Eat fat for endurance

Here is an intriguing one:

Significant effect of a pre-exercise high-fat meal after a 3-day high-carbohydrate diet on endurance performance

These results suggest that ingestion of a HFM (high fat meal) prior to exercise is more favorable for endurance performance than HCM (high carb meal). 

So maybe bacon and eggs would be better than that pasta party before the marathon.....

The Runner's High - you are destined to enjoy exercise

I saw this report pass over my Google Reader today, based on a study just published in the Journal of Experimental Biology:

Wired to run: exercise-induced endocannabinoid signaling in humans and cursorial mammals with implications for the ‘runner’s high’

Humans report a wide range of neurobiological rewards following moderate and intense aerobic activity, popularly referred to as the ‘runner’s high’, which may function to encourage habitual aerobic exercise. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are endogenous neurotransmitters that appear to play a major role in generating these rewards by activating cannabinoid receptors in brain reward regions during and after exercise. Other species also regularly engage in endurance exercise (cursorial mammals), and as humans share many morphological traits with these taxa, it is possible that exercise-induced eCB signaling motivates habitual high-intensity locomotor behaviors in cursorial mammals. If true, then neurobiological rewards may explain variation in habitual locomotor activity and performance across mammals. We measured circulating eCBs in humans, dogs (a cursorial mammal) and ferrets (a non-cursorial mammal) before and after treadmill exercise to test the hypothesis that neurobiological rewards are linked to high-intensity exercise in cursorial mammals. We show that humans and dogs share significantly increased exercise-induced eCB signaling following high-intensity endurance running. eCB signaling does not significantly increase following low-intensity walking in these taxa, and eCB signaling does not significantly increase in the non-cursorial ferrets following exercise at any intensity. This study provides the first evidence that inter-specific variation in neurotransmitter signaling may explain differences in locomotor behavior among mammals. Thus, a neurobiological reward for endurance exercise may explain why humans and other cursorial mammals habitually engage in aerobic exercise despite the higher associated energy costs and injury risks, and why non-cursorial mammals avoid such locomotor behaviors.

They basically found that that exercising mammals release pleasurable endocanabinoids in response to exercise.

Having suggested that natural selection used the endocanabinoid system to motivate endurance exercise in humans and other animals that walk and run over long distances, Raichlen adds 'These results suggest that natural selection may have been motivating higher rather than low-intensity activities in groups of mammals that evolved to engage in these types of aerobic activities'.

There is some more background at Eureka here.

The team publish their discovery that animals that evolved for endurance exercise benefit from endocanabinoids while animals that did not don't experience the pleasures, leading them to propose that natural selection used the endocanabinoid system to motivate endurance exercise in humans.

Given that we do experience the runners' high, the implication is that we evolved for endurance....or were designed for endurance. 

It is also interesting from the perspective of motivation and the ideas of Samuele Marcora that I mentioned here.

Marathons are dangerous?

Maybe.  But maybe particularly if you are not used to running.

Post-Exercise Cardiac Troponin Release is Related to Exercise Training History

Average miles run per week in the last 3 years, a marker of total training experience, encompassing training volume and duration, was negatively associated with post-marathon cTnI release (p<0.001).

what happens if you walk 1000 miles in 1000 hours?

Last year I wrote my reading about Captain Barclay; his most famous exploit was the walking of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas in 1809.  There is good analysis here.

Anyway, I just noticed that a case study has been published looking at the physiological impact of repeating this feat: (presumably it was Richard Dunwoody)  It sounds easy..one mile in 1 hour.....but doing that every hour for 1000 hours....little sleep, curtailed rest.  Hard stuff.



The biochemical, physiological and psychological consequences of a “1,000 miles in 1,000 hours” walking challenge

Abstract

The combined effects of 42 days of chronic sleep disruption and repeated hourly bouts of physical exertion have not been described. This case study reports the physiological and psychological demands placed on one individual who walked 1 mile in each consecutive hour for a period of 1,000 h (42 days), covering a total distance of 1,000 miles. The participant walked at a mean speed of 1.75 m/s completing each mile in approximately 15 min. Over the course of the challenge, the individual lost 1.6 kg in body weight. Markers of skeletal muscle damage, increased gradually whilst free testosterone levels decreased over the course of the challenge. Stress hormones increased whilst inflammatory markers (CRP) initially rose but then returned towards baseline over the course of the study. Cognitive motor performance measured via reaction time was maintained throughout the 42 days. The participant also displayed mood states typical of an elite athlete at baseline and throughout the challenge. Participation in this novel ‘1,000 mile 1,000 h’ walking challenge evoked considerable physiological stress in a fit, healthy middle-aged participant but did not markedly alter cognitive performance or mood over the 42-day period.

Chronic Cardio is healthy?

In our little paleosphere endurance exercise is usually characterised as a "bad" thing.  Mark Sission's Chronic Cardio post is the usual basis for all this, but there are other references too.  In general I agree with this view.  However sometimes other bits and pieces pop up that indicate a different viewpoint.  I saw this one the other day:

Autophagy-related and autophagy-regulatory genes are induced in human muscle after ultraendurance exercise

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether ultra endurance exercise changes the mRNA levels of the autophagy-related and autophagy-regulatory genes. Eight men (44 ± 1 years, range: 38–50 years) took part in a 200-km running race. The average running time was 28 h 03 min ± 2 h 01 min (range: 22 h 15 min–35 h 04 min). A muscle sample was taken from the vastus lateralis 2 weeks prior to the race and 3 h after arrival. Gene expression was assessed by RT-qPCR. Transcript levels of autophagy-related genes were increased by 49% for ATG4b (P = 0.025), 57% for ATG12 (P = 0.013), 286% for Gabarapl1 (P = 0.008) and 103% for LC3b (P = 0.011). The lysosomal enzyme cathepsin L mRNA was upregulated by 123% (P = 0.003). Similarly, transcript levels of the autophagy-regulatory genes BNIP3 and BNIP3l were both increased by 113% (P = 0.031 and P = 0.007, respectively). Since upregulation of these genes has been related with an increased autophagic flux in various models, our results strongly suggest that autophagy is activated in response to ultra endurance exercise.

Autophagy is usually presented as a "good thing" - the self eating process by which cells clean themselves up, getting rid of waste products and some pathogens.  Often it is promoted by fasting and again in the paleo world it is one of the benefits that are claimed for intermittent fasting.  I've probably written about that in the past somewhere.

Anyway, this study seems to link it to ultraendurance exercise.....actually it is talking epigenetics as far as I can see, particular autophagy related genes being switched on.  I suppose this might make sense if the exercise has actually cause massive damage and the body is frantically trying to clear up and repair the mess.  Maybe not so positive.

Marathons......

Ok, I know all the chronic cardio arguments....

There were three pieces that I saw today that sparked my interest particularly given how they relate to each other:

First of all the widely reported study that marathon runners have damaged hearts.   Also on Medpage here.

At the same time I saw two pieces that explained how to approach a marathon from a more sensible persepctive:

Mark Sisson on how to eat and train for a marathon - from a more primal  / paleo perspective.  Granted Mark warns you off the habit of marathons but accepts some people will still want to.

Then Tim Ferris had this post about marathon and endurance training on minimal mileage.  The Painless Path to Endurance  He highlighs someone using a low mileage approach to training:

Low mileage. I only ran 30 miles per week in preparation for the 100 miler. The most important training event for ultramarathons is the weekly long run. I kept my heart rate low and breathed through my nose during training runs, and I think that this helped to minimize muscle damage. I can run 20 miles on a Sunday, and still perform strength exercises on Monday. The key is having the LOW INTENSITY. I use a heart rate monitor, and I stay at 60-65% of my MHR. This means that I am often walking on the hills. If I ran 20 miles at 70-75% MHR, my recovery time would be much longer. I would do high intensity track or hill intervals on one day during the week, but the interval workout never lasted longer than 30 minutes. I keep the intervals pretty intense, though.

A lot like Crossfit Endurance.

A Carb mouth rinse

As usual with me, no commentary here. 

Just to say that this is interesting in its implications.

Rinse your mouth out with a carbohydrate solution and you are likely to perform better interms of endurance capacity, whether you are fasted or fed.

Riddle me this Batman......

Hiking and fat.....

I don't know whether to post this.....but as ever, this blog basically records thigns I find that are interesting to me.  You can take it or leave it and if i am posting something it doesn't necessarily mean I support it.

Anyway with all that bollocks out of the way, I enjoyed reading Matt Stone's piece:  Can Hiking Make you Fat?

Matt is always controversial - I think he takes some pleasure in being so - but much of what he says here is not particularly new.  If you hang around the blogs I do then you will have heard similar arguments from others, the idea that if you train in such as ways as to be reliant on fat then you body will respond by storing fat so that you have the fuel you need.

Tips for endurance exercisers and recreational hikers/cyclists/runners etc. frequently engaged in physical activity that lasts 2 or more hours in duration…

• Do some form of cross-training at least once per week at a high intensity level while engaged in a heavy endurance exercise load.  Try circuit-training, sprinting, interval training, weightlifting, or metabolic exercise

Interestingly Mark Sisson comes down in a similar place in his classic Case against Cardio post - he wants to ensure that you mix up lots of easy hiking with occasional do or die sprints. 

Knowing what we know about our hunter-gatherer ancestors and the DNA blueprint, we would ideally devise an aerobics plan that would have us walking or hiking several hours a day to maximize our true fat-burning systems and then doing intermittent “life or death” sprints every few days to generate those growth spurts that create stronger, leaner muscle.

However, since allocating a few hours a day to this pursuit is impractical for most people, we can still create a plan that has a fair amount of low level aerobic movement, such as walking briskly, hiking, cycling at a moderate pace, etc a few times a week and keep it at under an hour. Then, we can add a few intense “interval” sessions, where we literally sprint (or cycle or do anything intensely) for 20, 30 or 40 seconds at a time all out, and do this once or twice a week.

More on the dangers of marathons

I spotted this in a couple of places today:

"Marathon runners can be a lot less fit than they think," Dr. Eric Larose today told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

Lack of real aerobic fitness may directly impact the ways the heart organizes itself to survive the stress of marathon running, says Dr. Larose.

His research found that the magnitude of abnormal heart segments was more widespread and significant in a group of less fit runners. During the marathon, they had signs the heart might be at greater risk of damage than that of runners who had better training or at least had better exercise capacity.

"Without proper training, marathon running can damage your heart. Fortunately the exercise-induced injury is reversible over time," said Dr. Larose. "But it could take up to three months to completely recover."

Read more at Future pundit

Another death in an endurance event

Sadly someone died this weekend in a race in Edinburgh

It reminded me of DeVany's Top Ten Reasons Not to Run Marathons

It also made me think of this:  Should athletes undergo mandatory ECG screening?  Which I spotted today.

"Screening of hundreds of thousands of athletes to save possibly one life a year, cannot be justified," he concludes.

Genes and running

This study found genetic differences between elite endurance athletes and elite sprinters. It is true that individuals are truly different and have aptitudes to excel in different areas.

Marathons make your muscles old

This is - or should be somewhat disturbing.

Shorter telomere length is proposed as a marker for biological aging. They are also associated with more cancers.

Again a danger to chronic cardio


Skeletal muscle telomere length in healthy, experienced, endurance runners

Abstract

Measuring the DNA telomere length of skeletal muscle in experienced endurance runners may contribute to our understanding of the effects of chronic exposure to endurance exercise on skeletal muscle. This study compared the minimum terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length in the vastus lateralis muscle of 18 experienced endurance runners (mean age: 42 ± 7 years) to those of 19 sedentary individuals (mean age: 39 ± 10 years). The runners had covered almost 50,000 km in training and racing over 15 years. Minimum TRF lengths measured in the muscle of both groups were similar (P = 0.805) and within the normal range. Minimum TRF length in the runners, however, was inversely related to their years spent running (r = −0.63, P = 0.007) and hours spent training (r = −0.52, P = 0.035). Therefore, since exposure to endurance running may influence minimum TRF length, and by implication, the proliferative potential of the satellite cells, chronic endurance running may be seen as a stressor to skeletal muscle.

More on Brain Health

Further to the Spark posts a few days ago, here is another study that exercise promotes brain health. This time it is not in mice (like this one was) but humans.

Implication that training promotes brain health and could treat depression. Shame they didn't test resistance training.

Endurance training enhances BDNF release from the human brain

The circulating level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is reduced in patients with major depression and type-2 diabetes. Because acute exercise increases BDNF production in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, we hypothesized that endurance training would enhance the release of BDNF from the human brain as detected from arterial and internal jugular venous blood samples. In a randomized controlled study, 12 healthy sedentary males carried out 3 mo of endurance training (n = 7) or served as controls (n = 5). Before and after the intervention, blood samples were obtained at rest and during exercise. At baseline, the training group (58 ± 106 ng·100 g–1·min–1, means ± SD) and the control group (12 ± 17 ng·100 g–1·min–1) had a similar release of BDNF from the brain at rest. Three months of endurance training enhanced the resting release of BDNF to 206 ± 108 ng·100 g–1·min–1 (P < 0.05), with no significant change in the control subjects, but there was no training-induced increase in the release of BDNF during exercise. Additionally, eight mice completed a 5-wk treadmill running training protocol that increased the BDNF mRNA expression in the hippocampus (4.5 ± 1.6 vs. 1.4 ± 1.1 mRNA/ssDNA; P < 0.05), but not in the cerebral cortex (4.0 ± 1.4 vs. 4.6 ± 1.4 mRNA/ssDNA) compared with untrained mice. The increased BDNF expression in the hippocampus and the enhanced release of BDNF from the human brain following training suggest that endurance training promotes brain health.

West Highland Way Race

Each year some lunatics race the West Highland Way, a 95 mile trail that goes from Glasgow to Fort William through the West Highlands of Scotland.

This years race was held last Saturday and it was fascinating reading the accounts of some of the runners.

John Kynaston has a great blog detailing is preparation for the race and it was good to read that he once again managed to complete the course in under 20 hours. I am not sure if it is a healthy pursuit, but it is some achievement!

There is another account of the race here.

I have walked bits of the route and could not imagine the endurance that these guys have to run it!

...intervals for endurance

Great interview with Brian MacKenzie of CrossFit Endurance

The Most Dangerous Man in Endurance Training!

So, you want to do your first endurance event (anything over 2 hrs)? I know, you’re thinking where to begin? I mean, if you want to run 26.2 miles or swim, bike and run 140.6 miles or run an ultra marathon (anything over 50 miles), you’ve got to put in the hours, right? I mean at least 14-30 hrs per week to be really ready and to do your best, right? Wrong.

How about getting your deadlift up to 460. Instead of your “Sunday run” of 2 hours, you work on getting your back squat up to 350? Sounds insane doesn’t it? Not when you find out that the guys doing just this kind of work are averaging less than 9 hours per week of training and are finishing 100 mile runs only a handful of hours behind such endurance legends like Dean Karnazes. Brian MacKenzie and his team at CrossFit Endurance are shaking up the world of endurance training by teaching technique, adding intensity and then doing it faster in all their regimens.

READ MORE

make mine a cold drink.......

Here is a piece of research that you could put into practice fairly easily:

Cold Drink Ingestion Improves Exercise Endurance Capacity in the Heat.

Conclusion: Compared with a drink at 37[degrees]C, the ingestion of a cold drink before and during exercise in the heat reduced physiological strain (reduced heat accumulation) during exercise, leading to an improved endurance capacity (23 +/- 6%).

Resistance training, cardio and cholesterol

An interesting study. Resistance training trumps endurance training in these specific circumstances.


Acute exercise-induced changes in basal VLDL-triglyceride kinetics leading to hypotriglyceridemia manifest more readily after resistance than endurance exercise

Resistance training is considered less effective than endurance training in lowering plasma triglyceride (TG) concentrations. Acutely, however, a single bout of strenuous exercise, whether endurance or resistance, increases the efficiency of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-TG removal from the circulation and leads to hypotriglyceridemia. The comparative effects of these two types of exercise on VLDL-TG metabolism are not known. We therefore examined basal VLDL-TG kinetics by using stable isotope labeled tracers in 7 healthy, non-obese, untrained young men in the post-absorptive state, the morning after a single 90-min bout of either low-intensity endurance exercise (~30% of peak oxygen consumption) or high-intensity resistance exercise (3 sets of 10 repetitions for 12 exercises at 80% of peak torque production), matched for total energy expenditure (~400 kcal), or an equivalent period of rest on the preceding afternoon. Compared with rest, resistance exercise lowered fasting plasma VLDL-TG concentration by -28±10% (P=0.034), increased VLDL-TG plasma clearance rate by 30±8% (P=0.003), and shortened the mean residence time (MRT) of VLDL-TG in the circulation by -36±11 min (P=0.016), whereas endurance exercise had no effect (all P>0.05). Basal VLDL-TG plasma clearance rate was greater (P=0.003) and VLDL-TG MRT was shorter (P=0.012) the morning after resistance than endurance exercise. We conclude that, for the same total energy expenditure, resistance exercise is more potent than endurance exercise in eliciting changes in VLDL-TG metabolism that have been linked with hypotriglyceridemia, and should thus be considered as an alternative to or in addition to endurance exercise for the control of plasma TG concentrations.

Intervals for endurance

I spotted a couple of intersting articles in my recent reading with people using intervals and crossfit style training almost exclusively for training for endurance events.

An article here explains more:

On September 15, 2007, I completed what I am told is the sixth toughest 100-mile run in the world, the Angeles Crest 100 (the Western States 100 doesn’t really even qualify in the top ten). I averaged 6.5 hours of training per week. That includes strength training (almost 3 hours), CrossFit, and speed, interval, and pace work. My body learned to become aerobic at the higher paces, and even during the speed work (see next paragraph on the testing). My one-repetition maximum squat at the beginning of this revamping was 250 pounds. Three weeks before the race I could do 240 pounds for six consecutive reps pretty easily. I didn’t put on a single pound of body weight, and I set personal records at every distance I ran. I showed up to the race in an almost perfect mental state, not overtrained and broken down. I was positive, and I took care of my body pre-race: lots of fluids, clean nutrition, plenty of myofascial release, and stretching. I went in with the expectation of finishing, and I did just that.

There is an FAQ on the approach here.

It is an intriguing debate.

Gym Jones' Mark Twight and Mountain Athlete's ROb Shaul have been down this avenue already and concluded that to go long you have to train long too, at least from time to time.

Rob Shaul explains:

(8.17.07)

In other words, all that endurance training does for you is prepare for the specific endurance sport/activity you train for. But sprint/interval training can help you prepare you for long, slow events, with a fraction of the time investment.

Mark Twight at Gym Jones has found that short, sprint interval and metabolic conditioning, like the way we train at Mountain Athlete, can help prepare you for endurance events, but not more than one or two in a row. You have to train long, to go long.

The point: our training is best for preparing you for all types of eventualities in the mountains, but you need to supplement it with long-slow training on the weekends once every two weeks or so.

Mark Twight's thoughts are here:

Endurance Revisited

Finally, this year marks the return of my endurance. After having built a 20-year base I fell into the trap of thinking there might be a free lunch. I went against everything I had learned over those 20 years because the argument and its presenter was quite convincing, and I was susceptible to the easier way, the cure-in-a-bottle way, and I wanted the experts to be wrong. I went into it headlong, and received enough positive feedback to swallow the hook rather than letting it set in my lip. Emphasis on short-duration, high-intensity work didn’t strip endurance from me right away, rather the opposite occurred in the beginning. However, 18 months of nothing but short, hard efforts did “cure” my endurance. Despite an ability to go hard for durations up to three hours in length, “hard” is a relative term that didn’t equate to fast in my case. I couldn’t recover quickly from such efforts nor did I improve even after I balanced short, high-intensity work with longer, low-intensity training sessions. I realized that if I didn’t spit up the hook I’d be stuck on the low plateau I’d chosen for the rest of my life. While some are content with mediocre performance – especially if someone keeps telling them its “elite” – I expect better of myself and I’m willing to suffer trying to achieve it.

Over one year ago I cut out the hook. I began rebuilding my endurance. It is taking a long time. Every day I cursed myself for having sacrificed it and all of the hours and days and years I had worked to achieve it. I trained 435 hours in 2006 but spent inordinate time in the gym, 57 hours, which I could have spent more wisely doing other work. This year, with slightly more total volume and 50% less time spent in the gym, my benchmark lifts are equal to or heavier than last year. Many of them better than in 2005 when I weighed 5% more and spent over 100 hours in the gym. That said, Dan John reminded me that this year’s performance, as with any other year, does not exist in a vacuum, it sits on the foundation of the previous years. This season my lactate threshold occurs 11 beats per minute higher than in 2005. As a percentage of MVO2 it is within 2-3 beats per minute of the highest levels I achieved in the mid-90s. I can put out a reasonable amount of power for about four hours, and keep going for at least eight. I’m still a bottom-of-the-barrel Cat 5 road racer – where everyone must start – but I as long as I regain and maintain the general fitness required by the sport I can learn its specific technical aspects and continue gaining the experience I need to progress. This year I also learned that at 2-3% body fat my power drops off but at 5-6% I’m still light enough to motor uphill, power output is better, and I recover faster day-to-day.

The crossfit endurance approach is a very interesting one, but I must admit the thinking - and experience - of Mark Twight seems to indicate a need to add some long slow stuff on occasion if this is your aim.

Of course there is a debate as to whether such prolonged endurance exercise is even healthy! but if that is your aim as an athlete.......

UPDATE - it is also worth reading through Lyle McDonald's discussion of intervals. Admittedly most of this is about intervals for fat loss, but it is still an interesting discussion.

Steady state versus interval training: Getting to the point Part 1

Part 2

Conclusion

The Ramsay Round

The Ramsay Round is a classic Scottish hill run, a distance of 56 miles with 28,400 feet of ascent, over 24 Munros.

There is a good account here of a recent run by two guys from Edinburgh's Carnethy Hillrunning Club.

Running 95 miles in 20 hours

John Kynaston reports on his experience running this year's West Highland Way race.

As I walked up the Devil’s Staircase my thoughts returned to the possibility of running a sub 20hrs. It still felt unobtainable but realistically it was within reach if I could keep going. I was well aware that there was a long way to go and so much could go wrong. I felt like a carrot being dangled ahead of me that I could never reach!