As a keen and developing long-distance runner, one of the things I have been experimenting with for the last two months or so has been supplementing my diet with omega-3 fish oil capsules. If you believe the hype, these tablets are a veritable gift from God (or maybe that should be ‘gift from Cod’), boasting a whole array of health benefits. My own reasons for having a go with them were to see how they affect inflammation – in other words, whether fish oil can reduce muscle soreness after long runs – and also to see whether I could achieve extra body fat reduction, as discussed by Matt Fitzgerald in his excellent book ‘Racing Weight’.

In recent years there has been a huge amount of hype about food supplements (it is a multimillion dollar business after all!) with one particular product rising to the top, namely Omega 3. But what is its role in our bodies and do we really need to consume it in addition to our regular daily diet? Well, the first myth to bust is that most people consider the omega-3 fatty acid to be a single nutrient, whereas it is actually a group of essential fats, the most important of which are known as ALA, EPA, DHA and DPA (See the Jargobox). The health benefits of omega 3 were discovered when Western scientists studied the lifestyles of Arctic dwellers and found most had robust health thanks to a rich menu of fish and seals, the oils of which contained high levels of these essential fatty acids.

Many scientific studies have since been conducted, including the well-known ‘sisters-research’, and the firefighters study (published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008, 88, 801-809), which examined among other things, the relationship between omega-3 and certain isolated human health factors. Empirical relationships were found to exist between heart and artery diseases, hair and nail health, problems of attention and concentration, depression, skin, digestive problems and more normal levels of omega-3.

Jargobox

EPA = eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA = docosahexaenoic acid
ALA = alpha-linoleic acid; DPA = docosapentaenoic acid

Learn more about these fatty acid components here.

Where Does Omega 3 Come From?

When I talk about ‘essential’ fatty acids it means they are required by the body, but that our bodies are unable to produce these important fats by themselves; so they need to be supplied by the foods we eat. And there are a number of sources of omega 3, both fish-derived and plant-derived, so that we can all get our daily requirements even if we don’t eat fish. Some of the best sources are:

One of the main problems with the Western diet, however, is that it is generally very low in omega-3. A recommended daily intake is between 1-2 grams of plant-based omega 3 per day, to which you can add between 0.5-0.8 grams of omega 3 fish oil. These kinds of quantities should be enough to provide all of the brain and heart health effects you’ll need. It translates into eating a meal with fatty fish twice a week.

The requirement suggested by Matt Fitzgerald for better vascular health and leaner body composition in endurance athletes is 2-3 grams per day of EPA and DHA (combined) and he advocates a daily fish oil supplement because we can’t all stomach eating oily fish every single day!

Another aspect to consider when increasing omega 3 fat intake in our diets is pollution; many people worry about heavy metal levels in wild oily fish, and also the possibility of other toxins such as dioxins and PCBs getting into their food. However, the health benefits of eating fish outweighs the very small risk of ingesting such toxins. In the West, foodstuffs are generally safe, but you might opt for an exclusively plant-based solution to getting your omega 3 fats.

One of the finest sources is sage plants (Marvalous), which are heavy metal-free, non-toxic, non-allergenic, and do not cause the digestive problems sometimes associated with flax seeds or fish. This vegetarian option provides ALA rather than the more useful EPA and DHA, but our bodies can convert ALA into these essential fats to a degree. The firefighters study I mentioned above showed that consumption of ALA produced good levels of EPA in blood plasma, and also good levels of DPA; however, conversion to DHA is not very high (between 0.5 and 9 percent), so in an ideal world it is always better to obtain some of your omega 3 from fish oils in order to get the DHA levels required.

Should I Get My Daily Dose Using A Fish Oil Supplement?

The connection between fish oil and omega-3 is a longstanding one. EPA and DHA are the essential fatty acids important to brain function and heart health, which were topped up for a long time by consuming vile-tasting cod liver oil. More recently, as people became more interested in nutrient supplements, an interest in vegetable sources of omega 3 acids developed. And the rapid increase in demand for this product shone a spotlight on some unpalatable facts, which hinted that pollution in some of the world’s oceans and depletion of fish stocks may interfere with the health benefits of omega 3.

A more sustainable way of taking these fatty acid supplements is provided by flax seeds, which although not providing a great level of DHA, will certainly have beneficial effects associated with other fats, namely EPA and DPA. Flax has been used for thousands of years by mankind for a variety of purposes. Flax oil contains ALA but is oxidized easily, so if you consume flax seeds, make sure you grind them first and remember to make sure you consume quickly to prevent the oil going rancid due to oxidation in air. Soft gels containing flax seed oil are perhaps a better supplement if you want something a little more convenient.

A final note about omega 3 supplementation, however you go about it (diet, fish oil or flax seed oil): our modern lifestyles mean we generally consume a huge quantity of processed garbage, which contains omega 6. We get tons of this other type of fatty acid, so if you are buying soft tabs or capsules, make sure you opt for the ones which contain just omega 3, and not the mixed ones which also have omega 6 or 9.

Despite the fact that our ancestors got a nice mix of roughly 1:1 omega 6 to omega 3, we are more likely these days to be ingesting a 15:1 ratio. This is a contributing factor to deteriorating health in the modern world, especially in the West. So your (and my) aim should be to bring that ratio back to around 1:1 by cutting down on bad processed foods and fats, and increasing wherever possible the amount of fish you eat. And if necessary to supplement with fish or flax oil. For more general healthy information on this and other issues – visit FreshBeetle.

What About Sports Nutrition And Body Composition

As I explained in the introduction, my own reasons for taking fish oil supplements include improving body composition, and in particular reducing body fat percentage. There are studies which conclude that omega 3, at a dosage of 2-3 grams per day, can lead to fat loss – which is great if you are an endurance athlete carrying a bit too much lard! There is a great article discussing the fat loss benefits, functions and dosage requirements here. I particularly liked the ‘party tent’ analogy of a cell membrane.

Have I noticed any differences during my two months on these supplements? Well, no. However, I bought an over-the-counter high street brand which contains 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA per tab. Even though I take two of these “one-a-day” tablets per day, I’m still not really getting close to the recommended levels. I do feel a little sharper mentally though, but that’s entirely non-scientific in that I’m not measuring hydration levels, and concentration can vary depending on exercise and endorphin release and probably a whole host of other things. And I’ve also noticed my skin is a lot better, less dry than it used to be, so maybe that’s a real effect I’m benefitting from.

In any case, I’ve just ordered my next batch from Amazon, of the Ultra Omega-3 by Now (pictured above), which ups the ante to 500mg EPA and 250mg DHA – so two or three of those per day will give me a better idea about whether I’m going to increase fat-burning. It is interesting that some scientific research concluded that either exercising or omega-3 supplementation increased fat loss; but that the effects were not additive. In other words, taking the fish oil and also exercising did not lead to losing more fat than either of these interventions alone.

I’ll keep you posted in a future blog post about what kind of results I get, but it’s probably not a bad idea at all to try out a one-a-day omega 3 capsule just for maintaining general health, and see if you gain any benefits. If you do, drop a comment below and let us know if you feel any better for it.

Much of the training we do as triathletes and duathletes involves honing our skills in the individual disciplines we need to participate in. Great improvements can be achieved by picking on your weakest one, and working hard to perfect your technique, and usually it is easier to see larger benefits by doing this than trying to improve on your best event. If you’re really serious, you’ll even be training hard on your brick workouts – adapting your body to keep going from one event to next with fatigued muscles. But the one activity ignored at your peril is transition – from swim to bike (T1) and from bike to run (T2) – the Fourth Discipline of triathlon.

So imagine how much work you would have to put in to squeeze an extra minute out of your body on the 5K run of your sprint triathlon. Then imagine how much time you could lose by having a really sloppy, undisciplined transition, just because you used regular laces in your running shoes, and perhaps you forgot to untie them, or they got knotted. All that training would be for nothing as you fumble away at your shoelaces in T2 wasting precious seconds. It really does pay to think through every single detail of what you need to have at each transition area, what exactly you need to do, and when. Planning is vital!

Reading The Rules – Packing The Right Gear

The first thing you need to be clear about when you enter a triathlon is what kit is allowed. Depending on the time of year, the water temperature and the distance, wetsuits may or may not be allowed. Make sure you find out beforehand. If a wetsuit is allowed, you are best off wearing one because modern triathlon wetsuits can provide a few advantages that you’ll be missing out on if you decide against it. And you can bet your fellow competitors will be wearing them, and gaining from extra buoyancy and a friction-free swim, while you struggle.

Safety equipment needs to comply with certain industry standards and the competition organizers check to make sure your cycling helmet complies with safety standards – don’t get caught out by this as they’ll disqualify you for any breach of safety rules.

Also, if you are expecting to get a time for your endeavors, make sure you remember to pack your timing chip (sent to you by the organizers with the rest of your race pack) and your race number. Make sure you know where you need to display your number, and if you are unsure, ask one of the volunteers at the event before the start. You will get time penalties for not correctly displaying your number, and you can even get disqualified for multiple infringements.

The Early Bird Gets The Best Position In T1

Kalmar Ironman Triathlon 2009 - T1 (photo by Magnus Johnsson)

Unless the organizers assign you to a particular place in the transition zone, it pays massive dividends to get to the venue early and grab yourself a spot as close as possible to the exit of the transition area. This means less distance to run with your bike, and therefore less other people with bikes to run past as you exit – and less chance of a collision or other mishap.

Once you have your spot, rack your bike facing out forwards for a quick getaway. Lay out all your gear in three neat piles: swimming gear, cycling gear and running gear.

Swimming Gear

Obviously you’ll be wearing the swimming kit at the beginning of the race. You will have your trisuit on, and will need to wear goggles and swimming cap. Make sure you put on your goggles first, so that the cap secures them in place. That way, if they get kicked off your face in the melee at the start, you won’t lose them.

The main thing to remember for the swimming gear in triathlons concerns the wetsuit, if one is allowed. Use Bodyglide or baby oil or Vaseline to lubricate your ankles and wrists, as well as any other parts of your body prone to chafing. This will protect you from friction burns as well as making it easier to pull on and take off the wetsuit.

Cycling Gear

You will need to decide ahead of time what plan of attack you are going to use in T1 for the transition from swim to bike. For example, some competitors like to lay out a towel so they can dry their feet after the swim and before putting on their cycling shoes. But in truth, your feet will dry off fairly quickly without paying too much extra attention to this. For longer races like the Ironman events, you might want to wear socks to prevent blisters; for shorter races, where extra seconds in transition can count more against you, socks are not generally considered. If you do opt to wear socks, roll them down to the toe and keep them in your cycling shoes. Then, after the swim, you just grab them, slide your toes straight in, and roll the socks up over your feet and ankles – far faster than tugging away trying to pull them on over wet feet!

In transition 1, you will also need to make a judgement call, based on your experience and tons of practice, as to whether you are going to pull on your cycling shoes and make a dash for the ‘mount cycle’ line. The alternative for experienced triathletes is to attach the shoes to the bike pedals before the race, so they can run barefoot to the line and then pull on the shoes while cycling. The latter can be much faster, but also much riskier.

What you will also need is your cycle helmet, and generally a pair of cycling glasses. Lay the helmet across your handlebars with the sunglasses inside where they are easily to hand for a quick transition.

Also make sure you have your water bottles and gels attached to your bike, as you’ll need to rehydrate, and perhaps refuel while on the cycle leg.

Finally, set your bike up optimally. Consider any safety concerns, so make sure and bike bars haven’t lost their plugs, as open metal can cause bad injuries if you crash into another competitor and take a large chunk out of them. Also ensure the brakes and gears are working okay, and that the brakes don’t rub against the wheel rims. There are two schools of thought about which gear to leave your bike in pre-racing. The first school says to put your bike into the best gear for the initial part of bike leg, and that will depend on the terrain, whether it’s an uphill start, etc. However, the other school of thought is to recommend using a high gear in T1 because this keeps the chain tight, and therefore less likely to bounce off while bumping along towards the exit to the transition zone. Once you mount your bike, simply shift down the gears and you’re away. It’s up to you to practice both methods and see which works best for you.

Don’t forget to stick your race number onto your bike! Different races have different rules about placement of numbers so check beforehand. You might need to stick your number onto your helmet, or wear it on your back for the cycle leg.

Running Gear

For T2 you will need to remove any cycling kit you don’t need, and get prepared for running. So you will need to lay out your running shoes, and maybe a cap or visor if you are competing somewhere hot. If you didn’t need your bib number for the bike leg (where you wear it on your back), you will need to have this ready to wear at T2. For the run, you wear your number on your front. So there’s not a great deal of extra kit for your run leg. Just the shoes. Make sure you have the laces loose and the back of the shoes lubed with Bodyglide or Vaseline so your feet slip into them effortlessly. Many triathletes use elasticated laces, so they can keep them tied, but they stretch as they put their feet into them. Again, test literally everything, including all your kit, over and over again in practice. You should never be trying something new out in T1 or T2 on the day of a race.

How To Do Transitions In Triathlon Races

Okay, so you’ve laid out all your kit in the transition area, and you are wearing a wetsuit because you have a cold open-water swim to do first. Let’s go through the routines you need to have practised ad infinitum.

Leaving The Water And Approaching T1

1. As you are leaving the water, you might want to ‘gulp the suit’ by pulling the neck of the wetsuit out to let in some water. This can assist with removal, but remember you should also have Bodyglide or baby oil on your wrists and ankles to help you get it off in transition.
2. Pull down the zipper on the back of your wetsuit
3. Take off your cap and goggles, and while holding them in your hand, pull your arms out of the wetsuit. Leave the cap and goggles inside the sleeve so you don’t lose them.
4. Roll the wetsuit down to your waist as you approach your bike. Pull the wetsuit down as far as you can, and then don’t be afraid to be rough. Either kick hard with one foot while standing on the suit with the other foot. Or pull your foot sharply upwards, assisting with your hands if necessary, also while standing on the rest of the suit with your other foot.
5. If you opt for cycling glasses – which protect you from flying debris as well as bright sunlight – put them on first.
6. Then put on your cycling helmet – DO NOT touch your bike until you have your helmet on and the strap fastened.
7. If you need to wear your number for the bike leg – read the race rules – put on your number belt here in T1, with the number showing at the back. (Some races give you number stickers for your bike and helmet. If this is the case, you can leave your number belt for T2.)
8. If you are a beginner, put on your cycling shoes, and grab your bike – DO NOT get on your bike until you reach the mount line.
9. At the designated line, get on your bike and clip in, and you are away!
10. If you are more experienced, you will have your cycling shoes attached to the pedals of your bike at T1. In this case, after 6 (fastening your helmet), grab the bike, run it to the mount line, get on and start pedaling with your feet on top of the shoes. Once you are on the road and have built up some speed, slide your feet into the shoes and adjust them as necessary.

Here are some great tips courtesy of MySportingTimes Youtube channel:

1. As you approach the dismount line en route to T2, pull your feet out of your shoes, leaving the shoes clipped into the pedals. Don’t let the pedals spin as you do this; hold the back of the shoe with your hand, pull your foot out while still holding the shoe, and then place your foot on top of the shoe. This enables you to keep pedaling if you need to while attending to your other shoe.
2. Dismount carefully at the line, and run the bike to your transition area – DO NOT touch your helmet yet!
3. Rack the bike properly.
4. Now remove your helmet and store it safely. (This is why at T1 you put the sunglasses on before the helmet. If you did it the other way round, there is a chance the helmet strap would pull off your glasses as you remove the helmet – wasted seconds!)
5. Put on your visor or cap if you are going to wear one.
6. Pull on your running shoes. Hopefully you remembered to lubricate them so your feet slide in easily – another alternative is to use talc.
7. Tie the shoes securely – did you remember to use elasticated laces?
8. If you didn’t need your number for the bike leg, because you had a number sticker for your helmet, now is the time to attach your number belt, with your number showing at the front. If you used your number belt for the bike leg, you should have attached it at T1 showing at the back. In this case, simply slide it round to the front.
9. Now run, run, RUN!

And here are some more quick tips from MySportingTimes about T2:

Here are a few more tips to help you along, from Coach Eric Sorensen of Principle Fitness, during a coaching session with triathletes at the Annapolis Tri Club:

Although I have my own ideas about weight loss and reducing body fat – much of it gleaned from research about other people’s methods – I am always happy to listen to people about their successes in this area. And while I am generally going to be unlikely to become a disciple of any single diet ‘method’ I do believe in the concept of ‘absorbing what is useful’. One of the huge diet crazes at the moment is the Paleolithic Diet – often referred to as simply the Paleo diet. I haven’t researched this thoroughly, although I am probably already using some of its principles. But I’m also doing stuff – and will continue to do so – that is completely against paleo principles.

More about the paleo diet later. First, I thought it would be good to reach out to someone who uses this lifestyle, and get some input about a common problem encountered by people on all sorts of diets which restrict (or forbid) highly processed carbs. So this is just a small snippet of a Q and A session hosted by Regev Elya, creator of FreshBeetle.Com, a website dedicated to improving your health by providing a great source of knowledge in the fields of nutrition and exercise. It’s worth a rummage if you want to learn more.

Tips for Losing Weight – Q and A

This is an email I got from one of my readers last week. Thanks, Robin, for letting me share that.

Q: Hey Regev! I recently started trying to lose weight and fat, according to your website, but everyone around me tells me it is a little bit peculiar that I don’t have to count calories. I’m having stress all day imagining that I’m doing all of that for nothing and that in fact I am not losing any weight, as it seems that I am never hungry. I’d love to get your reply, and any other tips for losing weight. Thanks in advance man, Robin.

Robin is going through a phase where many people who first read about the paleo diet find themselves in. How can it be that you are losing weight and fat if you don’t feel any hunger? Here is my reply to him.

A: Hi, Robin. Thanks for contacting me. What you are going through is pretty common among paleo first timers. Our common beliefs have led us to believe that we must feel hunger and cravings for sweet stuff if we are losing weight. All of these go out of the window once you start eating correctly. You really do not have to count any calories, just make sure you measure your body (neck, biceps, thigh, stomach, waist at navel) – this is the ultimate check-up to see your current condition, since the weight scale is highly bogus.

The reason I say so is because you can lose fat and increase muscle and the weight scale might show that you’re still the same weight. Of course, this is a good thing to have, but you will probably be frustrated and more likely to quit, if you give the weight scale too much attention and feeling. Don’t mind it too much and focus on your measurements. They are far more objective for your goal.

The reason you do not feel hungry at all is because you are eating the good stuff. This is appetite control at its finest. Because you don’t consume any carbs and sugary stuff, your body turns into the mode of ketosis, where it uses fat as the primary source of fuel. That’s the way our acestors survived for hundreds of thousands of years, before these companies and sugary industries came into play. Don’t worry – this is perfectly fine as long as your measurements go down. Feel free to contact me on any thing else you might find helpful.

Thanks, Regev.

This question, answered by Regev, is commonly reframed in a different way. Usually people feel hungry (or expect to) when they ditch the white processed bread, pastries, rice and pasta. All these processed foods have a high caloric density, which means you get a lot of calories from not very much food. If you stop eating them, and instead opt for healthier replacements like salads and vegetables, you might begin to feel hungry if you continue to eat the same volume of food. Often then, Robin’s question is reframed as a worry about actually putting on weight, because he eats a lot more food than before the diet – it’s just healthier food with a far lower caloric density. And as Regev said, even eating higher quantities of the right foods, you can still lose significant amounts of body fat and weight. It’s just that the increase in muscle mass has to be taken account of, if you are worried that your weight is not dropping – and that will show itself nicely in your body measurements!

It should also be stressed here that it is fairly important to pigeonhole yourself at the beginning of any kind of new dietary regime. You need to know what you want to achieve. Some people hate running for example, but do it as part of their exercise routine aimed at losing weight. For these people, a paleo-style diet might be great. For people like me however, I love running and I always want to push myself further. Expecting to train in ketosis mode – burning just fat – is never going to happen, especially if you are as competitive as I am. Carbs are fine for highly active people – even the energy gels I consume if I’m running for over an hour. The key is total calorie intake. And it’s wise to make sure all your calories come from high quality foods, nicely balanced, rather than counting out your daily requirement in chips and chocolate!

Vietnamese Green Tea For Losing Weight

What you drink can have a huge bearing on your success if you are trying to lose weight. Everyone knows about so-called ‘empty calories’ so alcohol is usually best avoided. It is also a diuretic, so it’ll dehydrate you given half the chance, and that is bad for performance and concentration if you are racing. Nevertheless, there are also some good nutrients in beer and red wine. After all, they are not just alcohol in water! So my advice is moderation, if you like a glass of wine or a beer, then go for it. I don’t drink in the few days before a race, and I’ll usually increase my water intake.

A book that I have used quite a lot for selecting what to eat to achieve fat loss, is Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Body, and Regev also likes this one, and has had success with green tea – personally, I’m more of a coffee addict, although I only drink caffeine after waking up, and drink decaf if I fancy a coffee during the rest of the day. Here’s Regev’s take on green tea:

As a side note for all of you out there reading this right now, I’d also recommend the usage of green tea for weight loss purposes. This is one of the most common tips out there – but it certainly works. You’ll be able to find the science behind it in Tim Feriss’ recent book ‘The 4 Hour Body’. I’d been experimenting with green tea for a few years already, and although I will be cautious not to mix correlation with causation – I had some very, very good results from a diet that consisted of green tea.

Another cool thing about green tea is its taste. I actually just came back from 7 months in the rural areas of South East Asia, and green tea played a major part of their life, and as a result – of mine. I literally can not stop consuming it today, especially the Vietnamese one. If you have drop to the northern border with China, don’t miss it.

Cheers, Regev.

Paleo Diet Resources

I have looked briefly at the Paleo diet to see what’s allowed and what is not. I’m not usually a diet type of person, because they are often way too prescriptive and restrictive. Usually these days I’ll try to find a happy balance between foods, but haven’t eaten much in the way of processed white stuff for a couple of years. If I eat bread, rice or pasta, I always look for wholegrain varieties. But all of this kind of food is out of bounds on the Paleo diet.

The other thing about all diets is that they have their disciples, people who swear by the practices and want to convert everybody else to their way of thinking. And there are the detractors, who are forever picking holes in the theory despite the fact that many people do really well on most types of diet. The problems are usually to do with ‘falling off the wagon’ and returning to old unhealthy eating habits. This is why I always make sure I can have some chocolate if I want it, or a pastry maybe – but I’ll do it in a controlled manner, rather than craving for weeks and then hitting the self-destruct button and eating my own weight in lard!

Everybody’s different though, and you’ll need to experiment with a whole array of methods to find out which is best for you. To find out more about the general principles of the Paleo diet, the old favorite Wikipedia is probably a good start. And you can find out more about my own thoughts on fat loss by reading my previous article Top 10 Fat Loss Miracles For The Non-Lazy.