Health Tips

Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery is proud to present Health Tips for the 2011 GranFondo Canada events. Spud.ca has partnered with local health professionals to bring you relevant fitness, health and nutrition tips to help improve your cycling performance come event day.

SPUD.CA TIPS

"Winter Training" - November 2011

This month's nutritional tip comes from personal trainer Jade giving advice to mix up the off-season training programs to stay in tip-top shape:

"With winter fast approaching most of us will be transitioning to our off season cycling and strength training programs. We'll be logging less time on the road but we can still stay in great shape with a good indoor training program. Some rainy days you'll want to hit the stationary bike trainer but I recommend taking a break here and there by adding some circuit training, skip rope and rowing machine cardio sessions to mix things up. This will help you avoid burn out and give those ligaments a nice break from the repetitive nature of cycling.

For weights, avoid most exercise machines and stick with free weights. String exercises together with little to no break between movements to form a heart pumping circuit. Movements like Squats (Video), Push ups (Video), Walking Lunges (Video), Pull-ups (Video), Overhead Shoulder Presses (Video), Low back extensions (Video) and Yoga planks (Video) will keep you very strong and in great shape through the winter. Aim for 12-20 reps of each movement, 2-3 sets, 2-3 days per week.

Or for an extra challenge, try doing 1 minute rounds of each exercise in order listed finishing the circuit with a 1-2 minute row or skip rope, break then repeat."

"Forgotten Areas" - September 2011

This month's lifestyle tip comes from personal trainer Jade, reminding cyclists to always strengthen those forgotten areas during cycling training to maximize overall performance:

"The focus of any good bike training program will be on improving leg strength, cardiovascular strength and endurance. However when training for a long ride some important groupings of muscles tend to get forgotten. Muscles like the Core and Triceps help support the upper body when bent over the bike for long periods of time (core) as well as help move the bike laterally when moving up hills (triceps).

Adding these 2 simple exercises into your current training program will help bring up the strength of those forgotten areas."

Jade’s Exercises:

Bicycle crunches - work up to 100+ reps (Video)

Tricep dips (off a bench/chair or possibly parallel bars) go to failure each time (Video)

"Nutrition" - August 2011

This month's nutritional tip comes from Dr. Peter Bennett highlighting the key factors of recovering after a long ride:

Athletes should try to manage their recovery strategies before and after a training session. The key points are:

1. Fatigue
2. Jet lag
3. Nutrition/hydration
4. Physical and mental stress
5. Poor Immune Function

I strongly recommend going into a race rested so you are tapered on your training, get plenty of sleep, make sure that you have adequate salt intake during the ride, follow the ride with a sweet drink made from fresh fruits, whey powder and some glutamine powder. Glutamine is an amino acid (the most abundant in the human body) that is stored within skeletal muscle tissue. In fact, it makes up half of the amino acids that are stored here. An average person may go through a few grams of glutamine each day; an amount that is easily recovered by the body’s self-repair systems.

However, the endurance athlete requires much more of this essential amino acid in order to reduce oxidative stress and repair damaged muscle tissue. It is the limitation of the body to produce enough glutamine at a rapid enough pace that can limit the body’s ability to repair damaged skeletal muscle and thus slow recovery. However, taken as a dietary supplement after a race or training session, this process can be enhanced and recovery should speed up. Glutamine increases growth hormone levels allowing for muscle development. It also draws water into the muscle and enhances glycogen deposition which creates a favourable environment for further muscle growth. This repair aid coupled with the anti-oxidant effectiveness of glutamine makes it a near magic-bullet to an athlete’s recovery! How should it be taken to obtain the best results?

Glutamine should be taken immediately following a race or training session, and then again about two hours later. Although dosage will vary from athlete to athlete, the average recommended dose is between 2 and 10 grams. With the addition of this supplementation to the athlete’s recovery regime, muscle repair should speed up and optimum performance should be re-attained much more rapidly!"

"Circuit Training" - July 2011

This month's nutritional tip comes from personal trainer Jade McClure, highlighting the importance of circuit training and stretching while preparing for RBC GranFondo Kelowna:

“While most of your training for the upcoming long ride should be done on your bike, make sure to include some circuit training and flexibility sessions if you want to be in top shape come race day.”

"Circuit training will increase your overall strength while also improving your aerobic conditioning. Using free weights in the 50% of one rep max range and doing reps of 15-20 alternate between upper and lower body exercises. Take little to no time between exercises and add a cardio round at the end of each circuit for maximum benefit. Don’t forget to stretch!"

Jade's Exercises:

Dumbbell Chest Press, Dumbbell Bench Step-Ups, 1 Arm Dumbbell Row, Dumbbell Stiff Leg Dead-lifts, (Core) Side Bridges, (1 min) Yoga Plank, 400m Sprint.

"Magnesium Deficiency" - June 2011

This month's nutritional tip comes from Dr. Peter Bennett highlighting the significance of having magnesium in our diet:

"In my clinical practice, magnesium deficiency is the most common finding in athletes, especially cyclists. Studies have shown that cycling increases magnesium loss in the urine, and those who received four weeks of placebo or magnesiumortate improved performance and decreased competition times."

SPUD's Community Health Professionals

Jade McClure

A native to the West Coast, Jade McClure has been actively involved in the fitness industry ever since he noticed the effect exercise had in his mid teens.

Jade takes a very holistic approach to his work, based on the idea that nutrition and lifestyle play a major part in staying fit and healthy. He strongly believes that no matter how hard you train,you won’t see the results you really want unless you eat properly and maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Dr. Peter Bennett ND, RAc, DHANP

•  Acupuncturist
•  Board Certified Homeopath
•  Author
•  Teacher/Lecturer

Dr. Peter Bennett practices in Langley and Whistler B.C., on the West coast of Canada. Dr. Bennett uses diet, nutrition, herbal medicines, acupuncture, homeopathy, physical medicine and intravenous nutritional medicines to help patients with acute and chronic health problems. He frequently lectures to medical and naturopathic doctors at conferences, teaches at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, and teaches public seminars. Dr. Bennett writes for magazines, and has been a featured expert on the Joe Easingwood Show at CFAX radio, and on the Women’s Television Network.

Dr. Bennett graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA in Asian Studies in 1980 and completed the -year naturopathic medical school program at Bastyr University in 1987. Dr. Bennett concurrently completed the three-year degree program in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at the Northwest Clinic of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He received his Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) in 1987 and was selected by his peers for a post-graduate residency training program at Bastyr University. After completing his education, Dr. Bennett returned to his home on a small island off the coast of British Columbia where he worked as a sole practitioner for many years.