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Author: John

Team Robertson / Articles posted by John (Page 3)

Heat vs. Altitude

There has been much debate through the years whether the heat or the altitude is tougher for training and racing. Obviously there are A LOT of factors that go into this- where you live, background, genetics, sweat rate, body size, terrain, etc. I thought this blog would be fitting considering I will be spending the next 8 weeks living at 9000 feet, and it was just last month I was back in Texas sweating in 100 degree heat and humidity. After having spent many years training in altitude and heat, I thought I would use myself as the guinea pig for this article and try and put together some valuable information for those of you reading this. Keep in mind, my body always races well in...

Buffalo Springs Half Ironman

The wife and I arrived in Lubbock, Texas on Friday with 48 hours to spare until the race. The drive from Houston is pretty easy and we finished it in just over 7 hours. I did all the driving, and my wife did her usual "auto-narcoleptic strategy." A few hours from Lubbock I got this strange feeling that I had left my bike shoes at home. This strange feeling was correct and that meant Saturday was going to be spent finding the same brand I use (Sidi.) When you have done as many races as I have you start to accumulate a list of "things that can go wrong in a race." This was a new one for me amongst the list of flat tires,...

Injury Crisis?

Anyone that exercises or lives an active life knows that the absolute worst thing that can happen to you is an injury to sideline you from being able to do any kind of physical activity. Most of you reading this blog have been there yourself whether it was from an accident, illness, or human error you caused yourself. Sometimes when an injury occurs it can become a long-term positive asset, but you might not know this yet! I have seen many people come back from an injury with a new found energy that was lacking beforehand. This blog discusses the top ways to deal with an injury and the positive benefits that can come from such a thing.   Rest- Most of us don't have the...

Pacing a Half Ironman

  For triathletes that have been racing a long time or are new to the sport and are thinking about doing a longer triathlon then the half ironman distance can be the perfect distance! Beginners tend to think all about ironman, but the half ironman can be the perfect solution for those looking to go longer. It can be just long enough where PACING has to be taken into consideration, but not so long like an ironman distance where more can wrong and nutrition has to be as close to perfect as possible. The half ironman distance won't take up as much training time as an ironman, so your significant other will love this distance also! If you have trained properly most also find they are...

Racing Ironman

I did my first triathlon back in 1998 and little did I know it would change my life in many different ways all for the better. I remember having a horrible swim, did the cycling portion on a mtn bike, and followed it up with a decent run  and passed several people along the way. That last part about passing people on the run turned out to be how I would end up racing the next 10 years, even while having much improved swim and bike times along the way. This past weekend my hometown hosted Ironman Texas. Athletes were greeted with hot and humid conditions, as well as torrential rain the back half of the day. I had several athletes I coach that participated,...

Supplements

The supplement industry is a billion dollar industry with products that can be found almost anywhere food is found these days. Does the average person need to take supplements?  If you are in optimal health and eating a diet with plenty of lean meats, fats, fruits, and vegetables then you probably don't need to take any supplements at all. Through the years I have witnessed firsthand many people overloading on a million different vitamins just for it to end up being a total waste of money. What nutrients a person needs is very individual however, and the only real way to know what your missing is by a simple blood panel. With that being said, there are 2 supplements I have found that a large...

Powerful Veggies

It is quite obvious by now that the one food group you should be consuming the most of are vegetables. It is also the one food group I can think of that gets no bad press either! The diseases that vegetables prevent would not fit into this blog there are so many. I personally like to think of vegetables as medicine, since they essentially are and some of the compounds are hard to pronounce as well! There are some veggies that are a better choice as far as getting the most nutrition from each serving. Most people don't consume anywhere near enough of these foods and could use at least 2-3 cups a day of vegetables. If you are picky about a variety of different...

Sugar Burner or a Fat Burner?

A hot topic in nutrition today is becoming a fat burner. This is the most optimal way to keep body fat low, as well as help ward off different diseases. A sugar burner is just what it sounds like, where a person is burning sugar to rely on energy. A fat burner gets their energy from stored body fat that they carry with them at all times. Most of us have plenty of that to go around, but the key to becoming a fat burner is gradual and can take as long as 6 months or even longer in some cases. How do you even know you are a sugar or fat burner? I created my top 5 list below to help find out whether...

Cardio vs. Weight Training

For years now, the average person has been trying to figure out which form of exercise is best for my health, cardiovascular training or weight training? Is there even one that is better? Do I do them on the same day? Which helps with weight loss? Do athletes benefit from both? These are a few questions I have heard the last 20 years in the fitness industry. I compiled a list below of who can benefit from which form the most and why.   Weight loss- I picked this as number 1 due to the fact that a large majority of the population is overweight. If you are trying to lose weight I recommend about 75% of your overall exercise time is best spent doing cardiovascular exercise.the...

Health Crisis

Here we are in the year 2016 and I can think of a million advances in our society. Technology has made a tremendous impact in how we do business whether for social, or monetary gain and I can attest to that as I work from a computer outside in my backyard. Unfortunately, with those modern advances comes a price tag of declining health for a large majority of our population. While life expectancy has steadily increased,  morbidity rates have increased which is leading to a significant number of people in the last 20% of their life living in a diseased state. Why is this happening you ask? I have compiled below my top reasons why and with possible solutions as well. Food Guide Pyramid- I can't...