How to lose ½ a pound in 20 minutes

Friday, January 27, 2012

Last day to sign up for the Tactical Weapons Training this Sunday!  Feel free to bring your family and friends!

Mobility:
Hip Prep

Warm up:
Row 500 meters with perfect form (see below)
10 Strict Presses with Barbell
10 Front Squats with Barbell
10 Wide Grip Strict Pullups
Sampson Stretch, 30 seconds each leg
5 Bridge Wall Walks
10 Thrusters
10 Kipping Pullups

Workout of the Day:
Three rounds for time of:
Row 1000 meters
45 pound Thruster, 50 reps
30 Pull-ups

Cool Down:
German Hang (bottom of skin the cat), 30 seconds
Pidgeon, 2 minutes each leg
Plow, 2 minutes
German Hang, 30 seconds

In 2009 I ran the LA Marathon and was on pace for a sub 4 hour finish when I suddenly hit “the wall” at mile 20. I simply could not muster any energy to move my legs faster than a walk. Eventually I ended up doing a run/walk interval of 30 sec on/30 sec off (kill me), which I did for the last three miles. I remember the final stretch on Figueroa in downtown: I was about 400m away from the finish and tried to go without stopping but I still had to walk! I stopped in the middle of an intersection in downtown with hundreds of people on each corner. After 10 sec of shame in the middle of the street, I finally started running again and was able to finish. Awful.

Why did this happen? For events over 2 hours in duration, nutrition, hydration, and electrolytes play an important role. First, I only ate 1.5 cliff bars during the 3 hours it took me to get to mile 20. I was seriously depleted of energy. Second, I only drank water and did not replenish any of my electrolytes lost through sweat. Hydration and electrolyte management are vital for optimal performance. Some studies show that even a mild dehydration of 2% can reduce performance by as much as 10-20%. Muscle cramps, weakness, nausea, fatigue, and vomiting are also signs of dehydration and electrolyte loss.

So how much water do you need to drink to stay hydrated? The simple rule is ½ your body weight in ounces. For example, I weigh 145 pounds, which means I need to drink 72 oz. of water a day to stay hydrated. For every hour of exercise you should add 16 oz. to that amount. So for a short WOD in the gym I might add 8 oz., for a long hero WOD probably 16 oz.

The best way to estimate your electrolyte needs is to first figure out your sweat rate. To do this, weigh yourself, without your workout clothes on, before and after your workout. Make sure to subtract any water you drink while working out (16 oz = 1 lb). Once you establish your sweat rate per hour, you can use the electrolyte guidelines below to estimate the amounts you need to replenish in your body.

Earlier this week I ran 6x 400m with 2:30 rest in between. The workout took a total of 20 min to complete and I did not drink any water. Before the workout I weighed in at 146.4 lbs, after the workout I weighed 145.8, which means I lost .6 lbs (9.6 oz.) of sweat in 20 min! Way more than I expected! Although hydration and electrolytes aren’t important for performance in events under 2 hours, if I wanted to rehydrate and replenish my electrolytes post wod, I could check the packaging of any electrolyte product (nuun, gu, camel bak, hammer, salt sticks, ultima) and approximate the amounts below with 10 oz. of water.

Electrolytes and the Average Amount Lost per 11 oz. of Sweat
Sodium – 220 mg
Potassium – 63 mg
Magnesium – 8 mg
Calcium – 16 mg

Anyone crazy enough to sign up for a marathon, ironman, goruck challenge, ragnar relay, tough mudder, or NLI series should take a look at the Crossfit Journal Article “Race-Day Fueling” for an in depth look at the above and more. Stay hydrated and avoid that “DNF”!

There will be Rowing