“I finally felt like I had a plan of attack to battle my Compartment Syndrome …
October 28, 2011
“I finally felt like I had a plan of attack to battle
my Compartment Syndrome …
I had a whole new outlook on life.”
— Jacqueline Moore on Coach Kaehler’s Body Balance Evaluation
Jacqueline Moore is a bright, vivacious 22 year old athlete who’s going places. Africa to be exact, with the Peace Corps in spring 2012.
Since her early childhood, Moore has been an avid athlete. “My parents had a rule,” says Moore. “While (my brothers and sister and I) were in school, we had to participate in a sport.”
Originally a lacrosse player, Moore made the switch to rowing as a sophomore in high school. A natural and powerful athlete, Moore excelled in the sport from day one. As training demands increased however, so did the pain in both of Moore’s arms.
In her senior year, after extensive testing, Moore was diagnosed with Compartment Syndrome — a serious condition that involves increased pressure on muscle compartments (surrounding fascia or ‘sacks’) as they grow or expand from training.
To correct the condition, Moore subsequently endured extensive surgery — first on her arms, and years later, as a sophomore in college, on the outer sides of both legs. Both recoveries were slow and painful, involving casts, a wheelchair for her leg surgery and powerful painkillers.
“It was a miserable and lonely 6-week recovery,” says Moore. “ I dropped from 174lbs to 138 lbs.”
Determined to recover, and return to the active life style her parents had always fostered, Moore consulted Coach Kaehler for help with her condition. “He sounded really interested in my situation,” says Moore.
“Compartment Syndrome defined my athletic ability … it put limits that I never thought I’d have prior to being diagnosed. But after finding Coach Kaehler, I realized I was perfectly capable of competing on an international level if I trained correctly.
Her thoughts after following Coach Kaehler’s program for 6 weeks?
“I had a whole new outlook on life,” Moore responds.
“ I finally felt like I had a plan of attack to battle my Compartment Syndrome … After taking a non-surgical approach with Coach Kaehler, I was able to see and feel improvement.”
“I noticed the biggest improvement in my legs … The hip flexor strengthening exercises resulted in my no longer losing complete feeling in my feet … I was able to run longer without pain.”
Asked about Coach Kaehler’s Body Balance process, Moore replies, “The whole program is worth it! Coach Kaehler makes it almost impossible to do anything incorrectly, so success is inevitable if the workouts are completed.”
“I would recommend Coach Kaehler to those with or without conditions, but especially to those who go through surgery. Coach Kaehler works diligently to understand what you’re going through and how he can be the most help to you, “ says Moore. “I went to Coach Kaehler thinking he would be easy on me — like the other trainers / doctors / coaches … but he forced me to to do basic exercises in a whole new manner … which resulted in physical improvements I saw on a weekly basis.”
Back on track with her familiar and fulfilling life-style, Moore resumed her rowing and racing with the Steel City Rowing Club through the summer of 2011. Moore currently works as a marketing intern for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and prepares for her first and fast-approaching African adventure with the Peace Corps next spring.
** Coach Kaehler’s Body Balance Process is not medical treatment, and he does not treat pain. Body Balance issues are identified and corrected to allow restoration of powerful and pain-free training. All of his clients have gone through traditional medicine channels first and have been screened by a medical physician. (M.D. or D.O.)
Are you training on an empty stomach?
October 20, 2011
By Coach Kaehler
Athletes constantly ask me whether they should eat before training, or go out on an empty stomach. Even with the extensive amount of research available today, this and many other diet and exercise-related questions remain controversial. Each individual is different. Personal differences in metabolism can skew how each of us respond to not only the food we eat, but also the timing of its consumption and how much of it we can consume.
Most of us have busy schedules. Pressed for time, many of us will either train early in the morning, or squeeze in a session during lunch. Eating around a tight schedule takes some careful planning to ensure you’re getting a quality meal in before you hit the road. If you’re an early morning riser and you don’t eat before training, you’ve most likely fasted without food for six to ten hours. If your training session is less than 90 minutes, and you’ve fueled-up your muscles and hydrated properly, chances are you won’t have a problem. If however, you’re going longer than 90 minutes, topping-off your tank 30-60 minutes before heading out is probably a good idea. If you’re preparing to do your long session in the late afternoon and your lunch time is more than four hours away from training, a snack would also make sense.
Whether you’re training in the early morning or the late afternoon, extensive research favors easy-to-digest carbohydrates that also include a small amount of protein and fat. Examples include carbohydrate gels, energy bars and sport drinks. The small amount of protein and fat in these supplements help blunt the glycemic effect (the rate at which glucose enters the blood stream) and helps maintain a steady blood glucose level. A word of caution: some recent studies have shown that ingesting high-glycemic foods 30-60 minutes before training or racing can cause a hypoglycemic effect in the blood stream. Though this low blood sugar condition does correct itself quickly, it may not be ideal before a race. On the other hand, ingesting low-glycemic foods (whole grain) just before training or racing may cause too much strain on the digestive system. Bottom-line: experiment a little. Find what works for you in terms of what food you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it relative to your practice sessions. Experimenting and observing how your eating habits effect your performance during your practices will help you better prepare for race time.
Eating further out from training sessions alters your food options. When eating two hours before a training session, it’s still a good idea to keep your meals small and easily digestible (surf and turf may be a little too much). I would recommend liquid carbs, breakfast or training shakes with a little protein and some fat, or lighter fruits like bananas and melons. Keeping your carbohydrate intake to about 1 gram per pound of body weight is a good guideline when you’re two hours from a training session.
When you’re eating three to four hours before a training session, you can eat a full meal that includes meat. The advantages of eating three to four hours before training is that it allows your body to restore your liver glycogen to normal levels. Also, assuming you’ve consumed enough carbohydrates with your meal, this timing also allows your body to store carbohydrates into your muscles as glycogen, and minimizes the feeling of hunger during training.
Consuming the correct amount of food depends on how hard and long your training session will be, as well as the temperature of your body and its rate of heat dissipation during your session. During hard training weeks, it’s vital that you stay on top of your caloric intake as proper fueling helps your body run at maximum efficiency. Cutting calories below usage levels can alter performance and recovery during a training cycle. So if weight loss is a goal, you may observe a decrease in performance until your weight stabilizes and you get your caloric intake back to an appropriate level.
Timing your food delivery takes careful planning and preparation, but is a fundamental component of training. Building it into your daily routine will help you get optimal results from your body, and set you up for better performance on race day.
Weight Matters for Endurance Athletes
October 4, 2011
Guidelines for safe and effective weight management
By Coach Kaehler
Are you headed up or down with your weight? Or are you right where you want to be? Two of the most common questions I get from high school rowers concern weight loss and gain. No matter what your level of rowing is, monitoring your body composition is a great idea. Key considerations for weight management are your percentage of lean body mass (%LM) and your percentage of body fat (%BF). Recent studies on endurance athletes confirm that improving your %LM lead to improved performance on cycling and running ergometers (when measuring maximum effort (ml/kg/min) achieved) and improved anaerobic threshold (the delay to the onset of blood lactate level spike at 4.0 mmol).
Whatever your weight goals are — loss or gain — the key question is how to properly improve your %LM while you alter your body weight. To effectively monitor your %LM, you’ll need an initial body composition test to establish your baseline %BF and %LM values, followed by regular testing throughout your training and diet program. Testing every several weeks will allow you to adjust your program if necessary, to stay on track with your weight goals.
Cutting weight is a common activity for many endurance athletes. Done properly, it can lead to great results. Done improperly, however, it can lead to disastrous results. Generally, the quicker the weight loss, the greater the likelihood of decreasing your performance, especially if you’re losing lean body mass. Loss of lean mass especially in high school athletes not only reduces their performance, but can also impede their natural growth. Many schools now require athletes to be measured preseason for %BF and overall body weight to ensure changes are safely controlled. If your program is not doing this, it might be worth looking into.
Another question I’m often asked by high school athletes and parents is how to gain body weight. To increase your %LM, you must consider three key factors including diet, rest and strength training. Regarding nutrition, athletes must examine their overall diet, as well as carefully monitor their intake before, during and after each training session. A good rule of thumb is to ensure you get at least 20 grams of protein (whey is always a good choice) with about 80 grams of carbohydrates immediately after each training session. Also, eating healthy snacks between meals will prevent your body from starving for essential building blocks, and ensure you’re getting the fuel you need to train effectively.
Adequate rest is also essential to helping the body recover from training and to building lean body mass. A minimum of eight hours of sleep is critical for a developing body. The importance of rest is further supported by studies showing that hormone levels are also adversely affected by a lack of sleep. While high school is very challenging with homework, practice and other commitments, maintaining a disciplined schedule will help ensure that sleep is not compromised.
Strength training is the last component necessary to maximize your chances of increasing your %LM while training in an endurance sport. Adding two sessions of strength training per week will also help build lean body mass, especially if you get the appropriate rest and consume a protein / carbohydrate meal immediately after training.
Whether you’re trying to increase, decrease, or maintain your body mass, careful attention to diet, rest and strength training can lead to better performance on race day. Recent studies show that increasing %LM improves both maximum effort as well as anaerobic threshold performances in endurance athletes. Monitoring your values will help ensure that you’re only losing body fat, and not lean mass, and keep you on track with your athletic goals.