August 29th, 2010
A walk into any chemist or health food store, opening any health or sports magazine, or going online to any popular sports site will highlight just how many supplements are being pushed towards athletes of all ages.
As an older athlete and sport scientist with a passion for good health and maintaining or improving my performance as I age, I am able to ‘sift through the crap’ that is out there in terms of the marketing hype. The table of questions below was developed by a world-leading sports nutrition writer to enable athletes to make informed decisions on whether to take a supplement or not.
Table 1: Five important questions you need to ask about a supplement.
- The safety of the supplement.
- The effectiveness of the supplement – is there a reason for why it may work?
- Research the products – go to Pubmed, a well-respected and free online search engine owned by the US National Library of Medicine. There are a couple of other great websites I recommend as well – see the list below.
- Consider the risks and benefits based on the safety and effectiveness of the supplement.
- Potential for failing a drug test – yes it can and has happened in masters sport.
Some great websites I recommend for evaluating supplements you see round the traps are:
- http://www.consumerlab.com/ (Provides independent test results and information to help the reader and health professionals evaluate and select dietary supplements.)
- http://www.asada.gov.au/ (The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority website that gives information on not only dietary supplements but also commonly used drugs).
- http://www.supplementwatch.com (Supplement Watch is dedicated to educating consumers about the potential benefits and risks of dietary supplements and provides an independent and science-based evaluation of supplements.)
- http://ods.od.nih.gov/databases/databases.html (The homepage of American National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Reliable information on just about any supplement can be found. )
- http://www.health.gov.au/tga/ (The home page of the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration that controls pills and potions marketed as therapeutic.)
- http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ds-savvy.html (The United States Food and Drug Administration for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition website that gives excellent advice to coaches, athletes and health professionals when it comes to supplements).
Below are some quick notes on common supplements athletes use:
- Vitamin-Mineral Supplements. I take one of these a day with an emphasis on a supplement that has mainly vitamins B and C that are water-soluble and not stored in the body like the other vitamins. Multivitamin-mineral supplements are recommended over individual supplements except for iron, calcium, vitamins D or B12 and zinc, especially in endurance athletes. Vitamin supplements should not exceed 500% of the daily value recommended and minerals not exceed 100%.
- Creatine. Is naturally produced in the kidneys, liver and pancreas and also found in animal protein such as beef and fish. Creatine has been shown to increase muscle volume, some say by storing increased water (good for body builders not for endurance athletes), and may allow athletes to train harder by increasing recovery between efforts in the gym or on the track. However, recent research has shown it works in some people and not others. Loading protocols range from 3-6 grams per day for 30 days to 20 grams per day for 5 days. 16 ounces or 450 grams of meat or fish provides 2 grams of creatine. Research has also shown it takes about 40 days to return to baseline so there is no need to take it continuously.
- Protein Powders. Research has shown that it is more the timing of the protein intake than the amount. Muscle enlargening appears increased when 12-15 grams of protein are combined with 35 grams of carbohydrate before weight training. It also appears the same amounts after weight training stimulate greater muscle growth. The preferred type of protein is a protein isolate instead of a protein powder. Whey protein isolate is an excellent source of the amino acid leucine which research has shown to be highly effective in muscle growth.
- Caffeine. Dosages of caffeine in the 3-6 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (One No-Doz tablet contains 100 milligrams) taken 45-60 minutes before performance have been shown to benefit endurance and team players performance. The individual response depends on an individual’s tolerance and the dosage taken. Negative side effects of big dosages can include lack of sleep, headaches, muscle tremors, increased heart rates or even irregular heart beats.
- Amino Acid Supplements. The marketing hype suggests that amino acids are digested and absorbed more quickly than protein. The fact is that protein foods are faster than amino acid supplements in stimulating muscle growth. They are also expensive and can lead to gut upsets.
- Anabolic Ergogenic Aids. Older athletes wanting to increase muscle mass may be tempted to try these products with marketing hype names such as “Muscle Gainer”, “Muscle Milk” etc. Many contain ingredients banned by the Olympic movement or professional sport bodies. Minerals such as boron, chromium and vanadium are touted as increasing muscle mass but research says no. Beta-HMB may increase muscle mass when combined with weight training but is very expensive.
- Fat Burners. Masters athletes wanting to lose weight may try products such as Ma Huang, Ephedra, Spitonon, or Sida Cordifolia, L-carnitine and chromium. Most of these substances are banned by professional sporting bodies or have only transient effects on weight loss, may only be effective in overweight people, with many having been shown to have negative side-effects.
- Supplements for Bone and Joint Health. Apart from calcium (1000-1500 mg/day), vitamin D (200-1000 IU/day) has been shown to increase intestinal calcium absorption, glucosamine (500 mg) combined with chondroitin (400 mg) has been shown to reduce joint inflammation in those with pain
The bottom line? Do your homework by checking out the websites above before you buy.
Browse related items: creatine, minerals, protein, supplements, vitamins
June 5th, 2010
Summary
Heart disease and its associated risk factors remains the biggest killer in the modern world. Recently, the American Heart Association released a new online resource called My Life Check that highlighted seven health and lifestyle factors crucial to keeping the ‘ticker’ healthy into older age. These include not smoking, keeping the body mass index below 25, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and keeping total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose and blood pressure under control. They have also developed a ‘cool test’ online that can help you check your heart health.
Introduction
I scan the aging and masters athlete research literature regularly. I also get almost daily e-mail updates from all the respected health, exercise and sport databases. The American Heart Association recently identified what they consider the seven health and lifestyle factors that are the “fountain of youth for your heart”. One of my aims with www.mastersathlete.com.au is to bring you the latest scientifically-valid information on how current research can help us lead a healthier, longer and exercise-focused life. I hope you find the outcomes of this article of benefit.
Believe it or not, research has shown that only 5% of Americans currently meet all seven criteria below. The good news is that the President of the American Heart Association believes that if you can reach age 50 with ideal heart health, you can probably live another 40 years free of heart disease and stroke, two of the most common causes of death.
Here are “Life’s Simple 7”.
- Never smoked or quit more than one year ago. Smoking is a killer and the most preventable cause of death with inactivity as close second behind it. Smoking increases the risk of atherosclerosis (the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries), decreases tolerance to exercise, increases the risk of blood clots, decreases the levels of HDL (the good cholesterol) in the blood, and increases the risk of peripheral artery disease, all of which are linked to heart disease.
- Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 25. BMI assesses your body weight relative to your height. Check your BMI out now. While there are limitations in using BMI (e.g. highly muscled people that are short are disadvantaged), research has shown that people with BMI’s greater than 25 are at greater risk of poor heart health. A BMI greater than 30 significantly increases the risk again. In both America and Australia over half of the adult population have BMI’s above 25 and that’s a worry!
- Physical activity at least 150 minutes moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous (huff and puff) each week. Or a combination of the two. Moderate intensity means getting the heart rate (about 65-70% of your maximum heart rate [220-age] and breathing noticeably up whereas vigorous means huffing and puffing with heart rate about 75% of maximum. Regular exercise, like we as masters athletes take for granted, helps most of the heart disease risk factors by lowering blood pressure, increasing HDL “good” cholesterol in the blood, helping control blood sugar by improving how your muscles use insulin, reduces feelings of stress, and helps control body weight. It’s all good!!!
- Four to five key components of a healthy diet. These include
- Fruit and vegetables (4-5 cups or more per day)
- Fish, preferably oily fish such as salmon and mackerel (2 or more servings per week)
- Less than 450 calories (approx. 1900 kilojoules) or 36 ounces (approx 1.1 litres) of sugar-sweetened drinks per week.
- Fibre-rich whole grains (3 or more one ounce [approx. 28 grams) servings per day.
- Less than 1,500 milligrams per day. More than 70% of people exceed this.
- Total cholesterol of less than 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L). Cholesterol is needed by us all to help build cell membranes and some hormones. The body makes most of it naturally and about 25% comes from food. Too much of it in food leads to increased levels in the blood which contributes to clogged arteries and thus heart disease. Eating saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol itself increase total cholesterol level while eating low amounts of these plus maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly lower total cholesterol.
- Blood pressure below 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure is the single greatest risk factor for heart disease. One in three adults has high blood pressure with about a quarter of the population not even knowing they have it. We can maintain or lower blood pressure by eating a heart-healthy diet, reducing salt intake; enjoying regular physical activity; maintaining a healthy weight; managing stress; limiting alcohol; and avoiding tobacco smoke.
- Fasting blood glucose less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L). Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than adults without diabetes. When diabetes is detected, a doctor may prescribe changes in eating habits, weight control, exercise programs and medication to keep it in check.
The American Heart Association strongly recommends adults to ‘know their heart health numbers’ (cholesterol, blood pressure, fasting glucose, BMI). Get to your family doctor if you don’t especially if you have a family history of any heart disease or associated risk factors. You want to have some fun and have a go at the American Heart Association new online resource called My Life Check. I found it reassuring, educational and fun.
Browse related items: diets, exercise, health benefits, heart disease, heart health, weight loss
May 23rd, 2010
Summary
Experience and research have both shown us that older athlete’s physiology declines with age. It’s also shown us that we take longer to recover. My years as a competitive athlete and sport scientist have shown me that masters athletes struggle to believe these changes occur and battle against the inevitable too hard, too often. They need to ‘listen to their bodies’, train smart and use the ‘principles of training’ as their guide, train hard but recover harder, and cut back on training when the stress of life, family and work get on top.
Introduction
45 years of competing at state, national and international level have taught me many lessons. The last 25 of these years have been in competitive masters sport and been associated with a PhD on ‘lifetime athletes’ and ongoing research on masters athletes. Based on this experience and knowledge, below is what I see as the 7 most common training mistakes older athletes make, especially for those masters athletes coming back into competitive sport after many years away.
- Believing body and mind are still 20. There is no doubt about it. Older athlete’s minds are still young. However, our bodies are aging. Research has shown us that as we age, muscle mass drops and the heart doesn’t beat as fast. Thus speed and endurance, in general, decrease with age. Research has also shown us that our ability to recover from hard training decreases and that for genetic or lifestyle reasons our chronic disease risk factors can catch up with us. These factors mean we need to start training more cautiously and slowly and recover longer and smarter between training sessions. Not go like a ‘bull at a gate’ as we used to.
- Not using the principles of training. If there is one lesson I have learnt over the years, it’s how important the principle of ‘progressive overload’ is. Too many older athletes, particularly those new to sport or not having trained for years, train too hard, too long or too often. Tiredness, overtraining, burnout and injuries are usually the result. The key – progressively increase how long, how often and how hard we train, and in that order. The Masters Athlete has a whole chapter on these principles.
- Not listening to your body. You know when you are tired, when a joint or muscle ‘niggle’ may mean trouble coming, when your training performance is poor, when the throat starts to croak, when you are ‘short’ with family and friends. These are signs that you need to rest, recover harder, change your training habits. If not, you’ll pay the price. At the risk of pushing the book too hard, Chapters 13 and 14 of The Masters Athlete has chapters totally devoted to preventing overtraining and staying healthy and illness-free. Real world strategies based on science and experience!
- Not training hard enough. I am a huge believer that performance-focused masters athletes need to train with intensity. While I appreciate not every masters athlete wants to win a medal, most of us want to perform at our best on the day. Research on athletes young and old, female and male, sprinters or endurance, black or white, has always shown the same thing. Intensity (how hard we train) is the key. However, intensity also brings with it tiredness, fatigue and an increased risk of injury. Prepare the body well for the hard work by developing a good base, getting the muscles and joints strong and then progressively building the intensity.
- Not recovering hard enough. I have a saying: “train hard but recover harder”. For older athletes this is particularly the case. Research has shown us that our muscles don’t bounce back like they used to. This means not only taking longer between quality (hard or long) sessions but also being very, very focused on the recovery strategies science has shown work – active recovery, compression garments, hot-cold contrast baths/showers, food and fluids, ice (water), pool work, massage, spas and stretching. Chapter 15 of The Masters Athlete covers these in depth and detail.
- Cutting back during times of stress. Most of us have family and work commitments. I have two (great!) teenage daughters and a patient wife. I have a (at times!) stressful job and community service obligations (netball coaching and cycling club secretary). All these factors have time demands and thus stress demands. I’ve learnt over the years what the stress research has said for years – that the stress response of exercise and life are the same. Thus, during times of psychological stress, cut back on the intensity, duration or frequency of training and, from my experience, in that priority order!
- Not training smart. I see way too many of my cycling or triathlon mates who do what every else is doing. Training with much younger people, or following the pack. As we age our physiologies, our health, our ability to recover, and our fitness all change. While it’s great to train and be pushed in groups, there are times when we need to ‘do our own thing’ and that thing is what our own bodies are telling us, not our minds!
Browse related items: overtraining, recovery, training mistakes, training principles
February 24th, 2010
I’ve always been a healthy eater. Mum used to emphasise mixing up the vegetable colours on the plate. She always had plenty of fruit around. In boxes usually because she had five of us ‘rugrats’, all of us very active playing Rugby, Swimming, Surfing , reeking havoc on the pushbikes in the street or playing tackle footy in the back yard against the local neighbourhood kids.
As I’ve gotten older and become a sport and exercise scientist, I’ve realised “Noela the Bowler” was right. The science of nutrition has identified a number of food types that can reduce the risk of chronic disease, make the immune system stronger, slow down the ageing process, and enhance our overall health. While most of us know what these foods are, recent has shown that only about a third of us eat them! So here they are! Buy them and eat them!
Continue Reading »
Browse related items: fruit and vegetables, health benefits, nutrition, superfoods
December 27th, 2009
Claire and I attended the World Masters Games in Sydney late October. 28,686 competitors attended – most of them spending 2-4 hours waiting to register but all of them having a ball! We were there to promote our recently published book The Masters Athlete and the associated website: www.mastersathlete.com.au Oh what memories it bought back for us. I was involved in the 1994 World Masters Games - firstly on the Medical Advisory Panel for the Games and secondly as the Meet Director for the Swimming. Not much had changed. The fun and friendship was still there in Sydney. But the numbers had swollen from 10,000 in 1994 to 28, 686 in 2009. Here are our observations and memories of Sydney.
Cold Wet and Windy Oh how we felt for the thousands of competitors who stood in congo lines waiting for up to 5 hrs to register. Especially those who came to row or open water swim only to find their events cancelled due to the cold and windy conditions. Hope the social and fun side of the regatta and swimming made up for it.
Catching up with old friends Claire and I have been involved with masters sport since we started the Miami Masters Swim Club in 1987. A wonderful club where fun, fitness and friendship, the motto of AUSSI Masters Swimming, was exemplified in spades! It was there that we met Max and Rosita Gillespie from Brisbane Southside Masters Swim Club who despite being 30 years older than us became great mates – oh the joys of masters sport. Max competed in the swimming at the Sydney Games and caught up with us at our expo site.
Meeting New People with a Zest for Life We had the pleasure of meeting some great people while at our expo stand. A few stand out in our memories:
John Gluckman from New Zealand who competed in Sydney in the track and field but who also had climbed Mt Everest. Here he is showing us the article on him in the “Runners World” while I show him my new book.
Veronica Welgemoed from South Africa who has run 18.1 seconds for the 100m on the track as a 75-79 yr old. Her zest for life and positive outlook was amazing.
Elvire Asprey from New South Wales here in Oz. Elvire is the mum of Professor Julie Steele, an academic colleague from the University of Woolongong. Julie and Elvire were both competing in track events in the same age group. As it tuned out, we were able to link up Elvire with Veronica – they were both at the expo at the same time!!
Ken Orr from Canada who was competing in the track cycling. Ken is a world class track cyclist, quiet and humble! Here he is (in cap) with fellow trackie Peter Jakob Dekole and New Zealander Keith Almeida and another good lookin’ bloke!
Bhag Singh from India who competes in track sprinting and is a drug controller in his home country.
The memories will stay with us forever. And isn’t that what it’s all about in masters sport – the fun, fitness and friendship that comes from being involved with masters sport!
Hope all our readers had a wonderful and safe Xmas. All the best for 2010.
Peter and Claire.
