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Energy, Performance, Recovery, Sleep, Technology, Wellness
Wearable technology is not great at estimating calorie needs
- December 21, 2022
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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Body Composition, Diets, Meal Timing, Muscle, Performance, Weight, Wellness
Time restricted feeding impact on fitness and body comp
- December 14, 2022
Time restricted feeding is a very broad topic which means different things to different people. To some it is fasting for 24 hours at a time 2-3 times per week and others it’s having an 8-hour eating window. For most individuals and especially athletes I wanting to try time restricted feeding or intermittent fasting to avoid full day fasts. Those can increase the amount of muscle that is lost due to the extended period of time and also don’t allow proper fueling for peak performance. The effects of shorter fasting periods seem to be better in general.

Time restricted feeding – Weight loss

Losing weight is one of, if not the, biggest reason people tend to consider time restricted feeding. Consider for a second that the foundation of any weight loss strategy is calorie restriction it’s a perfect fit theoretically. Less time to eat means less opportunity to overindulge. With the shorter restriction time though it can help still provide adequate nutrients to avoid muscle loss. Despite some marketing attempts though, it’s not necessarily a magical strategy. Eating less calories is the primary factor and the key to weight loss.

Time restricted feeding – Body comp

Slow and steady is the name of the game. As stated with weight loss, restricting too much can result in losing extra muscle which is never ideal from a body comp standpoint. By maintaining a decent number of calories (and protein) the weight loss will primarily be coming from fat. The less opportunity to eat again helps reinforce no added treats sneaking in there. Even without purposefully restricting calories, an 8-hour eating window tends to naturally result in lesser calories being consumed due to that. Lose fat and maintain muscle both are the driving factors for improved body comp.

Time restricted feeding – Performance

Performing optimally is where some additional planning comes into play with this. If looking to implement a time restricted feeding strategy it’s crucial to time it up appropriately around your training. Training sessions where you need peak performance, you’re absolutely going to want to eat beforehand. Having a full fuel tank ensures having the energy to do what you do best. On the other hand, in some situations it can be ok to train without eating before. This is a very specific situation to induce some specific metabolic changes to increase fat utilization. While not desirable for every session, it is a tool for the tool belt when applicable. In both situations though, eating afterwards is very important. The body is primed to take up nutrients to maximize recovery and muscle building so you don’t want to skip that window.

Consideration for athletes

When considering this, the first thing is to decide what you’re trying to achieve. If wanting to lose weight this could be a strategy to consider to help with that. Especially if night time snacking seems to be a big challenge. A hard set end-time can provide that extra barrier to help eliminate that temptation and extra calories. But by no means is that the only way to lose weight or even the best way for some people.

Everyone responds differently to different things so find the strategy best for you. Making sure all the while to fuel yourself properly around training sessions. The biggest thing to reiterate though is to make sure any potential long term fasts are avoided to maintain that muscle.

Study referenced: click here

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Brain Health, Gut Health, Memory, Wellness
Gut health can impact long term brain health and memory
- December 6, 2022
Research on gut health has been exploding! It feels like every week another study is showing how one’s gut health can impact something different. Lately one of the most popular topics is the connection between gut health and overall brain health. Short term and long term brain health can both be impacted. Don’t ignore the power of the gut and like most things, the sooner you start the better long term results.

Review factors impacting gut health

Surprise surprise, what you eat impacts your gut health. Consuming quality foods is key with a focus on veggies and fruit! Ensure you have decent fiber rich food items which will fuel the good bacteria in the gut to maximize their benefits. Quality omega-3s from fatty fish will help reduce inflammation in the brain as well to help keep it feeling and functioning optimally. None of this is to say that you can’t ever have a donut or else your gut health is ruined. You’ll rarely see me turn down a good donut! It’s the overall consistency that is key. One single moment doesn’t erase all the hard work done before it. That being said, one salad doesn’t correct a diet otherwise full of candy and fried food so make sure that you’re eating your broccoli regularly!

Brain and cognitive benefits

The gut is the gatekeeper for what is allowed into the body. For all the energy that your brain and body needs the gut needs to let that in while also keeping the bad stuff out. Proper nutrition is key for optimal brain function and growth just like for our muscles. Looking at older individuals suffering from memory related issues, one fairly common factor is poor gut health. Dementia is one situation in particular getting a lot of attention and justifiably so. There’s still a lot to learn in that area but prioritizing your nutrition sooner will help stack the odds to avoid that. While changes like that don’t happen over night but short term benefits can still be shown with a good diet aiding memory to encourage starting to prioritize things now. It’s always annoying forgetting where the keys are!

Helping your brain starts with the gut

Reiterating, it’s always better to start sooner than later. Having more veggies and fruit will rarely ever be a bad thing and especially in this case, your noggin will thank you. In addition to veggies, fruit and fatty fish like salmon, some supplements can play a role too. Specifically, probiotics can be very beneficial to aid gut health in certain situations. Antibiotics can crush your gut health by killing the good bacteria in there along with the bad bacteria. So depending on medications you are taking, double check to ensure if there are any additional impact on gut health to be mindful of. Staying mindful will help you to repair your gut health quicker and set things up for continued wellness. Again, none of this occurs quickly but you want to be sure to help your future self by prioritizing things now. Time flies!

Study referenced: click here

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Beet, Performance, Supplements, Vitamins/ Minerals, Wellness
Not all beet juice products are made equal
- November 27, 2022
Beet juice is popular amongst more people than just Dwight Schrute from The Office. Athletes and those looking to maximize their performance are starting to gravitate towards beets more and more. Research is continuing to come out supporting those benefits but it’s confusing to know how to take for best results. Looking into this, a new study shows that there is a lot of variation amongst different products and also even a bit between batches of the same product.

What’s so special about beet juice?

Nitrates are the main piece of the puzzle that makes beet juice so beneficial. Within the body those nitrates are converted into nitric oxide which help dilate blood vessels for improve blood flow and oxygen delivery. Consuming enough nitrates to maximize that potential can have a significant benefit on performance. Improved oxygen delivery helps muscles produce the energy they need but also it helps ‘clear out’ byproducts like lactate better. Combining all of these factors will help to train/compete longer with less fatigue. Post-training it can help from a recovery aspect as well from that.

Differences between products

Knowing the benefits beets and nitrates can have, now it’s a matter of making sure the needed amount is consumed. Most products, especially supplements, will specifically label the nitrate content within them. While it’s nice of them to say what the product contains, it’s another thing for it to actually contain what it says. Supplements in general are very susceptible to this and aren’t always as accurate as we would like them to be. On top of that, you need to make sure beet supplements are third party tested to ensure they don’t have any banned substances in them either. Put all of that together and it emphasizes why choosing beet juice may be the better and safer option.

Juice vs. supplement

Concentration of nitrates in juice appear to be a bit more consistent in providing the amounts needed for their benefits. The majority of the supplements reviewed in the recent study don’t have the needed amounts of nitrates in them. Having confidence in knowing you’re getting what you need is certainly something that needs to be kept in mind. Adding to the confidence of having the nitrates needed to work their magic, beet juice also has some other benefits too. Drinking beet juice will provide some extra carbs before intense competitions and the fluid to help ensure proper hydration. Putting all of this together, beet juice makes for one heck of a pre-workout addition to your nutrition plan.

How and when to drink beet juice

Knowing beet juice is helpful is nice but it’s just as important to know how best to take it. Drinking beet juice doesn’t have the nitrates kick in immediately and needs to be timed up appropriately for maximum effect. Wait until about 2 hours before your competition is about to begin before having beet juice as that’s how long it takes for your body to absorb and begin using those nitrates. Drinking half a cup (4oz) should be sufficient in most cases as well to provide the proper amounts of nitrates. Concentrated beet shots of ~2oz can sometimes provide enough as well but that will depend on the beets used.

Having some extra wiggle room for error, I would recommend going with the 4oz. Regardless though, like with all new things make sure to try it first during practice and not before a competition! No new foods on game day to make sure you know how your body responds to things. Nobody enjoys competing with an upset stomach.

Study referenced: click here

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Inflammation, Muscle, Performance, Recovery, Wellness
Is cryotherapy recovery worth the chill?
- November 19, 2022
Interest in cryotherapy recovery has been gaining in popularity for a few years now. Athletes of all levels are lining up to embrace the chill in hopes of improving recovery. At the professional level many teams are building cryo-chambers into their training rooms even. Especially at the elite level, even the slight bit of additional benefit could be all the difference. Climbing into an ice box can be unpleasant for a short time but is it worth it for the potential benefits?

What is cryotherapy recovery

Put simply, cryotherapy recovery’s main goal is to cool down the body rapidly. Cooling down the body is putting it mildly! Climbing into a cryo-chamber you will be exposed to temperatures reaching -190 degrees Celsius. As you would expect with that though you will only be in there for about 2-3 minutes. You’re going to be in for a rough time and flirting with frostbite if staying for an extended period of time! Jumping into ice tubs is the original cold therapy strategy used and is still very common. Cost is a major reason for that as some similar benefits can be achieved with only needing a tub of water and some bags of ice. Effeciency is a big benefit of cryotherapy as well as you don’t have to sit in the cold as long.

Potential benefits

Exposing oneself to such discomfort wouldn’t be so popular if there weren’t some benefits. Decreased inflammation is one of the biggest draws of cryotherapy recovery. Training and matches/games are big time causes of inflammation on the body. Some inflammation is good and needed to improve performance, but there’s a limit. Like most things, balance is key. Decreasing inflammation contributes also to the ability to help the body’s muscles recover more efficiently. Condensed training and match schedules make quick recovery times incredibly important. Adding cryotherapy recovery in those situations in particular can be incredibly beneficial. The latest study referenced supported this showing decreased markers of both inflammation and muscle damage.

Start shivering or stay under the blanket?

Timing up when to hop in a cryotherapy chamber is the important thing. Eliminating too much inflammation too often can inhibit training adaptations similar to when consuming too many antioxidants. After taking that into consideration, adding in cryotherapy recovery into your routine likely isn’t a bad thing. Your biggest challenge though may be finding a place nearby that has a chamber available to use. Popularity continues to rise for it though with more and more places popping up offering it. Grab some hand warmers and a jacket for afterwards but give it a try!

Study referenced: click here

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Body Composition, Muscle, Protein, Wellness
Can high amounts of protein impact testosterone levels?
- November 16, 2022
Testosterone is involved with a lot of functions in the body. It aids bone growth and strength, sex organ development, cognition and mood. The most popular function of testosterone is its impact on strength and muscle growth. Getting bigger and stronger muscles are naturally common goals of athletes. Trying to optimize testosterone levels is a big topic of interest as a result. Pairing this with protein’s impact on muscle and strength, the two complement each other well. Recent studies are starting to question though if focusing too much on protein could actually result in having protein impact testosterone negatively.

Current recommendations for optimal protein impact

Recommendations for protein are typically based on one’s body weight. Current sports nutrition guidelines for those looking to build muscle and maximize recovery is around 1.8-2.2g/kg. For a 170 pound person that’s ~155 grams of protein per day. Getting 2g/kg of protein is already challenging for most people. Others though go with the theory of if some is good, more has to be better! Studies looking into even higher intakes are starting to increase though to test the limits. Conducting more studies though makes the definition of “high protein” tough to quantify though as each study may have a different number for it.

Quantifying “high protein”

Reviewing many of the studies in this paper it appeared that the cut-off of “high protein” was around 3.4g/kg. Compared to 2g/kg mentioned earlier that is a huge jump! It’s unlikely that someone would achieve this level without putting in a lot of intentional effort. Most of the studies looking at that level of intake though did show it was effective at improving body composition. Score one for high protein! The same researchers also looked into how it impacted kidney and liver function as that tends to get brought up as a common concern. Findings pointed to no negative impacts on kidneys and liver either. Sore two for high protein! Not studied though was testosterone which a recent paper dove into.

Too much protein impact on testosterone

Consuming at or above that 3.4g/kg does appear to decrease testosterone levels. Cutting right to the chase on that one! We’re still early in the research on this topic so nothing definitive can be made but there are trends worth noting. Below 3.4g/kg these effects appear to be minimal or non-existent. Looking at various studies playing around with carb and fat intakes they don’t appear to have the same impact on testosterone. Minus one for high protein this time. Decreasing testosterone appears to be the body’s way to increase its ability to digest and process the added protein through different pathways. Physiologically then it would make sense for this to be occurring with very high protein intake.

So how much protein should be consumed?

Most people struggle to hit just 2.0g/kg and that is what I would recommend starting at. Consuming 2.0g/kg has been shown many times over to be sufficient to help aid muscle building and repair. This is also low enough to avoid any potential negative impacts on testosterone so it’a a good benchmark to strive for. Certain situations such as injury recovery may need more but the vast majority of athletes and the general public would do great at that 2.0g/kg mark. As an example, at this amount a 170lb. person would need around 155g per day of protein. Make sure your meals and snacks all have a good protein source with them and enjoy the gains!

Study referenced: click here

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Energy, Hydration, Macronutrients, Recovery, Weight, Wellness
Did you order a coffee or was it dessert?
- March 20, 2022
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.

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.

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.

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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