2856: Life Is An Ironman (Pace Yourself Accordingly) by Ben Greenfield on Workout Recovery and Overall Fitness

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. Life is an Ironman. Pace Yourself Accordingly by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com And I'm Dr. Neal Malik reading you some of the most popular health and fitness blogs out there with permission from the websites. Now we have five shows where we narrate articles for you. Just search for Optimal Living Daily wherever you're hearing this to find all of them.

[00:00:23] Now I gotta say, I love the title of this post. It's such a perfect way to express the philosophy I try and share on this podcast. So I'm super excited to read you Ben Greenfield's post so let's get right to it as we optimize your life. Life is an Ironman. Pace Yourself Accordingly by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com

[00:00:50] You know what? An Ironman triathlon is a bit like life in a very interesting way. I'll explain in a moment. See, I used to coach a number of serious Ironman competitors and I also trained for Ironman pretty seriously myself. Between 2011 and 2016, I completed 13 Ironman triathlons including 6 Hawaii Ironman World Championships,

[00:01:13] 16 half Ironman events, and over 90 additional triathlons logging over 120 races and over 5,100 miles of swimming, cycling, and running. I don't profess that this is a healthy way to spend the majority of one's time, but it certainly did result in a host of fun adventures, many of which I blogged about on my very first cheesy little blog. Anyways, in case you're not familiar, Ironman is actually a four-disciplined sport.

[00:01:43] Swimming, cycling, running, and management. What I mean by that is that because, unlike say baseball, Ironman is a sport of attrition. A gritty and gradual wearing down and weakening of one's fuel stores and neuromuscular capabilities over the course of a very long day. Improper management of one's resources in the realms of pacing, fueling, and hydration

[00:02:09] can result in a very unpleasant death march to the finish line, no matter how fit as a fiddle one is on the starting line. So based on this, the management strategy I coached to my Ironman athletes and used myself was as follows. 1. Identify your peak aerobic capacity and try to maintain that capacity as consistently as possible

[00:02:31] for the entire 2.4 mile swim, the 112 mile bike ride, and the first 13.1 miles of the run. To identify peak aerobic capacity, which is pretty much synonymous with one's peak fat burning zone, I would either get my athletes into a metabolic laboratory to test the exact heart rate at which their aerobic capacity occurred, or I would have them perform a lactate threshold test in the comfort of their own gym or their own home.

[00:02:59] I would then subtract about 20 heartbeats from their lactate threshold heart rate to approximate peak aerobic capacity. The beauty of maintaining peak aerobic capacity is that you have at your beck and call tens of thousands of fat storage calories to burn, as opposed to crossing into carbohydrate burning zones and exhausting the relatively finite glycogen stores.

[00:03:21] Glycogen stores will provide just a couple thousand calories, while simultaneously accumulating acidic lactate metabolites, which will slowly begin to shut down the system. 2. During that same period of time, fuel with a slow-burning mixture of ketones or MCT oil, essential amino acids, electrolytes, and small amounts of non-fermentable carbohydrates. This strategy results in extremely stable fuel sources that don't leave the racer in a sugar and caffeine-infused funk 6,

[00:03:51] 8, or 10 hours into the race, sometimes referred to as bonking or hitting the wall. 3. Finally, and here's the important part. At 13.1 miles, you pull the trigger, meaning that at that point in the race, and no earlier, you tap into all that energy and all those carbohydrates you've been patiently conserving and waiting to burn and all that lactic acid you've been waiting to generate. This is the point at which you go into the pain cave, put on the afterburners, dig deep,

[00:04:21] and gradually progress to your maximum sustainable pace. A pace that would have destroyed you if you'd attempted to sustain it early in the race. But, if you've properly managed yourself the past several grueling hours, you now have just enough glycogen stores, just enough central nervous system willpower, and just enough muscle contractile capabilities to be able to sustain for roughly the equivalent of the final half marathon of the Ironman.

[00:04:48] At that exact point, you toss out all the fancy ketone, fat, and protein-based fuels, and instead switch to the pure, glorious, liquid caffeinated sugar. Specifically, those handy cups of dark, rich, and usually flat Coca-Cola soda that they hand out every mile during the entire run of the Ironman. The folks who implement this strategy successfully wound up absolutely crushing their race, achieving their personal record, and perhaps most importantly,

[00:05:17] having an absolutely fabulous memory of their event. This is because, rather than doing as most Ironman triathletes do, engaging in poor body management, and experiencing the final few hours of what should be a glorious day, they are instead slogging in a slow and painful death march to the finish line. Instead, these triathletes would pass literally hundreds of their competitors and run with a big smile on their face all through the final mile,

[00:05:44] giving high fives to the dense crowds that had built up towards that finish line, springing merrily across that finish line, and jumping through the crowds to go hug their family and loved ones. Their competitors, in the meantime, would stumble across the same finish line on fumes of energy. Their legs looked like Bambi trying to stand up on a frozen lake of ice. Their faces sport permanent frowns because they simply failed to manage their bodies during the race.

[00:06:11] They tried to push through the race, relying upon fitness alone. They didn't pace accordingly and burnt all their matches far too early in the race. So what the heck does this have to do with life? Well, in my opinion, us hard-charging high achievers who want to go crush our own personal Mount Everest, whether that be an Ironman triathlon, a Spartan race, a CrossFit competition, or any other gritty event that challenges, motivates, and inspires us, well, we have two options.

[00:06:40] Option one is to push through everything. Train. Train harder. Rinse, wash, repeat. Shove aside friends, family, career, and hobbies to pour in the junk miles and adhere to poorly structured, overly voluminous training plans with inadequate recovery and subpar fueling strategies. When the big day does come around, continue to push through, relying on grit, fitness, and determination alone to try to get you to the finish line.

[00:07:08] Option two is to play smart. Train smart. Train smarter. Recover, using science when possible. Adhere to a smartly structured training plan that incorporates elements such as weight and core training, high-intensity interval training, targeted heart rate intervals, and other strategies that ensure you have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your life. When the big day comes around, manage your pacing, fueling, and hydration

[00:07:37] so that when the part of the race that really counts rolls around, you're prepared for an absolutely amazing finish line experience. One that you'll remember fondly for the rest of your life. And if you're not remotely interested in some masochistic sufferfest, the same rules apply. Plan ahead as you're living your life. Are you working 16-hour days and barely seeing your family and friends or enjoying your hobbies? Are you keeping your fingers crossed that if and when you finally have that big business breakthrough,

[00:08:07] if it's not too late, you'll still have some gas in the tank to be able to make up all those missed years? Are you hitting the gym with no plan, no recovery strategies, no goals, no self-quantification, and no direction, eating a diet that may not be the right diet for you, and just hoping that as you age, your body survives your non-managed fitness and nutrition protocols? Are you ignoring the importance of challenging your brain regularly with new activities and tiny daily challenges such as crossword puzzles, table tennis,

[00:08:37] learning an instrument, playing board games, painting, dancing, reading, and learning? Are you neglecting or de-emphasizing daily self-management protocols that enhance your life such as gratitude journaling, meditation, breath work, self-reflection, music, singing, celebration, family dinners, friendships, and relationships at the cost of the one part of you that is the most special and important, your spirit. Then mark my words,

[00:09:07] you'll be crossing the finish line of life on fumes. So, think ahead, plan, pace, care for your body, but also for your brain and your spirit. Manage. Then, when the time comes around when most folks quietly slip into a nursing home, become relegated to a wheelchair, get a knee and hip replacement, and sit on the sidelines, unable to join in as they watch their grandkids throw the football, you'll be steamrolling happily along

[00:09:36] with plenty of gas in the tank and plenty of adventures left to live. You just listened to the post titled, Life is an Ironman, Pace Yourself Accordingly, by Ben Greenfield of bengreenfieldlife.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Have you ever wondered if your calendar age truly reflects your body's health? I'm passionate about taking control of my well-being, which is why I joined 23andMe plus Total Health,

[00:10:06] a revolutionary longevity platform that's transforming how we approach preventive care. What makes this different from traditional health care? It starts with advanced genetic screening, giving you insights into potential health predispositions. But it doesn't stop there. You'll get comprehensive blood testing throughout the year, helping you understand how your health changes over time. One of my favorite features is the biological age tool, which I found fascinating, and I think you will too. It measures how your major body systems

[00:10:36] and organs are aging. And the best part? With lifestyle changes, we could potentially reverse this number. You'll also work with clinicians who have specialized genetic training to create a tailored preventive health plan that fits your unique needs. It's like having a roadmap for your health journey. Advocate for your health today. Go to 23andme.com slash OHD for 10% off. That's 23andme.com

[00:11:05] slash OHD. Überlass deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu deinem neuen Coach. Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen abnehmen. Tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist du ready für deine Ziele. Let's go!

[00:11:37] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. I think I've shared this before, but I often have my students perform this practice, particularly around midterms and finals. This is a technique I learned from the book Happier by Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar. I ask my students to imagine themselves in the future. Imagine they are 110 years old. Now, I then have them imagine that 110-year-old version of themselves giving advice to their current self.

[00:12:06] What would you say? I'd then have my students write down their responses. In the 10 years or so that I've required this assignment, and after reviewing hundreds and hundreds of student responses, I have yet to encounter one that said, watch more Netflix, or spend more time on my phone apps, or spend more time at work. Usually, their responses, meaning their advice to their younger selves, are something like, spend more time with my family and friends,

[00:12:34] or take better care of myself so that I am able to live to be 110 years old. As you can see, this practice puts life in perspective. It forces you to think about what's most important to you and whether or not you're actually making the time to do these things right now before it's too late. Just as Ben said in his post, manage, plan, pace, and care for your body along the way. Prioritize what's important to you and what will bring you

[00:13:04] meaning in this life. And, let us all live to celebrate a happy, healthy, 110-year-old birthday, whenever that may be. Alright, that'll do it for today. I'll be back here tomorrow, so stay tuned for that where your optimal life awaits. Let's get started.