Ketosis Breath

[Chad_A]

Well, SWA, studies of top endurance athletes have shown that bacon cheese burger cravings are really just a masked homoestatic response to dangerously low blood alcohol. This condition can lead to a thickening of the blood, feelings of general dissatisfaction, poor humor, timidness among members of the opposite sex, and excessive longevity. It can become dangerous, should your partner take extreme exception to your incessant whining. By all means, have the bacon cheese burger, but don't kid yourself that you've addressed the root cause of your condition; you need to elevate your blood alcohol level as soon after cravings begin as possible.

 

Thats's the best post I've seen in a while...

[i_like_sun]

 

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.

 

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.

 

 

[Chad_A]

I see what you're saying, and that's what they told me, as well. Basically, I have a tendency (genetically) toward the fast twitch side of things. They explained to me that most people, on the average, have about 25% fast twitch, 25% slow twitch, and ~50% of fibers that are trainable either way.

 

So, the physiologist put together a plan for an average 5-day workout week, due to work constraints. She said to do a 1.5-2 hour (or more if possible) workout of Zone 1 per week (118-144 HR), two days of Lactate Threshold work @ 165-169 HR (my test said that I was able to dispose of Lactate at a reasonable level, but that I could use some more LT work to help my muscle cope and dispose of Lactate a smidgen better), and two days a week interspersed with all of this of Zone 1 to help recover...30-60 minutes of this, no more, on these days to promote active recovery without taxing muscle recovery. Supposedly, this routine would help my recovery time, yet work on the aerobic enzymes to help me go longer, and yet maintain VO2 max and high intensity ability. I'd like to have myself tested again this spring to see if I've managed to change any of this.

 

[i_like_sun]

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?