Faster, Better, Stronger by Eric Heiden M.D

Author:Eric Heiden, M.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061856976
Publisher: HarperCollins

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I keep an exercise diary. It’s worthwhile to monitor your feelings relative to the workout itself.

—Eric

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Some people depend upon a coach so that he can adjust their training to account for other factors in their life. There’s also lots of training software that can give you a general idea of what to do, and can lay out the necessary external load in a very graphic way using certain criteria. But a computer can never modulate the load on a daily basis, depending on your day. On a given day, the program may dictate an hour on the treadmill at moderate intensity. But maybe your heart rate is not going up; maybe you’re fatigued or a little sore. Perhaps you missed a workout or two earlier in the week. What to do? Back off completely? Redouble your efforts? A computer cannot tell you.

But your diary can give you clues. Looking back through your scribbled daily entries, you will discern patterns: You’re always fatigued at this point in the week. Or you failed to take your rest days and therefore have overdone it, which means all of your biologic systems need to rebuild and recover.

In addition to fatigue, you also need to ensure that your problems are not dietary, that you are providing your body with the right fuel for someone who is exercising. This means lots of wholesome carbohydrates, in addition to other nutrients. (See Chapter 5.) You may also want to rule out iron deficiency through a blood test. Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency in the United States and in other developed countries. Globally, an estimated 1.25 billion people are affected. In young female athletes involved in endurance sports, the iron-deficiency rate is as high as 50 percent.

As you know, iron is necessary to make hemoglobin, the primary molecule in red blood cells responsible for the transport of oxygen. When it comes to low iron, your performance goes into the red zone before the iron deficiency is advanced enough to cause real “anemia” and symptoms can develop. If you have an iron deficiency lasting long enough to cause anemia, your red cells will appear smaller than normal. They will also be paler in color; this reflects their low hemoglobin content.

If you come in complaining of fatigue and your iron test results (in particular your ferritin level) fall within the very lowest range of normal recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, a doctor may say your blood test is normal. But for us, when working with people who are getting fit, the low range of normal is significant when it comes to iron, especially if you are a female endurance athlete, you are training hard, you have heavy menstrual cycles, you follow a vegetarian diet, or, most important, you are unusually fatigued. Worsening performance in an athlete is often explained by pure iron deficiency, even without anemia. So you need to ask your doctor for the specific results of the test—not simply whether you scored within the range of normal.

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