To taper for an event like a marathon means reducing training load in the days or weeks prior to the event.

“Should I taper?” and “how should I taper?”

These are two questions we are commonly asked. To answer these questions we should first touch on what happens to our body when we train and when we taper.

As we train for an event we repeatedly load our musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems thus providing a stimulus for these systems to adapt to cope with the extra load. The ability of our muscles to use fuel and deal with the waste products of energy production improves, as does the ability of our cardiovascular system to support the increased demand from muscles.

The result is improved performance by improving the load that our musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems sustain. Meaning we can perform at a higher intensity for longer.

Tapering then gives our bodies a period to adapt fully to the load of our training. For example:

Glycogen stores are maximised within a few days

Factors such as blood volume, red cell volume and enzyme activity are maximised over a period of about a week.

Healing of minor tissue trauma also commences helping to settle those niggles

 How long should I taper for?

Studies have shown that the length of a taper may be anywhere from 4 to 28 days and this is probably very much an individual and circumstantial thing. Yes, you are going to have to use some trial and error here to find out what works best for you. It also depends on your training load and any of those niggles that may be bothering you.

maintain a high intensity in your training sessions while greatly reducing volume

How should I taper?    How long and intense should my sessions be?

One thing is for sure, after all your hard training you definitely don’t want your taper to cause you to become de-trained. There have been quite a few studies done on what is the most effective ways to taper and they basically all come to the same conclusions. That is that you should maintain a high intensity in your training sessions while greatly reducing volume.

By maintaining a high intensity you continue to give your system a stimulus to maintain the adaptations that have occurred and perhaps continue to improve more.

By reducing volume you provide time for recovery and tissue healing as well as prevent fatigue. Your taper should give you the opportunity to really freshen up before the big day.

Your training should be very specific to what you want to achieve on competition day. For example if tapering for the marathon:

Run at or above your planned race pace but progressively reduce run time/distance

Shorten your interval sessions and shorten the intervals within them

Give yourself plenty of recovery time and adequate nutrition

Very best wishes for your upcoming endurance events. Happy tapering!

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Are athletes born to succeed or is sporting success the result of thousands of hours of hard work?

This episode of Insight brings together a range of views about what is required to reach the ultimate elite level in sport or any other skill. Becoming a professional elite athlete, musician or anything really, to be up with the best in the world it requires a range of attributes and circumstances.

For some sports having certain physical characteristics is of great benefit but that’s not all it takes. Skill, passion, dedication, determination, grit… these are other attributes that combine to make a person elite. Interestingly it appears there are a number of pathways a person can take to put together this combination of attributes in their quest to achieve their dreams.

Some fascinating evidence is presented as well as a range of accounts of how individual professional athletes have gone about it. Olympic gold medalists Alisa Camplin and Ruben Kosgei describe their pathways and their are a range of other different personal accounts. Enjoy below…

The post Where does talent come from – is it born or made appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Having run 45 marathons marathons and ultra-marathons now I have certainly learned a lot of lessons, some of which were very uncomfortable experiences. So I thought I might impart some of that leaning via this blog in a bid to make your marathon day all the more enjoyable.

 1. ENTER!  With everything from a 5km walk/run up to the full marathon there is something for almost everyone and it’s not too late to enter but you will have to be quick. It’s an exciting, motivating and inspiring event to be a part of. Not many people are fortunate enough to have an event like this in their home town so make the most of this great opportunity. If you are unable to enter anything, just come down check it out and soak up the good vibes.

2. PREPARE  your kit the night before. Trust me; it is easy to get distracted by nerves and excitement on marathon morning. I set all my kit up the night before. Race number on my singlet, timing chip on my shoe and any accessories that I may need all set out on my dining table the night before. Make a little ritual out of it, have some fun and really savour the moment.

 3. FAMILIARITY with everything you use on the day is important. Stick to what you know. Chugging down a drink that I have never trained with before has sent my stomach into evacuation mode. A lesson I have had to learn more than once and not a very nice experience in front of all those Gold Coast Marathon supporters.

Marathon day is definitely not the time to test out those new flash shoes that you have never worn before! It’s not the day to work on that new run technique you read about in a running magazine last week. Trying things for the first time on marathon day is a recipe for disaster. Make sure you are familiar with everything you use on marathon day including foods, shoes, clothing, running pace, running technique… everything.

 4. FUEL FUEL FUEL! Whatever you are doing, your body will need fuel. Your needs will be dictated by the length of your event, how fast you are planning to run and how much carbohydrate your body burns while running at that pace. If you run out of carbs you are going to have a very slow finish to your race. Too much or inappropriate fuel and you risk a stomach upset.

As a general rule for the average person and depending on how your stomach copes, half marathoners will benefit from 30-60g of carbs per hour and full marathoners 60-90g of carbs per hour . Hopefully you have tested this out in training. There are so many ideas on what you should eat before and during these events. Ultimately YOU need a good source of carbohydrate that YOU find easy to digest. Make sure you are taking on carbs in the couple of days before also.

To get a bit technical, while doing the full marathon if you want to aim for 90g of carbs per hour then you need to use “multiple transportable carbohydrates”. This means a mix of glucose or maltodextrin and fructose, in the ratio 2:1 (2 parts glucose or maltodextrin and 1 part fructose). Of course this does not apply to those with fructose intolerance.

By the way, don’t overdo the fibre or you may find yourself taking a pit stop shortly after the gun goes off. In future if you have concerns about exactly what might be the best nutrition strategy for you, make an appointment with an experienced dietitian to get some expert advice.

 5. HYDRATION is crucial. Dehydration will adversely affect your performance and can be dangerous for your health. However over-hydrating to a point of hyponatremia can be dangerous also. Fortunately the Gold Coast Marathon is very well supported with plenty of drink stations so take regular sips of water/sports drink at these and listen to your body. Personally I use mostly water and some Salt Stick capsules as I don’t really like the sports drinks.

Good preparation also means staying well hydrated in the days leading up to the marathon.

For more information on fuel and hydration check out the Sports Dietitians Australia website as well as the Carbohydrate – The Facts and Fluid – Who Needs It? pages on the AIS website.

 6. PACE yourself. Standing on the start line is not the place to make decisions like all of a sudden slashing 15 minutes off your estimated finish time. When the gun goes off, the adrenaline pumps and it is tempting to take off like a rocket. This is NOT a good race plan. Your ego will play a massive game with you making it extremely hard to resist temptation. You need to conserve energy throughout the run so keep the excitement in check and maintain a sustainable pace for YOU.

Prior to marathon day, at a time that you are feeling quite level headed decide on a realistic finish time goal and set your pace accordingly. If you are concerned about judging your pace then locate the relevant pace runners at the start line and let them guide you.

 7. LUBE UP! In one of my first marathons I experienced chaffing. I can assure you this experience with 15km still to run was extremely unpleasant and will never happen to me again. I apply heaps of vaseline before each marathon, it doesn’t feel that great and probably doesn’t look too good either but the chaffing is far worse. There are also lots of other anti-chafing solutions on the market like Body Glide, 3B and recently I have used SD Striderm with good success. Regardless of your intended chaffing prevention measure, ensure that you have given this a try prior to marathon day.

Similarly, if you are at risk of developing blisters then far better to tape up before the start than to be sitting on the side of the road at 35km trying to salvage what’s left of your foot.

 8. SUPPORTERS Having supporters along the course always gives you a big boost. I spot a friend and instantly get that tingle up my spine that just lifts me for a while. Encourage friends and family to come down and cheer for you. Giving support to other runners will also give you (and them) a lift, that camaraderie among such a big group of runners is one of the things that makes this marathon such a great experience.

 9. RECOVER sensibly. Make sure you rehydrate and re-fuel your body ASAP after your race. Sensible rehydration and refuelling strategies have been shown to improve recovery. Studies indicate that taking on protein is also an important part of recovery. If you are sick of water and sports drinks by the end of the race you could try some milk to help with rehydration. A wagyu burger at my local cafe is usually my first stop on the way home from the marathon.

 10. SMILE for the cameras. You want your finisher’s photo to look good don’t you. You may not be feeling to good some of the times that cameras pop up in front of you but do try to force a smile out. It’s a marathon, there should be significant levels of discomfort involved so  “suck it up” and smile. Just remember the pain is only temporary, the awesome feeling you get from completing your event is something you will havenforever after so make sure you have a happy pic to match.

More than just a series of running races, the Gold Coast marathon is a world class event. Savour the whole event in full from expo to finish line.

Good Luck have a great day from Mark, Therese and everyone at PhysioLogic.

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Recovery days are just as important as the training you are doing. If you are doing a session with high intensity training one day, you should choose a session with lower intensity the next day. If you have had a metabolism test, your low impact sessions would include exercising in your fat burning zone.

With recovery days I don’t mean veging on the couch all day, but days you spend doing some low impact activities.You could choose activities like walking, Yoga, Pilates and swimming which are great low impact alternatives. You should aim to have a couple of recovery days each week.

What is Recovery?

Recovery is repair of the damage that naturally occurs to structural proteins in muscle and connective tissue during a strenuous training session.

Why are “Recovery Days” so important?

As humans, we have a tendency of thinking that more must be better. However, when we are talking about the body it is all about balance. Too many recovery days, and you will struggle to reach your goals. If your training schedule is lacking recovery time, muscular trauma will accumulate steadily over time as muscles won’t be able to repair themselves properly after each training session. This can result in a plateau or worsening of your fitness.

Symptoms of over-training:

• Fatigue – lack of energy, drained
• Increased incidence of injuries
• Decrease in ability to complete training session
• Decreased immunity – lingering symptoms of colds and illness
• Elevated heart rate compared to normal at rest and during exercise

If you believe you may have symptoms that could be due to over-training, we suggest that you reduce your training intensity for one week. Focusing on low impact (fat burning) sessions for one week might just be all your body needs to get back on track and feel good again. Then work on achieving a good balance when returning to you exercise routine again.

 Achieving a balance between training and recovery allows you to give more and therefore gain more from each exercise session

You might also like to read:

How to set exercise goals

Using resting heart rate to measure your fitness

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the western world causing 2700 deaths daily which is more than all other cancers combined. Inactivity, smoking, poor diet and excessive drinking can triple your chance of developing this disease.

Your heart is the most important muscle in your body, supplying your entire body with fuel. This muscle is responsible for pumping blood to the walls of your lungs so oxygen can be carried by your red blood cells throughout your body to keep all your body’s processes alive.

Silent Killer

Unhealthy habits are causing people to store a large amount of bad fat in their bodies. Fat slowly grows around important organs and silently blocks your arteries. Blocking of arteries supplying your heart muscle can cause a fatal heart attack.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

• Inactivity
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• Excessive drinking of alcohol

Each of these increases your risk of developing heart disease by 300%

Reduce Risk of Heart Disease with Interval Training

Interval training is exercise allowing short burst of high intensity (90-95% of VO2 peak) and longer periods of recovery (50% of VO2 peak). This type of training is usually performed using a treadmill, cycling, or other cardio equipment. Research is showing interval training to be superior in gaining cardiovascular effects:

• Increased ability to burn fat
• Reduce amount of stored fat
• Improved exercise capacity
• Reduced stress to your heart
• Reduced blood pressure
• Reduced heart rate at rest
• Reduced levels of cholesterol

Other health benefits found with exercise are an improved sense of well-being, reduced anxiety and depression and a lower mortality rate.

We can help improve your health safely

Metabolism testing is a safe and healthy scientific program proven to maximise fat burning ability and health.

You might also like to read:

Interval training improves fat burning

Exercise Metabolism Test for weight loss 

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We all need a little motivation now and again…

Most of us respond well to being motivated by others, but wouldn’t it be great if we could improve our skills to motivate ourselves? How powerful could that be! We are all motivated by different things, so go searching for what motivates you.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

A Healthy Day Note - Write down in point form what your perfect healthy day would be made up of. Make it simple & positive. E.g. “I will exercise for one hour today”, “I will eat healthy” (include what this entails), “I will enjoy the feeling of being healthy and active”. Read it when you first get up in the morning. It is amazing how effective this can be.

Training Diary - Keeping a record of your exercise will keep you focused on your goals and is extremely motivating as you can see your improvements.

Note down type of activity and duration, your mood and energy levels, and achievements of short term goals. Here are some tools that will work with your heart rate monitor to help you record your sessions.

Focus on the Positive – You might feel tired or you might have a headache, but if your focus is on how much better you will feel after getting some fresh air and exercise, then you have the power to change your day for the better.

Exercise with Friends – Training with a friend is more fun but will also set you up for a stronger commitment to your planned sessions. Enter an event together and tell all your other friends that you are attending this event.

Motivation Photo – Hang up a photo that motivates you. E.g. of yourself at the fitness level you want to get back to, a photo of the event you want to attend, or maybe some motivational quotes…

Motivational Videos/books/audio books – Watch a video that inspire you. Read a motivating book or listen to a motivating book in the car when driving to work. It will be sure to set you up for the day! Watch this video

Play your Power Song – We all love music and it can be very effective in making you feel good, motivated and cheer you up. Have it ready for a rainy day and press play!

Positive Rewards – Reward yourself when you have done well. Make it positive rewards such as a weekend away, new clothes, a massage etc. One idea is to put $ in a piggy bank every time you exercise and this is your reward to treat yourself.

Success Stories – Read a book or watch a video about people who have achieved their goals.

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination”

The post How to get motivation to exercise appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Setting goals are an important process as it gives you a purpose, keeps you focused and motivates you. Plan your goals well with both long and short term goals in mind using this simple S.M.A.R.T. guide:

Specific

Specific goals are the most effective. Don’t be vague, know exactly what you want to achieve. Simple but challenging short term goals will help form a step by step process.

Measurable

Set measurable goals so that you can monitor your progress and know exactly when you have achieved them.

Attainable

Goals must be attainable so that you stay motivated and experience a continual sense of achievement. Goals also need to be adjustable so as to allow flexibility in the case of unexpected circumstances (e.g. illness, injury) or when you progress faster than expected.

Realistic

Setting realistic goals is essential, which means having a good understanding of your starting point and what is physically possible. Setting unrealistic goals will either make you lose motivation or employ unhealthy short-cuts. Your short term goals should also be related to your long term goal.

Time frame

Apply time frames to your goals. Define a time frame within which you must reach your goal. These time frames for your short term goals need to take into account your long term goals.

Read more about goal setting here

Watch this video to get inspired

The post How to set exercise goals appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Eat right for your metabolism

Your body uses different amount of fuel depending on your activity level. Just like a car uses different amount of fuel when stopping at a red light compared to driving around. Meeting the requirements of your body with good fuel is important for your health, your metabolism and your fitness.

Not enough or bad/unhealthy fuel = reduced effect of exercise, suppressed metabolism, increased risk of injuries and reduced immune system

Too much fuel (healthy or unhealthy) = increased weight

Healthy optimal fuel mix = maximal effect of exercise, improved metabolism, good energy levels, fast recovery, reduced risk of injury and good health

Your body needs a healthy fuel mix of fat, carbohydrates & protein.

• Fat is the major storage form of energy and is the preferred fuel for your body at lower exercise intensities.
• Carbohydrates is also an important fuel but only stored in smaller amounts mainly in your liver and muscles. It is your body’s preferred fuel when starting exercise and at high intensities but also vital fuel for your brain, nervous system and blood cells.
• Protein is important for growth and repair of body tissue and is only used as a fuel during starvation. 

How do I know how much and what to eat?

Your resting metabolism is the minimal amount of fuel your body needs to continue vital processes in your body. The most accurate measurement available is Basal/ Resting metabolic rate testing (by the gold standard Indirect Calorimetry). This test provides detailed information about your body’s daily fuel intake needs. This information allow you to accurately adjust your food intake.

The results of this test can be used in two ways:

1. Recording a food diary for 2 weeks to learn how to adjust your intake to meet your requirements.
2. Seek advise from a qualified dietitian who is familiar with metabolism reports. They will assist you with a healthy food plan that is suited to your metabolic needs. Please notify us so we can communicate with your dietitian and bring your test results to your appointment. 

You might also like to read:

How your brain can slow your metabolism down

The post How to eat better for your metabolism appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Excited about finally getting fit and losing weight, you start your new exercise program. Diligently you work hard with your program and a couple of weeks later you find yourself stepping onto the scales to prove that all the hard work has paid off. Shocked, you discover that you have gained 1 kg! Feelings of disappointment and frustration rush over you and doubt starts to enter your mind…Has all this hard work been for nothing??

Short term rewards…always more tempting

If you are like the most of us, we want things to change yesterday, right?  Yes…but this is not realistic! Media and large amount of marketing out there promise faster weight loss every year and they all seem to compete against each other on how much weight you could lose in a week. Unfortunately this trend has become popular, exactly because people lose a lot of weight fast. However, no one ask the questions …why and how? Extreme low carbohydrate and detox diets are used to trick your metabolism and force it to use your fat stores. This works in the short term because your body has no other option but to use your fat stores. In the long run your metabolism will start to slow down and this comes at a large cost that could send you back to a worse position than where you started (also read how your brain can slow your metabolism down). Short term rewards are always a more tempting choice, like getting fast cash on a credit card. The debt keeps building and you end up with debt that you struggle to pay off.

Faster weight loss on extremely low calorie diets for a shorter period may be appropriate for obese people, under close supervision by medical experts. Obese people can expect to lose a larger amount of weight weekly and in this case it may be appropriate to use the scales regularly. However for someone who needs to lose a smaller amount of weight or more accurately, needs to lose a smaller amount of excess body fat, using the scales as a weekly measurement may not be a true indication of what is really happening inside your body.

Changes inside your body

As a response to exercise, lots of chemical processes occur that build muscle and increase the amount of  power stations (mitochondria) for fat burning inside your muscle cells. This is a complex and time consuming process that not only is important for long term weight management but also for improving your fitness and general health. Your muscles need to build and improve their fat burning ability before they can chew into your fat stores. Like a car needs a bigger engine to burn more fuel, we need to build our engine to start burning more fat. Muscle weighs more than fat and the water content inside your body may also change, this is why your weight on the scales might fluctuate initially and therefore is not a true indicator of what is really happening inside.

If you are meeting your daily intake requirements of food and attending your prescribed exercise sessions, there is nothing to worry about. When your body starts to adapt to the stimuli from your training you will notice change. It will happen when your body is ready and these are long lasting healthy changes that will give you much more than just weight loss.

Focus on short term goals that make you feel good about yourself and your achievements such as physical abilities (e.g. how long or far you are able run/walk/ride, how long it took you to run/walk/ride a certain distance, resting heart rate measurements, your strength & energy levels and your ability to do things you haven’t done before).

You might also like to read:

How to eat better for your metabolism

How to set exercise goals

How to get motivation to exercise

The post Why weight can fluctuate with exercise appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Your metabolism is like the engine of a car, the amount of fuel used depends on the amount of driving around. Like a car burns fuel while stopped with the engine running, your body burns fuel while you are resting (sitting or lying). This is called your Resting Metabolic Rate  and is on average 60-75% of the total calories your body burns per day. This is essentially the minimum amount of fuel that your body needs to keep your heart pumping, your brain and nervous system working and all other vital processes needed to keep you alive.

Your brain controls your weight

Your body likes stability and creates “set points” to what it considers normal. Like a thermostat, your body regulates your metabolism and your hunger according to your “set point” to keep your weight stable. When food was scarce, our ancestor’s survival depended on conserving energy. When food was available again, the body would store fat for the next shortage.

Fast weight loss slows your metabolism down

Running low on fuel is not usually a problem in developed countries where availability of food is large. Our problems are of a different kind. The body’s normal function is to store any excess calories not used for energy. We would love to think that our brains could tell whether we need to lose weight or not, but it can’t. Unfortunately, we do not have a mechanism that regulates excess fat stores. Longer periods with excess body weight creates a new “set point” which your body now considers “normal”. If you lose a lot of weight fast, your brain reacts as if you were starving. Weather you started off fat or thin, your body’s response is the same. Your brain will slow your metabolism down if it believes you are running low on fuel. Low calorie diets may initially help with weight loss, however at some stage your metabolism will be affected. The problem becomes more obvious when you finish the diet and go back to your normal daily calorie intake, but now with a slower metabolism. Most people end up regaining their weight or often gain more than what they started with. Long term yo-yo dieting can cause extreme reduction to your metabolic rate and fat burning ability.

Developing a slow metabolism is extremely frustrating for people as they tend to spend a lot of time guessing what to do and in the process continue to slow their metabolism even further. Knowing how much fuel your body needs and what exercise is suited for your metabolism is essential to help change your body’s “set point” and increase your metabolism again.

You might also like to read:

How do I eat better for my metabolism

Metabolism testing for weight loss

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