Math? When will I ever use this? Training Effect = Work x Recovery. Hmmm, Ok. What does that mean for me?

Training Effect = Work x Recovery: 

"The reality is that training effect is not built from a single workout, but rather a combination of the weeks prior."

In Lisa language, here's what that means:

Training effect is the result we see from our workouts. To see results, we must have a balance of work to recovery. Too much work with too little recovery yields maintenance

with no change. For some people, the problem with no results, is a lack of recovery to match workouts. We have a lot to learn about what "recovery" means.

Here is a link to Training Effect through an intentional balance of work and recovery:

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/you-dont-need-more-training-you-need-more-recovery

THE SHORT VERSION

My favorite points: 

1. The workout (W) and Recovery (R) need to balance out. For every 1 unit of work, there needs to be 1 unit of recovery. When this is in balance, we may achieve Training Effect.
2. Recovery is essential. We know this already, but we have a lot to learn about what "recovery" means. Recovery is more than just resting a little between workouts. 
3. There is a way to take the guess work out of recovery and use this formula to combine recovery efforts that balance out work effort so that we can realize gains.
4. Recovery is more than taking a day off. Recovery is the management of workout intensities combined with intentional strategies to offset the overload to the body. 
5. Training Effect can be achieved within a time period (periodization) rather than within a day.  Look within a time period (for most - an easy way to periodize is to create workouts and recoveries within a week, although athletes training for events usually have weeks or even months in their periodization)
6. Below, is a detailed table with point values to use to combine and create a recovery value to equal your workout intensity. Recovery activities are given values. Values can be combined to equal a total to offset the unit of work. 
7. It’s an easy trap for many of us to get stuck in. We all go to the gym and train expecting to see improvement. But with five hours sleep per night, poor diet, and no other recovery strategies in place, you won’t see much, if any improvement. So most people try coming more often or working harder. But the real trick to improving is not to add more work but to beef up other half of the equation and add more recovery.

 

So the short version: workout 1 hour and add points to equal 1.0 for recovery activities. Simple. If this sounds too good to be true... Find more information in the "Longer Version" section :)

My opinion:

1. Yoga falls in the category of "targeted range of motion work." However, they fail to clarify that all yoga is not the same, so questions remain. Certainly, YIN restorative yoga meets this requirement, however, it is my opinion, that many of the other yoga classes do as well. I believe it depends on heat, intensity, and fitness level. To clarify: a novice or "regular" workout person might get an incredible muscular workout from a Hot Vinyasa Power Flow class. True. But also true- intense, highly trained elite athletes will not necessarily get the same workout from a yoga class that they get on a bike, the pool or running. The results of yoga depend heavily on the class, the conditions, and the athlete. For some- yoga would meet the criteria of "targeted range of motion work" to offset "Work" in the equation. For others, Yoga would count in the equation as WORK.  Not all yoga is the same. Yoga varies greatly from teacher to teacher with style, intensity, and objective. Heat is also a HUGE factor. Without heat, the stress on the body is greatly reduced for most participants. As with anything, this also matters: What are you putting in to the class? So to recap: It is my opinion, that YOGA can count in the equation on either side- as work or as recovery depending on many factors.  It is my recommendation that you should count YOGA in the equation. Just spend a little time deciding if the yoga you are practicing is WORK that stresses the body or if the effect of the YOGA you are practicing counts as targeted range of motion work. Where YOGA fits in the equation is likely to change from class to class and week to week....as it should. 

THE LONGER VERSION

My thoughts on the article and favorite points:

So what is training effect? Simply put - gains. The realization that all of our efforts are being realized. Sadly, too many people go to the gym day in and day out, work hard, fail to connect the importance of recovery, see little results other than maintenance, and then believe they need to manipulate the "Work" part of the equation, either by working out harder or more often. The key to seeing a training effect is to balance the equation, and for many, that means more recovery.

To be clear, the information in the links applies to training. For some, the gym is about weight loss, weight maintenance, feeling good and general movement. There is nothing wrong with that. For others, the idea of functional fitness is being able to "DO WORK." When I say "do work" it is in terms, for example, such as: run marathons, lift more weight to build muscle-recruit and build fibers, look a certain way, elevate and maintain a working heart rate in a certain zone, cycle with specific watts goals, cadence objectives, or miles per hours goals...Measurable goals for power, production, or accomplishment. For these types of goals, the formula of training effect is especially important! The balance of work to recovery must be managed in order to see training effect. If this information applies to training, then is it also applicable for those who are maintaining and wanting to feel good? I believe that it does to a large degree. Recovery applies to all of us.

Important points from the article:

• This still isn’t the full picture of the training effect equation. This depicts only how to adapt to the training load and assumes that all sessions are equal. It also assumes that each session only takes you to the limit of your current ability. A workout that equals 70% of your current ability only needs an R value of 0.7 to recover from. This is why cycling intensity and volume throughout the week become so important. The reality of most people’s lives is that they will never attain a full R score of 1.0 on a given day. It’s just unrealistic.

• But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do these sessions, as they absolutely serve a purpose. A workout that has a W score of 1.1 or 1.2 is incredibly helpful to take you to the next level. But actually reaching that next level mandates that you follow those hard sessions with ample recovery.

• The reality is that training effect is not built from a single workout, but rather a combination of the weeks prior. The benefit of that reality is that you can essentially stockpile some of your R points to help you recover from these occasional very hard bursts. By having more light and medium days (scores of 0.6-0.8) you can save up some of your recovery and end up with a slight surplus to help you overcome the harder workouts (0.85+)

• "[M]editation and other internal martial arts practice, such as qi gong, have actually been found to nearly double the results of all the other factors on the table except for sleep."

• But what happens if a person can get an average score of 0.85 daily over the course of the month? This is the person who does get eight hours sleep each night, eats clean, and manages to remind him- or herself to foam roll daily. (This is an atypical person, by the way, and should be applauded for this effort.)
• If you make the average level of effort, T, slightly less than equal to 0.85 over the month period, then you will fully recover. A score of 0.85 would have you rested, but not rested enough to see fitness improvements. You could do that by modulating the effort level of each workout as follows:

• Workout 1: 1.0 (or 100%)
• Workout 2: 0.6
• Workout 3: 0.8
• Workout 4: 0.7
• Workout 5: 0.85

• Following this sort of pattern gives an average intensity of 0.8 - just enough recovery ability left to see a marginal improvement over the month. And this is the hard thing for many people to get their head around - you don’t need more training, you need more recovery. If, for whatever reason, your recovery begins to drop because of work, school, family stress, or illness, then your training effect will be changed negatively. It’s an easy trap for many of us to get stuck in. We all go to the gym and train expecting to see improvement. But with five hours sleep per night, poor diet, and no other recovery strategies in place, you won’t see much, if any improvement. So most people try coming more often or working harder. But the real trick to improving is not to add more work but to beef up other half of the equation and add more recovery. 

Recovery Rules: Some rules for making sure you recover suitably and structure workouts for optimum benefit:

1. Always follow your hardest session with your easiest.
2. If you add work to your week in order to speed up the process, don’t add in more hard work. Instead add in easier sessions of 0.6-0.7, as these leave plenty of recovery ability and leave surplus to help you recover from the harder sessions that may have a T score of 1.0 or more.
3. It is your average workload and recovery over time that matter, not a single session or night’s sleep.
4. For best results, keep your average workload somewhere between 0.7-0.8. This should put you in a recovery surplus over time and allow for adaptation. Don’t try to out train your recovery ability.

Further Reading:

• How Your Recovery Relates Directly to Your Performance
• How Much Recovery Do You Need? 7 Factors to Add Up
• Repeat After Me: There Is No Such Thing as Overtraining
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

http://greatist.com/connect/militarization-fitness?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=myfitnesspal

http://breakingmuscle.com/olympic-weightlifting/how-much-recovery-do-you-need-7-factors-to-add-up

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/you-dont-need-more-training-you-need-more-recovery

Here is to working harder AND smarter!

Here's to our optimal health,
Lisa

Grocery Store Marketing Voodoo

Combat the Grocery Store Marketing Voodoo by watching "Anatomy of a Grocery Store!" Let's take responsibility for our health by realizing that we live in time when food companies are on a quest for the almighty dollar with little concern for our health

I discovered this enlightening and empowering video: The Anatomy of a Grocery Store. 

At first it shocked me and pissed me off, but ultimately it energized and empowered me. 

I hope it does the same for you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR2WhElTk6Q

I hear people say all the time,
"I try so hard, but I just can't manage my weight. I just can't lose these 20 pounds. No matter what I try, my family ends up eating unhealthy foods. I am just too tired or too busy. Really, I try, but no matter what, I feel like a failure when it comes to feeding my family with healthy foods. I don't have time to plan this out any better, and besides, the fresh stuff is much more expensive. By the time I get to the grocery store, I am exhausted and quickly drive the aisles, shove the sale items in that grab my attention, open and eat packages of cookies and chips in the car on the way home, or worse, realize that the fresh ingredients I just bought can just wait till tomorrow, because it is late and the kids are hungry and this drive thru is tempting."

Take heart. You are not alone. The typical family today is pressured to work, care for children and maintain the health of the family. The trouble is, even educated people who know which foods are healthy and which foods are not, fall prey to Grocery store voodoo marketing. That's right, I said Grocery Store Voodoo Marketing. There is a force out there that is working against us.

Make no mistake, I am an adult and take full responsibility for my individual shopping and eating habits. However, the food marketing industry (a 33 billion dollar industry) does not have the same health goals that I do. In fact, their business relies on my biological shortcomings. There is an estimated 4,500 marketing ads for food and consumables per person per day in the United States. Unbelievable! That is an ad targeted at each of us every 14 seconds for which we are awake. Wow.

This short video is mesmerizing. I had heard that grocery stores are arranged in such ways as to capitalize on our weaknesses - such as placing candy at the check out and loading junk food displayed "ON SALE" on end caps. I have even heard that if you shop the outer periphery of the store, you will find the healthiest foods (however, this concept may be pre-Whole Foods/ Central Market environments that now promote their produce when you first walk in) But this video expands the voodoo marketing idea with 3 salient points:

The food advertising industry works to sabotage us in 3 ways:

1. It attacks the unconscious mind
2. Sets up default purchases and default combinations
3. Erodes our willpower reserves

The biggest shock for me in watching this short video, was the realization that food companies PAY MONEY for shelf location. In fact, it was stated that grocery stores make more from food companies paying for prime locations than they make from consumer purchases. Silence. I had to rewind and listen to that 3 times. I had NO idea! 

I have organized a few strategies to take the voodoo marketing down! I hope you will join me.

1. The reality is that I own my health. No one but me. I can not trust or rely on companies, stores, or the government to care about my health. Not only that, marketing is actively working to seduce my dollars, and my waistline. I must rise to the challenge of caring for my health through proactive decision making, nutrition education, time/dollar management of resources and consumer education. After all- I do choose where and when I shop, just as I choose what and how much I put in my mouth.
2. Recognize bad patterns and weaknesses. If shopping on Friday after a full day of work yields a cart of cookies and Ho Ho's then I need to change my shopping day and time. Simple as that.
3. Shop with a list. In today's digital age, the list can even be a permanent part of your phone. Have a framework of staples that you know you buy every week. Go to the store with a list. 
4. Buy less. Simple as that. Do you throw food away each week that goes uneaten? Buy less. I learned over the years - that for a week- I only need to plan on 5-6 dinner meals. There are always leftovers, or cereal nights, or salad nights, or events that get in the way. Always have a backup meal ready to go- For me that was oatmeal. 
5. If dinners are generally sabotaged, be willing to look at the problem with a new solution focus. What if- everyone in the family agreed to eat a healthy main lunch that could be organized and packed the night before and dinners became less of a big deal? We have this visual default that the dinner plate needs to have a meat and 3 sides, preferably a combination of vegetables and grains/starches. Stop. New solution. What if dinner were eggs poured over Seitan with a salad on the side? What if dinner were opening a can of beans and cooking minute rice and pouring salsa on top? What if dinner were oatmeal with sliced apple and walnuts? Maybe dinner doesn't have to look like the dinner that June Cleaver fixed for the Beaver. 
6. Ask for family help. Each person in the family can recommend 1 meal for the week and then they have input and can help prepare the ingredients for their recommended meal. Try Salad night with hard boiled eggs on top. Try Sandwiches- even natural PBJ on good bread with sliced apple and banana. Let a few of your dinners be much simpler. 
7. While shopping, be mindful of item placement. Take that extra moment to look above and below what has been arranged at your eye level. 
8. Use a template for meals: 1 protein, 2 vegetables, 1 grain. Then rotate. Example: chicken, broccoli, carrots, and rice/ fish, Quinoa, salad/ Seitan, tortillas, tomato, avocado and lettuce. Start filling in the blanks...
9. Shop with a friend that empowers you. Agree to meet at the store and then know that someone in the store is your champion. If nothing else - send your spouse. Some people are just better shoppers. Hey- we all have our skills.
10. Change your grocery store. Hear me out. I gave up a big mega chain grocery years ago because I was tired of buying their crappy low quality products. I switched to healthy stores (that can be more expensive if you are not careful) but there is far less opportunity to buy junk. The stores where I shop greet me with fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources that include traditional and vegan. I have found that I spend FAR LESS at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Market Street than the "other places." 
11. Decide to take "those guys" on! It really burns my biscuits to think of the voodoo force working against me. I'll show them!
12. And  my favorite...Relearn and rethink what a MEAL is - based on nutrition - rather than old habits and customs. Put together meals that have a balance of protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates-preferably vegetables. Dinner doesn't have to look the way it used to! Color is a great guide! If everything on the plate is yellow beige (chicken nuggets, potatoes, corn...YUCK) Instead, Quinoa, eggs, spinach, avocado, black beans, red peppers/tomatoes/olives! YUM!

I hope you enjoy this video and here's to happier shopping! While the video made me a bit annoyed, it ultimately, energized and empowered me! I hope it does that same for you.

Here is to our optimal health!

Lisa

Check out these beautiful plates of food! Not what the Cleaver Family ate for dinner.
Photo credits to Julia Sobolevsky.