It seems like once a week, every week, there's a new article about nutrition or about exercise. Some "expert" wants to let people know that he or she has the answer to every problem they have ever encountered when it comes to health, wellness and, more specifically, fitness. This isn't exclusive to any particular level of fitness or wellness, however. You can go online and find an article that will defend or condemn anything.
Do you run long distances? There are articles that state that it's the best thing you can do, and articles that state you'll die young and break your legs.
Want to watch what you eat? There are articles that say you should do low carb, high protein diets and articles that say you should do low protein, high carb diets (and everything in between).
Do you like lifting weights? There are articles saying that CrossFit is the ultimate in functional fitness training, and articles that say CrossFit is the epitome of ground-less, ineffective weight training.
Do you try to run for 45 minutes a day? There are articles that say you only need to run for 5 minutes a day for the same results.
Do you train hard for your run portion of the Ironman? There are articles that say you don't need to, and that you should focus on the bike.
Power? Heart Rate? Pace? Perceived Exertion? VO2 Max? Field Testing? Interval training? Long Zone training? High Intensity? Low intensity? Fat burn? Water? Gatorade? Electrolytes? Simple Carbs? Complex Carbs? Ketones? The list goes on and on and on and you could drive yourself crazy trying to absorb all the information that is available, and even crazier trying to decide who is correct and who is a quack.
Now, before I continue, I would like to reassure you that this is not another article that will claim to have finally found the RIGHT option for you. I have not discovered the ultimate in Ironman training. I have not discovered the ultimate in weight loss, or strength gain, or hypertrophy. In fact, I'll come clean right now. I'm a runner, who has grown up running and doing triathlons. I've completed 2 ultramarathons, 2 marathons, 1 Ironman, 2 Half-Ironman, and a handful of Olympic and Sprint Triathlons. I've only done 1 obstacle course race (an 8ish mile Spartan Race a few years ago) and I lift weights about a dozen times a year. I've made it about half way through the higher level courses of the Exercise and Wellness program at Arizona State University and have been helping my parents train runners and triathletes for about 3 years. But through all that, the truth is that I don't know a whole lot. And I will not pretend to know a whole lot about fitness or health. I'm not the shining example of healthy eating, I love beer, I could work on my core a lot more and I fluctuate between being able to do 100 pushups and struggling with 20. Consistency is a constant struggle for me, and discipline falters as well. Sure, I've achieved some pretty cool physical milestones, but I'm not Mark Allen, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, or anything resembling an elite athlete.
Now that that's on the table, let me tell you what I DO know: I know that I can't train the same way a Kenyan trains. I know that someone just getting off the couch can't train the same way I train. I know that a Kenyan can't train the same way a Norwegian Strong Man competitor trains, I know that a Sumo wrestler doesn't train the same way a gymnast trains. I know a 100 meter sprinter doesn't train the same way a marathoner trains. And I know that a sprint triathlete doesn't train the same way an Ironman trains.
I also know that an American doesn't eat the same way a European eats. I know that a Norwegian doesn't eat the same way an East African eats. I know that a Japanese doesn't eat the same way a New Englander eats. And I know that an Inuit doesn't eat the same way a Chilean farmer eats.
These things are obvious, aren't they? Different cultures and different peoples from different places have developed in different ways. Different athletes develop different muscles. Even within the same sport, people train differently. They should train differently. They should train according to their strengths and limitations, and never according to the strengths and limitations of other athletes.
This is something that people need to understand when they read these articles that proclaim the end-all, last solution to every fitness or wellness problem on Earth. I'll use endurance athletes as a great example. Triathletes, especially, love to research their sport and how to train more effectively. They are obsessed, for good reason (their hobby is EXPENSIVE), with improving their times. But the problem is that, with all the research they may do, they miss the biggest lesson of all in endurance sports: we are not all the same and we cannot train the same way. Sure, there are similarities; we are all, after all, training for the same thing. But if I was to train with the same intensity Chris McCormack trains with, I'd break myself. And forget the pros! If I was to train the same way Dmitry Baer trains, the kid who won my age group at Ironman Arizona last year, I'd break myself. I am not those people and I cannot train the way those people train. They have their strengths and weaknesses and I have mine.
For instance, out of 31 people in my age group at Ironman Arizona last year, I had the 9th SLOWEST bike leg. I'm not a strong cyclist and I know that. However, I had the 7th FASTEST run split and the 9th FASTEST swim split and I came in 16th out of 31. I know I was physically capable of busting out a faster bike time to try to keep up with the rest, but that would have come at the price of my strong run. I had to train a certain way to get my bike strength up without sacrificing my run strength and I feel very confident and happy with where I ended up.
So what's the big deal about all this? What's my point? It's this: Endurance sports are the most individualized sports, especially when you're dealing with the incredibly wide range of abilities. A college track team is going to fall into a very small range of abilities, because they are all high performing, elite athletes. But when an event is comprised of athletes who complete the race in 8 hours, athletes who complete the same race in 16 hours and 59 minutes, and all levels in between, you are dealing with a HUGE range of abilities. There is no average that represents the majority. Period.
So I will now present this question: How can an article, any article, written by anyone, claim to have the secret sauce, the magic number or the perfect formula for improving your Ironman time? (you can substitute "Ironman time" with most fitness terms/metrics and the statement still holds true.) Athletic performance is based on so much more than the miles you run, the hours in the gym that you clock, the number of protein shakes you drink, or the hours you spend on the saddle of your $10,000 bike. If we were all living the exact same lifestyles with the same stresses and the same challenges, I'd say that an article could present information that would effectively improve our performance in whatever it was that we were all doing. But the reality is that we do NOT experience the same thing. Ironman or Marathon or Half-Marathon training means something different to each person. It's a different journey for each person so following the advice of a generically written article is like never getting off the freeway to try to find someone's house. You may drive by it a million times, but you'll never actually get there unless you take more specific, individual roads.
The point of all this is not to take merit from research that qualified people have done or to say that no one has a clue and that you should just train yourself. That's the same as venturing into the Alaskan wilderness without a map or guide because you have to "find your own way". No, that will kill you. There is a lot of information out there and some very qualified people that will guide you through all that information to help you find your own path to success. The point, however, is to make sure that you find someone who knows how to interpret all of YOUR characteristics and YOUR strengths and weaknesses to help YOU reach YOUR best performance level. The point is to not freak out every time you hear that someone is training a certain way because you either aren't training the same way or you can't train the same way. The point is for you to take every article you read and every seminar you attend with a grain of salt and to look at it from the perspective of "how does this apply to ME?", and not "how can I apply myself to THIS?". The point is to come to grips with the fact that you have your own battle to fight and that someone else's tactics may not work for you.
So read, research, learn and understand as much as you can, but don't get so caught up with the information that you forget to apply it realistically and rationally. Stay skeptical and look for answers. Don't get so caught up with the destination or goal, that you forget that you need to find the right road to get there. Because in the world of fitness and wellness, there are a lot of roads to choose from, but a remarkable number of them will bring you right back to where you're starting or even further back. Choose wisely.
Thanks for reading.
By Johann Warnholtz
No comments:
Post a Comment