3 more performance tweeks to increase your athletic results

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post on how important your nerve system is in getting you the results you want in your performance, on and off the field (or ice, road, trail or pool. . . . where ever your playground is). Here is the link if you missed it.

I wanted to finish up with some super practical suggestions that many times go left unsaid because people think they are just too simple.

Well, sometimes it is the simple things that people are missing the will give them their greatest performance enhancement.

Just like last post: Doing the work to free up your nerve system to power your performance is simple and makes total sense. However, most recreational athletes are missing that piece. At least at the level that we operate at within the walls of Lighthouse.

Simple solution #1 is to not just hydrate but to super hydrate. This is especially true if you dabble in distance events like Dr. Ken and I do on occasion 🙂

I picked up this little hint from a world class running coach that is training professional athletes today.

Super hydration starts the night before your long training day. Simply down a teaspoon of sea salt with a glass of water the night before. Yes, it’s a bit disgusting but you’ll be glad during your training the next day.

Then on your long training day, push your distance training into the afternoon or evening and hydrate during the day with 4 sixteen ounce glasses of water, one with 2 scoops of electrolyte.

This would be a minimum.

For every extra 3 glasses of water, have a glass of electrolyte (keep the 3:1 ratio).

Salt and electrolytes are critical to inject into your body before you do any kind of distance training. So when I say distance, I mean north of 2 hours on the road, 90 minutes in the pool, or 3+hours on the bike.

Solution #2 is to get more rest that you ever imagined possible.

When I’m ramping up my training, I will try and get at least 2 nights a week with at least 10 hours of sleep and add in some power naps on the days I can’t get to bed early enough because of other commitments.

If you look at pro athletes, they sleep and nap way more than your average recreational athlete. We need to take some cues from them.

The problem with recreational athletes is that we have families and careers that need our attention. Our training is not our full time job (like the pro’s), so we need to be even more diligent in getting proper sleep.

Our families and our careers are counting on us having the energy and passion to pour into them as well: Don’t sacrifice the most important things in your life for a better triathlon or marathon time.

Performance strategy #3 is to move away from the carbs and start fueling up on healthy fats.

This one goes against the grain (sorry about the pun. . . you know. . . carbs. . . . grains. . . .).

I can say from personal experience that when I’m missing my healthy fats (coconut oil, fish oil, and avocado are some  of my favourites) my energy and performance suffer.

In fact, my experience has been that I am far less injury prone when I keep my healthy fat intake sky high duing seasons of heavy training.

Yes, as an endurance athlete, there are carbs and glygogen loading but I challenge you to start adding more healthy fats into your training schedule; stay away from the grains and you will find your desire and need for carbs decreases dramatically.

[ctt tweet=”If you can eliminate grains completely, you will be avoiding many long term health disorders that plague North America today.” coverup=”096KJ”]

In fact, if you can eliminate grains completely, you will be avoiding many long term health disorders that plague North America today. Yes, I know that’s counter culture but many of our 100+Living Plan strategies are counter culture but they work!

That’s not only great for your performance, it’s much better for your long term health.

And remember, if you want to reach out and talk about anything you read in our blog posts leave a comment below and we will try our best to answer your question. I know many of the recommendations we give are against the grain but we would be happy to supply you with the scientific evidence to suppport our recommendations.

If you want to take it one step further, we also want to leave the door open for you to see either Dr. Ken or myself in our Kelowna office, Lighthouse Chiropractic.

You can reach us at info@lighthousechiro.ca  drken@lighthousechiro.ca  doctorj@lighthousechiro.ca or give us a call at 250-870-9136 and we will find a time to sit down and discuss your health concerns or how you can increase your athletic performance.