👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #170 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):
🍯 Why I changed my diet this week
I intentionally changed my diet this week.
See Mercury is in retrograde. Which scrambles our cosmic circuitry and so... jokes. I got hit by the flu.
And when we have a fever or infection, our metabolism speeds up.
In fact, for every 1°C rise in body temp, metabolic rate can increase by 10–13%.
Why?
Because our immune system is a high-energy puppy. Firing up white blood cells, producing antibodies, repairing tissue. It's expensive work.
So our bodies need quick, accessible fuel.
Aka simple carbs.
Because they’re the fastest way to supply glucose (and our immune cells rely heavily on glucose). Plus, digestion is already slowed when we’re sick, so simple carbs reduce strain on it.
Almost gotta think of it like fueling for intense training.
When we train hard, we burn through glycogen fast. Our bodies want simple, easily accessible fuel.
When we’re sick, the same thing happens. Except the “workout” is internal.
That’s why this week I shifted my diet to
- more simple carbs (oats, granola, toast, fruit, honey)
- smaller, more frequent feeds
- less heavy-protein, fibre and fat
- prioritising hydration and electrolytes
Trynna give my immunity exactly what it needs to fight the infection.
And am now just about back in action.
☕️ Caffeine tolerance reset timeframes
In newsletter #141 I linked a study and my interpretation that:
You probably don’t need to cut caffeine to “reset tolerance.”
But after reading a much bigger review (and nutrition wizard Dan Garner's breakdown of it), my interpretation wasn't quite right.
Here's the more accurate + updated version:
Caffeine often still gives both a mental and physical performance boost if you drink it regularly. But tolerance can blunt the size of the effect.
So do we need a caffeine reset?
Research suggests:
- 🧠 The mental ("buzz" feeling) tolerance resets in 1-2 days.
- 💪 The physical performance tolerance resets in about a week.
So for the everyday athlete:
If your coffee isn't hitting anymore and you're reaching for more..
Your receptors might be a touch cooked.
A day or two off will help resensitise the brain and nervous system.
Hard I know.. until this week, I couldn't tell you the last time I'd had a day off.
Because we don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our caffeination.
🏋️ The missing piece of 99.9% of training programs
After slacking off recently, this last month I’ve reintroduced recovery breathing at the end of training.
See, the training session isn’t over after the last rep. It’s over when you're no longer revving the engine.
And that usually looks like having a heart rate back under about 50-60% of max heart rate.
See if we walk out the gym straight away (and into the daily stressors of life), that’s rarely gonna happen by itself.
The easiest way to calm the system quick is to:
Lie down and do 2-5 mins of exhale-emphasis breathing (4 seconds in through the nose, 8 seconds out). See here for how-to.
If you wear a smartwatch, you can track your heart rate.
I'd love to see this becoming a common thing in gyms etc.
P.s. I think I originally wrote about this in newsletter #1. But after multiple email address and platform change, I can’t find it. If you have the original newsletter #1, please forward it on 🙌
If curious, here's how we can work together:
- 💪 Adaptive Vitality Program: This is my 1-1 online coaching program. If you want to work closely with me, watch the video and follow the instructions
- 🗓️ Lean & Lively 21 Day Sprint: A lite version of Adaptive Vitality designed to give you the momentum to get back on track in just a few focused weeks
- 📞 1-1 consult (60 mins): A one-off deep dive with me. Ask anything. We’ll unpack your situation and walk away knowing exactly what you need to do next
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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