I’ve read a few articles over the past week highlighting the controversies of someone trying to start a fitness program. When you look back on yesterday’s practices and compare them to many of today’s programs, you wonder how anyone ever managed to get fit. The most common tendency of thought was, “You teach as you were taught”. The same was true for coaching practices. You probably trained the same way you were trained. Allan Besselink writes in his book ‘Run Smart’: “The inability to question our belief systems in the face of good scientific evidence is the most important limiting factor in the advancement of health care and coaching as well as human performance and injury prevention.” Early advice was not to drink cold water – or in some cases, no water – as this can lead to stomach cramps. When I was at the NHL hockey preseason training camps, the players weighed before and after training. The coaches responsible for the considerations were former hockey players from a few years ago. Her comments were, “When we finished exercising, we lost 8-12 pounds every day.” The players who weighed them only lost 3-4 pounds. The difference was in the “old” days when the players didn’t drink during training. New research has shown that players can perform better if they stay hydrated while exercising. Modern players drank water every 10-15 minutes to replace the sweat lost while skating.
Years ago I read a report that ice cold water was better for you because it was absorbed more quickly by the body. You couldn’t drink that much water because of the cold temperature, but you would drink it more often. This week I read a doctor’s report that you shouldn’t drink ice cold water. You wonder who was right when you wanted to start an exercise program.
When energy drinks came along with the invention of Gatorade, it was the latest and greatest that could be drunk to improve performance. For some sports, it seemed like a real benefit to the athletes. Marathon runners found that the high sugar levels did not hold in well in the long run if they were dehydrated. The stomach could not absorb the concentrated mixture and did not help bring energy to the muscles. Marathon runners found that when the drink was diluted, it was better absorbed by the body and performance was improved.
The most recent drink are electrolyte drinks. You can drink the mixture or place a thin electrolyte wafer on your tongue and help balance the body’s energy systems. An article I read this week was in the Nutrition Action newsletter and the subtitle was “Caffeine 101”. It is mentioned that caffeine has the ability to block adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a natural sedative and when caffeine blocks its effects, the person will not feel drowsy. The article discussed the effects of caffeine on exercise performance. The researchers found that if a person had caffeine, they will keep running than if they hadn’t. The researchers found that a dose of 200-400 milligrams of caffeine for a 150-pound athlete ran about 12% more an hour before a workout. The researchers mentioned that more is not necessarily better and does not increase performance and can cause side effects. In a study in Australia, 12 men who exercised less than an hour a week were given either a placebo or a caffeine drink while cycling on an exercise bike. On the days the men drank the caffeine drink, the men burned 5% more calories, pedaled 5% harder, and increased their heart rate by 5% without feeling like they were working harder.
To me the article made a lot of sense. On long bike rides, my drinking container was filled with sweet iced tea. Between the caffeine in the tea and a few teaspoons of sugar, I was ready to go. Some of my riding partners were sold with electrolyte drinks and chewed waffles during the ride. The only thought I had was how this electrolyte drink tasted, and the same for that waffle on your tongue compared to a good ole sweet Texas iced tea. After reading the article, I was glad I chose the sweet iced tea. For runners, just think about the pre-race time you drink as tea is a diuretic. Do not miss the start of the race.
