If you work out first thing in the morning, chances are, at one time or another, you’ve been on the sleepy side and had to drag yourself out of bed with a little extra pep talk and motivation in your head.
Ask any person, who regularly trains in the morning, what their pre-workout routine is, and more than likely, you hear one of the more popular responses:
Drink coffee.
Many claim it gives them that ‘extra edge’ for their grueling workouts; But is it really all it’s cracked up to be?
Several research articles and studies in health and fitness publications over the past several years have claimed it’s actually a great enhancement to any workout.
The study evaluated the differences that 14 total participants experienced when they took caffeine (equal to two 8-ounce cups of coffee or 4 cups of black tea) and worked out on a stationary bike vs. no caffeine and a workout on a stationary bike. The findings? When caffeinated, the participants reported the ride as way easier than it was without the stimulant.
Health Magazine reported on another study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, coffee enhanced fat-burning in exercise participants. Researchers concluded “trained athletes who took in caffeine pre-exercise burned about 15 percent more calories for three hours post-exercise, compared to those who ingested a placebo.
[The dose that triggered the effect was 4.5 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight. For 150-pound woman (68 kg), that’s roughly 300 mg of caffeine, the amount in about 12 ounces of brewed coffee, a quantity you may already be sipping each morning].” Still, one more study foundcoffee before a workout increases an athlete’s ability to draw extra energy and enhance their performance, particularly during endurance workouts.
In addition to all this research, we also hear about the popularity of the highly-touted Bulletproof coffee and diet, claiming if we drink a quality cup of low-toxin coffee beans + MCT Oil + Grass-fed butter, our energy and superpowers will soar through the roof. The burst of caffeine and specific fats is supposedly the ultimate recipe to boost your brain and brawn, fuel workouts, and even shrink waistlines.
So coffee MUST be the pre-workout drink of choice, right?
While coffee is actually a very natural substance (granted you are not adding artificial sweeteners, sugar or processed creams and milks), it is one of those ‘gray’ areas as to whether or not athletes really do benefit from the Cup of Joe before a morning workout.
Much like our training methodology, caffeine consumption—and the amount of consumption—is completely individualized, depending on the client.
Take a few different scenarios into consideration here:
Trainee #1: Daily Exerciser. 40-year-old male. Training for life.
Works out: 6:30 a.m. every day, at least 5 days per week.
Primary goals: Continue to gain strength and fitness (for life).
Drinks: Coffee is a ‘ritual’ for him. 1 cup of black coffee on an empty stomach, along with water before his workouts every morning while he reads the paper. Coffee is a simply a part of a routine and makes him feel more ‘awake’ on his early mornings. Somewhat would say he is ‘dependent’ on wanting it, because he likes it, but could also easily go without it if not available. No more coffee needed later on in the day.
The Verdict? Neither here nor there. If he wants the coffee, drink the coffee. Not directly impacting from his gains in the gym—positively or negatively. And he is not addicted to the stimulus the caffeine gives him, as he is able to abstain if needed.
Trainee #2: Daily Grinder. 28-year-old male. Training for sport, competition, gains.
Works out: 5 a.m. every morning; trains at least 6 days per week.
Primary goals: Build muscle and strength; Make top 20 in the 2016 CrossFit Open
Drinks: 2 cups of black coffee + Pre-workout supplements + Protein powder, 1 scoop every morning before his workouts every morning. Hits a wall around 10 a.m. in his mid-mornings, and typically reaches for another cup of coffee or two at that time. And some days, on his two-a-days, he has more pre-workout supplements prior to his afternoon sessions.
The Verdict? Running off adrenaline. This kid is dependent on caffeine—and has become highly dependent on needing stimulants to get him going. Caffeine stimulation + heightened cortisol (adrenaline) from both the coffee and his tough workouts=not ideal for his body, his hormones and his long-term gains (read more below). However, in the short-term, the overstimulation from caffeine and adrenaline actually seemingly keep him going, and fuel the fire to grind it out in the gym day in and day out.
Trainee #3: Recreational Athlete. 32-year-old female. Training for local competitions; fitness for life; the ability to keep up with her 2 and 4-year-old children.
Works out: 8:30 a.m. every morning; trains at least 4-5 days per week.
Primary goals: Be healthy and improve her fitness for her own gratification and joy of training.
Drinks: 2 cups of coffee + Splenda + almond milk every morning with her breakfast of eggs and oats. Coffee is a ritual she’s been doing since her college days and has no idea what a morning is like without it. Throughout the rest of the day, she is also a recreational coffee drinker. May not need it later, but if she meets up with a friend at a coffee shop or drives by a Starbucks, a latte is never past her.
The Verdict? Walking the line. Primarily the artificial sweeteners are not her friend for a host of digestive health and general wellness reasons (linked with brain fog, nausea, cellular damage, metabolic dysfunction). On the coffee front, if she could cut back to one cup of Joe with her breakfast, and let herself become less dependent on needing the stimulant to get her going, she may be able to actually tap into more innate and raw potential in the gym, as opposed to hormonally, running (and depending) on coffee as part of her pre-workout routine.
In essence, for all of these examples, the verdict of whether coffee is really beneficial before a workout all comes down to a matter of your hormones and stress levels.
Since coffee is a stimulant, too much of it, and your system goes haywire.
This, coupled with the additional stress of a workout on your body, day in and day out, can yield some not-so-positive effects.
Here’s the main problem:
Coffee stimulates the adrenal glands, which means every time you drink coffee (yes even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it), you’re activating the body’s fight-or-flight response, releasing adrenaline and raising your cortisol levels (stress hormones).
Consequently, instead of JUST releasing adrenaline so the body can react to a natural true stressor (a workout, running from a bear, escaping a fire), the adrenals are forced to release adrenaline at a non-natural time, simply in response to your coffee consumption.
With repetitive stress, your adrenal glands start to burn out from overuse, which can lead to a host of problems, including:
adrenal insufficiency;
out of whack circadian rhythms;
fatigue
‘wired and tired’ feelings at night’;
weight loss or weight gain;
impaired ability to recover fully from workouts;
mood shifts;
low libido and plateaus in your physical training—just to name a few.
So to drink or not to drink?
That answer is completely up to you.
And it really all comes down to: Are you dependent on it or not?
If you only have the occasional cup of coffee, your adrenals will be able to react quickly and capably to this kind of stimulation. However, if you are consuming several cups of coffee each day, your body begins to have a weakened reaction to that caffeine (i.e. you need MORE to get that ‘edge’ or alertness). Some say their ‘tolerance’ has increased, or meet that need by upping the coffee consumption, but the truth is actually quite opposite.
Depending on how much caffeine you consume, it definitely can make you feel as if you have more energy, especially within the first couple of hours after consumption. However, once the effects of the caffeine have worn off, you’ll actually feel more tired than you did before you drank it.
If you’ve become dependent on caffeine/coffee, you may need to re-evaluate why that is.
Ask yourself:Does caffeine really give you an energy boost? Or is it actually leading to a more unhealthy stress response?
Ultimately, if you really want to see what your body is capable of (gains, recovery), but are also overly dependent on caffeine and stimulants to fuel your already-tough (and stressful) workouts: you may be blunting your optimal potential.
A couple thoughts to help you wean off?
One a Day. Consider cutting back to 1 cup of quality coffee per day—you choose when that is;
Water. Up your water intake—a natural energy booster. Especially first thing in the mornings. CHUG water (at least 16-20 ounces) in the mornings before you even so much think about drinking coffee. In total, drink at least half your body weight in ounces + 12 oz. for every 8 oz. coffee; plus additional around workouts on training days.
BEST Pre-Workout Choices. In fact, BEFORE you even so much as drink some coffee before a workout, it is IMPERATIVE you consume water. A second line of defense? Protein=a much better fuel source pre (and post) workout over coffee any day. Fortunately, for you coffee lovers, there are some coffee flavored protein powders out there. Lastly, if coffee is still in the mix, be in touch with timing consumption appropriately (after you’ve had at least 16 oz. of water) and depending on your tolerance, about 30-minutes before hitting the gym to allow time for the stimulant to fully kick in.
Digestive Dysfunction. Consider your digestion and the disruption coffee can cause to your GI system. You eat food and drink water to fuel your workouts right? However, coffee is a diuretic, meaning it causes excretion of fluid through the kidneys, which may lead to dehydration. Dehydration due to excess coffee may produce hard stools difficult to pass which may lead to constipation, in turn leading to a host of GI problems and discomfort that can impede your ability to feed your machine appropriately. In addition, when you drink coffee your stomach produces large amounts of Hydrochloric (HCI) acid. This overproduction of HCl is particularly pronounced if you drink a cup of coffee on an empty stomach, making first thing in the morning one of the worst times to kick back some coffee. Do this for long enough and your body’s ability to produce its own HCl may be reduced. When there is a shortage of hydrochloric acid for digestion, gas, bloating, indigestion, constipation and leaky gut can happen. Knowing this alone can help you with making decisions around how much coffee to consume, if at all.
The Replacements. Try Teecino—an herbal tea flavored like coffee (if coffee is more of a ritual for you)
Address Deficiencies. Speak with a nutrition therapist about amino acid supplements that can help give you a natural boost of energy if you’ve become dependent on caffiene. Often time, caffeine addicts are deficient in: L-Gluatmine, Tyrosine, Tryptophan, and/or Phenylalanine.
Just Do It. Quit cold turkey for 21 days; give yourself an ‘end’ timeline to remind yourself you can do anything for a short amount of time. By the end of 21 days, you may very well find that you don’t need coffee like you once did
Lyme Regis Sailing Club is the host for the 2017 Fireball Europeans and National Championships. Taking place from the 18th – 25th August with over 60 entrants registered including Team Allen sailors, its set to be an exciting event. The UK sailing hardware manufacture, Allen Brothers, is supporting the event as well as several Team Allen athletes attending.
10 races are scheduled to take place, spread out from Sunday to Friday with a Lay day on the Wednesday. Plenty of time to recover from the booze fuelled fun that will be had during the live band or disco on Tuesday night and of course the 3 days of sailing beforehand. The Club has hosted both events before, first in 1980 when the Fireball Europeans took place and then again in 1990 for the UK Nationals.
Liz Adams managing director of event sponsor, Allen Brothers, said “The Fireball Fleet is known for its close, tactical and fun racing and we are pleased to be able to offer our support for this event and we will continue to deliver high performance sailing hardware to the class by working with our Team Allen sailors. Developing and progressing sailing hardware will only continue to push the sport forward and help keep the class at the foremost of exciting racing.”
Team Allen’s, Tom Gillard is looking like the favourite to take home the title after winning 6 of the 9 Fireball events in 2016 including the World and National Championships, he has won the Worlds 4 times now, although he will be sailing with a different crew to last year as Richard Anderton is suffering from a knee injury. When asked about the event Tom had this to say “2017 has been a great year so far. I’ve recently won the Streaker Nationals and I’m hoping to get the Fireball Europeans under my belt as well. Having the championships in the UK is great for the class and it’s awesome to know that I’m not the only one that will have the support of Allen Brothers.”
Chris Birrell, Team Allen’s other sponsored Fireball helmsman, Placed 2nd in the 2016 National Champs at Hayling Island and 3rd at the 2015 Worlds. He is quietly hoping to take the top spot this time around “The nationals always offers great racing and combining it with the Euro’s will make this event even more exciting and give even closer racing for the fireball fleet”.
The Fireball was designed in 1961 by Peter Mine, with the help of the Norris Brothers, in a cold Sussex Barn. The Fireball was originally sailed without a trapeze or spinnaker. The trapeze was first introduced in 1965 followed a few years later in 1969 with the spinnaker.
British sailing hardware manufacturer, Allen Brothers, is continuing to supply high performance sailing gear to this internationally renowned class and will carry on its quest for development and improvement by working with some of the best sailors the class has to offer.
Mike Kuschner Named US Sailing Team Strength & Conditioning Coach
It is with honor and humility to have been announced as the Strength and Conditioning Coach of the US Sailing Team.
Over the past decade I have worked within the US Sailing Team organization as an athlete training in multiple classes of boats (Tornado, 49er). Over that time, my journey as an athlete has changed me forever. The US Sailing Team brings together the best sailors in the USA with aspirations for the Olympic Games to work with elite coaches, mentors, and support staff in order to have the best chance of success at the Games. Through my journey as an athlete I harnessed a passion for the strength and conditioning side of the sport.
With my education and mentorship from OPEX Fitness, I was able to begin a coaching career helping other elite level sailing athletes reach their full potential. Now as an OPEX HQ Remote Coach and owner of Sailing Performance Training, I aim to inspire sailing athletes through fitness.
The OPEX model of fitness partners well with the US Sailing Team’s need for a strength and conditioning program helping each Olympic hopeful by individualizing their specific training based on their position, boat, sports specific schedule, lifestyle, work capacity, and physiology.
We have a great team of professionals within OPEX and the US Sailing’s Performance Enhancement Team lead by director Chris Ellis that will aid in the development of each athlete’s progression in the sport of sailing.
Malcolm Page, the director of the US Sailing Team, has a great vision for the new culture of the team: “I’m definitely looking forward to building a strong team culture,” Page stated. “Only one boat [per nation] will get to compete at the Games, but everyone has to openly work together as a team to get there. That reality is hard to achieve, and it takes time to create, but in order to be successful that’s where we want to get to. The top athletes on the best teams in the world work within their programs to fix each other’s weaknesses and raise the collective bar.” Read more about the era of the US Sailing Team….
It is this essence of an athlete that is a requirement to succeed at the top of the our sport. From a strength and conditioning point of view, I aim to enable each and every athlete with the resources, awareness, and capacity to raise that bar for themselves and within the team culture.
Sailing Performance Training and the OPEX Remote Coaching Program for sailing athletes will continue to grow and provide great opportunities, education, and coaching for sailing athletes worldwide.
Source: Sail Performance Training
ALLEN BROTHERS SPONSOR 2017 FIREBALL EUROPEANS
Lyme Regis Sailing Club is the host for the 2017 Fireball Europeans and National Championships. Taking place from the 18th – 25th August with over 60 entrants registered including Team Allen sailors, its set to be an exciting event. The UK sailing hardware manufacture, Allen Brothers, is supporting the event as well as several Team Allen athletes attending.
10 races are scheduled to take place, spread out from Sunday to Friday with a Lay day on the Wednesday. Plenty of time to recover from the booze fuelled fun that will be had during the live band or disco on Tuesday night and of course the 3 days of sailing beforehand. The Club has hosted both events before, first in 1980 when the Fireball Europeans took place and then again in 1990 for the UK Nationals.
Liz Adams managing director of event sponsor, Allen Brothers, said “The Fireball Fleet is known for its close, tactical and fun racing and we are pleased to be able to offer our support for this event and we will continue to deliver high performance sailing hardware to the class by working with our Team Allen sailors. Developing and progressing sailing hardware will only continue to push the sport forward and help keep the class at the foremost of exciting racing.”
Team Allen’s, Tom Gillard is looking like the favourite to take home the title after winning 6 of the 9 Fireball events in 2016 including the World and National Championships, he has won the Worlds 4 times now, although he will be sailing with a different crew to last year as Richard Anderton is suffering from a knee injury. When asked about the event Tom had this to say “2017 has been a great year so far. I’ve recently won the Streaker Nationals and I’m hoping to get the Fireball Europeans under my belt as well. Having the championships in the UK is great for the class and it’s awesome to know that I’m not the only one that will have the support of Allen Brothers.”
Chris Birrell, Team Allen’s other sponsored Fireball helmsman, Placed 2nd in the 2016 National Champs at Hayling Island and 3rd at the 2015 Worlds. He is quietly hoping to take the top spot this time around “The nationals always offers great racing and combining it with the Euro’s will make this event even more exciting and give even closer racing for the fireball fleet”.
The Fireball was designed in 1961 by Peter Mine, with the help of the Norris Brothers, in a cold Sussex Barn. The Fireball was originally sailed without a trapeze or spinnaker. The trapeze was first introduced in 1965 followed a few years later in 1969 with the spinnaker.
British sailing hardware manufacturer, Allen Brothers, is continuing to supply high performance sailing gear to this internationally renowned class and will carry on its quest for development and improvement by working with some of the best sailors the class has to offer.
Allen Brothers Continues RS Feva Worlds Sponsorship
Taking place on the 21st to the 27th of July on the largest lake in the Netherlands, the Ijsselmeer, will be the Allen sponsored 2017 RS Feva World Championships. Allen Brothers is continuing its support of the RS class as well as several Team Allen Sailors attending the event. 153 boats are already entered and some competitors will be travelling all the way from China, Lithuania, Hong Kong and the UK.
Host club, International Sailing Centre Medemblik, is located in small picturesque town in the North of Holland. Medemblik is famous for its locally produced cow’s cheese and is surrounded by water which makes for easily accessible and competitive sailing as well as interesting cycling and walking routes.
Liz Adams, Managing director of Allen Brothers said, “We have enjoyed being linked with the RS Feva Class for many years now and are very pleased to be given the opportunity once more to sponsor the Worlds in Medemblik this year.”
Among the already entered competitors are Team Allen sailors Dylan McPherson and crew Dylan Collingbourne. Having recently placed 10th at the Nationals in Torbay Collingbourne said, “The Nationals consisted of challenging conditions, the wind was forever changing and we found the wave pattern confusing, however it was great practice and I feel we are ready for the big one, the RS Feva Worlds in Medemblik!”
McPherson then commented, “We qualified into gold fleet in the Feva Worlds last year and finished 25th out of 165, so our aim is to improve on that result having soaked up another year’s worth of experience and training.”
The Dylan’s are hoping that the conditions in Medemblik will suit them as it will probably be there last major event together in the RS Feva, Collingbourne then went on to say, “We are supremely confident that our Allen hardware is one thing that won’t let us down during the Regatta.”
Also set to turn up on the 21st of July for a week of excitingly close racing is 2016 Allen Academy Optimist winner Quinn Edmonds. Having only recently started on the RS Feva circuit Quinn and his crew Finlay Oliver have a steep learning curve ahead of them as they try to master asymmetric sailing before the event.
Quinn commented, “We recently attended three of the RS Feva South-West Open training sessions that the Class Association organises. These training sessions were really helpful, learning about spinnakers, downwind angles, boat setup and the importance of good communication between us – all very new for us Optimist sailors.”
With Quinn and Fin being so new to the class they are attending the Worlds with the outlook of gaining the experience that such an event can provide, hopefully this can help them improve the skills and knowledge the RS Feva requires to see them go onto win events in the future.
Allen Brothers, based in Essex, manufactures and supplies most of the equipment found on the RS Feva and play such an important role in supplying the best quality products for the sailors of the RS class. The company is continually developing and improving its products by working closely with Team Allen sailors and Allen sponsored events. Go to www.allenbrothers.co.uk for product details.
To find out more information about the RS Feva World Championships in Medemblik visit www.rsfeva.org
Pain: Is it all in your head? [35]
Understanding the Complexities of Pain
“Pain is never really straightforward, even when it appears to be.” – Lorimer Moseley
Pain is part of the human experience. It’s an issue that can throw a wrench in your clients’ training. Before discussing how best to approach athletes with pain at OPEX Fitness and within the Sailing Performance Training community, we need to differentiate pain from injuries.
An injury is something that disables function of the body, while pain is an experience. For example, a broken leg would be an injury. The individual can no longer walk on that foot, therefore disabling the function of the leg.
Pain, meanwhile, is an “experience” created by the brain. That’s to say, all pain felt is produced by the brain to encourage protective behavior. However, not all pain comes from injury. It is possible to experience pain without actually having any tissue damage.
“Pain is an opinion on the organism’s state of health rather than a mere reflective response to an injury.”– Ramachandran
You don’t need to be an expert on pain, but it’s important your coach helps you begin to develop an awareness of just how complex the topic is. A good place to start is respecting the boundaries of your knowledge and the ethical limitations of your practice.
If clients are experiencing pain, always refer them to a medical professional first.
If the athlete still experiences pain despite being told by professionals there is nothing physically wrong, then and only then can you make some inquiries into the following areas:
Lifestyle – How are they sleeping? Are they sleeping? Are they stressed out all day? The chaotic pace of modern life can sensitize the nervous system, which can cause the sensation of pain where no actual damage exists.
Nutrition – Are they eating enough? Are they eating poor quality foods? What they eat can sensitize the nervous system which can increase their perception of pain.
Program – Sometimes your previous or current programming could be at fault, and causing problems because your nervous system is overtaxed. This is often the case with sailing athletes who regularly engage in group fitness models.
Mental – Does the athlete workout with negative thoughts and emotions? Are they happy to be in the gym? Don’t discredit the emotional side of the equation.
Pain is a complicated and messy subject. However, sometimes a bit of life coaching, nutrition monitoring, and individual program design can make the difference in reducing the pain an athlete experiences.
Everyone has a different perception of pain, which stresses the importance of an individual approach to coaching.
First off, if you have never sailed the log canoes (feature image), which race in the Chesapeake Bay, you’ve missed out. I thought it also works as a great analogy for this blog of the balancing act every elite sailor deals with.
Every day on television and social media we see the achievements of athletes. From this distance, it can appear that a competitive lifestyle is exclusive. After all, many of these athletes are young, sponsored, and lack the stressful responsibilities and commitments life and work throw at us.
However, this view is flawed.
There are plenty of competitive athletes that share the same stresses of life as you do. What they possess that you don’t is balance.
Elite sailors / athletes spend considerable time and effort balancing their priorities and some do it better than others. Olympic campaigns are the single hardest endeavor to balance priorities, as you have to manage multiple facets of the campaign (fundraising, logistics, nutrition, fitness, training and competition) all while in the mean time balancing your social, family and spiritual life.
This also occurs within many other competitive sports including many OPEX Athletes competing in the sport of fitness.
“I’ve found the balance. I can be a mom, be a wife, be a CrossFitter, be a teacher, and be a friend. It doesn’t have to be about giving up something but about choosing what’s important in my life.”
-Granite Games Athlete Kinsy Rosati
Kinsy is just one of countless athletes who has learned how to balance adult life with serious athletic pursuits. Through this process she’s not only achieved her competitive goals, but discovered more about herself and what her priorities are.
Striking a balance between work, life, and athletic goals is one of the biggest challenges mature athletes face. It can seem impossible to dedicate enough time to be successful at each of these aspects of your life, leaving you feeling overwhelmed.
However, learning how to marry life with your athletic spirit is just as important as the physical training itself. Two quick fixes include:
Schedule: Your progression can be derailed without a comprehensive training schedule to follow. Do not waiver from it. This includes scheduling personal and business events so they don’t conflict.
Communicate: Don’t leave your family and friends out of the loop. More often than not, they will understand, respect, and support your training.
Balance sounds simple enough in theory, but in practice, your job and life’s daily demands are often at odds.
Due to high and growing levels of demand, Allen Brothers has vacancies for:
Welder / Fabricator
Assembly staff
Part Time Driver (Transit Connect)
Working from its factory in Southminster, Essex, Allen Brothers manufactures high performance sailing equipment for domestic and export markets. Allen products are used by individual members of the British Sailing team and numerous National, European and World Champion sailors. Quality and precision are demanded by our customers and we demand it of our staff. In turn, we offer interesting work and competitive remuneration.
Christmas Opening Hours
Please be advised that Allen Brothers will close at 15:00 on 20th December and reopen on 6th January.
Orders placed during this period will be processed upon our return.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With my education and mentorship from 
