The Naughty and Nice List

Hey Just Tri Tribe!

He's making a list, he's checking it twice. He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice. 

All of us remember the lines from the popular Christmas song above. Lucky for you, I've managed to sneak a peek at Santa's list and it includes some hot topics, trends, and gadgets well known in the sports performance community. Let's unpack what falls onto each list together!

Naughty List

1. Low Energy Availability (LEA). LEA is defined as having limited energy available to fuel your normal body functions after the energy you expended through exercise is subtracted from your total daily intake. Put plainly, you're not eating enough to fuel both your training and basic needs. LEA is particularly sneaky because you may have energy for your workout, but your body doesn't have enough calories left over to keep your organ systems from working optimally. A staggering 91% of female athletes are not regularly eating enough to support both their performance and overall health needs. If LEA becomes a chronic habit and isn't caught early enough, it can lead to irreversible damage to your health and bone mineral density.

2. The Ketogenic Diet. The "keto" diet is extremely low-carb. It limits carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams/day. The majority of the calories come from fat and moderate amounts of protein. All of the diet's original effectiveness research was completed on obese men with and without diabetes. [The first red flag] It resulted in controlling blood sugar and shedding weight quickly, but what the research fails to show is how ketogenesis affects active women. New research shows unfavorable effects on muscle fatigue and bone remodeling after short-term low-carb, high-fat diets (in both women and men). The diet also reduces your gut microbiome diversity, which directly impacts circulating estrogens, immune cell response for bone turnover, and body composition. 

Nice List

1. Tracking your cycle. Training with and modifying behaviors across your cycle can be an absolute game changer. It stems from the saying, "you can manage what you don't measure." Start by tracking your cycle and how you feel in each phase in your training logs to what what works best for your unique physiology. As you progress through each phase of your menstrual cycle (i.e. menstruation -> follicular phase -> ovulation -> luteal phase) your physiology changes, impacting each of your internal systems... so naturally, in order to optimize your life and performance, you need to make changes that support your body's needs during each phase of your cycle. For example, during the first half of your cycle (i.e. menstruation, follicular phase, and through ovulation), your body is more resilient to stress compared to during your luteal phase.

2. Prioritizing protein and carbohydrates. The right amounts of these essential macronutrients keep your physiology work its best. Protein helps you build and maintain muscle which isn't just important for performance, but also for your health and longevity. Carbohydrates are considered the body's preferred fuel source. Carbs are necessary for high intensity efforts and efforts lasting longer than 45 minutes. Eating a balanced amount of complex carbs (i.e. vegetables, fruits, and grains) will also help in maintaining an optimal immune and stress response to exercise which can prevent you from slipping into iron deficiency and anemia. 

If you wish to avoid landing on Santa's naughty list, continue to work on understanding your unique training demands, menstrual cycle, and life needs.

Thank you for reading my blog <3.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!!

Yours in Sport,

Lindsay

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