Metabolic Health & Fat Loss – don’t trap yourself on the hamster wheel of chasing volume so you can eat more. Even experienced athletes make this error, I did this summer.
I was very fortunate Scott Molina took an interest when I moved to New Zealand. Not that he had much of a choice, I turned up at his garage (ready to ride) most mornings. Scott has studied, and applied, what works for his entire life.
One of my favorite follows (Elias Lohtonen) was writing about the differences between Beginners and Elites. The context was metabolic fitness, as determined in his lab.
This got me thinking about my journey as a new athlete.
When I started out, I disliked intense training:
It crushed me
It hurt
I wasn’t very good at it
However, I thought I “needed it.”
Turns out I was lucky I didn’t bother with it for many years.
We now have a better idea why.
I’ll take you back 25 years.
Lactate As A Fuel Source, Not Waste Product
When I learned exercise physiology in the 1990s, lactic acid was presented as the athlete’s enemy – causing pain and slowing us down.
Difficult, searing training was believed necessary to teach our bodies to buffer and tolerate this acidic compound.
We used to think lactate would form crystals in our muscles, causing post-exercise muscle soreness. Hours, and days, later we would “flush the legs” to remove these waste products. We’d get massages to “break up the lactate.”
Turns out we were wrong.
Lactate is essential, and extremely useful, once we’ve trained our bodies to use it.
Lactate is also a key regulator of intermediary metabolism, regulating substrate utilization. It decreases and inhibits the breakdown of fat for energy purposes (lipolysis), as well as the rate of glucose utilization by cells (glucolysis).
The bold part is mine.
What does this mean for you?
Athletes who start fast, and perform “intense” endurance training impair their ability to burn fat
Every human I’ve ever met (!) wanted to burn more fat.
What are the implications for your training?
Slow your endurance sessions down.
Endurance training needs to feel light (link is to an article on “aerobic threshold feel”).
Endurance adaptations favor duration.
We all share a bias towards thinking that “more intense is better.”
Intensity is not better, it is different…
…and a key difference is you are burning less fat.
You already have plenty of capacity to generate lactate. If you want to improve performance (and burn more fat) then you need to focus primarily on the low-end.
2// Next up, Dr. San Millán’s paper on Metabolic Flexibility is a fascinating read on the differences between three groups: elite athletes, recreational athletes and individuals with metabolic syndrome.
From the article linked above
3// Overcoming our shared bias towards intensity : One of the way’s to retrain your mind is to focus on submax performance. At 53, I’m very interested in my paces, and powers, at 130 bpm. This is ~35 beats below max (the “top of”cap” in the table below, approximately).
4// How do you know what’s “intense enough?”
From Last Week’s Thread on Training Zones The table is a good starting point, you can dial in more accurately using the resources in the thread
Protein, especially with good fats, moderates my appetite and keeps my digestion happy.
Dairy
I tolerate it well but I’m careful not use as a sugar crutch.
There can be a lot of added sugar in dairy (especially “vegan” yogurts).
There is information in cravings and binges.
Cravings => usually a depletion signal. High-performance athletes need to train the ability to process food for fuel. Long sessions provide enough depletion, even when eating.
Binges => a sign of too much – too much intensity, too much stress, too much load.
To make progress with your body, and counter your binges/cravings, trade stress for the ability to lose fat.
A stable weight is a sign you have your act together.
Get to a stable, strong weight and stay there.
Effective nutrition is defined by what is not there:
Swings
Cravings
Binges
Injures
Illness
Where to focus:
Eat less sugar – sweeteners are everywhere. Do not restrict whole fruits, they fill you up and reduce processed food intake.
Protein with every meal – all day long
Incremental change – lifetime journey!
Start by improving the quality of your non-training nutrition
Appropriate levels of carbohydrate – fuel the burn
Step One is improving low-end aerobic function by adding cycling volume under LT1
My return to “proper” endurance training will offer me a chance to demonstrate some things.
It’s whole lot easier to hit modest fitness targets if you have sufficient muscle mass for your goals (Link to Big Slow Day Article)
A lot of athletes see their size as a hinderance to their goals.
I don’t.
If you want to rip bumps in your 60s, sustain impact, run the risk of the occasional crash… a bit of size, combined with a lot strength, will serve you well.
So I’ve moved to my strongest-training weight – which is ~5 lbs above my low-volume sustainable weight.
On my old protocol (outlined here) – being a bit light is fine. However, when my goals require the capacity to fuel meaningful output, my “light weight” slows my recovery.
Let’s be clear: endurance athletes have a “light is right” bias.
Smart athletes know it is better to match your body composition to your goals.
My #1 goal is faster recovery, so:
Each week at least two back-to-back recovery days
Run my body composition a little heavier
Ditch my alarm
Use morning HRV to check in before loading
Bring back training nutrition
Making The Most of My Time
Many athletes seek to optimize their time by boosting average workout intensity (Sweet Spot, Heavy Domain, Tempo).
I’ve seen it, and I’ve seen it work.
Doesn’t work for me.
I’m going Nordic
Swedish 5:2 (see below)
Norwegian 80:20 (>80% Stamina Focus)
Swedish Periodization (5 days on, 2 days off) means radical recovery and compressed loading:
If I finish Day 5 by Noon, then I have ~65 hours until I train again
Every week has space for Real Life => sustainable
I get a weekly reset
My digestion gets a rest – training uptake is fatiguing
Feel The Byrn 
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