296.6

Muscle fibers and how to maintain them

We have two kinds of muscles involved in physical movement, fast twitch and slow twitch. Put simply muscles we use for strength and muscles we use for endurance. Slow twitch, or endurance muscles, rely on our cardiovascular system, fuel and oxygen in the blood keep them working. To train endurance, these muscles are stressed over and over so that the number of blood vessels or capillarity is increased and the efficiency of the actual transfer of oxygen and fuel to the muscle fibers is increased. With fast twitch muscles, adaptation occurs once a stimulus or load on the muscles is so great that all muscles of a given group are recruited for the movement. These muscles grow in size as a response. This is a really simplified explanation but I will go into detail later. Basically when it comes to training, bodybuilders don’t run and marathoners don’t deadlift.

So what does that have to do with anything? Being older, my body reacts to stimuli a lot slower than it used to. I recover a lot slower and I need more time for muscle growth to catch up. The thing is, the body will still atrophy at the same rate unless you exercise regularly. In order to keep the type I muscles healthy, cardio has to be done on a very regular basis. Training the type II muscles has to be done as well but scheduled around an extended recovery schedule. A regular endurance program should keep the type I system at a high level of fitness and at the same time optimize the pathways that will lead to growth in type II muscles whose training is properly adapted for effective recovery.

HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training) should be ideal as it tries to operate at or close to VO2max, the limit of the bodies ability to supply oxygen to the muscles. At 40% of VO2max, you would have to workout for 2 hours or longer to get the same stimulus as you would by working out at 100% of VO2max for 15 minutes. The thing is, very few people can get to VO2max much less maintain it for any appreciable amount of time, but the closer you get the better. When Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile, he didn’t train by running the mile over and over, he did it by running a series of 10 sub-minute quarter miles every day for months. At the end he was able to mimic his stride and cadence in the quarter for four consecutive quarters, and become the premier miler of his time.

My food:

Breakfast Rellenos

4 eggs(320 cal.)P28F21.2C1.6
1 can tomatoes and chilies(50 cal.)P2.5F0C10
4 oz. queso fresco(353 cal.)P22.8F27.4C0
4 Anaheim peppers(21cal.)P4.5F.45C21.3
total= 744 cal. P 57.8 F 49 C 32.9

Roast chilies whole under broiler, turning once. Slit longways and seed, reserve, do not remove stems. Finely crumble cheese into eggs and tomatoes, scramble egg mixture as desired. Stuff peppers fully with egg mixture, enjoy!

Chinese for lunch

1/2 cup rice(90 cal.)P6F0C72
1/2 tsp. Turmeric
1/2 onion(32 cal.)P.7F0C7.8
10 oz. chicken thigh(590 cal.)P73F30.8C0
2 Jalapeño peppers(8 cal.)P0F0C2
2 tbs. peanut butter(180 cal.)P7F16C6
2 tsp. coconut oil(80 cal.)P0F10C0
1.5 oz. sunflower kernels(250cal.)P10F21C7.5
total=1230 cal. P 96.7 F 77.5 C 95.3 2 portions/660 now

Rest of chinese for dinner

1 can Dr. Pepper(150 cal.)P0F0C40

My workout

1 mile walk
100 single-unders

For those following along:

one mile walk for warm-up

25 single jumps with jump rope