[sponsor image="http://www.enduranceplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/ketosummit.png"]Check out the Keto Summit hosted by our friend Chris Kelly of NBT and keto expert Louise Hendon, which will feature more than 30 of the world's best researchers, trainers, doctors, authors, and chefs who will teach you when and how a keto diet can help you gain more energy, lose more weight, increase your athletic performance, become more productive, and improve your mood. The fun begins Sept. 25, 2016 with pre-launch specials available. Sign up now.[/sponsor]
We are back with the godfather or health and wellness for endurance athletes, Dr. Phil Maffetone. Today we dive into the tricky subject of how to achieve a healthy hormonal status while still training for your sport. That is, how we can participate in sport--even at highly competitive levels--and save our hormones from tanking or fix them if we're in a bad place. Plus: Q&A on common MAF Method follows.
Can you get to that high end of performance and still be healthy?
- The "gray area"--things change every day, and we MUST monitor athletes closely.
- Always assess and reassess athletes to see how much we can push. (A good coach should do this, but self-coached athletes should do it too.)
- Low hormone levels in endurance athletes usually due to HPA axis dysfunction.
- The HPA Axis dysfunction leads to a reduction in health over time in the pursuit of fitness, and eventually performance.
- Common issues: low/no progesterone/estrogen in females, low T in males, or some combo.
- Adrenal issues, and Phil's take on "adrenal fatigue."
- The role of stress. We need stress in order to adapt, but we need to manage stress to not go overboard into unhealthy territory.
- How do we manage? Monitor all the clues, red flags, symptoms, etc, that the body exhibits. Monitor often.
- Sharing brilliance from Dr. Tami Meraglia on Bulletproof Radio: The top 3 questions to ask your doctor.
- What effect does nutrition have on my health?
- hat do you think about the difference between normal lab ranges, and optimal lab ranges?
- What do you do if what I’m telling you (signs, symptoms), doesn’t match the lab results?
- Some examples of random but important symptoms: frequent urination (especially at night), salt cravings, low blood pressure and getting lightheaded often.
- Phil chimes in on the often-sketchy nature of blood chemistry at not telling the whole story
- Calcium ranges in blood labs
- Saving your hormones the all-natural way for your own well-being and also follows rules of sport's governing bodies, WADA, etc!
- So, should we just supplement with testosterone if our T is low? No! Instead, figure out why it's low and fix naturally.
- Phil talks on the risks and harms of supplementing with testosterone for non-competing athletes, non-athletes, or athletes who choose to supplement regardless of rules.
- For women: temporary supplementation with progesterone cream when it's needed is legal, and safe, and it may work.
- Tawnee shares her experience on using progesterone cream with success to help the body re-learn to produce and use this hormone--then weaning off.
Is 'Slow' MAF causing pain or injury and getting you 'nowhere'?
- If you have to slow down upon starting MAF to hold target HR and you're significantly slower than before, ongoing, as such some report that these slower paces cause more aches and pains and sometimes injury (more pounding, harder on the body to run slow, etc), so what's the remedy?
- When starting MAF you have to start a full program to address all variables and be proactive: fix muscle imbalances, wear the right shoes and/or practice barefoot, adopt healthy nutrition, and so on, to avoid these issues from taking place.
- Can you be "so slow" at MAF (i.e. walking or really slow jog at target HR) that it has no benefit as it relates to increasing run speed/fitness?