Recovery

  • 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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  • Inflammation, Performance, Recovery, Supplements, Vitamins/ Minerals

    Too much of a good thing? – Antioxidants impact on training results

    Inflammation is something that gets a lot of negative publicity. Most people work and do everything they can to reduce it. Perhaps the most common strategy to reduce inflammation is through antioxidants. Antioxidants impact on inflammation has been studies a LOT! The results of those studies are fairly consistent showing their ability to reduce inflammation. But what if inflammation isn’t all bad? What if it’s just misunderstood?

    Physical activity creates inflammation

    Exercise and physical activity should be a regular part of everyones life. For athletes it plays an even bigger part. This activity has a wealth of health benefits and is crucial to improve an athletes performance. Right next to all of these benefits is something that typically is labels as a negative, inflammation. A build up of inflammation can leave you feeling incredibly sore the next day and result in decreased performance. Depending on what is in store for the next day this soreness could be a problem. This is where antioxidants can come to the rescue! For individuals who consume a lot of processed food, that can be very inflammatory. Antioxidants can come to the rescue here too! That is why you shouldn’t be eating fast food daily and should eat your broccoli.

    Physical activity and resistance exercise increases inflammation which can be both good and bad.

    Antioxidants impact on inflammation

    Antioxidants impact on inflammation needs to be monitored carefully due to concentration of dosages in supplements.

    Antioxidants are one of the first lines of defense against inflammation. The most popular way of acquiring antioxidants is normally by eating fruits and vegetables. It has become incredibly easy to consume an excessively large amount of these nowadays though due to supplements. Emergen-C is an incredibly popular example. One serving has 1,000mg of a key antioxidant vitamin C in it (1,111% of the recommended daily value). Nobody is eating enough berries to consume that much naturally! With such easy access to high levels of antioxidants the questions turns to whether we should consume such high levels? And if so, does timing matter?

    When too many antioxidants have a negative impact

    It’s a balancing act when it comes to inflammation in regards to exercise. When exercising, that inflammation is actually critical for progression and improvement. Your body learning to deal with inflammation on its own trains the body to be better able to handle those stressors again later. Handling inflammation better like this means what once made you sore and was difficult has gradually become easier. For example, when someone just starts running they may feel absolutely beat after a 10 minute mile. After months of running the body handles that stress/inflammation a lot better and now that level of soreness is felt when running a 5 minute mile.

    Taking excessive amounts of antioxidants acts like training wheels for the body. Without having to learn how to handle the stress and inflammation on its own, it will take a lot longer to make the same amount of progress. So be cautious if taking excessive amounts of antioxidants regularly. Save it for those special circumstances when quick turnarounds are needed. This doesn’t mean to completely skip your fruits and veggies though, nice try. Continue incorporating those regularly and here’s to all your progress ahead!

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Performance, Recovery, Sleep

    More social media means worse sleep quality

    Few things will give you as much of a return on your performance and recovery than your sleep quality. Hydration is right up there too but let’s focus on sleep for now! When we are asleep is when our body’s are able to be the most effective at repairing the body and recovering after the exercise/work done during the day. If sleep is negatively impacted, so too is recovery and performance in direct response. One of the biggest impacts on sleep amongst everyone has been technology. Technology has certainly provided a ton of benefits in just about every aspect of life but it does have some negatives. Amongst all the technology, social media is front and center of it all.

    Modern technology’s impact on sleep quality

    Technology is everywhere you look. Case in point you wouldn’t be reading this if it wasn’t for technology. The vast majority of technology that is used in our lives though involve screens. Starring at these screens exposes our eyes to blue light that is coming from them. That blue light exposure can mess with the body’s ability to produce melatonin which is what signals that it’s time for bed. Melatonin helps the body to fall asleep quicker, sleep deeper and for a bit longer. And no piece of technology is arguably used more than that of social media.

    Social media usage

    In a recent study, college athletes with asked how much time they spent on social media and evaluated how their sleep quality was. Now I expected it to a decent amount but I wasn’t expecting this. On average, athletes in this study were spending 4.6 hours per day on social media. It wouldn’t be a stretch either to say a large chunk of that time occurred lated in the day. With the ease of access to social media on phones it’s all too easy to pull it up while laying in bed as the last thing to do before sleeping. But it also is easy to lose track of time resulting in a lot less actual time to sleep. This is in addition to the negative effects the light from the screen is having on melatonin production. As a result there was a very strong correlation with increased social media usage and decreased sleep quality.

    Less phone time = better sleep quality

    If looking to improve your sleep quality (who of us isn’t?) stop scrolling on social media. Social media is great for a whole lot of things. It can be a source of wonderful information from reputable people and help to connect with people easily from all over. But set limits for yourself on your screen time. If setting a specific amount of time is too tough, start with setting a “bedtime” for your phone. Avoid mindlessly scrolling while in bed before falling asleep. Your body will thank you and those social media posts will all still be there in the morning.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Hydration, Performance, Recovery, Supplements

    Is hydrogen water just full of gas?

    Water is a very simple universal thing one would think. But just walk through your local grocery store and you’ll see an entire row with different types of water. You’ve got flavored, sparkling, distilled, flavored, glacier, artisan well, vitamin and on and on. Gas infused water is a relatively new one and we’re going to discuss hydrogen water in particular here.

    What is hydrogen water?

    Hydrogen Infused Water

    The goal of hydrogen water is to pump the bottle of water with hydrogen gas. This is done with the hopes that it results in whoever is drinking it, consumes extra hydrogen. Originally I was skeptical about this as I wasn’t sure how much would actually make it from the bottle and into the body. When opening the bottle I would imagine the gas levels would begin immediately balancing with the surrounding air and thus become regular ol’ water again.

    I will always keep an open mind though and hold my hand up if I’m wrong. More research is starting to show that there may be something to gas infused water. As a result, my hand may be starting to rise just a little bit.

    Potential benefits

    A recent study shows the potential hydrogen infused water can have on improving physical performance. The potential impact appears to stem from the apparent ability to reduce the lactate response in the body. Less lactate in the body means less of that burning sensation we’ve all experienced when pushing ourselves. With less lactate it helps to decrease muscle soreness and I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t perform better when less sore.

    So…..should you buy it?

    In short, no. Not because it will be bad for you but because there isn’t enough proof yet. Your money would be better spend on other things with more confidently proven benefits. This is an area though that is worth keeping an eye on as it has potential.

    Study referenced: click here

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  • Energy, Hydration, Macronutrients, Recovery, Weight, Wellness

    Did you order a coffee or was it dessert?

    Ordering a coffee is no longer as easy as simply saying “one coffee please”. Prepare for a flood of questions to follow if you do say that. Do you want a pump of vanilla or caramel? Do you want light, medium or dark roast? Drip or French press? Brazil or Costa Rica beans? Leave room? With whip? ….. Just a plain black cup of coffee please.

    Sneaky calories in your coffee

    Most coffee additions don’t come free. They bring extra calories along for the ride, most of which are in the form of sugar to boot. Extra calories and some sugar may have their time and place, but typically not if it’s your off day and are spending most of the day lounging and recovering.

    Seasonal specialty drinks in particular tend to contain a lot of extra sugar. I’m looking at you pumpkin spiced lattes! While the flavor can certainly be delicious and tempting, they need to be consumed sparingly. Due to the added ingredients, it’s best to view these types of items as dessert. Like desserts, they can certainly be enjoyed but just done so sparingly.

    Cup of pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream showing the additions coffee now has.

    Substitutions for your order

    There are several swaps that you can make with your order to ensure you can enjoy your beverage while also meeting your nutrition needs. The first step though is to be ok with asking! You need to be ok with asking what options are available and then asking for them. It’s all too common for the mindset to be “I don’t want to be a bother and will simply take it the way it is, good or bad.” You’re not being a bother or an inconvenience! Those substitutions are available for a reason and are intended to be used so don’t be afraid to ask for them.

    Cream or milk being poured into a cup of iced coffee.

    One of the most popular additions to coffee is milk/cream. The world of dairy alternatives has exploded in the past few years and there are now more options than ever. Some things to be mindful of is that heavy cream and half-&-half are going to be your highest calorie options consisting of mainly fat. Those looking for a bit of extra protein though would benefit from actual milk. Skim will be the lowest in calories and whole being the highest. For those who are lactose intolerant or wanting some low calorie alternatives, unsweetened almond milk can be great as well.

    Syrups are another popular addition with so many flavors and options. The good news about the variety and options is that many have now sugar free options as well. This is a great way to be able to enjoy the flavors you’re desiring while also avoiding any additional sugar that we may not want. Now if this coffee is part of a pre-training or pre-game beverage to have some extra caffeine with things, the regular syrup could be ok with the extra carbs. Your body will use that extra energy to help with high intensity activities. As mentioned previously though, if we’re not doing too much that day the sugar free option may be the better call!

    Type of roast impacts caffeine content

    Light, medium and dark roasts have more differences than just the flavor. The type of roast chosen actually has a big impact on the caffeine content of the coffee. Contrary to what may assume, dark roast does NOT have the highest caffeine content. While it does have a more bitter taste, it actually has the least amount of caffeine. If needing a bigger pick-me-up or in preparation for a game, light roast is your roast of choice.

    Coffee beans surrounding a Starbucks cup representing different roasts.

    Some people though do respond negatively to caffeine. Like everything it’s important to make sure and try having any coffee you’re considering before a practice. If your body feels good with it, then feel free to incorporate it before a game.

    Enjoy your coffee everyone! Just make sure you order it in a manner that matches your performance and health goals. Now it’s time for me to go pour myself a cup after all of this coffee talk. Cheers!

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  • Hydration, Performance, Recovery, Wellness

    Chill Out and Perform Better – Keeping Cool In Heat

    When we workout, train and compete our body generates heat. This heat is generated due to the energy our body produces to allow us to perform. Obviously though we don’t want to get too hot! As our temperature increases our body has to work harder to maintain our performance and keeping cool. Fatigue then begins to set in and our body forces us to slow down. If we don’t slow down and our temperature continues to climb we can have big problems! To fight this our body works to try and cool itself down but there are things we can do to help it.

    Why do we care about keeping cool? Safety

    If we get too hot it can become very dangerous. Just like a car will breakdown if it overheats, our body’s respond the same way. A significant increase in our internal body temperature can lead to heat exhaustion and heat strokes. Neither of those are a good time. Unfortunately though many people suffer from over heating every year.

    High school football has in particular received a lot of attention due to the number of players who have collapsed from heat exhaustion. This can be attributed to several factors leading it to be a perfect storm. A major reason is simply the equipment that is used with helmets and pads. On top of that two-a-day practices are very common causing increased exposure to the heat outdoors and potential dehydration. But perhaps the biggest factor that applies to much more than just the sport, is the age of these athletes.

    High school football players in full pads in the heat.

    Adolescents are at an increased risk for heat related problems due to their body’s not being fully developed yet. Their body’s don’t have the full capability to cool themselves yet which we’ll dive into here shortly. Because they’re still developing, coaches and training staffs need to be very cautious and mindful with youth athletes.

    Our body naturally try’s to keep us cool

    The human body is incredibly resilient and try’s really hard to keep us up and moving. Which is greatly appreciated! In regards to what our body does specifically to keep us cool, sweat and blood flow distribution are the main methods.

    Athlete sweating profusely in the heat.

    We’ve all been in a hot situation where we are sweating buckets! Sometimes it’s out on the field and other times it’s at that family member’s house who keeps the heat on way too high. We’re ok for a little bit but eventually the sweat inevitably comes. The interesting part though is that simply sweating isn’t what cools our body down. It’s when the sweat evaporates that we cool off.

    Think of when you get out of the shower. Even though there’s no wind blowing we feel noticeably more cold. If our sweat isn’t able to evaporate then sweating doesn’t help us and is simply reducing our blood volume due to the volume of liquid being lost. When it’s very humid outside there’s already a lot of moisture in the air and it prevents our sweat from being able to evaporate and cool us off. That’s why extra caution is needed on those hot and humid days especially!

    Now for the blood distribution piece, this involves our body pumping blood towards our skin. By having blood closer to the surface of our skin, the wind/air traveling over it will help to cool down the blood. Then the slightly cooled down blood can travel back through the body helping cool the body down internally.

    Have you ever notice your veins sticking out a bit more in hot/humid environments? Now you know why! It’s the body directing the blood to the surface more in hopes of cooling down more. When we’re dehydrated though, this becomes very challenging.

    Athlete with extra vascularity.

    Keeping cool means keeping hydrated

    If we don’t replace the fluid being lost in sweat, our blood volume decreases. Less blood means it gets hot faster and isn’t able to stay at the surface of the skin long enough to cool down because it has to keep circulating. No rest for the weary!

    Athlete in the sun wiping the sweat off his face.

    Think about what takes longer to come to a boil on the stove; a cup of water or a large pot? Spoiler, it’s the cup!

    In our body, we want to avoid that boiling point for as long as we can. Like the large pot of water, not being dehydrated and drinking plenty of fluid keeps our blood volume up. Cheers to that.

    Having some extra sodium with that fluid though can be very helpful. Sodium will help our body to absorb and hold onto that water a bit better. The main goal of all of this is to increase that blood volume to keep us cool and avoid overheating.

    Ways to help chill out

    In addition to simply drinking more, there are several ways in which we can help keep our body cool.

    Keeping our beverages cold is the low hanging fruit of everything. Pack your water and electrolyte drinks in a cooler with ice packs as a simple and quick solution. Pro tip: freezing a water bottle will allow it to act as an ice pack and then when it melts you have extra fluid to drink. Helps to make the most of limited space and the cold beverages help to cool us internally from the inside out.

    In a similar manner slushies and popsicles can be a great way to help drop our core temperature. As an added benefit, making slushies out of sports drinks can help to provide some additional electrolytes as well. Who wouldn’t like a cold lemon lime Gatorade after a hot practice?

    Popsicles and fruit on ice to help cool down body temperature.

    Cooling ourselves externally is incredibly helpful as well. Grabbing some cold towels and ice packs to throw on ourselves is great. There are a few specific locations though that can impact our temperature to a great extent though and should be the areas to focus on when possible. These areas are where larger blood vessels are closer to the surface allowing closer direct contact to our blood. Those hot spots (pun intended) are our neck, armpits and groin. If needing to cool down quickly, that is where you need to focus placing ice.

    So chill out, stay safe and keep your performance up. The more of these things you can incorporate, the cooler you will be.

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  • Energy, Performance, Recovery, Uncategorized

    Tournament Success Is About What You Do Between Events

    When competing in a tournament, there’s no rest for the weary. Games are typically packed much closer together than normally during the season. With such limited time, it’s vital to make the most of it. Tournament success is dependent upon it.

    The name of the game is recovery. Training adaptations are not the focus right now. That work has already been done and now it’s time to show off that hard work. Being able to perform optimally and show off that hard work every game is the trick. Proper recovery and feeling fresh is what will allow this.

    Maximizing your recovery takes proper planning. How much time between each event and the resources available will dictate what recovery strategy is best. But regardless, you need to make sure to have a plan.

    “If you fail to plan, you should plan to fail”

    How much time between events is the first piece of the puzzle. Most of the time there is likely to be at least 24 hours between events. While not perfect, this does allow a good amount of time to get back to close to 100% if things are done properly. For those situations with multiple events the same day, a different plan needs to be in place.

    Tournament bracket representing the schedule to plan around.

    Knowing the schedule and how much time between events is crucial. This dictates what recovery strategies we can implement for maximum effectiveness and efficiency. The more time that we have, the more opportunity we have to eat and also to recover. On the other hand with less time, we naturally have to focus on what can provide more immediate benefits.

    Optimized recovery is key to tournament success

    After the first event ends, recovery should start immediately. Nutrition wise we want to make sure we have protein and fluid readily available. The protein can help us build muscle but right now we are more interested in how it helps repair the muscles we just beat up. Immediately after competition our muscle’s are like sponges and rapidly take up the protein provided. Simple protein shakes can be great due to their convenience to pack and ease of drinking.

    All of the sweat that was lost needs to be replaced too! Drinking plenty of fluid starting immediately after helps to rehydrate us. Even just a slight dehydration can negatively impact our performance as well as increase our risk of soft tissue injuries. To help rehydrate quicker, drinking something with some extra electrolytes (sodium in particular) is important. The extra sodium helps the body to absorb the fluid better as well as reduces urine production to help hold onto that water as well. Two birds, one stone!

    Basketball tournament providing example of when quick recovery needs to occur.

    Carbohydrates help with quick energy replacement as well. With multiple events in one day where there are just hours between, carbs can play an even more important role. That quick energy carbs provide help to refill our gas tank to be filled up and ready to perform again. Carbs are typically very easy on the stomach as well and can help to provide that much needed energy without feeling as though there’s a brick in your stomach afterwards. When grabbing some carbs though make sure to do your best at limiting fiber due to the increased time it takes to digest fiber. That could create the uncomfortable brick feeling just mentioned.

    Listen to your body

    Overall, if it’s a full day between events we can enjoy whole meals to replenish our needs. There will be optimal time to digest and absorb everything. Fruits and vegetables will be of increased importance as well to help reduce inflammation. Those typically take a bit longer to digest but with this amount of time it won’t be a problem.

    Pretzels to provide quick digesting carbohydrates and salt to speed up recovery.

    Same day quick turnarounds don’t allow us to have full meals necessarily. We have to focus more on ‘snack’ type items for quick access and digestion. Things such as sports drinks, protein shakes, granola bars, bananas and fruit snacks can be great in this moment. The closer that you can get to eating enough to fully replace the calories burned in the previous event, the better.

    You know your body better than any body though. With that knowledge making sure to eat something that you know sits well for you and that you enjoy takes a big priority. At the end of the day, tournament success is based on feeling good and performing great. And one thing that is undefeated research wise is that eating something is better than nothing! So make sure you have snacks, drinks and are prepared to make the most of the time available to you.

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  • Inflammation, Injury, Recovery, Supplements

    Sore Muscles Improved With The Help Of Omega-3s

    There’s nothing quite like finishing up leg day, walking like Bambi. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we wake up the next morning with even more sore muscles than the day before.

    While some muscle soreness is perfectly normal and part of the training adaptation, there’s certainly a fine line. Especially if it’s after a game with another one coming up again soon. Recovery is the key and omega-3s could help speed things up.

    The first thing to discuss though is what omega-3s are! Omega-3s are fatty acids most commonly found in fatty fish. This is why you hear the recommendation so often to eat fish three times per week. These fats are great at helping to reduce inflammation as this study showed.

    Why focus on inflammation for sore muscles?

    Inflammation can be a good thing in limited quantities because that is what helps us improve our workouts and strength over time. Exercise beats our body up a bit causing an increasing in inflammation. Our body then is forced to have to control that new inflammation and bring it back down. Regular exposure to this helps our body to be able to handle that inflammation and workload allowing us to get strong and train even harder.

    Image of runner with sore muscle from leg inflammation

    Too much inflammation and muscle breakdown though causes really sore muscles. This is because our body can’t handle the amount of inflammation and breakdown that is occurring. The fun part is, the soreness usually doesn’t peak until about two or three days after the event. Why have just one day of fun right?

    Image of tournament bracket

    In moments where we have quick turnarounds and need to perform optimally the next day (ie. tournaments) this is bad news. Muscle soreness, decreased range of motion and decreased strength is the exact opposite of what we are wanting. Having a good recovery strategy in place could be the key difference for you in these moments.

    Maximize the recovery time you have

    For optimal recovery the fundamentals will always be there; good sleep, hydration, fruit & vegetables, adequate protein, good fats and in case you missed it the first time…sleep! But omega-3s can certainly help provide a boost to maximize things.

    Eating fatty fish (ie. wild caught salmon) is great but if not a fan of eating fish, a quality fish oil supplement would be worth looking into. Generally, 2-5 grams per day is perfect depending on the situation.

    Enjoy your omega-3s, you will thank yourself later!

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  • Injury, Macronutrients, Recovery, Sleep

    Bedtime Snack: Friend or Foe

    It’s not uncommon to hear someone talking about how they don’t eat after dinner, nothing after 6pm, feeling sluggish in the morning because they ate right before bed, if they eat late at night they gain weight like it’s nothing. This may have more to do with what and how much they are eating as opposed to the act of eating before bed itself. If planned for properly, a bedtime snack can actually be beneficial!
     
    What’s so good about it?
     
    By properly planning and having an appropriate snack you can actually build muscle while you sleep. No, it isn’t too good to be true. It’s a great opportunity to keep improving and recovering in a fairy easy manner. It’s another small adjustment that can result in big changes long term.
     
    To achieve these benefits the thing you want to focus on is……PROTEIN! Consuming protein 30-60 minutes before you go to bed will provide your body with the building blocks your muscles need to continue building and repairing while asleep.6
     
    What makes this timing different than normally consuming protein during the day every 3-4 hours is that when we’re sleeping, our body releases all of the fun muscle building hormones (eg testosterone, growth hormone).2,4,5 Adding protein into the mix helps enhance the effect of those hormones.
     
    The amount to consume depends on your size but in general 20-30 grams is sufficient. This is similar to the amount recommended for meals and snacks to maximize your muscle building and repair.
     
    If given the option, casein protein seems to be the top choice for bedtime protein. Casein is a form of protein found in dairy like whey protein, but is digested slower than whey. This slow release will help prolong the duration in which protein is in your blood being delivered to your muscles and continuing to help build and repair your muscles. Whey is a fine option as well but because it is digested faster, it may not have as long a duration to stimulate muscle building. Overall, if you don’t have or can’t find a casein powder supplement, whey will be good as well. What I would recommend over a supplement though would be to get it from food. Having Greek yogurt or some cottage cheese is a perfect option.
     
    This all helps emphasize the importance of giving yourself the appropriate amount of time to sleep! It plays a major role in so many things and should not be overlooked if you’re wanting to make sure that you’re doing everything you can to improve.1,3,7
     
    So eating before you go to bed isn’t a bad thing! It can be good and beneficial for helping you build muscle and recover if you plan that snack appropriately. The benefits won’t be seen or noticed after one night of eating some Greek yogurt but over the course of an entire season and career the benefits can be substantial. It always comes down to those little details to separate yourself from the competition so make sure you’re not missing out on a good opportunity to continue improving yourself!
     
    1. Copenhaver EA, Diamond AB. The Value of Sleep on Athletic Performance, Injury, and Recovery in the Young Athlete. Pediatr Ann. 2017 Mar 1;46(3):e106-e111.
    2. Cortés-Gallegos V, Castañeda G, Alonso R, Sojo I, Carranco A, Cervantes C, Parra A. Sleep deprivation reduces circulating androgens in healthy men. Arch Androl. 1983 Mar;10(1):33-7.
    3. Kohn TP, Kohn JR, Haney NM, Pastuszak AW, Lipshultz LI. The effect of sleep on men’s health. Transl Androl Urol. 2020 Mar;9(Suppl 2):S178-S185.
    4. Lamon S, Morabito A, Arentson-Lantz E, Knowles O, Vincent GE, Condo D, Alexander SE, Garnham A, Paddon-Jones D, Aisbett B. The effect of acute sleep deprivation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and the hormonal environment. Physiol Rep. 2021 Jan;9(1):e14660.
    5. Luboshitzky R, Herer P, Levi M, Shen-Orr Z, Lavie P. Relationship between rapid eye movement sleep and testosterone secretion in normal men. J Androl. 1999 Nov-Dec;20(6):731-7.
    6. Reis CEG, Loureiro LMR, Roschel H, da Costa THM. Effects of pre-sleep protein consumption on muscle-related outcomes – A systematic review. J Sci Med Sport. 2021 Feb;24(2):177-182. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2020.07.016. Epub 2020 Aug 7.
    7. de Sousa Nogueira Freitas L, da Silva FR, Andrade HA, Guerreiro RC, Paulo FV, de Mello MT, Silva A. Sleep debt induces skeletal muscle injuries in athletes: A promising hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2020 Sep;142:109836. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109836. Epub 2020 May 12.

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  • Diets, Performance, Recovery

    Intermittent Fasting: Reviewing the Research

    Intermittent fasting (IF) has been a hot topic lately. It is a diet strategy in which you are to consume your total days’ worth of food in a specified window of time. Depending on who you talk to, the duration of that window and when it starts can vary. One of the more popular windows is 16 hours of fasting with 8 hours of eating, typically beginning around 10:00am and ending at 6:00pm like this recent study used. This tends to result in skipping breakfast and avoiding late night eating close to bed. The results of this new study shows some possible effects of IF and why some people may find success with it.

    Moro, T., Tinsley, G., Longo, G. et al. Time-restricted eating effects on performance, immune function, and body composition in elite cyclists: a randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 17, 65 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-020-00396-z
     
     

    Who & What

    Sixteen elite cyclists under the age of 23 were randomly split into two groups with different time windows of eating 3 meals and 1 snack:
    1. IF group: 8-hr window; 10:00am to 6:00pm
    2. Regular group: 14-hr window; 7:00am to 9:00pm
    Both groups consumed all of the calories and nutrients they needed within these time windows while continuing to train the same amount. They did this for a total of 4 weeks.

    How Did They Do?

    Weight: Despite being coached to eat enough to maintain their weight, the IF group lost weight while keeping their muscle and the regular group saw no changes. The lost weight for the IF group may be due to avoiding late night snacks and eating more in line with their body’s natural clock. What I mean by this is during the day the body is used to being awake, active and needing to produce energy which you provide it by eating. Later in the evening the body is getting ready to sleep and slow down so it’s not trying to produce a lot of energy. If eating a lot right before bed, your body will have a tougher time using all of that energy because you’re less active and this could result in weight gain over time. There is also a lot of time in between meals for the regular group which could cause them to be hungrier and unintentionally eat a little more.
     
    Muscle and Inflammation: Even though neither group saw any changes in muscle during the 4 weeks, there was a drop in muscle building hormones in the IF group. This decrease may be because the group wasn’t eating enough and losing weight. Building muscle requires energy and if it’s not being provided you can’t expect to build much muscle. What was more interesting is that the IF group had less inflammation than the regular group. It’s hard to read too much into this as we don’t know how much fruit & vegetables or how much sleep each group was getting but this could be worth keeping an eye on.
     
    Performance – The Big Test: There was no difference in performance between the groups. Short, sweet and to the point.

    Key Take Aways

    • – You don’t have to follow an IF diet if looking to improve performance
    • -Always make sure that you are timing your meals/snacks around your training to optimally fuel before, during and after to get the most of your sessions
    • – If having a snack before bed, make sure it is higher in protein as this will better help with muscle building and recovery
    • – Eat fruit & vegetables regularly to keep inflammation down and help your body recover
    • – Go to bed! Get around 7-10 hours of sleep each night
     
    There is not one single diet that can work for everyone and IF may work for some people but not for others. For most athletes though I advise against IF to make sure that optimal fueling before and after training occurs in order to perform and recover their best. If you are curious about what you should be eating to meet your goals, feel free to schedule a call with me and we can get you started seeing results.

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