Strength to Weight Ratio: Does Weight Training Make Me Slower? Pt. I

I am pretty lean. I make no apologies for this, nor am I embarrassed to admit—although I often feel like I should be—that my body fat has fluctuated between  approximately 6-12% the last decade. For those of you who missed my post: "14 pounds until the New Year," that may have been the only exception to my lean body fat percentage days. A quick recap: One year, I successfully put on 14 pounds between Thanksgiving recess and New Years. A healthy diet of Guinness, Bailey's and  a second dinner around 11:00 p.m. should do it if you are looking to build up an extra "base" layer this winter. That is one feat that I will be cognizant not to repeat anytime soon. I always thought that my lean muscle mass and strength were a great thing. I thought that until I started training for triathlons. I am physically very strong. Until my mid-30's I was doing four sets of ten repetitions of bench press at 225 pounds (102.3 kg) but usually weighed between 190 and 195 pounds (86.4 kg.) I did this until I reached the self proclaimed "age of diminishing returns." I am learning, however, that those diminishing returns might only be a temporary plateau if you can discover new and inventive ways to mix up your strength training workouts. Some "experts" in the trade refer to this as "muscle confusion," but that is a topic for another post. What I am trying to illuminate is that my strength to weight ratio continues to be very favorable. However, I can not help to wonder if my muscle density is actually making me less buoyant and having to worker harder in the pool. Of course, the silver lining come race day is that I am often sporting a wetsuit on the swim—the great equalizer—making me much more buoyant and reflective in my open water swims versus my pool swims (thus far.)


I recently saw some posts by some top triathlon coaches and elite triathletes about wanting to lose muscle coming into the next race season. I have had several fellow triathletes suggest that I ought to lose some muscle in order to make myself a more efficient swimmer. I have been swimming the last year with the type of religious fervor that would make the most ardent church goers blush. I have made fairly significant gains, but I always feel that with my core strength and favorable strength to weight ratio that I could somehow will my way through the water. Of course, performing well in triathlon is also about cardiovascular endurance, and taking inventories of your physiognomy from one season to the next so that you can make the required changes in form. Curious whether there is any validity to this, I asked a former world class triathlete and triathlon coach Chuckie V whose blog provides  some of the most in-depth, and thought provoking takes on training that I have read thus far. Below is my question and answer from CV regarding muscle density:


TDOF: I have a question about muscle density. I come from a strength training background, and it has been suggested by some that I should consider losing muscle in order to make myself a more efficient swimmer. Any truth to this? I have even seen posts by coaches who talk about losing muscle. Do I back off from the weight training completely? 




CV: "I suppose those suggesting this are doing so for a reason. If you're a muscle-bound guy up top but swim poorly, then those muscles aren't really doing much for you, at least not in the water. This doesn't mean it's necessarily the muscles per se, but likely a stroke mechanic issue or a lack of flexibility, which isn't all that uncommon in bigger triathletes (I assume you're a triathlete). That said, having more muscle mass doesn't always equate to poorer flexibility. The fastest swimmers in the world, those sprinting, are big dudes. Of course, they're swimmers (and likely grew up as such) and are therefore likely more flexible than you.

All said, there probably is some truth that losing muscle mass might help you swim better, but that shouldn't be your focus. Swimming should be. In terms of importance, the weight room is well behind sport-specific training. To be a better swimmer, swim. The muscle mass will pattern itself based on the stress it incurs and, of course, genetic predisposition.

Mark, without seeing you swim or seeing your build I really can't say precisely what to do, but the weight room is only barely related to triathlon performance, and even less so for bigger strength training types. My guess, however, is that you should back off from the weights and work on swimming and flexibility. Plus, carrying around those muscles later in the race can be hard work; it certainly makes your lower half have to work harder than it should."

I have never really thought of myself as some big, muscle-bound guy. More lean and dense. I know that when I had to stop weight training over the summer because of my shoulder dislocation back in March, I felt svelte, like a 17-year old Swedish tennis player. It made me feel a little faster, I have to admit. Maybe there is something to it. I do know that training muscle endurance—especially leg workouts—during a season has been very beneficial for me. Three to four sets at 12-15 repetitions a piece at a light weight kept my legs feeling strong late into my long runs last season (12+ miles.) 


Okay, more soon. Don't set your weights down just yet!

You Know Your A Triathlete When...

I somehow stumbled on a couple of different blogs and websites over the last couple of weeks that had lists of characteristics and personality traits that define the type of insane human beings that are triathletes. Thanks to everyone out there in cyberspace who helped contribute to the very amusing list. They have brought endless hours of joy to me and my training partners.  I have included my twenty-two favorite:




1. When asked, how old you are you answer 35-39.

2) When asked how long your training was today you answer: three to four
hours.

3) Your first thought when you wake up is how high your rest HR is.

4) Nobody believes you when you say 'Never again'.

5) You take part in the corporate challenge to improve your base speed.

6) You go for a 5 km cooldown run after a 5 km race just so that you can
call it a training session.

7) You consider work, regeneration time between training sessions.

8) You seriously consider applying for citizenship in Tonga, Jemen or
Tschad so that you can participate in the Olympic games.

9) Your wife/husband is not worried if you left for your run 2 hours ago.

10) You need a picture for a job application and you only have race
pictures.

11) That charming "cologne" you wear to work is chlorine

12) You take more showers in a locker room than at home—this totally applies to me

13) 6:30 am is sleeping in—amen!

14) The dog runs and hides when you get the leash!

15) You can't change the oil in your car but you can completely rebuild
your bike in 45 mins

16) You spend more $ on training and racing clothes then work clothes

17) You have trouble keeping lunch under 2000 calories.

18) You feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000
yards.

19) You refer to your “partner”, you don’t mean your significant other but the person you run or bike with three times a week.


20) You failed high school chemistry but you could teach a course on lactic acid.


21) You don’t find the word “Fartlek” in the least bit amusing.


22) You have a $3000 dollar tri bike on top of your $1500 car. 

WITH A HEAVY HEART

This week was brutal, not in terms of training, but some things more close to home. Alaina and I lost a dear friend, Brooke Paquin and her boyfriend, Tristan Hanna in a tragic car accident. Brooke was Alaina's college roommate for three years. The story—I will skip the grim details—was tragic to say the least. Tristan and Brooke had dated for over two years. Tristan had planned on proposing to her this very weekend. Tristan's sister spoke about accompanying him to pick out the ring. Tristan and Brooke had packed up his belongings in his car and were returning from a post he held as a visiting nurse in North Carolina. Anxious to get back home and start a new chapter of their young lives together, it was tragically and suddenly cut short. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families. Being a father, a husband, and a brother, I can not even begin to imagine the grief their families are suffering having to say goodbye in an unexpected and premature way. I only knew Brooke for a short time, but she was important in my wife's life, so she is important to me as well. Our last correspondence was about her coming for a visit to see the kids upon her return from North Carolina.

If if that was not bad enough, after returning home from the funeral, the wife of another close friend told us that her husband was just diagnosed with testicular cancer. He went in for blood work this morning, and by afternoon, his doctor told him that they had to perform surgery today. I drove his wife to the hospital tonight right before going to the gym to get in a swim. I felt guilty, as if I should be doing something more to help my friend. As morbid as it might sound, the age old adage goes, "things happen in threes," and my wife and I can not help feeling anxious waiting for the proverbial "other foot to drop."

When tragedies and life altering events like this occur, it reminds me that training and performing well in triathlon should always take second place to the people we love. It reminds me not to take for granted my relationship with my parents, my siblings, my wife, and my friends. It reminds me that every time I leave my house to go somewhere, I need to hug and kiss every member of my family because I love them and want to continually remind them of that. At the same time, it reminds me to make the most of the gifts that God has given me, and to use time wisely and efficiently when I am spending time away from the people that matter most in my life.

Now go remind someone how much you love them!

Manuel Calls Me Out

Training: I did an hour muscle endurance/strength workout this afternoon with Adam and went back for a swim this evening around 7:15. I jumped in the water about an hour after a pretty healthy portion of cavatelli and broccoli with some tomatoes with mozzarella (good fat,) basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I swear that I could probably eat that every day for dinner and never get tired of it.  I started swimming a modest warmup:

100 P

100 S

100 K

100 S

Then, I just started swimming with the idea of doing a quick 1000 yards and a 400 yard cool down. About 3/4 of the way through my workout, one of my training partners—Manuel (see Turkey Trot post)—sees me from upstairs in the gym and comes down to talk to me. I got to the wall and he taps me on the head. He is wearing jeans and a shirt.  He said "Hey, I saw you swimming upstairs and I didn't think it was you... you are totally dogging it. You must be tired." He went on, "You got to swim faster than this. I know you are swimming next to slower swimmers, but you have to hustle. Let me see you go and swim another 100." Now, if this is not love, then I do not know what is. I swam my last 400 yards much faster. It is true, I was pretty tired tonight in the pool. But, why swim just to swim? Manuel is right. I've been there too many times before. Sometimes feeling like you are tired makes you start your workout too cautiously, or pace yourself too slow. Pacing yourself slower can sometimes be detrimental. I have noticed that when I am a little tired from a long day, it will result in one of two outcomes:  1) It actually makes me more tired than I am. Psychologically I am spent. That  results to muscle fatigue and having a difficult time finding my wind. 2) I take all that pent up frustration and have a killer training day. After Manuel got in there and told me I was dogging it, I was motivated to swim the rest of my workout fast. Sometimes a little kick in the pants can go a long way.

The Skinny on Fat, Part II: Eat Fat, Get Skinny

A study published in the March 2008 American Journal of of Clinical Nutrition showed that medium-chain fatty acids actually help burn greater fat than long-chain monosaturated fats in olive oil, putting to rest the notion that all saturated fats are bad. The research also indicated that the consumption of medium-chain fatty acids (e.g. coconut oil) will positively affect weight loss and circumference measurements if ingested as part of a weight loss program. Obese participants who supplemented their diets with omega-3 via fish oil have shown promising fat loss in the clinical study. The effects are amplified when combined with exercise. This has to do with the improving the body's mechanism for the use of stored fat as energy. This is all proof that eating fat helps you burn fat.

The Skinny on Fat, Part I

If I told you that some fats actually burn fat and could increase athletic performance, would you believe me? I know what your thinking. You've been reading the labels of the food that you purchase for years, making sure you were not consuming too much fat—especially saturated fats—which many of us have been led to believe are as lethal as cigarettes and alcohol.

However, the truth is that some types of medium, or short-chain saturated fats that are found in coconut, palm oil, and even butter can actually be beneficial. They have a different absorption mechanism making them perfectly healthy. They are used solely for energy production because they are absorbed directly into the liver instead of taking the cholesterol route. More, they do not directly affect cholesterol levels, and may even aid in athletic performance because of their superior use as energy according to Jill Coleman who wrote the article Fat Science in the Novmber/December 2009
                                                                            issue of OnFitness.

Long-chain saturated fats increase the so called "bad" cholesterol and should be avoided as much as possible (sorry bacon and sausages.) I felt guilty for years cooking my "signature" shrimp scampi as I cut a generous portion of butter to be used in the sauce. Look, I have no delusions of my scampi dish passing on a low-fat menu anytime soon, but I am always careful to consider  the proportion of fats to carbohydrates when I am preparing the dish. Another type of fat that should be avoided like the plague are Trans fat or partially hydrogenated oil. Unbeknownst to many consumers, they are widely used in a sleuth of prepackaged foods like chips, crackers, and cookies. The detrimental health effects have recently  spurred a move by the FDA to require food manufacturers to put the trans fat content on food labels. My solution, if I were king for the day—not crazy King George III—would be to eliminate trans fat altogether. Trans fats are modified to remain solid at room temperature increasing their stability and spreadability for use in such products as margarine, shortening, and other vegetable oils. Studies have shown that diets rich in trans fats increase an individuals risk for cardiovascular disease.

Finally, there are unsaturated fats that can be divided further into monosaturated and polyunsaturated  varieties. Foods such as almonds, avocados, olive oil and peanuts contain  monosaturated fats. They effectively lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood making a diet rich in these foods beneficial. Polyunsaturated fats consist of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Since humans do not cannot make these, they can only be obtained through diet. Foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseeds and walnuts (and their oils), and oily fish like salmon, herring and sardines. Sunflower, soybean oil, nuts, seeds, some vegetables, as well as meat, poultry and eggs are rich in omega-6s. Both omega 3s and 6s are "vitally important as a structural component of your cells' membranes. The omega 3 fatty acid DHA plays an important role in both vision and optimal neurological function. Research has also shown that DHA is important to the fetal nervous system of pregnant women and an effective anti inflammatory for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Next post: The Skinny on Fat, Part II: Eat Fat, Get Skinny

Where To Find The Complete Plan

A few of you have asked where you can find the complete Ironman training plan Adam and I are doing. Listen, I am not going to give any of you my super-duper, top secret plan. Go out and find your own plan. I don't want any of you competing against me come 12 September.

Just kidding. You can find it here: http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/

Stay tuned for my upcoming blog post: The Skinny on Fat:

The good news: fat equals flavor, and many fats are good for us.

The bad news: Bacon is still not good for you.