Female Athlete Triad

The Female Athlete Triad is something that I need to be mindful of, as do all competitive athletes. (I won't be explaining the Triad so please refer to the link if you are not familiar with it).


Many competitors I know do have some sort of disordered eating. This isn't the same as an eating disorder though, such as bulimia or anorexia, but can be just as serious and can affect relationships and long term health.


The emphasis on the physique in my sport demands that food is weighed and measured, not one extra ounce allowed or enjoyed. Some live like this for a certain length of time (the 12 week prep period) while others may live like this all year long.


Binge eating is also an issue, after such a long period of deprivation many competitors cannot or will not stop eating when given the chance to have whatever they wish.


I have experienced some of the triad myself, and it does concern me so I am very conscious of it at all times. Luckily I have not experienced an eating disorder, although I do know a few women who have, most are not open about their eating disorders since they are more phycological issues than anything. No one wants to admit they have one, like a drinking problem, they think they can just ignore it then it doesn't exist. Add to this, the fact that for some odd reason, people are embarrassed to discuss menses. It is a normal and healthy process that women go through. 


You should be able to discuss all of this with your trainer- male or female. They need to know what is going on with your body. 


My own personal experience has been with "low energy availability" followed by amenorrhea. Basically I expended more energy than I took in on a daily basis for an extended length of time, and I stopped menstruating for several months. I didn't eat enough food to sustain myself in a healthy manner.


You can read about my hydro-static bodyfat testing here if you like. I was way too low. Mike, the fellow who tested me said he had never tested a woman that low and only one person ever - a male. I didn't try to get that low but it happens, you get your head into the diet and cannot really see what you look like, and then stopping the loss takes time, just like starting it.



After a couple months I saw my doctor and he too was concerned. I had blood tests, hormone levels tested, vaginal ultra sounds, bone density test, you name it!  In the end, after deciding I was ridiculously healthy and strong ( with amazing bone density - the same as the comparison used- that of a 27 year old female) it was decided my bodyfat was just too darn low and I needed to plump up!


All competitors have to restrict calories, but each body is different and all women are different. Some may be able to compete at 10% bodyfat and some need to get much, much lower. I am one that needs to get very low, in fact at my last competition I was sub 3%.


I do want to make sure that you understand you can go through this without an eating disorder, just reducing calories too low can cause this. 


So what's the big deal anyway? I mean who cares if you have really low bodyfat and you stop menstruating?  Women who suffer from this can develop osteoporosis due to low estrogen. And then as she ages, bone fractures are increasingly common. This is a very, very serious disease. If you enter into amenorrhea, be cautioned, it's a serious situation and needs to be rectified. 


Clinical symptoms include disordered eating, fatigue, hair loss, cold hands and feet, dry skin, noticeable weight loss, increased healing time from injuries, increased incidence of bone fracture and cessation of menses. Affected females may also struggle with low-self esteem and depression.


In all the years I have done this, my bodyfat always got down around 4% at competition time and I never had any health issues, last year when it was below 3% I did. I am being very careful now so that I do not get that low, since dropping bodyfat for me has never been a struggle, when I get my head into it, I do it. 


I am making sure that I go more slowly, I ingest more fats to sustain myself and I don't overdo the cardio. 


Watch yourself, or if you have a loved one you are concerned with, talk to them if you see something that is a red flag. 


The above picture was taken Saturday, March 17. I am down to 124 now, and bodyfat is dropping, you can see the difference since last week quite easily, but I am still not too low in bodyfat, so I am ok for now!

Week 7 to Competition (week 3 of diet)

It's all coming together! I have been on my diet for three weeks now and I am losing the fat at a good rate, keeping my skin tight and I have a lot of energy. I am, unfortunately, hungry all the time though! I am at 124 now, and am aiming for 120 pounds, but only time will tell. I won't know where I really need to be until I get there!

Quads look good don't they? Shoulders are starting to be rounder, the chest looks good too! It's funny, I personally think I look at my very, very best at 123 pounds, only 1 pound away from this! At 123 pounds I still look full but lean.

I love my back, when I was training with Roy the other day he remarked that my back was already widening and looking bigger, and I only started training it one extra day a week, three weeks ago! The body part that needs the most "tuning" is the glutes - but that is just one big fatty area for all of us, most women tend to hold fat in the butt and thigh area, and I do too, thank goodness I have no cellulite! My glutes are fine and as soon as I shed the extra pounds, the glutes will tighten right up and sit high as usual. I have been blessed with a great butt.

The lower belly is still there, but as I said, it's the last to go and also why I need to drop down so low in bodyfat. You can see the sculpted look starting though, all along the sides of the obliques.

Medial delts are looking better too, Roy has me doing something to engage my T-1 muscle which, in turn should help my entire back, allowing me to engage the delts more instead of the traps. He says I am T-3 dominant, and that is why I get huge traps and don't even try. Shrugs? Never do them and never will! My traps grow just walking into the gym (makes every male on earth seriously jealous)

A few people have asked me to post about the diet, and I have started to write a post, but I like to include pictures and the problem is, I get so hungry and start eating only to realize half way through, that I need to take a picture! Then it's too late.

The stomach is looking flatter, and I still have another 7 weeks! Today at my son's lacrosse game another parent and friend came up and said "well, how much longer?" "7 weeks!" I said. "What?! 7 weeks still?! Sheesh, that's forever!"....and I am the one on the diet! Too funny, she wants to go out eating and drinking, I told her we will for the Memorial Day Weekend long tournament, I am organizing the team again. 

Monday Morning Motivation

"Just remember -- when you think all is lost, the future remains."

~  Bob Goddard

"We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears."

~ Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld

“Telling the future by looking at the past assumes that conditions remain constant. This is like driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror.”

- Unknown

"If you are afraid of your future, you don't have a present."

~  James Petersen

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last.  The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”

- Wayne Dyer

“My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there”

-  Charles F. Kettering

“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created--created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.”

- Unknown

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.”

- William Allen White

Fit Bodies for Better Beef

You read it right - Fit bodies get better beef! 


There is more to it than that, I think that being fit and physically aware makes you more in tune to people around you. Maybe that's just me, but I do think it's true.


I have seen so many people change after losing weight, adding lean mass, beginning to eat healthy. They feel better about themselves and when you feel good about yourself, you treat others better too.


Think about it. When you are sick, or tired you just want to be left alone. You don't want to talk to any one, see anyone, interact with anyone.


When you feel good, ALIVE, you walk around smiling, you exude spirit, you become part of the human race, and believe me the race is a fun one!


My life as a competitor has allowed me to meet so many interesting people and experience situations that I never would have before. Even grocery shopping becomes a great, fun adventure.


Fridays I get off work at 11:30 and drive straight out to train with Roy, then I always go grocery shopping and try to make something good for the guys. Usually I get all my food at Whole Foods (I do also shop at the Farmers Market on the weekend and receive a CSA delivery on Tuesdays), but David likes a certain baguette, and they only sell it at Lunardi's. So, after Whole Foods I headed out to get his baguette and a couple other things they didn't have at Whole Foods.


I was standing at the butcher counter and a female butcher came over to help me. I asked if they had turkey tenderloins and she shouted over her shoulder to another butcher and then told me they do. I walked over with her and said I probably didn't see them because the "ladies who lunch" were busy socializing in front of the poultry and even though I made myself into a contortionist, I couldn't see around them. 


We started talking about the turkey and she asked if it was for me, I responded positively and explained the diet, 7 more weeks till I could have a huge slab of prime rib or something tasty like I would be getting the boys. 


She was interested and started asking me all about what I do, she never heard of Figure and wanted to know all about it because she lifted and wanted to do something more with it. I then saw three butchers standing behind her, cutting meat and eavesdropping on us.


"What do you wear?" she asked and I explained the rhinestone bikini and heels, then one of the butchers came up and said it was Bodybuilding. "No, it is not the same." and I explained the difference.


"Show us your guns!" shouted one of the butchers. I put my purse in my cart, started to take of my jacket and said "Hell yeah, I'll show you my guns!" and I stripped down to my spaghetti strap tank over my gym clothes. I flexed my bicep.


"Let's see a lat spread!" Now there were the three male butchers and the one female all lined up a the counter. I stepped out away from the counter, turned around, spread my back and I hear "Damn look at that back! Look at those shoulders!"


I loved it, we all started laughing and talking at once. Then the female butcher took her jacket off and flexed her biceps, huge! I told her I was really, really impressed. She was smiling like there was no tomorrow. After we discussed it all for quite some time the guys stepped away and it was just the two women, she wanted to know how she could get started, I told her it was never too late, I started when I was 47. "When was that? Last month?!" one of the guys shouted. 


I told her I needed some Prime Rib steaks for my men, she walked over and said "I will get the best ones for them, the ones I would take home! They deserve it!"

I thanked her and said I would be back to check to her progress, and to buy more beef for the guys!


Do you have this much fun grocery shopping? If not, I suggest weight training, it will do you wonders!

My Training Split

Things need to change a bit, I am now in "competition prep" so this means my training will change, just as my diet changes. 


I add in more cardio, starting off with a few days a week extra, and then I will monitor how I look and will add or take away days.


I need to start concentrating on my Back again, and the delts need to be round and pop.


It's not like I have been neglecting anything, but I haven't been focusing in on any specific muscles other than trying to bring up the size of my legs.


So what will I be doing for the next few weeks? It's not a dramatic change, but it is a change. 


Monday
5:00 a.m. Calves, Conditioning at Courtside
11:00 a.m. Stairs and jump rope at San Jose State University
5:30 p.m. Hamstrings with Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym


Tuesday
5:00 a.m. Shoulders at Courtside
11:00 a.m. Stairs and jump rope at San Jose State University
5:30 p.m. Treadmill  at Home


Wednesday

5:00 a.m. Calves, Back and Biceps at Courtside
11:00 a.m. NAP! at San Jose State University
5:30 p.m. Quads with Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym


Thursday


5:00 a.m. Hamstrings at Courtside
11:00 a.m. Stairs and jump rope at San Jose State University
5:30 p.m. Treadmill  at Home


Friday

5:00 a.m. Calves, Conditioning at Courtside
12:00 a.m. Shoulders with Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym
5:30 p.m.  Treadmill at Home


Saturday
6:00 a.m. Quads at Courtside
3:30 p.m. Treadmill at Home


Sunday

6:00 a.m. Back and Biceps at Courtside
3:30 p.m. Treadmill at Home

The treadmill at home may vary when I actually do it, since it is right there I just fit it in between meals when I am not doing anything else! It is likely that I may start napping more days too, and not just on Wednesday (the day I actually lift twice).

Bisphenol A (BPA)

I live a healthy life, at least as much as possible. It would be nice to know that I could purchase foods that didn't poison me. I make a point of buying BPA free products, and hopefully you do too. Numerous studies have been done proving how dangerous this chemical is to all of us, and it's everywhere in our food packaging!


I have taken the liberty of sharing an email here that I received from Ken Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group. All you need to do is click on the link and a pre-filled letter will open. Add your name and email address and off it goes to the FDA! Please read it and take action, for your health and the health of generations to come.

This month, we have an unprecedented opportunity to make sure our food is free of bisphenol A.

By March 31 - just 16 days away - the federal Food and Drug Administration plans to decide whether or not to continue allowing food packaging that leaches BPA. There is no time to lose - the FDA has to hear from you before it makes its call. The government needs to know that Americans will not stand for food contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Click here to send an email to the FDA today - get BPA out of food packaging.

BPA is a synthetic estrogen used in everyday products from canned food linings to store receipts. It disrupts the hormone system and has been linked to serious health problems such as early puberty, brain and heart disorders, infertility and prostate and breast cancer. The Environmental Working Group has been at the forefront of BPA research since 2007, when we released a first-of-its-kind study that found that BPA had leached from can linings into more than half of the canned foods, beverages and liquid infant formula we tested.

Markets are already changing. Food industry giants - including Campbell's Soup, ConAgra, Eden Foods, Edward & Son, Hain Celestial Group, Heinz, Muir Glen, Oregon's Choice Gourmet and Eco Fish, Trader Joe's, Vital Choice and Wild Planet Foods - are considering reformulating their cans.

With one decision, the FDA can begin to rid food packaging of BPA for good. We need to make sure this important agency knows that consumers are tired of toxic chemicals leaching into food. There is no time to lose - the decision comes this month - so email the FDA today.

Click here to tell the FDA that you want BPA out of food packaging. There is no time to wait.

Thank you for standing up for safe, healthy food.

Sincerely,

Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group

Massage @ Roman Paradigm Massage & Therapy

Have I ever said how much I love massages?  Given any opportunity, I would have a massage any time, any place, any how and by anyone. Whenever there is a Groupon or Yelp Deal, and it features a massage, I nab it. 


I bought one for Roman Paradigm Massage & Therapy ages ago, I never had an opportunity to use it until recently. I think it may have just changed my life.


I called to schedule my 60 minute hot stone massage and said I wanted the therapist who gave the deepest, hardest massages. None of this frilly stuff for me, I train hard and I need to feel it deep in my sore muscles.


Rachael is the one they immediately said.


It was a Friday so I trained with Roy and then headed off to my massage. Traffic was a bear due to construction, I was running late. I have seen the place a zillion times but never knew what was in the building, close to Santana Row.


I came in and was greeted by two very friendly women, I used the bathroom down the hall and was led to a back waiting room to fill out paperwork. It was a casual place, comfortable and relaxed, it wasn't trying to impress or put on airs.


A striking man looked up at me and said to the woman standing near him "Oh my, look at this!" He walked over to me and with a smile said "Do you mind?" as he reached out to touch me, he wanted to feel my arms. "Ha ha, not at all, I love it!" I exclaimed. "Do you compete?" he asked, "Yes, I have a competition in 9 weeks" I responded.


The woman stood by watching and laughing, "we are a very friendly group here" and I told her "I can tell, that's good!"


The man walked away towards her with a grin on his face and said to her "Looks like you are gonna have fun with this one!" 


I was really starting to like this place! She walked over to shake my hand "You must be Rachael" I said and she acknowledged that she was my therapist.


We walked into the treatment room and she explained that she and Rob delight in treating Athletes, it's a treat for them. She said he was probably quite jealous that she was in there with me instead of him being in there with me. "We love all of our clients" she explained, "But an Athlete is something special. Someone we can really treat with various modalities and see great response." 


I told her about the problem I was having with my hamstring and left glute, right at the tie-in. It is causing me discomfort when sitting. Sometimes I kneel at my computer at work to alleviate the discomfort.  I am also much weaker on the left when I squat, it is impeding my growth.


She asked what type of massage I liked, she said I had the "hot stone". I told her I want the deepest massage possible and I really don't need stones, it was the Yelp Deal.

I never saw a stone.

There was lots of discussion and stretching, Rachael determined that the cause of my problems was my foot. "Did I ever suffer from Plantar Fascitis?" Oh yes indeed I did, back when I was 40 and training for a marathon. I had to stop running for two years due to the pain.


Turns out the pain in my butt is all because of my darn foot! Who would have known?


Rachael had me actively participating in the massage, having me push against her, then release and she went deeper. I would take a deep breath each time I pushed, knowing that as soon as I started to relax the pain would only become deeper and deeper as her hands and arms were able to move deeper into the muscle. She asked if I was OK several times, I was panting and breathing hard, but the pain was good pain.


We discussed A.R.T, she knows it and incorporated some. She added in Structural and Fascia Alignment, Trigger Therapy and Deep Tissue.


I thoroughly enjoyed the way she interacted with me, making me as much a part of my healing as she was, we worked as a team.


It felt so good I wanted to cry.


I asked her why this was so different than any other massage I have ever had - no massage has been like this. I still love every massage I have ever received, but they were relaxing for the most part. This was work and healing and relief all at once.


My glute, my quad, my hamstring, my calf, my ankle, my foot. All of it got the attention it had been screaming about for so long. 


She asked if it was OK to work high, up at the adductor. "Work as high as you need to." I told her. It felt tight and I asked her if adductors should be that tight. "Well, yes they are typically tight." she responded, but I explained "It feels like you could pluck it like a guitar string, should it be THAT tight?". "No" she laughed, "Not that tight, but we can fix that."


It was time, she apologized as she knew I could continue for quite some time. I told her it was the best one hour massage my left leg has ever had "No" she replied, "I massaged your left glute too!"  We both got a chuckle out of that. I told her I would be back, and soon, to have the other leg, and the rest of my body worked, this was amazing, I felt like I had just experienced a new phenomenon that may change my whole body.


She had me move, to see how the range of motion increased, the muscles were loose and softened, not tight and hard, resisting even slight pressure. 


Rachael said to be sure to ice the joints and insertions, then allow my skin to warm and then stretch. I would probably experience soreness for a day or two and that is expected.


I booked another appointment for two weeks later. 90 minuets, the other glute needs some work too!



I got in my car, and opened my water bottle. My top had been down, it was in the sun and the contents blew up all over me and Myredrocket, damn, this will need to be cleaned up before David sees it (and I succeeded!)

I had to eat, I had missed a meal. I drove home as fast as legally possible and I wolfed down my tilapia, asparagus and almonds.

I strapped on my ice, and found it hard to stand while icing my ham/glute tie-in, so had to sit and it felt great! I texted Roy- "It was amazing! My squat will improve, I cannot wait to show you!" He seemed as excited as I was.

 Later my calf started talking back, so I slapped the ice on that too.  I told David how fantastic it was, how it would fix everything that ails me. He said I need to find a way of going more often. Hmmm, then sell 5 packs at a discount I understand.

Later I stretched and foam rolled, I was tender. I could feel the dramatic difference between the left (the lucky) leg and the right (the unlucky) leg.  My body felt like It had a long overdue medical treatment, this was what massage is supposed to do, it is supposed to heal and balance. I don't think I will ever go anyplace else again for a massage.