By Brendan Brazier on September 28, 2009
It’s Meatless Monday! Learn why plant-based protein is just as great (if not better) than traditional protein sources used by many athletes. You don’t have to sacrifice results at the gym by going veg and Brendan Brazier is here to tell you why…
Having been a competitive endurance athlete since the age of 15, I found that – once I overcame the initial pitfalls –a plant-based whole food diet offered several advantages. Among them; I didn’t get sick as often, I was able to train harder, and I stayed light – yet became stronger. Clearly these are significant advantages when pursuing peak athletic performance. However, remaining light while having the ability to build muscular strength – and therefore functionality – was certainly one of the greatest attributes this novel way of eating bestowed upon me.
As endurance athletes, we don’t aspire to build muscular size (bulk), but rather to simply develop what muscle we do have to be strong, and thereby function efficiently. Building strength while not packing on bulk will raise strength-to-weight ratio. That’s good. And as a direct result, endurance will take a leap forward.
But what about strength athletes such as bodybuilders, can they benefit from a similar plant-based diet? Yes, in fact they can. While endurance athletes aim to develop efficient muscles, without increasing their size, bodybuilders are quite the opposite. In competition – since bodybuilders are judged by appearance alone – they train accordingly. Bulk, symmetry, and definition are the three visual points a bodybuilder will be assessed on. Since the way in which their muscles actually perform – their functionality – is not factored into scoring, time and effort will not be spent honing that aspect.
However, what builds efficient muscles in endurance athletes is the same thing that builds visually impressive muscles in bodybuilders: hard work.
Does More Protein Mean More Muscle?
Immediately following an intense workout, those serious about packing on lean muscles will down a high-protein shake. They know that to repair muscle tissue after breaking it down in the gym requires the rebuilding properties that protein is touted for. But what most don’t place credence in is the protein source. In the minds of many, quantity is the priority; the more protein, the better. But does more really equate to better results? Let’s take a look.
The way to add extra protein to the diet, while not increasing fat or carbohydrate content, is to mechanically or chemically remove the fat and carbohydrate component. What remains is called protein isolate. The protein has been isolated from the other macronutrients of the food and as such, its ratio has increased. Some manufactured isolates register protein content in excess of 90 percent. But once isolated, it is no longer a whole food and therefore harder for the body to digest, assimilate, and utilize. Plus protein isolates are inherently acid-forming. And with the onset of an acidic body, functionality declines.
It is true that when a traditional acid-forming post-workout smoothie that contains protein isolate is swapped out for a plant-based whole food option, muscular size loss is likely. Understandably, this will lead to concern for those athletes whose goal it is to pack on muscle mass. But, what is actually transpiring is a good thing. What they are loosing in size is simply inflammation.
Eat Plants, Work Hard, Build Muscle
Immediately following a weight training workout, the muscles will be broken down and thus inflamed. And as we know, acid-forming food creates inflammation. Therefore the consumption of a traditional post-workout smoothie that contains protein isolates will exacerbate the level and rate of inflammation. With inflammation comes size. But, with inflammation also come a reduction in functionality. As the muscles become less functional, their ability to lift weight declines. That’s a problem. Lifting heavy weight is what builds muscles strong – and big. Of course if the body delves into a less functional state, it simply won’t have the ability to work as intensely. And without the capacity to train hard, muscles cannot continue to grow. In addition to inflamed muscles not having the capacity to lift as much weight, more time will also need to be allocated between training sessions to allow inflammation to dissipate. That’s bad. Since intensity and frequency are the two prime components to a successful muscle-building program, inflammation can well become the greatest single inhibitor of progress.
Post Workout Plant-based Nutrition: Helping You Help Yourself
In place of isolates and acid-forming animal foods, there are host of plant-based options that will ensure inflammation be kept to a minimum. Post workout, excellent plant-based protein sources include: hemp, pea, and rice protein. And while protein is a crucial component for muscle repair and building, so too are essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), vitamins, minerals, enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants and a host of other nutritional components that can be found in a variety of plant-based whole foods. This being the case, the post workout smoothies will deliver greater results if it contains these components, not mearly protein. Additionally, chlorella – a form of freshwater algae – is an excellent edition to the post-workout smoothie. Due to its exceptionally high chlorophyll content, it’s among the most alkaline-forming foods available. Plus, its protein percentage is almost 70 percent, naturally.
So while plant-based nutrition won’t necessarily make you a better athlete, it will allow you to train harder, thereby making yourself a better athlete. And as all great athletes know, their success hinges on their ability to pursue it. With improved functionality and less rest required between workouts, success will be yours for the taking.
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By Brendan Brazier on August 6, 2009
A few decades ago endurance athletes were encouraged to avoid “gym training” for fear that they would develop heavy, bulky muscles. The reasoning was: extra mass without function will inhibit endurance performance. This makes sense. However, the reason “gym training” was adamantly shunned by the endurance culture was primarily due to it being lumped together with the body building culture. Of course the main reason bodybuilders lift weights is to build bulk. They also weight train for symmetry and definition, but the vast majority of their time spent training it to get bigger.
In the early eighties some endurance athletes began supplementing their regular endurance training with weight training in hopes of improved endurance. The results were mixed. While the athletes generally gained some strength, they also gained weight. Therefore their strength-to-weight-ratio showed only very modest improvements, and not enough to justify the energy expenditure in performing the extra workout. In other cases, strength-to weight-ratio dropped. Why? The problem was that these endurance athletes were doing body-building-style workouts, designed to grow muscle size with little or no improvement in functional strength. Of course this resulted in a reduction in the endurance athletes most valued attribute: strength-to-weight ratio.
When it was realized that various training principals and techniques could be reworked to make bulk-less strength gains, gym workouts for endurance athletes were revisited.
While gym workouts were being embraced by some endurance athletes, there were still those who abstained. While it was clear that a finely tailored weight training program could be implemented to build strength without an increase in size or weight, why would an endurance athlete need strength? And would a few gym workouts to achieve it be worth the extra energy expenditure? Would the “return” on investment be justifiable?
Clearly marathon running is an endurance event, not a strength sport. At least this is what traditional wisdom states. But is it correct? For a marathoner, what advantage is it to be able to lift more weight? As it turns out, it can actually be a significant benefit.
If, for example, two runners are completely equal in every respect except for muscular strength, the stronger will be faster over any distance. The lower percentage of maximum strength needed for each stride will translate into improved efficacy and therefore greater endurance. If for example one runner can squat 10% more weight than another, his muscles will not have to work as hard to move the body forward, which can translate to significant endurance gains. When muscles don’t need to work as hard, they also don’t require as much oxygen or circulating blood and therefore will not put as much demand on the heart, which in turn will lower that rate at which it beats. A significant improvement in endurance will be the result. Greater strength does equal greater endurance. Now commonly referred to as functional strength, properly structured gym workouts have been embraced by most all high-level endurance athletes.
While the focus for runners and cyclists will expectedly be the legs, gains in upper-body strength can translate to a significant performance advantage by improving muscle efficacy. Since the arms are used and upper body engaged, improving the efficacy by which they function will help. Each time muscles contract, oxygen and nutrients in the blood is needed. As with the legs, the arms will draw upon the heart to deliver oxygen, nutrition and remove waste products (lactate) so that they can continue moving fluently with ease. With this being the case, it makes sense to increase the strength of the upper body as well so that it doesn’t become too much of an oxygen draw on the system as a whole and increase heart rate.
Nutrition is a vital part of physical training. Of course what you eat are the building blocks used to reconstruct muscle tissue that the training has broken down. Make sure to consume a nutrient-packed smoothie after each workout. Quick and efficient recovery from each workout is key. The faster you can recover, the sooner you can train again. This is what leads to true gains and will improve your performance more so than any other single principal. That’s why I created the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer formula. I have a serving after each workout to reduce inflammation and start the regeneration process.
The following program is the one of my routines that I perform before I begin a more specific phase, one that converts strength into power. For this one, I perform it three times per week. It is extremely effective, but keep in mind that it was designed for someone who has been weight training constantly for at least a year. Tendons, ligaments and connective tissue need to adapt to a more advanced training program such as this, so not to cause injury. If you are new to weight training, I suggest a more basic program to begin with that will gently allow for your body to adapt. Then you can give this one a try.
This workout is for functional strength gain. It will keep you lean and will improve strength-to-weight-ratio and therefore efficacy, endurance and ultimately running performance as a whole. This is taken from my latest book Thrive Fitness: Mental and Physical Strength for Life.
Lower body
• Lunges: 3 sets of 15 reps
A good all round exercise that helps develop the stabilizer muscles. Particularly important if you periodically run on uneven ground. Also serves as a good warm-up.
• Leg press: 3 sets of 6 reps
This is an ideal exercise to quickly increase over-all leg strength without putting your back in jeopardy, as is common with squats.
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 6 reps
Strengthens the knee-supporting muscles, thereby reduce the chance of developing knee injuries. Particularly important if cycling is not part of your cross-training routine.
• Ball hamstring curls: 4 sets of 15 reps
Builds hamstring strength and efficacy while boosting abdominal strength
• Calve Raises: 3 sets of 15 reps
Strengthens them, and in doing so improves their efficiency with each toe-off.
• Crunch combined with reverse crunch: 3 sets of 15 reps
Strengthens core, and in doing so helps improve posture, form and breathing.
Upper body: 3 sets of 15 reps
Reduces oxygen usage of the upper body while running, thereby lowering heart rate and improving endurance. Also helps to maintain proper, efficient form, even once fatigue had set in.
• Incline Dumbbell Press
• Lat pull downs with lat row handle
• Upright rows
• Dips
• Bicep curls
• Crunch combined with reverse crunch
* Workout specifics: Perform lower body exercises two times per week, immediately following your hard runs. The upper body portion can be performed two to three times per week, on alternate days. Rest 90 seconds in between lower body exercises and 60 second in between upper body ones. You may choose to do abdominal exercise in between upper body sets.
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