Christmas Gifts for Athletes

JB:

I've had a lot of problems this Christmas, searching for gifts. For some reason, my list of gifts to give has increased dramatically, but luckily it is mostly health-concious people or competitive athletes. So, I looked through my library of media to find a few things I would have actually enjoyed someone else buying me instead of me having to have had purchased it.

So... With that I bring you a list of the top four resources to buy your favorite "athletic person" (I don't discriminate here).

Nutrition:
Dr. John Berardi, is the go-to-guy when it comes to athletic nutrition and performance. He is a consult for Tour De France, Canadian Olympic Teams, and the University of Texas among many other things. His extensive library of published books has pushed him to the front of the industry. This past year, he began a product called Precision Nutrition, which he combined his top selling products into one $99 deal. I feel like a salesman, but I love the product, and use it as a basis for each part of my season.

Precision Nutrition

Off-Season Training:
Who doesn't know about my appreciation for Eric Cressey and his coaching? Where have you been!? I've now been a client of Eric's since August 2005, for anyone that knows my ADHD, that is a VERY long time. Now, I may not be Lance Armstrong, or even worthy of Tyler Moore's knee warmers (all in good humor Tyler!), but Eric has brought me a lot of progress in the year he has worked with me. It's not easy to go from hockey to competitive Ironman training, atleast without a lot of work. Eric's study at UConn WILL refine the way athletes train. Why not be ahead of the game?

The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual

Warm-Up / Joint and Body Health:
I could rant about these two products for days on end. I use the material in these DVDs everyday, pre-workout and even on the days I'm not working out. Long seasons and hard off-seasons are prescriptions for overuse injuries that static stretching and light cardio will not prevent. If you can't tell, I'm the guy that follows the evidence-based training; that starts with an evidence based warm-up. Also, great for people currently dealing with back issues, and other chronic injuries.

Magnificent Mobility
The Inside-Out Warm Up

I have all these so, if you're still wondering what I want for Christmas...

Cash please! :) I've got to pay off the debt from my girlfriend.

Jon Boyle

Eating Before Bed

This might be one of the most frustrating topic I hear people discuss on a daily basis. The whole concept of "night eating" leading to unwanted weight gain, has some how been pushed to spotlight of new diet schemes. While the theory holds water, it isn't that simple, especially from a performance standpoint.

Basics:
Yes, it is true that poor meal choices are exacerabated when you combine them with prolonged inactivity. That isn't news. It just so happens that sleep is one of the most "inactive" periods of the day. However, we are only "physically" inactive as the majority of our repair occurs while we sleep. So really, we are not going back to an issue of inactivity, we are on an issue of poor meal choices.

The Kicker:
For those of you who have read my earlier posts, you know that I am a big fan of healthy fats, specifically, olive oil, fish oil, and flax seed oil (not the caps). It just so happens that Olive Oil, is an great source of monounsaturated fats; a key to the proper night meal.

Monounsaturated fats are a lure of the nutrition world as researchers have yet to pinpoint why they support testosterone and increase fat use. Endurance athletes have a lot in common, one of which being low testosterone levels - except Floyd Landis. Low testosterone levels lead to decreased recovery, decreased performance, and burnout among other things. Endurance athletes also benefit from utilizing more fat retaining carbohydrate stores over a longer period of time.

Whether you worried about performance, or making race weight, increase fat use and increased testosterone levels equate to more fat loss and increased performance.

The Plan:
Depending on your weight and goals, I'd shoot to include 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in your meal 30-45 minutes before bed. In addition, I include a protein shake (40-60g) of mostly caseinate protein (micellar casein being ideal, calcium caseinate is second) and 1 tbsp of milled flax seeds, or liquid flax seed oil.

You'll notice I threw in a couple extra bits - protein and polyunsaturated fats - into the plan, I will address these later.

J. Boyle

Where This Is Going

Consider this a step in the making. I started this blog as a chart of triathlon war stories, but with my busy schedule I barely updated between daylight savings time. I will be recruiting triathletes, cyclists, runners, swimmers, and other endurance athletes to share war stories in hopes this site can stay updated. This will be exciting, stay tuned!