Endurance Exercise: How Much is Too Much?

     To all those who dread spending countless hours in the gym, I've got great news for you: less is more. This is not permission to skip the gym or leave without completing a workout. More often than not, the average American needs to workout more. The benefits of exercise are well-known: your heart pumps more effectively; the amount of oxygen in your blood increases; body's immune system is activated; and the number of endorphin's increase which elevate your mood. But just like everything else in life, there is a tipping point. That point is not defined and is different for everyone but when your training sessions gets into 60+ minutes, you should be cautious. Just because a little bit of something is good, doesn't mean a lot of it is better.

     Excessive exercise can backfire on you for a variety of reasons. After prolonged bouts of training, your body will run out of fuel sources. When this occurs, your body enters a catabolic state where it will begin breaking down muscle tissue and using it as energy. One other contributor to putting your body in a catabolic state is the stress hormone cortisol. As your exercise session increases, so too does the release of cortisol. Both of these factors have a negative effect on your lean body mass. This is why some endurance athletes are incredibly thin but also have a stomach pouch or no muscular definition. Along with negatively effecting your lean body mass, you may also develop microscopic tears that only heal with rest and if you do not recover properly, it will begin to weaken your immune system. So, if you are working out like crazy and are always hurting or getting sick far too often, it is highly likely that you aren't recovering properly. However, the most serious risk can be damaging your most important muscle: the heart.

     High endurance training puts extraordinary stress on your heart. The heart is a muscle and like all other muscles, if it is worked too hard, damage can be done. Some stress is good, but too much stress can lead to serious damage and in some cases death. Need proof? These eight studies may stop you right in your tracks!

1. According to a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010 in Montreal, regular exercise reduces cardiovascular risk by a factor of two or three, but the extended vigorous exercise performed during a marathon raises your cardiac risk seven-fold!
2. In a 2011 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers recruited a group of extremely fit older men, all members of the 100 Marathon club (having completed a minimum of 100 marathons). Half of the men showed heart muscle scarring as a result of their endurance running—specifically, the half who had trained the longest and hardest. If running marathons provided cardiovascular benefit, this group would have had the healthiest hearts!
3. A 2011 rat study published in the journal Circulation was designed to mimic the strenuous daily exercise load of serious marathoners over the course of 10 years. All the rats had normal, healthy hearts at the outset of the study, but by the end, most of them had developed "diffuse scarring and some structural changes, similar to the changes seen in the human endurance athletes."
4. A 2012 study in the European Heart Journal found that long-term endurance athletes suffer from diminished function of the right ventricle of the heart and increased cardiac enzymes (markers for heart injury) after endurance racing, which may activate platelet formation and clotting. Twelve percent of the athletes had detectable scar tissue on their heart muscle one week post-race.
5. A 2010 study presented by the American College of Cardiology showed that endurance runners have more calcified plaque in their arteries (which also increases stroke and dementia risk) than those who are not endurance athletes.
6. A 2011 German study revealed a very high incidence of carotid and peripheral atherosclerosis among male marathon runners.
7. A 2006 study screened 60 non-elite participants of the 2004 and 2005 Boston Marathons, using echocardiography and serum biomarkers. Researchers found decreased right ventricular systolic function in the runners, caused by an increase in inflammation and a decrease in blood flow.
8. Research by Dr. Arthur Siegel, director of Internal Medicine at Harvard's McLean Hospital, also found that long-distance running leads to high levels of inflammation that may trigger cardiac events.

     At rest, your heart pumps out about five quarts of blood per minute. While running, that number goes up to 25-30 quarts per minute. The heart is not designed for this type of volume overload for longs periods of time. This increase in volume stretches the walls of your heart muscle and literally breaks fibers apart. This can lead to scarring. Combine that with how some training plans are for endurance races, and you are constantly overloading the heart on a regular basis. The results of this study show us that it can be assumed that most endurance athletes do not give their heart adequate time to recover. With inadequate rest, the body is in a "post-workout" state and these athletes will have cardiac fatigue. The fatigue is a precursor for heart arrhythmia which can lead to full cardiac arrest. This is why 50 percent of marathon deaths occur in the last mile of the race. The chronic stress is too much and the body cannot withstand it. Even the very first "marathoner", Greek messenger Phidippides, couldn't take the stress. After covering 175 miles in two days he suddenly dropped dead.

     Now, keep in mind I am talking about high-endurance events. Do not give up on running and do not throw those running shoes away just yet. Keep your miles to around 20 per week, spread them out over 3-5 days, keep your heart rate steady and allow yourself adequate time to recover. Most important, listen to your body. Do not ignore the signals of distress and get rid of the "no pain, no gain" mindset. Your heart will appreciate it!

This blog is a summary. For more information, check out the following article:
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/08/23/extreme-endurance-exercise.aspx?e_cid=20130823Z1_PRNL_art_1&utm_source=prmrnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130823Z1.

Hope you enjoyed!
Chris Fluck

What is your Philosophy?

     When it comes to fitness, it seems that a large majority of people perform exercises with no real idea on why they do what they do. I fell victim to this problem for a large portion of my life. I just found something that looked cool and gave it a try. When I got bored with it, I found the next idea and repeated the cycle. The problem with that was that I was never able to develop a philosophy, create goals, or assess my progress. Every training program should have a purpose and it is important that you create your own philosophy of training. I am not talking about describing yourself as "a functional trainer" or a "kettlebell guy". A philosophy is ideas, and it is important to develop these ideas regardless of what type of equipment you have available.

     Much of my philosophy is influenced from my own experience and learning from others experiences in the world of training. Instead of focusing on how programs differed, I began looking at what these programs all have in common. After a little bit of research I noticed a trend. Most of the knowledgeable strength coaches in this nation were advocates of performing total-body workouts each training session. I began experimenting with this concept myself and began to see great results. As I continued this plan, I struggled with exercise selection. Over time, I was trying to do too much each week, changing up my exercises each workout and this lead to 60+ minutes of training. That was too long for me. I wanted to reach my goals without having to spend tons of time in the weight room. Enter the book Easy Strength. The premise: get the most out of your workout while doing the least amount of work. I learned about specialization and if you want to get good at something, you have to do that something over and over again until your happy with your progress. So, I decided to cut about two-thirds of the exercises out of my training program and began focusing on large muscle group lifts that challenge your entire body from your feet all the way up to your hands. I am talking about power cleans, front squats, military presses, sled pushes, turkish get-ups, etc. When deciding on which exercises to cut out, ask yourself, "if I only had 15 minutes to train and wanted to get the greatest results, which exercise would I choose?" To steal a line from Alwyn Cosgrove, I decided to "TiVo my workout". TiVo allows you to turn a 60 minute television program to a 40 minute program by fast forwarding through the non-essential stuff. Do the same with your workouts. Cut the exercises that aren't necessary, time your rest periods, and get more out of your workout in less time.

Here are some tips on how to start:

1. Create goals. Write them down, announce them to everyone you know, pick one big one, create a plan with deadlines, celebrate your wins, learn from your losses and enjoy every minute of it.
2. Figure out how much time you have and build off of that. Be honest with yourself. If you can only consistently get to the gym twice a week for 40 minutes, make sure you "TiVo your workout" and get in some serious work in a short period of time. 
3. Assess your progress. Training philosophies are never ending. Something I wrote today may change six months from now. So change your mind, learn new things and allow your philosophy to evolve!

Chris Fluck

The 40 Day Program

A few weeks I made the decision to join some friends for a race called Hero Rush. It was at that moment that I decided to cut back on the strength training a bit and put an emphasis on running. As a result, my strength took a bit of a hit. So when I received an e-mail 8 days before the race saying it was cancelled I put the running shoes away and thought about what kind of strength training I will be doing this week. Then it hit me: now is the perfect time to try out this program created by a crazy Russian that goes by the name of Pavel Tsatsouline.

The name is The 40 Day Program but is also known as the Simple Strength Routine. The premise is simple: "to get as strong as possible as easy as possible". To anyone that knows me, this program is right in my wheelhouse. Before I get into the nuts and bolts, I will list a few of the rules:

1. Never miss a rep. If the set calls for 5 reps, then make sure you get all 5 of those reps with quality technique. The program is titled simple strength for a reason. It should feel somewhat "light".
2. The Rule of 10. In order to get quality reps, you need to limit the amount of reps performed each set. It has been said that once you get to 5 or 6 reps your technique begins to falter and I honestly believe that. So the rule of 10 states: do not perform more than 10 reps of any lift in the entire workout.
3. Spend 10-15 minutes on a warm-up. On top of the dynamic warm-up that I typically perform, I added in some foam rolling, tempo runs, monkey bars, rope climbs and started doing some tumbling. I have no future in gymnastics but hitting a couple shoulder rolls, cartwheels and headstands really gets the blood pumping. I then grab a light kettlebell and perform some easy sets of swings, goblet squats and Turkish getups. It looks like a lot but I don't do all of the things each day. I basically do what I feel like to get the blood pumping.

Here is the exercise selection:

1. A large posterior chain exercise. Deadlift is the right answer here but I chose to do front squats.
2. Upper body Push: Military press, bench press, incline, etc. I went with the military press
3. Upper body Pull: Pull-ups and chin-ups are your options here. I chose the pull-up (overhand grip on the bar)
4. Total body explosive move: The kettle bell swing or snatch is the right call here. This exercise calls for 20-50 reps so performing the Olympic lifts is not wise. The swing is what I decided on doing.
5. Anterior chain (the abdominal region): I chose the ab wheel here

You will perform these 5 exercises for 40 straight workouts and nothing else. You want to aim for five days per week varying your reps throughout the week. The sets and reps are as follows (remember the rule of 10):

Week One

1. Sunday: 2 sets of 5 reps
2. Monday: 2 sets of 5 reps
3. Tuesday: 3 sets total, performing the following reps 5-3-2
4. Thursday: 2 sets of 5
5. Friday: 2 sets of 5

Week Two:

1. Sunday: 2 sets of 5 reps
2. Monday: 6 sets of 1 reps
3. Tuesday: 1 set of 10 reps
4. Thursday: 2 sets of 5
5. Friday: 3 sets total, performing the following reps 5-3-2

After completing the first 10 workouts, you then repeat until you reach 40 workouts. Some people who have done the program have reached most of their goals by day 22 so you can do a shorter version of it. I am going to continue this program until my goals are reached. The program is unique and the objective is to never struggle and over time, "nudge" the weights up each and every session. Some days you will feel good and you should cash in on those days. If you're feeling sluggish lighten the load get the workout done. Mood and feel are important and need to be taken into consideration. With that being said, you cannot make a plan for the week because you cant prognosticate how you will feel as the week progresses.

At the end of the sessions I perform some weighted carries (farmers walk, sled pushes, etc), tempo runs (70-75% "sprints") or just stretch. Do one, two or all three of those options. Nothing too taxing but I don't want to ignore that stuff over the 2-3 months of the program. My body has been feeling good so lifting back-to-back-to-back days has not effected anything. Just remember to take it easy, remember the rules, and finish each workout feeling great.

I finished week one and began week two. I am already seeing a steady increase and look forward to seeing where I am at the end of the week.

Thanks for reading,
Chris Fluck

What I've Been Reading

It has been a few months since I posted about some of the books I've been reading so I thought I'd share. I have been trying to get as much reading in before I start coaching football so here is the short list.

Most Bizarre Book: Geek Love. A friend lent this book to me and the moment I read the back cover I couldn't believe I was about to read this crazy tale of a carni family. This book ranks 10 out of 10 on the weirdness scale, without a doubt. It involves a circus family that includes albino dwarves, Siamese twins, babies with telekinetic powers and a leader who is half fish, half human and 100% crazy. There is also some murder and weird body "transformations" that I don't feel is necessary to describe. I think it takes a shot at religion/cults but not totally sure. I was able to finish it with no problems so I have to admit that it did grab my attention.

Most Interesting Story: Lone Survivor. This story brought out a ton of emotions. It is a tale of Marcus Luttrell who is a US Navy SEAL. The story begins with his upbringing, his training, and how he got to where he was in the military. It then gets into one of the saddest days in SEAL history, a mission gone bad with three of his cohorts. It was an operation where the terrain was essentially unknown and turned out to be as bad or worse than anyone had ever dreamed. Their story could be summed up by their philosophy: "I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight". These guys carried never strayed from their philosophy and a movie will be coming out soon. Check out the trailer Lone Survivor!

One thing that really struck a cord with me was his thought process on war: "If you don't want to get into a war where things go wrong, where the wrong people sometimes get killed, where innocent people sometimes have to die, then stay the hell out of it in the first place". These soldiers were given  "rules of engagement" and because of this, it essentially led to the worst day in SEALs history. If you trust these men enough to go risk their life, you should trust them enough to make decisions on their own and not lock them down with strict rules.

Best Sport Book: Toughness by Jay Bilas. Drew Brees' book came in a close second but the stories that Bilas shares are incredible. He tells stories of his upbringing, his years at Duke playing and coaching with Mike Krzyzewski, working with Bob Knight and much more. Through all these experiences Jay outlines what toughness means to him. Each chapter contains one element of being tough. In his opinion they are Trust, Preparation, Courage, Communication, Persistence, Next Play, Commitment, Acceptance, Resilience, Self-evaluation and Hope. This book is filled with great stories and great lessons to use in everyday life. My personal favorite was a golf story he shared. "As I stepped onto the tee of that difficult hole, I said to the caddy, this is a really tough hole. Not today it's not, he replied. And not for you". To me, that is a perfect example of a positive mindset.

Fitness Books:
Warrior Cardio: This book was written by Martin Rooney who is a mad man. The purpose of this book is to teach you the benefits of using high energy work bouts with limited rest to stimulate your aerobic system. He supports his approach with science in the beginning of the book, the discusses and gives examples of his circuits, followed up by solid nutrition advice. The final part of the book gives you a detailed workout plan. If you decide to follow the plan, I would recommend reading the entire book to get an understanding of why you are doing what you are doing.

Mass Made Simple written by Dan John. He is my favorite author to read about training. His book Easy Strength opened my eyes to training properly and his track record and results are incredible. I am not looking to gain mass but I work with some kids who have that as a goal so I checked it out. Anybody can put on weight by eating junk but this book provides the way to put on LEAN mass. Very quick read that offers a program book to anyone looking to gain size without compromising their body composition.

I hope you enjoyed and would love to hear about any books that you have read recently. Recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Enjoy your weekend
Chris