A Defense Of Injury

“I had an injury, as I always do.”
- Jerry Moffatt, explaining what kicked off a great training cycle

We should change our outlook on injuries. We think they’re bad because they keep us from doing what we want at a given time. But they also force us to change, which with the right outlook is almost always a good thing. Change forces adaptation and, as any trainer knows, the specificity of adaptation is the key to making progress.

So just after training camp, during a full-swing translation towards building biking and running fitness back up, I hit a snafu. Or rather it hit me, as one of my dogs decided a snowy downhill run was a good time for some impromptu tackle football. Regaining my footing from her cross-body block wrenched something connecting to the old L5S1 injury and, voila, I’m back to traction exercises and back care yoga while my endurance training gets shelved a few weeks.

It’s not my first rehab rodeo and before I’d even assessed the damage I’d refocused my training schedule. A couple of years back, in the midst of recovering from the injury highlighted above, I took one of Kristen Ulmer’s seminars on the mental aspects of sport. Part of this was focusing on the beauty of injuries and how the changes they force on your life give you a new lease; license, or an excuse, to re-focus on something new. Reflection during this lesson confirmed it; many of my best performances have come in the wake of an injury.

The serendipity of this story is that Ben and I had become overly enthusiastic about sending a new route in the Coop. We were fit enough to get close but consistent redpoint attempts tend to make you weaker over time. Training makes you stronger, meaning if we stopped trying to climb and trained we would simply be able to do the route without all the fuss. When I called Ben to inform him that it was time to get serious about training he said, “I know what you mean. During one go (redpoint failure) I landed on the floor and just happened to be looking at The Beastmaker. I swear it was saying ‘Buddy, if you want to do that route you're staring at the answer.’”

Fingerboard (hangboard) training is almost perfect traction for the back. It’s also the single best way to get seriously strong for climbing. Its only downside is that it's hard to focus on because it's not necessarily fun. I haven’t had a meaningful climbing road trip, where I was peaking strength-wise, since sometime last century. Granted I've been focused on other sports but still; The Year of the Van beckons. My injury being the key to great success.

Soul Climbers

Crescendo |krəˈ sh endō| Sonnie Trotter AliasCinema from Alex Lavigne - AliasCinema.com on Vimeo.

For today’s Psyche here are vid profiles of two of the world’s most prolific climbers. Both are incredibly good climbers but make their living by doing things other than just climbing hard. They write, guide, do access work and put up a lot of first ascents . Though they preferred style of climbing is completely different they both share the same obsession with the climbing lifestyle and are the definition of soul climbers.

I lived like this myself for a long time. It was fantastic but I basically couldn’t hack it. I had too many varied interests in life to be so devoted to one thing indefinitely. And while I’ve had, and continue to have, a wonderfully rich life that’s filled with diverse experiences I still often pine for the simplicity and passion of how my life was as a climber.

Another soul climber, Canadian Scott Milton, once said something that I always reflect on anytime my life gets too conventional. We were talking about climbing icon Fred Beckey, whom I’d just seen in Joshua Tree. He was in his 80s, at a party, and living on the road as a “climbing bum” just as he’d been doing for the previous six or seven decades. A lot of people, even in Josh, seemed to find it strange. During my time as a climber I’d almost accepted it as fact that we were odd, and should probably consider joining the rat race again at some point if just to appease families and friends who’d thought we’d gone off the deep end. But Milton had a completely different perspective. “Imagine,” he said wistfully. “Staying psyched to be on the road for all those years. It’s my dream.”

Bravo to a couple of guys out there livin’ their dreams.

La Obsesión - A film about Dani Andrada from Haroun Souirji on Vimeo.

In Shape vs Sports Shape

After getting destroyed at the Ritte team training camp it seems like a good time to address the difference between being in shape and getting into sports-specific shape. It’s important for any weekend warrior or aspiring outdoor enthusiast to understand and plan around this difference. Today’s post is a primer.

A sport doesn’t exist where you can simply train in the gym and then compete at a high level without a period of integration, where you transition the fitness gains achieved into real world scenarios. There are various factors involved in the answer. The obvious is skill, as every sport has its own technique, but the more subtle issues that tend to get overlooked involving specificity of sport.

The easiest example to understand is skin conditioning. Skiing, running, climbing, biking, horseback riding, you name it; all require that your skin be in a specific condition. Do any of these things too long off the couch, no matter how high your fitness level is, and you’ll wind up with blisters at best. Push it too far and a real injury can occur.

Skin is the leader of the integration chain—the obvious link that breaks down fast but adapts quickly. Following are a slew of physiological processes that all require neuromuscular adaptations of varying levels in order for you to be efficient. I like to lump these under a made-up word for neuromuscular patterns that blankets this entire category: engrams.

Engrams are the patterns a sport engrains in your physiology, like the “once you’ve ridden a bike you never forget” saying. Though you don’t lose them at a basic level, such as how to ride, run, ski, etc., you absolutely lose them in the realm of high performance, especially when you’ve made physiological improvements in fitness level.

Fitness gains made in the gym take some time to integrate, which is why athletes should only try and make big physiological changes in body composition during the off-season and, conversely, the closer they get to their performance goal the more specifically targeted their training should be. An outdoor athlete should be spending virtually no time in the gym (living room gym, whatever) close to a big event. But if you want to improve year to year you should spend a lot of time in the gym during your off-season. Check out my 2011 training synopsis and see how my gym training sessions tapered close to each big event.

For an example of what happens when you don’t do this let’s use at the Ritte camp. In SoCal, where Ritte is based (click here for awesome Wired article on Ritte), racing season begins in early Feb. This means that camp, at least for some, is a final tune up to race season.

My race season begins in June and ended in November, putting me in the very midst of off-season training. If I were a professional I would not mix my training with such a group because it will cause too much breakdown and interfere with my program. No coach would ever advise such a thing. But I’m not a professional racer. I’m a professional lab rat and wanted to mingle with my team, most of whom I’d never met. So I showed up in very good gym shape but with almost no time on the bike in two months, knowing full well I’d spend the weekend blurry-eyed and hanging on for dear life under the guise of anecdotal evidence.

If camp had been about who can do the most pull-ups, core movements on a stability ball, or probably even one-leg squats I’d likely have fared well as most of the team had left the gym behind in November. Specific integration often means you lose some of your training-specific strength in favor of, in this case, your ability to turn bigger gears at the same cardiovascular output where you turned smaller gears in the off-season. This gear difference makes a rider a racer. The example works the same across all sports, and is how we differentiate between in shape and sports shape.

pics: brian hodges at velo images

Training Hard Enough?

I am clearly not but this will help. Happy Friday...

Eisprinz - Chapter one (with Markus Bendler) from Berni Kogler on Vimeo.

Junk Food’s Fantastic Voyage

I thought this was going to be a duh-files experiment but it’s actually super cool. First off, the technology is mega rad--basically a tiny submarine that travels through your GI tract, not so unlike the 60’s Sci-Fi classic Fantastic Voyage, sadly minus Raquel Welch (though the narrator does have a sultry voice).

The incentive for this project is to try and present unseen and often veiled information about our food system in unexpected ways so that the public is armed with as much information as possible so that they can make informed decisions about their food."
- Food researcher Stefani Bardin

Then there’s what we learn, which is probably better defined as scary and takes junk food vilification to a whole new level. You hear us break down the obvious reasons to steer clear of processed foods based on simple nutrition (lots of sugar, lack of fiber, micro, and phytonutrients, etc). While providing no lack of ammo, it pales in comparison to evaluating chemicals that shouldn’t be in foods in the first place like, um, oil, sand and gas. And we’re not talking about canola and the magical fruit, either, but a full blow Exxon Valdez on the world’s supermarkets.

Petrochemicals. They’re not just for cars anymore! Now you can make them an integral part of your diet so that your food really stays with you!
- The campaign slogan rumored to have cost Darrin Stephen’s his job

Seriously, that’s the coolest finding in this study; showing how oil by-products don’t allow your body to use foods properly. I suppose this wouldn’t be shocking to anyone, really. In fact, it's likely why food company lawyers have made it legal not to divulge petrochemical inclusions in foods as proprietary secrets because, you know, other companies could copy them and cut into their earnings. I'm sure that's because, probably just like you, if I knew motor oil should be in food I’d stop buying all that expensive hoity-toity olive oil and just spritz a little 30 weight on my pasta. Um, yeah.

And now please enjoy our feature presentation!

The James Bond Diet: An Athlete’s Cleanse

Last night Romney mentioned cleansing until her birthday (15th), which reminded me that it’s annually the time where I start to get more serious about diet. The Shakeology Cleanse, which is really more of a lean, clean-eating plan, has been the cornerstone of the last two February’s “rid-myself-of-winter-indulgence diets”. Prior to Shakeology I’d do variations of different cleanse methodologies. This year I’ll combine a few of those, along with some elements of a new product we’ll be bringing to market, with a goal of detoxing while still training. It’s something I call the James Bond diet.

The Bond diet goes way back for me. To college, specifically, when life was living was hard, fast and decidedly unhealthy. When it got too bad I’d take a week away, usually alone, to revitalize myself by eating well, resting, and exercising. You probably don’t know this side of Bond unless you’ve read the old Ian Fleming novels but this is what he’d do after a bout of assignments, drinking, womanizing, and thwarting sinister bad guys’ ridiculous plans for kaos. Usually he’d be on an island in the Caribbean, so I always tried to get away, but that’s not practical at the moment so I’ll be doing this version mainly at home.

I’m sure Fleming knew nothing of actual cleansing but his Bond plan wasn’t bad. 007 would eschew all his favorite vices, (smoking, drinking, woman) and spend his days swimming, running, lounging on the beach and eating fresh fruit until he felt revitalized or, at least, until someone bent on world domination tried to kill him. Anyway, it was always inspiring to me. I figured if a guy like Bond could go cold turkey so could I. And even though it’s a made up scenario for a fictional character, with no scientific underpinnings whatsoever, it always worked like a charm.

bond befuddles an evil temptress

This version, Bond 2.0 if you will, consists of a traditional week and a modern week. The first consists of simple elimination of processed foods (except Shakeology which I don't consider to be part of this category), animal products (except the whey in Shakeology unless I can procure an early bag of the vegan version), coffee and alcohol. Week 2 will be more strict, adding supplements and specializing the diet.

I’ll specify on week two later. Week one has no caloric restrictions at all. I’m training and need to recover. The goal is only eliminating toxins and revamping mindset and lifestyle. I’ll take my Shakeology shaken, not stirred.

Ski To Live

"You don't learn from experience. You learn from reflecting on the experience."
- Kristen Ulmer

This week’s psyche is a little different. Since Puxatony Phil says six more weeks of winter let’s embrace it with some life lessons with a ski motif. Hopefully Phil’s right because we’ve hardly had any winter so far but that’s another topic. Today I present former extreme skier turned teacher Kristen Ulmer’s Ski To Live.

Though Kristen is a famous skier her clinics are decidedly centered on the to live part. She uses the athletics as a vehicle for expression and also holds mtn biking clinics during the summer. The mind has a lot more to do with our physicality than we give it credit for. Here’s the story that inspired this post. For more go to Kristen’s site and get on her mailing list or, better yet, take a clinic.

People ask me all the time why I started Ski to Live.

I want to tell you a story about my past you may find shocking. It explains why I started these evolutionary mindset ski and snowboard camps, and also illustrates the next top mindset tip.

When I was 22 years old I was competing in local Utah mogul competitions and generally coming in last place. Heck, I hadn’t even owned a pair of ski pants until two years prior- just competing in anything was a big step.

That summer, while my fellow competitors trained on snow at expensive camps at Mount Hood, Whistler or even South America- I decided to take a different kind of jump than I was used to; a trip to Asia by myself. For 5 months. To work on my self esteem.

I had two rules on this trip. I made these rules because I realized my self worth was entirely based on the fact I was pretty, and could ski well. I realized I wasn't going to always be pretty, or always ski well, and I thought I'd better find a way to build a more solid personal foundation.

My rules where this:

1. I would make myself as ugly as possible: wearing coke bottle glasses instead of contacts, not washing my hair and wearing frumpy clothes.

2. I was not allowed to tell anyone I skied.

On that trip, I volunteered for Mother Teresa’s House for the Destitute and Dying in Calcutta, India. I was robbed in the Philippines by a group of 30 scam artists and forced to leave the country at gun point. I almost lost my right leg to gangrene in Nepal. The summer ended and I came home.

The first mogul competition that next season was a special event for the entire west against the best technically trained mogul skiers in the country. I felt funny just being there. But I didn't come in last place like usual. I won. I killed it, actually.

Within one single year, I then made it on the US Ski Team. That same year I also filmed 3 ski movies, and was subsequently named by 4 different ski magazines the best woman "extreme" skier in the world.

The math? I became world class at two different sports, in one year, without any technical training. We all hear mindset is everything in sports. I lived it. That trip forever changed my life and how I saw myself, so I believe it.

THAT'S why I started these camps.

11 Supplement FAQs

I was answering these the other day for staff training and thought they’d make a helpful post for everyone. Basically they are questions we get from most of our customers in some alliteration about taking supplements of any kind. I have no idea who actually compiled these questions but I’ve heard them all many times.

1-what should I consume before a workout?

Nothing, hopefully, but there are times when eating something makes sense. Basically if your diet is good then you have an empty stomach and fully tapped glycogen stores that will last for 1-1.5 or so hours of hard training. However, there are many scenarios (dieting, too busy to eat, etc) that mean you should eat prior to training. When this is the case nutrition follows the post-nutrition protocol in that glycogen store replenishment supersedes all other factors, meaning mainly carbs, a little protein, very little fat and a solid electrolyte profile.

2-Can I take my supplements after 6pm?

Time is irrelevant because we all have different schedules and each supplement has different parameters for its usage. In general supplements are either meant to be 1) taken with food 2) taken in the morning on an empty stomach 3) taken before bed on an empty stomach 4) taken pre-workout 5) during workouts, especially long ones 6) taken post workout. Of course this is all dependent on what it is but those are pretty much the only nutritional windows we have to consider.

3-Will creatine make me fat?

Creatine has nothing at all to do with getting fat. It works in your Kreb’s cycle improving anaerobic endurance by allowing your cells to store more phosphocreatine. When you take creatine you store more water to add volume to your cells and that adds a little bit of weight but this disappears when you stop taking it. It’s never stored as adipose tissue (body fat). Only as water to allow your body to perform better. However, even a slight bit of extra weight can matter so those in, say, gravity-dependent sports will want to monitor their creatine usage.

4-I heard chocolate milk is good to consume after a workout, is this true?

In ONE study chocolate milk outperformed Gatorade or something similar that was a carb-only electrolyte supplement and the dairy industry has made a big play out of it. It does come close to a 4 to 1 carb to protein ratio so it’s more appropriate than many options but won’t perform nearly as well as specialty formulated post-workout recovery supps.

5- Can I drink too much water and is it possible to dilute my supplements, thereby minimizing their effectiveness?

You could theoretically do this but it’s not particularly likely unless you’re exercising all day long where water can dilute your electrolyte balance and create a potentially lethal condition called hyponatremia.

6- Can i eat and take my supplements at the same time?

Depends on what you are taking. This is almost always addressed on the label. As a general rule vitamins are best taken with a meal and everything else is situational.

7- Is there anything I can take to reduce my soreness after exercise?

The best thing, by far, is a post-exercise recovery supplement because quick glycogen replenishment is the most vital factor for minimizing muscle soreness.

8- My joints hurt after lifting heavy weights. Is there any supplement I can take to make this go away?

Not really. Fish oil and other omega 3 supplements can help with inflammation but post-exercise pain in a joint, unless you have a chronic condition, is due to something more akin to an injury. Regular omega 3 supplementation can minimize the risk of such conditions to some degree and is almost always encouraged, especially for people on acidic high-protein diets.

9-How much protein do I need each day?

Daily protein intake is not nearly so important as how much you get each meal. Studies continually support that fact that large amounts of protein cannot be digested at one time, meaning that it’s important to have some protein each time you eat for best results. No consensus has been reached to upper limits as there are many factors that affect digestion but somewhere around 30 grams seems to be the range almost anyone can use. Therefore we like to recommend that all meals and snacks contain somewhere in the 30 gram range as a maximum for efficient protein utilization.

10-Is it bad to eat fat in my diet?

No. In fact you’ll die without it. There are only three macronutrients and they are all equally important for proper function and performance. Fat is every bit as vital to your diet and protein and carbohydrates, which is probably why most foods found in nature have some of each.

11- If i miss my window of consumption post exercise, should i still drink my recovery drink?

Basically yes but it depends by how much you’ve missed the one-hour window and what else you’ve eaten. When you are low on glycogen you need to replenish it if you’ve recently exercised. When you don’t exercise the template changes but after hard exercise you need to replenish your glycogen stores. Your body will do this with any food it gets but it’s much slower if you use the wrong macronutrient ratio. So if you’ve eaten after your workout a recovery formulation won’t help much but if you haven’t it will, even if it’s been more than an hour or two or three.

What We're Doing Wrong & How To Do It Better

The title is a line from yesterday's video-ish chat. The ish is due to a little malfunction part way in so it becomes sort of a radio show with some slides of me doing stuff. The moderator is my colleage, part of Beachbody's illustrious fitness team, the lovely Steph Saunders. Keith the Dude also has a few baritone interludes.

Topics include some personal stories from childhood, things I like and don't like, the Cold War, sports I've played and, of course, a lot of questions and answers including why PAP training is hard, the prowess of Jim Thorpe, what to do after P90X2, caloric deficits, overtraining, Shakeology cleanse and zig-zagging, pre-workout supplements, how to tell if you need a multi-vitamin, fish oil, skin elasticity, and more. If you've got an hour you need to kill check it out. Hopefully you'll be entertained or at least learn something new.

La Bonne Vie! – The Year’s Fitness Retreat Dates Announced

This year’s fitness retreat will be May 26 to June 2. Join us and kick start your summer with a week of fitness, culture, and world-class outdoor sports in a postcard-like setting. It’s going to be fantastic and, as usual, is extremely affordable.

Check out Alisa and Bruce’s site, Raison d’Art, for detailed info:

Fitness Week with Steve Edwards

our urban hub: st. antonin noble val

My version of fitness camp might not be what you’re envisioning if you look at my athlete/trainer profile. While I train hard, recreate at a higher standard than most, and occasionally compete in a national or world-level event, the main reason I do it all is that I believe in enjoying life to its fullest and I just happen to find this stuff fun. So when we say this is a fitness camp in France, particular emphasis should be placed on the France part of that. The main goal of these camps is to have a unique cultural experience. It’s not fat camp. It’s life camp. And hence the reason last year’s retreat theme was ‘la bonne vie’, or the good life.

meals are decidedly french (relaxed)

with nothing but fresh foods that we procure locally

This isn’t to say you won’t get much exercise. We’ll earn our meals for sure. Those who choose to participate in all the activities will get 4-6 hours of exercise daily, not counting sight-seeing, shopping, wine-induced night swims and such. Each workout and activity will have various levels to allow you to choose your own personal intensity setting. The emphasis will be on education. Our retreat is only a week but the goal is for you to take away knowledge that you’ll put to use for the rest of your life.

"That was a lifesaving exercise for me. Whatever werid muscle it's designed to stretch had been bothering me for over a year and hasn't hurt since:) Thank you Steve!"
- Michelle Beronja Wilkins

kayaking in the aveyron gorge

We’ve capped of people so that there will be ample one on one time for any personal issues to get addressed in as much depth as you’d like. You’ll have the option of a pre and post camp fitness assessment we’re you’ll get a good idea of both your strengths and weaknesses so you can leave with a fitness plan in mind.


escalade Saint Antonin Noble Val by iaki
climbing in the aveyron gorge

Since I’m an outdoor athlete you’ll have this option too. How much you participate is voluntary but, since we’ll be surrounded by world class climbing, cycling, kayaking, and hiking terrain, there will be a daily outdoor sports component. We’re professional guides, so no experience is necessary. You’ll be missing out if you don’t take part.

the riding tends to be picturesque

But mainly it’s about fun. You can live hard and play hard. In fact, when I’m balancing both is when I’m the most relaxed. "A sante!", to heath, as they say in France, which will be our theme. We’ll challenge ourselves, learning something new, and then reward ourselves with the amenities of rural France. La bonne vie!

the castle village of najac also has epic mtn bike riding

"I feel better than I have in years. It's been, by far, the best I've ever eaten in my life."
- Dave Talsky, Mammoth Lakes, Ca.

Sample itinerary:

7am - wake up yoga
7:30 - 8:30 aerobic ruke (run/ hike to get your metabolism going)
8:30 - 8:45 eye opener workout (optional - high intensity interval session)
9:00-9:30 breakfast
11:00- 1:00 pm daily activity (run, adventure ruke, bike, kayak, climb)
1:00 - 2:00 lunch
3:00 - 5:30 Free time (sight see, shop, chill...)
5:30 - 6:30 evening workout (progressive difficulty, drop out when you feel like it)
7:00 -8:00 dinner
8:00 post dinnner training digestion session (sunset hike, mobility training)
8:30 apres social

For more pics here’s last year’s announcement:

Train with Steve Edwards in Southern France

Psyched on Yoga?

If you’re like me, 2012 has started in a rudely-hectic manner. Maybe it’s the triple whammy of condensed work weeks but, however you stack it up, I’m in need of some early-week Psyche to help both calm my mind and get after it physically. Henceforth I present yoga by Equinox.

Think of this next time Yoga X is kicking your butt, and anytime you doubt the ability of yoga to make you strong, fit, or look good. Think of how effortlessly Briohny Smyth makes, well, everything look-—including some very burly movements. I’m pretty sure I’ve increased my strength, balance, and fluidity just by watching. Reminds me of my friend Micah's comment on the merits of regular yoga practice for rock climbing, "yoga is like cheating for climbers."

Win The Day

Looking back on my 2011 training chart puts perspective on the importance of taking on life one day at a time. I train a lot but, still, when you add it all up I’m not getting a lot of chances per year at each of my pursuits, much less each individual workout. The other day, during Plyocide, I was being lazy about working on an exercise I’m weak at when it dawned on me that I was only going to get a few chances at it in the course of the program, which inspired a vision Oregon’s football slogan, Win the Day.

One of the first things taught to Oregon players is the importance of each day. It’s a play on “live each day as though it were your last” but tailored to competition. I find it a great reminder to help get after it during the P90X2 workouts because, as Ducks coach Chip Kelly knows, once you make winning each day a practice it leads to better performance, period.

Why is each day so important? Looking back through my calendar I noted that I had only 6 full climbing days 2011, my preferred sport. My favorite workout of last year, Asylum Strength, I only did 5 times. PAP sessions: 12. When you have a full schedule and begin to analyze how it’s broken down the importance of each workout becomes clear; each time you slack off is missing an opportunity to improve yourself. If you lay each workout on a graph you will see exactly how a bit more effort or concentration here and there would have yielded greater overall improvements. Over time it’s the difference between champions and everyone else.

The X2 workouts are hard in a unique way. My favorite quote about the program, so far, has been “as I get better at the workouts they just get harder.” Conversely a complaint was that they were too slow. P90X2 is not step aerobics. It’s not simply about moving or getting your heart rate up. It’s about winning each encounter with something that’s going to challenge you. Once your body adapts to the subtleties of each movement you then add weight, or speed, or height or range of motion.

If Plyocide isn’t hard then you didn’t jump high enough, far enough, fast enough or use enough control to hit every square, touch the ball with your foot each movement, etc. If PAP doesn’t hurt you simply aren’t giving it enough effort because I’ve seen some of the most athletic people on the planet literally begging for mercy during those complexes. You can’t say you’ve mastered X2 until you can do all the exercises in perfect form with the same weight you can use from a stable platform; and if you think that’s impossible then you’re starting to get the picture. There is room for improvement and winning each day is the essence of what P90X2 is about.

To be fair, daily winning isn’t necessary or required. It’s about the effort. Bad days are a reality. Not to mention that if we never lost then winning would lose its luster. It’s fine to have off days, or lazy days. Days when you choose something over nothing, even when you don’t have the energy to bring it, are an important part of the process. But as you move up the pyramid of fitness to the point where you’re trying to do something special you’re going to run into an adversary. And whether it’s you, or an opponent, how you react to it will ultimately define your success.

Saturated Fats, Diet Trends, & How You Should Eat

We’ve been writing diet guides for a long time, always have great results, yet nothing we publish gets much press because, frankly, it’s boring. The diets we write need to be a: short, b: simple, and c: easily followed by people with limited means in both grocery choice and money. But just because we produce what you could call “common sense” diets doesn’t mean we aren’t constantly scrutinizing the latest science. We’re always testing the latest research ourselves (particularly me on moi) and evaluating its place in our diet plans. Today I present Denis Faye’s exhaustively un-conclusive analysis of saturated fat.

Sat fat is one of the latest trends in dieting. Held hostage by the medical community for years as the harbinger of heart disease modern research seems to indicate it’s been falsely accused. And this, of course (given the “it’s either good or evil” mentality of our public) means we now have legions of people sallying forth on a sat fat craze wielding sticks of butter and tubs of lard like they’re light sabers against the dark side that is heart disease. So Faye went to the source, the actual science along with popular books on the subject, and found that this group might be arming themselves with faulty weapons.

My second source is the most authoritative (read: not lame or poorly researched) pro-sat-fat book I could find: Dr. Mary Enig’s Know Your Fats. (Enig was the first real whistle blower on the dangers of trans fat, decades before the rest of the world figured it out.)

To my shock, Enig gave only two instances where she felt saturated fats were of particular benefit. First, she suggests, “research has shown that saturated fat in the diet is needed by the body to enable it to adequately convert the essential omega-3 fatty acid (ALA) to the elongated omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.” I found the study she cited and it turns out that she got it wrong(ish). According to Gerster, sat fats are marginally better than PUFAs for helping ALA convert, but not “needed.” Furthermore, this advice only really applies to vegans and vegetarians, given a healthy, more omnivorous diet should include EPA and DHA-rich foods such as fatty fish.

What’s Faye has done is exhaustively analyze the actual data and show that their enthusiasm might be better placed elsewhere, like doing some exercise or, “no don’t say it” perhaps just eating a balanced diet. Just because saturated fat may not be something that we should avoid doesn’t mean it’s should be the cornerstone of every meal. He concludes:

At the end of the day, I think the answer is to focus on your own biochemical needs. Even Enig admits, “there isn’t any real evidence that everyone needs to consume exactly the same balance of fatty acids.” She also points out that it’s naïve to categorize most foods as sat fats or PUFAs, given both animal and plant-based fat sources tend to be a mix of both. With that in mind, the answer might be as simple as a little self-analysis. Is your current diet working for you? How do you feel? How’s your blood work? Are you having any issues such as inflammation or high LDL cholesterol? If all this looks good, your sat fat levels are probably pretty right for you. If not, it might be time to start experimenting a little, no matter what your Crossfit trainer tells you.


And this gets back to the philosophy behind the Beachbody diet guides. Eat with restraint and common science. If you’re performance increases your body composition will improve. If it’s not working, re-assess and tinker until it does. And this works, oh, about 100% of the time. We have millions of success stories. Among them we have vegans, pesactarians, Paleoers, Atkins-ers, calorie-stricters, Zone-o-philes and probably even some Pritikiners. Because our plans work with you, and your lifestyle, no matter what that happens to be. Nutrition is simply not that tricky. In closing I’d like to say I’m paraphrasing Michael Pollan but I’ve been touting this since long before he wrote it. Eat mostly whole foods, lots of plants, drink plenty of water, and do some exercise and things will get better. Everything else is nitpicking.

The Year of the Van

“I have a van.”
-Steve’s reply in the film Slacker when asked if he had a car.

Happy New Year! This year’s goals are all over the board, sports wise. It was going to be the year of the jock or something silly. But then I got to thinking that it wasn’t very creative as I’ve been training concurrently for different sports for many years now. It would likely lead to a redundancy reaction as 2011’s “year of fitness”, which caused more than one friend to ask “isn’t that every year for you?” This year fitness be a given and we’ll focus on the means and the venue, because I have a van.

My 1985 Toyota was put out to pasture in 2009. Its engine (edging towards 400k) was still going strong but it was more or less falling off of the chassis. Sadly she wasn’t restored because she hadn’t been used properly in years as my travel had turned jet set-ish, meaning I’d done more climbing in Europe over the last decade than in adjacent states. When my Subi started showing her age I went into new car mode and was thinking along the same lines until Romney sent me an ad for an old Westy. Bingo.

The wheels started turning. Romney’s locked into an 8-5 gig for the foreseeable future. Weekend getaways are far more realistic than weeks abroad. And, as luck would have it, there’s a massive limestone belt ranging across the northern mountain states that weren’t developed back in my van years in the 90s (when I probably visited 99% of the established climbing areas in the Western US)—-a perfect distance away for short trips in a self-contained living space.

It’s no secret that the van years the pinnacle of my life in many respects. Even though nothing tangible to the Western mindset was accomplished (unless you count first ascents of obscure routes), those years were full of blissful, focused living. Every day had a purpose. Life was simple. It was good.

Things have drastically changed and there are merits. The upsides are easier to calculate as I, ya know, have a family and own an actual house and not just one the is mobile. The downside is that I’m also a cog in the machine. Daily activities acquiesce to others. To-do lists only gets longer.

The reality is that isn’t going to stop and I’m okay with that. I’m doing what I consider to be important work and am lucky to have the opportunity so I plan to ride it into the sunset. But the van will allow some respite. Even if it’s only for a couple of days here and there, this year there are going to be days with no cell reception, no computer, no outside influences at al. Just forests, deserts, mountains, trails, rock, and family and/or friends. And a van to call home.

pic: bob’s go westy calendar entry, featuring his gorgeous synchro and a eurovan that looks like ours.

Hope you all had a great holiday season. We will now get back to our regularly-scheduled programming...

Recaping The "Year of Fitness"

My theme at the start of the year was a Year of Fitness and, more or less, it was. I stayed mainly quite fit, trained and raced right through a few bad injuries, and find myself just as motivated as ever moving towards next year. Sure, some things could have gone better but I can honestly say that I hope a year never goes perfect. Then what would I shoot for? I presented the numbers earlier this week. Here are a few highlights in photos.

it all started with a party...

and a never-ending winter. would have been great for skiing but i had races to train for.

luckily finn prefers riding to skiing, though most early-season riding needed to be done in the desert.

and P90X2 development meant a lot of trips south

at duathlon nationals in tucson

two days after nats the first big day of the year: sedona's 'big friggin' loop'

romney on a load humping trip to a crag where the season would never start

post crash in ketchum, exploring trails instead of racing nats

with no option to climb training got a wee bit more focused.

oddly enough an article about my climbing life appeared in a year with little climbing.

overlooking the cote d'azur with friend (beachbody president) jon congdon.

on the iconic mt ventoux

gear ready for spain. body, not so much

tapering in france at 'fitness camp'. le bonne vie!

it hurts just looking at this pic

with climbing and racing plans derailled you might as well go local

mick on the final pitch of my only long climb of the year.

in the wee hours at frog hollow. helmet light obviously on a lookout for aliens.

an uninspired birthday challenge for everyone but finnegan, who clicked off 40k at over 10mph.

finishing the year like it started, training with mr. f

and enjoying the desert because now that i have time to ski there's no winter.

it seems appropriate to end with a sunset.

Happy New Year!

2011: Training by numbers

Notes – What's specifically done is listed elsewhere on the blog and can be found under "Labels". Most rehab work falls under Mobility. Cycling and climbing training means specific training. So a ride or climbing day might or might not be termed training. Indoor training doesn’t count as riding or climbing, only as training. All runs had a purpose. I don’t run for fun but do ruke on trails. A ruke is a hike/run, generally at ultra pace. Steep hike is generally fairly arduous, like hiking up a mountain. I don’t include hikes to climbing areas unless they are significant. Ski days all XC, classic or skate. Multi-sports days are two or more sports in a day, whereas multi-workouts are two different workouts done at different times (one is usually easy). A big day is something much longer than I’ve been doing in training.

Jan-Mar: Lots of travel or would have skied more. LA Feb-Mar for X2. Soleus work done early Mar, which is why there is a hole in the running days. Sick in mid-Mar. Hard to estimate recovery days because I often will use a different discipline to recover, like climb to recover from running and riding, which would be a training day.
April: First peak, Duathlon Nats on 26th.
May: A month “off”.
June: From mid-month real training began again after racing Mtb State Champs.
July: Injured hand in crash on 14th. Didn’t affect training, just climbing. By now, 2.5 hr ride considered recovery unless it’s hard. End of month S. France trip w/ 2 big days, Ventoux and run thru Maritime Alps.
Aug: Mainly specific training for World’s.
Sept: Injured soleus on 4th. “Training” became rehabbing through World’s on 25th.
Oct: The next goal for year was to test short training on some longer events.
Nov: All training focused around recovering from 3 12-hour days.
Dec: Play month but psyched and training a lot towards the end of the year. Used my scheduled workouts to fill in the last few days of the year.

Analysis – This may look crazy but look closely and it should be pretty easy to interpret. During the winter training was steady but volume low, hence there is less rest and more structure. Towards the two peaks (Ap and Sept), training became more sports specific. Intensity and volume increases dictating more recovery days. The months following each peak had little to no structure. Finally, during the epic fall marathons everything revolved around recovering between events as opposed to trying to get fitter. Moving into the off-season the winter pattern has re-emerged.

Only did four races but all were significant:

Duathlon Nationals 12th (though knocked to 25th w/ disputed penalties)
Utah State Mtn Bike Champs 7th
Duathlong World Championships 12th
Frog Hollow 25 Hour Race 3rd in duo division

Hardest climb: 12c (not impressive but at least it was on-sight)

Big Days include: The November Trifecta, Squawstruck, Ben's BD Challenge, Mt Ventoux and a long run in the Maritime Alps, and Sedona's Big Friggin' Loop.

Hard Grit

Happy Boxing Day! Since boxing’s about grit here’s some tip top gritstone action from England, featuring Neil Mawson’s infamous deck off of Meshuga in 2005. UK Climbing’s Jack Geldard caught up with Mawson to see how the fall has affected his life since. Click the excerpt to read the entire interview.

The next few years I did very little trad climbing, onsighting or headpointing, and concentrated on pushing my sport climbing level. I tried over those years between 2006 and 2010 to headpoint some trad routes but I found I could never commit to the lead even though I'd climbed them cleanly on top rope. I'm sure that my lack of confidence to get on lead was due to my fall off Meshuga. Before then I'd never had any problem committing to the lead after top roping the route clean, but then that changed and it was really frustrating.