Nutrition 101 For The Athlete
Yesterday, my Nephew Nicholas had his Final Exam in Physics.
Admittedly, Physics is NOT his favorite subject. In speaking with him throughout the school year, he had mentioned his teacher not being able to apply the concepts to life. I thought it was really sad, because life is all about applied principles of science and math: biology, chemistry, geometry, physics and yes, even algebra.
Now Nick is a high-level athlete, very intelligent and a super-quick adaptor. I know without a shadow of a doubt that it isn't his lack of intelligence or wanting to do well in school that dampens his scientific shine. (lol)
The purpose of this post is to show you how to apply book principles to life-especially to your athlete. When your athlete understands WHY you're making the requests that you are, they are QUICK to adapt and incorporate it (praxis).
Nick and I started training together last fall. One thing that I learned was that Nick was frustrated because he had set a PR on his bench max a few months prior, but had suffered a knee injury during football season and had not been able to recoup his gainz since.
Little did I know that Nick was in Physics Class.
And little did Nick know that Auntie Nicki is one of the biggest science-geeks of all time and I literally CANNOT HELP MYSELF from throwing down all sorts of science-related concepts. I did what any Godmother/Science Geek/Muscular DeVelopment juggernaut would do: I brought up all of the High School Science that I could-PARTICULARLY CONCEPTS OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY-during our workouts while we worked on some of the muscular development issues surrounding his plateau. :)
You'll remember from earlier posts that Muscular DeVelopment is not about turning you into a bodybuilder OR a powerlifter for that matter. (Read more about that here)
Muscular DeVelopment is the umbrella under which all athletic goals fall (and BTW-Nike may have trademarked it, but I've always believed that if you have a body, you are an athlete).
There's 3 legs to Muscular DeVelopment:
1) Physical Training
2) Nutrition
3) Recovery Strategy
They all have to be tended to when you're dealing with muscles-especially when you're talking about strength/weakness/fatigue/energy crashes.
With Nick, he was complaining of a loss of strength.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, THE VERY FIRST PLACE I LOOK WHENEVER ANYONE COMPLAINS OF A LOSS OF STRENGTH OR OUTRIGHT WEAKNESS IS THEIR NUTRITION. (Read that blog post here)
Why? Because FUEL IMPACTS PERFORMANCE.
And Food Is Fuel. Capeesh?
In honor of our Physics Teachers and my Godson, let's apply Physics in a way EVERYONE can understand and USE for their NUTRITION.
HERE'S THE CONCEPT: For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction.
It applies to your metabolism. and how your body handles food.
For example, when you eat foods that cause your blood sugar to spike (both in the number you read on a blood sugar machine sugar AND the SPEED of that spike)-like sugars and processed foods. Take a donut for example. Obviously, when you eat them, your blood sugar goes up because it's made with SUGAR, but the additional kicker is that because it's made with flour (which is processed into fine particles) the SPEED of blood sugar spike is fast, because it doesn't take your body but a minute to break it down. Make sense?
With those high and fast blood sugar spikes, the normal functioning pancreas produces the equal and opposite reaction: IT BLASTS OUT A LOT OF INSULIN, making your blood sugar drop (commonly known as the sugar crash) as quickly and fervently as the donut made it spike.
I use donuts as the example because it's obvious.
Guess what?
The same thing happens with all processed food-even the $#!+ labeled as "healthy," or "whole grain," or "nutritious." I'll give you a minute to digest that-because it usually makes most people's heads spin.
On the flip side...if we were to take something like steel oatmeal, for example. It looks closer to how it appears in nature, it takes longer to cook, and longer for your body to digest.
Those 3 characteristics are one of the "secret" ways to keeping your energy levels strong and stable, because they don't cause the fast and high spike of blood glucose-followed by the fast blast of insulin.
Does that make sense?
It's not crazy-it's PHYSIOLOGY (and Physics!). It's simply how things work in the body. (Take another breath, it's gonna be ok. lol)
So the next question becomes, "How do I know what foods to eat?"
My first answer is: IF YOU CAN KILL IT OR GROW IT-EAT IT. IF YOU CAN'T-DON'T.
But I also know you don't live on a farm, and the transition into strong nutritional habits when you're running a really busy lifestyle can take some time. Inevitably, any person who experiences time-scarcity looks towards simple/ready-made foods.
To help you out with your choices, here's two quick things you can do to "Check" your nutrition:
1) Ask yourself: "Does what I am about to eat look ANYTHING like how it appears in nature?"
It's either yes or no.
2) Read the label. Do you recognize (or can you even pronounce) the ingredients?
Yes or no.
Sounds simple because it IS that simple. It's either yes or no.
Do with that information what you will.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: If you want to have greater strength, more energy, better performance; or speed up your recovery time-apply simple concepts.
On the bigger scale-if you want to normalize and optimize your hormones; if you want to get your blood sugars under control, if you want to lower your blood pressure, your cholesterol, release fat from your body-use your common sense-NOT what marketing agencies or "The Sick Care System" or the fireman down the street say (sorry guys, it's an expression. I still love you.).
Every one of us knows WHAT to eat. The question is, "Why aren't you doing it?"
FUEL YOUR ENGINE RIGHT (TM).
Peace Out.
