Author: exercisedoc
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Should I Train Fasted?- The Concept of Periodised Nutrition
Should I train fasted? As with all nutrition questions, there is no simple answer, there is a lot of nuance, there are individual factors that need to be taken into account, and there is a lot of misinformation out there. With that said, we are going to look from a purely scientific, performance driven, competitive…
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Underperforming, Overreaching or Overtraining?
What are overreaching and overtraining? Overtraining is a phrase commonly used in competitive sport. True overtraining syndrome is actually quite rare, but the spectrum of conditions that come under the umbrella of unexplained underperformance syndrome can affect athletes more frequently. There are three main subsets of this syndrome. The first is named functional overreaching. This…
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Sleep, Recovery and Growth Hormone
Sleep is a basic human need. For athletes and those vying for peak physical performance, adequate sleep is one of the most essential factors in achieving that goal. Sleep may be the most important aspect of recovery due to its vital role in tissue growth and repair. It also has roles in neuromuscular performance, cognitive…
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Tackling Obesity- Does Calorie Labelling Work?
Two thirds of adults and one third of children leaving primary school in the UK are overweight or obese. People who are obese are more at risk of hospitalisation, severe symptoms, admission to intensive care and death from COVID-19. Not to mention the increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and a reduced…
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Altitude and Functional Fitness
Altitude is generally described as 1200m or higher above sea level. On ascent to altitude, atmospheric pressure is reduced, and therefore air molecules are more spread out than at sea level. This means that although the percentage of oxygen within the air does not change, the partial pressure is reduced, decreasing the amount of oxygen…
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Active Recovery- Aren’t we just Building an Aerobic Base?
Active recovery is a term which is popular in the functional fitness space. When competitive athletes are asked how often they train, a common structure appears to be ‘five days a week, one day of complete rest and one day of active recovery’. But what does active recovery mean and what is its purpose? The…
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Lactate Zones
Training intensity is often organised into three zones, allowing us to measure how much time is spent in each zone and therefore at each intensity. One of the most common ways to measure these zones in the lab is via blood lactate levels. Lactate is a product of the metabolism of glucose. There are 3…
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Vitamin Deficiency and Supplementation in Athletes
Vitamins are essential micro-nutrients obtained from the diet and environment which are vital in a multitude of processes within the body. These include energy metabolism, oxygen transport, bone health and immune function. Vitamin supplementation is common in athletes, but is it necessary, and is there any evidence that it improves performance? Many studies taking place…
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Mineral Deficiency and Supplementation in Athletes
Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients found in a variety of plant and animal foods which are essential for hundreds of biological processes throughout the body. Many of these processes are vital for exercise and athletic performance, such as energy storage and utilization, protein metabolism, oxygen transport, bone metabolism and immune function. Despite the importance of…
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CBD- The Evidence
What is CBD? CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is an active ingredient derived from the cannabis or hemp plant. CBD oil does not contain THC, which is the active component of cannabis that causes a ‘high’. CBD oil is legal in the UK provided it contains less than 0.2% THC. There is good and validated…
Exercise Doc 