đź‘‹ Hey. Welcome to issue #82 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
🏋️ Quality core, quality life
A strong core protects the spine 🦴, gives us a strong platform for other muscles to pull from 💪, and amplifies the strength of neighbouring muscles 💥 (see the law of irradiation from newsletter #59).
Whether it’s in sport, in the gym, surfing, carrying shopping bags, getting out of the car, or really any time we move—we want a strong core.
But traditional core training has a few flaws…
❌ Problem #1: Muscle isolation
Most “core” exercises rely on other stronger muscles, like our hip flexors, to do all the work.
❌ Problem #2: Strength specificity
Strength development primarily happens in the 1-5 rep range. Higher reps build muscle size and endurance.
So why do all strength programs have core exercises where you hold them for 30+ seconds or do 30+ reps?
There’s a time place and for this stuff depending on your goal. But if we want to build a strong core, we should focus on doing most of our sets in the 2-5 rep range.
âś… A solution: The Janda sit up
Vladimir Janda, M.D., solved the problem of hip flexor involvement using the Law of Reciprocal Inhibition.
Which says when a muscle contracts, its antagonist (or its opposite) relaxes.
So Janda put his clients in a normal sit-up position and put his hands behind their calves. They pulled against Janda’s hands and did a sit-up.
It activated the hamstrings and glutes. So the hip flexors relaxed.
The result: isolated abs!
- Muscle isolation âś…
- Strength specificity ✅ (good luck doing 1, let alone 5—if you can there are progressions)
If you don’t have Dr Janda on call to hold your calves, you can use a platform (how-to), bands (how-to), or a barbell racked low.
3-5 sets. 3-5 reps.
(you may need band assistance to start 👇)
More on core training, Janda sit-up regressions/progressions and more in strength wizard Pavel Tatsouline’s book Bulletproof Abs (free here).
🔍 Article: The top 21 nutrition myths
I often use examine.com to get trusted information about nutrition research.
In Feb, they released an article The Top 21 Nutrition Myths. It’s quality.
From their intro:
“Unfortunately, the internet is rife with misinformation, and it can be really difficult to tell what’s evidence-based without reading the original research yourself. Between a 24-hour news cycle, studies that are both long and difficult to read, and journalists scrambling for the latest viral hit, information often gets published without verification.”
A few of the myths busted:
- 🍳 Egg yolks are bad for you
- 🧂 Salt is bad for you
- đź’Š Food nutrients are better than supplemental nutrients
- 🌱 Foods labelled “natural” are healthier
- 🥄 Creatine will cause hair loss and kidney damage
🍌 Fueling for performance
The research suggests carbs allow us to physically perform better, especially in longer endurance sessions—shown to help maintain higher intensity and reduce fatigue.
Based on the research, here are a few good rules of thumb for carbohydrate intake based on the duration of exercise:
- < 90 minutes: 30-45g/hr
- 90-150 minutes: 60-75g/hr
- 150+ minutes: 90g/hr
Less critical for sessions under 60 minutes. You can fuel up with coffee or electrolytes for shorter sessions.
Practical tips:
- 🍯 Everyone is different, find the foods and amounts that work best for you
- 🥫Check the nutrition facts on the product to see how many carbs it has per serving (or google if no packaging)
- 🍌 Practice race nutrition during training to avoid any surprises on event day
Go well.
đź‘‹ I've just launched this... Get your very own health and performance game plan (it's free). Learn more here.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service and is not a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information given in this email is general in nature, written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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