Supplementation


Which supplements to take is always a complicated decision. After reading about the supplement pyramid created by Michael A. Smith, MD I decided that for me it made the most sense. The basic idea is that before bothering with any specific supplemental needs you first have to meet the universal needs of the body. Dr. Michael suggests that these foundational supplements are what your body requires at a cellular level for function.
  1. An ideally dosed multivitamin/mineral
  2. Omega-3 fatty acids
  3. Coenzyme Q10
  4. Probiotics
  5. Curcumin 
So I do not take a multivitamin or mineral. Instead I try to have a balanced diet. Always be especially careful when taking mineral supplements as they are competitive in absorption and can lead to deficiency in other minerals. Another supplement that I would consider a foundational supplement especially in northern latitudes is vitamin D as it is used by every cell in the body.

What could be considered an optimization level supplement would be the Glucosamine, MSM and Chondroitin sulfate I take daily. I have read both research supporting and denouncing its efficacy. I figure with the future load my joints will be enduring the possible benefits out weight the risks. I also  supplement protein as my current goal is to consume it at a rate of 1g per lb of body weight daily never more than 30g at a time. Long work hours make it difficult to meet this goal through diet alone. I just buy leanfit whey protein from costco it has a good balance of BCAAs, low calorie and low sugar.

If you are curious about the supplement pyramid more info can be found here: http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2014/4/The-Supplement-Pyramid-How-To-Build-Your-Personalized-Nutritional-Regimen/Page-01

This is not a replacement for professional advice from a dietician.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intro to Lower Body Biomechanics

Image
An important factor before approaching rehabilitation is an understanding of some basic bio-mechanic guidelines so you can set appropriate goals. For the purposes of rehabilitation it can be useful to imagine the motion of the lower extremity to be broken down into 4 quadrants: Low back/pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle. These can be further broken down but for now this is sufficient. Between these quadrants there is a give and take relationship. Quadrant 1: Pelvis The low back and pelvis provide stability and anchor points for the hip muscles. Spinal engine theory coined by Serge Gracovetsky in the 1980's puts forth the idea that movement of the limbs originates in the spine and trunk.The motion of the limbs is an amplification of motion that begins in the spine. Quadrant 2: Hip The hip joint is meant to be capable of a large range of motion, nearly as wide a range as our shoulder joint. As with the shoulder this impressive range of motion can lead to instability issues i...
Read more

The Experiment

Image
So this is not a training guide. We have no idea how successful this type of training will be we only have a theory to run on. The plan is to go from relatively untrained to the Golden Ultra in just under 4 months of training. This training will only have 5 weeks of concurrent cardio training with the largest portion being heavily concentrated on weight lifting. This is an experiment in both unconventional training methods and prehabilitation (recognizing and intervening bio-mechanical deficiency before injury occurs). This is made possible by the training methodology and expertise of Trevor Macintyre along with access to the facilities at Whyte Avenue Chiropractic and Wellness Centre . A bit about the people involved: Trevor Macintyre , The Designer, graduated from the University of Alberta where he completed his Bachelor of Exercise Sciences [Double Major in Active Living/ Well Being and Sport Performance], Minor in Sport Psychology. Trevor is also a NSCA Certified Strength ...
Read more

The Basic Idea

Image
So the point of all of this is to test power training against traditional marathon training. The goal being to increase both the anterior and posterior chain muscles ability to produce power while maintaining a neutral pelvic girdle. This increase in power coupled with an efficient stride may create an advantage over traditional training. Usually a conversation like this would lead into a muscle fiber type discussion as to why training sport specific is important for endurance vs power activity. Our idea is to focus more on functional strength. A runner performing traditional training will have access to much less on demand power making each stride require more energy relative to their max and therefore more stress on the body than in a more powerful athlete. Example: Runner A has done traditional endurance training and has a max output of 100 Watts (just for ease of numbers) and uses 35 Watts per stride. Compare that to runner B that has trained more power and now has a max outp...
Read more