PAMPY’S POST – MAR24a

Do you measure your year-on-year fitness?

Based on the data, with continued specific activity, most people can increase their fitness levels until age 28. They can maintain this level of fitness until the age of 35 and then experience a decline of up to 3% between the ages of 40 and 50, if they continue doing specific activities. However, after the age of 50, the fitness level tends to decrease naturally by around 1% per year, provided one continues to engage in regular physical activity.

Fitness testing: Please make sure to perform a repeatable, accurate, and reliable test. It would be best to use numerical measurements to record the results.

Some reasons to test yearly!

✅ Motivate action.

✅ Highlight (ill) health.

✅ Influence future activity.

✅ Entertainment.

Some year-on-year tests could be.

⏱️ The time walking around your block.

⏱️ Time taken to mow your lawn.

⏱️ Park run,

⏱️ Walking up Mount Kosciuszko.

Or, can you still perform; 10 push ups, 5 chin ups, 60 second wall squat, & broad jump your height?

Here's my bi-yearly stationary bike test for the last 20 years, which I hate!

Time: 20 minutes.

Assessing: Average Watts.

Protocol: Progressively warm up for 15 minutes before throwing out maximum effort for 20 minutes.  This gives me my functional threshold power.

🚴 The bike ergometer offers exact testing every time.

🚴 My latest result: 351 watts = Funtional Threshold Power (<354 - 2023).

🚴 My goal is to limit my aging decline by less than 3 watts per year.

Knowing my FTP, I plan to do 90% or more of my training at 78% of this number, which comes out to 273 watts. I've been working in exercise physiology for 35 years, and my experience tells me that the sweet spot for producing healthy results and avoiding over-training symptoms is between 78-83% of your maximum 20-minute effort.

Please let me know if you need assistance setting up your most fitting test.

Bitter 'SWEET' Symphony!

Do all sugars respond similarly? If not, what sugar should be avoided?

Two varying responses to sweet food are;

1. Regulation of volume and,

2. Calories stored (as fat).

🍭 Sugar is a carbohydrate that yields four calories per 1 gram.

🍭 When we consume more calories than we burn, our body stores the excess as fat.

🍭 Flavour and the addition of manufactured flavour can impact calorie intake.

🧁 Sweet foods are typically composed of a combination of glucose and fructose, creating sucrose together.

🧁 If one consumes more fructose in their diet, the body is more likely to store the excess energy as fat.

🧁 Additionally, metabolism is influenced by genetics.

Here’s a sweet experiment testing the influence of fructose and flavour.

Subjects: My four nieces & nephews (all 8ys).

Testing: Without knowing what they were drinking, what drinks would they naturally favour?

Drinks: Authentic honey & water, Table sugar & water, Apple Juice, Orange flavoured soft drink.

Each child received all four drinks @ 150 calories per drink served in 300g plastic bottles. They were then left to watch TV for two hours.

Soft drinks commonly contain high fructose corn syrup or alternatives, which can lead to excessive consumption due to its fast (est) energy storage.

Thoughts: Although excessive sugar consumption in any form may negatively impact our health, it is vital to consider the type of sugar and its flavour, especially when it is manufactured. I avoid all soft drink (including zero, low cal etc) and I see little value in fruit juice, particularly commercial choices. The effects of sugar consumption may vary from person to person.