Professional Grade Supplements for WiseAthletes

Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell....yes, but what does that mean? What can we do, as Wise Athletes, to have enough healthy mitochondria in our muscles and everywhere else powering our bodily functions for optimal brain power, energy levels, we well as muscle power and endurance?

These questions and more are addressed by Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, neurologist, mitochondrial researcher, lifelong elite athlete. Mark is the real deal who knows both sides of the story....the science and the practice of building muscle and VO2Max for performance today and a long stay on the planet as a strong athlete.

All right, let's talk to Dr Tarnopolsky about the single best way to stay healthy and strong as we get older....exercise.

• Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, CEO and CSO, Exerkine Corporation,
• Director of Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Clinic,
• McMaster University Medical Center

• "We all are suffering from the mitochondrial disease called aging"
• "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure"...Muscle loss prevention is ideal but it’s never too late to restart exercising; benefits accrue to everyone who starts exercising at any age.
• Aerobic training is very good, but we also need weight training. Exercise provides a modest 4-year lifespan extension but a 10-year healthspan extension as it lengthens the time in life we can be mobile and take care of ourselves.
• Do at least 30 minutes of exercise everyday
• VO2Max is a function of and delivery of oxygen (heart stroke volume and heart rate) and extraction of oxygen (capillarization of blood vessels into muscle and mitochondrial volume to use oxygen)
• Vo2max:
• At rest: 3.5 milliliters of oxygen per kg of body weight per minute
• Min. to live without assistance: 12 ml/kg/min
• Mark's VO2Max at his athletic peak: 88.2 ml/kg/min
• VO2Max falls from 25/30 yo but older athletes have higher vo2max than sedentary young people
• But VO2Max isn’t enough for longevity. We need 3x/week of endurance training for VO2Max and 2-3x week of resistance training to build and maintain muscle mass.
• Longevity metrics: VO2Max, leg strength, waist-to-hip circumference
• Elite athletes need 2x the protein of sedentary people
• Don’t train with futility: Get enough high quality protein (aim for 1.2g/kg), don’t be deficient in Vit D (take a supplement), get sufficient calcium in diet. Milk and egg whites are the best quality proteins. Collagen is low quality protein (used as the no-protein control in experiments)
• Running or cycling at 65% of VO2Max (approx. lactate threshold; top of zone 2) 3-5x per week for 30-60 minutes a day will increase mitochondria.
• Interval training will increase the pace and HR possible at a zone 2 (“all day pace” of work) by increasing the lactate threshold. Once lactate starts to accumulate, it is only a matter of time before exhaustion sets in.
• Weight training in untrained older people does build mitochondria, and there is a spill over into VO2Max development
• Weight training for endurance athletes is about building muscle mass for strength and healthspan
• Fast vs. Slow twitch:
• Slow are the endurance fibers that are full of mitochondria, can go all day without fatigue, can burn every fuel we have with oxygen, but are smaller (to allow better oxygen delivery) and slower to turn fuel into

Professional Grade Supplements for WiseAthletes

We all want a healthy heart, lungs, and brain. Can you guess at the single behavior that connects the dots on solving: the ability to run or ride at the same speed using 25% less breathing, reducing the occurrence of the so called exercise induced asthma or bronchoconstriction (EIB), eliminating side stitches while running, avoiding frequent sinus infections and bronchitis, and even dodging aFib and dementia?...and what if it cost you nothing but your attention? Well, listen to this: The latest science is showing us that while breathing with an open mouth allows for an increase in ventilation, increases work capacity (think: vo2max), and actually feels more comfortable and normal, doing so also predisposes us to a variety of potential health problems over time. Right, today we are going to talk about nasal breathing.

while nasal breathing may have fallen off the internet talk circuit as a popular biohack, wise athletes should always pick the low hanging fruit.

so coming back to our show on episode 143, the one and only Dr George Dallam walks us through his personal benefits from adapting to nasal breathing nearly 20 years ago, and the latest research into the health and physical performance benefits available to us all...without ingesting any chemicals, or changing our diet, or buying a single thing. All you have to do is breath through your nose. Its a simple prescription; ....if only it was easy to learn.... i say since i have failed to fully adapt in the two years since i first spoke with dr dallam...

All right, let's talk to George Dallam, author of the just published book, the-nasal-breathing-paradox-during-exercise

George Dallam PhD

Dr. Dallam holds the rank of Distinguished Professor in the School of Health Science and Human Movement at Colorado State University - Pueblo (CSUP). Dr. Dallam has been involved in numerous research studies examining various aspects of triathlon performance and training, diabetes risk factor modification, and the effects of functional movement improvement on running. His primary research interest recently is focused on the capability of human beings to adapt to nasal only breathing during exercise as a way to improve both health and performance.

Dr. Dallam has received both the United States Olympic Committee's Doc Counsilman Science in Coaching award (2004) and the National Elite Coach of the Year award (2005) for triathlon. Finally, Dr. Dallam has been continuously training and competing in triathlon since 1981.

• Better filtering of particles and viruses (less nasal infection, bronchitis). Filtering becomes even more important when exercising because we take in so much more air.
• Less water lost though breathing
• Less energy spent on breathing (more energy for locomotion); higher O2 extracted per breath (higher efficiency)
• Recovery from “EIB” exercise induced bronchoconstriction (exercise induced asthma)
• Provides a powerful training stimulus to improve fitness…make you faster even if you go back to mouth breathing in high intensity efforts, such as races
• Improved stress management
• Better sleep, and overall improved recovery from exercise (lower stress, avoidance of snoring)
• Better posture and movement ability with improved diaphragm activity
• Functional movement benefits —diaphragm is a major core muscle that

Professional Grade Supplements & 5-Day FMD Kits for WiseAthletes

Like so many people, I have struggled to lose my visceral fat while I have continued to put on muscle.... but there is more to being a wise athlete than having maximum muscle. I also want to live LONG as a strong athlete. The prevailing wisdom says that when you fast or when you cut calories, you lose fat and muscle. So the challenge remains….how to thread the needle on losing the visceral fat while keeping my muscle. And what about the battle between the high protein for maximum muscle growth vs low protein for low IGF-1 and life extension? Is there any way to get the best of both worlds?

Today on episode 142 I am joined by Dr Joseph Antoun, a medical doctor who is now the CEO at L-Nutra, the company that makes Prolon, the 5-day FMD food kits (wwwprolonlife.com). Could fasting mimicking be the answer to losing visceral fat while retaining muscle and at the same time extending lifespan as a strong athlete? After talking to Dr Antoun, I am convinced it is…and as of today, I am on day 2 of my initial 5-day FMD.

Listen in to see if you come to the same conclusion.

And please forgive the inconsistent recording quality….but if you want to give the Prolon FMD a try, click on the link at the top of the show notes to get a great discount.

All right, let’s talk to Dr Joseph Antoun about fasting mimicking for athletes.

Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD, MPP

Joseph Antoun, MD, PhD is the CEO of L-Nutra, a Food as Medicine leader using Science to Nutrition research first to uncover what humans should eat to live healthier longer and second to help patients achieve better health outcomes.

Food as medicine & muscular longevity

• Use your body's built-in system to renew and fine-tune cells. ProLon, a 5-day precision nutrition program, and Fast Mimicking Technology formulation, is designed to trigger your body's built-in system to renew and fine-tune cells - by mimicking a fast.
• Fasting mimicking (not fasting per se) to get the renewal signal without resource depletion (Joe's take: long water only fasts are the equivalent of overtraining…too much signal without enough recovery)
• Periodic fasting mimicking turns on cellular renewal without forcing the body into restructuring into a low resource phenotype
• GH is a stress hormone. In water only fasting the body doesn't have the resources to maintain muscle. With FMD the minimal resources provided are enough to work with GH to maintain muscle while getting fat loss and autophagy
• Eat the least protein necessary to build and maintain the body and lifestyle you want. Any more than the minimum is age accelerating without muscle benefit.
• The amino acid composition matters. Focus on plants with some fish protein. That’s good enough for muscle building when combined with FMD a few times a year. Eat 0.8-0.9 g/kg on average per day (less if you aren't an athlete). Perhaps cycle between higher and lower amounts of protein around resistance training.
• For me, that means i'm cutting back from 200g/day to an average of 100g/day (I'll adjust after seeing how my body reacts)... I already started.
• I'm on day 2....looking in the box I can tell you it would be hard to pull it together myself. For now I will buy the box to see if it really does work for me. It’s pricy but tolerable. And the Fast Bar is delicious.
• Prolon info
• Clinical studies have shown that the ProLon formulation can specifically t

Pro Level Supplements & At-Home Tests for WiseAthletes

"In science and engineering, convention dictates that unless a margin of error is explicitly stated, the number of significant figures used in the presentation of data should be limited to what is warranted by the precision of those data."

Why don't I see error bars on my blood test results...?

We love to say that what is measured, improves. It is a fine idea that applies to many walks of life including athletic performance. Starting with Inside Tracker in 2009, an industry has emerged to help wise athletes and longevity seekers alike to measure, track changes over time, and even optimize lifestyle behaviors, supplements and pharmaceuticals to target “low all cause mortality” levels for blood based bio markers. And since the human body relies on many organs and biological processes to survive and thrive, scientists have developed biological age calculators that combine a set of the actual vs optimal blood markers to assess overall health status relative to “normal” to calculate a biological age or rate of aging. In longevity circles, a biological age lower than chronological age is a badge of honor. And it’s a booming business.

But just how accurate are these blood tests that all of this science and my own blood test results are based on? It’s a question that has been haunting my thoughts over the last year as I have aggressively measured my blood markers and calculated my biological age every 3 months in an effort to fine tune my longevity interventions.

So, today on episode 141 I am joined by Dr Austin Baraki who argues that blood testing is an important but challenging area of medicine. He argues that people should not put too much faith in imprecise technology measuring indirect markers of biological function. False precision can lead to over confidence, and distract people from the lifestyle improvements that would really make a difference. And he also shares his tips on reducing the variability and error in your own blood test results.

British Medical Journal: your results may vary: the imprecision of medical measurements (20 February 2020)

Dr. Austin Baraki is a practicing Internal Medicine Physician, competitive lifter, and strength coach located in San Antonio, Texas. Originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, he completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the College of William & Mary, his doctorate in medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

After a 15 year career as a competitive swimmer through the collegiate level, he discovered the barbell and began training for strength and competitive powerlifting. He also coaches individuals ranging from beginners of all ages to national and internationally competitive athletes.

His interests include the application of strength training in the context of complex medical conditions, sarcopenia, pain neuroscience & rehabilitation, as well as cognitive and sport psychology.

• Episode 35 Inside Tracker

Pro Level Supplements & At-Home Tests for WiseAthletes

Updated edition: we had to fix a few spots in the recording so this episode is the (slightly) revised one.

Vitamin D isn’t a vitamin but a hormone, and it plays an important role in our bodies including the building and repair of muscle.

Can you just take a vitamin D pill and forget about it? Do you have to get sunshine to get sufficient vitamin D? Can you be low on vitamin D despite getting lots of sunlight? How much vitamin D can you take before you are risking getting too much? 2k, 5k, 10k every day?

The big question: is low vitamin D a cause or an effect of poor health?

These questions and more get answered or at least discussed in detail in my followup chat with Dr Grant Fraser who is passionate advocate for vitamin D supplementation.

To be honest, I've been a vitamin D supplementation skeptic for a long time, in part based on scientific studies that say supplementation doesn’t affect outcomes. Dr Fraser says …not so fast, pal!

Well, one thing is clear, everyone should get their vitamin D levels tested to see where they stand. If yours is low, today’s talk can provide a path forward. Fortunately the at home test only costs $37…mine is already on the way.

Grant E. Fraser MD, ABAARM, DABFM, FRACGP, FACRRM, GEM

Grant E. Fraser, M.D. is Board Certified in Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine, and more and is passionate about helping patients improve their quality of life, reverse health conditions, and live longer and happier.

• Episode 139 Finding Your Iron Sweetspot w/Dr Grant Fraser
• Episode 105 UV Light Sweetspot (more than Vitamin D) w/Prof Prue Hart

• https://www.grantfrasermd.com/
• https://www.grantfrasermd.com/blog

If you are enjoying WiseAthletes, please leave us a review. And, be sure to check out our FullScript supplements link to see the amazing prices on the best brands on the planet.

FullScript Site for WiseAthletes

Pro Level Supplements & At-Home Tests for WiseAthletes

We’ve all heard about anemia and iron deficiencies hurting our athletic performance and our overall energy level. But the latest thing is iron overload and dumping iron. So is iron good or bad??…the answer is yes. Iron is both a toxin and a nutrient.

What I’ve learned for myself is the older athlete needs just enough iron but no more. So the right question is …how to tell where you are on iron storage in your body, and how can you help your body not hold too much iron while avoiding having too little.

We all need 3-5 grams or 3000-5000 mg of iron in our bodies every second of every day and we only can absorb 1-2mg of iron per day from our food and supplements…plus or minus a bit using various techniques to raise or lower iron.

Too little iron can mean chronic fatigue, brain fog, and breathlessness. Diets low in animal proteins, frequent hard workouts, low stomach acid, gut issues causing poor nutrient absorption, and of course bleeding can lead to lower iron.

Too much iron, unless dramatic, is harder to feel and more likely for older athletes. Without blood loss, iron tends to accumulates in organs during aging and leads to dementia, heart disease, T2D and much more, and is worsened by drinking alcohol.

Donating whole blood can lower iron but moves the needle very slowly as only 100-250mg of your total 3000-5000mg of iron is lost at each donation. That’s the equivalent effect of not absorbing iron from food for 3 months, so it’s something.

The key is to plan ahead.

So how to know if you are low or high? Or on the verge of being low or high? How to know if donating whole blood every 8 weeks is a good idea or a bad idea? How can you make donating blood less unpleasant? And what else can you do to stay in your iron sweetspot and to avoid both of these terrible outcomes for athletic performance, quality of life, and overall health?

To answer these questions and more today on episode 139 I am joined by Dr Grant Fraser who is board certified in the United States in anti-aging and regenerative medicine and in family medicine. Listen in while Dr Fraser helps me to sort out what is going on and how to plan ahead to get into the iron sweetspot.

Grant E. Fraser MD, ABAARM, DABFM, FRACGP, FACRRM, GEM

Grant E. Fraser, M.D. is Board Certified in Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine, and more and is passionate about helping patients improve their quality of life, reverse health conditions, and live longer and happier.

• What is iron?
• Iron is a very common mineral on Earth
• It has a highly stable nucleus and is capable of accepting and donating electrons easily, which makes it react with water to form rust and is very useful for biological organisms.
• We use it to grab oxygen from air and carry it around the body, we use it in the chemical chain that makes ATP or energy the body uses to power itself, and iron is a necessary part of many proteins.
• Our bodies need iron every second of our lives, so we keep extra on board just in case… we have 3-5grams in our bodies and we absorb about 1-2mg a day. That’s 1-2 mg vs. 3000-5000mg…we can’t get much very fast. So mostly we recycle it, and we keep some stored away in protective cages that keep the reactive iron from damaging our cells.
• So it’s like calcium (stored in bones) and proteins (stored in muscle and elsewhere) that we scavenge when we need some. But iron is so reactive it will damage our cells, so we lock it away and convert it to less reactive forms?

Pro Level Supplements for WiseAthletes

Jeff Patterson….martial arts expert and author of The Yielding Warrior.

After teaching 25,000 students ni his martial arts academy and earning the equivalent of black belts in the martial arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eskrima, Tai Chi, Qigong, Muay Thai, and Kenpö, Jeff now shares personal experiences, age-old wisdom, and the philosophies of meditative arts with his readers.

In The Yielding Warrior, you will learn how to:

• attain a higher level of proficiency in any sport or physical activity
• enhance emotional control and sharpen intuition for increased happiness and self-acceptance
• deepen self-awareness and esteem through the benefits of yielding
• apply meditative practices to excel in interpersonal communication and business relationships
• improve your focus by applying the skills attained through yielding awareness

The Yielding Warrior is about the concept of yielding and how it can be applied to almost any area of life

--> "everyone should meditate for 20 minutes a day unless you are too busy, then you should meditate for an hour"

• Episode 121 | Brian Mackenzie of ShiftAdapt
• Episode 119 | HRV Biofeedback w/ Marco Altini
• Episode 110 | Mental Fitness w/ Kate Allgood
• Episode 70 | Healing Yourself w/Joe Taft

• https://www.theyieldingwarrior.com/ - Jeff Patterson's website

If you are enjoying WiseAthletes, please leave us a review. And, be sure to check out our FullScript supplements link to see the amazing prices on the best brands on the planet.

Pro Level Supplements for WiseAthletes

Pro Level Supplements for WiseAthletes

As a followup to my chat with Dr Vyvyane Loh, Glen and I sat down with Dr Loh to get into the HOW of losing excess body fat without losing muscle. Dr Loh does not disappoint as she shares her tips on how she has helped so many people successfully navigate the changes needed to get to a healthy body fat level AND a healthy body muscle level...both are necessary for health and athletic performance.

Check out my own Dexa Scan at the bottom of the show notes that reveals the details we all need to know to assess bone and fat and muscle health status, and to set improvement goals. I used dexascan.com via a provider in my area. My scan showed that while my body fat % is only 16.3%, I still need to lower my visceral fat from 87.7 cm2 to 70.0 cm2. I'm working on it.

Episode #135 | What's Your Healthy Fat %

Dr Loh is board certified in internal and obesity medicine, and she runs a medical practice helping people of all shapes and sizes to solve metabolic health challenges.

How to lose excess fat while retaining or gaining muscle?

• Good Sleep #1 (to keep cortisol and sex hormones healthy; recovery)
• 8-9 hours of good sleep for athletes (consistent sleep schedule every day & avoid use of sleep drugs that interfere with sleep architecture (melatonin okay)…eye mask, noise protected, test for sleep apnea
• Circadian rhythm— set by light and eating. Be consistent everyday.
• Respecting the timing of meals: Eat breakfast (within an hour of waking) with protein to end catabolic state
• Protein: eat 30-35 grams of complete protein per meal, up to 5 meals per day. Everyday. Animal sources of protein allows for lower calorie burden to get the protein.
• Exercise
• Resistance training is key (3X/week)
• Work at end range (maximum range of motion under tension but be careful)
• Essentric (lengthening) movement better than concentric (shortening)
• Also isometrics (good during injury recovery)
• Cardio is good also (do after resistance training if on same day)
• HIIT 2x/week (20-45 minutes) targets visceral fat. Has to be really hard. Dread it.
• Diet:
• Higher percentage body fat — with a calorie deficit in diet doesn’t mean less availability of calories. Still need enough protein to hold onto muscle
• Near goal body fat — eat 5 times day and getting enough protein. Working out. No calorie deficit.
• If fat is okay but low muscle? Get extra protein everyday. Maybe extra protein before bed to reduce muscle loss.
• Low carbs to manage calories but need enough carbs. No keto. Low carb is good for calorie control. 80-100g of carbs. Need more carbs if alot of high intensity.
• Insulin is a growth factor. Extra protein to get extra insulin to stimulate muscle growth. And extra protein can be turned into glycogen
• The key is to be clear about goals.
• Changing lifestyle is hard. Start with identity and making it hard to cheat.
• Everyone is ready when they seek help. It’s after they’ve lost weight at people lose focus. “Just ….” means you are in trouble because you are rationalizing.
• Just a little…just this one time…etc. watch out.
• Moderation is a loser strategy. We’ve tried that experiment across the country. Now we are all obese.