Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Vitamin Routine, Recovery drink, and the Hypoxic tent
My routine for vitamins is simple, and I forget some days but rarely. I take a group of vitamins once daily.
1 Twins Labs multi w/ Iron: (this is the complete tablet with full dose in one tab. Dont have to take 3-4 a day with this one. Makes it much easier to take a bigger pill, but only once per day)
1 "super 10 antioxidant": This capsule contains 1000 mg Vit C, 400 IU Vit E (the d form, much better than the dl form), 15,000 IU Vit A (Beta carotene form), Selenium 100 mcg, Zinc 15 mg, various herbals, probably harmless.
1 Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q10) capsule, 30 mg. I will move to 100 mg during heavy training weeks. This is also an anti-oxidant.
1 Iron tab (Ferrous Sulfate form), 18 mg. This is taken 4 times per week. This dose is 100% of the RDA for iron, and that in the Multi tab I take is 50 %. Iron is poorly absorbed, around half or less is absorbed. Taking a little over the RDA and by normal meat eating diet assures I am meeting the requirement for red cell production and turnover with heavy exercise and potential demands from the hypoxic tent. Very unlikey to over-dose at these levels. Iron can be very dangerous in high doses and can lead to chronic fatigue and long term, hemochromatosis (which can cause liver failure and diabetes). Dont forget, Iron recycles in the body. You never get rid of it unless you lose blood or demand increases from increased blood cell production (as in altitude simulation). When red blood cells die, the iron in those cells is even recycled. If I didnt use the hypoxic tent, I would never take an iron supplement. I would have Ann take one however because iron supplementation is ok in women, due to the monthly blood loss.
Recovery drink: Typically after any running workout over an hour. Biking over 2 hours or after hills or interval training. Swimming after a 4K or more workout.
Mix 75g maltodextrin with 25 grams protein + 5-8 grams Glutamine.
The Tent
I started the Hypoxic tent again. All last week at simulated 6000 feet. This week started at 8000 ft. I am already getting up once in the middle of the night to urinate, due to the dropping plasma volume induced by the mild hypoxia.
My serum ferritin tested before CDA was a whopping 20 (normal 10-200 on west coast). Ferritin is necessary to transport iron for increased blood cell production. My ferritin being so low(Ann's is even lower) is why my hematocrit did not increase after 6 months in the tent mostly at 12-14000 ft simulation. Hence my hematocrit remains at the low end of normal at 40 (normal up to 45 in men). Regardless, I will continue in the tent as I believe there are other advantages besides increase in hematocrit. Unfortunately, I know of no method to increase your Ferritin levels other than injecting a pharmaceutical grade. I believe this is illegal and should be banned but I dont think it is on the USOC list. I think any substance directly injected to increase above your normal levels of any hormone or serum reactant should be banned. My genetics dictates my ferritin level. Thats life. I have to find other ways to get faster...like training.
My routine for vitamins is simple, and I forget some days but rarely. I take a group of vitamins once daily.
1 Twins Labs multi w/ Iron: (this is the complete tablet with full dose in one tab. Dont have to take 3-4 a day with this one. Makes it much easier to take a bigger pill, but only once per day)
1 "super 10 antioxidant": This capsule contains 1000 mg Vit C, 400 IU Vit E (the d form, much better than the dl form), 15,000 IU Vit A (Beta carotene form), Selenium 100 mcg, Zinc 15 mg, various herbals, probably harmless.
1 Ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q10) capsule, 30 mg. I will move to 100 mg during heavy training weeks. This is also an anti-oxidant.
1 Iron tab (Ferrous Sulfate form), 18 mg. This is taken 4 times per week. This dose is 100% of the RDA for iron, and that in the Multi tab I take is 50 %. Iron is poorly absorbed, around half or less is absorbed. Taking a little over the RDA and by normal meat eating diet assures I am meeting the requirement for red cell production and turnover with heavy exercise and potential demands from the hypoxic tent. Very unlikey to over-dose at these levels. Iron can be very dangerous in high doses and can lead to chronic fatigue and long term, hemochromatosis (which can cause liver failure and diabetes). Dont forget, Iron recycles in the body. You never get rid of it unless you lose blood or demand increases from increased blood cell production (as in altitude simulation). When red blood cells die, the iron in those cells is even recycled. If I didnt use the hypoxic tent, I would never take an iron supplement. I would have Ann take one however because iron supplementation is ok in women, due to the monthly blood loss.
Recovery drink: Typically after any running workout over an hour. Biking over 2 hours or after hills or interval training. Swimming after a 4K or more workout.
Mix 75g maltodextrin with 25 grams protein + 5-8 grams Glutamine.
The Tent
I started the Hypoxic tent again. All last week at simulated 6000 feet. This week started at 8000 ft. I am already getting up once in the middle of the night to urinate, due to the dropping plasma volume induced by the mild hypoxia.
My serum ferritin tested before CDA was a whopping 20 (normal 10-200 on west coast). Ferritin is necessary to transport iron for increased blood cell production. My ferritin being so low(Ann's is even lower) is why my hematocrit did not increase after 6 months in the tent mostly at 12-14000 ft simulation. Hence my hematocrit remains at the low end of normal at 40 (normal up to 45 in men). Regardless, I will continue in the tent as I believe there are other advantages besides increase in hematocrit. Unfortunately, I know of no method to increase your Ferritin levels other than injecting a pharmaceutical grade. I believe this is illegal and should be banned but I dont think it is on the USOC list. I think any substance directly injected to increase above your normal levels of any hormone or serum reactant should be banned. My genetics dictates my ferritin level. Thats life. I have to find other ways to get faster...like training.
