforts. Who's your physiologist may I ask?

I believe that this is an oversimplification. Sure, work out hard, get trained, whatever...but people like me that have fast-twitch muscle tendencies need that long, slow "fat burning zone" training to build the aerobic muscle to burn the fat. I was startled to see my physiology test results...the MD said that I was way too overtrained in the high aerobic/anaerobic, and that I needed to log much more time in the lower HR zone to let my body get good at not running on pure glycogen the whole entire time. Hence, less crashing. Back to the original question, I put a couple of GUs in my left front pocket, a couple of bars that sound good in my right pocket, keep the hydration tube handy (if it's not brutally cold) and pack in a sandwich that sounds good for mid day (unless I'm on a climb that won't allow such a rest). Chad, you do have a point about the value of long-slow endurance training. I've been reviewing some stuff tonight, and it increases muscle capilaries, shifts type 2b fibres more towards type 2a's (fast to slow switch), and increases the concentration of aerobic enzymes within cells. What is interesting however, is that some of the best literature I've read, and my profs. say this too, is that training can only affect your performance so much - genetics are the prime controllers of athletic ability. Training only realizes genetic potential and makes us healthier. I did come across some interesting stuff on VO2 max though, and basically, if you want to really improve your cardiovascular power, you still must go into the higher muscular recruitment zones that I was rambling about. Even endurance athletes need to activate the big "fast twitch" motor units in order to go harder and longer. This is where combined training probably comes in. Now, I don't have a degree in exercise prescription, but I have read a lot about high intensity interval training. Athletes who train at very high intensity intervals show greater overall improvements in VO2 max and lactate threshold. I'm guessing that this type of program should be periodized with seasonal long-slow endurance in order to optimize capillary density and enzyme profiles. Going with this, everything I read says that periodization is key. Too much long-slow stuff burns up more muscle mass (aminos for fuel when in ketosis) and too much anaerobic reduces aerobic capacity. Balance is key.

"MY PENIS IS BIGGER" The guy was a genious.

While it's true that lipids do not enter into glycolysis, that's irrelevant. Aerobic energy is generated from Acetyl-CoA, which is produced just as readily from fats as from sugars. Second, Acetyl-CoA produced from the breakdown of fats can enter gluconeogenesis to produce glucose (say for your brain). Thus there is technically nothing wrong with burning large amounts of fat for energy. It just has to be aerobic (very low intensity), and importantly, it takes a lot more molar equivalents of water to metabolize lipids than it does sugars. Burning protein/amino acids for energy is another story. If you want to avoid this you will have to move way more slowly, eat frequently but not too heavily, and drink a lot more. Easier said than done. This intensity thing is what I was trying to get at. If an athlete is not working out intensely, the stress response required for growth and neural adaptation won't ever be reached! (Don't even get me rolling on the endocrine system's role in this) The so called "fat burning zone" is a bunch of bullshit. In order to get stronger and faster, gain muscle, and lose fat, we need to workout as hard as possible. What you said about Acetyl-CoA being as easily produced from lipids as sugars is right on, I believe the difference is in the speed that this can happen however. Stored carbohydrate enables the generation of very FAST energy via glycolosis, and thus enabling the body to exercise MORE INTENSELY (anaerobic). The greater the intensity, the greater the energy demand, and the greater the calories burned. In order to keep the brain happy and avoid muscle loss, the actual catabolism of your stored fat reserves should happen HOURS after you exercise, not so much during. This is where I was trying to explain how the "fat burning zone" is such a lie. Low intensity exercise (while it is great for recovery and rehab) simply does not elicit the physiological adaption that high intensity exercise does. Sure you are burning mostly fat at low intensities, but your total calories burned are really low. The only time that you should be in this "fat burning zone", is in between exercise sessions. Eat carbs to exercise harder and become harder.

Hehehehehehe, steroids are COOOOOOOL!

34 BABY! "to hell with morals!" Screw it, we all know anout those shitty little kids!

Doesn't that give you the shits?

"Sometimes I feel like I'm not hard enough when I'm munching all kinds of gels and snacks and hydrating during a climb and a partner is barely taking anything in and gets kind of sullen towards the end of the day... " How does eating more make you feel "not hard enough"? Ask any woman, and I'd bet she'd say that a true hard man eats A LOT! C'mon dude, you'll just have bigger and harder muscles than your starving sullen pal. STARVATION IS NOT ATTRACTIVE.

Winston Churchill is my hero!

KK man knows what he's talking about.

Taking time off sucks.

Feels like taking a strong hit of acid! Its almost like being in a loopy as crap dream state where everything looks and feels like paint! Sleep deprivation and loud music are an incredible drug......

"or something your doing wrong in your exercises." Ha Ha, yeah, my kind of bike riding is a little, um, different than the average/smarter than me Joe. I was riding BMX and was doing a 180 over a little six foot gap, and ended up putting my foot down like a hundred times before I actually pulled it. Basically pounded the crap out of it. This of course is right after a long weekend of snowboarding, and doing some full squats in the gym last week. I'm relaxing a little more tonight, and think whats going on is inflamation of my Plica, and/or irritation of the infrapatellar tissue. I think the "weirdness" in my knee is to do with the joint capsule having more fluid in it because of inflamation, and increasing the joint pressure - which changes the way everything is sliding around. I had the Lockman test done, and my knee is still super tight - meaning my ACL is in all likelyhood just fine, thank god. I'm still a worrier none the less!

And yer a redneck.

Finally a jackass that rambles as badly as I do.

Need an ergonomics specialist?

No. No pop. I did have two dislocations of my patella a couple years ago (after jumping off a cliff on my snowboard and landing in a hole - I'm not genetically predisposed to this) and it was decided that I tore my MCL and [possibly] sprained my ACL. Since then, my left knee has not been the same - I occasionally get this infrapatellar pain. Basically I've had ZERO problems with it for 2 years. Now I'm freaking out.

NOOOOOOOOOO SHIT!

Sometimes, yes. I need crack. You have some?

Fat is still a fantastic energy source for those days. Peanut butter is rad. One thing I've been doing is packing in tortillas: They are flat and light, and are loaded with calories. Just tear off a chunk, squish into peanut butter, and voila. Eating more on those big days will save you from the ravages of crashing.

We are still all homosapien. It doesn't matter.

I think it is rediculous to say "humans have reached the terminal end of their evolution", because these processes never stop. There are infinate ways we could go; just look at how many species of apes there are (because this is not a religious debate)! We shared an ancestor with ALL OF THEM. It seems practical that hundreds of thousands of years from now, humans may have split up into more than one specie, or been nearly killed off [again] by some global catastrophy. My point is, we don't know, and it is stupid to try and [CONTROL] these forces.

Yeah, you and Hitler have a lot in common.