"Lance isn't the kind of guy to talk about his feelings. Even if he is in a bad mood, you won't know why. It all comes out on the bike. That's why his ride tells a story, not his mouth". Quote from John Koroith - from Lance Armstrong's War, by Daniel Coyle
What up sports fans? I'm sitting here writting this tonight, with my shot of espresso, bottle of water, and watching my 2 roommates plan a trip to Costa Rica at the end of the month, where one of my roommates, Nick, will be racing. For obvious reasons, I won't be joining them, but I feel a sense of peace in putting in a very solid week of training including riding outdoors both days this weekend. And I am reminded of the quote above b/c, I understand the importance of channeling negative energy in a positive direction. Its one of 2 things I want to discuss. The first topic is just as important and the myths around it need to be put to rest - Heart Rate Monitors.
- Let me be the first to say it - being tied to your Heart Rate monitor like its got the cure to cancer is the worst idea for obtaining better fitness, health, speed, strength, fat loss, lean muscle building and any of the other "magical" things its supposed to do. You're better off taking diet pills that raise your heart rate and downing them with a Red Bull. Now I know I am a Polar sponsored athlete, and should be preaching about how HR training is the greatest thing ever, but I can't, b/c, well, its total bullshit. Here's why - your heart rate can be affected by a number of different things that can give you a false reading and leave you either stale or burned out. Climate, hydration, stress, diet, sleep, or lack thereof, and illness all can change your heart rate by over 20 beats!!!! Even time of day affects it.
When I see people married to their HR monitors, I cringe b/c they are not the end all of fitness. They are a chain, and can inhibit performance, and worst of all, rob you of your sense of perceived effort. If I tell an athlete to sprint 200 meters, should they care what their HR is at? Hell no. IT should be high, b/c its a SPRINT. But if they believe they are trying to stay in their "fat burning zone" they won't go all out. The "fat burning zone" is also a HUGE myth that HR companies want you to buy into so you buy more of their products. And if you wear a HR monitor when you are doing CF or lifting, you're an idiot. Simple. The lifts I prescribe are by definition an anaerobic effort. CF workouts are also anaerobic or at least close to it. But guess what - you are burning fat as well as glycogen!!! Simply doing cardio at 70-75% Max HR, which needs to be determined in a lab b/c the standard 220 minus your age is so archaic that its usually 75% off the mark, doesn't mean you are burning fat. In fact, its been scientifically proven that people who are HR junkies burn less fat than someone who goes off perceived effort. Google -"Effects of HR training vs. Perceived effort" and see studies which are proving the HR nonsense is wrong. Or I'll bring you the ones I have in a stack in my room. If you stay in that mythical zone, you are actually delaying the use of fat stores, taking up to 20 minutes to actually tap into fat stores when sticking to that level. You know how long it takes my body to kick into fat stores for training? 3 minutes and change. Why? Interval training, perceived effort training, GETTING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE TRAINING!!!! And the stupid calorie counters on the HR monitors - please stop looking at it as if its accurate. Its not. Why? B/c you really don't know your TRUE Max HR, therefore your zones are off, which means the number of calories you are burning is off. I know this b/c I have done true metabolic testing, in a lab, at the University of Chicago. Several times. I've done Lactate threshold testing where they prick your finger every 3 minutes as you sweat like an animal on either a treadmill or bike to find out how much lactic acid your body is producing. They then tie that to my HR, and even those extremely technical processes get me 85% accuracy of my HR zones! Even the 4 time woman's champ at the Ironman World Championships, Chrissy Wellington has said she only started winning Kona when she ditched her HR monitor and started to go off of perceived effort and other metrics to measure effort.
I'm not saying that HR monitors are bad, I still use mine when I ride, but I also match it with my wattage, cadence, and speed to determine my fitness or how my training is going. I stopped using it on the run, b/c quite frankly, its pointless. Time and distance are my friends there. And don't think I'm saying that using metrics to measure effort are bad. Quite the contrary. I'm a huge numbers guy. I mean major dork. I get tested anually on the bike and run for Lactate threshold, VO2 Max, Metabolic and caloric burn rate. I wake up every morning and use a pulse oximeter to really see what my resting HR is, plus my Oxygen intake. I hawk over wattage on the bike. I've got all kinds of numbers in my head when I train. But the more precise they get, the more useful they become. HR alone isn't precise. And its holding you back. If you want to get faster or fitter, train harder and smarter. Eat better. Drink less. For more on this, see me, and I'll be happy to show you where HR training alone has left a trail of broken dreams on race courses, in gyms, and in homes. People completely disheartened that they aren't making process even though they remain in their "Fat burning zone" for all their training. Its a lie people, so don't believe the hype.
Now, on to point 2. Look, we all have stress, or stuff that gets to us. We have tough times in our lives. B/c that's just how life works. You have 2 choices when something bad happens to you - 1. Sit and wallow, most likely getting sick, overweight, develop deep depression and a whole host of other problems or 2. Get up and fight back. That's right - I said FIGHT BACK. Take that nasty shit you are dealing with, and channel it into something positive. Am I pissed off most of the time? Hell yes. But where do I put that - in my training. The greatest satisfaction comes from taking all the hurt and making it into something golden. I've seen good people get hurt, undeservedly so, but they fought back, and made great things happen. Sometimes talking about it alone isn't enough. Sometimes you have to look inside yourself and find that thing that gives you a positive release. For me, its always been the open road, the beauty of its unforgiving quality, and the comfort in knowing its always there. At the new gym in Lemont, The Next Level, those 4 walls are the place where I can promise anyone who walks through the door feeling awful will walk out feeling refreshed and recognizing they are stronger than they think they are. In there, we are all family, which means we are all in this together. No one gets left behind. And at the end, its a lot of fun. A lot of laughs and positive energy.
Stay Strong, Guy
