Our body has two main sources of calcium – the food we eat and our bones.
99% of the body’s calcium is found in the bones, while a small amount is dissolved in the blood.
This blood calcium is essential for the healthy functioning of the heart, muscles, blood and nerves and is tightly regulated.
Bones act like a calcium bank. When we don't get enough calcium from our food, our body withdraws from that calcium bank (held in our bones) to keep our blood level within a certain tight control. If the balance gets tipped too far in the direction where we're withdrawing more calcium from our bones than we are depositing through...
On a recent Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast, I spoke to Physiologist, Avish Sharma. He was the lead Physiologist for Triathlon Australia in the preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which was always set to be a hot environment. He shared his practical, evidence-based heat adaptation advice to help with racing and training in the heat (that actually works).
My passion is to cut through all the noise and give you practical, evidence-based information that actually works. To fast track your success as a time-poor triathlete.
Triathlon can be a very expensive and tech-heavy sport. You don’t just need stuff for one sport, you need stuff for three! There are lots of gadgets and everything is upgradable - costs that can add up quickly if you’re not careful.
But when it comes to nutrition, people don’t value investing in their nutrition because it isn’t tangible. You don’t get a shiny new object for your money.
But I would argue your body is the thing you need to spend the most on. You have it for life!
There are so many things that can affect your long term health if you’re not putting the right things in.
In my recent podcast, I share...
There are many key ingredients to focus on if you’re wanting to train harder, feel better, and become the best triathlete you can be.
These aspects will not only propel you to become a successful triathlete, but will also translate into having greater energy throughout your day to day life.
- Exercise physiologist
- Triathlon coach
There is A LOT to do, think about and organise when it comes to triathlon racing. Preparing for one sport is hard enough, but you’ve got to prepare yourself for three!
To help you automate your racing process and take away the stress that comes with toeing the start line, I’ve put together a Triathlon Racing Checklist that outlines a range of things you might want to consider in the lead-up, on race day and also suggestions for post-race too.
As an endurance athlete, you should have a basic understanding of why iron is so important and know where you can get it from your diet. But iron absorption is a little more complicated, as what's actually in that food doesn't necessarily all get digested and absorbed.
On the podcast, I spoke with fellow Advanced Sports Dietitian, Rebecca Hall to get the lowdown and her tips on all things Iron. Rebecca worked with some of the athletes competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and recently submitted her Master's in iron supplementation for endurance athletes.
Iron plays a key role in building the haemoglobin and myoglobin that carries the oxygen around the body. Think about haemoglobin as the transport vehicle - iron plays...
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (or BIA) scans are popping up in just about every gym and I’ve even seen some health professional clinics offering them as a service.
They’re advertised as a quick and affordable way to accurately measure your body composition i.e. how much muscle, fat and bone tissue you’re made up of.
But if an athlete of mine brings me a scan to interpret, I tell them to throw it in the bin!
BIA stands for Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. You see them at gyms – they're those little scales that you can either stand on or hold on to (or both) that give you a report to tell you what you're made up of. They’re really popular for the before and afters in Gym Challenges.
Are you frustrated you can’t seem to reach your body composition goals? You train more than most people but still have a little excess body fat to lose.
Are you constantly trying to eat a little less to burn more fat and end up starving all the time? Or absolutely wrecked after training?
That is definitely no way to live
But don't stress, you're not alone. A lot of athletes who I work with struggle with the same challenges.
To lose body fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit. It's as simple as that. You need to consume less energy than you're burning. But the types of foods that you're consuming are really important as well.
In congruence with that, skin folds were mentioned quite a lot as a superior method for measuring body composition. Here's some info into what skin folds actually are, what they measure, how they are done and how to find somebody who can accurately get a measurement for you.
Here are some practicalities around how to manipulate your body composition as a triathlete, how to decide whether it’s useful, and how to accurately measure it.
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