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A Guide to Endurance Training Methods

Previously, I have written about the three primary predictors of overall endurance performance which were VO2 max, functional threshold, and efficiency.   While each is important on its own, it is the interaction of all three (along with factor such as pacing, tactics, etc) that determine actual real-world performance.

Each is also developed in a different way.  So in this series I want to look at various methods of endurance training as they are commonly recommended or used by athletes to optimize and maximize performance.

Today I mainly want to introduce the topic by looking briefly at the major adaptations that occur in response to endurance training.  Since it will provide background to better understand why different methods of endurance training “work”, I will also delve into bit of molecular physiology regarding something called AMPk.

Today I want to mainly make some introductory comments, looking briefly at some of the major adaptations that occur in response to endurance training. … Keep Reading

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A Guide to Basic Nutrition

In many articles on the site, I go into a rather great deal of detail on various aspects of human nutrition and the various nutrients that comprise it.  But it’s easy when doing this to miss the basics, which are arguably far more important.  For that reason I wanted to put together this guide to basic nutrition.  And I intend to keep it basic.   Where appropriate, I’ll point readers to other articles on the site (or my books) which discuss a given topic in more detail than I want to cover here.

Essential vs. Non-Essential Nutrients

The body has a requirement for somewhere around 60 nutrients on a daily basis for normal functioning or basic health. Please note that as nutritional science has progressed, it’s clear that many more nutrients contribute to optimal health even if they aren’t required for survival.  Put differently, you can live without consuming them but you might be healthier or perform better as an athlete if you did eat them.… Keep Reading

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Dissecting the Energy Needs of the Body

There are a lot of myths that still float around the training world and these are often used to make suggestions about how to train or approach the goal of improving body composition.  Perhaps one of the most prevalent is that adding muscle mass will significantly increase daily energy expenditure, helping both to lose fat and keep it off.  Unfortunately, as I have stated on the website, this isn’t really true.  To examine why I want to look at the following paper:

McClave SA, Snider HL. Dissecting the energy needs of the body. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. (2001) 4(2):143-7.

Incorrect Claims About Energy Expenditure

As I stated above, one of the longest held myths is that gaining muscle will significantly increase daily energy expenditure.  This is essentially based on some very old research that concluded that one pound of muscle burned 50 calories per day.  Unfortunately, this is utterly wrong. … Keep Reading

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Adjusting the Diet

In various places on the site, I have made the comment that such things as caloric intake and activity will have to be adjusted based on real-world fat loss.   This is a big part of the reason I tend to quick-estimate maintenance calorie intakes to begin with.  Any value you come up with whether you quick-estimate it or use some complex approach is only a starting point.  If you have to adjust it anyhow, the quick method is usually good enough.

But that raises the question of how to actually adjust the diet based on real world changes in body composition.  Even that is contingent on being able to get an accurate measure of body composition.  For the most part, I’ll be addressing moderate dietary deficits.  But the same information would mostly apply if large or small deficits were being used.

A Quick Note About Water Balance

Before I get into the meat of the article, there is one topic I want to bring up first. … Keep Reading