Post-exercise Nutrition Importance Overstated?

I have mentioned in previous posts that chocolate milk is an excellent post-exercise meal due to it's 4:1 carb to protein ratio. Natalie, our registered dietitian, and I have been discussing the true need of the post-exercise meal for our clients with fat loss or general fitness goals. Since most of our clients are focused on fat loss or at least maintaining a goal weight, we certainly don't want to recommend any unnecessary calories.

If you are Olympic swimmer Micheal Phelps or the U. of Michigan football team performing multiple training sessions each day, it is very important to properly refuel for performance reasons. What about the 44 year old lady that walk/jogs the neighborhood for 30 minutes? Is she really in need of immediate refueling? Is her "performance" going to suffer in two days when she trains with weights?

Not according to this article in the New York Times.

"The American College of Sports Medicine, in a position paper written by leading experts, reported that athletes who take a day or two to rest or do less-intense workouts between vigorous sessions can pretty much ignore the carbohydrate-timing advice.

The group wrote that for these athletes, “when sufficient carbohydrate is provided over a 24-hour period, the timing of intake does not appear to affect the amount of glycogen stored.”

Several of the researchers quoted in the article are endurance athletes and based on their findings, do not practice any specific post-exercise nutrition strategy.

Take home message: If your are not participating in competitive sports that require more than one training session a day, just plan to eat one of your normal meals within a few hours of your workout. Simple enough.

Rick Mayo

Overhead Blues

I mentioned in an previous post that I had may 2nd surgery on my left shoulder around 6 months back. My "rehab" period is over and I'm free to do whatever I'd like as long as it doesn't cause pain. Now, my main reason in having the surgery was to be able to return to my MMA gym and move forward with my training. I have been piddling with the heavy bag lately with little or no pain. Yeah baby!

One thing that still bothers me is any type of overhead pressing from shoulder height (KB's, military press, DB overhead press, etc). After speaking with Joel, our physical therapist, and reviewing information from Eric Cressey, it turns out that deep overhead pressing is one activity that I may need to drop altogether.

I have no pain during horizontal pressing (bench press, DB BP, Push ups, etc) with a neutral grip or overhead pressing with limited range (handstand push ups, weight plate presses). I actually have loads of options with modifications that cause no pain whatsoever.

Am I a little bummed about eliminating fun/functional exercises like clean and presses and thrusters? Absolutely, but what I/you need to remember is that the training we do in the gym is not a sport. Whether your sport is golf, chasing the kids around the yard or punching someone in the face (BTW, sometimes they punch back), your training should enhance your life outside of the gym.

The silver lining in this learning process is the firsthand knowledge that I can pass along to clients and our team. We train many golfers and tennis players and those sports do present specific challenges to the shoulder joint. A little personal perspective goes a long way in preventing and understanding these setbacks.

Once again, every challenge presents an opportunity!

Rick Mayo

126 Yard Power Wheel Crawl

The Power Wheel is one of our favorite core training tools. Recently, Jon Hinds, owner of Monkey Bar Gym and inventor of the Power Wheel, issued a challenge. The 100 yard Power Wheel challenge involves crawling 100 yards with the Power Wheel strapped to your feet. Video the event and Jon will send you some of his great training DVD's!

I was discussing the contest with our team and we decided that Joe would be the best guinea pig for the challenge. Joe is pretty tough and usually overestimates his ability so he was our natural choice. He also relishes any chance to take off his shirt and ham it up for the camera. All kidding aside- it was tough but Joe managed 126 yards. Great job!



Rick Mayo

Because I Like It!

This was my answer to one of our clients having fun with me the other day after seeing me roll in on my mountain bike. The question- "I thought you said slow cardio was not great for fat loss. Why are you riding your bike then?"

Believe it or not, every activity I do does not have a fat loss or muscle building purposes. Sometimes it's just for fun. I'm certainly not thinking about EPOC (exercise after burn) while dodging trees at 30 mph. It's just fun. After all, isn't that what being active is all about?

I have had people approach me after a presentation on fat loss and state, "That stinks, I really like to run and now I'm going to have to give that up." It's funny what people actually hear when you mention that steady-state cardio is not the most effective fat loss exercise. Just because weight training and high intensity cardio are better choices for fat loss doesn't mean that you need to give up something that you really enjoy. Heck, I would never discourage anyone from doing anything active unless they were at risk of over training.

What are the most affective activities for fat loss?

3. Circuit Weight Training
4. Intense cardio
5. Steady-state cardio

What about the top 3? Oh yeah, they are:

1. Nutrition
2. Nutrition
3. Nutrition

So don't get too caught up in the science. If you are already doing your weight training and some intense cardio, go ahead and do some slow cardio and enjoy yourself.

I promise you won't spontaneously combust!

Rick Mayo

Tigger or Eeyore?

Which one are you? Tigger- Do people enjoy being around you? Do you give off positive energy? Maybe not. Eeyore- Do you entertain others in negative conversation? Is your glass always half empty?

One of my neighbors who I rarely see out of the house came over with their dog the other day. The first thing out of their mouth was, "have you had to totally change your habits cause of the gas prices? Man, things are really bad out there." Immediately, I wanted to light myself on fire to avoid having a conversation with this individual. Interestingly, this neighbor is actually really nice. I really don't think they are even aware of how negative they are. It's just a bad habit. A choice. I can think of people in my life who are on both ends of the spectrum.

How about you? Do you view a challenge in your life an unfair burden or an opportunity? Do you often worry about things that you have no control over or take responsibility for your own well being?

The great news is that you have a choice. You almost always do. So what it's going to be?

Tigger or Eeyore? You decide.

Rick Mayo

Poor Man's Massage

This is how we describe the foam roller to our clients. We have a fantastic massage therapist on staff and working with her is undoubtedly the best way to create and maintain muscle health. However, it is not always feasible for us to have a professional therapist with us several times a week. The next best thing is the foam roller. If you have not worked with the rollers before, it really does make a huge difference in muscle tightness/ joint mobility.

I have been a little slack on my video production lately so I am going to show you a video from Eric Cressey regarding how to use the roller.

The best rollers available are here.



Rick Mayo