Improving Speed and Vertical Jump: Nutritional Considerations

Running (Speed) and jumping (Power) are skills necessary for successful performance in sports, and must therefore be prioritized during training. We have previously covered how to increase your speed and vertical jump through training (click here). However, much like the way you look, nutrition will also impact your ability to run faster and jump higher.

An article published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research studied the effects of a 4 week energy restricted diet on sprint & jump performance, body composition, and hormone profiles in elite male track athletes… the results were amazing.

A 25% caloric restriction (750 cal/day; carbs & fats reduced, protein held at 2g/kg/day) combined with regular training resulted in:

  1. Significant reduction in body mass and fat mass. Athletes lost about 1lb a week.
  2. Maintenance of lean muscle mass.
  3. Improved 20m sprint and countermovement jump.
  4. Unaltered testosterone levels.

How can this be explained?

Increased power-to-weight ratio. Reducing body weight while preserving muscle allows you to still produce the same amount of force but now you have less weight to move around, resulting in faster, more explosive movements!

Taken together, this research further supports what we focus on at SST: getting athletes leaner and stronger to improve their speed and power.

Are you in need of some speed training, or getting ready for your season and feel like you need that extra help….SST will be holding a two week Training camp for speed/power and strength

Please contact me asap as I can only take 10 players for this exclusive camp

Chris Anderi

Head Strength Performance Coach SST Burlington

MSc candidate, Physiology & Nutrition

CSEP-CEP

Chico7@sstcanada.com

A Glass of Wine a Day… Enhances Fat Loss?!?!

We’ve all heard the saying that a glass of wine a day is good for our health. After all, low-moderate alcohol intake (~1 glass) has been found to reduce the risk of obesity, type II diabetes, and fatty liver disease. What about fat loss? Can a daily glass help you lose weight?

This cannot be true. Wine is a source of calories and don’t you have to reduce your calories in order to lose weight? Yes, while this is part of the equation it’s not the only way. Increasing energy expenditure will allow you to burn more calories throughout the day. If you recall, we recently covered a 2 part series on brown fat vs white fat (click here to view). Whereas white fat promotes fat storage, brown fat is highly thermogenic, meaning that it burns many calories in order to produce heat.

Why am I referencing brown fat?

Studies have uncovered that daily low-moderate alcohol consumption increases the “browning” of white adipose cells in mice. In two separate studies, mice were fed a moderate amount of alcohol (8% alc) every day for 1 month and 4 months. Despite a higher total caloric intake, mice gained significantly less weight then their non-alcohol control, which was attributed to higher energy expenditure. In fact, after 4 months of daily alcohol consumption the following was observed;

  1. Reduced white adipose mass and cell size.
  2. Increased activity of brown adipose genes.
  3. Reduced blood glucose, triglyceride, fatty acids.

The take home message is that a single glass of wine a day may yield some very beneficial health outcomes. These benefits quickly disappear with excessive alcohol consumption, and become harmful to your health.


Looking to lose fat?

Personal Training Challenge 

The ONE Supplement I Recommend to ALL My Clients

As somebody who has spent many years studying exercise nutrition and human physiology, there are only a handful of supplements I would actually recommend to my clients, regardless of whether they’re elite athletes or not.

Recently, I covered how intermittent fasting can be a very healthy and safe method to accelerate your fat loss, and how BCAA’s can be taken while training in a fasted state to limit muscle protein breakdown. To read, click here.

In my personal opinion, I believe that Omega-3 fatty acids should be a staple in everybody’s diet. In fact, Omega-3’s are among the only supplements endorsed by the American Heart Association because of their ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack!

Omega-3’s, or α-linoleic acid, are a class of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are largely present in fish oils. The body is unable to synthesize it on its own, so it must be consumed from the diet. Now unless you are eating 6-8oz of fish every day, you are likely not meeting your daily requirements. The 2 fatty acids of interest within Omega-3’s are EPA and DHA, which are the driving force behind many of the health benefits of Omega-3’s.

Why do I vouch for Omega-3’s 100% of the time?

Omega-3’s are among the strongest dietary sources of anti-inflammatory’s, which if you recall from my previous blog inflammation comes from a variety of daily sources and can impair performance. Perhaps even more importantly, strong evidence indicates that Omega-3 plays a vital role in improving cognition, and may prevent the accumulation of Beta-Amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer’s Disease! This shouldn’t be surprising considering a large part of our brain matter contains fatty fish oils.

Those two benefits alone should be reason enough to prioritize Omega-3’s into your daily diet. However, it’s the anabolic properties that really seal the deal for me as my “go-to” supplement of choice (I strongly dislike seafood so my dietary intake is minimal).

Studies show that Omega-3 supplementation combined with protein post workout increases the anabolic response (protein synthesis rates) in both middle and older age adults.

In addition, Omega-3 can aid in the post-workout recovery process by directly limiting the amount of inflammation that occurs after a hard training session.

Lastly, Omega-3 also has fat burning properties which can help improve body composition. By regulating hormones like insulin and leptin, Omega-3’s will keep your metabolism highly efficient, promoting fat use versus fat storage.

Stop by SST today and give our Nutrition + Butts & Guts boot camp package a try! 

Chris Anderi

Head Strength Coach, SST Burlington

MSc candidate, Physiology & Nutrition

CSEP-CEP

chico7@sstcanada.com

A MUST READ for Young Soccer Players!

A Must Read for Young Soccer Players!

One of our fundamental values at SST is increasing strength and power. A stronger athlete will be able to produce more force than their weaker opponent. Also, strength training along with proper nutrition are vital for improving body composition by increasing lean mass and reducing fat mass. In the case of a soccer player, the result is a faster and  stronger player on the ball with a more powerful kick.

Don’t believe me?

A recent study examined regional & whole body fat & lean mass distribution on an unnamed English Premier League Soccer team, including all players on the 1st team, 21U, and 18U squads. Researchers found that players on the 1st team had significantly lower body fat percentage than the other squads, despite no significant differences in total fat mass between the squads! Interesting!                                            

The differences in body fat % were attributed to less overall lean mass in the 18U squad!

From a practical standpoint, this means that young soccer players who want to play at an elite level should be focusing on increasing their lean muscle mass by strength training and eating more protein, rather than training for fat loss by endurance exercise and calorie restricted diets.  

Come into SST today and find out how combining an individualized training program with proper nutrition can help you achieve your goals of playing at higher levels, regardless of the sport!

For more information regarding our soccer speed camps please contact us at sst@sstcanada.com

The Many Benefits of Intermittent Fasting (Part 2)

The Many Benefits of Intermittent Fasting (Part 2)

Intermittent Fasting is a great way to improve your body composition, as it’s proven to safely and effectively promote fat loss while providing additional major health benefits.

For a reminder on the health benefits associated with intermittent fasting, please click here for part 1

IF to increase fat loss is also enhanced by adding training into the mix!

TRAINING WHILE FASTING ACCELERATES FAT LOSS!

After a typical 8-10 hour overnight fast, our glycogen stores become depleted and we are better able to mobilize and burn body fat for energy.

Combine this with an intense early morning training session before breakfast and you can really tap into those fat stores!

After scanning the literature, I’ve derived two possible explanations as to why combining exercise and IF may be more beneficial than either on their own.

  1. Increased lipolysis (breakdown of fats) and fat oxidation (using fatty acids for energy).

Male participants consuming 0.8g/kg bodyweight of carbohydrate an hour before cycling had significantly less fat oxidation during the session. Researchers attributed this to the blunting of lipolysis that was caused by the insulin release. From a practical standpoint, this could mean having breakfast after your morning workout.

  1. Increased blood flow to abdominal region during fasting.

In a 2007 study, participants had a 50% increase in abdominal blood flow after a 72 hour fast. This blood flow was suggestive of increased lipolysis of abdominal adipose tissue (belly fat)!

However, if you’re looking to achieve optimal fat loss from training while intermittent fasting, you are more susceptible to muscle loss. This is because training itself is catabolic, meaning that rep after rep set after set you are continuously tearing away at your muscles. If not careful, you can actually start breaking down muscle to be used as an energy source!

This problem can be avoided by supplementing with BCAA’s during/ right before your workout. Leucine (the most widely studied BCAA) is well known to stimulate protein synthesis and reduce protein breakdown.

Because BCAA’s are already in their simplest amino acid form, they bypass the liver and enter the bloodstream directly. This means they can be utilized within minutes after ingestion, unlike other forms of protein like whey and casein.

For this reason, BCAA’s offer muscle sparing and protein synthesis benefits before, during, and after training!

If you are looking for an opportunity to put this theory to the test, stop by SST for any one of our many weekly Butts & Gutt’s boot camps (several early morning options!)

 

Say goodbye to boring diets and hello to tasty, fat-burning meals with our high-protein recipe cookbook.

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