High Altitude Training

Ever wonder why Olympic athletes travel to high elevation training camps to prepare for the big event? Today I was taught the science behind this technique and exactly why high altitude training can be so effective.

As a basic background, it would be known that our blood is make up of white and red blood cells, platelets and plasma.While white blood cells are associated with our immune system, red blood cells have the characteristic functions of shuttling oxygen and carbon dioxide and facilitating a cellular exchange on these otherwise insoluble gases. Within the red blood cells (RBCs) is a heterotetramic protein termed hemoglobin. Hemoglobin has a ferrous iron (Fe) group within a heme feature which allows hemoglobin to bind oxygen and sequester it from the external environment. Now hemoglobin has a moderate affinity for oxygen binding making it an ideal transit protein for the association/dissociation of oxygen in cells. In other words, hemoglobin can bind to oxygen and then release it towards the target location.

Here's the punch line.

At high altitude there is typically less oxygen density, ie. less oxygen. This means that going from san diego to denver CO, could mean that your body and cells are getting roughly 10% less oxygen which is not a good thing. To counterbalance the phenotypical effects the high altitude environment is having on you body, 2,3-bisphophoglycerate concentrations are increased in the blood. What this does in decrease hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen making it easier for oxygen to detach from the heme group and thus attach to the hypoxic cells. The increase of this compound within the body is enough to compensate for the relative lack of oxygen in the atmosphere and in fact oxygen diffusion is retained to basal levels.

Long story short, high-altitude training helps as develop ourselves to absorb oxygen as an enhanced rate. So, if you train in Denver for a couple months and then compete in San Diego, you are bound to have a distinct advantage.

Just some food for thought.

Zone & Paleo: Too broad?

When sifting through the good, the bad, and the ugly diet regimes out there, a couple of things must be kept in mind before you dive into a particular regime. For one your diet must be balanced to some degree. Diets that are characterized by eating one or two foods are not effective and can be quite counter-productive. Secondly you must enjoy the foods you are dieting with or else you're going to hate the process and subsequently fail in reaching you goal. Lastly, find a diet that scientifically based taking into account the fields of physiology and biochemistry.

With all that being said, we've identified the zone/paleo regime as being pretty effective. But can this diet be given as a "blanket program" to help the masses achieve their goals. I believe it can, but to a certain extent. I believe a program should be adjusted to fit the individual and his/her goals. For example, someone who is trying to bulk up wouldn't eat he same foods in the same amounts as someone who is trying to lean out, just because they are both following the zone/paleo diet.

For example, lets take a 25 year old male who is trying to lean up. For this person we would want to keep the carb intake to a minimum as to keep fat anabolism to a minimum. Malonyl CoA is an inhibitor of the fat trafficing pathway the carnitine shuttle, and is triggered by the anabolic response from insulin secretion. For this reason and many more, a low carb diet would help control insulin secretion. Also we would want to increase this individual's fat intake as to stimulate fat breakdown and utilization in the body. Scientific studies have shown that a high fat diet fed to mice, lead to the increased expression of proteins associated with B-oxidation (fat breakdown in the mitochondria.

These are just examples of individualized manipulations, which I believe are a crucial aspect of effective dieting when the goals become more difficult to attain.

If you really want to dial in your physique and performance don't be afraid to make minor adjustments. Playing with your diet to achieve the correct cellular environment will make a world of difference, as its true that little changes can go a long ways.

Performance-enhancing Taste?

A lot have been made about the efficacy and legitimacy of dietary supplements. If you purchase a fitness magazine you'll see that 90% of the print is supplement based which generally leads to a conflict in interest in the actual fitness articles themselves. Personally, I believe that food is our number one supplement, as a sound diet filled with nutrient-rich foods is the only thing needed to achieve one's fitness goals. Now its safe to say that some foods are healthier than others, but are there certain foods that can give us the same results that are promised by the supplement companies?

It stands to reason that just like modern day pharmaceuticals, today's dietary supplements are based from organic ingredients/compounds. The two powerful compounds that I'll refer to today are cinnamon and sesame seed oil.

Cinnamon or Cinnamomum verum, is generally know for its association with sugar and raisins in many latin desserts. Ground cinnamon provides a pungent taste that greatly compliments that flavor of chocolate and sugar. Luckily cinnamon can also prove to be a powerful vasodilator and digestive aid. Furthermore, cinnamon has the capability of regulating blood sugar levels and is a useful supplement against type II diabetes. Regardless of how you choose to use cinnamon, understand that it is not just used as a flavor enchancer but can also help improve blood flow while maintain blood homeostasis.

Sesame seed oil is a very misunderstood and under utilized compound that can do a world of good for you fitness goals. If you inspect all of the latest fat-loss supplements, they all contain either gugglestones or sesamin. The later is a sesame seed derivative and is found in high-concentrations in the oil. This compound is thought to enhance B-oxidation in the mitochondria, leading to enhanced fat utilization for energy production.

I hope you will experiment with these two foods as they will certainly help your fitness efforts. Compounds like these further support the notion that food is our number one supplement and that our number one supplement can be delicious.

Hildie

Do you TRAIN or WORKOUT?

Yesterday someone asked me where I workout. I stewed upon the question for awhile and replied, "I don't workout." To elaborate, I believe as a crossfitter there is no such thing are working out. Yes we have work outs everyday, but we do not simply go through the motions just to way we've "worked out". On the contrary, I believe to train, is to work towards something; a goal or an event what have you. Training is not mindless activity where you find yourself thinking about whats for dinner midway through the workload. No, training is a well-devised game in which the trainee executes to the best of his/her ability until the goal is accomplished.

As far as I'm concerned if you are not working towards a goal ie. the light at the end of the tunnel, then you cheating yourself out of a very fulfilling experience.

This picture courtesy of Tom "the terrible" C.