While it is true that we need our muscles fueled to perform our next training session, this simply ensures that we have energy to complete the session. It does not mean that we are recovering and adapting optimally to the training session we have just done, which is in fact exactly what we are looking for as an athlete to improve performance. So how do we optimize recovery and adaptation to training? Hormone production The human body is controlled by hormones. Our strength, mood, energy levels, growth and adaptation to training, among other things, are all controlled by hormones. So if we want to maximize our training effect we need to look at how we can optimize hormone production post training. The major hormone that we need to look at optimizing to enhance recovery is Human Growth Hormone (HGH). This hormone is well known now and in the news regularly for all the wrong reasons. It has become the drug of choice for sports cheats as it has a huge effect on recovery and subsequently how hard athletes can train. It is, however, possible to greatly improve our natural production of HGH and enhance recovery and performance cleanly. The release of HGH To optimize HGH release we need to look at the times this is released into the body naturally. This happens: • in the first hours after falling asleep • following heavy weight training/maximum intensity exercise • when in a fasted state Let’s first look at the HGH release that occurs when we sleep. This HGH release is why pro athletes take a nap during the day – and is also why babies take regular naps as it is this release of hormone that enables such rapid growth. For most of us, though, taking a nap in the middle of the day is not possible. So we need to look at getting the biggest release of hormone when we go to sleep at night and this is where nutrition comes in. Insulin and HGH – not the best of friends Insulin and HGH are the main two hormones that control metabolism hence the importance nutrition plays on recovery: insulin works when we are in a feasted state and HGH works when we are in a fasted state. The two hormones are up or down, regulated in relation to the amount of glucose in the blood stream. The more carbohydrate (digested and broken down to glucose) we eat, the more insulin is released to deal with the glucose and remove it from the blood system. We can only start producing HGH when all this insulin is gone which leads us to the problem athletes have following a traditionally recommended high-carbohydrate diet. If we eat a high-carbohydrate meal in the evening following a post-work training session, then we are going to be heading to bed with high insulin levels in our blood. The result is that at the optimum time for HGH release, the level of hormone release is inhibited by the presence of insulin. So how can we change evening nutrition habits to ensure maximal HGH release at night? Quite simply, we want to cut carbohydrates from our evening meals. In order to do this we need to ensure that we are adequately fueled going into our evening training session. We need to consume carbs during this session if it is a long one and following the session we should have a small carbohydrate-rich snack and then that’s it for carbs for the rest of the evening. The evening meal should consist of protein and fat combined with a side of salad or vegetables. It is important to ensure that you get enough calories in this meal. Remember vegetables are not high-calorie foods, so the fat and protein content needs to be HIGH! By following these recommendations, your insulin levels should be very low or non-existent by the time you go to sleep at night. And when you fall asleep you will experience an optimal release of HGH. This will aid recovery from the days training(s) and other stresses as well as: • optimizing quality of sleep • optimizing the development of lean muscle tissue • burning fat High-intensity exercise The body also produces HGH in response to high-intensity anaerobic activities such as sprinting and weight lifting. To get the hormone response we are after, these activities need to be done at near-maximum intensity which produces large quantities of lactic acid. Let’s look at these individually to see how to stimulate our body’s natural production of HGH and how nutrition also plays a critical role here. Sprinting An all-out sprint of up to 40 seconds is going to recruit a large amount of muscle fibres and will create a large lactate build-up in the muscles. The result is that we get a great workout by training a wide range of muscles fibres and that we also get a hormone boost to aid recovery from our endurance training. I think it is easy to know if you are getting this right as you will be pulling some funny faces for the last 10 seconds if the intensity is high enough. Also, you will suddenly feel very sleepy about 60 to 90 minutes after this type of session as your HGH levels peak. Sprinting like this brings with it inherent risks and the activity of choice needs to be determined considering injury and sport-specific history. If you have chronic Achilles injuries then don’t hit the track for run sprints but do them on the bike or in the pool instead. Weights Besides aiding the release of HGH, weight training can also pay big dividends for endurance athletes in terms of strength development. But most athletes miss out on the gains despite – or should I say due to – spending hours in the gym. To get the HGH release and strength gains from weight training we need to lift heavy weights in exercises that recruit large muscle groups and the body’s core. Examples of these exercises are: • squats • dead lifts • pull-ups There are some golden rules to follow when in the gym and when sprinting in order to get the benefits we are seeking. It’s important to know that we are not after lactate tolerance – we simply want to create a build-up of lactate in the muscles. We do this by performing the activities all out and by having big recoveries so that we are as fully recovered as possible for the next lift or sprint. Examples of sessions that have shown to be most effective are: SPRINTING: 6-8 times 40 seconds all out with up to 3 minutes recovery WEIGHT LIFTING: 5 sets of 5 lifts at the heaviest weight you can maintain good form The total duration for the sessions needs to be kept short at a maximum of 40 minutes from the time the hard work starts: if we do any more than this, we start to over-stress the body and produce cortisol which counteracts the HGH we are looking to produce. In the weights sessions I suggest doing a maximum of 3 exercises during a session. Let’s now consider the role nutrition plays here. The same principle applies to nutrition as to sleeping: any insulin flowing through the blood is going to inhibit HGH production. It means that heading to the gym after a high carbohydrate meal or following your session with a meal or drink containing carbs will reduce the effectiveness of your session. Similarly, sitting in the changing room after this session and having your Gatorade to recover will be counterproductive: save the energy drinks for after your endurance training. Heading to the gym in either a fasted state or after a protein meal is going to be the best option to get the maximum benefits from your high-intensity session. You’ll head home with HGH flowing through your veins. Athletes have also noticed that they get their best night’s sleep following one of these sessions performed in the late afternoon or evening and ensuring that post-workout they either consume a high protein/fat meal or fast completely before bed. At ironguides we schedule these sessions and advise our clients on nutrition in relation to specific training sessions in order to optimize their training and recovery, and to provide them with optimum health and performance.
Triathlon Heresies: Optimal Recovery – Nutrition and HGH
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