(Breather) Covering some great questions from listeners in today’s breather show. Thanks to everyone who wrote in for asking about a variety of topics – from fasting to aerobic vs anaerobic workouts, sugar cravings, how to make good bone broth, and more!
We start off on a high note with a message from a listener named Jim who is now happily plantar fasciitis free, thanks to my video showing how to do two stretches that are major game changers for those suffering from plantar fasciitis. Next is a question about the best cooking methods for homemade bone broth. I personally like to put it on simmer for 48 hours and take the extra step of adding in a few tablespoons of white vinegar, which helps draw out nutrients from the bones. And as discussed during my show with Sharon Brown, a high-quality broth should be gelatinous when refrigerated, because that’s where the good stuff is – in the fat! I’ve also recently been taking 30 grams of collagen powder a day as per Mark Sisson’s advice – why not get a little extra collagen in there? We know that meat on the bone is one of the Four Pillars of the Human Diet, and collagen itself is a very interesting molecule because it has heliotropic benefits, meaning it travels to the areas in your body that need it most!
We move onto a discussion of anaerobic vs. aerobic exercise, and a listener shares how maf has improved their tennis game so much that they are now dominating the very people who used to crush them in the game! They credit their success to taking a 3-month hiatus from tennis and doing nothing but “strict maf” runs using the 180 minus age formula (and incorporating plenty of recovery), which allowed them to strengthen their body’s fat-burning capabilities and nurture immune and metabolic function, without pushing themselves so hard that they crashed and experienced burnout. Knowing (or not knowing) when to take it easy can really make or break the success of your fitness program. In fact, this listener reveals that there is a lot of burnout among tennis players! Regardless of which sport you play, remember that all athletes should be careful not to push their bodies too hard. Ultimately, it’s about strengthening your aerobic base, so whatever workouts you do, you’ll be able to launch from a higher fitness platform.
Next up is a question from a listener who’s been experiencing cravings for sugar (and more calories in general) in the evening – what’s that all about? Well, since the question comes from someone who 1) has a pretty extreme training regimen, 2) sticks to a strict intermittent fasting schedule, and 3) hasn’t been sleeping enough, then this could be a sign that they’re not getting adequate calories during their eating window. It’s also simply too much stress on the body. Someone with low body fat, who has done 14 Ironman competitions, and is clearly super fit could actually really benefit from consuming more calories, upping carbohydrate intake, and not sticking so diligently to a compressed eating window. Craving sugar in the evening is also usually an indication of being overstressed. When you’re overstressed, your body goes into fight or flight mode because of the overstimulation of your parasympathetic nervous system. Not having a healthy balance of stress and rest patterns throughout your day is what puts you right into sugar craving mode, that those cravings show up at night, when your body is dying for a quick source of energy. Adding more healthy carbohydrates and taking it a little easier should help any listeners who have been experiencing similar symptoms of overstress. Of course, some people are highly fat-adapted and can skip a meal or two with no problems, but it’s really important to be careful, and also realistic about what your capabilities and limits are, especially if you don’t have much experience with fasting. Thanks to everyone who wrote in with inquiries – I appreciate the support, and I look forward to the next batch questions and insightful comments!
TIMESTAMPS:
A listener shares how he was able to cure his Plantar Fasciitis after viewing Brad’s stretches. [05:24]
A listener asks about making good bone broth. [07:05]
Adhering to Maffetone’s maximum aerobic function theory helps this tennis player’s game. Take 180 minus your age and do your workouts at or below that heart rate. [09:33]
Tennis and basketball players need to learn the difference between aerobic workout and an anaerobic session. [12:40]
When a person practices intermediate fasting and is extremely vigorous in their workouts, and there is a problem with craving sugar in the evening, that’s a sign of probably not eating enough calories during that eating window. [15:29]
Skipping meals should not be done until you are highly fat adapted and feel great. [24:00]
LINKS:
- Brad Kearns Plantar Faciitis
- Podcast episode about bone broth
- The Fatburn Fix
- Podcast with Dude Spellings
- Luis Villasenor
- Zach Bitter
LISTEN:
Get Over Yourself Podcast
Brad (00:00):
Welcome to the get over yourself podcast. This is author and athlete, Brad Kearns, discovering ways to be healthy, fit and happy in hectic, high-stress, modern life. So let’s slow down and take a deep breath. Take a cold plunge and expertly balance that competitive intensity with an appreciation of the journey. That’s the theme of the show. Here we go.
Brad (03:34):
Hey listen, Brad here. Fresh off a wonderful trip including a visit to Graceland and Memphis, Tennessee home of Elvis. What a great tour. You can feel the guy you could feel his presence at his super duper crash pad, perfectly restored in all out seventies glitz and glamour. Oh, so sad that he had to leave us so soon. Uh, the one thing the tour kind of left out was how this guy exploded all of a sudden from, uh, a shy, geeky dude in high school that grew his hair differently. And wore clothes that were before his time. Uh, but he was very talented playing guitar to his classmates. And then all of a sudden he’s a worldwide sensation. And Oh my gosh, he was so big at his time because the media was so different than right.
Brad (04:25):
We only had three TV channels, and, uh, he couldn’t go and listen to music unless you went to the record store and bought something. He was so huge that you can’t even compare it to even today’s biggest stars. It’s just crazy. He did a, uh, the first live televised concert by satellite ever in Hawaii, and a billion people across the world watched it. At that time, the world population was four point something billion. So can you imagine one out of every four people in the world watching an Elvis concert? Yay. The one thing I did some research and said, how did this guy blow up so big so quickly? And there was some commentary about the incredible range of his voice and he had the ability to range three octaves whatever the heck that means. Uh, but yeah, pretty interesting stuff. And also interesting are these amazing, insightful questions, uh, submitted by listeners to the get over yourself podcast.
Brad (05:24):
So credit to you all for, uh, being engaged and lively and asking some questions that I think will be of wide benefit to all listeners. So we’re going to hit these hard, but we also have some, uh, celebrations to cover, uh, such as the quick, simple right to the point message from Jim Sullivan. Brad, you cured my plantar fasciitis. Oh my God! Success exclamation point. And he’s talking about my now viral YouTube video. Uh, how to cure plantar fasciitis. I think it’s called just search Brad Kearns plantar fasciitis and you shall find, uh, the secrets, the tips and tricks that I learned from a random podiatrist at a trade show, a expo at a race. I was announcing the urban cow half marathon in Sacramento and this guy gave me a few stretches and he cured my long suffering, 15 year long case of mild to severe plantar fasciitis that simply would not go away no matter what. And in three weeks of these stretches adhering to this protocol, uh, it was gone forever. And Jim says, I just did my first trail run in over a year and a half after doing the stretches for four months straight. No pain. I’m cured. Thank you. I’ll send you all the money I wasted and spent on surgery and orthotics. Oh my gosh! Can you believe? The guy went under the knife for the nagging condition of plantar fasciitis that can be so greatly alleviated by doing these long duration stretches. So please go watch that video if you have any inkling of suffering from plantar fasciitis.
Brad (07:05):
Next. Sorry. Some of the names did not come through from the email. So, uh, props anyway to the anonymous, uh, writers and most of the time we got their name. Okay. Uh, first one is about bone broth. Can it be simmered in installments? Can you simmer for eight hours, refrigerate, simmer for another eight or must it be continuous? I don’t know the answer. Why not? Just do it continuously and leave it plugged in overnight or as you go away for work? That’s what I’ve always done is, uh, put up to that goal of simmering the bones for 48 hours. Uh, with a couple tablespoons of vinegar in there, a white vinegar that helps with the, uh, leaching of all the nutritional properties out of the bones, but it definitely takes a couple of days of simmering to get the maximum benefits from the bone broth. And the way you know you’re consuming a good bone broth, you can listen to my entire show was Sharon Brown. But generally speaking, you want the product to be gelatinous when it’s refrigerated, so it’ll kind of firm up if you’re buying a good product, whether you’re doing a store bought product or whether you’re making it yourself.
Brad (08:11):
Uh, the gelatin material is the, uh, the rich source of nutrients that we do not get very easily in other areas of the diet. The collagen and the glycosaminoglycans that help your joints and connective tissue remain healthy, uh, for the rest of your life. Mark Sisson just told me the other day that I should be taking 30 grams of collagen powder, uh, 30 grams of collagen protein powder every day. Why not at our age trying to still jump off the ground and clear the high jump bar? You’ve got to have strong joints and connective tissue. So I’m on the collagen program people, how about you? Are you eating a lot of, uh, joint material? Meat on the bone is Dr Cate Shanahan identifies as one of the four pillars of human nutrition. Get your collagen game on. It’s a very interesting molecule that actually has a, it’s called a heliotropic benefit.
Brad (09:05):
That means that when you ingest collagen protein, it will travel to the areas in your body where it’s needed most. So if you have a leaky creaky, uh, left shoulder and you start supplementing with collagen and finding those, uh, nutritious cuts of meat, you are going to boost the functioning of that left shoulder that needs a rebuild, a refresher on the collagen that located in the joint. Fascinating insight. Okay.
Brad (09:33):
And there’s also a more good stuff besides the bone broth question from this listener. Loved your Maffetone interviews by the way as well. I’m a faithful MAF convert and now evangelize to all my type a hard training all the time crew, actually, I’m in the tennis world and MAF has seriously improved my game to the point where I dominate people. I used to get crushed by, I took three months off of tennis and did nothing but strict MAF runs. That’s under the a 180 minus age in beats per minute cutoff that we talk about so much as the distinction between a properly conducted aerobic training session that’ll teach you to burn fat. That’s minimally stressful that you can build, build, build upon versus exceeding that maximum aerobic function cutoff point, 180 minus your age. So in beats per minute, you get that figure and stay under there a very, very comfortable pace. If you exceed that number, you start to burn an increasing percentage of glucose and a reduction in the amount of fat oxidation per minute.
Brad (10:41):
So when we talk about your maximum aerobic function, that’s the maximum fat calories burned per minute for the maximum fat burning aerobic benefits of a workout. Uh, we seem to want to, uh, have a greater sensation that we’re getting hard work done, that we got a real workout. So we tend to increase that effort beyond the maximum aerobic cutoff. And then we get into the glucose burning heart rates that are slightly stressful and that over time can push you into chronic exercise patterns where you disturb your hormonal function, you suppress your immune function and you regress, you succumb to a breakdown, burnout, illness and injury instead of continual building and strengthening of the aerobic system and nurturing your immune function in your metabolic function and your fat burning capabilities. So it’s a huge distinction. Uh, if you’re not familiar, if you’re not in the endurance athletic world, uh, this might be new information, but for those of you who have listened to me talk about this for a long time, it can make or break the success of your fitness program that you take it easy on yourself and you do a proper fat burning workout.
Brad (11:50):
And it’s as simple as taking 180 minus your age and faithfully doing the vast majority of your cardiovascular workouts at or below that heart rate. So this guy turned around his tennis game because of course, tennis match requires quite a bit of endurance, right? Uh, but we kind of, uh, overlook that. And a lot of times when you’re training specifically just hitting your serves and doing a tennis workout, it’s kind of a, uh, anaerobic activity of short bursts and a lot of downtime. So he took three months off tennis, did strict MAF, runs with plenty of recovery. And now I’m a serious beast out there.
Brad (12:25):
Jeff Rasa, you listening, and man? I know you’re working hard to try to dominate the 55 plus circuit. And SoCal longtime tennis champion fitness, extreme performer, go out there and do some jogs. I know it’s going to help your tennis game.
Brad (12:40):
As a matter of fact, as this listener writes, there’s lots of physical burnout in tennis. Lots. It’s a go all out at all times type of sport. I know a kid trying to go pro right now who’s doing sprint workouts and hills five times a week in addition to his tennis workouts, which are pretty insane in themselves. I’ve been warning him, hopefully he listens. So that’s a good point for athletes in all manner of uh, team sports or specific sports where it’s not a pure endurance activity where you have the very structured training and the athletes are wiring up to their wireless heart rate monitor every time they work out. So a tennis player might not be even aware of the distinction between an aerobic workout and an anaerobic session and definitely dig themselves, a nice deep hole to get a regress with their performance because they are pushing their bodies too hard when they’re layering in this high stress. Uh, they call it the black hole. That’s the heart rates zone that goes above your aerobic cutoff and into that range where it’s not a super hard like a sprint workout or an anaerobic, uh, aerobic threshold session. It’s just kind of in that, in between land where it’s pretty difficult, but it can serve to break you down over time, especially when it’s layered in with sport specific workouts like the tennis workouts. So that can be a huge deal for athletes in a variety of sports., A basketball player that requires that endurance to make it through the season as well as the explosiveness that you develop in a proper basketball practice session.
Brad (14:17):
So if I were counseling a basketball player, I would say get out there and jog very slowly as an adjunct, a compliment to all the work that you do in the gym, but nothing beyond that. Someone trying to go out there and run 10 kilometers at a, an impressive pace is just going to bring an additional element of risk into the basketball training mode or the tennis practices that they’re already doing. Yeah, that’s kind of the missing link. Missing secret weapon for a lot of athletes in a variety of sports is to that aerobic base, that fitness foundation, so that whatever workouts you do, you can launch from a higher fitness platform. You’re stronger, you can last better for an hour or a two hour training session. I mean, look, some of these teams, uh, some of the sports teams at UCLA, they practice for three hours every single day. That’s a lot of endurance required just to get through practice where you’re throwing in a lot of explosiveness and the other energy systems that are independent from your aerobic conditioning, your aerobics endurance. So great letter from the tennis player and on we go to a another one.
Brad (15:29):
Hey Brad, can you help me with this question? I’ve been practicing intermediate fasting 16 hour fast, eight hour feeding window, very popular. Typically that’s a 12 noon to 8:00 PM eating window. And when you hear that term eating window, uh, remember that you’re not talking about someone that starts eating at 12 noon and, and eats all throughout that time period. It’s just when the calories are consumed are inside that window, typically a lunch and then a dinner meal. Right? And I just got off a great podcast with Dr Cate Shanahan for her new book, The Fatburn Fix. And she’s talking about the importance of staying away from snacking too, because every time you snack you kind of light up your hunger hormones, which are closely calibrated to your circadian rhythm. So if you have a tendency to snack at 2:00 PM or 3:00 PM, you’re going to get hungry at 2:00 PM or 3:00 PM every day and as soon as you eat anything, even if it’s a delicious, nutritious, Keto approved high fat snack, you are going to shut off body fat burning, uh, in order to burn the thing that you’ve consumed.
Brad (16:37):
If it happens to be a snack with carbohydrate, then we’re talking about, uh, even more repercussions such as the spiking of insulin and putting you on the energy appetite roller coaster where you’re going to need another snack an hour later and so forth that we’re all pretty familiar with. So trying to eat in a compressed time window, gain all those benefits of fasting, but of course eat plenty of food and eight hour windows, plenty of time to get all the calories you need during the day and also stay away from snacking period inside that, inside that eating window. Okay. So this listener is 44 years old, six one, 195, five to 6% body fat, get lean and mean showing the six pack, been a triathlete for 20 years, same weight and body fat. Uh, I’ve done 19 Ironmans all around the world. A heavy weight training athlete, a total body routine three days a week, working out twice a day, five to seven days a week.
Brad (17:36):
This is a big time athletic commitment here and it’s going to be interesting to cover these questions. You could probably guess what my answer is going to be, uh, at a moment. So he does cardio in the morning, seven days week, fasted just on a cup of coffee and that could be a swim workout. A long session on the bike happens a couple times a week, fueled by just a cup of coffee, maybe a double shot of espresso inside the ride. So nothing to eat for the first three hours into the ride, just to hone that fat burning abilities, sipping the branch chain amino acids, doing all the cutting edge stuff, doing the best they can. Uh, then they have a, an amino acid shake 30 minutes after the workout. So no calories after the workout for that short time window. And the idea there is to optimize the flowing of the adaptive hormones in the bloodstream after the workout.
Brad (18:29):
That would be testosterone growth hormone, things like that. Okay. So you’re going to get the total badass vibe here. That’s a lot going on. A lot of hard work and a lot of discipline with the diet banking, those fasted hours and pushing the body with an incredible workout regimen. And sure enough, here comes a question, the only issue I have is that I crave sugar in the evening or just more calories. Is there something I need to look for a check with the doctor of why this is going on or some supplements that can help me last through the evening. Uh, he says he’s been a personal trainer for over 20 years, still learning and his thoughts are that he’s not getting enough calories through the day, not sleeping enough, maybe lacking some nutrition. What do you think Brad, as an endurance athlete and professional for a long time?
Brad (19:18):
I appreciate your help. Okay. So yeah, you think in terms of his speculation, uh, this is a very extreme training regimen and possibly when you stack all these challenges to the body such as biking for three hours with just a cup of coffee, um, you know, burning that many calories, doing that many workouts, uh, that low body fat and, and throwing in the low carb aspects as well, waiting before getting home to um, uh, to, to consume any calories so you can get the hormone boost. When you add that all up and stack that all together, you are very likely talking about too much stress overall to the organism. And then you threw in that you’re not sleeping enough, which is, uh, very alarming when you’re trying to follow that kind of approach. So if you’re already ultra, ultra low body fat, you’re training that hard., you’ve done 20 Ironmans, you’re obviously a fit specimen. Uh, I think you can easily, uh, give yourself a pass to consume more calories, to not worry about the, uh, restrictions when you’re waiting three hours to eat something on the bike ride. Um, you know, compressed eating window probably would benefit from consuming more carbohydrate calories when you’re burning that many carbohydrates and you’re at five to 6% body fat. So overall, for all listeners to appreciate is when you’re showing signs of healthy metabolic function and healthy athletic abilities, you’re kind of in a different category than someone who is struggling with metabolic damaged, a dysfunctional fat burning system. Uh, symptoms of poor health, uh, immune problems, autoimmune problems, inflammatory problems. Uh, there’s going to be a different set of decision making parameters to follow in terms of, uh, how many carbohydrates should I allow into my diet?
Brad (21:16):
Uh, how much fasting should I engage in things like that. A lot of experts, especially some of my favorites. Dr Cate Shanahan, dr Phil Maffetone described that fasting itself is a stress. So if you are ready, uh, in a category such as a sluggish thyroid or adrenal dysfunction, you have a gut dysfunction, leaky gut syndrome, things like that. Uh, the fasting could be too stressful for you. And instead, what you might want to do is fuel yourself with a nutritious whole foods, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, what have you, whatever you need. Uh, but you know, getting that good food in and not challenging the system until you’re ready to get, uh, a positive, beneficial adaptive experience from let’s say going on a 16 and eight, 16 hours fast at eight hours eating window pattern like the previous question. Or in this athlete’s case, these extreme athletic goals and fasting three hours into the ride and spiking it with a shot of espresso in the middle of the ride.
Brad (22:17):
My personal opinion, that seems like a bit of overkill because when you’re out there pushing your body with a challenging workout, long-duration workout or high intensity workout, you already have the stress hormones flowing to allow your system to function optimally to perform the, the work. So taking a shot of espresso in the middle, uh, is possibly unnecessary and quite possibly harmful in certain ways. And I think the fallout that this listener is experiencing, uh, is described at night when you’re craving sugar in the evening. And that’s kind of a, uh, a crash and burn indication from an overly stressful day. So when we go into overstress mode, when we go into excess sympathetic nervous system stimulation that’s known as the fight or flight component of the autonomic nervous system versus the parasympathetic, which is known as the rest and digest. When you overstimulate PR, when you overstimulate sympathetic and you don’t have a healthy balance of stress and rest patterns throughout your day, you are going to be in sugar craving mode.
Brad (23:18):
You’re going to be pushed in that direction and it’s all the chips are all going to fall in the evening hours when you’re bombed out. And the way that your body needs to regain energy or the sensation is a extreme craving for a quick energy. Foods like sugar. So I want to see you consuming more calories during the day just as you speculated, including more healthy carbohydrates probably. And there’s going to be more questions on this in future shows from people wondering if they can perform these great endurance feats and adhere to the low carb or the Keto scene. And so just as a sneak preview we’ll cover it more. Uh, but yes, people are doing it, they’re doing it very well.
Brad (24:00):
However, it seems like a highly advanced strategy. And don’t try this at home or don’t try it at home until you are showing signs that you are highly fat adapted and can feel great. For example, skipping one meal, skipping a second meal, performing a workout during that time. Let’s say you’re fasted for 16 or 18 hours, you can do a workout just fine. You can go along for a couple hours afterwards, just fine. Things like this, indicators that you’re really, really good at, burning body fat. And then you can explore some of the additional benefits offered by pairing extreme exercise with low carb. And so you’re this keto burning machine and you’ve heard some of the leaders in this space talk about the great performances Dude Spellings. My guest on the podcast who did a double crossing of the grand Canyon, nearly 50 miles with tens of thousands of feet of climbing on almost no calories. I think he had to cheat at mile 38 and slam a couple of coconut butter packets, but then finishing this incredible event and fasting for another 10 hours overnight. Absolutely astonishing.
Brad (25:09):
A breakthrough in human performance and also possibly, uh, an indication of where we’re headed in the future with advanced recovery techniques. Because when you’re in a fasted state, your anti-inflammatory, your enhanced cellular repair, all these great things are happening. If you can handle it. Most people couldn’t imagine finishing a 50 mile extravaganza and the Grand Canyon and then declining to eat for another eight hours while your friends all around your slamming pizzas. Uh, but that was Dude Spelling story. You’ll listen to that on the podcast. And uh, guys like Luis Villasenor, who’s a competitive power lifter bodybuilder and the proprietor of the wonderful Keto Gains website. And Keto Gains movement, helping thousands of people, uh, reduce excess body fat with the ketogenic approach. He’s achieving great things as an athlete and he’s been strict Keto for nearly 20 years and counting, uh, Zach Bitter, the ultra runner who has, uh, the human performance outliers podcast with Sean Baker, uh, doing the ultra stuff, the extreme endurance stuff on a, uh, largely carnivorisha dietary pattern with a low carbohydrate intake overall, although he does fluctuate, uh, in and around his performances.
Brad (26:24):
So it’s a very nuance strategy that can be considered for people who are way deep into this game. But prior to that, or if you’re showing these signs like the listener writes in craving sugar in the evening, you got to take a look at, uh, your overall program there and realize that there might be some further optimization to stay out of that stress hormone bath that comes when the stress factors add up to be a little bit too much overall.
Brad (26:52):
Whew, fun stuff. Keep them coming, people. We will do some more breather shows where we do Q and Alove to make this an interactive experience. And please tell others about the show. That’s how we grow and spread the message and counter a lot of the B S that’s still being spewed out there in the diet scene, especially in the fitness scene, makes me frustrated that people are trying their hardest to do the right thing, to do what they’ve been told and to go out there and follow an ill advised approach that’s destined to lead to burnout, breakdown, illness and injury breaks my heart.
Brad (27:30):
So I want people to have fun, take it easy, get over themselves, make good choices with their dietary patterns, their exercise, lifestyle, sleep habits. And so I appreciate your support in spreading the word. One way you can do that is to leave a review on the resource that you use to listen to podcasts. Apple iTunes is the most prominent one and you have to go on a desktop iTunes in order to leave a review. It’s kind of a pain, but you can pull up the show on your desktop and there’s, a button that, uh, allows you to access all the reviews. We have a ton of really nice reviews. I appreciate the people that have taken the time to do it. And if you can add to that, then we rise up the rankings and get more attention and more listeners. So that would be a huge help. A huge thank you for doing that. And if you listen to your podcasts with uh, other, uh, apps, like I use this really cool one called Overcast. Uh, you can go out there and leave a review and get even more attention because a lot of times there’s not a lot of reviews on these peripheral podcast providers so you could shape culture, influence culture, leaving a nice review and telling people to listen to the, get over yourself podcasts or all kinds of crazy stuff happens, especially at the end of the show.
Brad (28:52):
Thank you for listening to the show. We would love your feedback at getoveryourselfpodcast@gmail.com and we would also love if you could leave a rating and a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. I know it’s a hassle. You have to go to desktop, iTunes, click on the tab that says ratings and reviews, and then click to rate the show anywhere from five to five stars. And it really helps spread the word so more people can find the show and get over themselves because they need to. Thanks for doing it.
