Training The Body To Burn Fat As A Fuel Supply
How to keep from bonking or hitting the wall? Robert Forster, PT, speaks to cyclists in Santa Monica about the importance of knowing and using the proper fuel source when racing and training. Specifically, Bob explains how carbohydrates only last so long and we must train to utilize the fat stores our body keeps because it is a much more sustainable fuel source and will get us to the finish line.
Why have we shifted as a culture towards a carbohydrate metabolism when fat is preferred?
With the great abundance of sugar and carbohydrates in the average diet, it is no wonder that we have trained our bodies to burn and rely on sugar. Although biologically our bodies favor a fat metabolism, through our environment we have trained our bodies to favour and crave carbohydrates. Because of the little storage we have for glycogen, we constantly crave more and more carbohydrate. While they give us a quick boost of energy, any excess carbohydrate taken in becomes stored as fat—fat that we cannot burn off efficiently because our bodies favour the carbohydrate.
The average person can only store about 1300-2000 calories of glycogen. As glycogen becomes depleted, fatigue sets in and you head to the vending machine trying to replenish your diminished supplies!
How do you know if you’re using fat?
If you suspect you may be a carbohydrate-burner instead of a fat burner, here are some ways you might be able to tell:
1. You feel starved and cranky after not eating for a few hours
2. You are unable to produce sustained bursts of energy during exercise
3. You need food after exercising a short period of time at any intensity
4. You have accumulated body weight that you cannot seem to get rid of
Training Series for Runners
Whether you achieved your goal time in your last event or failed to finish in good form, it’s time to assess your performance and make adjustments in your training to maintain progression. The most common problems encountered in the marathon and long training runs include joint pain, gastro-intestinal distress, muscle cramping and energy crash. If you have suffered these issues you are not alone but you can rest assured solutions are at hand when you follow the science.
The fitness gains from the efforts of your last long run will evolve over time if you allow for recovery and so it’s time to figure what’s next. The short answer is a training method known as Periodization training which utilizes heart rate specific training and recovery in order to avoid most common training errors, burnout and injury. If your goal is to reach your highest potential as a runner only workouts at the appropriate intensity will produce the results you strive for. Discover how metabolic testing will diagnose your current fitness and illuminate the path to improvement. Similarly, structural analysis and run gait evaluation will produce real data and actionable solutions to your physical problems.
At this lecture you will learn:
- How to maximize your time and efforts, by training smarter not harder.
- How heart rate testing & training will improve your fitness & performance.
- Periodization method of training to peak for your next event.
- How a home strength and flexibility program can make you faster and keep you healthy.
- How to scientifically calculate your caloric and hydration requirements to avoid cramping, bonking and fading at the end of long efforts.
- How inadequate recovery from hard workouts actually makes you gain weight.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 9th at 6:30pm
WHERE: Top to Top – 2621 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica
Call 310.582.8212
How to prevent muscle soreness after a hard workout?
Questions about muscle soreness answered by Robert Forster, physical therapist, author, member of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, and trainer to 40 Olympic medalists and professional athletes from Allyson Felix to Flo Jo to Pete Sampras.
We get a lot of questions here in FBG Land about muscle soreness: how to prevent it, what to do if you have it and if working out sore is okay. So when we got the opportunity to ask Robert Forster we knew we had to hit him up for all the As to our muscle-soreness Qs. And so we did!
Interview with Robert Forster, Physical Therapist and Muscle-Soreness Guru
FBG: How do you help Olympic athletes recover from events? What’s your general protocol (or does it change according to activity and level of soreness)?
RF: Out of necessity, in the mid-1980s I created a program of “total support event coverage” for Jackie Joyner Kersee in her quest for gold in the Olympic heptathlon, which consists of seven events contested over two days. The program is anchored in science and based on the workings of human physiology. Now after every workout and competitive event all our athletes first consume nutrients and liquids to restore vital fuel for recovery. The athlete then performs a thorough cool down with jogging and walking to allow the body to flush out byproducts of muscle metabolism. This is followed by a static stretching routine designed to return the muscles to their normal resting length and “wring out” waste out of the muscle tissues and vascular system. Next is the recovery effort. I perform specific massage techniques designed to relax the muscles and further flush out the system. Finally ice therapy is applied to reduce inflammation and the micro swelling in the tissues that causes spasm and soreness so they are ready for their next event.
FBG: What can the everyday woman do to recover after a hard workout?
RF: Focus on recovery begins at the start of every workout. Pre-workout stretching and a thorough warm-up serves to limit the amount of tissue damage that is created during the workout and therefore the degree of recovery needed afterwards. After hard workouts, a cool down followed by stretching, self massage (or work on the foam roller) and icing, all serve to limit the delayed muscle soreness. The day following hard efforts should include low-intensity “active recovery” workouts. Much like the body’s “self cleaning oven,” these low-intensity workouts increase blood flow and further eliminate waste products in the tissue repair products and therefore enable the athlete to be ready for the next hard effort. Remember, no one gets fitter during workouts; it’s only with time for recovery that the benefits of hard work is realized with increased fitness.
Click here for the full article
Using BCAA supplementaton in recovery shakes to overcome muscle soreness
