Twitter feeding

I've done a few crazy things with my diet over the years. Made some big mistakes. Done some serious detoxes. And I feel confident that if a client comes to  me who needs to look at their eating habits as part of their fitness program then I'm well equipped to help them make the necessary changes. My training through the CHEK institute covers the essentials, and my Nutritionalist colleague Caroline at The Red Apple Clinic supports me in coaching clients who need digestive or hormonal diagnostic testing.

I integrate dietary coaching into my work as and when needed, mostly if weight or poor diet is affecting health, performance, or rehabilitation.

• For example for a moderately fit cyclist who is several stone overweight but wants to climb mountains for fun there is little point in focusing on increasing power.

• For someone who is always tired through lack of sleep and hormonal disruption, establishing circadian rhythms, blood sugar control, and hormonal balance should be the priority.

• For someone with lower back pain whose ‘core’ is reflexively inhibited by inflammation in the digestive tract a rehabilitative exercise program will be ineffective unless they eliminate the irritants that are causing inflammation.

In all this examples, addressing diet is essential in making an exercise program worthwhile in terms of time, effort and money spent.

Diet diaries are a common tool for assessing what someone is eating and beginning to see trends and patterns in order to make positive change. Some traditional ‘food diaries’ list or even weight food in order to look at the balance of calories, or the amount of each of the food ‘groups’ a person is eating.

I am not really interested in calories very much at all. I am interested in how much ‘natural’ food vs. processed food my clients are eating and in the balance of animal:plant based foods that seems to work for them. I am interested in when they eat, how they feel and what hunger or other signals they are receiving as a result.

Interestingly when I ask someone to keep a food diary they often immediately change their diet, presuming that we have a common understanding of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods and that I am judging them accordingly. In my mind I am not judging at all, but assessing; assessing what they are eating and how it might relate to barriers to their progress in relation to their goals.

At the end of the summer I began this process with client James Higgs (aka Empty cyclist) who was looking for a long-term solution to a weight problem that was preventing him making the progress he deserved for some intelligent training on the bike. James needed diagnostic testing to look at digestive and hormonal barriers to weight loss. But he also needed an easy way to convey to me what he was eating on a daily basis.

This is where he came up with the idea of the twitter feed food diary, the subject of this blog, and a tool that I now use with all my clients who want to look at their diet.

The first best thing about the twitter diary is that it is so visual. It sounds obvious but whenever I’ve had to read through written diaries in the past I struggle to get a sense of portion size and proportions of protein, fat and carbohydrate within a meal. By taking a photo you can quickly and easily see these at a glance.

Also you can get a sense of the time scale between meals and snacks very easily, and so notice any patterns that emerge from eating certain foods and what the subsequent cascade of choices and eating behaviours looks like.

The immediacy of the diary allows me to give quick and easy feedback in a busy day when I am travelling from one work location to another, or between appointments. By quickly scanning my clients twitter feed I am able to keep up to speed with their eating habits and DM a quick message of encouragement or coaching to help them understand their choices and stay on track.

Significantly, it becomes pretty easy for the person keeping the diary to start to notice these patterns themselves too, making my job a lot easier and giving my clients a strong sense of self-efficacy. The accountability of taking a photo of EVERYTHING YOU EAT AND DRINK aside from water makes you incredibly aware of what you are eating on a very regular basis, and that is a very powerful habit forming tool. Keeping this visual diary makes clients more conscious of their eating habits and the whole process becomes a daily exercise in food (and mood) mindfulness.

Naturally, given that this has worked so well for my clients I thought I would have a go myself to raise my own awareness of my current diet and look to makes some improvements.

Here are the key things I noticed for myself:

1. A lot of the food I eat goes straight to my mouth without landing on a plate.
2. If I don’t stop to eat a proper meal at roughly the right time of day, I am very likely to eat frequently because I have never really had enough of the right foods to last for several hours.
3. When you have to stop and take a photo of everything you are eating, you tend to want to make it look nice and fresh, and when it looks nice and fresh it usually is a lot more nutritious.

Because for me every work day is different, I can find myself with a changeable eating routine, grabbing food between clients and my own training, and not planning ahead for what I might eat for any given meal. These are aspects of my diet and lifestyle that I want to work on, and which the twitter feed will help me with. Like most aspects of fitness, planning and reassessment are the key to making steady progress, and so I will not only be continuing to use this simple idea with my clients in the future, but I intend to harness it to get healthier myself too.

Borrowing Belief

In some ways I’m a confident person. I’ve always made my own choices in life, and I’m certainly not risk averse, in fact quite the opposite. I’ve always believed that if you feel something strongly, you just have to go for it. And even if it doesn’t work out the way you imagined, you are diverted down a path of discovery that makes you more authentically you than you were before, and that ultimately that is the whole point. If I may get a bit existential for a moment; that is why we are here.

Reflecting over the last year, there have been plenty of times when I have not felt confident about my choices, and at times, perhaps even about who I am and what I stand for. And what I’ve learnt is that it’s at times like these when you lack your own self-belief that you need people around you who can carry your confidence if your bridge of life is crossing troubled water. You need people close at hand not to give advice or tell you what to do, but just to believe in you and who you are. Friends may do this, partners may do this, and coaches may do this too.

Through our physical fitness we can explore and test our own personal boundaries and build our beliefs in what is possible, first in the physical sphere, but then more broadly into our lives as a whole, so that we feel more fulfilled, more in control, or more accepting of what life has to throw at us.

This is of course why so many people set fitness goals as New Years Resolutions. In creating some level of transformation in our physical bodies, metaphysically we feel a sort of soul-deep affirmation of who we are and what we can conceive for our future.

Some of you have followed my weightlifting progress over the last couple of months, and just before Christmas I accidentally captured a pure example of what I’m talking about whilst training.

Coach Keith is a man of few words but vast experience and knowledge. He is a coach of the old school who keeps things simple, and only says as much as needs to be said. In the video clip that follows we are working through three sets of 5 repetitions of the ‘clean and jerk.’ The weight I am lifting is the most I’d ever lifted for only one or two reps up to that point. By the end of the clip you will see that I successfully lift the weight 5 times with only a minutes’ rest between sets.

In reflecting on the workout afterwards I noticed that what Keith says to me is nothing special. But because Keith is saying it, and I believe in him as a coach I have the confidence to do what he tells me. I borrow the belief that he has in me and as the session progresses I find I believe in myself too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fe_2-mZTMo

Dialogue:

Keith: “Right are you ready for this…?”

Me: “I’m not sure ….(laughing)”

Keith: “Right, lets go…”..

(After the first set of 5…)

Me: “I don’t know if I’ve ever done that much before”

Keith: “It can’t be that hard you’ve just done 5 of them”

Me: “I know”…(laughing)…”maybe I have…”

(Throughout the second and final set…)

Keith: “C’mon, really work hard…. Focus….You can do this Jo….”

(After completing the workout…off camera)

Keith: “That’s nowhere near the most you can lift…..no where near”

And there endeth Keiths input for another few weeks.

Very few people have the confidence to believe in themselves all the time. But if you surround yourself with those who do, they will fill in the gaps and you will come out stronger.

Getting sniffy about balls

Some people in fitness and sport get very sniffy about balls.

It’s a funny thing, but if you admit to training people with a Swiss Ball you are sniggered at, as if you don’t really know what ‘proper exercise’ is, and are resorting to this silly toy out of ignorance. I once attended a course run by a Strength and Conditioning organisation where the instructors openly mocked the use of the Swiss Balls for any exercise outside of ‘Rehab’. I had the gall to state quite openly that I used balls very effectively thank you very much, but would also like to learn more about how to properly and effectively use these bar bells too. Instantly this made me a pain in the arse. A pain in the arse who was going to ask questions and not just nod and grin and be in awe, which perhaps was the more expected response.

At lunchtime as we mingled one by one other participants gradually ‘came out’ to me. As it turned out some of them liked balls too, and used them often. They just didn’t feel able to say so in front of the slightly shouty instructor. (One of the two was very nice actually, and I respected him more for being less shouty. They just had a ‘good cop’/’bad cop’ thing going on).

Part of the problem with balls is that lots of people like to keep them in the rehab camp (if I may mix my metaphors, and I’m going to). They are bright and squidgy and sometimes soft and a little plyable. They are for the soft end of the exercise market. They are suitable for physios and therapists working with poor pallid injured people who need the kindness of their gentle curves.

Serious athletes on the other hand don’t need to f*** about with anything so ridiculous. No. Hard bodies need hard tools, preferably made of metal not plastic. Dumb bells, and even better bar bells, or Kettle bells. Some sort of bell that when you use it rings out “Look at me and my lump of metal”, “see how I move it, thrust it, swing it”, “I am strong, I am solid, I can break things”.

Well perhaps not surprisingly here is my first problem with this rather polarised approach to the use of the Swiss ball. I don’t believe REAL people belong in any one camp. However, I do find that a lot of REAL people start with at least one foot in the rehab/prehab camp, and need some tools that will transition them towards the more ‘hardened' end of the spectrum where some of them might like to be. What’s more some of them don’t even aspire to moving any kind of bell, but just want to be pain free, and energised and healthy going about their day to day life. I was most definitely was one of those people when I started to learn properly about exercise.

I am not naturally of a strong build, or what you might term ‘athletic’. I am not one of those trainers for whom part of their sales pitch is a chiselled, lean body that can perform epic feats of strength easily. But I am proud to say the body I have now at the age of 37 is probably functionally better than the body I had when I was 17. I am stronger, I have better posture, I am practically the same weight and I can do more with my body than I could then. I am very pleased about that. And a bright coloured plastic ball has had quite a lot to do with it.

One thing I say to clients in my coaching is that the people to watch are not those with the natural talent, but those who start out average and improve the most because of what they are doing. And most people I work with, to be honest, start out average. Here are some of the groups of people I mostly work who (with generosity of spirit) I put in this bracket:

• ‘Ordinary people’ for whom life just got busy and sometime in their 40’s or 50’s they realised that they have not consistently exercised since they were at school • ‘Ordinary people’ for whom a ‘wake up’ call comes in the form of an injury that forces them to look at this aspect of their lifestyle • Endurance athletes – usually cyclists/sometimes swimmers, who (aside from their sport) have not done any conditioning of any kind for many years. • Endurance athletes for whom a ‘wake up’ call comes in the form of an injury – usually incurred in some daily activity rather than during ‘training’– that forces them to look at the absence of conditioning.

Quite frankly, your average modern person is fairly out of shape in terms of what the human body is capable of. Most of the people in these groups above need to relearn how to move correctly. They need to learn how to breathe right and engage their core muscles. Sometimes they have to correct chronic shortness and tightness and poor posture at the same time. And often they need a re-introduction to exercise that makes them want to stay and learn more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPPuIR5-bo&feature=youtu.be

For me, this is where the soft colourful plastic ball comes in. I use balls as a handy stretching tool, to help people re-engage their core and learn to move better, and to build their confidence in that movement in order to introduce weighted exercise. Here are some reasons why a Swiss Ball is good for that.

• It moves in three dimensions, so that when used appropriately it stimulates the body's balance and reflexes, as well as stimulating metabolism, offering a BIG BANG of benefits • It encourages all the muscles of the body to work at once, helping to connect muscles in working ‘teams’ whilst avoiding overdevelopment of any muscles in isolation • It is very versatile in the right hands, and in conjunction with a fairly simple set of adjustable spinlock dumb bells can take a client from deconditioned to functionally effective in very little time, at home • It takes up very little space and can be used at home or outside, without the need for a gym • It is relatively unintimidating, but also fun to work with, helping to build confidence and develop positive feelings along with exercise.

Now, of course like any other fitness tool, Swiss balls or 'Stability balls' are sometimes misused and abused. They are not ideal for everyone, and they are not the only tool in the box. But they are definitely a friend of mine, and many others.

Chimps, Albatrosses, and finding Flow

I’ve been thinking about chimps and bananas a lot the last few weeks. Not actual chimps but metaphorical ones. With all the sport on T.V. with the commonwealth games, and having watched a couple of good BBC documentaries I have been reflecting on what seems to be a confusing dichotomy in what in sports psychology is called ‘Flow’.

Sensing ‘flow’, or ‘getting in the zone’, is what athletes strive for in terms of executing the perfect performance. According to all the definitions I have found, in a state of 'flow' everything happens easily, decisions are made almost automatically, and attention is focussed purely on the task in hand.  Distractions and negative thought processes and emotions do not interfere with the event. Time is not linear but instead action and awareness are immersed in the intense present.

I would say I have experienced what I would describe as ‘flow’ a handful of times both in and out of the sports environment, but in particular I’m interested in the role emotion has to play. I can see the benefit of learning to exclude negative emotions, but I am wondering if attending to positive emotions is part of the experience, and whether becoming more aware of these positive elements can allow you to access ‘flow’ more often.

‘Flow’ or ‘zone’ experiences are difficult to achieve for many, and often require some training and practice in ‘mindfulness’, an ability to observe your own thoughts and emotions as they happen in the moment. Mindfulness is practiced to increase self-awareness.

‘Flow’ in this sense does not only belong to the sports world but is a state of being sought through meditation and spiritual practice too, as a means of de-stressing and detaching from the mind clutter of modern life, or as a path to enlightenment. In the context of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for example this awareness of thought processes and the (often negative) emotional cascade that they can trigger is the essence of the work to change a persons’ mind set. You become aware of a pattern of recurring thought and you notice the emotion that is triggered. Then, by way of training and practice, you replace that unwanted, negative thought with a counter argument, thereby sending your emotions in a more positive direction.

In many forms of therapy developing a ‘watcher’ perspective of your own thoughts and emotions is the first step. The second step is learning to intervene early enough to change unwanted patterns, emotions and behaviours.

The ‘Chimp’ comes into this realm by way of the now widely known psychiatrist Steve Peters who revolutionised the psychological approach taken by British Cyclists in the run in to the Beijing Olympics and beyond. Peters was interviewed as part of one of the BBC documentaries that inspired this post called ‘Sir Chris Hoy – How to win Gold’.

Dr. Steve Peters has created and propagated a mind management model that has successfully been applied to sport as well as other fields. In the documentary Sir Chris Hoy references the benefits he gleaned from the approach in providing the edge he needed in his final few years as a professional cyclist, and in maintaining mental focus under enormous pressure.

In cycling circles at least the basic tenets of this model have infiltrated the vocabulary, and phrases like ‘caging the chimp’ are widely understood to be references to the chimp  that Peters speaks of in his model; your ‘emotional brain’ that can derail you if you don’t learn to control it (cage it).

This most basic part of the model I really like as it is something we can all easily relate to. Peters talks about the importance of self-awareness too and getting to know your chimp as a first step to keeping it in the cage. And so I have been reflecting on my own chimp who I will introduce to you here:

My chimp is motivated by play and curiosity. He wants to have a laugh and mess about and can become a bit over excitable. My chimp needs to be let out of the cage to have fun and explore fairly often, but it's important that the environment in which I let him play is a safe one so things don't get out of hand and he doesn't get hurt. Sometimes he may overstep the mark and poke a big gorilla in the ribs and then wonder why he is being chased out of the jungle when all he wanted to do was have fun and make friends. Cage my chimp too long and he will get depressed or become self-destructive. My chimp is sensitive but may seem aggressive and lash out because of the frustration of containment. He has many positive qualities associated with his personality but he can certainly derail me if I don't keep an eye on him. My chimp is a lively little fella and I am trying to find a way to manage him.

You see, the chimp part of the model is quite easy to get a handle on, but there are elements of it which for me are conflicting and frankly turn me off. I have read most of the book; 'The chimp paradox', but got lost somewhere between the 'planet of shadows' and the 'asteroid belt'. This may be my lack of persistence, or ironically my chimps' limited attention span, but there is something about the mechanisation of the human brain that Peters describes in it that leaves me flat.

Dr. Peters describes getting into the ‘zone’ as ‘getting into 'computer mode’ by becoming calm, logical and rational. He states that athletes don’t report a high emotional state during the experience but only start to feel any emotions after the event, when the realisation of what they have achieved starts to sink in. While there seems to be a lot of agreement on some of the aspects of ‘flow’, it appears that the question of whether positive emotion has a part to play during the ‘flow’ experience is up for debate.

Contrast Peters’ model with Graham Obree’s description of the flow state in conversation with Chris Hoy in the documentary:

‘I had the best computer in the world. The world’s most powerful computer…my own cerebral cortex which is tuned into every bodily function in real time. Even to this day there is no computer to compare to the human cortex…You can plug all the probes into every orifice you want and you’re not even coming close. And if you can tune into that ….from the sub-conscious to the conscious…I can feel it…I’m tuned in’.

While he too uses the computer analogy, I believe that Obree describes a very different experience. It is certainly one of heightened awareness but he also describes it as being ‘like an Albatross flying’. He seems to go into his emotions and emmerse his whole body and mind in the experience. In contrast to the more clinical ‘chimp paradox’ model Obree speaks about an elusive holistic experience where he is ‘hyper- aware’ of sensation and feedback from his body, but also is trying to find an analogy for the intangible emotions running through him which are distinctly separate from sensory information and feedback. Perhaps there is still no easily describable emotion there to speak of but there is certainly plenty of feeling.

I came away from watching that documentary wanting some sort of Q & A show where Peters and Obree go head to head to discuss and debate chimps and albatrosses from their own seemingly different viewpoints. Part of what would make that discussion fascinating for me is the fact that Dr. Peters is a psychiatrist and Graham Obree is a man who has wrestled with mental illness. And when Obree speaks about his 'flow' experience I am transfixed, but when Peters speaks of it I am left disinterested. Maybe thats' because I am naturally a more emotional than rational person. Maybe it's because my chimp is not in the cage. Maybe it's because I'm a bit mental.

I understand that the chimp model is about recognising negative or unhelpful emotions and choosing not to attend to them, but what about choosing and learning to attend to positive emotions in the flow state? What about this amazing almost spiritual connection between body and mind that Obree alludes to?

Running parallel to the Hoy Documentary on the BBC was another called ‘100 Seconds to Beat the World: The David Rudesha story’, a beautiful yet slow paced tale about the special relationship between Kenyan 800m world record holder David Rudesha and his Irish catholic coach Brother Colm. In it brother Colm refers to his religion as being central to his role as coach, such that for him, for some Godly reason he has been called to channel God through his work with young athletes.

We could of course rationalise his success with Rudisha very easily. Davids’ father was an Olympian. David and the other athletes who have passed through Brother Colms’ school have great genetics and a natural diet both in terms of food and early (often barefoot) running experience. But in this story what comes through the most is the importance of faith which seems to be a sort of irrational ‘flow’ in itself; Brother Colms faith in God and his calling, and David Rhodeshas faith in brother Colm.

I am not religious myself but I know that athletes through the ages have cited this faith running through them as a kind of transcendent experience. Most famously in the film Chariots of Fire Eric Liddel is quoted as saying: ‘I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure’. If this isn’t a description of the positive feelings associated with ‘flow’ then I don’t know what is.

Naturally as with all the interesting subjects I doubt there is a right or wrong answer to the question 'Is there a place for any emotion in the flow experience?'

But for me I think I can draw something useful from both viewpoints as I figure out for myself how to best channel my own 'flow'. I'm certainly going to keep trying to manage my chimp, but equally I am going to keep half an eye open for an Albatross.

Still ponds and raging waters...

Last weekend I went on a little expedition. One of my goals this year is to get some ‘Wild Swimming’ under my belt. I love swimming, and I love being outdoors, so it’s no great leap of the imagination to realise that swimming somewhere beautiful outdoors is the perfect adventure. (Actually the perfect adventure might be to cycle to a Wild Swimming Spot, swim in it, and cycle home, but that’s another project) Wild Swimming

1. Swimming in natural waters such as rivers, lakes and waterfalls.

2. Dipping or plunging in secret or hidden places, sometimes in wilderness areas.

3. Action of Swimming wildy, such as jumping or diving from a height, using swings or riding the current of a river.

 First stop Blake Mere, a deep tarn nestled in the peaks at the three Shires borders

On this occasion, and with very little encouragement, I managed to rope my favourite aunt Kate into the project, thus providing photographic evidence that I did indeed do what I set out to do, and also providing me with base camp in Derbyshire.

The weather was glorious, and the scenery fantastic. We really couldn’t believe our luck. Approaching Blake Mere along the Morridge Road, the panoramic view was spectacular and worth a stop to take in its stunning beauty. I had researched the swim spots beforehand and seen photos of Blake Mere, but didn’t actually expect it to look quite as inviting in real life as it did when we came upon it.

Situated right next to a quiet, but windy stretch of road, with a small parking area at the top, the tarn is easily accessible. I was pretty excited at the sight of this shimmering blue mirror reflecting the sky, and hopped out of the car eager to get my swimsuit on and jump in.

In a slightly surreal moment as I prepared to slip into a thin layer of Lycra, two fellas emerged from another car dressed head to toe as airmen, complete with leather flying caps with ear flaps and goggles. Evidently, Blake Mere is also an ideal spot for flying model aircraft, and in order to withstand the elements on this hill top, even if you are not getting into your toy plane, you need to dress as though you might.

Fortunately, having layered up over the top of my swim suit, once we had walked down below the ridge there was a little less wind, but it was still going to take a bit of momentum and will power to get in that icy water, and it would be important to warm up quickly afterwards. With the preparedness that only an infant school head teacher can bring to a project, Kate was poised and ready with towels and thermos.

Looking at a patch of water and preparing to swim in it are two completely different things, and as a qualified swimming teacher myself, and as the daughter of another, I could not help but start to do a little health and safety check once at water level.

The swim was something I was at least fairly well prepared for. But it had not occurred to me that getting in, and even more important, getting out, might need some planning. The blackness of the water close up is due to the peat that lines the tarn, and at its edges are mats of squidgy, mobile moss. Poking at the water with a stick on the brink of the pool revealed that it drops away sharply, which would mean I was immediately out of my depth as soon as I entered the water.

At the edge of the tarn is bench inscribed:

In the summer at Mermaid Pool - As the grass grows all around - I think sometimes I hear her sing - For the Mermaids home I’ve found

The poem alludes to local folklore which claims that a woman rejected the advances of a man called Joshua at the local pub on the high road. Being a bit peeved he accused her of being a witch and threw her in the Mere. Cursing him as she drowned, she got her revenge three days later when poor old Joshuas’ body was found scratched and clawed by the side of the pool. It is said that no animals will drink from the water because it is cursed.

Dipping my toe in the murky waters I could see why, and with the cold air quickly cooling my fairly naked body I knew that cursed or not, I’d better bet my butt in and out of this water sharpish. There was only room for one mermaid here. And it was going to be me.

And so with some mind over matter, and with the encouragement that only someone who wouldn’t dream of swimming in a dark pool of death can give, I went for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=095Cr7KMe1g

After a bit of vigorous kicking and doggy paddle to become accustomed to the water temperature, the initial nerves settled and I found the experience of swimming in this strange little pond glorious. With the sun shining and the only ripples on the water being made by me, I emersed myself in the experience and explored the space by swimming about and floating on my back looking up at the sky. Anyone who has swum in open water will know that perhaps the most scary thing about it is what you can see (or can’t see) underwater. It took me a while to get my head in, but when I did put my face under, it was so dark that I couldn’t see an inch in front of me, and looking at my limbs as I floated near the surface the peaty water gave them an eary orangey brown glow.

It was tempting to stay in longer, but after about 15 mins of swimming in the cold water it was time to get out by way of a slightly inelegant mud crawling manoeuvre.

1 down, 1 to go.

And so it was that after a hot drink and a bit of regrouping, we left Blake Mere for our second swim spot that afternoon. This was to be a small plunge pool, or series of pools and waterfalls called Panniers Pool, deep in the valley where the river Dane runs between cut-thorn hill and turn edge.

2nd swim location of the day – Panniers pool

This location was much less accessible by car, with the nearest parking a couple of miles away, so with a closer look at the OS map and with bags packed we set off an a fairly challenging walk that would take us up and down a few hills and along the valley.

As it turns out there were a lot of people out hiking, not surprisingly given that it was such a beautiful day, and we came across several groups of teenagers doing their Duke of Edinburgh award en route.

Finally after nearly two hours leisurely walk we reached the spot where the river runsthrough a small bridge and into pools of varying depths than can be explored by paddling. Close to the bridge where we sat and ate our lunch was a rendezvous point for the Duke of Edinburgh youf which made for excellent people watching. It’s funny what being outside brings out in people, and a man who was sitting by one of the pools with his teenage daughter had just stripped to his pants to take a dip, finding the cool water on a hot day rather irresistible. Even more amusingly he then struck up a conversation with another woman who he didn’t seem to know at all, chatting happily with his hands on his hips in his wet underpants ankle deep in water. Out here, in the open air, this seemed a perfectly normal thing to do, and I liked that.

The pool that I wanted to plunge into was a little further down the valley where it was deeper and there was more of a waterfall, rather than rivulets of running water. So we clambered down and taking a similar approach to outdoor nakedness as the man in his pants, I slipped into my swimsuit.

With running water and a rocky bottom, Panniers Pool was quite a different swimming experience than swimming in Blake Mere that morning. The water was fresher, and the depth variable, making it easier to paddle about the edges and explore its rocky corners. The waterfall created a fairly strong current that made it difficult to approach, but not impossible if you grabbed hold of some of the mossy rocks to one side and hauled yourself in front of the torrent.

The waterfall was so powerful that to stand in it I had to push with my legs and lean back against it, before being thrown back into the pool beneath. The noise in a waterfall is extraordinary, and with icy water pummelling your body and the sound of water roaring around your ears, all of your senses are bombarded at once. Refreshing is too clichéd a word to use. And actually, I can’t think of one good enough, so I just recommend you try it yourself.

And so with reluctance and with outwardly shivering limbs I dragged myself out of the water once again and Kate and I regathered ourselves for the walk back to the car, admiring from a height the pool I had been swimming in only minutes before. The two swimming experiences had been very different. The first needed a little more courage but was ultimately calming. The second had been exhilarating. I loved both and when we finally got back to base camp at about 9pm that evening I had that happy exhaustion that you only get by being out in the fresh air (and even fresher water) all day.

Awareness of process

Most thoughts and plans are in the future or sometimes thoughts can get stuck ruminating on the past. Often we don’t pay enough attention to the present. In my coaching I try to draw attention to what in ‘New age’ circles would be called ‘the Now’, where the ‘process’ which leads us to where we are going is taking place. Setting your self step by step S.M.A.R.T.  goals is important of course, but keeping a more subjective present time awareness on things like feeling stronger or more relaxed can be important too and make this process where we spend most of our time more enjoyable and meaningful in itself. When ‘shit happens’ (as it often does) and we are forced to change or re-evaluate our objectives, having the ability to accept the present can enable us to feel less frustrated and more at peace with the process, forcing our attention into ‘the Now’. When something gets in the way of our well laid plans and progressions, if we are not open to change we are likely to experience a lot of ‘failure’ and all the negative associations that go with that. Keeping in mind the touchy feely-ness of the subjective in the sporting/athletic context reinforces the value of play too which is easy to lose sight of when we make our leisure pursuits all about ‘hard work’ towards future objectives.

Sometimes shit happens and this is just part of the process, forcing us to pay attention in the present. I recently experienced this in a very physical way when I suddenly and unexpectedly went over the handlebars of my bike on a routine ride.

Jo: ..This is just fine...the sun is shining...let's stop for coffee...'

Universe: ..'I'm not sure you're paying attention so I might just give you a little nudge, or a poke, or a great big SMACK IN THE FACE to check....'

Jo:...'What the hell just happened?! What am I doing here?...'

Making plans and goal setting can be motivating, moving you towards something you want (in the future), or away from something you don't want (either experienced in the past or anticipated in the future). Training and practice create change that moves you in a particular direction by maintaining a focus on your goals and acting in accordance with them. But effective practice and training requires a present centred focus and often this concentration on the present is the hardest part.

When you set yourself a health and fitness goal it's easy to become overly focussed on outcomes and before you know it you are an obsessive control freak. What's worse, sometimes the harder you try, the less likely you are to achieve what you are aiming for, and this is particularly true if there is a skill component to the learning.

http://youtu.be/6ukxt4k9gb4

When you tighten your grip on the objective goal, you can lose sight of the process. The paradox is that you can achieve the result you were looking for as if by accident through process itself. Chris swam his first full length by accident.

I've been teaching Chris to swim for around 2 years now. He has just had his 55th birthday and when we first met he was terrified of the water. Having never learnt to swim as a child it was a brave and determind decision to make to try and learn. I have taught adults from scratch before and I usually have some success, but with Chris it has been a little different.

From the start it was obvious he would not be happy to just get from A to B. He wanted to learn 'properly', and I was happy to take my time teaching him. Though I am a qualified swimming teacher, Chris is the only swimmer I am still working with, largely because I don't feel I will be finished until he is. We are both happily working on the process. Several times in the past few months Chris has come close to 'swimming properly' for a whole length with rhythmical breathing. Several times he has set himself a target deadline and on every occasion it has slipped from his grasp. He would tighten up, lose the sense of flow and relaxation essential in swimming, and the whole thing would fall apart.

Then, something amazing happened. As if by accident and without intending to, Chris swam a perfect length of breastroke. It was a pretty exciting moment. It was achievement of the objective by way of process.

I've been dipping in and out of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching recently (as you do) alongside a book which I really love by John Heider call 'The Tao of leadership'. In it the author loosly translates the meaning of the poetry in a leadership context. I love the original poems but also enjoy the interpretations as they remind me of the importance of letting go of needing to be in control, both as coach and for me personally.

Here is an example from Chapter 29:

..'Those who tamper with it, harm it,

Those that grab at it, lose it.

For among the creatures of the world some go in front, some follow;

Some blow hot when others would be blowing cold.

Some are feeling vigorous just when others are worn out.

Some are loading up just when others are tilting out.

Therefore the Sage discards the absolute, the all-inclusive, the extreme'

Lao Tzu

The paradox of pushing

Leaders who push think that they are facilitating the process, when in fact they are blocking process. They think that they are building a good group field when in fact they are destroying its coherence and creating factions. They think that their constant interventions are a measure of ability, when in fact such interventions are crude and inappropriate. They think that their leadership position gives them authority, when in fact their behaviour diminishes respect.

The wise leader stays centred and grounded and uses the least force required to act effectively. The leader avoids egocentricity and emphasizes being rather than doing.

John Heider

Love that.

Awareness of process can help us understand how shit happens. Sometimes its painful. Sometimes its a beautiful thing. Either way change happens.

Road to the lighthouse

Mountain road with your seductive bends, you draw me into a place of reflection,

but also of Expansion

Hollow sadness within is contrasted with

Vastness, Worldy worn,

Weary rock faces,

Cracking Edges

and I rhythmically am climbing in a trance

pedal stroke after pedal stroke

tick-tock, tick-tock

Timeless Journeying

and with every metre earned

I am regathering, gathering,

consuming the ground metre by metre into

My Self, my Soul

I am not drawn in by others passing by,

I am alone on the road

in conversation with the Earth

All Elements are here with me

in communion, Wind gusting

Silver-green grass in gentle mounds,

Hair-like pulsing, earthy heart beat

Rock face, gnarling earth

Carved by Wind and Water

Resilient, Resolved, Resounding

'I am here, Solid, Unmoveable'

.....and then reaching a summit I begin to plummet and then...

Wow!      ...Ocean

Ocean and rock, deep and blue-green

and rippling with eternity

Shades of depth and beauty,

White horses where sea and rock meet

in negotiation, exchanging their energies

Air, now she is there

for she has taken my breath away

and all at once lifted me to the heavens,

Tears of pure joy well in my eyes

and I am one with the Universe

and what of Fire, I have been wondering about you,

and then there you appear

speckled light and shade in the valley

both here in nature

as in me,

Sunshine and Shadow

I wrote this poem after riding the road to Cap de Formentor in the Spring of 2008.  I thought I would share it with you here. I hope to go back to Majorca this year, as well as exploring some other spectacular roads with RPM90 ultimate cycling tours in 2014.

Tuscany in Autumn

My trip away the weekend before last with Rpm90 was not without its trials and tribulations.  First, and rather critically, my bike bag (with bike and all my clothes) never made it onto the plane.  I experienced one of those tragic lonely moments in arrivals at Pisa airport where all the other travellers disperse and there is only the scuffing whir of an empty luggage carousel to break the quiet.  This was not how it was meant to start. “There was a message”, said the nice Italian lady with a heavy Italian accent. “Your bag. It is at Gatwick”. Oh dear.

BA emergency pack.  There would have been more of an emergency if I had applied that comb to my hair.

A frantic few hours with Rpm90’s Nick followed where we went into ‘triage’ overdrive.

What do we need?  What can we do without?

It was all about the shoes.

We must find some cycling shoes, and we must find them within the next couple of hours.  A frantic tour of Pisa central followed. Well, not that frantic actually because once you turn into the streets around the student area you are not going anywhere fast.  A fleeting glimpse of the leaning tower was included as we rounded one corner, but we experienced an epic fail on this first phase of our shoe hunting escapade.

Plan B followed whereupon picking up Alun (our last client to arrive) we did a *slight* detour to a ‘Decathlon’ we had located on the trustworthy phone nav. And at only our second attempt we found a store and bought the cheapest, only-one-size-too-big cycling shoes available, and headed at last to our destination, La Valais Luxury Hotel in Radda in Chianti.

The hotel for our stay in Tuscany is just fabulous.  Stone built, ornately decorated and just, well -  fabulous (and indeed this was the eloquent summary given by several Americans at reception on our arrival).  The food at the hotel is spectacular too (running out of superlatives), and accompanied by plenty of the local wine (sucks on teeth in Anthony Hopkins style). It had been a pretty exhausting and emotionally draining start to the weekend, so it was good to sit down to dinner (albeit somewhat underdressed) and meet the clients we would be riding with over the next few days.

Fortunately for me, Rpm90’s James is somewhat vertically challenged and so with the saddle shoved up an inch or so, his bike fits me rather well.  His cycling kit doesn’t fit me too badly either and we have known each other long enough to share a chamois (clean, obviously, and not at the same time). What James lacks in height he makes up for in shoulder width, so the 44cm handlebars were perhaps a touch on the wide side for me, but together with the dodgy new shoes I embraced the challenge and we hit the road.

Our first day of ‘orientation’ was pretty relaxed and allowed us to get to know the riders and for us to settle back onto our bikes (or someone else’s).  Most of the roads around Radda are smooth and well maintained, an instant and welcome contrast for me from many of my regular roads in Kent.  First impressions for clients who are new to Tuscany are of the unending nature of the hills, of which there are many.  The terrain is constantly up and down, and even the valley roads have that relentless rolling aspect that make for great training.  Not always steep, but rarely flat, for those who weren’t expecting it, the opening day, with its 7km ‘tester’ climb offered a nice little nibble at the main days activities for Saturday.

Demon descending buddy on day 1: Alun

The Rpm90 trip to Tuscany is all about experiencing this undulating terrain, but in particular taking in some of the Strada Bianchi (white roads) that make up the route for the classic L’Eroica’ ride (that took place the weekend before our trip), and the neo-classic race (also called Strada Bianchi) that is part of the UCI pro calendar in spring.  Having had a little taste of the Strada on the Friday, our route for the Saturday was to take in some longer sections before lunch, and then we would split the group for the return journey, with the stronger riders smashing up more gravel and the rest of us opting for the more scenic but still fairly gruelling return.

When I did this same trip with in the spring of this year my memory is of the green rolling hillsides surrounding Siena, and the views of these afforded by way of being off the beaten track, or indeed on it, via the white gravel roads.  This time, now in October, the views were no less spectacular, but this time the palate was made up of browns, greys and even purples, with the fields that were glowing green in spring having been thickly ploughed since.

 Even the ‘white roads’ were a light brown, which mixture of mud and dust spattered us from head to toe as we munched our way along the gravel to our lunch stop on Saturday.  The weather was wet, but warm, and I rather enjoy the combination and the added technical challenge it brought to the already somewhat tricky riding. Our riders were adapting well, and though challenged I hope were enjoying the experience too.

Either mass murder was about to take place, or the restaurant had heard that we might be a bit damp and muddy.

Our lunch stop was at Lucmpemsi at the end of our longest section of strada for the morning, by which time one or two cleats had become a bit clogged up and mud had crept into every orifice.  Hot food on a wet day is always welcome, and the food here is particularly warming with my personal favourite cauliflour, eggy, omeletty thing on the menu once again.

Great wholesome food.  Gluten free.  Happy days :)

Having filled up on this hearty traditional Italian food, topped off with a quick espresso to avoid the post lunch slump we headed back in our two groups towards Radda.  My group was taking in more tarmac on the way home, with just one or two short sections of Strada to break up the rythmn of the black stuff.

What I love the most about riding in Tuscany is the views.  Obviously you get lovely views in lots of places you might ride your bike, but here you always seem to be summiting a hill, and at every summit you are rewarded with a 360 degree panoramic scene of hill top houses each serviced with a gravel road lined with cypress trees.  For me this gives you a frequent sense of achievement, and the reward is never too far away from your effort. The weather was changeable on the return journey but for me the moody purple clouds, together with the fresh air that you only get between heavy showers made the scene all the more appealing.  Largely we were riding on smooth, relatively ‘main’ roads, but there was little traffic, and this quiet luxury allowed my mind to happily wander.

As the day wore on, my legs were reminded that as well as being beautiful, the Tuscan terrain is what one of our riders called ‘fit-making’.  The constant hills, including some short sharp, shoving ones on the Strada tests the legs and builds of progressive sort of fatigue. Coming into Pianella, only 20Km or so from our Hotel mostly along a valley, my little cohort of pedalling adventurers settled in line behind me and we tapped out the route at a very constant tempo.  Feeling the fatigue in my legs and knowing that we were all suffering, I was careful to maintain a constant pressure on the pedals for my own sake as much as everyone else’s, and we fell into the sort of amicable silence you get when both the brain and legs are numbed by the physical challenge. Luckily, both groups ended up coming into Radda at the same time in the sunshine, so we were able to appreciate some smug group satisfaction and fight over the food in the local supermarket.

For the final day of riding I was at last reunited with my own bike that had arrived by courier from Pisa on Saturday afternoon.  This allowed James to finally get on the road himself and we all rode steadily with tired but happy legs into Siena for coffee in the famous Piazza del campo on Sunday morning.  The Autumn sun was a little warmer on the face and shoulders than in the spring, and just warm enough to make it comfortable to sit out in the fresh air without any chill at the edges.

Sitting back in the square I felt a sense of happy symmetry with these two trips that have book ended my summer season.  In the spring it had been a bit colder, and I had been a bit less fit.  The routes and roads had been new and challenging and working with the Rpm90 boys was still a relatively new experience.  This time around I was in a more confident place, and in spite of the drama of the bike bag I felt content in the knowledge that the trip had gone well, and everyone including me had enjoyed a unique riding experience.

I hope to be back for more in Spring 2014.  If you fancy a piece of the action check it out at http://www.rpm90.com/packages/tuscanycycling-2014/

Discomfort and Failure

One of my regular personal training clients is approaching his first ‘birthday’ training with me.  When he came to me for our initial consultation last year he sat down (carefully) opposite me and I listened to the story that had got him to where he was. It was a story that had included a lot of long working hours, some bodily neglect, a busy family life, and then twice in the previous 18 months a bout of horrendous back pain.  The second of which culminated in being nursed inch by inch down the stairs by paramedics, and spending the next several months living, working and closely following the cricket laid flat on his living room floor. When we met, he was back at work and on his feet, but had narrowly avoided spinal surgery for a significant disc injury. Though I make a point of trying to be non-judgemental, sat opposite me that day I saw an overweight man in a suit with a fairly broken body.

Rightly or wrongly, I told my client exactly that last week.  I told him because I was struck by the fact that it’s not who I see anymore.  Now I see a generally fit and healthy man with a young family.  I see a man who is a stone and a half lighter than he was then, exercising regularly (both within our training sessions and independently) and enjoying life.  He has not spent this summer on the floor but lifting and carrying logs and riding bikes with his young family in France. This pleases me enormously.

Pain and discomfort often send people in my direction.  All motivation is fundamentally driving you towards something you want or away from something you don’t want.  Sometimes it’s both.

Chronic pain and discomfort is not normal.  This is something not always recognised by the general population, and especially amongst sports people for whom pain can become ‘normalised’.  In my favoured sport of cycling generalised back ache is often considered ‘normal’.  Really this just means that back ache is common, but it should not be expected, anticipated or accepted as a by-product of being a cyclist. Distinguishing what is normal ‘healthy’ discomfort associated with exercise and what is not seems just as difficult for a competitive sportsperson as for someone who has never engaged in physical training, but for different reasons.  The glorification of suffering that is celebrated in sport is not always healthy and needs to be placed firmly in context.  I believe that feeling happy, well, pain free and energised in general is what we should expect, even amidst the specific identifiable fatigue caused by training.

I had an interesting discussion recently with another personal training client of mine about the acute discomfort that is necessary to create the ‘overload’ required for adaptation. She reminded me that breathing and sweating heavily are not ‘normal’ experiences for some people. That the ‘pain’ of the final few repetitions of a strengthening exercise seems unnatural and avoidable in the logical mind of many. Surrounded by the ‘training’ environment as I grew up, the discomfort of training and the camaraderie of surviving it was celebrated.  If you made it through ‘hell week’ in my swim squad you were rewarded with a swimming hat that said so. But without the obvious ‘carrot’ of improved sports performance it can sometimes be more difficult to reframe this discomfort as something positive.

All discomfort and pain can be meaningful and purposeful.  To consciously inflict acute discomfort by way of training you have to be motivated by a belief and understanding of the long-term benefits. To sub-consciously find yourself in chronic pain and discomfort often forces you to self-reflect on why and how you have got there.

Interestingly, simply taking on board this basic training principle of ‘overload’ and trying it for a few weeks can be enough to keep the motivation train rolling. The benefits in the body and mind are normally enough to speak volumes.  I suppose this is where the supportive relationship of a trainer is most helpful to the beginner, in reassuring them that in this context this short lived, acute discomfort is normal and safe, and that there will be a pay-off.  Happily my client now understands that the level of discomfort we are talking about is reasonable and manageable, and leaves her feeling better long-term and looking forward to exercise and not dreading it.

Failure is important and should not be avoided. It sets a boundary that can be tested in the future to measure progress.  Unless you are willing to fail, you will never know what you can achieve.

I have been checking my own boundaries in relation to training discomfort and ‘failure’ recently.  Often in my gym training in particular I will stay in my comfort zone, or at the most will push the envelope at the edges of it.  As an ‘endurance athlete’ I am not strictly built for strength, though I enjoy staying in overall physical condition and applying what I know to my own fitness training. On my bike, my leg strength rather than my cardio-vascular system is often a limiter. It has been a long time since I have really tested my strength by pushing the boundaries of what I can achieve in the gym, and I have rarely pushed myself to the point of failure.  So my new autumn mission, in the gym at least, is to do exactly that….

To fail.

Over and over again.

Brilliant :)

Isolated hamstring stretch at the knee

How to do this stretch:

Practice without the strap first as follows:

Lay flat on your back with your left leg straight along the floor and your right leg bent and relaxed, grasping your right hand behind your knee and holding your thigh vertical (see below under ‘TESTING YOUR OWN HAMSTRINGS AND LEARNING HOW TO STRETCH THEM EFFECTIVELY)

Slide your left hand under your lower back and then slowly straighten your right leg upwards just to the point you feel your back start to press down on your hand.  At this point focus on arching your lower back to maintain the space and you should feel the stretch shift into the area of your hamstrings behind your knee.

Hold this for a couple of seconds and then relax your leg back down, repeating on and off in time with your breathing, breathing out as you strighten your leg up, in as you lower your leg down.

Once you have got the hang of maintaining an arch under you lower back (this is essential), you can add the strap and increase the pressure or ‘pull’ on the stretch at the top of the movement by using your arms.  Move into and out of the stretch as suggested above and always maintain a curve under your lower back.

Be careful not to pull on your calf by having the strap too high up your foot.  Slightly more towards the heel is better.

To learn this and other stretches in my ‘stretching for cyclists’ workshop please get in touch to register your interest and I can keep you posted as to forthcoming workshops

Bike Fit Blog Part Deux

Finally I am getting round to the second part of this bike fit blog, and it’s all about the hamstrings.  If there’s one stretch I give almost EVERY TIME I do a bike fit or exercise program it’s a hamstring stretch, and there are two main reasons.  1.  If you have short/tight hamstrings the impact on your cycling is often significant.  And, 2.  I rarely see a rider who is stretching their hamstrings in the right way to make a real impact.

Tight hamstrings could be causing you…

BACK PAIN, REFERRED LEG PAIN, DISCOMFORT, POOR POSITION, POOR AERODYNAMICS, and NECK PAIN

So read on…!

‘FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY’

Understanding where your hamstrings are and what they do when you are on the bike can help you get to grips with looking after them.  The hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh originate at the base of your pelvis and then run down the back of your leg to cross the knee joint.  They are extensors at the hip (meaning that they contribute to straightening your leg on the down stroke), and they are flexors at the knee (meaning that they bend your knee on the upstroke).

Imagine you are on your bike and think about these muscles and what they are doing.  The pelvis end is constantly being stretched as you bend forwards to reach for the bars.  The knee end on the other hand, is never stretched while you are sat in the saddle as your knee is constantly bent and circling.  This combination can lead to tightness in the ‘lower hamstring’ at the knee, but actually good flexibility but often weakness in the ‘upper’ hamstring at the hip.  Effectively in terms of how the muscle functions, the ‘upper’ hamstrings work with the gluts, and the ‘lower’ hamstrings work with the calves.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN???

So what? – you might think.  Well, the important point is that wherever your hamstrings are short, upper or lower, you will encounter problems.  As you reach for the pedal shortened hamstrings will pull down on the back of your pelvis and round your lower back, tucking your tail under and at the very least giving you a rather ugly position.  This can have knock on effects up the whole of your spine leading to a more ‘rounded’ upper back (and moving you away from the more desirable ‘flat back’), and maybe even giving you a pain in the neck pain by way of compensation.  The tighter your hamstrings, the greater the impact and the more likely you are to have a problem.

TIGHT HAMSTRINGS AND THEIR EFFECT ON SADDLE HEIGHT

The place where all of us start when setting up a bike is the saddle.  Most riders experiment with saddle height and there is a lot of debate as to what the ‘right’ height should be.  All these discussions are healthy and as with any debate there is no absolute answer.  The same can be said about exercise.  Debates come and go about ‘good’ ‘bad’ and ‘dangerous’ exercises, but the truth is that the answer is always relative to the person, their goal and the condition of their body.  The same is true of saddle height.

The height of the saddle in a sense is just a reference to take an objective measure of the bike.  The angle at the knee when the rider is sat and pedalling is the more important element.  In regards to this I would say that an optimal ‘range’ would be from 145 to 155 degrees.  This 10 degree band of variation represents a significant difference in saddle height and would feel radically different to the rider.  In general more traditional road positions will be more towards the 145 end and a time trial or triathlon position would be more towards the 155 end.

The reason for this difference is largely due to the trade-off between comfort and power.  At the lower end (145) there is less stretch and the position may feel more comfortable – especially for longer rides.  A lower position will also tend to support a shallower pelvic angle or more ‘sat back’ position which is more appropriate for longer duration, lower intensity riding too.

At the higher end (150-155) the greater knee extension (leg stretch) facilitates more power giving more range on the down and up stroke.  This higher saddle encourages a more forward position on the saddle and an increased pelvic tilt too – more appropriate for higher intensities and recruiting those important gluteal muscles (see previous bike fit blog).  This position is probably less comfortable (certainly until you really work at it), and especially at lower intensities.  Theoretically it will add to power at higher intensities where is may feel more productive – provided of course you have the flexibility!

SADDLE UP –POWER UP?

When I meet clients who have already had a bike fit it is far more common that their original saddle position has been raised as a result.  Higher saddle set ups are more fashionable at the moment, and I think one of the reasons is because of the boom in power measuring devices that are being widely used as training tools.  If a saddle is too low your power may be limited and moving it up in theory can help you get into a more powerful pelvic position to generate more force.

The only problem with this theory is that in practice this increased height may take your hamstrings beyond their comfortable range of movement.  The length of the hamstrings and your flexibility should be factored in when setting up your position.  You want to be sure that your hamstrings at the knee have a range of 150 degrees.  This will mean you can happily pedal away without any problems or tension being transferred to the pelvis, back and neck with a saddle height that correlates to a 150 degree knee bend.  If you are riding a higher saddle you need to be even more flexible. This is why I set this range as a minimum ‘ideal’ for any cyclist, and will recommend stretching for any rider with less flexibility than this.

TESTING YOUR OWN HAMSTRINGS AND LEARNING TO STRETCH THEM CORRECTLY

Then to use this same movement as a stretch, focus on arching your lower back and maintaining the gap underneath you as you straighten your leg upwards.  Stop at the point just before your back begins to flatten down onto your hand.  Once you have got the hang of maintaining an arch under your lower back against the pull of your hamstrings you can use a strap to add a little more ‘pull’ to the stretch (see below), but DON’T ALLOW YOUR LOWER BACK TO FLATTEN or you will no longer be targeting the key tight spot.  This stretch targets the ‘lower hamstrings’, the tightest part for many cyclists and can start to improve your flexibility and riding position.

COMMON MISTAKES

I am not saying that all other hamstring stretches are ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’, but most that I see do not effectively target the shortest end at the knee, and are not isolated stretches but ‘combinations’.  Any stretch where the lower back is rounded can be considered a ‘combination stretch’ and will not hit the tightest part of the muscle group or change the length of the hamstrings effectively.  Here are some common examples:

SEATED STRETCHES:

NOT ISOLATED ENOUGH

In contrast here is the isolated ‘lower’ hamstring stretch performed with a strap…

So there it is…simple but effective.  If the news on this test was bad, don’t panic!  With the correct, targeted stretch big improvements can come quite quickly and you will really feel the difference.  I have had numerous examples where this stretch alone has eliminated back pain completely.  If you would like to learn more about Stretching for Cyclists then I have a workshop coming up in September at le Beau velo in Shoreditch.  Places are limited so get in touch to book if you are keen.  Go to the workshops page of this website for more information…

Bike Fit Part 1

It's all in the hips! Having worked with dozens of riders I am constantly reviewing and revising the biomechanical aspects influencing performance, pain issues, and style.   In this first of several blogs on key ‘body’ elements of bike fitting I thought I would discuss one important measure that can affect your power and your back:  Pelvic tilt.

Pelvic tilt:  What is it?

I measure pelvic tilt both on and off the bike, as a key indicator of posture, possible problems and potential for movement.  The position of the pelvis tells me about the tension and balance of the muscles around it, most notably those acting on the front of the pelvis and those on the back – the hip flexors and quads at the front, and the hamstrings and gluts at the back.  I measure the length of these muscles too to identify any tightness/shortness that may be influencing the angle, and the potential for a rider to get into the ‘optimal’ riding position.  Importantly, if the muscles at the back of your pelvis – the gluts and hamstrings – are short, they will affect your ability to bend forwards and get into a comfortable or aerodynamic position on the bike.

These measures are precise to avoid guesswork, measured by my CHEK inclinometer specially designed for the purpose.  The great thing about taking this measurement on the bike is that we can change a bike position, either on your own bike or by using the bike fitting jig, and assess the impact of any changes on this all important angle.  It’s good to eliminate the guesswork because sometimes you expect one thing to happen and something quite different is the result!

What does it all mean??!!

As with so many things, there is no such thing as a right or wrong angle of the pelvis per se, but there are optimal ranges for certain disciplines and types of riding.  In essence, the harder you ride, the steeper the angle needs to be, and the more forward (or anterior) pelvic tilt you want. Traditionally, you would achieve this naturally by going onto the drops when you want to go hard, increasing the tilt on the pelvis by shifting forwards and down.  Sometimes though a poor bike set up, or poorly fitting bike can make this impossible, and equally sometimes the muscles at the back of the pelvis are so tight they will not allow for this natural movement.  Sometimes the bike is the limiting factor, sometimes it’s the body, and sometimes it is a bit of both.

In time trial terms, this innate understanding has been taken to the extreme and a lower, more forwards position is well known to be more effective for threshold type time trial efforts.  This is not only about aerodynamics, but also about getting into a more powerful position.  Top TT and triathlon frame manufacturers facilitate this with steep seat tube angles of up to 78 degrees, and forward sliding seat posts that can take a position even further.  On the bike steeper seat tube angles facilitate increased forward (or anterior) pelvic tilt and more power.

Tech talk

The UCI 5cm rule (which stipulates that the tip of the saddle must fall 5 cm behind the bottom bracket) limits this for some cycling events, but not CTT events (which are not governed by the UCI), or triathlon events.

The Adamo saddle has become popular amongst riders not only because it takes the pressure off your private bits, but the truncated front end makes it possible to get more forwards without breaking this rule.

For smaller riders, this becomes even more important as a steeper seat tube angle is essential for the bike to fit.  Emma Pooley (one of our smallest riders) has used the Adamo to get into the best position she can to essentially fit a bike which is always going to be less than ideal (More on bikes for the tall and small later on!)

Triathletes – Horses for courses

Many a cyclist or cycling bike fitter would look at a triathlon position and say – “what on earth is going on there?!!  That’s far too aggressive!” But aggressive angles and high and forward saddle positions are taken to their absolute extreme by age group triathletes (who are not involved in drafting on the bike leg of their event).  When you time trial and then have to get off the bike and run, an increased pelvic tilt and higher saddle keep the hip and knee angle as open as possible, making it more comfortable and less of a shock to the body.  Contrary to what you might think looking at this as a cyclist, if you have the flexibility and are in good enough shape, this extreme looking position really is optimal for triathletes.  But there is quite a big if in there….

A go faster position on a road or track bike

Putting the time trial/triathlon thing to one side, any rider wanting to go faster at times, whether that be racing, or just out on the road needs to get lower and push harder for all the same reasons.  So the same elements apply for simply getting down onto the drops and going for it.  If you have raced at all you will know that feeling of being on the tip of your saddle and biting the handlebars.  This is not just about trying to reduce your drag, but is how your body can generate the most power, and your power centre is your pelvis.  The difference on a road bike in particular is that the position needs to be more dynamic.  At times you need to be able to go hard, and at other times you need to be more relaxed and working in an endurance position.  This is naturally more ‘sat back’ with a shallower pelvic tilt to allow the more endurance orientated muscles to take over and save the power house that is your butt for when you really need it!

So why does an increased pelvis tilt help produce more power?

1. Critically it facilitates the glut muscles on the down stroke as you extend your hips.  Some of the most powerful muscles in the body and with more ‘fast twitch’ fibres, the gluts want to contribute more at higher intensities
2. Biomechanically it reduces the distance between your pelvis and the bottom bracket by shifting your centre of gravity forwards, meaning less power is lost
3. It helps you to get lower and achieve a ‘flatter’ back, reducing your frontal area and improving your aerodynamics

Next time…More about saddle height, knee angles, and what might be stopping you getting into your that faster position, and what you can do about it.  You must be on the edge of your seat

More from ‘The Feed Zone’

In case you are on tender hooks, here is my post-mortem on my diary free experiment.  Ten days on from my moratorium I have been dipping my toe back in the diary pond to compare notes on my bodily functions and how I feel about all things ‘cow’ – now.  But first some observations:

FOOD CONSCIOUSNESS

The first task if you want to change your diet is to raise your level of consciousness.  Food is habitual and ‘diet’ literally means ‘the food you eat’, so if you want to change what you eat you need to engage the brain a little as well as your will power.

So for the first week of my dairy free plan my main task was remembering NOT to eat dairy, and having got over this hurdle I have to say that I genuinely felt instantly better in myself.  My energy was a little better and my digestion seemed improved.  I was feeling smug and to be honest didn’t even find it that hard (except for the remembering part).

WHAT’S MISSING?

In preparing for this experiment I knew that this challenge would mean me getting plenty of alternative sources of fat in my diet.  I love fat.  I need fat.  Don’t ever ask me to go on a low-fat diet.  I would have to kill you, and eat you – for your fat.

So, in the knowledge that cutting diary would mean cutting a lot of fat, I prepared myself by getting other sorts of fat in the kitchen, such as a wide variety of nut butters, coconut oil, and Udo’s essential oil.  Coconut oil in particular is a fat I have wanted to include more often for a long time, but don’t seem to have managed it.  It is made up of Medium Chain Fatty Acids and is easy to digest – not requiring any bile, and also has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, helping to keep the bad guys in the gut at bay.  One reason I haven’t managed to get a lot of this lovely fat in my diet up until now is that I don’t really like the taste and smell of the oil for cooking, but I found that spreading coconut oil on gluten free toast turned out to be rather tasty, so this was at least a short-term and instant solution.

Another handy replacement for milk was coconut milk, which I gradually managed to manipulate into a new and improved pancake recipe.  My desire for a pancake breakfast was so persistent that I developed a coconut version using rice flour instead of buckwheat flour with eggs.  This lighter pancake was just as tasty, and of course – dairy free.

THE BLENDER VS DISC WHEEL DEBATE

In looking at other milk alternatives I entered into a debate in my household over a blender.  I had been speaking to a Nutritionalist colleague of mine about non-meat sources of protein and she suggested that a high quality blender is a great kitchen tool because you can make your own nut ‘milks’ fresh, as well as nut flours and all sorts of lovely soups etc.

This seemed like a cracking idea to me and already with a juicer now in the kitchen and with my hand blender having just died a death, I was keen to purchase said food saviour in spite of its heady price around the £500 mark.

My partner Kevin on the other hand put the argument that with this money, he could buy a disc wheel (which is not actually true when you check the price tags), an argument I naturally opposed due to my favouritism for the body over bike approach.  Short term the disc might make you faster, but think of all the extra training you could do and muscle you could build with all those lovely nutrients.  The debate goes on, but I did not get the blender.

CAUTION SUBSTITUTES

This brings me on to a warning about some ‘substitute’ foods that can be as bad as or worse than the food you are looking to eliminate or reduce.  Almond, soy and rice milk are some of these alternatives that are fairly widely available on supermarket shelves these days, but soy in particular is something I do not want to include in my diet.  Even the almond and rice milks on offer often contain a load of sugars and preservatives that I do not want, so I was mindful not to fall into this trap.

UNEXPECTED BENEFITS

And speaking of soy, one of the surprising benefits of eliminating dairy was that I instantly eliminated all traces of soy from my diet.  Probably the only soy that I would have in my diet ‘normally’ is that which is in most chocolate or ‘gluten free foods’ in the form of the emulsifier ‘soy lecithin’.  Since I am gluten intolerant and therefore likely soy intolerant I had removed these traces in one foul swoop, something that perhaps was a factor in my tummy feeling better.

I also instantly eliminated a lot of sugar, by removing deserts and chocolate from the menu, and I definitely felt the benefits without too many cravings or problems.  I made sure I had some dark chocolate in the fridge for a couple of squares after dinner, or tried to use fruit to satisfy any sweet cravings.

SO WHAT DID I MISS THE MOST?

To my surprise the thing that I missed the most through the whole process was a nice cuppa.  I tried to like tea black, I tried different sorts of tea, but nothing came close to your straight forward English builders tea with milk.  Although I don’t drink a lot of tea, this will be one to watch and work on for me.

So overall I have learnt a lot and won’t be rushing to re-introduce all those old habits which I have so successfully knocked on the head over the last month and a half.  I won’t completely eliminate dairy from my diet, but I am much more mindful of its effects and am still experimenting with alternatives that work better for me.

THE FEEDZONE COOKBOOK

So one final plug (before I stop my ramblings about diet for a while) is for a new book on the market called ‘The Feed Zone Cookbook’, the first food/cook book FOR CYCLISTS I have found prioritising ‘real food’ ideas and practical suggestions over ‘sports nutrition’ products.  Several of my clients (and their wives!) have been experimenting with in the pocket ‘real food’ for on the bike.  As well as a great common sense introduction to this book the recipes on ‘hand helds’ for your back pocket are particularly interesting.  Thanks to Christoph for sniffing out this excellent book.

Fellow fitness foodie…

In my experience, it is not often you come across health and fitness professionals who walk the walk as much as they talk the talk, so meeting Felicity Cole on an F12 triathlon training camp last week was a breath of fresh air.  Still in the midst of my ‘dairy free lent’, and gluten free as usual, the prospect of travel and a change of food was a little daunting, but both Felicity and the surprisingly food conscious nutritional approach of the F12 camp reassured me that the tide is beginning to turn for ‘sports nutrition’.

We are grinning because top triathlon coach Ralph Hydes who is taking the picture is about to get run over by a slow moving Spaniard in a van.  The gesture he gave as he passed was slightly different to the French one I am more familiar with but in a similar vain.

The short trip to La Manga on the Med in Southern Spain gave me a chance to sample what F12 have to offer cyclists, triathletes and fitness enthusiasts.  Felicity was our escort and guide for the few days while we were out there, and an elite duathlete and triathlete to boot.  Felicity is also a fellow fitness professional working as a personal trainer in London, allowing her just enough time to fit in her full training schedule around her work.

Felicity’s hard earned body turned heads from the airport to the treadmill in the gym at the La Manga resort.  She puts in two or three training sessions most days in each of the triathlon disciplines, as well as maintaining a strong body in the gym with strength and conditioning work.  She doesn’t rely on heavy carbohydrate stodge, gels, or ‘sport nutrition’, but eats clean, properly prepared natural food.

I mention Felicity in this blog because she too has smelt a rat with much of the marketing around ‘fitness food’ and has found her own way of eating in a more healthy and holistic way, whilst still performing to the highest standards.  It was great to be able to compare notes on our experiences and research, and to see another professional doing such a fabulous job of being a role model for other endurance athletes trying to eat healthily.

In the meantime my diary free lent is almost coming to an end, and I am looking forward to a big fat chocolate egg….or am I?  The results are almost in and I will share them with you very soon…

Food For Thought

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:   ‘Quick and easy’ foods can be ‘displacing foods’, meaning they take the place of a more nutritionally sound option.  Cyclists often include these with a view to squeezing in more training instead of prioritising eating well.  I see nutrition not just as calories or carbs, but vitamins, minerals, co-factors, enzymes and anti-oxidants.Pancakes. Buckwheat pancakes have been a breakfast favourite for me for a while, especially before riding.  I get through quite a bit of milk this way, and generally melt butter on the top and add a sprinkle of sugar or squeeze of honey.  When cereal and toast are out of the equation for breakfast (as they are on a gluten free diet) you have to get a bit creative with the options.  Like many people I find it difficult to eat meat and fish first thing in the morning unless I am really hungry.  I try not to get too attached to gluten free bread so my pancake discovery was a real winner for getting my day off to a cheerful start, especially when I am exercising in the morning.  Breakfast is the meal of the day where it’s hardest to include some variety and avoid the ‘easy’ options, so getting to grips with some alternatives will be tricky.FOOD FOR THOUGHT:    Most people eat a lot of the same foods, especially for breakfast, and sometimes even having the same lunch every day.  Gluten (wheat) and dairy are the two most common food intolerances in the West, partly because we tend to eat so much of them (bread, cereal, pasta, cake, biscuits, milk, cheese).  Though these foods are ‘convenient’, many people (including some top cyclists such as Bradley Wiggins) do better without them.  For cyclists these foods can become ‘displacing’, getting in the way of including more vegetables, and meat and fish, richer in vitamins, mineral and anti-oxidants.

Custard and cream.  I’m coming clean with the ‘pudding’ factor here.  Like many cyclists I like thesweet stuff and especially after hard riding or in the winter.  Cyclo-cross in particular seems to call for a roast dinner followed by a hot pudding.  Home-made apple crumble is a favourite, and what better to pour all over it than custard or cream    In fact aside from the dairy itself, I’ve noticed cream is often poured over the sugary stuff.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  Anyone else have a pudding problem or is it just me?  Most puddings also include both dairy and gluten.  If you know any that don’t include either – get in touch!  I’m all ears.

Tea.  I drink coffee black in the morning, but like one or two cups of tea in the afternoon with milk.  I monitor my caffeine intake and coach my clients to avoid caffeinated beverages after 2pm.  Including caffeine after this time can affect your sleep.  I’m never tempted by coffee in the afternoon but I sometimes sneak in a cup of tea around 4 or 5pm.  Cutting out dairy means losing the afternoon tea.  No bad thing.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  A cup of coffee (or tea) is never far from a cyclist but caffeine after 2pm can impair your sleep quality and recovery from training.  My record breaker for coffee consumption was a rugby player who was drinking 20 cups of instant every day.  At least if he was a cyclist it would have been decent coffee

Chocolate.  And last but not least, there is the queen of all dairy foods – chocolate.  I am not a chocoholic by any means, but I bet if I wrote down what I ate for a whole month, there would be fair few chocolate bars in there.  In fact if I get stuck for food out on a ride I have found that a Snickers bar hits the spot for me preventing ‘le bonk’ without causing too much digestive distress.  The Cyclists favourite of cake is out of the question out on the road or at races (because of the gluten) and most ‘performance bars’ are gluten based too.  The nuts in a snickers bar seem to slow down the sugar just enough to make it manageable.  See this is what happens.  You start to justify dodgy food choices because you are an ‘athlete’.