Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Indian Clubs & Brett Jones Pt 1 - Club Swinging Essentials Preview
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When you think of strong guys, what image do you have in mind? Perhaps the larger folks from the World's Strongest Man type competitions? Perhaps muscular chaps who bodybuild while picking up heavy things? Maybe it's an endurance athlete or pentathalon competitor. None of these images map easily to Brett Jones. Brett is a soft spoken guy. One might almost say unasumming in demeanor.
And yet, Brett has a reputation and demonstrated performance of a Strong Guy as the popular Brett Jones show reel on YouTube demonstrates.
Jones is also generally regarded as a Smart Strong Guy. So it's with interest that i've seen Brett connect with Indian Clubs over the past year or so, and put out a DVD on learning Indian Club technique called Club Swinging Essentials.
The following post is the first of a two part interview with Brett (part 2 is here) about understanding this new interest in working with light indian clubs. It will also explore why Brett's taking the particular approach he has in the DVD/Manual collaboration with Gray Cook and US Indian Club guru, Ed Thomas.
Through the following, you'll get a sense of Brett's background and path to where he is now: Master RKC for the DragonDoor.com kettlebell certifications, and trainer/instructor for the Functional Movement Screen, along with being the author of numerous other DVD's like the Secrets Of collection and Kalos Sthenos, on the Turkish Get Up (full list here).
Interview with Brett Jones Pt 1 - about Brett
You're running your own business as well as working for dd and fms - how does that work for you?
In the next segment, we'll be talking in more detail about the Club Swinging Essentials project. As a bit of a preview for that, here's a couple quick keys. One: indian club work is based around making circles. Two: your focus in the DVD and in what you've told me of your own personal practice is to use the clubs not for strength work but for pre-hab/re-hab. Care to rif on that for a moment?
Next time, Part II: the Indian Club project
Thanks Brett.
Next episode will feature Brett talking about his goals for the Club Swinging Essentials dvd/manual project.
Related Posts
And yet, Brett has a reputation and demonstrated performance of a Strong Guy as the popular Brett Jones show reel on YouTube demonstrates.
Jones is also generally regarded as a Smart Strong Guy. So it's with interest that i've seen Brett connect with Indian Clubs over the past year or so, and put out a DVD on learning Indian Club technique called Club Swinging Essentials.
Through the following, you'll get a sense of Brett's background and path to where he is now: Master RKC for the DragonDoor.com kettlebell certifications, and trainer/instructor for the Functional Movement Screen, along with being the author of numerous other DVD's like the Secrets Of collection and Kalos Sthenos, on the Turkish Get Up (full list here).
Interview with Brett Jones Pt 1 - about Brett
You're running your own business as well as working for dd and fms - how does that work for you?
It’s working great.When did these parts start and when did they become your path - enough to feed you? Were you a trainer when you came to that first RKC (about the RKC)?
Yes I was a trainer when I went to the RKC in 2002.
A bit clearer background:
I started into High Point University working on a degree in Sports Medicine (Athletic Training) in 1989 – graduating in 1993. (this was an Internship program where I started training as and working as a student Athletic Trainer right away). I worked as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer while pursuing a Master’s degree at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (Master’s in Rehabilitation Sciences – Drug and Alcohol Rehab).
But it turns out that after my first full time job as an Athletic Trainer was my last job as an Athletic Trainer – the long hours and low pay had my eyes open for other options.
In 1997 I transitioned to running a Hospital Wellness Center in Clarion, Pa where I managed a community based fitness and wellness program for 5 years. During this time I designed programs for just about every situation possible (stroke, Parkinson’s, wheel chair bound, joint replacements, a wide variety of orthopedic issues to name a few).
Then I worked in Pittsburgh at a private club for 2 ½ years before moving to San Diego to be a part of Iron Core (one of the first Kettlebell studios in the nation) for two years.
Brett Jones, foreground
with Gray Cook
In 2006 I returned to Pittsburgh to once again personal train in the area.
During this time I received my RKC in February 2002 and was promoted to Senior instructor in 2003. So I have been teaching with the RKC for almost 8 years. In 2007 I began teaching for Gray Cook and Functional Movement Systems.
So basically I now keep a very small personal training clientele as I travel the country and internationally teaching RKC, FMS and my own workshops.What do you love about your business? what do you wish you didn't have to do?
What I a love about my business is working with people and teaching trainers techniques that help their clients and their business.You're known as a strong guy. when did this vibe begin? where did that start?
Paper work has never been high on my list of “favorite” things.
I was moderately strong in high school as a wrestler and was good at pull-ups but I didn’t begin to really develop my strength until around 2000.What else do you do with your body besides picking up or squeezing heavy things?
Besides training and teaching I have a pretty simple life and I don’t have any competitive sports of activities at the moment.Were the folks you grew up with into strength?
My father has been into fitness for a very long time and set a great example.What would you say is the least physcially-related passion you have?
ReadingWow, are you a music guy, too?
I listen to some Sirius radio stations in the car while driving and might occasionally put some music on at home but I’m not a huge music guy.Ok, cool. So there's a bit of a background connection then to what you've continued to do through your life, and you enjoy reading. It seems these interests met in a uni degree around being physical - did you enjoy that process? anything you'd rather have changed in that process?
My degree in Athletic Training set a great foundation for my current career. The immediate application of practical experience and knowledge would be what I enjoyed most. 8:00 am classes were never a favorite in college.Could we talk a little bit about the physical travails of such a physically oriented guy? This may be quite interesting for folks standing outside this culture in particular. For instance, you're allergic to cats yet like 50% of the population, you have a cat - in fact two. how did that happen?
My wife and stepdaughter love cats and I didn’t want to be the only reason they didn’t have any.That's love. Now perhaps, more profoundly, you've had a LOT of surgeries. Would you talk about that a bit, and in particular if you feel any of those operations may have had a particular effect on your sense of self?
I have had several surgeries: Left knee arthroscopy, left inguinal hernia repair, Appendectomy, L5 – S1 laminectomy and most recently a Ventral Hernia repair with mesh. None of these were kettlebell related and the only one that was related to weight training at all was the back injury (a bad squat attempt). The ventral hernia repair was a result of the appendectomy. Interesting from the ventral hernia repair was a pulmonary embolism. The rehab from the ventral hernia repair was interesting and took much longer than I expected but as usual it has been a great learning experience.Given this refined perspective on time, what do you think you'd like to be doing 50 years from now?
As far as what has changed since surgery – I am a bit more patient with my training and with myself. There is a lot of time to accomplish my goals.
50 years from now I want to be able to relax with my family and read and just enjoy life.Very sweet, Brett. So what do you hope folks think about you when you're not being humble?
I think I would like to be known as a teacher/educator and someone that has made a positive impact on people’s lives.What's one thing about you you think folks don't know or wouldn't believe about you, that you would enjoy folks knowing
I am a bit of a Sci-Fi nerd and I have bit of sweet tooth.Moving into Indian Clubs
In the next segment, we'll be talking in more detail about the Club Swinging Essentials project. As a bit of a preview for that, here's a couple quick keys. One: indian club work is based around making circles. Two: your focus in the DVD and in what you've told me of your own personal practice is to use the clubs not for strength work but for pre-hab/re-hab. Care to rif on that for a moment?Initially when you are focusing on the precise movements in the various postures at slower speeds there is great work on regaining the Mobility, Integrity and Efficiency of the shoulders and upper limbs.
As you begin to pick up speed in the movements there is a unique strengthening benefit.In your view, where would shifting to using these for strength come in?
As Pre-hab/warm up the basics of blood flow to the shoulders is true but there is also a great neurological “boost” from the integrated patterns.
The decision to work with heavier clubs should be based on the individual’s goals. I personally do enough heavier strength based work with Kettlebells. Someone looking to train for grappling (BJJ etc…) could easily bring heavier clubs into their practice.
Next time, Part II: the Indian Club projectThanks Brett.
Next episode will feature Brett talking about his goals for the Club Swinging Essentials dvd/manual project.
Related Posts
- The Refined Turkish Get Up
- The Role of the High Hip Bridge
- Turkish Get up as Movement Screen?
- Active vs Manual rehab
- Return of the Kettlebell - summary of progress
- Prepping for the RKC cert
- Examples of Beautiful Kettlebell Swings (featuring Brett)
- BRETT INTERVIEW - PART II
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Cola Drinking Frequency Associated with Risk of Metabolic Syndrome
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Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a condition we hear about increasingly that relates usually to pre-diabetes (type II), obesity and other factors that create a perfect storm of mainly lifestyle-oriented disease.
A recent report that looked at a survey of near 18000 people in Norway shows a pretty strong correlation between something as simple as cola consumption and MetS.
The simple take away is: drinking more than one glass of cola a day, coupled with ANY of the risk factors associated with MetS means the likelihood of getting MetS goes up significantly. The post discusses the study and concludes with a few possible strategies & resources.
The abstract of the study follows:
What does this result mean? The authors looked at two measures of Metabolic Syndrome. First, they used the MetSRisk requirements whicn = obesity + any 2 of the following: increased triglycerides (fatty acids ), low HDL cholesterol (usually refered to as the good stuff cholesterol - but really it's ratios of high and low that are important), increased blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose (this latter as i understand it can happen when insulin (a hormone) is out of whack trying to its job to get the glucose from consumed carbs shoved into the cells for use as energy, and it's not working very well).
The authors note that they could not measure fasting glucose rates in the study, so they suggest that the strength of the association they see may well be UNDERestimated, based on reality.
What does Frequency Mean?
Here's how the study measured frequency of intake by creating three main groups:
The authors show that "the frequency of cola intake in model 1 was significantly (p < 0.001 for most) associated with all of the single MetS-related risk factors, with the compound risk estimate of MetSRisk, and with the complete MetS." Right - but how much does that risk go up?
The authors find that the differences bewteen group 1 (rarely/never) and group three (more than 1 glass of cola a day) go up a lot, across all ages and genders:
Waist Circumference and Cola. The authors also actually saw that waist circumference is more strongly associated with cola than BMI. This finding is a rather nice one since so many of us rather question the whole BMI measure. Waist circumference seems a much clearer one to assess.
Take Away
The authors make clear that what they have seen is evidence of an association between cola frequency and MetSRisk. That doesn't show (yet) that there is a causal relationship. That is, they're not saying that someone who kicks back a can of coke daily will be at risk of MetS. What it does suggest however is that the presence of a daily cola intake greater than a glass, along with any of the other MetSRisk factors is a pretty good indicator of trouble ahead. As the authors put it in their discussion of results:
Practice: Awhile ago i proposed mc's change one thing sure fire diet based on the z-health sustenance course work.
In the diet, the approach is to change one thing, one step at a time and an example is to start with one less cola a week, to get to one less a day and so on, building on success. This approach is also inspired by Martha Beck's 4 day win
: create strategies that someone feels are so easy they can't fail.
It seems that for folks struggling with weight loss and feeling like they're doing good things for themselves, thinking about reducing that cola intake may be a great path towards health success.
Readers of b2d know that for those a little more interested in nutrition knowledge and practice, i've found precision nutrition another great place to learn and to build one better habit at a time. Here's a free 45 page overview.
Best with your practice. If you're looking for a coach to help with this process, please shout. Qualifications are over in the about box.
Citation
Survey: please also fill in the begin2dig reader survey if you have a moment. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a condition we hear about increasingly that relates usually to pre-diabetes (type II), obesity and other factors that create a perfect storm of mainly lifestyle-oriented disease.A recent report that looked at a survey of near 18000 people in Norway shows a pretty strong correlation between something as simple as cola consumption and MetS.
The simple take away is: drinking more than one glass of cola a day, coupled with ANY of the risk factors associated with MetS means the likelihood of getting MetS goes up significantly. The post discusses the study and concludes with a few possible strategies & resources.
The abstract of the study follows:
Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2010 Oct;35(5):635-42.
The Oslo Health Study: Soft drink intake is associated with the metabolic syndrome.
Høstmark AT.
Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Oslo, Box 1130, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway (e-mail: a.t.hostmark@medisin.uio.no).
Abstract
It has been reported that the frequency of cola intake (COLA) is positively associated with serum triglycerides and negatively associated with high-density-lioprotein (HDL) cholesterol, both components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). The question now is whether noncola soft drink intake (NCOLA) is associated with MetS. Among the 18 770 participants in the Oslo Health Study, 5373 men and 6181 women had data on COLA and NCOLA and risk factors for MetS (except fasting glucose). Main MetS requirements are central obesity and 2 of the following: increased triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, increased systolic or diastolic blood pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose. The MetSRisk index was calculated to estimate many MetS components. Using regression analyses, the association between COLA (NCOLA) and MetS (MetSRisk) was studied. In young (aged 30 years), middle-aged (aged 40 and 45 years), and senior (aged 59 and 60 years) men and women, there was, in general, a positive correlation between COLA and MetSRisk, and between COLA and single MetS risk factors, except HDL cholesterol, which was negatively correlated. A less consistent picture was found for NCOLA. By regression analyses, after adjustment for sex, age, time since last meal, and use of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, a positive association between COLA (NCOLA) and MetSRisk (MetS) was still found. However, when also controlling for cheese, fatty fish, coffee, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, education, and birthplace, only the association with COLA remained significant, irrespective of the presence or absence of sugar. In conclusion, the self-reported intake frequency of soft drinks can be positively associated with MetS.
What does this result mean? The authors looked at two measures of Metabolic Syndrome. First, they used the MetSRisk requirements whicn = obesity + any 2 of the following: increased triglycerides (fatty acids ), low HDL cholesterol (usually refered to as the good stuff cholesterol - but really it's ratios of high and low that are important), increased blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose (this latter as i understand it can happen when insulin (a hormone) is out of whack trying to its job to get the glucose from consumed carbs shoved into the cells for use as energy, and it's not working very well).
The authors note that they could not measure fasting glucose rates in the study, so they suggest that the strength of the association they see may well be UNDERestimated, based on reality.
What does Frequency Mean?
Here's how the study measured frequency of intake by creating three main groups:
For beverages, there were 5 levels: 1, rarely–never; 2, 1 to 6 glasses per week; 3, 1 glass per day; 4, 2 to 3 glasses per day; and 5, 4 or more glasses per day. For the intake frequency of colas and noncolas, the midpoint in each frequency interval was used to calculate a rough approximation of intake per week. To obtain a reasonable number of subjects, the population was divided into 3 intake groups: never–rarely (1999 men; 3302 women); 1 to 6 glasses per week (2302 men; 2086 women); and ≥1 glass per day (1072 men; 793 women).Results on Risk Matching
The authors show that "the frequency of cola intake in model 1 was significantly (p < 0.001 for most) associated with all of the single MetS-related risk factors, with the compound risk estimate of MetSRisk, and with the complete MetS." Right - but how much does that risk go up?
The authors find that the differences bewteen group 1 (rarely/never) and group three (more than 1 glass of cola a day) go up a lot, across all ages and genders:
going from group 1 (intake never–rarely) to group 3 (intake ≥1 glass per day), there was a mean increase in SumRisk points of 16.5% in young men (p < 0.001, 1-way ANOVA, with Bonferroni correction), 11.9% in middle-aged men (p < 0.001), and 11.1% in senior men (p = 0.006). Corresponding percentage increases in the 3 age groups of women were 11.1% (p < 0.001), 12.2% (p < 0.001), and 10.8% (p < 0.001).
Also, intriguingly, the study makes clear that whether or not the cola had real sugar or not didn't make a difference. Diet cola in other words doesn't change the association.
Fig. 1. Relationship between the frequency of cola intake and MetSRisk. Group 1, intake never–rarely; group 2, intake of 1 to 6 glasses per week; group 3, intake of ≥1 glass per day. Number of subjects in cola intake groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, was, for young (30 y) men, 368, 836, and 433; for middle-aged (40 + 45 y) men, 884, 1009, and 465; and for senior men (59–60 y), 747, 457, and 174. Corresponding numbers in women were 770, 814, and 314 (30 y); 1511, 959, and 370 (40 + 45 y); and 1021, 313, and 109 (59–60 y); mean values, with SE, are indicated. Note the broken axes and the variation in range for the MetSRisk score between age groups.
Waist Circumference and Cola. The authors also actually saw that waist circumference is more strongly associated with cola than BMI. This finding is a rather nice one since so many of us rather question the whole BMI measure. Waist circumference seems a much clearer one to assess.
Take Away
The authors make clear that what they have seen is evidence of an association between cola frequency and MetSRisk. That doesn't show (yet) that there is a causal relationship. That is, they're not saying that someone who kicks back a can of coke daily will be at risk of MetS. What it does suggest however is that the presence of a daily cola intake greater than a glass, along with any of the other MetSRisk factors is a pretty good indicator of trouble ahead. As the authors put it in their discussion of results:
It seems reasonable to assume that the complete MetS takes a long time to develop, presumably several years. Accordingly, preceding the appearance of the complete MetS, metabolic disturbances, reflected in the level of 1 or more MetS-related factors, such as waist circumference, body mass index, serum lipids, and blood pressure, are likely. In keeping with this assumption, the results of this study show a direct relationship between cola intake and many single MetS-related risk factors, as well as the compound variable MetSRisk.What may also be deducible is that, if at risk of MetS, to un-cola oneself may be a great start at backing away from MetS. How do this? how about one really tiny super guaranteed not to fail one step at a time?
Practice: Awhile ago i proposed mc's change one thing sure fire diet based on the z-health sustenance course work.In the diet, the approach is to change one thing, one step at a time and an example is to start with one less cola a week, to get to one less a day and so on, building on success. This approach is also inspired by Martha Beck's 4 day win
: create strategies that someone feels are so easy they can't fail. It seems that for folks struggling with weight loss and feeling like they're doing good things for themselves, thinking about reducing that cola intake may be a great path towards health success.
Readers of b2d know that for those a little more interested in nutrition knowledge and practice, i've found precision nutrition another great place to learn and to build one better habit at a time. Here's a free 45 page overview.
Best with your practice. If you're looking for a coach to help with this process, please shout. Qualifications are over in the about box.
Citation
Høstmark, A. (2010). The Oslo Health Study: Soft drink intake is associated with the metabolic syndrome Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35 (5), 635-642 DOI: 10.1139/H10-059
Survey: please also fill in the begin2dig reader survey if you have a moment. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
b2d survey now online: please share your views - it's fast and easy
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Hi all,
just put up a wee survey about your b2d experience (here) to help make b2d a better place. It's pretty quick to fill out, but any time one spends is a precious gift. Thanks for your time.
Thanks for your participation.
mc
ps - based on feedback from early survey results i've dug and dug to figure out how to turn on full posts in the RSS feed - these are now on. Hope you enjoy. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
just put up a wee survey about your b2d experience (here) to help make b2d a better place. It's pretty quick to fill out, but any time one spends is a precious gift. Thanks for your time.
Thanks for your participation.
mc
ps - based on feedback from early survey results i've dug and dug to figure out how to turn on full posts in the RSS feed - these are now on. Hope you enjoy. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Sunday, October 31, 2010
A coffee replacement drink: from the home of kenneth jay
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Today Kenneth Jay of ThreatModulation introduced some of us to a drink to which his partner had introduced him. He says one of the biggest effects of the beverage is that his high octane desire for coffee (can we say tripple shots) has gone way way down. I got to try it today, and yup, it was very satisfying as well as alleviating that urge to splurg on coffee coffee coffee.
here's the recipe as i understood it - and as kenneth generously let me practice is with some of his fresh ingredients:
Variations in proportions suggest themselves, but with all the goodness of ginger (values, science)
that is
That recipe misses the pop of the cayenne and doesn't specify proportions. If one wanted a more intense experience - charleton heston seeing the face of god type intense - i'd contemplate simply adding in wasabi. Kenneth suggested one might also time travel with that combination. Which direction wasn't clear.
Anyway, recommended easy, fresh concoction for to have a go. Let me know what you find.
Related Posts:
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
here's the recipe as i understood it - and as kenneth generously let me practice is with some of his fresh ingredients:- fresh ginger, julienned
- fresh lemon slices - i used about a half of a small
- caynne pepper powder - i used a big pinch
- honey - i used a tablespoon
- hot water - i think it was a little better than a liter
- steep for about three minutes - maybe it was five
Variations in proportions suggest themselves, but with all the goodness of ginger (values, science)
that is
Add in the zing of the healing cayenne pepper and the fresh tartness of the powerful lemon against the sweetness of the honey, well it'll clean your pipes to be sure, and does have that satiating effect. I'm hoping to try this back home with manuka honey (the mystery of manuka - and more claims for its theraputic value). Indeed along with some other intriguing beverages, there's a manuka variant of this drink on a NZ wellness site. NZ is the home of that manuka bush that is the flower for this honey.
That recipe misses the pop of the cayenne and doesn't specify proportions. If one wanted a more intense experience - charleton heston seeing the face of god type intense - i'd contemplate simply adding in wasabi. Kenneth suggested one might also time travel with that combination. Which direction wasn't clear.
Anyway, recommended easy, fresh concoction for to have a go. Let me know what you find.
Related Posts:
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Monday, October 25, 2010
50% Lower cal MIXED carb with Moderate Protein better than Higher Carb alone for Greater Endurance
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Want to stay out on your bike longer? There's a nice new study that has entered the energy drink fray, returning to the question of what's a ratio of protein to carbs that's optimal? In this case one measure of optimal is Time to Exhaustion or TTE. Also checked is optimal for what level of effort (below or near ventilatory threshold or VT). Turns out that half the calories (of the right blend of carb types with protein) can give greater, go longer, harder results.
The authors of this study manipulate a couple of variables in interesting ways. First, they decide they want to reduce the total amount of calories in the beverage - so lower the carbs in particular. But then, they want to look at a carb blend rather than just one carb type. So their target is a maltodextrin-dextrose-fructose blend. And then they want to add in some protein, since many studies have shown previously that throwing in some protein seems to have a better endurance effect than carb alone (a few recent examples cited below)
The authors say they were motivated by the desires of cyclists who actually want a lower cal beverage for restoration while on a ride. That makes the question simple: can a better blend of the basics achieve the same or better effect than a higher cal beverage for endurance?
That these authors are asking this question at two distinct ventelatory threshold percentages is also pretty unique.
Here's the abstract:
What's rather interesting to me is not only the lower calories but the carb/protein ratio. Previously, it was asserted that a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein was best for endurance types doing post exercise recovery. Now, these folks aren't really assessing recovery; they're looking at being able to go longer and greater intensity on the bike. And for that a 2:1 ratio of their mixed carb blend is doing the job.
There was speculation back in a 2009 chocolate milk study (thomas09) that checking similar markers, the reason that choclate milk and just plain carb (gatorade) beverage did better than a 4:1 custom drink (endurox) is that chocolate milk has a diverse mix of carbs. Indeed, the authors site another relatively recent study by Currell and Jeukendrup (currell08) that looked at the role of blending carb types and saw an 8% boost in using blended rather than single source carbs for cycling time trials. Similarly a carb/protein blend seems to mean better muscle protection (saunders07).
So, that's good evidence to say let's just go with a blend rather than re-validating that carb blends are better.
One might ask why there were only two treatment conditions in the study: a CHO only drink at 6%, a mixed carb plus protein drink at half the calories. What about the mixed carb drink at half the calories, since we see from related research that mixed is better than straight carbs? The researchers had already done the related studies. They state:
Another nice thing about the study is that the researchers used trained athletes, which means that we're not having to account for level of fitness as a variable. Even food logs for the three days leading up to the trial were assessed. The finding - 50% fewer calories - for extended time to exhaustion when working hard is compelling. As the authors note:
Citations
Related Posts
Want to stay out on your bike longer? There's a nice new study that has entered the energy drink fray, returning to the question of what's a ratio of protein to carbs that's optimal? In this case one measure of optimal is Time to Exhaustion or TTE. Also checked is optimal for what level of effort (below or near ventilatory threshold or VT). Turns out that half the calories (of the right blend of carb types with protein) can give greater, go longer, harder results.The authors of this study manipulate a couple of variables in interesting ways. First, they decide they want to reduce the total amount of calories in the beverage - so lower the carbs in particular. But then, they want to look at a carb blend rather than just one carb type. So their target is a maltodextrin-dextrose-fructose blend. And then they want to add in some protein, since many studies have shown previously that throwing in some protein seems to have a better endurance effect than carb alone (a few recent examples cited below)
That these authors are asking this question at two distinct ventelatory threshold percentages is also pretty unique.
Here's the abstract:
J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2577-86.So, great, a lower cal (50% lower) blend of carbs and protein (about 2:1) of their mixed carb +pro beverage does just as well as a higher cal protein drink when moseying along, BUT it kicks statistically significant butt when going near or at VT.
The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes.
Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave EL, Ding Z, Kammer LM, Wang B, Doerner PG, Liu Y, Ivy JL.
Exercise Physiology and Metabolism Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Abstract
Ingesting carbohydrate plus protein during prolonged variable intensity exercise has demonstrated improved aerobic endurance performance beyond that of a carbohydrate supplement alone. The purpose of the present study was to determine if a supplement containing a mixture of different carbohydrates (glucose, maltodextrin, and fructose) and a moderate amount of protein given during endurance exercise would increase time to exhaustion (TTE), despite containing 50% less total carbohydrate than a carbohydrate-only supplement. We also sought post priori to determine if there was a difference in effect based on percentage of ventilatory threshold (VT) at which the subjects cycled to exhaustion. Fifteen trained male and female cyclists exercised on 2 separate occasions at intensities alternating between 45 and 70% VO2max for 3 hours, after which the workload increased to ∼74-85% VO2max until exhaustion. Supplements (275 mL) were provided every 20 minutes during exercise, and these consisted of a 3% carbohydrate/1.2% protein supplement (MCP) and a 6% carbohydrate supplement (CHO). For the combined group (n = 15), TTE in MCP did not differ from CHO (31.06 ± 5.76 vs. 26.03 ± 4.27 minutes, respectively, p = 0.064). However, for subjects cycling at or below VT (n = 8), TTE in MCP was significantly greater than for CHO (45.64 ± 7.38 vs. 35.47 ± 5.94 minutes, respectively, p = 0.006). There were no significant differences in TTE for the above VT group (n = 7). Our results suggest that, compared to a traditional 6% CHO supplement, a mixture of carbohydrates plus a moderate amount of protein can improve aerobic endurance at exercise intensities near the VT, despite containing lower total carbohydrate and caloric content.
What's rather interesting to me is not only the lower calories but the carb/protein ratio. Previously, it was asserted that a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein was best for endurance types doing post exercise recovery. Now, these folks aren't really assessing recovery; they're looking at being able to go longer and greater intensity on the bike. And for that a 2:1 ratio of their mixed carb blend is doing the job.
There was speculation back in a 2009 chocolate milk study (thomas09) that checking similar markers, the reason that choclate milk and just plain carb (gatorade) beverage did better than a 4:1 custom drink (endurox) is that chocolate milk has a diverse mix of carbs. Indeed, the authors site another relatively recent study by Currell and Jeukendrup (currell08) that looked at the role of blending carb types and saw an 8% boost in using blended rather than single source carbs for cycling time trials. Similarly a carb/protein blend seems to mean better muscle protection (saunders07).
So, that's good evidence to say let's just go with a blend rather than re-validating that carb blends are better.
One might ask why there were only two treatment conditions in the study: a CHO only drink at 6%, a mixed carb plus protein drink at half the calories. What about the mixed carb drink at half the calories, since we see from related research that mixed is better than straight carbs? The researchers had already done the related studies. They state:
Martinez-Lagunas et al. recently compared the effects of a 4.5% CHO plus 1.15% PRO, and a 3% CHO plus 0.75% PRO beverage, to a traditional 6% CHO beverage and found that there was no difference in the times to exhaustion between the treatments. This suggests that the efficacy of the supplements was maintained despite the reduction in total CHO and total energy content with the substitution of a small amount of protein (ml). Based on these findings, we sought to determine if a lower CHO, lower calorie beverage containing a moderate amount of protein could be optimized using a mixture of CHO sources (glucose [dextrose], maltodextrin, and fructose) rather than a single CHO (dextrose).
The present investigation demonstrates that consuming a beverage containing a mixture of different carbohydrates, a moderate amount of protein and fewer calories than a traditional, higher single-carbohydrate supplement during endurance exercise can extend exercise TTE, especially when exercising at or below the VT.Sometimes less really is more.
Citations
CURRELL, K., & JEUKENDRUP, A. (2008). Superior Endurance Performance with Ingestion of Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40 (2), 275-281 DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19
Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave EL, Ding Z, Kammer LM, Wang B, Doerner PG, Liu Y, & Ivy JL (2010). The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 24 (10), 2577-86 PMID: 20733521
Martínez-Lagunas V, Ding Z, Bernard JR, Wang B, & Ivy JL (2010). Added protein maintains efficacy of a low-carbohydrate sports drink. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 24 (1), 48-59 PMID: 19924010
Saunders MJ, Luden ND, & Herrick JE (2007). Consumption of an oral carbohydrate-protein gel improves cycling endurance and prevents postexercise muscle damage. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 21 (3), 678-84 PMID: 17685703
Thomas K, Morris P, & Stevenson E (2009). Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, 34 (1), 78-82 PMID: 19234590
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