Download Living High and Training Low? By: Kellie Hays Running a marathon

Living High and Training Low?
By: Kellie Hays
Running a marathon? This question is as scarce as seeing snow amongst the
hottest days of July for most Americans. Could this possibility ever be attainable for
the average Joe? The answer is yes, by using a method kept secret by elite athletes;
and you’ve wondered why they can run faster and jump higher than you. This
magical method has been coined the term living high and training low. Imagine
living on the top of Mount Everest for a year casually blending into the scenery and
learning the ways of the sherpa’s, all along living at an altitude of 29,029 feet or
8848 meters. Then after that magical year of being a mountain man or women you
descend back to sea level, back to your average life, although your life may not be so
average anymore. You might find yourself running faster and jumping higher. Why
is that?
There is less oxygen available for the body to utilize when living at a high
altitude. Therefore a person’s body acclimatizes or adapts itself by increasing two
important elements red blood cell volume and hemoglobin mass. Therefore upon
returning back to sea level your red blood cell and hemoglobin levels are above
average. Envision New York City, hemoglobin is a person trying to catch a taxi and
the red blood cells are the taxis. The more taxis available the more hemoglobin
hitches a ride. Therefore the taxis being the red blood cells can deliver more
hemoglobin’s to more places. This is important because the hemoglobin is carrying
something everyone needs, oxygen. More oxygen means that the body can do more
work.
This is an important tool for elite athletes because they can increase their
endurance performance by simply changing their living locations. But what about
you the average Joe, how would you ever be able to move your house to a top of a
mountain? Simple, have the mountain come to you! You can actually purchase a tent
called a hyperbaric chamber. This tent isn’t the kind of that you can take camping,
it’s literally a mountain in a bag! The hyperbaric chamber is a pressurized structure
and inside it simulates an altitude as if you were camping on top of a mountain. You
can sleep in this tent and after see similar increases in endurance performance just
as if you were an elite athlete. The next time you want to think about running a
marathon or even something as simple as wanting to win at your children’s school
parent-kid races you may want to explore more exciting methods to see an
improvement in your endurance performance and train as the athletes do.
Satellite: The Sail to Super Human Strength
Vashon Perryman
Do you want more strength? Do you find it difficult going up and down stairs,
picking up objects at work or are you training for a big sports event? If you
answered yes to any of these questions, then Satellite cells may be your answer!
Satellite cells or muscle stem cells are uniquely placed between the basal lamina and
the sarcolemma of an individual muscle fiber.
Imagine you’re walking down the street and the bully that keeps picking on you
comes out of the bushes. This time he not only pushed you on the ground, but he
keeps pushing you and won’t let you up. This can be compared to when our muscles
experience trauma or injury. When you finally get the bully to look away, you call
your brothers. Some of them are lazy and decide they don’t want to help you, while
the others come running to your aid. This can be compared to the satellite cell
activation and proliferation. Some of the cells stay in place while the others help by
adding more muscle fiber nuclei to the fiber. Depending on the fiber damage, the
satellite cell will either need to add growth to an already existing fiber or it will have
to replace myofibrilar muscle protein in fibers that are too damaged for repair. The
end result is an increase in myofibril size. This means more strength!
So what do you have to do to activate these cells? Head into your local gym and
exercise! Studies have shown that you have options for increasing satellite cell
production. If you’re anything like me then you’re going to love adding diversity to
your workout plan. One of the more effective ways to increase satellite cell
activation in your muscles is to do heavy resistance training. This is so effective
because during the eccentric or lengthening phase of an exercise there’s an extreme
amount of injury. Wait! This doesn’t mean try and pick up a truck. “Heavy” means
using 70% or more of your one repetition maximum on a certain exercise for a
specific group of muscles. Doing this will cause a tremendous amount of trauma to
muscle fibers activating more satellite cells. This makes heavy resistance training
the most effective way, because it’ll activate cells in slow twitch and fast twitch
muscle fibers at the same time.
For beginners, heavy lifting may be a little too dangerous as a first step. One idea
would be to increase your amount of repetition that you are doing at a certain
weight or you can try some flexibility exercises which will practice putting your
muscles through full range of motion! This may be a little tough to do so make sure
you have about 2 hours to devote to it. Remember, a flexible muscle is a happy
muscle! Stretching is a concept that is often ignored because it’s often considered
boring and there’s not a big noticeable change in performance because of it. Don’t
listen to the skeptics! Just like heavy resistance training, satellite cells are activated
through the constant stretch. This muscle fiber damage will increase nitric oxide
(NO) production. Nitric oxide has many roles in the body, but in the case of satellite
cells, it helps to increase hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). HGF is the main regulator
of satellite cells. With this ignited, your muscle growth and regeneration will be
improved. If you still feel like this is not for you, try proper supplementation! With
the right combination of supplements and timing of ingestion, satellite cell
activation will be increased.
Now that you know some options for increasing your satellite cells, it is
recommended to exercise at least three times per week. As you train your body, it
will be able to respond stronger than before. In response to chronic resistance
training, the more satellite cells you have, the greater your activation and
production will be! So I challenge you to get up, get out and exercise!
Speed Endurance Training in Intermittent Sports
Calvin Iversen
Various intermittent type sports are practiced and played by all kinds of populations
worldwide. Examples of these include basketball, football, rugby, and soccer. These
intermittent or interval sports require a wide range of physical abilities specific to
each sport, which encompass many fitness components; muscular strength and
endurance, power, speed and agility, flexibility, balance and coordination, motor
skill, and cardiovascular endurance. Of these, it is thought that cardiovascular
endurance is the single-most important aspect of highly competitive intermittent
sports because the vigorous nature taxes your energy systems so drastically. Being
highly trained in both anaerobic endurance and aerobic endurance is a key factor
for elite performance.
Anaerobic exercise is highly intense and is performed for short durations of time,
such as sprinting. On the other hand, aerobic exercise is a form of low-intensity
exercise that can be sustained for prolonged durations. Since there is a combination
of these two types of exercise in sports such as soccer, it is important that an athlete
is highly trained in both systems. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the compound
that is used by the body for energy. When strenuous activity is performed, the
energy stores are depleted in accordance to the rate of exercise and the training
level of the individual. As these stores get low, fatigue starts to set in. It is up to
one’s energy systems to produce more ATP in order to continue activity at a high
level. The level of oxygen consumption by the body during maximal exertion is
termed VO2max, or aerobic power. It is considered the best form of measuring a
person’s aerobic capacity. While this aerobic power is an important component of
sports performance, anaerobic endurance also needs to be enhanced to account for
the quick burst, dynamic type of play in intermittent sports. In order to improve
one’s repeated sprint ability, an athlete needs to train at high-intensity levels. It is
suggested that training at or near one’s maximal oxygen uptake for a duration of
approximately 25 to 30 seconds, with short recovery periods is optimal for
improving sprinting ability. However, the duration of these sprints should be
manipulated to match the specific sport and position. The presence of a warm-up
and cool down preceding and following exercise is also important for training at the
highest level possible.
The amount of stress placed on the body during training is a factor that cannot be
overlooked. In order to experience performance gains, the level of the stress placed
on the body needs to cause an overload to an athlete’s system. The overload
principle can simply be explained as placing a stress on the system above what is
normally seen, in order to experience positive training adaptations. This stress
should be specific to what fitness component is being targeted. Therefore, in order
to train speed endurance, repeated maximal sprints are needed to produce
improvements in that area. What separates elite athletes from the mediocre is often
late-game performance. Sometimes an athlete’s actual skill set isn’t the determining
factor in late game competition; instead it is the level of training. Having highly
trained energy systems puts an athlete in the best possible position to achieve
success in intermittent sports.
Physiological Responses during an Endurance Exercise
By: Hope Gregory
Do you ever wonder why some individuals can perform for what seems like an
eternity; running, swimming, or biking for hours upon hours? If so, then listen up
and I’ll be able to give you some factors that might play an enormous part in
performance during an endurance event.
As you increase endurance there are several important aspects that play a
governing role in the increase in performance such as VO₂. This is the measurement
of the volume of oxygen consumed by the working body. Imagine oxygen as the
worker bees, the more worker bees that are readily available the more efficiently
the work is done. An endurance runner is only hit with fatigue through inadequate
energy supply. The faster the body can increase its oxygen consumption to the
working body, the faster and longer one can go. Undergoing intense long duration
exercises requires the body to utilize more oxygen in order to keep the oxygen
demand, when this slow it could result in an early onset of fatigue. Therefore the
work or work rate that is being produced is much higher in individuals with a high
VO₂ max.
Not only is oxygen consumption important but one’s glycogen stores could be
detrimental to performance as well. Carbohydrate stores compared to ones fats
stores are very limited, leaving the athlete susceptible to fatigue. Therefore the
importance of carbohydrate loading and reloading during endurance exercises is
extremely important. This is why pasta dinners before sporting events are so
common, because carbohydrate loading permits a runner to run at a greater speed
without using up all of their glycogen stores. This leaves athletes performing longer
at higher intensities without fatiguing.
Have you ever heard your coaches tell you to drink more water? Well, if you want to
increase your endurance performance, don’t! Increasing the water intake could lead
to harmful effects on the body, direct sodium and fluid consumption have been
shown to have the best effects on the outcome of an endurance performance.
Sodium and fluid helps maintain the health and hydration status of an individual for
longer periods and also allows the body to stay cool. So, instead of grabbing for
water all the time, go grab a sports drink instead, the extra electrolytes mixed with
sodium will provide the body with the needed nutrients that have been lost through
exercise.
Heart rate is directly related to the length of the endurance event. Distance and
heart rate showed remarkably similar results in which the longer a person ran, the
higher their relative heart rate was. Heart rate is believed to be directly related to
the distance and velocity of the endurance event. Skilled runners displayed similar
results to non-skilled runners, leaving the notion that other underlying physiological
factors must represent the performance of an endurance event.
These factors all have direct implications in ones performance during an endurance
event. It’s important to pay attention physiologically because any little detail could
make a whole lot of difference. The perfect equation could be put together with the
proper maintenance of these factors, allowing an athlete to experience that feeling
of going forever, or it could leave them with a feeling of ‘hitting the wall’.
Stretch-shortening Cycle & Vertical Jump Performance
By: Jennifer Kolarik
There are many variables associated with achieving high vertical jump
performances. Many athletes today would like to be able to utilize a system of
workouts or training regiments that assist them in increasing their ability to jump.
This is especially the case in sports such as volleyball, basketball, and football
jumping is and can be a key component of the skill required to play.
Research has provided many answers to how jumping performance can be
increased. Many studies have found that plyometric training is a useful type of
exercise because of its emphasis on the stretch-shortening cycle. The stretchshortening cycle is when a muscle is contracted eccentrically then rapidly
contracted concentrically. An example of this movement is when you lower you
body to jump; your legs are eccentrically contracting when you are squatting down
and then concentrically contracting when you begin to move up and off the ground.
This type of exercise utilizes the stretch-shortening cycle because the exercises are a
variety of eccentric movements followed by fast and powerful concentric
contractions. Some of these exercises include static jumping, drop jumps, vertical
countermovement jumps, triple jumps, cone jumps, and hurdles. These exercises all
seem to help the body increase the speed and the strength of the contraction of the
lower body as well as improve the height of jumps.
Other research has looked at the muscles ability to adapt to different mechanisms,
for example the position of the body before the jump in order to find a better
maximum jump. Also studies have looked at the differences in ages and jumping
ability due to lower leg/joint stiffness and elasticity. These studies have provided us
with evidence to train our clients in a number of different postures. A variety of
body postures have been found to produce similar maximal jumping capabilities. It
is also important to train both legs, dominant and non-dominant, equally. This is
because both legs have been shown to produce equal amounts of power and
maximum jump heights. Youth and adults have been found to be able to produce a
stable and powerful jump. Adults have been though of as being able to produce
higher jumps because of the increase of muscle mass that they have. It has been
studied that body mass is not the only factor in the jumping performance and that
lower body joint stiffness has allowed adults to produce higher jumps because of the
joint and muscle recoil ability adults have with more stiff and coordinated jumps.
In order to provide the best training for athletes we need to be sure to implement
many different types of training. Plyometric exercises can be supplemented with
quickness training of the lower body muscles to allow for faster contractions. We
can manipulate the mode, frequency, volume, duration, and intensity of the jumps in
order to support the strengthening of the stretch-shortening cycle and increasing
vertical jumping.
Create a Title for this article
Jessica Kietzman
Have you ever been walking or jogging and notice that after a half hour or so that
you are hot, sweaty, breathing heavy, or thirsty? Have you ever wondered why your
body is acting this way? This is because the effect of fluid and electrolyte imbalance
on your body. Fluids and electrolytes play an important role by keeping the body
hydrated and preventing exhaustion or fatigue. Whether you are just starting out in
an exercise program or an athlete, fluids and electrolytes are a key component for
the body to function properly.
Fluids can be a variety of beverages; such as water, tea, soft drinks, caffeine, milk,
and sports drinks like Gatorade or PowerAde. Electrolytes consist of sodium,
potassium, and chloride. The recommended dietary intake for sodium is currently
1500 milligrams per day, potassium is 4700 milligrams per day, and chloride is
2300 milligrams per day. These minerals control muscle activity and are responsible
for maintaining water balance and distribution through out the body, normal
osmolarity (the ratio of solutes, like electrolytes, to fluid), normal acid base balance
(ph), and normal cardiac rhythm.
Fluids and electrolytes have a great impact on sports performance because they
need to be replaced when the body sweats. Sports drinks also contain a certain
amount of carbohydrates that provide the body with energy to keep going. When
carbohydrates and sugar enter our body they are delivered to our muscles and
stored as glycogen, which becomes glucose when needed. Athletes and individuals,
who work out at least one hour, should consume at least sixty to seventy grams of
carbohydrates per hour. Though carbohydrates are not considered an electrolyte,
they are an important component in sports nutrition.
Furthermore, the most important minerals lost in sweat are sodium and potassium
and must be replaced immediately. The replacement of these minerals is important
for optimal performance and to prevent medical complications. A variety of
populations from young to old need to understand this, so that they do not suffer
from dehydration or a condition called hyponatremia. This is where an excessive
amount of sodium loss can occur by drinking too much water while sodium levels
get depleted. A sport beverage of approximately 175-200 milligrams of sodium per
8 fluid ounces is enough to keep the body stabilized.
The human body is made up of 55-60% water, while muscles are about 70% water.
Water helps regulate a stable body temperature and maintain blood plasma
volumes. Blood plasma is critical in those who participate in exercise because blood
plasma helps determine aerobic capacity (how hard you are able to work) with
respect to exercise intensity. During exercise, the body’s main way of cooling itself is
through the evaporation of sweat. Failure to replace fluids and electrolytes results in
dehydration and other serious illnesses.
Other problems with improper fluid and electrolyte replacement may result in heat
or muscle cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. A few ways to maintain proper
fluid balance is to weigh yourself before and after you work out. For every pound of
weight lost, two to three cups of water (8 ounces equals 1 cup) are needed. You can
also monitor dehydration by the volume and color of your urine. Dark, concentrated
urine with a strong smell usually indicates dehydration. How frequent you use the
restroom is also a good indicator. Hydration stimulates urination approximately
every one to two hours.
For women, the total water recommendation is 74 ounces or approximately 9 cups
per day, and for men the recommendation is 101 ounces or approximately 13 cups
per day. While exercising, another good indicator is thirst. If you experience thirst or
dry mouth your body is telling you to drink. During exercise, the recommendation
for consuming fluids is 7 to 10 ounces (one cup) of fluid every 10 to 20 minutes.
In conclusion, knowing the recommendations for sodium, potassium, and chloride
will help replenish the body and prevent dehydration. When you sweat, sodium and
potassium are the main electrolytes that must be replaced. This can be done by
drinking a sports drink, like Gatorade, if you work out for one hour or longer. Keep
in mind that there are many beverages to choose from based on your personal
preference. So get moving, enjoy your workout, but most importantly; listen to your
body and remember to monitor fluid intake to help prevent many symptoms
associated with dehydration.