Pete Plan Thread

[mdpfirrman]

Great session David! You keep improving every round! Amazing progress.

Regarding recovery - I don't know if anyone has the magic answer. I do find if I take a good quality multi (with minerals) that I seem to recover better. I do take BCAAs. Not sure they do much to be honest. If I were to take Creatine (and I don't), I'd stack it with Beta Alanine. There has been research recently that seems to indicate that improves performance.

I used to eat a LOT more protein than I do now. I think protein is fairly important. Someone doing something as strenuous as the PP probably needs one gram per kg of body weight minimum. I'm not sure 200/250 grams a day are necessary. I'm more plant based these days and you would be surprised at what some Vegans I've seen do in the powerlifting world. Many NBA players have gone Vegan.

The most important aspect of recovery (to me) is adequate sleep, not eating junk and doing the SS at a reasonable pace. Of course and not getting sick or rowing sick/injured. I will say this year I've managed to stay healthier than I have in the past. I work from home and haven't gone to the gym nearly as much. I'm sure that has something to do with it. I've also added in Ginseng and Astragulus to my regimen this year (both are supposed to boost the immune system).

As for sleep, I get 8 hours a night. Putting down the computer devices early is key in that. Blue light filters at night are a must on electronics.

Some other things of interest (supplement wise) are beet roots, astaxanthin and Vitamin K2. All have been demonstrated in studies to be natural ways to boost performance. The K2 studies are new. I've just gotten back to taking K2 regulary and (perhaps) that's had something to do with my recent success. I do recruiting and some of it is in newer therapeutics/supplements. I'm not a scientist certainly but when I look at studies that make sense, I might follow them and react accordingly. I also think Omega 3s are fantastic overall for inflammation reduction. I'm also gluten/dairy free and have noticed a lessening of inflammation since cutting out a lot of processed foods as a result (I do this mostly to support my wife's health, but as a result I think I've helped my health too, something unexpected).

SS work today for me -- 10K broken into 5K X 2/2'. 2:10 and 2:07.8 on second 5K. Was faster SPM pace on 2nd set but still kept it fairly light. Felt good.

[Dangerscouse]

I agree with Mike's comments. The other thing I would recommend is glutamine that I have found helpful in stopping colds.

[JerekKruger]

@David - four hours sleep , your progress is even more impressive in light of that. If I got less than six or seven hours sleep a night I'd burn out quite rapidly (become ill or have to reduce my volume). Obviously I need to take more protein powder

At the moment I eat around 140-160g of protein a day (probably a little more than I strictly need given I do no strength work, but I prefer to err on the side of caution). About 30g of that comes from protein powder which I drink mixed with milk, a banana and some oats immediately after working out, these rest is from food. Other than that I take vitamin D (I don't eat enough fish to reliably get enough in my diet), zinc and fish oil. Beyond that I try to get eight hours of good sleep whenever I can.

I've used creatine in the past but as I understand it I don't think it'll boost performance in most rowing type workouts by much, if any. If I were training for sprints I'd consider it.

By the way, very nice 5x1500m. That last one was beastly. I've got to say the fact that you're doing all this on (near) zero carbs is very interesting and down the line I really want to try it out again.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Tom - please look into Vit K2. Vitamin D without it is a bad idea. Again, I'm not a scientist but my (layman) understanding is that Vitamin D helps encourage (aside from it's other benefits) Calcium uptake in your body. Most of us get way too much calcium now in our diets (more than we need with all the cheese/dairy intake). Vitamin D improves your body's ability to store Calcium.

The conundrum is that why are bone density in Western countries so poor? It's only been recently figured out that Vitamin K2 directs WHERE to put the Calcium - in our bones, not our arteries! I strongly feel after reading endless amount of information on Vitamin K2, it's why we have so much heart disease (and such crappy bones) in the US. We are eating record amounts of cheese/dairy and taking Vitamin D! There's a reason it's called "calcification" of arteries. If your body doesn't know where to put it, it puts it in your arteries. I made the same mistake for years and supplemented with both Calcium and Vitamin D. Honestly, hardly anyone needs to supplement with Calcium and Vit D and Calcium are a terrible combination without the Vitamin K2. Wish they knew about this years ago. The Japanese get lots of K2 in Natto (to Westerners, it's supposed to taste like snot!). That's the only solid plant form of it. You can get a little in fermented veggies (but not a lot). K2 is another one of those things our ancestors got through diet - animal heads, organ parts and dairy from grass fed meat are heavy in it. So are Gouda and Brie cheese (if again from grass fed dairy). Salami is another good source (again if organic grass fed). Since I'm nearly vegan and don't eat a lot of meat (and won't eat Natto), I supplement with it. It's very cheap. Your body does convert a very small amount of Vitamin K to K2, but not enough to really impact someone.

Don't mean to be "preachy". Just there's a lot of bad information out there by "nutrition experts". Just saw an article today on MSN that recommended taking Vitamin D supplements without mentioning Vitamin K2. They are necessarily complimentary.

[JerekKruger]

Thanks for the info Mike, I'll definitely look into it and probably add it in.

Just there's a lot of bad information out there by "nutrition experts".

Honestly I think we don't have a very good understanding of nutrition and, as you say, many internet experts are anything but. I wish someone would fund a well designed in depth study so we could start to get a better idea of what is and isn't good for us.

[Erik A]

i just go by ... anything i want but in moderation. combined with exercise should be ok to maintain a healthy lifestyle. a lot of the issues are not what we eat (sure there are sugar gluttons out there) but the quantities. no point in eating 5000 + cal per day when you sit in front of a TV and walk less than 1000 steps a day. my current diet (and i hate that word... ) gives me 2000 cal per day and i am exercising for 3-4 hrs per week so my weight is slowly reducing. i have (by choice) cut down or completely eliminated some items from my food intake. such as soft drinks, sweets, chocolate and to be honest apart from the initial headaches no real loss. i do find when i have the odd beer or soft drink i get a headache due to i suspect the sugar rush.
I am sleeping better (between 6 and 7 hrs a night ) I was at 3-4 hrs a night.
I have more energy and feel better. i appear to have less stress as well and my depression is reducing. all positive things from adding exercise back into my life and moderation in my food intake.

[JerekKruger]

i appear to have less stress as well and my depression is reducing.

Same here, exercise has a marked effect on moderating my mood, keeping me from going low as often.

[hjs]

Thanks for the info Mike, I'll definitely look into it and probably add it in.

Just there's a lot of bad information out there by "nutrition experts".

Honestly I think we don't have a very good understanding of nutrition and, as you say, many internet experts are anything but. I wish someone would fund a well designed in depth study so we could start to get a better idea of what is and isn't good for us.

Mostly this. Humans eat horribly. Look at animals and how they eat. Nothing "balanced" nothing "processed" nothing "concentrated" no "supplementation" but just what nature brings in its natural state.

[JerekKruger]

Mostly this. Humans eat horribly. Look at animals and how they eat. Nothing "balanced" nothing "processed" nothing "concentrated" no "supplementation" but just what nature brings in its natural state.

Yep, but there seems to be no consensus on what we're supposed to eat naturally and then there's the fact that most of our food supply isn't quite natural anymore (cows fed food they wouldn't have eaten in nature and given hormones and antibiotics etc.).

There's also the fact that the way we live our lives, even if we're fairly active, has an effect. We shouldn't need vitamin D supplementation, but because we spend so little time outdoors with our skin exposed to the sun (even in summer) we often do. Similarly a lot of vitamin deficiencies would be solved if we still ate organ meat in any great quantity, but most of us don't.

I've been following Shawn Baker's Instagram and I have to say it's very interesting (and rather appealing from a simplicity point of view). One of the striking things is that despite eating very little vitamin C (there'll be some in his meat, but not much) he shows no signs of vitamin C deficiency, suggesting that a lot of our recommended intakes are based on the assumption that you're eating a typical Western diet i.e. high carbs. It's quite possible the the requirements for someone on a diet like Shawn's are completely different.

[hjs]

Mostly this. Humans eat horribly. Look at animals and how they eat. Nothing "balanced" nothing "processed" nothing "concentrated" no "supplementation" but just what nature brings in its natural state.

Yep, but there seems to be no consensus on what we're supposed to eat naturally and then there's the fact that most of our food supply isn't quite natural anymore (cows fed food they wouldn't have eaten in nature and given hormones and antibiotics etc.).

There's also the fact that the way we live our lives, even if we're fairly active, has an effect. We shouldn't need vitamin D supplementation, but because we spend so little time outdoors with our skin exposed to the sun (even in summer) we often do. Similarly a lot of vitamin deficiencies would be solved if we still ate organ meat in any great quantity, but most of us don't.

I've been following Shawn Baker's Instagram and I have to say it's very interesting (and rather appealing from a simplicity point of view). One of the striking things is that despite eating very little vitamin C (there'll be some in his meat, but not much) he shows no signs of vitamin C deficiency, suggesting that a lot of our recommended intakes are based on the assumption that you're eating a typical Western diet i.e. high carbs. It's quite possible the the requirements for someone on a diet like Shawn's are completely different.

We are simply clueless. Even the idea we have to "think" about what we eat. Food should be very simple. Our problem is our brain, we can think way to much, but it clouds the big picture.

[JerekKruger]

We are simply clueless.

Agreed.

[lindsayh]

@ Erik (Dreadfish) - Don't sweat it. I think if you controlled your longer rows more and held back a bit on those, your intervals would get better. The "trick" is controlling the SS rows a bit (even when you're feeling pretty good) and saving the real expenditures on the hard intervals. Lindsay (that posted above) is a perfect example of that. He never brags on himself (so I'll do it for him). He did the PP last year with us all and set the Aussie over 65 national record on the 2K (and placed 2nd at the Crash-Bs). His times are insane at his age. His 2K pace is around 1:42 or so. He does SS work at well over 2:00 (around 2:05 or 2:06 from what I recall). SS just enough to be challenging and hard stuff very very hard is a great training strategy.

thanks Mike - you are too kind. I didn't have any special insights I guess but when I was planning the training it was 6x/w for 9 months and I followed the SS guidelines/"rules" pretty firmly to make sure the body stayed in good shape and to make it genuinely cardio. The benchmarks I used were one or both of 2k +20/5" pace and MHR <80% HRR with a minor drift allowance (140-150 for me) Mostly this meant @2:03 - 2:06. The full PP is pretty intense and it is tricky to bet the balance right I reckon.
I like the idea of seriously polarised training especially as we age and try to make the hard stuff very hard. Used 100-120% of 2k watts as the benchmark for the really hard ones and I used 350w (1:40 pace) to add a bit of pressure - didn't always make it! The hard singles I went from 5k/6k/30'/10k and I think went close to Pb at 5/6k so pushed them too.
I think the science is pretty strong to encourage we old guys to do the hard intervals hard as and the weights/resistance stuff the same - the natural age related muscle wasting can be delayed - extra protein (and apparently in smaller amounts during the day) may help too.

[RayOfSunshine]

Warm-up, stretching, cool-down, recovery... I dislike these subjects because I tend to skip them. When I started the BPP, I added a 200m warm up and 100m cool down. I stretch 2 minutes at most. For recovery, I hop in the jacuzzi right after. Then, I eat but it's nothing specific. I've always disliked stretching because I'm the least flexible person I know. Warm-ups and cool-downs are things I just don't make time for. I think I pay too often for this.

I have been doing all of the optional workouts, so that's 5 per week. I do the main 3 on Saturday, Sunday, & Monday, rest on Tuesday, do the optional workouts on Wednesday & Thursday, then rest on Friday. Monday's piece was the 7k where I had to think about this board so that I would not HD. I went and got a massage that day. I woke up the next day (Tuesday) with a twinge in my back. Yesterday (Wednesday) it was a bit worse and did HD shortly after I started the HD. Today, it's slightly better. I will do the workout at a very slow pace and do a lot of stretching.

I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Ray - I see a big difference especially if I don't stretch after a row when warm. The rower actually functions really, really well as a stretching aid. I just sit back on the seat a bit and move the seat back and then put my feet up on the footstraps and slowly bend down. Once I get as far as I can, I try to take a deep breathe and increase the stretch while relaxing the hammies, which isn't easy. I might also drop my arms and wrap them around the rail and pull into an even deeper stretch.

After that, I put one foot in the foot pads and cross the other ankle across it and slowly move the seat closer to my legs -- great stretch for the gluteus muscles. At the end, I'll try to twist each direction and look around me and stretch the back and neck. Hold each stretch around 30 to 40 seconds. This has helped me tremendously.

I don't warm up before intermediate intervals or SS work but certainly before sprints. At least 1000m or more.

@ Henry - thanks! I forgot about C/D (you reminded me and I edited my comment). I do C/D too, after harder rows, especially the faster ones.

[hjs]

I sleep enough, not a great sleeper, often awake, never leave bed though. Often am very warm and or have pain niggles that are uncomfortable.

Warm up, for not speed sessions nothing, cd I always do a 7/8 min easy row/ski, gym I always bike, thats 4km, thats my cd.