Low HR Training

1

carb intolerance test. (Read 36 times)

Runslowalksalot


    My wife and I just started the test according to Middletown.  Day 1, so far so good, still hungry after a 3 egg omelette.    I really want an Apple!

    I've identified some symptoms of over training in myself(with input from my wife and a fellow RA-er)   1 hr at Maf this morning had me walking a lot.   Time to back off.

     

    Anyone else tried this test?   FINDINGS?

    BeeRunB


      What's a Middletown test?

      Did you mean Maffetone's 2 week test? (you must need carbs!)

       

      As far as the 2-week test goes, I've tried it 3 times. The first two times, I freaked out, as my MAF speed tanked precipitously, and I stopped the tests. The third time, I didn't freak out, as I did as part of an experiment with ketogenic training (according to Tim Noakes new way of training, and the book The Art Of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Phinney and Volek), which is keeping carbs below 50g a day. Very low. Puts you in ketosis. The idea is to teach the body to use fat as fuel, all the time. In that way, I went beyond the test. My MAF speed still dropped--and badly. I'm talking going from a 12:55 in a 1-mile MAF test to 20:00. Awful. BUT, it turned around as my body adapted. I actually switched to walking for awhile, as you pretty much burn 100% fat when you do. Eventually after 3-4 months, I stopped the experiment, as being in ketosis for so long was starting to cause some physical problems (which I won't go into), due to potassium being flushed from the body. I couldn't keep up. As soon as I got out of ketosis, problems disappeared. In the end, I didn't want to live a lifestyle where I had to worry about electrolyte imbalance all the time. Too test-tooby for me.

       

      I did lose weight, about 10 pounds. But that stopped after awhile, even in ketosis. The body adapted and I unconsciously began to eat enough calories to maintain weight.

       

      Now, I still eat less carbs than I did, and try to avoid eating too much processed food. But have binged on occasion on food in shiny wrappers. The benefits of "lower" carb is more mental clarity I find. Since, over the years, my MAF speed has improved whether eating lots of carbs or practically no carbs at all (gets worse, then better on lower carbs for me), I would say that it's the running below MAF that improves the aerobic, fat-burning fibers, and not so much the diet.

       

      But everyone is different. There are people who have posted here whose MAF speed improved quickly after lowering carbs. People who have gone Paleo have had a good go of it and improved. Dr. Tim Noakes has managed to stay healthy living and training and improving as a runner in ketosis, where I couldn't maintain a balance in my body.

       

      My final conclusion on diet is this: It's how much you eat, not necessarily what you eat.  I believe the epidemic of diabetes in this country is because of portion sizes. Go to an airport or a mall, and you'll see the problem: everyone's too fat, because they eat too much. I just visited Japan, and I saw two fat Japanese people the whole trip, and one was a sumo wrestler. In Japan, they eat everything: fried food, sweets, flour, lots of beer and saki, white rice, noodles (white flour), etc., but they don't overeat. Small portions at restaurants. When I returned to the US and entered a domestic terminal, after two weeks of seeing pretty much nothing but thin and healthy looking people, I was floored by what I saw: the majority of the people were overweight and sick looking. It's portion size. We've gotten in to a real bad cycle here.

       

      The body is an amazing adaptable creature, and can adapt to less calories, and some studies on have shown that lab rats stay healthier and live longer on less calories (slightly UNDER-eating). Too much calories becomes stressful after awhile, and leads to heart disease and diabetes and all that. As endurance runners, we can crave those extra calories, but have to make sure we don't overeat. I think many of us do, when we don't have to (I've been a textbook case over the years). The body will adapt to less food, even during training. If we can teach the body to use more fat as fuel through diet, then perhaps, it's less calories and slight undereating that teaches the body to use more fat as fuel, not necessarily less carbs.

       

      In the news these days, you'll see individuals who have lost weight eating exclusively junk food, or McDonalds. Because they ultimately under-ate.

      .

      Good luck on your Middletown test!

       

      -JImmy

      Runslowalksalot


        Damn you Auto spell correct!  Or should I say know-it-all feature that interrupts a sentence  thinking it knows what you're going to say,  then changes the intended meaning completely.  I know people like that.

        Day 5.  Both the wife and I are a bit lacking energy.  MAF runs, paddles and bike ride numbers are down.   I just did a prone paddle today where my heart rate rarely gets into the 130s and found over 6 miles I was about 1 minute per mile slower than my last paddle on that board under similar conditions.  Of course I was wearing a wetsuit and gloves, but that wouldn't account for how shitty I felt after only 90 minutes of low level activity.  I had a good breakfast, 2 egg spinach and cheese omlet  and a small cupcake sized turkey egg and cheese quiche thing.  I'm thinking that if I don't feel better soon, I may quit the test and have beer and nachos while I watch the local Panthers take on my perennial favorite 49' ers.   This is like when Agassi plays Sampras, I can't  cheer for anyone but a good match.

        Runslowalksalot


          Day 12 I had no energy, It's a rest day anyways.  I'm tired and moody.  My wife told me to eat some pasta, I go to bed at 7:00.   Day 13, race is tomorrow.   I had 2 small  whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup.  MMM!   1 hr later my belly is achy and bloated.   Ugh, I suppose that's what the test is designed to find!