Repeated sprints....how to recover

Two studies that say how best to recover from repeated sprints....basically rest / passive recovery rather than active recovery.

Effect of Recovery Mode on Repeated Sprint Ability in Young Basketball Players. - The results of this study show that during repeated sprinting, passive recovery enabled better performance, reducing fatigue. Consequently, the use of passive recovery is advisable during competition in order to limit fatigue as a consequence of repeated high intensity exercise.


Performance and metabolism in repeated sprint exercise: effect of recovery intensity - In summary, peak power indices during the repeated-sprint test were inferior in the MI (moderate intensity) and LI (low intensity) active recovery trials, compared to passive (total rest?) . The minimal differences in performance and muscle metabolites between the MI and LI trials suggest that any low-to-moderate level of muscle activation will attenuate the resynthesis of PCr and the recovery of power output during repeated short-sprint exercise.


Not sure how we apply this to sports - e.g. football where, while you may be doing repeated sprints, you cannot just stand around to recover...... UPDATE 1/5/08 - of course as someone comments below, that is the point. In such sports, you cannot recover passively. That is why conditionign is so important and why these studies msut always be put into some context.

more on ketogenic diets and cancer

More of this research as discussed previously

Growth of human gastric cancer cells in nude mice is delayed by a ketogenic diet supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides

Background: Among the most prominent metabolic alterations in cancer cells are the increase in glucose consumption and the conversion of glucose to lactic acid via the reduction of pyruvate even in the presence of oxygen. This phenomenon, known as aerobic glycolysis or the Warburg effect, may provide a rationale for therapeutic strategies that inhibit tumour growth by administration of a ketogenic diet with average protein but low in carbohydrates and high in fat enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT).
Methods: Twenty-four female NMRI nude mice were injected subcutaneously with tumour cells of the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line 23132/87. The animals were then randomly split into two feeding groups and fed either a ketogenic diet (KD group; n=12) or a standard diet (SD group; n=12) ad libitum. Experiments were ended upon attainment of the target tumor volume of 600 mm3 to 700 mm3. The two diets were compared based on tumour growth and survival time (interval between tumour cell injection and attainment of target tumour volume).
Results: The ketogenic diet was well accepted by the KD mice. The tumour growth in the KD group was significantly delayed compared to that in the SD group. Tumours in the KD group reached the target tumour volume at 34.2 +/- 8.5 days versus only 23.3 +/- 3.9 days in the SD group. After day 20, tumours in the KD group grew faster although the differences in median tumour growth continued significantly. Importantly, they revealed significantly larger necrotic areas than tumours of the SD group and the areas with vital tumour cells appear to have had fewer vessels than tumours of the SD group. Viable tumour cells in the border zone surrounding the necrotic areas of tumours of both groups exhibited a glycolytic phenotype with expression of glucose transporter-1 and transketolase-like 1 enzyme.
Conclusions: Application of an unrestricted ketogenic diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and MCT delayed tumour growth in a mouse xenograft model. Further studies are needed to address the impact of this diet on other tumour-relevant functions such as invasive growth and metastasis.

Full article (pdf)

I don't like fruit juice

Back in January I pointed out that the Guardian had a thought-provoking piece on fruit, saying that the current focus on fruit in the diet is not necessarily healthy: The myths of fruit

I was thinking of this reading Dr Briffa's latest post:
Study links fruit juice consumption with increased risk of diabetes

The 20 metre Rule

In the past I've posted lots of thoughts on functional training, including some research on appropriate training for football.

Dr Craig Duncan is currently the director of The Academy of Athletic Development and Head of the Sport and Fitness department at the South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE.

He completed his PhD in Sport and Exercise Science at The University of Sydney and has numerous published papers on the effect of exercise on the human body. Craig has worked with a number of sporting organisation including NSW Institute of Sport, Football Federation Australia, Sydney Olympic Football Club and International Goalkeeping Acadamy. Craig's special interest is in Total Athletic Condioning and applying a systematic approach to training.

Craig comments occasionally on this blog - which I find quite humbling. He is a proper scientist and I am an amateur in all this. I find diet and training fascinating, but my degrees are in other disciplines.

Anyway, Craig has a blog with some interesting and stimulating ideas. I was really impressed with his latest post:

Team Sports and the 20metre rule

I believe that the maximum distance a multi sprint sport athlete needs to run in one direction during conditioning training should be limited to 20metres. Think about it for a while and try it as I have tried to follow my 20metre rule for the majority of the training year. In the analysis of soccer we can see that it is rare a player runs more than 20etres in one direction so I ask why should we do anything differently in training? We want to move away from players cruising during the game and move towards attacking the space at pace

Check out his stuff

Starve a Fever

Stuart has highlighted an interesting piece of research from back in 1973 in a post he has put up called Starve a Fever.

In previous posts I have highlighted how fasting turns on autophagy:

Autophagy as I said before:

.

.......... (literally self-eating) a process in which your cells consume and recycle damaged internal material.

The process seems to be triggered when the energy content of the cell declines so that the cell literally consumes itself. It goes after the damaged materials first, so there is a strong link between repair of damaged tissues and fasting or low energy state in the cell. So, it you are over-fed you down regulate cellular repair. You want to go hungy episodically to turn on cellular autophagy and repair those damaged tissues.

Stuart has highlighted another immunological process phagocytosis that is limited by eating simple carbs (sugar) but promoted by fasting!


Thanks for pointing that out Stuart

It's not just carbs......

The standard low carb dogma is that carbs (and to a lesser extent protein) stimulate insulin secretion which activates LPL (lipoprotein lipase) and LPL stores fat. That is true as far as it goes, but I've been learning - primarily through readng Lyle McDonald's Stubborn Fat Loss Solution that there is more to it that this.

Apparently LPL is not the only - or the most important - enzyme associated with fat storage. Acylation Stimulating Protein (ASP) appears - in rats at least (and how applicable this is to humans I'm not sure) - to be even more critical for fat storage than LPL. It is worth doing a pubmed search on ASP (e.g. here)

I'm still thinking through what all this means for my own fatty diet.


Anyway, that is tangential to what I wanted to post.

This popped up in three sources today:

NSAID Improves Insulin Secretion in Obesity

Aspirin-like compounds increase insulin secretion in otherwise healthy obese people

Aspirin-like compounds (salicylates) can claim another health benefit: increasing the amount of insulin produced by otherwise healthy obese people.

Aspirin-like compounds (salicylates) can claim another health benefit: increasing the amount of insulin produced by otherwise healthy obese people. Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, the first step toward type 2 diabetes.

I'm not sure that this is always a health benefit, but that is by the way. The point is that salicylates stimulate insulin production.

Now many natural foods contain salicylates and these food chemicals may be an issue for many people as Emma has been explaining and explaining for a long time!

Irrespective of ASP, it may not be just the carbs stimulating the insulin and making you store fat. It may be certain chemicals in the low carb foods that you are eating.....


UPDATE - Emma has now posted on this.....and she is much cleverer than I am!  UPDATE 2  - Peter is cleverer than me too.

Triple Clap Pushups

I will have to try these.....

Calorie restricted diet prevents pancreatic inflammation and cancer

I've had a few posts up in the past looking at some ideas on treating caner with a ketogenic diet.

Here is a related story :

Calorie restricted diet prevents pancreatic inflammation and cancer

Prevention of weight gain with a restricted calorie diet sharply reduced the development of pancreatic lesions that lead to cancer in preclinical research reported today by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

While calorie restriction has been shown to have an anti-cancer effect in multiple species and for a variety of tumor types, its impact had not been well-studied in a model of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death and remains mostly intractable to existing treatments.

More barefoot walking

I've had things in the past on the benefits of going barefoot.

New York Magazine online suggests that despite your innate ability to walk, years of walking in shoes has got you doing it all wrong. This results in more aches and pains in your body than you should naturally encounter. The article makes the case that - despite the great lengths shoe manufacturers have taken to bring comfort to your step - most shoes are doing more harm than good.

Credit to Lifehacker for pointing out the story

The Alternanate Day diet

Matt Metzger's blog is always worth reading as it records his developing thoughts on exercise and eating.

He has recently been thinking more about intermittent fasting and particularly a model of alternate day eating - The Alternate Day Diet - where the off day is a low calories day rather than a total fast. This is similar in pattern to the QOD diet or but one of the things that Matt refers to is the Up Day Down Day work of Dr Johnson:

What is the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™?

It is an adaptation of an experimental model used in animal research. For 70 years scientist have recognized that animals fed 30 – 40% less calories than normal live 40% longer. In May 2003, an article was published showing that mice fed every other day had profound health effects which exceeded those seen in mice fed 40% less than normal every day.

Dr. Johnson invented a method which achieved these results in humans with the UpDayDownDay Diet™. Humans are generally unable to restrict their caloric intake even a modest amount on a daily basis. However, most motivated people can restrict themselves on an every other day basis to 50% or less of their normal calories. The discovery of this aspect of human behavior is the key to success. In other words we are able to do for one day what we are unable to do every day.

The scientific basis of our human experience is described in the article titled The effect on health of alternate day calorie restriction: Eating less and more than needed on alternate days prolongs life (see article).

On the “up” day you eat whatever you want and as much as you want. It is important to feel satisfied.

On the “down” day, you limit your intake to between 20% – 50% of normal. A guide to your caloric needs and a method to calculate the number of calories to consume is available here.

You might expect to be hungrier after a down day, but our research has shown that appetite is normal or decreased on the morning of an up day.
We strongly recommend using only commercially prepared meal replacement shakes for the first two weeks. This conditions you in several ways which promotes success.

I'm still happier with the more random and flexible approach of Eat Stop Eat.

Think yourself thin.....

This study has received a fair amount of interest in the press - Recall of recent lunch and its effect on subsequent snack intake for example Think yourself thin, recall lunch in the Daily Telegraph.

....researchers have found that “actively remembering your last meal suppresses appetite and reduces the desire to snack on junk food”. It also says the study found that concentrating on food while eating makes you less likely to get hungry later on.

As usual, NHS Choices have a good analysis of the research which indicates that things may not be as simple as that.

This was a small study that looked at the effect of recent meal recall on snacking. There are a number of limitations to consider:

• All of the participants were healthy young people, with BMIs in the normal range. It’s not clear whether the same effect would be seen in older people or children, people who were less healthy, or people outside of the normal BMI range.
• This study only looked at the effects of meal recall on snacking in the short term. It’s not clear whether this technique could reduce snacking if used on a regular basis, or whether the reductions in snacking seen would have any effect on a person’s overall calorie intake or weight.

Reducing weight is difficult for some people, and thinking of a recent meal might help them reduce their snacking. However, unless this is part of a programme that includes a healthy diet and increased physical activity, this technique seems unlikely to have much effect.

Protein co-ingestion....

This one popped out of Pubcrawler the other day. I'm not sure if this is applicable to real life training....eating while training?

Protein co-ingestion stimulates muscle protein synthesis during resistance type exercise.

In contrast to the impact of nutritional intervention on post-exercise muscle protein synthesis, little is known about the potential to modulate protein synthesis during exercise. ...............We conclude that, even in a fed state, protein co-ingestion stimulates whole-body and muscle protein synthesis rates during resistance type exercise.

Interval training and endurance

I mentioned this paper when it first came out - I even bought the whole thing so that I could read it hopefully learn something and attempt to say something useful.

Metabolic Adaptations to Short-term High-Intensity Interval Training: A Little Pain for a Lot of Gain?

I enjoyed reading the paper, but never got around to posting anything about it. Which in some ways is a blessing since I would probably have embarrassed my self with the some poor analysis. Anyway, Lyle McDonald - author of the Stubborn Fat Loss Solution that I have reviewed - has saved me the bother with an excellent post on his blog:

Research review: Metabolic adaptations to short-term high-intensity interval training

Summing up: There’s no doubt (and I haven’t intended to suggest otherwise) that high intensity interval training can have benefits. It’s time effective and may induce similar performance adaptations to longer duration traditional cardio. With regards endurance athletes, it’s clear that even short periods of low volume interval training can have rather large benefits for performance.

But with most of the benefits seeming to occur with only a handful of sessions per week (2-3 is the norm) and with benefits appearing to end fairly quickly (3-6 weeks), we might ask what a trainee should do when either

a. They need to train more frequently than that

b. They are looking at their training over a period longer than a few weeks. That is, if interval training stops providing benefits after 3-6 weeks, what should a trainee do for the remaining 46-49 weeks out of the year?

There is also the issue of how intervals integrate with training when OTHER TYPES OF TRAINING (e.g. weight training) are being done. That is, what happens if someone is training their legs heavily in the weight room twice/week. How realistic is it to then add high intensity interval training to that workload?

As well, what happens when someone (e.g. an athlete or obsessive exerciser) is trying to train daily? What happens then in terms of how they structure their week? If you take much of the current guru-speak (e.g. intervals are the only beneficial way to train) at face value, you end up developing a training week that no human being can survive.

This post is part of a really thought-provoking series that is challenging some of the dogma about intervals - dogma that to be honest I have been repeating on this blog. I'd recommend you to have a look at this series starting with this post: Steady State versus Interval Training

Clubs.....the next fad?

What do you think? You can read more here.

Functional Training for football

.......that is proper (association) football.

This is really following on from the last post and also continuing the theme of functional training - training in a way that mimics the motions and movement patterns/frequencies of your sport.

These studies are about football and look at how to set up optimal and appropriate conditioning routines. Both these look at how training can replicate what goes on in a match. A 10k run will not cut it, but these ideas will. (by the way blogger is annoying me and keeps on messing up the formatting when I try to format these abstracts....)

Effects of a new experimental training program on V.O2max and running performance. - .....the main intervention was performed in the conditioning phase where the control group performed traditional conditioning (straight-line running, with stretching exercises in the break) and the experimental group underwent a conditioning training program on designed polygon, very much akin to a real game situation; sprint-runs with or without the ball and rapid changes in direction. During the 20, 40 or 60m sprint-run the players had to perform specific ball drills depending on marked polygon station.

Physical load imposed on soccer players during small-sided training games. - the results of this study suggest that small-sided games can be used effectively to develop the specific endurance capacity of football players. The integration of these drills by coaches during the regular training schedule can help replicating the demands experienced during real match-play

Connections.....

Vern Gambetta recently had a good post on his blog. It was short so I'll reproduce it fully here:

Everything is connected. Impossible to isolate one system of the body, when one is working then all are working. You may designate a workout as having a metabolic emphasis or a neural emphasis, but there will be profound effects on all systems of the body not just the “targeted” system. I particularly enjoy swim coaches who have all these neat color coded charts with workouts in very specific heart rate zones designed to target specific energy systems – the body is so much smarter than that, it is always seeking to adapt and preserve homeostasis. It is IMPOSSIBLE to isolate one energy system or for that matter one system of the body whether it is neural, cardio vascular, muscular, or endocrine hormonal. Recognize that there is always a spillover effect, for example 3 x 150 meter sprints at 95% with full recovery will maximally tax all systems of the body. You will be working at greater than VO2 max during a portion of that sprint. Understanding this has great implications, as a coach it took me too long to figure this out. You will find if you grasp the idea that you will need to do less “fitness” oriented training when you realize the cumulative effect of all the components of training.

I was reminded of this by a study that popped up the other day:

The relative contributions of anaerobic and aerobic energy supply during track 100-, 400- and 800-m performance.


AIM: The present study set out to identify the relative contribution of the laboratory determined physiological measures, (maximal) accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), when predicting track performance.
METHODS: Fourteen volunteers (men: n=10; women: n=4); mean (+/- standard deviation [SD]) height 1.76+/-0.1 (men) vs 1.62+/-0.08 m (women); body mass: 67.9+/-7.1 (men) vs 50.6+/-8.2 kg (women), ran track races at distances of 100, 400 and 800 m. The individually determined (maximal) AOD and VO(2max) were measured under controlled laboratory conditions (68.3+/-10.2 vs 60.7+/-16.1; men vs women, mL.(2).Eq.kg(-1)) and (68.7+/-7.3 vs 55.6+/-4.3; men vs women, mL.kg(-1).min(-1)), respectively.
RESULTS: Track performance could be predicted using both laboratory measures, AOD and , with a high degree of accuracy: R2=76.9%, 84.8% and 89.1% for 100, 400 and 800 m, respectively. Data analysis confirmed the dominant energy supply during 100-m sprinting was the anaerobic energy supply processes, reflected as AOD. In contrast, oxidative metabolism (reflected as VO(2max)) was the dominant source of energy supply during 800-m performance.
CONCLUSION: The results support earlier research, rather than present textbook dogma, namely that aerobic and anaerobic processes contribute equally to maximal exercise lasting approximately 60 s.


In training it isn't always possible to split up your exercise so precisely - this bit is aerobic, this bit is anaerobic. It is interesting because sport - and life - is like that - a mixture.

More on getting old

I just wanted to expand a bit more on yesterday's post on getting older. It prompted some useful comments and emails from readers that I wanted to share a little more widely.

Rannoch Donald helpfully pointed me to this article The Shape of 40+ : The Science: Riding the Storm - which has some great insights into the maintenance of fitness and peak performance as we age.

..........older athletes don't perform as well as they used to partly because they don't train as hard as they used to. They work out less, in turn, not because of bodily limitations, but because of psychological and societal factors. At this point, the contradictory knot starts to unravel: While age-related physical decline from peak performance stands as scientific fact, athletic extinction proves to be a layered story open to a host of culturally influenced interpretations and different endings.

It is a useful and inspiring read with several good insights like that.

Also related to these ideas, a regular reader and commenter Dave C - who maintains a nice blog recording his quest for fitness - highlighted the case of his wife.

She is 63 but - as you can see in the video below - she is one tough Grandma! 6 chins, 15 dips and 11 feet elevated pushups in 2 and a half minutes. I bet there are lots of people 1/3 of her age that can't do that. Fantastic!

Getting older......

Here is a good one for those of us who are getting older. I'm 40 now - which used to seem old but now doesn't! Anyway this study looked at older cyclists (old? over 35 isn't old!) . It seems that as you age, exercise might make you more sore and give you greater feelings of fatigue.....but your performance might not be affected. You feel worse, but your performances may not similarly decline.

Altered perception and report of fatigue and recovery in veteran athletes.


AIM: This study investigated whether ageing effects perceived and reported ratings of fatigue and total quality of recovery following high-intensity training in athletes. We hypothesized that veteran (V) athletes would report greater changes in perceived measures of fatigue and recovery than training-matched younger athletes.
METHODS: Perceptions of muscle soreness (SOR), fatigue, and recovery were recorded in young (Y) and V (>35 years) well-trained cyclists in response to 3 days of repeated cycling time trials. Nine Y (24+/-5 years) and 9 V (45+/-6 years) cyclists performed 3 consecutive days (T1-T3) of 30-min cycling time trials (TT30) intended to induce fatigue leading to decreased performance. Physiological and performance variables were measured before, during, and after each time trial. Subjective measures of SOR, fatigue, and recovery were recorded each day.
RESULTS: There was no change in performance at the TT30 from T1 to T3 for either group. SOR, fatigue, and recovery significantly changed over the 3 days in the V group, but not in the Y group. The change in SOR from T1 to T3 was significantly greater in the V group than in the Y group (22+/-14 mm vs 9+/-12 mm, respectively; P=0.04).
CONCLUSION: It was concluded that 3 days of cycling time trials induce perceptions of muscle pain/SOR, fatigue and reduced recovery in well-trained V cyclists with no corresponding decline in physical performance.

Medicine Balls

There is an interesting article here on the history of medicine balls.

There is actually a fair bit of research out there on the functional / sport specific value of medicine ball training - especialy with respect to rotational srength. For example:

Effect of twelve weeks of medicine ball training on high school baseball players. - These data indicate that performing a 12-week medicine ball training program in addition to a stepwise periodized resistance training program with bat swings provided greater sport-specific training improvements in torso rotational and sequential hip-torso-arm rotational strength for high school baseball players.


Comparison of trunk kinematics in trunk training exercises and throwing. - Incorporating trunk training exercises ( the study included medicine ball throws) that demonstrate sufficient trunk ranges of motion and velocities into a strength and conditioning program may help to increase ball velocity and/or decrease the risk injury.


Can't resist this one, just for the comedy of it:

Fitness Spotlight

This site looks like it could be useful:

Fitness Spotlight is a site dedicated to giving you even more information on all things health and fitness from around the internet. We decided that with all the information that we come across daily from our research, and the amount that we can only personally blog on….

Sports vision clinic

I thought that this was an interesting story about vision in sports.

The visual system is more than just ‘what’s the smallest line on the chart you can see,’” Gee said. “The visual system consists of many things, but specifically for sports, depth perception, color, speed and accuracy of movements and contrast sensitivity – or the ability to detect an object off a background.”

It reminded me of some of the fuss a few years ago when the then England Rugby coach, Clive Woodward employed a peripheral vision coach for the team.

There is a good story here - Woodward focuses on 'extra 1%' with enlistment of vision expert from World Cup staff - from the Guardian, which reviews the work of this visual awareness coach"

When Sir Clive Woodward was in charge of the England rugby team, his employment of Sherylle Calder, the world's leading visual awareness coach, was a hallmark of his style. Nineteen months into his job as elite performance director for the British Olympic Association, Woodward has secured Calder's services again, for the benefit of British Olympians.
Calder, who is contracted to the BOA until the 2012 Olympics, was a full-time member of England's coaching staff in the run-up to the 2003 World Cup. Her work was a prime example of Woodward's meticulous attention to detail, and he repeatedly flagged up the importance of her pioneering methods.

She left the England set-up shortly after Woodward and since then she has been working with the South Africa rugby team, meaning she has had direct involvement in two World Cup successes. Add to that her stint with the Australian cricket side and it makes for an impressive CV.

Woodward first took notice of Calder's work during a presentation in which she showed him a picture of Lawrence Dallaglio in his underwear, and asked why, when so much weightlifting work was being done, no one was honing the muscles that controlled Dallaglio's eyesight. "Nothing," Calder pointed out, "can happen on a sports pitch until the eyes have done their work." Calder specialises not only in improving hand-eye coordination but also in developing peripheral vision. When Woodward talked about playing "heads-up rugby", as he was so prone to doing, it was Calder who worked on the players' ability to absorb, and react to, the visual information around them.

At the elite level these small factors become very important.

Just keep walking

Just walking will do you a lot of good. Note that intensity - walking pace - is also important.

Walking and primary prevention: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Objective:
To quantify the association between walking and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in healthy men and women.

Data sources:
Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Web of Science databases were searched to May 2007.

Study selection:
Prospective epidemiological studies of walking and CVD and all-cause mortality.

Results:
18 prospective studies were included in the overall analysis, which incorporated 459 833 participants free from CVD at baseline with 19 249 cases at follow-up. From the meta-analysis the pooled hazard ratio of CVD in the highest walking category compared with the lowest was 0.69, (95% CI 0.61 to 0.77, p<0.001), and 0.68 (0.59 to 0.78, p<0.001) for all-cause mortality. These effects were robust among men and women, although there was evidence of publication biases for the associations with CVD risk. Walking pace was a stronger independent predictor of overall risk compared with walking volume (48% versus 26% risk reductions, respectively). There was also evidence of a dose–response relationship across the highest, intermediate, and lowest walking categories in relation to the outcome measures.

Conclusions:
The results suggest walking is inversely associated with clinical disease endpoints and largely support the current guidelines for physical activity. The mechanisms that mediate this relationship remain largely unknown and should be the focus of future research.

Fatigue decreases your skill levels

I suppose this one is pretty obvious - when you are tired your skill levels decrease. The study here is related to football.

A conclusion - applicable to lots of sports - is that without sufficient conditioning, all the skill in the world will not help you perform and win. You can have great skills (boxing, rugby or whatever) , but if your fitness is such that these skills are eroded through tiredness, the fitter but possibly less skilled team will win.

Effect of Match-Related Fatigue on Short-Passing Ability in Young Soccer Players.

Abstract:
Purpose: To examine whether the fatigue accumulated during match play or determined by short bouts of high-intensity intermittent activities affect short-passing ability in junior soccer players. A further aim was to examine the influence of physical fitness as measured using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (YYIRT) on the changes in short-passing ability after a 5-min simulation of high-intensity activities (HIS).

Methods: Sixteen players (mean +/- SD: age 17.6 +/- 0.5 yr, height 174 +/- 7 cm, body mass 68 +/- 6 kg) participated in the study. A quasi-experimental control-period design was used for the study. Short-passing ability was measured using the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test (LSPT). Players completed the LSPT in two sessions during the 1-wk control period, followed by two unofficial matches during which the LSPT was performed during and after the first and the second halves of the game. Furthermore, the change in LSPT performance was determined after 5 min of HIS.

Results: A decline in LSPT performance was found during and after the game (P < 0.01). The accuracy of the LSPT decreased after the HIS. A significant correlation was found between the YYIRT scores and the decline in LSPT performance (accuracy, total time, total time with penalties) after HIS (r = -0.51 to -0.65; P < 0.05).

Conclusions: This study showed that the fatigue developed during a match and after relatively short bouts of high-intensity intermittent activities has a detrimental effect on short-passing ability, and that the fatigue-related decline in technical proficiency for a given intensity is associated with the fitness level of the players.

Training in a fasted state

I know a few of you out there practice Intermittent Fasting (e.g. Eat Stop Eat or Leangains) and also train in various ways.

If you do IF you may be a little worried about training on days you haven't eaten. I've done it and haven't found it a problem even after a 24 hour fast. There is all sorts of science about training in a fasted state (or a carbohydrate restricted state which is similar.......)

In any case this study might be of interest - short-term training elicits similar adaptations in peak O2 whether carried out in the fasted or carbohydrate-fed state. Obviously normal caveats - e.g. the abstract doesn't explain what "fasted" means.

Matt had some posts a while ago reflecting on the fact that for a hunter exercise would generally be in the fasted state - i.e., when you ran out of food and got hungry you had to exercise (hunt) to get some food. Hence exercise would often be in the fasted state - so it is something we should be adapted to.

Effect of training in the fasted state on metabolic responses during exercise with carbohydrate intake


Skeletal muscle gene response to exercise depends on nutritional status during and after exercise, but it is unknown whether muscle adaptations to endurance training are affected by nutritional status during training sessions.

Therefore, this study investigated the effect of an endurance training program (6 wk, 3 day/wk, 1–2 h, 75% of peak O2) in moderately active males. They trained in the fasted (F; n = 10) or carbohydrate-fed state (CHO; n = 10) while receiving a standardized diet [65 percent of total energy intake (En) from carbohydrates, 20%En fat, 15%En protein].

Before and after the training period, substrate use during a 2-h exercise bout was determined. During these experimental sessions, all subjects were in a fed condition and received extra carbohydrates (1 g·kg body wt–1 ·h–1). Peak O2 (+7%), succinate dehydrogenase activity, GLUT4, and hexokinase II content were similarly increased between F and CHO. Fatty acid binding protein (FABPm) content increased significantly in F (P = 0.007). Intramyocellular triglyceride content (IMCL) remained unchanged in both groups.

After training, pre-exercise glycogen content was higher in CHO (545 ± 19 mmol/kg dry wt; P = 0.02), but not in F (434 ± 32 mmol/kg dry wt; P = 0.23). For a given initial glycogen content, F blunted exercise-induced glycogen breakdown when compared with CHO (P = 0.04). Neither IMCL breakdown (P = 0.23) nor fat oxidation rates during exercise were altered by training.

Thus short-term training elicits similar adaptations in peak O2 whether carried out in the fasted or carbohydrate-fed state. Although there was a decrease in exercise-induced glycogen breakdown and an increase in proteins involved in fat handling after fasting training, fat oxidation during exercise with carbohydrate intake was not changed.

The Mace....

Sometimes, in the interest of functional fitness, I will use a sledgehammer in my conditioning work outs.


Originally inspired by this guy, I like the way that there is a lot of rotational work in chopping motions, a plane of motion often ommitted from many routines, but a movement pattern that is important to many motions from throwing to punching (as explained by Chek here)



Anyway, I saw this video the other day on Straight to the Bar and will try this sometime, as much as a shoulder mobilisation move as anything.



I think there is some similarity there to the Halo that the RKC system of kettlebell training teaches as a warm up for the shoulders.

Dr Briffa gives Quorn a bit of a kicking....

Readers in the UK will be aware of Quorn, a heavily marketed pseudo food used often as a meat substitute for vegetarians. It is marketed as high in protein, low in fat, zero in cholesterol....

After criticising it in a newspaper piece as having"no great nutritional value", Dr Briffa found the Quorn company in touch with keen to explain the nutritional and "natural" nature of their product. In a great post on his blog, Dr Briffa reproduces the email exchanges. It is science versus dogma and marketing and very revealing!

Wikipedia has an interesting bit on Quorn referring to some of the controversies associated with this weird product quoting:

complaints with advertising and trading-standards watchdogs in Europe and the USA, claiming that the labelling of Quorn as "mushroom based" was deceptive.[citation needed] The CSPI, observing that while a mushroom is a fungus, fusarium is not a mushroom, and they quipped, "Quorn's fungus is as closely related to mushrooms as humans are to jellyfish."

This is quite interesting in the context of the recent post on nanotechnology in food and the ideas Scott discusses here.

Bench Press? ....... it isn't functional

Take a look at this excellent post from Rannoch . He makes some superb points about the value of functional exercise, which he expands in a comment:

There is a truism in MA (martial arts) and SD (self defence) that says "You fight the way you train". You could simply say you perform the way you train, whatever the activity.

I for one do not want to fight lying on my back with my hips and core immobile and using only my chest, tri's and shoulders to get out of there.

I'm loathe to recommend any particular exercises in a sport specific context. Want to punch effectively? Go Punch!

That said, when we training movements we create patterns that can be replicated with force and power in our chosen activity. When we train msucles...we train muscles.

We do not live and move in isolation. Why train that way?

This is simple but really important stuff. I've pointed to a few ideas on functional training in the past and quoted Vern Gambetta who has this same principle: Train Movements Not Muscles!

Vern Gambetta has a principle that states "Train Movements not Muscles". It makes sense. When the body moves all sorts of muscles are firing in sequence to move, stabilise and balance. Isolating a muscle is not how we move in real life. We move in squats, twists, pushes, pulls, bends and lunges. It therefore makes sense to train in those movements too.

Digest.....

I think I have written before that a (the?) major purpose of this blog is that it allows me to index things that I find of interest in this area.

So, without much commentary here are three things I wanted to get recorded:

• A potential sugar fix for tumours - more on the stuff I had up yesterday about treating cancer with a ketogenic diet
• Vitamins 'may shorten your life' - here is another study (well a review of studies) that is pointing out the potential dangers of taking antioxidant supplements. We have touched on this before - e.g. antioxidants do more harm than good and Vitamin E supplements to be discouraged. I wonder what this will do for the sales of Snapple the new "Antioxidant Water"???

• Read more on this: Antioxidant users don't live longer, analysis of studies concludes - The vitamin industry has long touted antioxidants as a way to improve health by filling in gaps in diet, but a new review of studies found no evidence that the nutrition supplements extend life. Worse, the review authors said that some antioxidants could increase risk for death.
  

• And finally....Effect of Dietary Fat on Serum and Intramyocellular Lipids and Running Performance - The results suggest that reducing IMCL via 3-d consumption of a LFAT (low fat) diet does not impair running performance lasting a little over 2 h (compared with 3-d consumption of a MFAT ( medium fat) diet plus 1-d glycogen normalization), but that even short-term consumption of a LFAT (low fat) diet may unfavourably alter serum lipids, even in healthy, endurance-trained runners. That is actually fairly damning for the low fat / healthy diet crew - a low fat diet messes up you lipid profile! Pass the butter, I'm going for a run. (and that may even protect me from injury!)
  

A heavy Turkish Get Up

Ok, I know there are those out there that can go heavier or use different (!) weights. But from a woman this is pretty impressive (especially when I still struggle with the 24kg)




Credit to Dr Mark (and Rannoch)

Couple of titbits....

Ketogenic Diets in Medicine

I've had a few posts in the past about the potential for a ketogenic diet in treating cancer. Peter also has a post today that looks at the same topic.

On the same tack of therapeutic uses for ketogenic diets there was an article in the Guardian today on the use of this diet to treat epilepsy, a practice that has been around for a long time.

Emma has had some interesting posts on this in the past.

UPDATE - Richard has gathered some of this together too.


Cholesterol.....is it bad after all ? (No)

I've just spotted this article by Chris Masterjohn in which he reviews a book which tries to explain why cholesterol is bad. Chris explains some of the errors and omissions in the book. An instructive read.

Thigh Slap Pushups!

Wow. Davie is training his boys well!

High Carb diet makes it harder to burn fat?

What do you make of this? (my understanding of this science is still developing, but Lyle McDonald's Stubborn Fat Loss Solution is helping a lot)

The study indicates that a short term high carb diet leads to a decrease in the amount of fat that is burned and an increase in the amount of fat that is stored in muscle and liver. That is not good.

UPDATE - thinking about it, I suppose this does make sense since (from Lyle) insulin impairs fat mobilisation and carbs drive insulin. So if the fat is not getting out of the fat cells you can't burn it.

Reduced oxidation of dietary fat after a short term high-carbohydrate diet.


BACKGROUND: Short-term high-carbohydrate (HC) diets induce metabolic alterations, including hypertriacylglycerolemia, in both the fasting and postprandial states. The underlying tissue-specific alterations in fatty acid metabolism are not well understood.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated alterations in exogenous and endogenous fatty acid metabolism by using stable isotope tracers to label meal triacylglycerol and plasma fatty acids.
DESIGN: Eight healthy subjects consumed isocaloric diets containing a high percentage of energy from carbohydrates or a higher percentage of energy from fat for 3 d in a randomized crossover dietary intervention study. A test meal containing [U-13C] palmitate was combined with intravenous infusion of [2H2] palmitate to label plasma fatty acids and VLDL triacylglycerol. Blood and breath samples were taken before the meal and for 6 h postprandially. Blood samples were drawn from the femoral artery and from veins draining subcutaneous adipose tissue and forearm muscle for monitoring of tissue-specific metabolic substrate partitioning.
RESULTS: Systemic triacylglycerol concentrations were increased in both fasting (P = 0.02) and postprandial (P = 0.02) periods, and a greater amount of infused labeled fatty acid appeared in VLDL triacylglycerol after the HC diet than after the higher-fat diet (P = 0.05). Significantly less 13CO2 was exhaled after the HC diet (P = 0.04) and significantly less production of 13CO2 was seen across forearm muscle (P = 0.04). Systemic 3-hydroxybutyrate was significantly lower, postprandially, after the HC diet (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSION: Metabolic alterations suggestive of repartitioning of fatty acids away from oxidation toward esterification in both liver and muscle occur in response to short-term adaptation to a HC diet.

Drink lots: Science or Marketing hype?

We have touched on this before.

Here is another study which indicates that rather than giving blanket advice to people to drink x amount of fluid - e.g. 8 glasses a day - thirst is the best guideline to intake. Of course people trying to sell sports drinks would have you believe something different!

Drinking policies and exercise-associated hyponatraemia: Is anyone still promoting overdrinking?

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this review is to describe the evolution of hydration research and advice on drinking during exercise from published scientific papers, books and non-scientific material (advertisements and magazine contents) and detail how erroneous advice is likely propagated throughout the global sports medicine community.
DESIGN: Hydration advice from sports-linked entities, the scientific community, exercise physiology textbooks and non-scientific sources was analyzed historically and compared with the most recent scientific evidence.
CONCLUSIONS: Drinking policies during exercise have changed substantially throughout history. Since the mid 1990's, however, there has been an increase in the promotion of over-drinking by athletes. While the scientific community is slowly moving away from "blanket" hydration advice in which one form of advice fits all and towards more modest, individualized, hydration guidelines in which thirst is recognized as the best physiological indicator of each subject's fluid needs during exercise, marketing departments of the global sports drink industry continue to promote over-drinking.

Even More Jumps

Ok I am a just a sucker for videos of big jumps:

Maffetone on Inflammation

I've pointed to Phil Maffetone before with respect to his thoughts on shoes and on the dangers of synthetic vitamins

He is a good guy, slightly different perspective from a lot of what I post here, but that is OK.

Anyway, I just spotted another article - a booklet really - he has put up on his site about inflammation. It is a pdf:

The ABCs of Chronic Inflammation a thought-provoking read


Incidentally, reduced inflammation was one of the things first mentioned by Dr Eades back when he was promoting IF.

Backflips.....

Credit to Ross for spotting this one. Funny but painful!

95 year old Powerlifter

Following on from the post the other day about the elderly body-builders, I saw this referred to on Lou Schuler's blog:



95-year-old muscles her way into power lifting - With 95 years of living under her belt, Symie Sermay is gearing up for a whole new challenge — competitive power lifting. The Las Crucen will take on all comers in the Natural Athlete Strength Association's New Mexico State Powerlifting and Power Sports competition in Rio Rancho on April 26. It will make her the oldest contestant ever to compete, according to her trainer, Richard Kahle, owner of Kahle's Gym, where Sermay trains three days a week. The previous record was an 88-year-old competitor, he said. Sermay can curl a cool 30 pounds, bench press 45 pounds, and in the deadlift (her favorite event) she can heft 60 pounds. She may face some competition from youngsters — she's entered in the 75-and-up division.

I like a comment at the end of the article regarding her attitude to life:

The workouts and vitamins may keep her healthy, but she attributes her ability to go full-throttle at 95 to a more philosophical factor.

"It's laughter, be happy," she said with a wink after working out. "It's a sense of humor."

Avoid fructose to avoid diabetes?

For a while now Barry Groves has had an article on his site about the dangers of fructose

There are many good reasons to avoid the fruit sugar, fructose, but all you need is one: type 2 diabetes. And even worse that fruit itself that ubiquitous additive to many processed foods — high fructose corn syrup.

A recent study highlighted diabetes and all the other key reasons why it's a healthy idea to avoid this truly awful component of processed foods and soft drinks.

I thought of his article when I saw this abstract that noted that:

Long-term exposure of normal rats to a fructose-enriched diet or drinking water is currently used as an animal model for experimental insulin resistance.

When scientists want to induce insulin resistance - a precursor to diabetes - they give rats lots of fructose. Scary. Barry Groves states: "Eat 5 portions of fruti and veg? Not if you want to avoid diabetes"

Ibuprofen - the latest 'roid for the aged?

This is a weird story that popped up yesterday. Basically, a study has found that

..over-the-counter painkillers may promote muscle growth in older patients during weight training...

In 24 patients with a mean age of 64, recommended daily doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen were associated with gains of about 50% in muscle volume and strength compared with placebo after 12 weeks of resistance training, Chad Carroll, Ph.D., of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and colleagues reported at the Experimental Biology meeting here.

"These results suggest that chronic consumption of ibuprofen or acetaminophen during resistance training induces intramuscular changes that enhance the metabolic response to resistance exercise," said Todd Trappe, Ph.D., also of Ball State.

I really don't know what to make of this one!

Have a look at the full story: OTC Painkillers Also Help Grandpa Get Buff (!)

It is also reported by Eureka here.

Maybe these guys need some?


Talking of older people weight-training, there was a story in the NY Times yesterday about bodybuilders in their 60's and 70's: 60-Plus, Ripped, and Natural Competitors

Does massage work?

I must admit that I enjoy massage and try to get some work done on my back every couple of weeks either by Colin Gordon at the Edinburgh Physiotherapy Centre or Sheena Livinstone out in West Linton. Both use massage plus Muscle Energy Therapy (MET) to loosen up the tight muscles that plague me, especially my psoas.

While I think a huge amount of back pain is due to stress - I have a lot of sympathy for the teachings of Dr John Sarno - massage can certainly loosen up a tightened muscle.

I spotted this study which sort of bemused me. It notes that massage is relaxing. While that is true, in my experience it is much more than that. It can address specific muscle imbalances, when the length / tension relationships get messed up.

Effects of myofascial release after high-intensity exercise: a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The usefulness of massage as a recovery method after high-intensity exercise has yet to be established. We aimed to investigate the effects of whole-body massage on heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure (BP) after repeated high-intensity cycling exercise under controlled and standardized pretest conditions. METHODS: The study included 62 healthy active individuals. After baseline measurements, the subjects performed standardized warm-up exercises followed by three 30-second Wingate tests. After completing the exercise protocol, the subjects were randomly assigned to a massage (myofascial release) or placebo (sham treatment with disconnected ultrasound and magnetotherapy equipment) group for a 40-minute recovery period. Holter recording and BP measurements were taken after exercise protocol and after the intervention. RESULTS: After the exercise protocol, both groups showed a significant decrease in normal-to-normal interval, HRV index, diastolic BP (P > .001), and low-frequency domain values (P = .006). After the recovery period, HRV index (P = .42) and high-frequency (HF) (P = .94) values were similar to baseline levels in the massage group, whereas the HRV index tended (P = .05) to be lower and the HF was significantly (P < .01) lower vs baseline values in the placebo group, which also showed a tendency (P = .06) for HF to be lower than after the exercise. Likewise, diastolic BP returned to baseline levels in the massage group (P = .45) but remained lower in the placebo group (P = .02). CONCLUSION: Myofascial release massage favors the recovery of HRV and diastolic BP after high-intensity exercise (3 Wingate tests) to preexercise levels.

Low Carb and Cancer

I've posted a few times in the past about the science suggesting that a low carb / ketogenic diet may be a treatment for cancer.

If you are interested in this topic there are several related articles here, e.g.

Low Carb & Cancer

Many aggressive cancers depend on anaerobic glycolysis for ATP production, as has been known since first described by Otto Warburg in the 1920’s. The remarkable success of modern PET scanning in the detection, staging and prognosis of many cancers using F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) reflects this dependence. Very low carbohydrate ketogenic (VLCK) diets have inhibited cancer growth in animal studies [1] [2] [3] and in a human case study [4]. Ketone bodies in culture media have inhibited cancer growth in cell culture studies [1], [5], [6]. While the mechanism of cancer inhibition is unlikely to be simple glucose deprivation, several plausible mechanisms have been proposed. VLCK diets cause tonic reductions in hormones that are supportive of tumor growth including insulin, IGF7, IL6 and other inflammatory cytokines. Other metabolic effects include apoptosis due to increased plasma fatty acids, and inhibition of fatty acid synthase, a target of chemotherapeutic agents.

Fat is good for you.

Of course lots of us know this already (if you are not yet in on the news check out Peter's blog or read Barry Groves)

Now there is more breaking news:

University of Alberta researcher Flora Wang found that a diet with enriched levels of trans vaccenic acid (VA) -- a natural animal fat found in dairy and beef products -- can reduce risk factors associated with heart disease, diabetes and obesity........

Because VA is the major natural trans fat in dairy and beef products, comprising more than 70 per cent of the proportion of natural trans fat content in those products, the findings support a growing body of evidence that indicates natural animal-based trans fat is different than harmful hydrogenated trans fat created through industrial processing, Wang noted.

As the VA results illustrate, some natural trans fats are not harmful and may in fact be very good for you," she said.

Well there you have it....natural fats might be good for you!

The full story is here: Natural Trans Fats Have Health Benefits, New Study Shows

University of Alberta (2008, April 5). Natural Trans Fats Have Health Benefits, New Study Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/04/080402152140.htm


The report is also here:

Natural trans fats have health benefits, University of Alberta study shows

Contrary to popular opinion, not all trans fats are bad for you.

University of Alberta researcher Flora Wang found that a diet with enriched levels of trans vaccenic acid (VA) – a natural animal fat found in dairy and beef products – can reduce risk factors associated with heart disease, diabetes and obesity

Results indicated this benefit was due in part to the ability of VA to reduce the production of chylomicrons – particles of fat and cholesterol that form in the small intestine following a meal and are rapidly processed throughout the body. The role of chylomicrons is increasingly viewed as a critical missing link in the understanding of conditions arising from metabolic disorders.

“Our results provide further evidence of the important role of chylomicrons in contributing to risk factors associated with metabolic disorders,” said Wang, a PhD candidate in the University of Alberta Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. “They also indicate a strong opportunity for using diets with enhanced VA to help reduce these risk factors.”

The research involved two VA feeding trials – one short-term (three weeks) and one long-term (16 weeks) – using model rat species for obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

The results, presented recently at the International Symposium on Chylomicrons in Disease, included novel findings that VA may have direct effects on the intestine. In addition, they showed key metabolic risk factors were reduced. For example, in the long-term trial, total cholesterol was lowered by approximately 30 per cent, LDL cholesterol was lowered by 25 per cent and triglyceride levels were lowered by more than 50 per cent.

Because VA is the major natural trans fat in dairy and beef products, comprising more than 70 per cent of the proportion of natural trans fat content in those products, the findings support a growing body of evidence that indicates natural animal-based trans fat is different than harmful hydrogenated trans fat created through industrial processing, Wang noted.

“As the VA results illustrate, some natural trans fats are not harmful and may in fact be very good for you,” she said.

Core Strength - Deadlift.....or use a Swiss Ball?

According to this study you are better off squatting and deadlifting than playing on a swiss ball......

(I think I've said something similar before)


Trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises.


The purpose of this investigation was to compare trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. Nine resistance-trained men participated in one testing session in which squats (SQ) and deadlifts (DL) were completed with loads of approximately 50, 70, 90, and 100% of one-repetition maximum (1RM). Isometric contractions during 3 stability ball exercises (quadruped (QP), pelvic thrust (PT), ball back extension (BE)) were also completed. During all exercises, average integrated electromyography (IEMG) from the rectus abdominus (RA), external oblique (EO), longissimus (L1) and multifidus (L5) was collected and analyzed. Results demonstrate that when expressed relative to 100% DL 1RM, muscle activity was 19.5 +/- 14.8% for L1 and 30.2 +/- 19.3% for L5 during QP, 31.4 +/- 13.4% for L1 and 37.6 +/- 12.4% for L5 during PT, and 44.2 +/- 22.8% for L1 and 45.5 +/- 21.6% for L5 during BE. IEMG of L1 during SQ and DL at 90 and 100% 1RM, and relative muscle activity of L5 during SQ and DL at 100% 1RM was significantly greater (P < or = 0.05) than in the stability ball exercises. Furthermore, relative muscle activity of L1 during DL at 50 and 70% 1RM was significantly greater than in QP and PT. No significant differences were observed in RA and EO during any of the exercises. In conclusion, activity of the trunk muscles during SQs and DLs is greater or equal to that which is produced during the stability ball exercises. It appears that stability ball exercises may not provide a sufficient stimulus for increasing muscular strength or hypertrophy; consequently, the role of stability ball exercises in strength and conditioning programs is questioned. SQs and DLs are recommended for increasing strength and hypertrophy of the back extensors.

So it is this:





Or this:

The positive effects of carbohydrate restriction

Regina Wilshire points to this new review article by a number of doctors who see a benefit to a low carbohydrate diet:

Dietary carbohydrate restriction in type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome: time for a critical appraisal

Full Text (pdf)

Abstract

Current nutritional approaches to metabolism syndrome and type 2 diabetes generally rely on reductions in dietary fat. The success of such approaches has been limited and therapy more generally relies on pharmacology. The argument is made that a re-evaluation of the role of carbohydrate restriction, the historical and intuitive approach to the problem, may provide an alternative and possibly superior dietary strategy. The rationale is based on the accepted idea that carbohydrate restriction improves glycemic control and reduces insulin fluctuations which are primary targets. Experiments are summarized showing that carbohydrate-restricted diets are at least as effective for weight loss as low-fat diets and that substitution of fat for carbohydrate is generally beneficial for risk of cardiovascular disease. These positive effects of carbohydrate restriction do not require weight loss. Finally, the point is re-iterated that carbohydrate restriction improves all of the features of metabolic syndrome.



As explained by Regina, these doctors are

all members of the Nutrition & Metabolism Society, an organization committed to "providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition. The Society is particularly dedicated to the incorporation of biochemical metabolism to problems of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Looking around the website for the N & M Society there is quite a lot of interesting information, including a section on Diet and Strength Training, that readers of this blog might find useful.

For example, there is a review article (pdf) indicating that a very low carbohydrate diet may be

protective against muscle protein catabolism during energy restriction, provided that it contains adequate amounts of protein.

New fasting research.

A couple of additional pieces about fasting :

Fasting Can Reduce Brain-Injury Impact - Researchers at the University of Kentucky have found that fasting can help reduce the impact of a moderate traumatic brain injury.

Fasting May Bolster Healthy Cells' Resistance to Chemo Toxins - Starving healthy cells helps to differentiate them from tumor cells, a trick that could make cancer treatments more effective

That second one is based on the same science as I pointed to previously here and here


UPDATE Art Devany also points to this second research here.

I'm Back

Ok, I'm now back after a few days off trying to learn cross-country skiing in Norway.


We stayed in a very beautiful little village called Sjusjoen near Lillehammer. Fantastic.


The skiing was fun, but a difficult skill to learn.



Normal service will now be resumed!

By the way, I've turned on the word verification thing on comments because I was starting to get some spam. I hope you keep commenting and don't find it in convenient.

Fat Burning exercise....

Interesting study here, trying to identify an optimal exercise intensity for fat oxidation.

They seem to say that continuous exercise training at this specific intensity can lead to greater improvements in fat oxidation and insulin sensitivity than an interval training program that burns the same calories. It is hard to tell much from the abstract - e.g. about what this intensity is or what the interval protocol used was. The results look funny too - no change in body fat %.....

I wonder how this would line up with the ideas in the Stubborn Fat Loss book that I mentioned earlier

Does anyone out there have access to the full study?

UPDATE - Lyle McDonald - author of the Stubborn Fat Loss solution that I reviewed the other day - has commented on this study on his blog in a challenging series he is doing on intervals vs steady state cardio.



Endurance training and obesity: effect on substrate metabolism and insulin sensitivity.


PURPOSE:: Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are disease states associated with hallmark features such as insulin resistance and an impaired ability to oxidize lipids. It has recently been reported that an optimal exercise intensity for fat oxidation (FATmax) exists; we hypothesize that continuous exercise training at this specific intensity can lead to greater improvements in fat oxidation and insulin sensitivity than a eucaloric interval training program.

METHODS:: In a counterbalanced, crossover design, eight sedentary, obese, but otherwise healthy male participants performed two 4-wk blocks of endurance training, either at a predetermined intensity eliciting maximal fat oxidation (TPCON) or at 5-min intervals of +/- 20% FATmax (TPINT). During the week preceding the exercise training and 48 h after the final exercise bout, an OGTT, V O2max test, steady-state exercise, and measurements of body composition were undertaken. Diet was controlled the day before all trials (50% carbohydrate, 35% fat, and 15% protein; ~2900 kcal.d). Variables were compared using two-way repeated-measures analyses of variance.

RESULTS

It was shown that fat oxidation rates were increased by 44% after TPCON (0.24 +/- 0.01 vs 0.35 +/- 0.03 g.min, P <>

CONCLUSIONS:: A continuous exercise training protocol that can elicit high rates of fat oxidation increases the contribution of fat to substrate oxidation during exercise and can significantly increase insulin sensitivity compared with a eucaloric interval protocol.