May 2017 Q&A – Muscle Soreness, Sweet Potato, Macro-Nutrients

Posted on by Peter

may q&a

This week is our Q &A. Thanks for your questions. Feel free to submit more questions for next month at www.consummateAthlete.ca

DOMS while Cycling

Macro-Nutrients for Athletes

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes

The Show is sponsored by:

HEALTH IQ: Please visit healthiq.com/capod

2017 HEALTH IQ MARCH APRIL
Don’t forget to check out www.wideanglepodium.com for show info, other WAP podcasts and to become a Donating member (free bonuses!) Visit W.A.P.

Download on Itunes (subscribe & leave a review Please!) 

Download Android / Stream / Listen on-line

Download and view on Wide-Angle-Podium Site 

Download the Mp3 

Follow Peter and Molly at below links
 

SHOW NOTES:

DOMS from intense Cycling 
QUESTION:
You mentioned DOMS in regards to running, but I’d like to know more in regards to cycling. I’m a masters cyclist and I seem to get a horrible case of DOMS a few times a year. I never bonk or cramp during events, but after races (not training) I sometimes get DOMS a few days after a very hard race. My glutes, hamstrings, quads, ITB, hip flexors all get inflamed and then my lower back starts to seize and I can’t walk, bend over etc.Any thoughts on preventing this? Is this a post race hydration issue? Massage, cool down, recovery ride? Supplements, electrolytes?

ANSWER:
A few added thoughts from this information,
a) making sure you are conditioned for the intensity and demands of the race is first response when I deal with cramping, back pain or excess soreness.

b)  making sure to cool down and maybe even a recovery day spin may help as well but also making sure not to overdo it the day or two after, don’t rush back! You might just need a recovery spin the day after and then an off day 2 days out. It is often tempting to go back to the regular, textbook schedule but the body may not go on that rhythm.

c) if you are taking any anti-inflammatories during or after the race that would also be something to avoid to make sure you are not masking symptoms, and again be getting feedback on how your preparation was for that event.

1) A lot of times a good warmup/cooldown will help … make sure not going hard immediately and not giving some time to get body cooled down at the finish.

2)  more calories in ride and/or around rides -> don’t skimp on in-ride fuel (this robs your work capacity too) and also don’t skimp after the ride.   Other meals can certainly be more protein/veggies if trying to reduce calories/increase nutrient density.

3) and upping protein intake (think extra egg at breakfast, extra meat serving dinner, maybe some whey protein after ride)

Any or all of those 3 are common causes of cycling soreness in the absence of very hard mountain biking (eccentric loading/pounding) or crashing.

QUESTION: Sarah asks about Macro-Nutrients and how much good nutrition will improve performance?

=> Many options depending on genetics, goals, body type, age and gender.

=> Performance improved by optimal body composition, sleep, mood and energy which are all a result of good nutrition.

 

QUESTION: HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATOES?

ANSWER: Sweet Potato Recipes/methods

1st fastest sweet potato method -> Microwave (this is a game changer for a lot of people)
-> Many microwaves have a ‘potato’ button … press it twice and put 1 potato in and it almost always will be pretty close. Add a minute or two as required at end.

->  Poke a hole in it and put it in a microwave for 4-8 minutes (if under a beer bottle size it is closer to 4 and as it gets bigger then beer bottle closer to 8min)
-> Top it with cinnamon, salt hot sauce and/or mustard for easy/low cal flavor  (to taste)
=> adding eggs, meat, veggies etc. to taste
=> actually really tasty with a bit of nut butter as well

2nd fastest sweet potato method  ~20min with ~4 min of work (I often leave this going on low while I do some morning core/calisthenics/stretching)
-> cut up into ‘chips’ and fry, on low, covered with coconut oil
-> add eggs and spinach to the same pan

3rd fastest sweet potato method
-> bake 4+ while making another meal and keep them in a Tupper-ware!
-> don’t over cook them (ie. to the point there are juices running) as this usually is not as good the second day when you reheat or eat cold.

4th option – slow cooker
-> throw a hunk of meat and BIG chunks of sweet potato and onion, maybe some celery in a slow cooker and let it go on low
* sweet potato will get pretty soft so if you can add them in last 2-4hrs likely better but not mandatory

5th option – BBQ  (can do these in frying pan as well)
-> cut into lengthwise pieces … this is somewhat dangerous to do with a knife … cut a flat edge initially then leave that face down to provide more stability
-> cut thin slices and place the long ‘slabs’ on the bbq
-> for some reason these are more delicious and easier to handle on a grill then ‘chip’ cut.

Polarized Training, HIIT & Athletic Needs – Stephen Seiler

Posted on by Peter
Sport Science, Polarized, Training, 80:20, Coaching, Training, Hierarchy of Needs

Sports scientist Stephen Seiler joins us today to talk about Polarized Training, or intensity distribution, as well as a related concept he came up around the ‘Hierarchy of Endurance Training Needs’.

We cover some really interesting and practical information that you can take to your own training patterns today. Regardless of your training the idea that we should have focus and a purpose to our intensity and volume should resonate.

The Show is sponsored by:

HEALTH IQ : Please visit healthiq.com/capod

2017 HEALTH IQ MARCH APRIL
Don’t forget to check out www.wideanglepodium.com for show info, other WAP podcasts and to become a Donating member (free bonuses!) Visit W.A.P.

Download on Itunes (subscribe & leave a review Please!) 

Download Android / Stream / Listen online

Download and view on Wide-Angle-Podium Site 

BIO

 A researcher in Norway, originally from Texas. Well known for his work on polarized training, or intensity distribution, as well as many topics around adaptations to training, especially in endurance sport. He loves rowing and cycling.
 

Show Notes 

BIO:

Book of sports physiology got him into it

Twitter – rowing and Flanders on same day!
   – likes rowing and cycling

 

Why research rowers/cyclist ? Has done both but availability of subjects. Need enough
    – cycling popular in Norway as is cross-country skiing
     –  questions he looks at training process and generalities and

 

Elite vs. amateur -> there are differences but also some commonalities
   – elites have time and can train as much as can
    – best athletes train a lot
    –
Amateur have limits on time
BUT -> there is intensity distribution of time And recreational need that almost more! Not limited by NEED to recover like elites. That is the problem (the black hole) medium intensity
 –  => Black hole workouts (training in middle intensities where feels good, ’30min run’ ) LINK to Outside article
 – the most common mistake
 – regression to the mean

 

80:20 – (polarized)
   – does the concept apply if someone is not very fit, i.e if they can’t run ‘easy’????
   – 2mmol threshold reach before even run if overworked (ie. no aerobic system). See improvement with easy training

 

Marco Altini case study from HRV4Training data:
  – have  to ‘rework’ ‘reset’ them
  – the time crunch may have to re-distribute time to try and push duration one session a week
   – add goals to the session (efficiency etc) don’t ‘just run’

 

Media influence and interpretation of training
  – draw hypothesis from observation
 – test on slightly less elite (have access to)
 – tempting to make research readable/ applicable
  – reporters and headlines
Hierarchy of Endurance Needs
hierarchy seiler athletic needs
– Hype of training / quick fixes
 – need to establish basics
 – buying gains,
– the pyramid/hierarchy of endurance needs
      -> inspired by Hype Cycle or Curve (link) that has expectation, dissolution,
 – the basics aren’t sexy/ profitable
 – all about doing the work
  – also similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy

 

Basics first (volume, HIT, distribution)
Then other stuff (periodization, blocks, altitude, peaking etc)

-> higher elements have risk: low-cost reward (response, sickness, decrease training)

– average person focus low-cost techniques
– eating the cake vs. making the cake
– aerobic conditioning allows fast recovery
*most viewed on research gate

 

Crosstraining:
  – xc and rowers cross train due to access, may not be optimal
  – still seek specificity – hilly terrain, use poles, roller skis
  – never too far from key muscle groups
  – runner

 

Sufferfests –
 – the tendency to regress to mean
 – fitness center etc
 – hard to tell someone to do. 2 hr jog
 – be careful!!

 

Elites discipline
  – Bjørn Dæhlie famous skier ran slowly but for extended periods
 – “planning the work, and working the plan”
 – not influenced by others (half- wheel etc)
 –

 

Coolest experiment?
 – alpine skiers o2 consumption,
  – in the field, very neat to challenge in the field
New discoveries with lots of data now ??
-> new era/stage of sports science moving to Big Data … how to synthesize aNd figure out what matters
-> narrow to useful tools
-> can’t underestimate coach’s feel, art of coaching and technology can confirm or sometimes change

Best books – come back to
Gladwell’s books  – Gladwell’s books
– Glicks – chaos/butterfly effects in “Making New Science Book” 
– don’t discount older books on reinvent wheel

Sven Nys – Hop Barriers, Corners, Longevity

Posted on by Peter

Keywords: Cyclocross, high-performance, training, sport , cross, crossvegas, world cup

Molly got the chance to interview Sven Nys just before this year’s CrossVegas. This is a short episode but the questions and answers are jam packed with motivating advice from the cycling legend. Sven talks about his career, his success and his love of the sport. He gives best tips to hop barriers, corner, run up and stay healthy for many years of racing.

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BIO

Sven Nys (Belgium) is one perhaps the greatest cyclocross racer of all-time. He has just retired and now manages the TeleNet Fidea team. Over his career Sven won 2 world championships and seven world-cups. He won 140 races over his career. Lesser known is that Sven participated in 2 olympics in mountain bike and also won the National MTB title 5x.   Read more on Sven Nys WIKIPEDIA

Social / links 

Molly’s Bicycling article with more Sven – LINK
 
 

Questions 

1) for a long time you must live for your sport, not just for a short time.
3) jumping barriers – DON”T BUNNY HOP , lift the front wheel first
4 ) Runups – for steep hills or stairs – teach yourself how to handle bike on shoulder. be in balance on your shoulder. Train a lot on short climbs, very explosive.
5) Core strength – Peter may have been lurking on Sven in the gym . Core is for everyone, not just athletes. You ride your bike to get fit but you need the other work to stay injury free and have a good day on the bike

Why Movement Matters – Katy Bowman

Posted on by Peter

Today, we are very fortunate to have Katy Bowman on the podcast. Katy is a biomechanist, with emphasis on the BIO because rather than looking only at isolated joint angles, Katy has specialized in looking at how our movement, or lack thereof, influences all parts of our lives as well as our families, communities and the environment  Katy’s work suggests we can, and should, be careful allowing technology the chance to remove all labor from our days. She has written numerous articles, 5 books and recorded multiple podcasts on her concept, nutritious movement. Katy’s latest book Movement Matters is available on Amazon now and it is a fantastic read that nudges you to get moving and provides many examples of why your movement throughout the day matters whether you are an athlete, a parent or struggling to find health.

Don’t forget to check out www.wideanglepodium.com for show info, other podcasts and to see if becoming a donating member of the network is for you.

Download on Itunes (subscribe & leave a review Please!) 

Download Android / Stream / Listen online

Download and view on Wide-Angle-Podium Site 

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Social / links 

 -> new book is out: Movement Matters!
 -> virtual classes on nutritious movement & transitioning to minimal shoes/floor-sitting/walking/general lifestyle changes as someone who’s mostly sedentary.
 -> book signing in Victoria This Thursday November 17th  https://nutritiousmovement.frontdeskhq.com/courses/96080
 -> Katy’s twitter  @NutritiousMvmnt  and instagram 
 ->Facebook is @NutritiousMovement
BOOKS
 ->Simple Strategies for foot pain – http://amzn.to/2fGbm8F
 ->Alignment Matters book – http://amzn.to/2fV6u4B
 ->Diastasis Recti – http://amzn.to/2eFUaPF
 
 

katy-bowman-field

Questions 

Your athletic ‘career’ – what have you done from a movement/sport perspective. How did you get to this point where walking and physical labor became your passion and your sport/play pursuit?
  • not an active person in childhood
  • runner at 18
  • by college, she was personal trainer, runner, 4-5hrs of training per day (mostly endurance)
  • 1st race at 22, 5k doing 7.5 min miles very casually
  • started triathlon with a borrowed bike (“thought it would be fun”)
  • athletic career = when engaging in exercise for solely physical accomplishment
  • still doing big things, i.e on her birthday, does something to do with the number, i.e a 40 mile walk for her 40th birthday
  • “I like treks that have a sense of accomplishment versus mileage alone”
Movement vs exercise
  • didn’t realize movement existed outside of exercise
  • started to define difference between exercise and movement
  • movement = anything you do with your body
  • exercise = specific motion for physical adaptation
  • ex: if you’re climbing a tree for exercise so you can improve core vs. climbing tree for apple picking, the purpose is different (movement is byproduct of getting something you need)
  • exercise: movement happening outside of everything else in your life
  • moving: any movement with physical benefit but other stuff being facilitated
We really liked how you tied our decreased daily movement to a decreased need to do any work to get food in the book. Is a cyclist riding for 5 hours for example isn’t getting a lot of the ‘nutrients’ that we need? Can you speak to why an athlete would want to consider adding walking in nature with loved ones into their day, even if they have a long bike ride, or ‘exercise’ more than guidelines ?
  • nutritious movement = movement and diet are similar. there are movement nutrients similar to needing a spectrum of foods to make cells operate properly. nutritional deficiency comes when missing certain nutrients. similarly, movement deficiencies can happen even with a good but not varied ‘diet’ of movement, and you’ll be depleted in certain areas. also, too much of the same movement/nutrient can be too much and be toxic to the system
  • movement malnutrition: nothing at all, or just doing the same thing over and over again (ie cycling and then just lying around / being sedentary)
  • there are parts we use all the time and parts we never use. ex: cyclists use legs in one particular way, but cyclist might see bone density loss in local parts of legs that aren’t being used. “Just because some whole body measures are getting better doesn’t mean every cell is getting that benefit.”
  • no matter who you are, you need to look at biomechanical inputs through the day
  • athletic people don’t differ on paper much from those 0 exercise people: 60 min of exercise or not isn’t that different. That’s only 4% of your day!
  • you have hours to move more, but you need to think of movements you aren’t doing for fun/athletics
  • look at time that isn’t exercise for where you can add movement

Links to to help you get walking

=> link to proper gait https://nutritiousmovement.com/gait-101/

-> Great post with videos on walking vs. bouncing (proper gate)
 -> Katy talking uphill and downhill walking including ‘vertical shin’ concept to reduce sheer on knee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDIeu_QL51U
 ->GAIT 101 with Katy Bowman https://nutritiousmovement.com/gait-101/

Stacking for the athlete training several hours

  •  stacking = working movement into non-workout time
  • we mostly choose sedentary form of tasks, i.e running errands in the car, sitting down in restaurant to hang out with people
  • making sedentary choices
  • stacking example: Katy & husband are into athletics, but hit athletic wall/time crunch when had kids. Had date night, but decided to change it to a movement-focused date hike instead. “Sedentarism and romantic connection don’t have to go hand in hand.”
  • Movement improves quality of time
  • Expand idea of how a task can be accomplished
  • “We all have to be productive, we have to work, but there’s nothing that says my laptop only works when my butt is in a chair.”
  • Movement doesn’t have to be intense or extreme. Can be exhausted, but don’t have to flop on the couch—can rest in dynamic way, i.e sitting on the floor
  • mobility doesn’t have to be just for physical benefit and need not be a solo, blocked out hour of your day. Sitting on floor to work is very similar to movements you would do in a mobility ‘session’
  • when you stop trying to ‘step out’ of your life to get more exercise, you become a better athlete
Many sports shoes, rock climbing and cycling for example, have very narrow toe-boxes. Can you suggest some ways to minimize the crunched toes, bunions and foot pain?
  • choose to continue to do the sport
  • when exercise is sole movement for the day, you’re adapting to what you do with greatest amount of force. if you’re sitting around after cycling, your foot doesn’t get used to walking on spread out, well-aligned feet
  • need to increase time on feet (walking) in wider shoes, and make sure no other shoes look like those shoes. don’t wear tight shoes the rest of the time. train your feet to offset that cumulative adaptation that your sport brings about
  • Rock climbing to high heels trains muscles to stay together all the time, can cause foot/knee/hip issues
  • where are you spending the bulk of your time (home, office, walking, etc.) and choose a shoe with wider toe box/go barefoot when possible
  • do corrective foot exercises (form and technique is important)
  • great sport form but poor other form means you’re adapting to other form since not exercising bulk of the day
  • add different surfaces to walk (move more of you!), move in a variety of ways, not just flat cement (work gradually)
A quote from one of your great articles – can you expand on why walking must come before running? “Don’t confuse the minimal-footwear and barefoot movement with a running trend. Every human needs to be able to walk correctly before they run and shoe characteristics as we know them are interfering with the health of the entire body.”
  • you can run whenever you can run
  • don’t need to consume a ton of running, but need to be moving
  • consider how your body feels, what’s working, what’s wrong, how you’re trying to continue running versus shifting physical structure (i.e ibuprofen, braces, etc.)
  • look for clear signs that current behaviors aren’t sustainable.
  • don’t need to increase workout, need to decrease sedentary behavior (don’t reduce working out, just add walking. If you want to wear fit/healthy label, you have to earn it)
Sleeping position – This is such a huge part of our lives. I feel like we still don’t consider our sleep ‘alignment’ / positions enough. What are some steps we can take to help make sure our 8 hours of rest is not setting us up for back pain or reinforcing our hunched over, athletic and keyboarding positions?
  • Read Move Your DNA (link below)
  • You’re adapted to sitting. Then, athletic event, usually linear with hips, spine, etc. (not a lot of rotation happening)
  • Sleep, we have created a situation with soft mattresses/pillows. But people should transition away from comfortable beds/mattresses.
  • If you’re coddled in soft mattress all night, you stay in 1 position similar to how you sit all day. Movement should even happen in sleep!
  • Can you lie flat on the floor before bed, and then repeat that in bed so you’re not automatically in that seated position
  • less cushion, the more your positions while you sleep vary more naturally
  • no one ultimate position, but should be able to sleep anywhere in wide range of positions
  • consider sleep like crosstraining – moving / posturing in different ways
  • NOTE: it took 18 months for Katy to transition away from a pillow so that she was not sleeping with head forward and this helped reduce or remove neck pain and headaches she fought for years. *tall pillows push head forward of midline alignment in same fashion as we do all day to look down at phones (or garmins on your bike!)
social / what’s next ?
  •   signing in Victoria This Thursday November 17th  https://nutritiousmovement.frontdeskhq.com/courses/96080
  • new book is out and a best seller! : Movement Matters! (If you could move more, it won’t just make your physiology better, it’ll make your life better.)
  • virtual classes on nutritious movement & transitioning to minimal shoes/floor-sitting/walking/general lifestyle changes as someone who’s mostly sedentary.
BOOKS
 ->Simple Strategies for foot pain – http://amzn.to/2fGbm8F
 ->Alignment Matters book – http://amzn.to/2fV6u4B
 ->Diastasis Recti – http://amzn.to/2eFUaPF

Q & A – Travel, Sven Nys, Gaining Weight, strength and Off-Season

Posted on by Peter

Keywords: Travel, Sven Nys, Gaining Weight, strength and Off-Season

Today’s episode is a Reader/Listener Question and Answer (Q & A ) Episode.

We talk about our challenges over the last month of training, the core-routine we are each doing (and Peter is using with his clients) . We discuss a Sven Nys quote on embracing your sport and how this can help the Consummate Athlete. One of our readers has been sick and inquires about gaining weight, which let us discuss some tactics for losing/gaining that have worked for us, in research and/or for clients.

NOTES OCTOBER Q & A 

crazy travel week, what we learned at crossvegas, Iowa world cups 
-sleep
-stretching
-train
–eat: 1 veg per meal, tons of water (see molly’s article on surviving trade shows )
Sven nys quote from Bicycling (teaser about short podcast coming up)
You have to live 365 days a year for your sport. That helps a lot. Not just for a small period. You need to have the passion from day one until the last day.
peter newsletter
INTO READER Qs
Know what? Gaining weight. From coming back from illness (severe weight loss) to generally losing too much weight training.
  • give it time, body will return to ‘normal’ (ease into training)
  • protein / calories in general need to come up but consider IN vs. OUT
  • backing off training ie walking not running
  • Liquid calories (dairy, peanut butter , white rice as easy to eat lots)
  • watch starting with low cal / high nutrient density foods (ie. salad opener limits overall calories for some)
  • Molly references milk (whole milk) beneficial for DOMS from study HERE
Vince M C. asks: I would love some down-to-earth advice on getting into interval training. I’ve always just tried to maintain a pace while running, but I’m aware that interval training will yield better results. But how does one establish intervals as a beginner?
  • fartlek is the easiest way to start
  • run/walk (not just for beginners)
  • break normal route into chunks
  • track – run straits, walk corners
  • find a track workout or hill workout nearby
  • find hills
Brandon asks: strength training in the off season why, how, when. 
  • should year round
  • offseason good to start
  • infographics on performance benefits of strength
OFFSEASON IN GENERAL

KEEP YOUR EYE ON SADDLESOREWOMEN.COM for news on updated Version of Saddle Sore

Why You Should Care About Your Pelvic Floor as an Athlete with Physio Laura Powers

Posted on by Peter

Pelvis, Pelvic Health, Core, Internal Physiotherapy

Laura Powers MSC is a physiotherapist based in Collingwood Ontario. She is an avid cyclist and played varsity Volleyball so she understands what it takes to a perform at a peak level in a variety of sports.

Laura talks to us today about Pelvic Health, a general term that can refer to a few different conditions. In the fitness world incontinence during jumping activities, such as the crossfit popularized skipping double-under, running or trampolining are perhaps the most common but Pelvic Health is something that many people will need to (or should) look into at some point in their life, especially after child birth.

The problem is that many people do not know you can improve this condition, or eliminate it with the help of professionals like Laura.

This Episode is brought to you by Version 2 of Saddle, Sore – Check out www.saddlesorewomen.com for updates on the December Release and Release Parties !

Laura is also one of the new experts who will be in Molly’s upcoming Version 2 of “Saddle, Sore”, with expanded chapters on Pregnancy, Men’s issues and more information on Saddle sores including Case Studies!

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One of the most frequently ignored muscles in the body is the pelvic floor—it’s hard to work out, impossible to see, and until you actually have a problem, it can be difficult to comprehend the importance of taking care of it. So, to find out why it’s so important and what you can do to keep your pelvic floor in tip-top shape, Molly talked to Laura Powers (BPHE, MPT), a physiotherapist in Collingwood, Ontario. She’s been focusing on helping women—primarily athletes—rehabilitate their pelvic floors and regain daily activities, like jumping or running they had been avoiding. Laura has focused her practice on this area of physiotherapy for the past few years and considers educating the public on the topic to be one of her primary passions.

Why does the pelvic floor matter?
It’s a major muscle, just like any other! We’ll get into the problems women can have with their pelvic floor, but those problems, when left unaddressed, can really affect everyday life: your self esteem, your social life, your confidence, what you enjoy doing… We can help women so much.

What are the most common pelvic floor issues you see in female cyclists?
One in four women have some kind of urinary incontinence, so if you take athletes and apply that to them, it’s not as uncommon as you might think. For cyclists in particular, though, it’s a low impact sport with no jumping, so stress urinary incontinence isn’t as common. Most commonly, I’m seeing women with pelvic pain, numbness, sexual disfunction—they just can’t get orgasms—all due to the prolonged compression on the saddle. There are a lot of nerves, veins and arteries that get compressed and can create those sensations. That’s likely what we see: deeper, inside pelvic pain, superficial numbness, or that sexual disfunction. If you’re avoiding sex because of discomfort, that’s a bad sign.

What are some early warning signs that a woman needs to do something about her pelvic floor?
As a female athlete, if you’ve had a baby, you should be doing pelvic floor exercises or seeking preventative treatment. I advocate for seeking some kind of guidance after childbirth. But in terms of early signs, those symptoms I mentioned in the last question often start out infrequently or in more mild forms. If it goes unaddressed, it gets worse. Pain becomes longer and more intense. So any of those symptoms are signs that something isn’t right: even a little bit of leakage isn’t normal. A bit of discomfort on the saddle isn’t abnormal, but if you’re having it, you should think about ways to make your ride more comfortable to avoid the issues getting worse.

What certifications should a cyclist look for when looking for someone to help?
A lot of physiotherapists claim to treat pelvic floor, but a lot of them only do external work. They’ll educate on positioning and how to engage your core, and that’s fabulous and greatly needed. But you probably want someone who does internal exams and assessment, who will internally palpate the muscles. That makes a big difference. When looking for one, look for a physiotherapist registered to do internal palpations for the pelvic floor. It’s the most effective way to assess and treat pelvic floor problems. Women come in all the time and tell me they’ve been doing Kegels, and I do an exam and it doesn’t feel like they’ve done anything because they haven’t been doing them properly. And what we need to assess is the tightness of the pelvic floor. There’s a certain tightness that’s considered healthy. In a weak pelvic floor, the muscles feel softer and that’s when you tend to have that stress incontinence. On the other hand, a high-tone pelvic floor feels tight and restricted. That’s when you see more pelvic pain issues. Both require very, very different treatments, and that gets missed with external treatments.

What can a patient expect going for the internal treatment?
It’s similar to when you go for a physical. But when women think of that, you think of the speculum and having your feet in the stirrups. But it’s not like that. You’ll feel some pressure, but most women say it’s not as bad or as weird as they thought it would be! It’s not very invasive, and it’s a comfortable setting. But people are nervous about the internal part—I just tell people they’re in complete control and we can stop anytime.

What are some exercises a woman can do to strengthen pelvic floor?
I’m a huge proponent of home exercises, because I only see women once a week. They need to be doing home exercise to maintain the work that we’re doing. For a cyclist with a tight pelvic floor, that means lots of stretches. I like Child’s Pose, deep breathing, anything to create relaxation. If you have loose muscles though, that’s when we’re doing Kegels. But really, it’s like any other training program—just like other muscles, they need that training effect. You’d go for regular massages and stretch if you had tight neck muscles!

Remember to check out the new 2nd edition of Saddle Sore This December 2016 for more from Laura and other awesome experts, including a chapter for men!

Lia Sonnenburg – Naturopathy, Hormones, Over-Training, Birth-Control

Posted on by Peter

 

This Week Molly talks to Lia Sonnenburg about her Naturopathy practice in Collingwood, Ontario. Lia works with clients ranging from elite athletes to new moms. Both Peter and Molly have used Naturopathy in the past and hope you enjoy learning about the discipline.

Hormone health is a tricky subject for anyone, whether you just want to ride stronger, you’re considering getting pregnant, you’re decidedly not trying to get pregnant, or you’re just having some weird feelings and want to know what’s going on. Lia Sonnenburg, a doctor of naturopathic medicine in Collingwood, Ontario, sat down for an interview to talk about some of the most common issues and the natural and lifestyle-oriented ways that we can get our hormones back in balance.

Continue reading Lia Sonnenburg – Naturopathy, Hormones, Over-Training, Birth-Control