It’s time to add structure
Sent April 29, 2022. Prices and features may have changed since.
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Hi friend!
This year is flying by and a lot of folks are realizing to meet their competition goals this year they need to get more focused with training.
I see this every year around this time, and honestly a lot can be achieved by not necessarily changing what you’re doing training-wise, but just adding a little structure for consistency's sake.
That’s the theme of this newsletter: where to spend your money, and where to spend your time.
First: build consistency of training frequency into your schedule. Allot time for it.
Second: throw out recovery tech and replace "recovery" with "sleep" in your lexicon. For the time-crunched athlete, recovery tech matters very little. Sleep more if you have a few spare minutes. Lights off earlier. Tech off earlier. In bed a few minutes earlier.
Third: if endurance performance is the goal, do endurance stuff that is cardio heavy, first, not technique heavy. Run, ride &/or row. Save the swimming for later (I touched on this last month too). If strength performance is the goal, get out of hypertrophy training and start training with heavier weights. Don't underestimate the strength and body composition benefits that can come from consistent moderate-volume strength training, instead of hypertrophy training.
Finally, bite off what you can chew. Not more. What you put on paper doesn't have any affect on what your body is capable of 4 months from now. What matters is what you actually DO. When in doubt, think less, just do your work, then go to sleep. :)
As always, reach out with any questions or ideas for future content or video ideas and it would be awesome if you could subscribe to our channel and share it with friends who run, ride, or swim. (Or those addicted to caffeine *cough* new video alert!)
Happy training!
Sincerely,
Alex
DR. ALEX HARRISON
alex@alacrityendurance.com
Best bang for your buck on supplements
There’s 1 item on this list and it can’t be beat:
1) Homemade fuel
You can save money on fueling and fuel better by using some combo of:
A glucose source.
A fructose source.
A sodium source.
Something that tastes good.
Example:
20g Maltodextrin
80g Sucrose
Pinch of table salt & sodium citrate, or just one or the other.
Insert flavored beverage powder mix here.
Where NOT to spend.
This list is slightly longer - and dare I say controversial (I’ve included peanut butter 😅).
1) Peanut butter.
Although there are a few good(ish) things about peanut butter. Here’s the not good things and ultimately the reasons why you shouldn’t use it as fuel:
- It’s not a source of electrolytes
- It’s not a good source of your daily protein needs.
- It’s not a good primary source of dietary fats. (Find something with more monounsaturated fat and less saturated fat!)
- It just slows down digestion and increases likelihood of GI distress. Read: will make your training miserable.
2) $60 ‘science based’ supplements.
Just don’t. lol.
How to look at your training so you hit every goal this season.
A client recently shared this with me:
“Feelings are like children; you can’t let them drive the car but you can’t put them in the trunk either”
I love it.
I think a lot of folks put their feelings with regard to diet and exercise in the trunk and just try the "bite the bullet" approach.
That might work for the short-term, but not the long-term!
Once that approach breaks... the feelings jump straight into the driver's seat!
Here's how to safely seatbelt your feelings in the car with you and ride happily along with them:
1) Ask yourself what physical activities you like to do, just for the sake of doing them.
What would you do, if it weren't for the sake of some measurable improvement you got from it, or some "I should do this for my health" type of reason.
2) Start implementing a whole lot more of that thing into your exercise regimen.
It's not the fastest or best way to gain some numerical improvement in strength or fitness.
It may not even be the very best way to optimize health.
But the inclusion of the "I enjoy this" thing into your exercise regimen will last WAY longer than some "I should do this" activity that you'll cease engaging in as soon as life gets a little harder.
That’s something that’s so important when you’re trying to hit your tracing or goals this season (or any season!).
Do you need more in depth fueling advice? I wrote this great book for RP Strength that could really help.
If it looks useful for you, use code 20fromcoach or 20% off!
See more and purchase here: