Endurance Planet

Sponsor: Head to enduranceplanet.com/shop for a bunch of cool products and services we’ve come to love, use and endorse. Everything we offer is centered around helping you achieve the ultimate in health and performance. Also when you shop through endurance planet you directly help support the podcast so we can continue to provide you with great content always for free… Open Amazon via enduranceplanet.com to do your online shopping—it’s just one extra click to link to Amazon through the banner on our sidebar or click theAmazon links in the show notes. On this show we’re joined by Nicola Rinaldi, PhD, an expert on hypothalamic amenorrhea and author of No Period Now What, who’s here to talk all about why we lose our periods, how to regain a missing period and how to live a healthy, fertile life whether or not kids are a goal. This talk dives heavily into the research that’s available as well. Defining hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) and risk factors The network of hormones that communicate and control our cycles and fertility starting with our actions and the hypothalamus. Variables that lead to decreased communication in reproductive hormones. Quote from the book, highlighted by Tawnee: “No matter what our conscious minds think, if our hypothalamus senses an unfavorable nutrient balance or stress environment, it will shut down the ability to cycle and procreate.” Nicola’s story of losing then regaining her period and fertility. It’s important to point out this doesn’t just happen to high-level athletes! What are tall-tell signs one is at risk whether it’s an unhealthy approach to exercise, food, body image, stress or all of the above – maybe some women don’t even realize they’re harming themselves. 5 risk factors: Low body fat Decreased food intake Constant hunger Stress Exercise Is the #1 factor in HA is lack of energy availability? HA women have higher levels of perfectionism. Exercise obsession – how much is too much? How come some girls can handle more and still get a period? HA vs. PCOS What is PCOS, how does it differ from HA, and how women can figure out if they have PCOS or HA. Similarities and differences. Must have two of three specific symptoms for it to be PCOS. Why is HA unhealthy as is using BC to “fix” it?  The potential consequences beyond brittle bones and infertility. Predisposition to heart disease. Cognitive decline. BMI numbers associated with losing a period. Birth control (BC) pills are not an accurate indicator of health. Thoughts on using BC to get and maintain a period that might not be present otherwise. Nicola’s take: Be on BC and get an “artificial” period or get off BC and have no period? (For those gals aren’t quite ready to do the work to get back the period naturally.) HA recovery The recommended steps for women to take. Who to see: a conventional doctor, naturopath, health coach, etc.? Healing on your own? Eating recommendations for healing and how to adopt a healthy mindset and ditch restrictions in the process. Thoughts on supplementing with bioidentical progesterone or other supplements like estrogen, chasteberry, etc., as a way to speed the recovery process? Is hormone testing of some kind is needed? In healing phase, thoughts on decreasing exercise and by how much? Some studies show if food is adequate (thus EA) maybe a decrease in exercise isn’t as necessary. Tawnee’s personal story on regaining her period and how she had to decrease exercise to not just because of the phyiscal stress but the mental stress she had toward sport at the time. What other variables go into healing such as stress management. How can girls like us ditch the stress when it’s so programmed in our blood and DNA?? What if it’s not working – still no period?! What to do? Thoughts on Clomid or Femara as treatment for normal menstruation and ovulation. What’s the normal BMI for women to get to for having a period with normal ovulation and luteal phases, and if it’s a goal, pregnancy? Making a return to training/exercise Women who’ve recovered from HA: What’s next? Are we able to resume an exercise program and keep a normal period? Fertility Other issues like ongoing low progesterone and luteal phase defect. How does a history of HA affect future fertility? Do women with history of HA struggle to get pregnant? Does the duration of HA make a difference i.e. 6 months vs 10 years of HA? How long should you recover from HA or what signs should you see before it’s time to try to get pregnant? Doing all we can for the health of the unborn baby – what can we do to make sure we’re building a “palace” for our little ones and not letting our own exercise/food addictions take over and cause us to stay too lean before/during a pregnancy? More and more women are exercising during pregnancies at levels even doc’s didn’t traditionally advise, but if you have history of HA should you be more careful with exercise before/during pregnancy? The post Nicola Rinaldi, PhD: No Period Now What – Healing Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Managing Fertility first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code “enduranceplanet” if you’re shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN’s new bar made with coffee beans! Sponsor: If you’re looking to take the holistic healthy life a step further but you’re not sure how to start head to Life Post Collective, an inner-circle community created by Tawnee Prazak Gibson. At LPC you’ll find Tawnee’s resources on holistic health, wellness, fitness, nutrition (including her custom recipes) and more to help you on your path to optimization–the same resources and tools she uses for her athletes and clients. No gimmicks at LPC, Tawnee created this community for your wellbeing and as a home to share practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to kick more butt. Through LPC’s integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working toward common goals. As a special offer for EP fans, we’re giving you your first month FREE at Life Post Collective using code “ep2017” – act now and make this the best year ever! On this episode of Ask the Coaches: Follow-up on cold workouts and HR issues covered in ATC 227. Some athletes find their RPE lower and heart rate takes longer to increase in cold weather. We talk further on the individual nature of how weather affects our training. On MAF volume and how much you need, probably the #1 question we get… Take a listen to past shows on this topic here. Lucho chimes in with some wisdom and why not to cut corners or try to do the least amount possible. Building a home gym, what would be included, what would be omitted and also hear the difference between Tawnee and Lucho’s home-gym vision. How do you recommend building it over time? It seems like it’d very easy to go over board. Of these which are necessary: Kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells and plates, trap bar, pull-up bar, medballs, swiss ball, TRX, sled…? If you were starting out fresh, what would you buy first? Kettlebells vs. dumbbells. Tawnee mentions she has a detailed post on home gyms over at LPC (with pricing breakdown), check that out here. Pro triathlete sings the praises of MAF training. Why, at the start of his runs, would one experiences a sharp spike in HR, even a very easy jog. His MAF HR is 140 but he will spike into the 150s easily in those initial 20 minutes. Late-night or midnight race start questions: Advice regarding sleep for a night-time ultrarunning race, in this case a 100k that starts at 7pm. An OCR event that begins at midnight with 8 hours to complete as many laps of the course as possible. Recommendations for what to do and eat during the day before the race start? Also how to tackle sleep; sleep in as late as possible or wakeup at normal time? What meals are most important? MAF training for Leadville success. An EP listener chimes in on his experience going 8:39, ranking 59 out of 550 for age category 40-49, with a body that performed flawlessly thanks to dedicated MAF conditioning. Meanwhile he says that all his buddies are sugar burners and they did well but with higher heart rates; although, they are 10 years younger and don’t get the whole metabolic/fat adoption/MAF concept. How to go sub 8 this year? The post ATC 228: How To Build A Home ‘Gym,’ Lucho’s Volume Philosophy, Late-Night Race Starts, and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor:  Head over to our Shop Page where we’ve added even more awesome products that we love and use, including Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener, Vital Choice seafoods, and Vital Proteins (their collagen is top notch!). Everything we offer is centered around helping you achieve the ultimate in health and performance and you can also feel safe that you’re getting the best-quality products and services available today, we’ve done the research for you. Also don’t forget to shop Amazon via EP (click that big yellow banner to the right) to further support the show. Sponsor: If you’re looking to take the holistic healthy life a step further but you’re not sure how to start (and let’s face it, there is an overwhelming amount of information on the interwebs) head to Life Post Collective, an inner-circle community created by Tawnee. At LPC you’ll find Tawnee’s resources on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more to help you on your path to optimization–the same resources and tools she uses for her athletes and clients. No gimmicks at LPC, Tawnee created this community for your wellbeing and as a home to share practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to kick more butt. As a special offer for EP fans, we’re offering a New Year’s deal where you can get your first month FREE at Life Post Collective using code “ep2017” – act now and make this the best year ever! On this show we’re joined by Jae Gruenke, GCFP, a Feldenkrais practitioner and founder of The Balanced Runner. For the past 14 years she has helped runners from beginner to Olympian learn to run pain-free, efficiently, and fast. She specializes in helping those whose problems have not resolved with medical treatment and those transitioning to natural running form, minimalist footwear, and barefoot running. She teaches in the US, the UK, and Germany and also offers The Balanced Runner Online Running Technique Camp and other online programs, find out more at www.balancedrunner.com. Topics we cover: A different way to tackle things: Jae’s background in dancing and becoming a runner. Jae thinks and operates a bit differently than most when it comes to how to build a solid runner. She explains her philosophy, techniques and what makes her different. She teaches neuromuscular education techniques using the Feldenkrais Method – retrain the brain. The mind-body connection to running. Why classic workouts/strength training are often not enough for runners especially to resolve injury. Why a lot of experts, physios, coaches, etc., still can’t help people resolve reoccurring running injuries. Specific running issues and remedies: When running we want our hips to shift – a little – and not be too stiff, why this is and how it should all work in the kinetic chain… “The one thing that works is learning to shift your pelvis so your weight goes all the way over your right leg so your gluteus medius doesn’t need to overwork nor your knee turn inwards. This requires a movement of your pelvis and spine, and this brings us back to core stability and the more effective alternative, core action.” What would prevent someone from moving their hips adequately? i.e. Tight hips: causes and solutions How to fix a runner with chronically sore quads – more in Jae’s blog here. Importance of arm swing (if we don’t get to it above) Improving hip extension – is the couch stretch enough? Correcting R/L imbalances and why the R side is always dominant no matter if your left- or right-handed Glutes: are the usually overworked or underdeveloped? Mention of the book “The Talent Code” and how its themes tie in. And much much more in this episode! The post Jae Gruenke: End That Injury For Good! Re-Train Your Brain To Run Faster, Smoother and Injury-Free For Life first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code “enduranceplanet” if you’re shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN’s new bar made with coffee beans! On this episode of Ask the Coaches: Followup on strapless HRV app: There is on! Check out HRV4TRAINING if interested, which uses the iPhone camera (and does not need a separate heart rate strap). Lucho drools over a fan selling his 2000 Litespeed Saber frame. Is MAF affected by COLD temperatures? Whether freezing temps or temps in the 40s (F) for SoCal folks, can cold weather cause our pace to slow down in order to hold MAF? Swimmer’s ear – “doctor Lucho” shares his remedy. If a swim injury (or swimmer’s ear) has you out of the pool, how to redistribute that training volume if you’re a triathlete? (caution against adding too much extra running too quickly). Are aerobic benefits the same regardless of sportwhen using the same heart rate ranges (i.e. 180 Formula)? Not looking for sport-specific gains, rather, for my general aerobic health. In ATC 222  we basically say, “Metabolic Efficiency Testing is the new MAF… (The testing) is a scientific approach to Maffetone’s principles.” Explaining the philosophy behind this statement. How to interpret ME test results from a super efficient fat burner – is it now time to focus on getting faster and not get overly obsessed with how much fat burning can happen? Using  your Metabolic Efficiency Test to determine HR zones and training needs, being specific to your race goals. Explaining and clarifying some basics of Jack Daniel’s method with real-life application: Intervals should be done at 95-100% of V02MAX or 97-100% of MHR Using VDOT score, what happens if it’s hard to get HR that close to max using the VDOT interval pace, as well as having a hard time getting HR close to Threshold using the VDOT Threshold pace. Good post by Steve Magness on VO2max The post ATC 227: Cold’s Effect on Aerobic Training, Fat Burning Then Speed, Daniels’ VDOT Workouts, and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: A New Year’s freebie deal you don’t want to pass up: If you’re looking to take the holistic healthy life a step further but you’re not sure how to start (and let’s face it, there is an overwhelming amount of information on the interwebs) head to Life Post Collective, an inner-circle community created by host Tawnee Prazak Gibson. At LPC you’ll find Tawnee’s resources on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness, athletic performance and more to help you on your path to optimization–the same resources and tools she uses for her athletes and clients. No gimmicks at LPC, Tawnee created this community for your wellbeing and as a home to share practical evidence-based and experienced-based ways to kick more butt. Through LPC’s integrative forums and features on the site, you can learn from not only Tawnee but also like-minded people all working toward common goals. As a special offer for EP fans, we’re offering a New Year’s deal where you can get your first month FREE at Life Post Collective using code “ep2017” – act now and make this the best year ever! Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep, biorhythms, and improving the lives and sleep patterns of patients using chronotypes. He is the author of The Power of When that explains the concept of chronotypes and the four categorizes everyone falls into, which then helps you discover the perfect time for you to do everything including when to have sex, workout, sleep, eat, ask your boss for a raise and much more. No matter what your goals are, reading The Power of When and understanding your natural chronotype can change your life and speed your path to self-optimization. Take the quiz to discover your chronotype here. On this show you’ll discover: Michael’s background as a clinical psychologist and sleep expert… and how he found success with using chronobiology more than other techniques. The four chronotypes and their origins (scientific backing and the animal names they’re given): Lions Bears Wolves Dolphins LIONS Conscientious, stable, practical, optimists, overachievers, prioritizing health and fitness and strategizers. leaders yet introverts. Morning people, like really early risers with high morning cortisol For Lions instead of doing fasted workouts fueled by caffeine in the AM instead we should eat soon after waking, skip the caffeine until later, take a few min to contemplate goals and plans, and have sex – all before 8am! Then get to work, but don’t rush into solo work – connect with people, have meetings. What about early-morning emails for Lions? BEARS These guys are 50% of the popular and whom after we model the standard daily routine of 9-5 work and such. What makes bears bears? Cautious, extrovert, friendly, open-minded, aspire to be healthy, likes familiarity WOLVES The night owls: Impulsive, permissive, creative, moody, insightful, intuitive, risk takers, pleasure seekers, emotional – and not morning people. EP fan asks: “Do you have any advice for someone who only has time to train in the morning before work, but who has, for his whole life, been a so called night owl and thus horrible at waking up/training early?” DOLPHINS Only turn off half the brain when sleeping so to speak Cautious, introverts, neurotic, intelligent and often insomniacs…. many athletes are high stress who also have insomniac tendencies. OCD perfectionists, but risk avoidance How can dolphins attenuate episodes of insomnia? Using “Bed restriction” techinques for insomniacs YOUR TYPE Are athletes usually of the same chronotype or is it as random as the general population? Athletes are usually Lions and Dolphins Can you change your chronotype so that your can train, work and sleep as you WANT/NEED to in life and overcome the genetic chronotype you were given? Chronotypes are based on the DNA we’re borns with and can’t be changed but we do tend to evolve over time. You can use 23andme data to further nail down your chronotype. PE3 gene Can you be more than one type and what to do if you are? How to really find out your type. Many athletes need to train in the early hours before work, kid duties and other life stuff: Should we just suck it up and train early or truly try to reorganize our lives for better results? The use of light therapy to optimize your biorhythms and how this helps you get up early and have energy even if you stay up late or have trouble sleeping through the night. The best time for sex and how to optimize sex with your partner by finding the right time for both of you! Are certain types are more stubborn and unwilling to follow your guidelines? WHEN TO WORKOUT Best time to run/workout: Varies by up to 26% from morning to evening Best time relates to when you wake up Lions – 5:30 p.m. Yup, even though they’re morning people, Lions should workout later in the day and not first thing in the morning when cortisol is already really high and time is better spent elsewhere. Workout later in the evening for a boost of energy and to optimize the session instead of getting sleepy too early. Then leading up to race, switch to AM workouts to get body primed for racing at that time of day. Dolphins – 7:30am Bears – 7:30am or noon, fasting pre breakfast or afternoon to suppress appetite Wolves – 6pm for performance and fat burn Across all type the WORST time of day to workout is 6am – why? injury risk core temp not up yet wait at least 90min after waking Discussing other biorhythms that determine ideal run time: fat burning rhythm – when to run to burn fat and boost metabolism performance rhythm – workout according to your preferred wake up time for fastest times. Studies show peak power in evening, but rest rhythm – time of workout to improve quality of sleep (benefits of workout out early = better sleep) Do evening or nighttime workouts reach a point of diminishing returns if they’re too late by decreasing sleep quality? Other biorhythms in fitness including coordination rhythm, power rhythm, flexibility rhythm, muscle growth rhythm, muscle strength rhythm and more. When is the best time of day for strength training? Yoga? Team sports? Pain tolerance rhythm – morning types can handle more pain than evening types SLEEP OPTIMIZATION & DIET Best time to wake up: Lion 5:30-6am – chill for 10min in bed, and best foods to have at breakfast Dolphin 6:30am – get up and into light immediately Bear 7am – get up right away Wolf 7:30am – snooze once then get up and into light More thoughts on manipulating macros for best results On napping: Lions 1:30pm Bears 2pm Dolphins and Wolves no naps allowed What is the “Nap-a-latte” Don’t try to make up for sleep by sleeping in on the weekends Michael recommends a regimented “Power Down Hour” – what does this entail? FINAL THOUGHTS Often we can’t do all these hacks because life just doesn’t allow for it, so how can we try to do our best? These days there are more race options and varying times of days, what about trying a race at night if you’re a Wolf? The post Dr. Michael Breus: Discover Your Chronotype To Optimize Workout Timing, Improve Sleep, Unlock Potential, and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code “enduranceplanet” if you’re shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Oh, and be sure to check out UCAN’s new bar made with coffee beans! On this episode of Ask the Coaches, the first of 2017: Quick discussion on a great blog post by Steve Magness: What Actually Matters – Concepts of Details? On cleanses as we get into the new year: How about thinking about it a different way and an opportunity to ADD more to your life, not restrict! We are doing New Year cleanse/reset over at lifepostcollective.com, and looking to add and enrich our lives – not just restrict. Tawnee shares a few things she’ll be adding to her 2017 including more turmeric. Some sarcasm and fun from our Swedish friend, PÄR TÖRNHULT If you’re at triathlete, should you bother with all MAF training if you can only train 7hr a week? Or is it not enough of a stimulus? Or can you mix it up? (And those 7 hours include SBR, so less than 50% of that is running.) Is the heart rate associated with LT, AeT, and MAF all the same? The biggest factor that separates MAF from most other approaches to training and setting HR zones is that MAF focuses on METABOLISM to set your target HR, whereas most other approaches focus on the CARDIOVASCULAR system to set zones. MAF wants you to be in fat-burning zones How does this correlate to AeT, i.e. aerobic threshold and LT, lactate threshold MAF training for those healing from plantar fasciitis can be promising to stay injury free MAF progress going from 11:30 to an 8:23 pace at 138 heart rate, but after that it went back up to a 9-9:15 pace then plateaued – what to do? Changing the stimulus: it’s either volume or intensity that needs to change! Followup on the acid reflux issue mentioned in this recent show with Dr. Maffetone. Health specialist chimes in to add advice: “The athlete complaining of reflux said it got bad on the swim and worse on the bike. I would have liked to know how his race day tri suit, aero time and race pace diaphragmatic involvement played into significant increase on pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter. Sometimes we can dial in exactly what we eat but don’t take into consideration how food gets into or stays in our stomachs. Particular attention to pressure around the waistline, aero position, and when/how one eats can also have a significant effect on reflux. Because we are already depleting precious blood supply to the GI system, absence of gravity (swimming and aero position) can take a toll on esophageal motility.” Former power/speed athlete transitioned to endurance and is now doing triathlons and Ironman but unsure of aerobic efficiency. How to decide to go with a MAF-based plan, or Friel, or what… how to choose; how to know; what to do? The post ATC 226: Add to Your Life (Don’t Restrict) in 2017, Is a MAF or Friel Plan Best For You (Why It Depends), and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: Head to enduranceplanet.com/shop for a wider variety of cool products and services we’ve come to love, use and endorse. Everything we offer is centered around helping you achieve the ultimate in health and performance. Also when you shop through endurance planet you directly help support the podcast so we can continue to provide you with great content always for free… Be sure to stock up on PerfectAmino, which comes in powder or pill-form and is an athlete’s secret weapon featuring all the essential amino acids in the exact ratios needed to ensure proper protein synthesis in the body. Plus don’t forget to open Amazon via enduranceplanet.com to do your online shopping!  On this episode of Sports Nutrition 236, we have a special guest host, Dr. Steve Gangemi aka The Sock Doc. In addition to his chiropractic practice, Steve is a board-certified sports nutritionist and joins the show to tackle your questions… In This Show: How to help athletes with excess anxiety and unnecessary stress, mentally speaking, especially females? Are there supplements, certain macro ratios or specific foods would we advise for athletes dealing with anxiety, worry and high stress? Should one avoid IF and sugar? How to find the proper nutrition for one’s cognitive needs? Should one get tested to measure for deficiencies and imbalances, which is best to do first: urine organic acids, blood or hormone? GABA and nourishing your neurotransmitters. Steve shares his balanced approached to diet and nutrition. Pros and cons of nutritional ketosis, and understanding the risks of taking it too far. Trouble in keto land: Ironman athlete wants to know if going from low-carb/loosely Paleo to fully ketogenic was too much for the body and the cause of his performance decline. Other potential negative impacts from going full keto: an increase in resting HR, drop in HRV, drop in power, slower MAF pace, and increase in racing HR. The concept of carb cycling for best results Adopting MAF after year of dealing with an injury and also learning to wean off carb dependence. When diet, fasted workouts and low carb can go too far, especially for females. Achieving healthy body composition and understanding the red flags if your body is getting too lean. Could you have signs of an eating disorder and not realize it? Abnormally high blood glucose reading despite a lower carb diet, healthy lifestyle and regular exercise? What should you do if glucose levels commonly are 105-120 up to 140s upon waking. Could this be a sign of a more serious issue that requires investigation? The post Sports Nutrition 236 with The Sock Doc: Food and Supplements to Ease Anxiety, Pros and Cons of Ketosis, and Chronically High Blood Sugar first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: If you’re looking for that extra bit of support to build a richer, fuller, healthier life head to Life Post Collective, an “inner circle community” created by host Tawnee Prazak where she shares her expertise on holistic health, wellness, nutrition, fitness and more, and helps you on your path to optimization. Right now you can join Life Post Collective for just $1 for the first month; use the code “holiday2016” when signing up. See you at LPC, where you will enjoy direct access to Tawnee and a like-minded community all working toward common goals.  On this episode with Dr. Tamsin Lewis of Curoseven, we dive deeper into female issues, how to be a healthy fertile female athlete and Q&A: Tawnee shares personal details about regaining her menstruation once she made the decision to stop being such a hard-hitting athlete, and the time it took for her periods to normalize. The value of tracking your female health and cycles. Tamsin shares more of her story from pro triathlete to regaining health and her pregnancy. Depending on the situation, normalizing one’s period after years of amenorrhea can take time, even years. A crucial variable in proper HPA axis function and healthy hormones for a normal cycle is energy availability (how much you have once you subtract energy expenditure from energy intake). Questions from female athletes: Competitive female endurance athlete wants to start a family with her husband. She recently stopped taking the pill and hasn’t gotten a period back yet. Is it normal for a woman’s body to take time to readjust after being on the pill for so long or is there potentially a deeper issue to address? Are there certain tests to determine if there are underlying problems? Scale back on exercise (and if so to what extent)? Supplementing? Thorne Basic Prenatal and what else to be healthy before baby? Breastfeeding while training and racing an Ironman – are there special considerations? Was very active during pregnancy, so this is not too much of a new extreme. Bouncing back to great fitness postpartum – faster than before! But what can female athlete moms expect as far as performance after weaning and hormones regulating? Does breastfeeding or not breastfeeding (i.e. the hormones) influence performance? The post Dr. Tamsin Lewis: Regaining Menstruation, Breastfeeding for Athlete Moms, Postpartum Performance and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Generation UCAN Superstarch, the incredible fuel of choice for endurance athletes and health enthusiasts looking for burn more fat for fuel, optimize sports performance and keep blood sugar in check. EP fans get 15% of UCAN, shop now. You can also use the code “enduranceplanet” if you’re shopping at generationucan.com for that 15% discount. Join the revolution. You can burn more fat for fuel. Be sure to check out UCAN’s new bar made with coffee beans!   On this edition of Ask the Coaches with Tawnee and Lucho: Is there a difference and/or pros and cons to doing a bulk of your MAF/base miles on an incline vs. on a flat surface besides the slower pace on inclines? Clarifying the difference between junk miles and MAF/aerobic training? Junk miles: Anything that is helping toward your goal(s), or, worse, working against your goal(s)! If you’re freely and loosely exercising and not “training” (like Tawnee mentions) this isn’t necessarily junk miles because there is the health benefit to being active! A triathlete who raced Ironman Kona this year chimes to discuss the severe gut, nutrition and hydration issues he had, and wants some advice and answers as to what was going on to avoid these problems in the future. Our podcast with Paul Laursen in which he discusses hydration guidelines and how to race well in heat. Hyponatremia risks and knowing how to properly hydrate to stay safe When racing the marathon: push harder and take risks, or run conservative for a “safe” race? On one hand we need to set realistic goals, on the other hand we should take realistic risks! Mental toughness and central governor talk Learning how to believe in ourselves and not feed negative thoughts that work against our race outcomes. (No “I can’t”!!!) Tawnee’s ‘Mental Toughness’ series on LifePostCollective.com. Join now and get the first month for just $1 with code “holiday2016”. Followup on sweet spot training for running – is this basically polarized training if your intervals are around threshold and VO2max? Are longer intervals at 10k effort considered a sweet spot for running? How much training can be “intensity” and discussing risk vs. reward? The Stephen Seiler video on his research that is the basis of polarized training Takeaways: DISCIPLINE! Easy must be easy, hard must be hard. Don’t run up a hill on an easy day! Also remember many research studies are looking at elite athletes who can handle the stress because it’s their job! “Training at LT is too much effort for too little gain” How about not training very much at MP at all! Instead: polarized, sweet spot, etc. What are the details of high intensity? Comes down to “tolerable accumulated duration” – how long at what intensity can you tolerate? I.e. 90% for longer duration more tolerable than 100% for shorter duration. “Effort matching model” Polarized as not just short very hard efforts of <3min, but harder efforts for 4-8min at ~90% (sweet spot?). It’s not so much about periodization; rather, just a lot of work happening, and most of it low intensity – but as you get closer to races, hard sessions get harder and easy gets easier. The post ATC 225: What Constitutes Junk Miles, Breaking Mental Barriers for Better Race Outcomes, Risk vs. Reward with Intensity, and More first appeared on Endurance Planet.

Sponsor: Open Amazon via enduranceplanet.com to do your online shopping—it’s just one extra click to link to Amazon through the banner on our sidebar or click theAmazon links in the show notes. Sponsor: Also, head to enduranceplanet.com/shop for a bunch of cool products and services we’ve come to love, use and endorse. Everything we offer is centered around helping you achieve the ultimate in health and performance. Also when you shop through endurance planet you directly help support the podcast so we can continue to provide you with great content always for free… Get started now on the path to optimizing your health and performance! On this episode of TriNews with Thorsten Radde: Top-3 favorite triathlon moments of 2016 ….Thorsten and Tawnee each share theirs. What do you think? What are your favorite moments from this year in triathlon? Email or tweet at us to let us know! Tawnee’s Gwen Jorgenson and Nicola Spirig Olympics battle, with Gwen getting gold and Nicola getting pregnant right after the race! Patrick Lange’s record-breaking day in Kona (listen to our Kona recap here). Natasha Badmann’s final Kona performance capping off one of the most inspiring careers ever in the sport. Thorsten’s Roth & Frankfurt MBK & Diana Riesler’s consecutive wins and IMNZ, IMAZ and IM Malaysia, respectively. Big German wins: Jan Frodeno, Julia Grajer Special guest interview: Pro triathlete Joe Gambles Healing his Achille’s Transitioning to more minimalist running shoes as part of healing his injury Specializing in 70.3 vs. full-ironman distances Why he’s finally shifting to more Ironman focus “70.3’s build you up; Ironman breaks you down” In 70.3 vs. Ironman, it all comes down to the bike and for Joe the bike was a strength in 70.3 but a weakness in IM, and he’s working on fixing that On diet and nutrition: Fat-adaptation – Joe’s diet has transitioned to be better at utilizing fat for fuel He’s also a vegetarian and talks on that Other pros who are becoming more fat-adapted: Tim Reed, Sam Appleton, Benn Hoffman, etc. The secret to success: proper timing of nutrients and proper nutrients that complement the workout (high intensity = add back more carbs) Joe on being Heather Jackson’s coach Their plan that got Heather on the IM Kona podium (3rd) How they improved Heather’s bike and also got her out of a plateau Early season: Neuromuscular training High-cadence drills and developing an efficient pedal stroke Top-end power work, short-duration intervals/repeats VO2max workouts Add the high-end work to a huge bike base for the best success On the men and women’s race in Kona And more! The post TriNews: Get to Know Pro Joe Gambles’ Smart Approach to Training and Wellness, Plus 2016 Season Highlights first appeared on Endurance Planet.