usefulcoach

Hello folks, long time no write!

I know some of you follow me on Instagram, and some of you might even be part of my Discord channel. But just to say, that I recently launched my new content portal with a very large article:

INFLUENCES AND MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE BODY WEIGHT CHANGE

"Discussing factors that influence acute body weight change outside of dieting (energy restriction). Understanding and applying the concepts of Working Weight, Session Weight, and the Glycogen / Creatine Reset. The potential benefits of setting a Standardised Session Weight for training sessions using Microloading. A preparatory Performance Weight strategy to acutely lower body weight for projects or competition without creating an energy deficit, restricting carbohydrate, or via dehydration. Outlining the theoretical limits of fat storage and use, muscle gain and loss."

This is part of my new content portal, and is going to help me finally close my Facebook account 😀

So head to http://access.useful.coach

If you are wondering why I am paywalling content, click through to the Subscription Preview and read "Why Paywall Content?"

Any questions, let me know.

Content Access Subscriber ContentCoaching DocumentationRegistrationClick “Sign Up”, and you will recieve an email from [email protected] to confirm your email address.New Subscribers - Click “Manage Account”, “Update Plan”, and then Subscriber AccessCoaching Clients - Message me over Twist to activa...

EP 92: Tom Herbert (Part 1)— Eating More to Train Harder, Protein Synthesis, and Carbohydrate Timing — The Nugget Climbing Podcast Tom Herbert is known as the usefulcoach, and is a leader in climbing sports nutrition. We talked about common themes in clients he works with, his philosophy of getting climbers to eat more calories to support a higher training volume, muscle protein synthesis, carbohydrate recommendations and timin

Hi folks, so I really don't post here on Facebook, so just wanted to point you http://newsletter.useful.coach which is where I will announce anything I am doing or releasing. Thanks 👍

I am active on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usefulcoach/

I have been asked by a few people for my opinion on how they could optimise their eating and training schedule during Ramadan.

So here is a hypothetical template to give you some ideas. Do let me know if it was helpful at all.

Ramadan Mubarak!

How to optimise your eating and training schedule during Ramadan I have been asked by a few people for my opinion on how they could optimise their eating and training schedule during Ramadan. So here is a hypothetical temp...

Eating disorders among elite athletes Elite athletes are recognised as being the strongest, fittest and best physical versions of human kind. However, there is a dark truth behind this all; that these athletes still face incredible men…

"A desirable macronutrient composition, including high relative protein intake and low relative fat intake, may causally reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the general population."

Causal effects of relative fat, protein, and carbohydrate intake on chronic kidney disease: a Mendelian randomization study ABSTRACTBackground. The effects of specific macronutrients on kidney function independent of total calorie intake have rarely been studied, although the composi

COVID-19 My experience...

I flew to the US on March 12th. Over the whole of 2020, and I were overly cautious.
Initially not seeing anyone and barely going out to supermarkets. We'd go on a dog walk and then work/train at home.
We'd wipe down anything that came into our house and clean our clothes upon entering the house too.
Over the year, We'd relax a little, increase our covid family network, but always be cautious.
This Christmas we made the decision to drive (not fly) to Texas to see Alex's family.
We had covid tests before we drove out there as did some of Alex's family.
What made the decision easier was that Alex's family are cautious too and arguably see the cashier at a supermarket and that's it (outside of their immediate family).
However, on the 27th Dec a family member tested positive (unknown how they caught it) and what followed, for Alex and me, was anxiety.
Knowing this was a dangerous virus and it seemed to pick people at random as to who would suffer more.
Well, of the 8 people who were there at Christmas (3 kids, their mum and dad and three more including the two of us), we all caught it.
We isolated from the 27th Dec - January 16th in Texas and drove back to Colorado where we will isolate until we get negative tests. We are no longer symptomatic, bit can say that for us, it was a long and lingering heavy cold, with a fever as well.
However, the anxiety around it and the following insomnia that has set in for Alex is far far worse.
Mental health is an important aspect and we will be talking about this more over the coming weeks and months.
We've bern lucky to have a great support network, but always seek help and do not be ashamed of it.
Our message: be cautious, don't become careless and avoid this virus - it can leave you suffering with more than flu symptoms. Open lines of discussion and look after your mental health.

📸

One of my best friends, Martin (The Mind Body Connection Ltd) wrote a great article one working from home.

Worth a read!

Working from Home or Living at Work? During 2020 I've grown accustomed to new words and phrases that never really featured in my life much before then. Social distancing, Zoom, underlying

Something to read since HRV tends to come back into vogue at the beginning of the year.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) for Training and Recovery An introduction to the principles of training adaptation, ANS cardiac control, and the use of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as a tool to monitor training load, fatigue, and recovery. With focus on the ithlete HRV mobile app.

https://scite.ai/ is a cool tool I found this evening.

"Smart citations for intelligent research. The most efficient way to discover and understand research. Using Smart Citations, easily check how an article has been cited and if it has been supported or disputed by others."

scite: evaluate the veracity of scientific work scite is an award-winning platform for discovering and evaluating scientific articles via Smart Citations. Smart Citations allow users to see how a scientific paper has been cited by providing the context of the citation and a classification describing whether it provides supporting or disputing evi...

No comment 😉

World Class: The Story of Aidan Roberts' Bouldering Breakthrough Every now and then, you get to witness a run of cutting-edge performance that defines an era of the sport. Even rarer, is when you see that purple patch unfo...

Incredibly proud of 🚀💪

This has been a very challenging journey for her, and I remember the first conversation we had a years ago in a Canary Wharf cafe. The task to increase weight was both frightening and almost unimaginable. But she came to me because she knew she would gain greater freedom in the future but doing the hard uncomfortable work now.

It has been a pleasure and inspiring to work and support her over this time, and alongside her training coach

Our next goal is to maintain weight around ~55kg by early-mid 2021 with the ultimate goal of the restoration of a healthy hormonal balance.

Both Robin and I know that the best is yet to come for Jo. That she achieved so much, had the attitude and strength to both ask for and want help, and did the daily consistent work required, means that we have no doubt of an incredible future for her.

Thanks for the journey and lessons you gave me Jo. We still have a little while longer to travel, and I look forward to the road ahead.

(No surprise there then...)

--- quote ---
Although the pandemic gave rise to multiple stressors (e.g., fear of contamination, social isolation), financial challenges including employment change have been amongst the most distressing. We showed that distress from employment change was associated with altered mood and unhealthy eating, particularly for carbohydrate-rich foods. Indeed, greater perceived stress or more negative mood was associated with emotional eating and increased consumption of salty or sweet snacks. Poor food choices and increased snack consumption [70], especially when combined with reduced physical activity [11], can lead to weight gain, which was reported in a quarter of people sampled during the COVID-19 outbreak [13]. The indirect impact of COVID-19 includes shifts in food choices, which can be detrimental to overall health. This is concerning given the prevalence of overweight and obesity within the population, and emerging evidence has indicated that obesity or obesity-related diseases increase the risk for more severe outcomes among those infected with COVID-19 [20,22,23].
Government agencies have increasingly been advising individuals to adopt public health measures (e.g., wearing face masks, handwashing, physical distancing), and there has also been concern regarding potential mental health challenges. Much less attention seems to have been devoted to the indirect impact of the pandemic on unhealthy behaviors, such as those related to food intake. In considering factors important for emergency preparedness, a series of recommendations were made concerning those factors that favor resilience during such situations and the recovery period that follows [71]. Essential to this is that individuals have social support available as a potent coping resource prior to the emergency or, failing this, that effective support networks can be readily established. The present findings are consistent with this view and point to the need to address health-related behaviors beyond those that focus only on psychological disturbances.

Piece of Cake: Coping with COVID-19 To limit the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many individuals were instructed to stay at home, and teleworking became commonplace. Meanwhile, many others were laid off or worked reduced hours, and some front line workers were required to work longer hours. Concurrently, a surge in rep...

Click for the whole slide deck: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgghhoDITD/

I would love to help you change your life in 2021🚀 Might sound bold, but I'm less interested in what you eat, and more interested in how and why you eat. Anyone can get you to eat a banana before training, I want to help you understand more about why you probably don't, and give you the tools to know yourself better (and the banana).

Want to understand more? Click my profile link to head over to my website. Read the reviews, or simply ping me an email to chat: [email protected]



https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_dk7ADb3T/?igshid=1emsyt1hzxyjd

I would love to help you change your life in 2021🚀 Might sound bold, but I'm less interested in what you eat, and more interested in how and why you eat. Anyone can get you to eat a banana before training, I want to help you understand more about why you probably don't, and give you the tools to know yourself better (and the banana). Want to understand more? Click my profile link to head over to my website. Read the reviews, or simply ping me an email to chat: [email protected] #usefulcoach #beuseful #rockandrocketfuel #coachsaysgetserious #climbingnutrition #sportsnutrition #performancenutrition #nutrition #climbing #bouldering #sportclimbing

Hopefully useful for you all 👍🌱

I cannot say it would have the same potential effect of collagen supplementation, but we honestly don't even know the mechanism of effect of collagen supplementation if there is actually an effect. We do though know that glycine is the most abundant amino acid provided by collagen, it is typically low in all muscle tissue foods (unlike collagenous cuts) and almost non existent in plants.

Thus the myriad benefits of including more glycine in the first may be had by vegans by supplementation of glycine directly.

Who knows?

Personally I recommend glycine to all my clients irrespective of if they are omnivorous or vegan, or whether they use collagen already. Personally I aim for at least 10g if glycine per day, and take 5g before bed and 5g when I wake-up. Helps with sleep quality and anxiety.

As with everything I say, don't just take my word for it. Do research everything yourself before you put it in your mouth 👍



https://www.instagram.com/p/CHlCnylDLET/

Hopefully useful for you all 👍🌱 I cannot say it would have the same potential effect of collagen supplementation, but we honestly don't even know the mechanism of effect of collagen supplementation if there is actually an effect. We do though know that glycine is the most abundant amino acid provided by collagen, it is typically low in all muscle tissue foods (unlike collagenous cuts) and almost non existent in plants. Thus the myriad benefits of including more glycine in the first may be had by vegans by supplementation of glycine directly. Who knows? Personally I recommend glycine to all my clients irrespective of if they are omnivorous or vegan, or whether they use collagen already. Personally I aim for at least 10g if glycine per day, and take 5g before bed and 5g when I wake-up. Helps with sleep quality and anxiety. As with everything I say, don't just take my word for it. Do research everything yourself before you put it in your mouth 👍 #usefulcoach #beuseful #climbingnutrition #sportsnutrition #nutrition #plantbased #vegan #climbing #bouldering #sportclimbing

BAM!

So "possibly" collagen is providing glycine (and proline) which could be beneficial, who knows?

However interestingly you may be able to simply forgo spending money on collagen and use a glycine supplement. This is great for vegans too as glycine powder is synthesized and not derived from animal skins (which is what your collagen powder is).

For my clients I recommend 5g of glycine before bed, as it aids sleep, and 5g with breakfast as it can help mental stability.

Perhaps, taking glycine around training could be helpful, or perhaps this provision of protein / peptides before training has very little effect at all. That it is rather simply having total daily quality protein and providing the right training stimulus is what is key.

What stimulates collagen synthesis? Breaking down our research on the impact of resistance exercise and protein intake on connective tissue (collagen) protein synthesis. Our research study: htt...

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG14onkD5n5/

There are so many little things in our lives which I believe limit us in some way. This post is to encourage you to pause, reevaluate, get serious, choose, and move forwards. By getting serious about small changes, will truly have a significant impact on your life. A bit like finally stopping and removing that little stone from your shoe so you can run. I really hope this post sparks some thoughts and action. I would love to hear if it's been useful for you, and if you do place "get serious" reminders anywhere in your life, take a photo and tag me @usefulcoach and use the hashtag #usefulgetserious And finally yes this is a repost from yesterday. I wanted to change some wording, there were spelling mistakes, and I wanted the message to not be diluted by those little things. I take posting serious, I think it's important to get right 😊 And thank you to everyone who shares my posts, I really appreciate seeing that people think something is useful enough to share with others. #usefulcoach #beuseful #serious #mindset #coaching #nutrition #habits #diet #performance #life #beyourbest #strength #training #success #achievement

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGu3kyoDqur/

Sometimes we look at athletes around us and use them as a template of what we want to look like and perform. However we forget they are like that because of what they do the most. We may achieve that if we also do what they do most of the time, but most of us cannot. We have our own unique capacity which will allow us to do only what we have the capacity to do. Understanding this helps you not only curb your expectations to reality, but also help you focus on your own unique expression of your own unique best. I hope this slide deck encourages thought, I hope it's useful. Please share with others. And I'll put this here in case anyone brings it up. Please read the rest of my Instagram feed, listen to my "ClimbSci" podcast, listen to my other interviews around the web to understand my thoughts on fat loss especially related to female athletes. And feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. Dieting and fat loss is not the point of this post, it was used as an example. #usefulcoach #beuseful #coaching #mindset #potential #perfomance #growth #climbingnutrition #sportsnutrition #nutrition #dieting #diet

An interesting quick read...

Mountaineers on Mount Everest: Effects of age, s*x, experience, and crowding on rates of success and death Mount Everest is an extreme environment for humans. Nevertheless, hundreds of mountaineers attempt to summit Everest each year. In a previous study we analyzed interview data for all climbers (2,211) making their first attempt on Everest during 1990–2005. ...

Climber Nutrition - Optimise Your Training Climbing nutritionist coach, Tom Herbert, walks us through strategies to get the most out of your training through nutrition and daily routines. Find us here...

The coaching process by Lattice 👍

Tiny writing, larger information 👍

Fall in love with the process, and the outcome will come out 👍

SKEWING THE TOAST FOR THE SAKE OF THE LOAF

This morning whilst slicing bread I noticed a neat metaphor for life. That often we find ourselves in the same unhealthy situations because we keep doing what we think is "true" but is actually just repeating "skewed" behaviour. That if we looked at the whole we would see that it isn't straight and balanced, but that each slice we take we continue to worsen the imbalance. We skew the knife for an immediate straight slice but at the expense of the whole.

We make choices against our values, for the sake of our immediate needs. Straight toast but skewing the loaf.

If we don't stop, look, and realign, we will over time like the knife create and keep creating a less optimal angle on the loaf: our lives. We will keep repeating poor habits, remain financially insecure, continue an unhealthy lifestyle, emotionally stagnate, choose mediocre or abusive relationships, and simply survive rather than thrive.

Sometimes it takes an uncomfortable sacrifice, the realigning of the knife and cutting off an angle completely to create a straight edge, an edge which then aids the creation of true slices going forward that do not misalign the whole.

Sometimes you need to skew the toast for the sake of the loaf.

A strange metaphor I know, but it made me think.

I hope it makes you think too 😊

 

2018, but a good one.

https://www.irozhlas.cz/sport/ostatni-sporty/czech-climber-adam-ondra-climbing-data-sensors_1809140930_jab

Adam Ondra hung with sensors. What makes him the world’s best climber? Strong fingers, a perfect technique, a long neck? What enables the Czech climber to be at an advantage? iRozhlas’s data journalists have measured his movements using motion capture technology.

The purpose behind the being useful project is to video interview coaches, teachers, trainers, therapists (mind or body), dietitians, nutritionists, and anyone who works with others to help them be better in life, sport and business.

There are a number of channels out there who interview people about something specific they do, their expertise or technique. I am interested in interviewing people to learn more about who they are, how they came to do what they do, their philosophy, approach, and to hear their stories and experience of helping others.

As the collection grows, people looking for help will be able to search and view the interviews to better understand who is behind the services provided. And those interviewed can use and share the interviews to highlight who they are, and what they do.

Note: Though I specifically work with climbers, this project is for anyone working in any sport or community.

If you would like to be interviewed, please send an email to [email protected] with the following details which will be listed publicly in the video description.

- Full name
- Service name and location address
- Website and social media links
- Short biography of who you are and what you do

Once I get these I will ping you an email back to organise a date and time for the interview.

You just need a reliable internet connection for the video call, decent microphone and camera.

You don’t need to prepare anything, just come with the expectation I will be asking about who you are, how you got into what you do, how you do what you do, and any interesting experiences you have had along the way.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Embrace what is useful, create space around what is not.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEq-2wYD27S/

To help me be more useful 😊 #usefulcoach #beuseful

We are still waiting for a single Low Carbohydrate High Fat study to show us it's a worthwhile chronic dietary strategy for athletic performance.

And yeah, again we have another study to show you don't need months to become "fat adapted".

ABSTRACT

We investigated substrate utilisation during exercise after brief (5‐6 d) adaptation to a ketogenic low‐carbohydrate (CHO), high‐fat (LCHF) and similar washout period.

Thirteen world‐class male race walkers completed economy testing, 25‐km training and a 10,000 m race (Baseline), with high CHO availability (HCHO), repeating this (Adaptation) after 5–6 d LCHF (n = 7; CHO: 200%) increases in exercise fat oxidation occurred in LCHF Adaptation economy and 25‐km tests, reaching mean rates of ∼1.43 g min−1. However, relative VO2 (mL min−1 kg−1) was higher (p < 0.0001), by ∼ 8% and 5% at speeds related to 50‐km and 20‐km events.

During Adaptation Race warm‐up in LCHF, rates of fat and CHO oxidation at these speeds were decreased and increased respectively (p < 0.001) compared with the previous day, but were not restored to Baseline values. Performance changes differed between groups (p = 0.009), with all HCHO athletes improving in Adaptation Race [5.7 (5.6)%], while 6/7 LCHF athletes were slower [2.2 (3.4)%]. Substrate utilisation returned to Baseline values after 5–6 d of HCHO.

In summary, robust changes in exercise substrate use occurred in 5–6 days of extreme changes in CHO intake. However, adaptation to LCHF plus acute restoration of endogenous CHO availability failed to restore high‐intensity endurance performance, with CHO oxidation rates remaining blunted.

KEY POINTS

- Brief (5‐6 d) adaptation to LCHF in elite athletes increased exercise fat oxidation to rates previously observed with medium (3‐4 wk) or chronic (>12 month) adherence to this diet, with metabolic changes being washed out in a similar timeframe

- Increased fat utilisation during exercise was associated with a 5–8% increase in oxygen cost at speeds related to Olympic Program races

- Acute restoration of endogenous CHO availability (24 h HCHO diet, pre‐race CHO) only partially restored substrate utilisation during a race warm‐up. Fat oxidation continued to be elevated above Baseline values although it was lower than achieved by 5–6 d keto‐adaptation; CHO oxidation only reached 61% and 78% of values previously seen at exercise intensities related to race events.

- Acute restoration of CHO availability failed to overturn the impairment of high‐intensity endurance performance previously associated with LCHF adaptation, potentially due to the blunted capacity for CHO oxidation.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1113/JP280221

Adaptation to Low Carbohydrate High Fat diet is rapid but impairs endurance exercise metabolism and performance despite enhanced glycogen availability