not exactly teh ground contact times of sprinting and all that stuff mentioned here, what i really want to know about is on running faster on a lighter weight with same strength ratio and all other things equal, comapred to running heavier weight with same strength ratios.
I went on a diet, and sucked major, even though i percieved to be moving fast, it just was my turnover that improved my power unfortunately was out the window. I gained back around 20lbs and everything came back strength and power, am running very fast again, mind you when i was 20lbs lighter i did not lose much strength at all, very little was lost, my ratio of weight/strength was for the better then when i was heavier, yet i was running slower.
I thought to myself if i stick in this weight for awhile the brain and mechanics of my body will tune it out and i will run really great in no time, well it didnt happen and my recovery was horrible despite starting to eat calories to maintain my weight and abit above that, still nothing happened.
I think it could be the rate at which a caloric deficit affects performance, if there is a big drop off like over 600 calories probably. I am not really sure, but could there be other factors, does anybody have experience of this?
Last year I hit 75kg and ran poorly, whereas the year before I ran well at 80kg and the year before I was more like 85kg! Yea, I can make my weight fluctuate quite dramatically. That is all I can really say. I was at my weakest in 2005, and then 2006 and 2007 I was round about the same in terms of squatting cleaning an benching, maybe slightly better in 2006. But I thought my body weight dropping 5kg would help me significantly, but it didn’t!
i lost 8.5kg and felt so fast, but went so slow, i didnt time my runs, i was running alone i had no idea. However i dont know if its a biomechanic issue, you know losing weight to fast, brain doesnt know how to apply proper forces to the ground because the weight loss was great in short period of time
OR the weight loss was rapid enough to severly decline recover not allowing me to run great sessions?
I always think its both of these reasons but i could be wrong, i mean i didnt feel like i couldnt recover at a lesser weight.
The first study cited below associates increased sensitiving in the 5-HT receptor to UUPS (unexplained underperformance syndrome). The second study links increases in 5-HT receptor sensitivity to rapid weight loss. Perhaps your weight loss was too rapid, and the resulting increase in 5-HT sensitivity produced symptoms similar to overtraining, even though you may not have actually been overtraining.
The effects of the 5-HT2C agonist m-chlorophenylpiperazine on elite athletes suffering from unexplained underperformance syndrome (overtraining). Budgett R, Hiscock N, Arida RM, Castell LM.
British Olympic Association, United Kingdom.
Br J Sports Med. 2008 May 28.
The central fatigue hypothesis describes a possible link between the neurotransmitter, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), plasma tryptophan and branched chain amino acids concentration and exercise-induced fatigue. Recent investigations studied 5-HT receptors and neuroendocrine “challenge” tests, using prolactin release as an indirect measure of 5-HT activity. The present study combined the original hypothesis about the role of amino acids in increasing brain 5-HT with a neuroendocrine challenge test on elite athletes diagnosed with unexplained, underperformance syndrome (UUPS). There was an apparent increased sensitivity of 5-HT receptors in athletes with UUPS compared with fit, well-trained controls,
Neurobiologic changes in the hypothalamus associated with weight loss after gastric bypass. Romanova IV, Ramos EJ, Xu Y, Quinn R, Chen C, George ZM, Inui A, Das U, Meguid MM.
Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition Laboratory, Neuroscience Program, Department of Surgery, University Hospital, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse,
NY, USA. J Am Coll Surg. 2004 Dec;199(6):887-95.
BACKGROUND: Effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) on hypothalamic food intake regulation have not been investigated. The hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) and the magnocellular (m) and parvocellular § parts of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) regulate hunger and satiety, and are under control of the orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY), and the anorexigenic alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and serotonin (5-HT). We hypothesized that after RYGB, weight loss is associated with hypothalamic down regulation of NPY and up regulation of 5-HT
very interesting, i gotta read these studies over so i can make sense of this 5-HT receptor idea.
I guess the next thing to do next season is figure out what threshold you can diet at where dropoff in performance is not so major, i assume to be 300kcal deficit maybe?
Definitely. I know nothing about it. I was curious so I did quick literture search on CNS issues (since you said strength was necessarily an issue) and rapid weight loss, and that’s what came up.
I am more or less in the same situation as you, three weeks ago I lost arround 4 kg overnight due to food poisoning, the previous day I had pulled my hammy / gluteus . Felt like shit and completely destroyed, took arround 10 days completely off. One week ago started again with weightroom work, it was awful. Later on I found that my plyometric capabilities suddenly rised, perhaps an rebound effect of conversion towards fast twitch after a max strength phase (which develops slow twitch) and (forced) rest.
well my diet lasted few months on and off, so my performance suffered alot, i am trying to get it down, i’m doing good so far, ran a race today, did better then previous by a little.
depending how fast you lost weight, your performance may suffer, or take time to come back. If you eat the way you normally eat you will gain back the weight, you have to find a maintenance in your caloric intake.
I lost a big part of that weight in 6 hours (tremendous vomit+ tremendous diarrhea), a huge shock to my body. I also had was on a very strict liquid diet for 6 days.
The vast majority of that weight loss would have been fluid, so by ensuring you’re adequately hydrated, and like others have said resuming normal eating, your weight will return. But you have been ill, so patience is important in allowing your performance to return.
my vert did not change, my speed and strength were the same up to a point, but i was never timed in this point of my training, i just felt faster, legs felt lighter and i felt some pop, felt like i was faster then before, Then i ran my first race feeling the same and came out running over half a second slower.
now i feel super slow, and sluggish, my perception of my speed right now is probably feeling like i just started track for the first time 4 years ago, yet i’m getting faster.
. Felt like shit and completely destroyed, took arround 10 days completely off. One week ago started again with weightroom work, it was awful. Later on I found that my plyometric capabilities suddenly rised, perhaps an rebound effect of conversion towards fast twitch after a max strength phase (which develops slow twitch) and (forced) rest.