Testosterone
Lance Armstrong's Interview Drinking Game!
17/01/13 08:16 Filed in: Other
I saw this online and just had to share it! If you feel down while watching Lance Armstrong’s Interview with Oprah tonight, go ahead and do this drinking game. Pretty sure you’ll feel a lot better by the time it’s over!
We are not responsible for any consequences or abuse!
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My Take on Armstrong's Case
As a previous competitive cyclist (nothing like the level of competition discussed but competition nonetheless) and still a huge cycling fan, I feel driven to write this article. Please note, I was never a huge fan of Lance Armstrong and whether I like him or not, that doesn’t change my perspective on the case.
As you know, Armstrong has declined to continue the fight to prove that (he claims) never to have taken doping. The USADA claims he is guilty because he refuses to carry on with this legal fight.
Even though Lance Armstrong has never tested positive during his career, there are also a lot of stories, rumors and the USADA states that they have testimonies of previous team mates of Lance Armstrong, testifying they saw him use illegal performance enhancing products or procedures.
For me, the bottom of the line is: I don’t care! It’s not my place to tell whether he is guilty or not and I don’t know all the facts. When I was racing, I have seen and heard a lot of things and I have my own opinion about Lance Armstrong but that doesn’t matter.
What matters to me is that they are on a witch hunt prosecuting a retired athlete who is not competing at those high levels anymore. I don’t see any organization chasing after our other beloved athletes. What if they took away the medals and trophies of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddy Merckx or even Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan? I am not saying they took PED’s for sure but it is very possible some of them did. What is the point of going back in time and ruining people’s lives?
There is a lot of doping in the professional athletic world and I am 100% for testing. I believe there should be no doping because it forces other athletes in doing it and putting their lives in danger. It is also a horrible example for our youth. However, it is there and that is a fact. That being said, if someone passed the tests and they could not detect it, that should be the end of it. Especially when the individual has already retired.
Nowadays, we are able to store blood samples and we do thorough testing. However, there is always a way to cheat the system. Doping is all about new products, cycling, timing and dosage. I have never taken anything and I also didn’t have the ambition to become a professional athlete so why would I?
If this event becomes the norm, different organizations will simply store the blood for years or decades, test the samples then and detect products they couldn’t detect before. Or when a team mate is 70 years old and has financial problems, he or she can sell stories for a lot of money. Is that really what we want to do? Do we really want to go back in time and take away victories and inspiration? My modest opinion says no, even though I am 100% for a clean sport.
By Sander Vanacker, owner, head instructor and personal trainer .
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Sleep & Recovery
When training or working out, we focus on form, intensity, cardio levels, heart rate, reps and sets etc. One thing most don’t pay enough attention to is sleep - even though it is one of the most important factors in your recovery and progress.
During our workouts, we put our body to the test by decreasing or depleting our energy supplies and putting a strain on our muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs etc. For example, after doing an intense workout, your muscle fibers suffer from micro damage. This is what causes you to be sore 1-3 days after a workout. However, since these muscle fibers got damaged, your body reacts by making them better. This means they can get larger (hypertrophy) after weight lifting or become more efficient (better blood flow, more mitochondria in the cells etc.) after an endurance workout. These are only a few examples of how the body improves the function of the muscle that was trained and micro damage is not the only aspect that needs recovery. Think about restoring the glycogen levels, processing the excess lactate* in the muscles, re-instituting body fluids and much more.
All of these processes take time and can be sped up if you do certain things after training. One of the most important is sleeping enough.
Everyone knows that rest between workouts will help you recover but there is still a difference between rest and sleep. A few processes that occur while you sleep:
So instead of getting paranoid over your supplements or whether you did or did not train hard enough today... get some sleep first. It will benefit you both mentally and physically and the next day you will be ready to work out again.
During our workouts, we put our body to the test by decreasing or depleting our energy supplies and putting a strain on our muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs etc. For example, after doing an intense workout, your muscle fibers suffer from micro damage. This is what causes you to be sore 1-3 days after a workout. However, since these muscle fibers got damaged, your body reacts by making them better. This means they can get larger (hypertrophy) after weight lifting or become more efficient (better blood flow, more mitochondria in the cells etc.) after an endurance workout. These are only a few examples of how the body improves the function of the muscle that was trained and micro damage is not the only aspect that needs recovery. Think about restoring the glycogen levels, processing the excess lactate* in the muscles, re-instituting body fluids and much more.
- Contrary to popular belief, lactic acid is not what builds up in skeletal muscles - lactate is. Biochemist used to believe that the body produces lactic acid which immediately turns into lactate after losing a proton. Now it has been proven that this was incorrect.
All of these processes take time and can be sped up if you do certain things after training. One of the most important is sleeping enough.
Everyone knows that rest between workouts will help you recover but there is still a difference between rest and sleep. A few processes that occur while you sleep:
- Cortisol levels go down. Cortisol levels elevate in periods of stress. Since training is a form of stress on the body, cortisol gets released. This unfortunately can be catabolic in long term. When you do not rest enough in between training sessions, your body will go into a state of overtraining and cortisol levels will remain high while insulin levels will remain low. Since insulin is a great hormone to build tissues, this may lead to performance and/or muscle loss. Sleeping is a great way to lower the cortisol levels.
- Increased levels of Human Growth Hormone. When sleeping, your natural levels of HGH get elevated. This mainly occurs in the later and deeper phases of sleep so when you cut your sleep short, you are missing out on a significant opportunity to recover. HGH supports muscle recovery, promotes lipolysis (decomposing fat), stimulates the immune system etc. No doubt this will aid your recovery and performance.
- Higher testosterone levels. The more and better you sleep, the higher your testosterone levels will be when waking up. This gives you mental and physical energy and promotes bone and muscle mass since it is an anabolic steroid. The body produces testosterone itself in men and women. The levels differ but women have testosterone in their system and men have estrogen in their body.
So instead of getting paranoid over your supplements or whether you did or did not train hard enough today... get some sleep first. It will benefit you both mentally and physically and the next day you will be ready to work out again.