We are back!!!

We are back.....back from our 5th annual training week in Mallorca (Spain). Amazing if you come to think of it, this was the fifth time already we went to this beautiful island for our Stapsport training week. And let me tell you that Mallorca is truley a beautifull place to be, sun, beaches and palmtrees! The locals are used to bicycles on their roads, it's save! Lots of rolling hills and beautiful mountains, even one of the 1st cat. But it is a island so lots of wind too, hard wind. Just imagine riding along the coast side down a rolling hill (2%) -headwind- and you have to keep pedalling to stay  rolling. Big fun!

A training week like this is ideal for us athletes coming out of the cold winter. A full week of  swimming, riding and running. To give you an example, last week we were in the pool for 10 kilometres, just over 500 miles on the bike and 40 miles of running. On a avarage day we would go for a slow morning jog of 4 miles, eat breakfast and start riding our bikes at 9. 4 to 5 hours of riding and in the afternoon, after a well deserved sun-bath, a swim workout.

In the evenings we would sit together and talk about training or nutrition or a walk through the city or on the beach!

You can imagine we had a wonderfull time and again looking foreward to go back next year. I want to thank all of you who came from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Great Brittain and The United States. Hope to see you, and all your friends, next year.

Back to our normal routine

Train smart and take care, Frank Senders.

Workout for bike trainer:

Athlete of the month (November 2004) is the 24 year old Yvonne van Vlerken.

Yvonne started triathlon/duathlon some 18 months ago, before that she was a typical "I want to do everything girl". From playing soccer (until her soccer shoes got stolen) to mountain-biking, aerobics etc etc.

In late 2002 Yvonne contacted me to Coach her through the final of the Herbalife Fitness Challenge at Malta. Right away I saw much more than a beautiful lady in her. She just had it all... a rough diamond you could say. Coming back from Malta she was very pleased with the results and wanted to know/learn more about Triathlon. As curious and devoted she was I had to hold her back all the time she wanted to do more and more. 

Just to show you all how much this girls has to give... she did marathon Rotterdam 2001 in 3:30'. One year later when we started serious coaching she ran this same marathon in 3:08 (being 8th Dutch woman). That is something else!

In her first year as a Triathlete she several OD races and even got second place in the Dutch Championships 1/2 IM distance. At that time everyone was thinking this was a one time deal! But not with Yvonne. She got a couple of sponsors so she could cut down on her job a little and getting really serious with training.

2004 would be her year and what a year it would be. Her first big race of the year was Powerman Holland (European Championship short distance). In 2003 she finished 7th place and she wanted to beat this so bad. A 4th place in the ladies-pro division, that was a great start of the season. After that Powerman Luxembourg, first place there. She was heading for the top!  Only a few weeks after that she got hit by another cyclist during a training ride and she broke her color-bone. She was so depressed. Was this it, was this the end of the 2004 season? On top of that when she got home there was an invitation from the Dutch Triathlon Organization for the World Championships Duathlon (long Distance) in Denmark. Ok back to basics now for Yvonne, what can you do with a broken color bone and only 8 weeks to a World Championship race? Rest, training not too much stress and just see what you can do! And she did..... we started out easy the first weeks. Used an indoor trainer so her shoulder could rest more. The race in Denmark was hard, hot and demanding but Yvonne finessed 2nd place in her first world championship race ever.

After that race she continued winning; 1/2 IM race in Holland, some OD races in Holland and Belgium and again a long Distance Duathlon in Luxembourg (Grevenmacher-Muselduatlon). She is back and is longing for more and more. Just watch her next season when she will be doing her first full Ironman race!

For those who are curious about a typical training week of Yvonne:

MONTHLY NUTRITION ARTICLE

Nutrition and Sport

Numerous studies over the last thirty years have focused on the importance of energy and substrate metabolism to maintain adequate levels of ATP production in the muscle cell. Maximising ATP production during exercise can be achieved by optimising the fuel supply. In the first few seconds of exercise the majority of ATP is produced form creatine phosphate. This is the fastest method of ATP production; however, creatine phosphate is stored in very limited amounts in the muscle with the result that ATP production cannot be maintained via this process. As exercise continues the anaerobic metabolism of stored muscle glycogen dominates producing lactate. After a few minutes aerobic glycolysis becomes dominant to prevent the build up of toxic levels of lactate in the blood. Aerobic glycolysis of stored glycogen, exogenous glucose and lactate produce ATP but at a slower rate than anaerobic glycolysis. The capacity for the body to store glycogen is limited and eventually as stores become low, fatty acids are mobilised to produce ATP via lipolysis. ATP production becomes slower forcing the athlete to slow down. Thus exercise performance is influenced by storage and supply of carbohydrate and the ability to achieve the optimal fuel supply.

Carbohydrate remains the most important fuel for high intensity exercise and performance. The human body has only limited storage capacity for carbohydrate as glycogen in the muscle and liver, therefore, supplementation before, during and after exercise is beneficial in improving ATP production. Studies have shown that the peak oxidation rate of 1 g/min can be obtained from a drink that has a carbohydrate (glucose) content of 4-6% and a low osmolarity.

During moderate and strenuous exercise, dramatic changes occur within the immune system; a decreased number of lymphocytes, impaired natural immunity, decreased lymphocyte proliferative responses to mitogens, low levels of secretory IgA in saliva, but high circulating levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Following moderate exercise these changes decline in the post-exercise period. However, following a long bout of strenuous exercise the immune system remains suppressed presenting an open window of opportunity for infections such as upper respiratory tract infections. This open window can last from a few hours to several days depending on the length and intensity of the exercise.

A number of strategies have been proposed to close this open window. Firstly, nutritional supplementation with glutamine abolishes the exercise-induced decline in plasma glutamine, but does not appear to influence post exercise immune impairment. Secondly, carbohydrate loading diminishes most exercise-effects of cytokines, lymphocytes and neutrophils, although the clinical significance is not known. Thirdly, increasing the ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids in the diet will influence prostoglandin production increasing the ratio of prostoglandin E2 to E3. An increase in prostglandin E2 production is associated with suppression of the immune system, whereas with prostoglandin E3 production this suppression is abolished. However, there is no effect on the immune cells or cytokines. Finally, some studies have suggested that vitamin C supplementation may diminish the risk of obtaining an infection after strenuous exercise. This issue is controversial and it is not obvious that a positive effect is linked to an effect of vitamin C on exercise-induced immune changes.

The female athlete triad is a syndrome of three inter-related conditions: amenorrhoea, osteoporosis and disordered eating. The three conditions have a synergistic effect and the syndrome is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Disordered eating is more prevalent amongst female athletes than amongst the general population. Disordered eating is often seen in sports where low body weight is important or desirable as revealing clothing is worn, such as gymnastics and figure skating. Disordered eating can increase risk of injury, decrease endurance capacity and concentration ability and lead to menstrual dysfunction. Menstrual dysfunction including amenorrhoea is again more prevalent amongst female athletes than the general population. Menstrual dysfunction is influenced by environmental factors such as training intensity, restrictive diets and weight (body fat) loss. It is likely that each female athlete has her own individual weight threshold, below which there is a greater risk of amenorrhoea. Amenorrhoea is associated with a lack of oestrogen, which in turn can lead to poor bone health and the increased risk of developing osteoporosis in later life. Oestrogen contributes to the maintenance of bone mineral density by affecting bone formation and turnover. Therefore, any factor that contributes to menstrual dysfunction can have a direct or indirect influence on bone mineral status. Early detection of female athletes at risk from the triad and appropriate intervention is of the utmost importance.

New government initiatives are to take place under which each sport will have its own governing body headed by a Performance Director. The Performance directors will be responsible for the provision of sports science and sports medicine support services through regional centres. The mandatory services will include nutrition. The Performance Director will nominate priorities and determine the allocation of money for each service. Different sports require different levels of nutrition advice and generic advice is not always useful. The forms of nutritional advice required are consultative, educational, and diagnostic and therapeutic. The advice provided must be authoritative and evidence based. There should be a consensus position and a level of competency recognised through training and accreditation.

Fluid ingestion during exercise and during the recovery period has the twin aims of providing a source of carbohydrate fuel to supplement the body's limited stores and of supplying water and electrolytes to replace the losses incurred by sweating. Increasing the carbohydrate content of drinks will increase the amount of fuel which can be supplied, but will tend to decrease the rate at which water can be made available; where provision of water is the first priority, the carbohydrate content of drinks should be low, thus restricting the rate at which substrate is provided. The composition of drinks to be taken will thus be influenced by the relative importance of the need to supply fuel and water; this in turn depends on the intensity and duration of the exercise task, on the ambient temperature and humidity, and on the physiological and biochemical characteristics of the individual athlete.

Rehydration after exercise is particularly important in training where exercise may have to be repeated after a rather short interval. Sodium replacement is essential for post-exercise rehydration, and full recovery will not be achieved unless both volume and electrolyte losses are replaced. This may be the major benefit of the small amounts of sodium added to commercial sports drinks. Salt supplements are not normally necessary, except perhaps when sweat losses are very large. As the optimum frequency, volume and composition of drinks will vary widely between the nature of the sports, individuals and environmental conditions it is difficult to make specific recommendations that will suit all sportsmen and women. The athlete must determine by trial and error the most suitable regimen, and should experiment in training or in minor competitions to find a rehydration fluid, which is both effective and palatable.

Recently, much attention has focused on the potential of ergogenic aids (supplements purported to improve athletic performance). For many of these supplements there is little scientific evidence. Both caffeine and creatine have been widely studied. Caffeine is a stimulant, found naturally in some foods particularly coffee. The ergogenic effect of caffeine is related to its stimulant properties. The most important effect of caffeine may be in mobilising fatty acids, which can then be used as a fuel, sparing glycogen stores. The research data provide strong support for an ergogenic effect of caffeine on prolonged aerobic endurance in doses that are currently under the International Olympic Committee doping regulations. Urinary caffeine levels below 12 m g/ml are permitted and would only be reached if 6-8 cups of coffee were consumed in a single sitting 2-3 hours before testing. Creatine is of great interest to athletes because of the role that creatine phosphate plays in energy production. Creatine supplements have been used in an attempt to enhance energy production in high-intensity exercise, but the results of studies so far have been inconsistent. The available data are more supportive of an ergogenic effect for creatine supplementation in elite athletes taking part in sports that are characterised by repeated bouts of high intensity exercise with only short recoveries between each bout.

When considering the nutrition and diet of an athlete. Total diet must be looked at in relation to many factors including energy, nutrients, lifestyle, budget, training and competition diary. In the optimum diet for most sports, carbohydrate is likely to contribute about 60-70% of total energy intake. For promotion of health an increase in intake of complex carbohydrates is recommended. Such foods provide dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals while remaining relatively low in fat. A diet providing 70% of total energy as complex carbohydrate will prove physically too bulky for many athletes and supplements of simple sugars will be needed. Timing of carbohydrate consumption can be crucial. Athletes are recommended to consume carbohydrate as soon as possible after exercise to facilitate glycogen refuelling. Drinks and foods containing carbohydrate in the form of simple sugars are often tolerated better by some athletes, though others may prefer more starchy items. Similarly dietary strategies can be developed to maximise performance in competition as well as in training. Dehydration through sweating affects performance and athletes are encouraged to replace fluid losses by drinking before, during (if possible) and after training and competition. In many situations drinks which contain small amounts of carbohydrate and sodium are preferable to plain water. Such drinks may be commercial drinks or home-made preparations.