Energy

  • Diets, Energy, Inflammation, Macronutrients, Recovery, Wellness

    Add some avocado to your life

    The idea of “super foods” gets thrown around a lot. Along the way many foods tend to cycle in and out of the label and avocado is one of them. Avocados have become incredibly popular but the reasonings as to why depends on why you ask. Some sing its praises due to its low carb content. Other’s love it for the great nutrients it contains. Then there are some that are hesitant about them due to their fat content. With such differing opinions and thoughts, it can be confusing to know what to think about this mysterious fruit.

    Avocado hype and the positives

    There is a lot to love about avocados which is what sparked the referenced study in the first place. They are a nutrient powerhouse that contain some vitamins that the majority of people struggle to get enough of. In particular, vitamin E and magnesium. The nutrients help to fight off inflammation in the body and aids melatonin production for sleep respectively.

    Keeping the good times rolling, avocados are also a solid source of fiber and potassium. Fiber is great at keeping a health gut microbiome which cannot be emphasize enough how important that is. The gut is one of the body’s first lines of defense to keep the bad stuff out and let the good stuff in. This ensures no inflammatory items are allowed in while the beneficial nutrients are, to keep the body in a fantastic state. Potassium wise avocados actually contain more potassium than bananas. Adequate potassium intake ensures optimal muscle contractions while also aiding blood pressure levels.

    Avocado is a great source of a variety of nutrients. There can be confusion about high fat foods but you can rest assured about avocado!

    Isn’t all the fat in avocado worrisome?

    This is a myth that has been around seemingly since the dawn of time. Eating fat is not bad! Your body requires fat and is needed for optimal nutrient absorption and hormone production. Without those things you’re going to have a bad time. It’s a good thing that avocados can fill that need for you then as avocado is one of the few fruits that is mostly made up of fat.

    The type of fat in avocados is particularly what makes them so popular by many people. Avocados are very high in unsaturated fats. Compared to saturated fats, unsaturated fats have been linked with better overall health benefits. They’ve been shown to help decrease inflammation in the body and aid in cholesterol improvements. These cardiovascular effects were the focal point of the recent study done. With the nutrients and unsaturated fat content of avocados it was expected to be clear cut benefits being seen.

    While the benefits weren’t as significant as one may expect, there were still some positive trends. HDL levels were shown to increase which is helpful at decreasing the risk of cardiovascular issues arising. In addition to that, oxidized LDL levels were decreased indicating overall stress in the body was decreased. Looking at potential impact on weight as well there wasn’t any indication that increase avocado consumption resulted in increased weight gain. Just reinforcing the fact that eating fat does not make one fat. Overall, there’s a lot of benefit coming from those avocados.

    Ways to incorporate more avocados

    Cauliflower is still the champion of being able to be converted into just about anything! Avocado though can still make some guest appearances. One of my favorite ways to mix them in is in smoothies. They don’t provide much of a flavor that would overpower anything and can add a wonderful creaminess to the smoothie. If wanting to get a bit wild though, there are avocado brownies and avocado ice cream which Tom Brady has been known to dabble with. All of these are great but sometimes too just plain avocado with a little salt on its own is perfect enough! With so many options, make sure you are trying to add a few into your rotation as well.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Caffeine, Energy, Metabolism, Performance, safety, Supplements, Wellness

    Caffeine being marketed for increased fat loss. Beware the hype!

    Caffeine is one of the most used supplements out there. Partially due to how abundantly available it is. You have coffee, sodas, energy drinks, tea and many other items are infusing it as well. From a marketing perspective, it is sometimes presented as a fat burner. With many wanting to improve their body comp, this is a very attractive thing for many people. Due to that attraction, naturally marketing companies have jumped on it. Many supplements and other items claim that as a benefit of their product due to the addition of caffeine. These claims are likely a little bit skewed and blown out of proportion.

    Caffeine impact on fat

    Caffeine is one of the most widely studied supplements/ingredients out there. Amongst these studies there are a lot that analyzed its impact on fat utilization and in short, there isn’t much. While there is a slight increase in the body pulling fat for energy after caffeine, it’s not in a large amount. Certainly, nowhere near as much as the claims may try to make you believe.

    Caffeine marketing claims tout increased fat loss benefits. These claims are a little over stated and you should be cautious.

    Situations where the increase in fat utilization were most present were when at rest/lower intensity activities and in less trained individuals. For athletes and those who have been exercising for a long time, don’t look to caffeine for a magic pill. Again, there may be a small benefit but it will be incredibly minimal. The real benefit would be in its impact on performance. A benefit which doesn’t come from the increased fat usage to preserve glycogen stores.

    Caffeine impact on performance

    Where caffeine really shines is the benefit it can have on performance when used properly. This benefit is caffeine’s ability to decrease the feeling of fatigue during physical activity. There are certain receptors on the brain called adenosine receptors. These receptors typically receive messages from the body to slow down and hit the brakes through a compound in the body called adenosine.

    If adenosine cannot get to those receptors, the message to slow down doesn’t get to the brain. Just like if you are on the phone with someone and another person tries to call, they cannot get through. Without a stop sign being put up, the body is able to push itself harder and perform more/better.

    When used appropriately for this manner, caffeine can be beneficial. I recommend though using natural sources of caffeine and limiting things like energy drinks and pre-workout supplements. Coffee is my go-to but make sure it sits well for you and try it out during a practice first.

    Warnings of fat loss claims

    As we discussed, caffeine has a lot of benefits but fat loss isn’t one of them. Many supplements out their try to make this claim and if you see it that should be a red flag. They are targeting to an audience looking for a quick fix to achieve a goal many desire. These are the most common types of supplements which end up containing banned ingredients. For an athlete, at best this can mean disqualification from some competition. At worst, could result in serious health consequences.

    Appropriate strategies for fat loss

    Like most things in life, there isn’t a magic trick to achieve those results. It takes effort, consistency and everyone’s favorite P-word….patience. It all begins with making sure your portion sizes of meals/snacks are appropriate. They should contain a good protein source at each meal and snack and getting good sleep are all major factors. Throw in some exercise and you’ve got a recipe for success right there. It’s nothing crazy and it’s not supposed to be! Getting into a routine to maintain consistency is the real challenge but is very doable. Just don’t expect caffeine or any other stimulant to be a short-cut.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Energy, Injury, Performance, Recovery, Wellness

    Rest days are important, but when should they be?

    Taking rest day is incredibly important. Rest days are when the body is able to fully repair and strengthen itself from the work you put it through. Unfortunately rest days are sometimes viewed as unnecessary. The mindset of ‘if I’m not training, I’m not improving’ is very common and very strong. What needs to be understood is that a rest day doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a completely “off” day.

    What is a rest day?

    Having a proper rest day is incredibly important. There are a few things to consider though when deciding when to have one.

    A rest day can mean different things to different people/teams. Regardless the specifics of what it is, the goal is the same which is to let the body recover. Proper recovery ensures the body is strong and able to continue training and push harder the next day. Usually, these days involve things such as foam rolling, massage, yoga, mobility movements/stretches and very low impact activities. It isn’t a day to be viewed as sitting around doing nothing. The intensity is low but the intent of the activities themselves is still high.

    Best time for a rest day

    That is a million dollar question right there as there are a lot of variables to consider. The psychological piece is major for a team as you want to ensure after a match that time to decompress is provided. Playing at such a high intensity takes a lot out of you and a lot of recovery needs to take place. But whether that recovery is a full rest day or a lighter training session the next day is the big question. A recent study reviewing rest day scheduling habits of various top soccer clubs throughout the world shows having a rest day two days after a match may be the way to go.

    Recovery timeline impact on injuries

    Having a rest day two days after a match showed significant decreases in injury amongst the players. The situations specifically where this was noted when time between matches was 3 or 7 days. Part of this could be that it helps keep training loads of starters and substitution players equal. The day after a match, starters can have a lighter active recovery day while the subs could have a heavier workload to still get the work in they need. Maintaining that proper balance of total work ensures they are staying fit as well. Being more fit naturally decreases injury risk as was shown in the data collected.

    Rest day considerations

    While that second day appears to be more often than not the way to go, always keep an open mind. Evaluate all the different aspects before locking in the decision. Consider how you and/or the other players are feeling psychologically and what other events may be going on at the same time as well. The main thing though is to ensure that the proper training loads are being achieved while recovery opportunities are still available as well. Maintaining fitness helps minimize injury risk and so too does that rest. Just make sure on those rest days that nutrition and hydration are still being prioritized as well!

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Energy, Performance, Recovery, Sleep, Technology, Wellness

    Wearable technology is not great at estimating calorie needs

    For anyone interested in optimizing their health/performance, wearable technology has likely come up. There are so many different companies out there making different products for just about everything. Athletes in particular have been heavily targeted due to various training, recovery and sleep metrics out there. Having so much information at one’s disposal though makes it very important to know how accurate it is. Additionally, even if accurate what to do with that information is potentially an even bigger question.

    Sleep and training wearable technology

    These are what I’d say are the two most popular types of wearables on the market. Sleep is an area that just about everyone can improve upon and thus everyone wants to know how to be better. It’s also a very ‘easy’ time to try and measure something as the body isn’t moving as much. Measuring resting heart rate, heart rate variability, body temp and time spent in deep sleep are all great. They monitor trends of how the body is responding to various stressors each day to recover.

    During training is when some of the physical stressors are monitored. Whether it’s heart rate increases or using GPS technology to know how far, fast and accelerations/decelerations during a training session you can have a TON of information. To balance overall training load and how hard you are pushing your body, this information can be wonderful. Combining this and sleep recovery can be a great combo to monitor how the body responds to a specific session and knowing if the body is recovered to push things again the next day. It’s a balancing act to continue driving improvement but minimizing injury risk.

    Calculating calories with wearable technology

    Measuring caloric expenditure is where things get very tricky. Most wearables struggle with calculating the metabolic load of different exercises because it’s tough to track. Particularly during collision or resistance training activities this is even tougher. Most wearables rely on heart rate and a bit of GPS to determine energy needs. Looking at weight lifting though you aren’t moving hardly at all. On top of that it’s generally a fairly short duration for each set and your heart rate may not increase too significantly. Unless the wearable is specifically able to detect the force each muscle is generating to lift the respective weight it’s going to struggle calculating that.

    Collision sports are in a similar boat. Forces generated upon impact of hitting something as of now isn’t easily detected by wearables. At least not to my knowledge! These collisions though absolutely generate a big toll on the body and require additional caloric needs to repair. Linemen in American football in particular are prime examples of this. While already typically large individuals, their caloric needs are very high due to the frequent collisions they experience every play. This is in spite of not running or covering much ground typically.

    Be cautious with estimated calories

    Due to everything just mentioned, be careful if looking at the estimated calorie expenditure of your wearable. As the referenced study here shows as well, it very likely is underestimating what you truly need. In this study in particular is came in significantly under! When testing during a rugby preseason, the wearable they used (SenseWear Pro3) underestimated calorie needs by up to 1,000 calories. In-season needs were underestimated by 500 calories. Every piece of wearable technology is going to be a different and more or less accurate but the message is clear that you should be cautious with those numbers.

    Is any wearable technology worth it?

    Like most things…it depends! Ask yourself first what it is you are wanting to achieve and find out and then do a bit of your own research seeing what provides the type of information you’re wanting. Personally I’m a big fan of them. I utilize both Whoop and an Apple Watch but for slightly different reasons for each. The Whoop I have really enjoyed in monitoring my recovery and training loads and works for me. I’m using the Apple Watch honestly more for keeping myself organized but am playing with their fitness and sleep type information as well.

    The most important thing when using these types of technology is to not take the specific numbers to heart. You want to be more mindful of the overall trends. With the calories being a perfect example, we know the exact number being displayed to us is likely wrong. But by looking at the overall trends of our numbers, if the calories are showing to be higher one day it’s likely safe to say you need to eat more! You may have done a bit more movement/exercise that previously and thus need more food. So overall yes, I’m a fan of these things and like the information but stay mindful of what it’s actually telling you. Remember that trends are typically more valuable than single day numbers.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Energy, Macronutrients, Metabolism, Muscle, Performance, Recovery

    Metabolic differences between slow & steady and high intensity exercise

    Exercise typically comes in two forms; aerobic and anaerobic. Both are beneficial and should be a part of everyone’s exercise and training routine but each has metabolic differences. Put simply, if you want to run for longer do some aerobic work. On the other hand then if you want to be stronger and more explosive do some anaerobic work. Metabolically, though there are some slight differences to keep in mind.

    Metabolic differences – Resistance exercise

    Resistance exercise is a lot more anaerobic. It involves moments of high intensity with some brief periods of rest sprinkled in. This high intensity activity generally depends more on carbs to maintain performance. In the moment and knowing some high intensity work is around the corner, grabbing some pretzels or a banana can be helpful if really getting after it. Hydrating properly before hand is also even more important for these activities. Grab some water to wash the pretzels down and you’ll be good to go.

    There are metabolic differences between resistance training and aerobic training that you need to be mindful of.

    Metabolic differences – Cardio exercise

    Running and more longer duration activities are more aerobic in nature. Slower and more steady state activities tend to rely a bit more on fat for energy in the moment. Overall, though aerobic activities use a bit more variety in energy. You can be casually jogging but then if needing to sprint all of a sudden, some carbs in the body will get tapped into to produce that energy. Having the flexibility to switch between these energy sources is key. Like all activities, when wanting to perform your best the main thing is to simply eat! Focusing on the foods that you know sit well for you and are appealing are great. Having a little bit of carbs can be helpful as well like for the situation mentioned so something like a PB&J sandwich can be great beforehand.

    Post-training response

    The body’s response after the activities is where things get interesting. After exercise, the body does respond with similar reactions to both types of training. Where things differ is in how strong some of those reactions are. Pushing your body through tough exercise naturally causes a stress response in the body. Post-aerobic exercise that stress response immediately appears to be a bit higher but then comes back down quicker compared to resistance exercise. Despite a lower overall stress response, there is a potentially greater amino acid breakdown in aerobic activity.

    What to do in response to differences

    After both types of exercise, the body is screaming for food and nutrients to begin the repair process. That extra stress from high intensity activities may in part be why those types of activities can produce potentially greater fitness results in a shorter time. If having a quick turnaround between high intensity competitions, antioxidant rich foods will be key to bring that down. Fruits can be your best friend!

    Higher amino acid breakdown with aerobic exercise indicates more protein/muscle is being broken down. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is something we’d want to address. First line of action is to ensure adequate protein is consumed after these aerobic events. While typically protein gets talked about a lot more with resistance training and weight lifting, it’s just as important with aerobic training. Protein is absolutely important after resistance training too though! Don’t feel as though this means it can be skipped as it’ll be key for muscle building still.

    Now that you know how your body is responding after your workouts make sure you are eating! Have some great protein and some fruit/veggies for optimal recovery. If you’re working hard make sure to eat hard too. (I’ll keep trying to find a better phrase!)

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Carbs, Energy, Macronutrients, Performance, Protein

    Endurance athletes need plenty of protein too!

    Typically it’s carbs that are getting the all the attention. Energy production is generated from carbs which is what makes them so beneficial in that situation. While yes endurance athletes can benefit from some additional carbs, it’s important to not forget the importance of protein. What if there was more to fueling strategies than just trying to pump carbs in and generate energy?

    Protein a necessity for endurance athletes

    Having protein is first and foremost key for muscle repair and rebuilding. Strength training and body builder type environments tend to be first of mind when thinking protein but it’s important for more than just that! Runners and other endurance athletes beat up their muscles a lot during their training and competition. How can they not be after hours of non-stop activity? Damaging the muscles like that makes it incredibly important to have adequate protein to repair and strengthen them to improve performance. After training is typically when protein is consumed to maximize that repair process. Competing at an elite level requires having healthy and strong muscles to allow for consistent training. Consistent training allows for those gradual performance improvements, translating into better competition results.

    What about protein DURING a run?

    Endurance athlete on a run with some protein aiding performance.

    Recovering after physical activity is certainly important but there could be a way to be a bit more proactive. By adding some protein to your fueling strategy during your run it could help reduce muscle damage and breakdown. Keeping damage down could result in less soreness and in the moment allow for pushing harder and longer. Concerns regarding this strategy have centered around the fear that by having protein during activity could increase protein breakdown for energy. While the body will use some of the protein being consumed for energy, there isn’t enough evidence to suggest it would result in breaking down muscle for more.

    Keep the protein shake next to the Gatorade

    Having a source of protein on hand for training/competition is never a bad thing. Regardless if having the protein before, during or after it’s an important part of any nutrition plan. Consuming adequate protein overall over the course of the entire day is the first step. After that though, having some protein during longer events appear to be worth trying for endurance athletes. Exercise done to exhaustion in the study referenced here showed a few additional seconds improvement in those who had protein before/during their run. While a few seconds may not seem like a lot, sometimes a few seconds is all that separates winning or losing.

    Before jumping in and having a protein shake mid-competition, make sure you try it during a practice run first. The rule is always no new foods during competition! Digesting protein is typically a bit tougher on the body and can result in some stomach discomfort. Response to that obviously differs for everyone but if it doesn’t sit well for you, it’s best to find out during practice. If it doesn’t sit well for you, still try to consume adequate food that does sit well for the event. Overall energy intake is still a key factor for those long endurance events.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Carbs, Energy, Performance

    How many is too many carbs to consume during endurance events?

    Carbs are one of the main sources of energy that the body pulls from during physical activity. As the intensity of the activity increases, so too does the usage of carbs for energy. High intensities (ie. sprints, jump) means high carb usage. Within our body we have a natural storage of carbs already in place called glycogen. As that fuel tank of energy decreases, feelings of fatigue can begin to settle. Maximizing the body’s glycogen stores and conserving the usage of glycogen is a main focus for training harder and longer. Consuming carbs during exercise is a main strategy to provide outside energy in hopes of conserving glycogen. Great strategy, but it’s tough to know the magic number of how many carbs to consume to optimize that effect.

    Plenty of options for carbs to consume

    Sports nutrition products have made some companies billions (with a ‘B’) selling different sources of carbs. Gatorade is easily the giant dominating the category. By themselves, Gatorade has countless products of drinks, chews, bars, powders and gels to help provide carbs in convenient ways. All targeted at increasing energy availability and conserving glycogen stores. Helping athletes perform their best is the number one goal with this strategy leading the way.

    Many options of carbs to consume.

    Multiple types of carbs

    Not all carb options are equal though. By consuming different types of carbs, different benefits can be achieved. Glucose and fructose are the two main types of carbs as they are the two the body is most capable to use. They use two different pathways, or ‘roads’, in the body to get broken down and converted into energy. Consuming too many of one type can overload the system and cause some unwanted stomach problems. Balancing your intake between the two though will allow you to maximize the body’s usage of both of them. Splitting between them also helps ease the workload on the stomach to help avoid cramps, discomfort or in some cases an emergency trip to the bathroom!

    How much of what types of carbs to consume

    Fructose is typically the type of carb to be more careful with as it tends to not be absorbed as easily. Tougher absorption means it increases the risk of stomach discomfort and poor physical performances. On the other hand glucose tends to be a bit easier and better tolerated meaning can be consumed in larger amounts. Several studies have been done in the past and the optimal intake for maximum intake tends to be 90g/hr of carbs at a 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose. Every hour that means an endurance athlete is consuming 30g of fructose and 60g of glucose. As mentioned previously, the vast majority of sports foods have this type of ratio so a target of 90g with those products should steer most people in a good direction. But what if the body could actually handle more?

    That is what several researchers have dug into to try and figure out. In a recent study they pushed it as high as 120g/hr of carbs consumed at a ratio though of 1:0.8 of glucose to fructose. So not only is this increasing total carb intake, but it’s also pushing the fructose intake in particular. Pushing the absorption limits in this study was done hoping to see if that extra intake would preserve the glycogen to enhance overall performance. The same goal as mentioned earlier that everyone is targeting. Consuming extra carbs at 120g/hr though did not actually preserve glycogen any more than the 90g/hr strategy. More carbs in total were used for energy as it pulled from more of the carbs being consumed but it didn’t stop the glycogen from still being used.

    Summing things up

    Without the preservation of glycogen, 120g of carbs may not be needed. Along with that the higher carb group also noted experiencing a bit more nausea and feelings of fullness. Most athletes prefer feeling ‘light’ during activity so that could cause some negative psychological effects too. Part of this though needs to involve making sure this type of consumption is done in practice first. Just jumping into that high of a carb intake can be a recipe for disaster for many. It goes back to the golden rule of no new foods/strategies on game day!

    You can train the body to handle greater carb intakes but if it doesn’t enhance the preservation of glycogen there may be other options. Carb periodization for example, to help train the body to tap into those fat stores a bit more. If glycogen preservation is maxed, using those fat stores would be a good consideration. But in regards to how many carbs to consume, 90g/hr seems to be a great starting point. Just make sure to have a mix of both glucose and fructose with it. Sports foods as mentioned tend to already have that mixture in it. Food wise though try balancing fruit/candy higher fructose items with bread/granola bars higher glucose items.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Energy, Recovery, Sleep

    Does a weighted blanket help you sleep better?

    In general the vast majority of people aren’t getting enough sleep. 7-10 hours of sleep is the general recommendation and even the idea of 7 hours seems ‘crazy’ to many people. This is the first problem. As a result there is a massive amount of people looking for help to sleep better. Weighted blanket sales have jumped trying to provide some help. Falling asleep with the feeling of a nice hug from a blanket sounds nice! What we need to know is if it actually produces results.

    Importance of sleep & melatonin impact

    Don’t sleep on the importance of sleep! The best recovery that our body does, is done while asleep. Sacrificing sleep significantly hurts recovery, meaning increased soreness and actually negatively impacts body composition. On top of the physical recovery, sleep is also important from the brain and cognitive side of things too. While asleep our brain is able to hit the refresh button. Important things get stored into longterm memory and some ‘less important’ items get cleared out to leave room for new things the next day.

    Melatonin is a very popular supplement to help maximize one’s sleep to achieve these things. The body already produces it naturally but supplement companies market it to provide a bit of a boost. Melatonin is key at regulating the body’s circadian rhythm by sending the signal it’s time to go to bed. When the sun starts to set, melatonin levels increase to help fall asleep quicker. Modern technology and screen lights impact this and so in some situations a melatonin supplement may be warranted. Now though, weight blankets are targeted as an alternative way to increase melatonin.

    Weighted blanket impact on melatonin

    Wearing weighted blanket before bed

    Many claims have been tossed around touting how a weighted blanket can increase melatonin levels. Now there’s finally a study to test that! Volunteers in the study had to lay under the blanket for an hour before going to sleep with the blanket. During that hour their melatonin levels were tested every 20 minutes leading up to going to sleep. Impressively melatonin levels actually increased by just over 30% with the blanket! Sadly though, the OURA rings used with the volunteers were wearing didn’t work properly preventing the ability to see sleep quality. Upon waking up though, restfulness wasn’t different between those with and those without the blanket.

    Toss on the bed or leave in the closet?

    It doesn’t look like it would hurt anything! Having that OURA ring would help a lot and showing the potential of a weight blanket though. Hopefully the future study will be able to fix the problem and see the impact on deep sleep, REM sleep and overall time asleep. Seeing that noticeable of an increase in melatonin certainly gives promise though. With the knowledge we have so far, feel free to try out a weighted blanket if interested! Just keep an open mind and don’t go in expecting a world of difference.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Carbs, Energy, Ketone, Performance, Supplements

    Ketone supplements look to help high intensity activities

    This is a big blast to the past for me as my master’s thesis was on ketone supplements and it’s impact on performance. Overall ketone supplements are still a fairly new thing. We continue to learn more and more about them and have a long ways to go. Early on though, lactate levels seem to be one of the things ketones can target the most.

    What are ketones?

    Ketones are what your body produces when it is breaking down fat. It’s a form of energy that your body can use, like glucose, with other potential benefits as well. Ketone production is one of the main goals of those following a low carb diet. A lot of research on this has been done looking at medical uses such as for diabetes and seizures but it’s beginning to get a lot more attention in the sports/performance world. The dietary and lifestyle production of ketones is different from simply drinking them so get a short-term ketone boost.

    Ketone supplements vs. naturally produced

    Most of the research up to this point on ketones has been studying those that are naturally produced. This comes from low carb diet implementation and thus has other variables to consider. Prior to supplements being made the ketones couldn’t be isolated and looked at. But never count out science! Now there are all sorts of different ketones supplements out there. Ketone supplements now allow for a unique situation where ketone levels can be high in addition to having carbs with them. There are different forms of ketone supplements as well to consider. The two most common of which are ketone salts and ketone esters. Neither are the exact same as ketones produced by the body though there are still a lot of similarities for comparable effects. A lot of questions and details obviously still need to be learned but we’re getting closer one study at a time.

    Ketones used for energy

    One of the biggest functions of ketones is their use for energy. Similar to glucose, ketones can be used by muscles and the rest of the body to keep things running. When consumed as a supplement ketones actually jump to the front of the line for energy usage. This is where some of the interest from a performance perspective comes into play. While it is a go-to source of energy it also is able to do that without producing lactate as a result. Even at higher intensities ketones appear to pull this off effectively.

    The impact of lactate

    Lactate is produced when performing at a high intensity. As the intensity increases, the usage of glucose increases with it. Partially contributing to this is that the body isn’t getting enough oxygen to run as well on fat which needs more oxygen than glucose. That oxygen need is why you start breathing harder at higher intensities. Glucose though can actually still produce energy even without oxygen. But, this comes at a bit of a cost in the form of lactate being produced. As lactate increases you may start to feel that burning sensation in your muscles. This eventually will force you to have to slowdown or stop.

    Less lactate with ketone supplements

    What this study shows is the potential for the body to use ketones more and preserve glucose/glycogen. As a result, the decreased glucose usage also decreases the lactate being produced. More energy being available with slower production of lactate sounds like a great combo most certainly worth keeping an eye on. While this study looked at rugby players, the overall concept could be applied to much more. Lower lactate levels will certainly catch the attention of a lot of performance experts and athletes, myself included. While too early to say it should absolutely be a part of an athlete’s supplement plan, it’s worth keeping an eye on.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Body Composition, Energy, Metabolism, Performance, Weight

    Fasted exercise has some benefits, but not top peak performance

    Training in a fasted state is something that has been fairly popular. Many enjoy it because they don’t like the feeling of being too full during physical activity. Others are a bit more intentional with fasted exercise though and are looking for specific benefits. Typically these benefits are related to body composition or weight goals but it needs to be done in a smart manner. Specifically, not when in a situation where needing to perform at one’s peak potential.

    What is fasted exercise and why do it?

    Fasted exercise is when training in a fasted state, meaning not eating anything before it. Most people do this by working out first thing in the morning. Other common times are done several hours after their previous meal or by having a cardio session after an intense workout just occurred. The main goal is to be working out when the body has low glycogen and overall energy stores. What happens then is the body is forced to pull from fat stores to produce the needed energy.

    Increased fat burn and body composition

    By forcing the body to use fat for energy, the body is being trained to use fat more easily. In theory this should help the body to burn fat throughout the day more as well. So not only during the workout is the body using more fat, but it could potentially last even after leaving the gym as well. People seeking improvements in body composition are very interested in this strategy because of that effect right there. What’s important to keep in mind though is training with a low/empty fuel tank can make it a lot harder to train at a level you normally would.

    Performance impact

    Having that low fuel tank is what could negatively impact your performance in that moment. If trying to make that fat burn change in the body, don’t try that strategy when doing an intense and competitive session. You also want to be careful not to try fasted exercise if simply looking to lose weight. It’s likely you will fatigue a bit earlier in this situation which could decrease the overall work done in that session. Save this for light sessions. Peak performance requires peak energy on hand!

    When to try fasted exercise

    Low intensity, cardio focused sessions typically is best. Having a set amount of work that’s to be completed helps too. That makes sure you still get the total amount of work in while getting the fat burn benefits. As always, you need to make sure you’re still staying hydrated. Most importantly please do not do this on intense training days, especially not on competition days! Your performance will almost always be better with a little food. If worried about feeling full, keep the snack before hand light. Stick to foods you know and that sit well for you. Liquids are easiest to digest and would be a great option to consider as well.

    Study referenced: click here

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