Training Programs

Attached are your training, nutritional, moto-specific, and cross-training protocols for next week. Please review each day closely.  

Strength to Weight Ratios

When it comes to optimum health and performance one of the most important variables to dial in is your strength to weight ratios.  However, this ratio has become distorted by mainstream media in hopes of creating hysteria and confusion (and they have done a good job at this!)  This ratio is quite simple – you want to have as much lean muscle tissue and necessary fat while still being able to perform at an optimum level SPECIFIC to your sport.  If you are not a body builder, you don’t NEED to be able to squat 600 pounds.  Here are a few things that you can do this week to increase your percentage of muscle while decreasing your percentage of fat and optimally fuel your efforts:

1. 1. Maintain proper hydration levels.  Consume half of your body weight in cold filtered water every day (this excludes soda, coffee, alcohol, and energy drinks).

• Maintain proper hydration levels during exercise.  Use your sweat rate calculator and verify that you are within that optimum sweat rate zone of 1-2%.
• Sleep longer and deeper.  Strive for 8 to 10 hours a day.  Harvard researchers have found that individuals who sleep less than 5 hours where on average 6.4 pounds heavier than those who slept 7 or more hours.  The reason appears to be associated with your brain’s reward system.  Research believes that inadequate sleep may increase the brains’ focus of food as a reward, hence overeating and binging.
• Consume more protein.  Protein helps control your blood sugar, keeps you fuller, reduces hunger and burns more calories during digestion.  Additionally, protein stops muscle break down and provides the raw materials for building new muscles.
• Refrain from eating carbohydrates alone.  When you do, you set off a series of events – most importantly the rise of insulin.  This causes your body to crave more carbs and store more fat.
• Eat 6 – 8 times a day.  Digestion requires energy, so spreading your calories over several small meals throughout the day keeps your blood sugar levels stabilized (this results in better mental clarity and consistent energy).

These six elements will have an immediate impact on your strength to weight ratios, and as you can see, doesn’t require extensive effort, just pre-planning.  Improved strength to weight ratios, another tool to Working Smart, Not Hard and Avoid Overtraining!

Yours in sport & health,

-Coach Robb, Coaches and Staff

Thought for the week:

“One of the virtues of being a new athlete is that you don’t let the facts get in the way of your dreams and aspirations.”