Category: Health

Be a positive thinker and believer please …

paschmann

An interesting study of older adults who have positive thinking are less prone to cognitive decline.

Repetitive negative thinking is associated with cognitive function decline in older adults: a cross-sectional study – BMC PsychiatryBackground Psychological problems such as depression and anxiety increase the risk of cognitive impairment in older adults. But mechanisms on the effect of psychological disorder on cognitive function is inconclusive. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core symptom of a number of common psychological disorders and may be a modifiable process shared by many psychological risk factors that contribute to the development of cognitive impairment. RNT may increase the risk of cognitive impairment. However, there are fewer studies related to RNT and cognitive function, and there is a lack of epidemiological studies to explore the relationship between RNT and cognitive function. Methods A cross-sectional study of 424 older adults aged 60 years or over was performed form May to November 2023 in hospital. To investigate the RNT level by using the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ), and investigate the cognitive function level by using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA). Multivariable linear regression and subgroup analyses were used to explore the relationship between RNT and cognitive function. Results We categorized the total RNT scores into quartiles. The multivariable linear regression analysis showed that after adjusting for all covariates, the participants in the Q3 and Q4 groups exhibited lower cognition scores (Q3:β = -0.180, 95%CI -2.849~-0.860; Q4:β = -0.164, 95% -2.611~-0.666) compared to the Q1 group. The results of the subgroup analyses showed that individuals aged 60 ~ 79 years, junior high school and above are more prone to suffer from cognitive impairment with a high RNT score. Conclusion The study reveals a negative association between RNT and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. However, multi-center and a longer time span cohort studies on the relationship between RNT and cognitive function should be carried out to further explore the mechanisms involved.

Color.com

paschmann

Some interesting, and a few not so interesting or surprising insights from my DNA test from Color.com … SAP had a fairly large discount code offering employees to use the service.

you are unlikely to experience the alcohol flush responseBlushing from alcohol flush response
you’re more likely to notice the smell of asparagus in your urineWhat’s that smell?
you’re unlikely to taste certain bitter compounds.The science of bitter taste
you’re somewhat likely to drink more caffeine than averageYour genes and your daily grind
you have a slightly higher chance of disliking cilantroBeyond DNA
you’re likely to have wet earwax.Earwax keeps our ears healthy.
you’re unlikely to be lactose intolerant.Lactose intolerance, and other gut feelings

2024 Ironman Texas Training Review

paschmann

It has been a great 16 weeks training for Ironman Texas coming up next week. One small injury (foot) from either running or pushing too hard off the wall while swimming. Some interesting stats through these training blocks:

Longest week: 18 hours
Max CTL: 116
Max TSS: 144
Cumulative Miles: 2161
3 week blocks, with 1 week rest. 2 week taper into the race.

Compared with past Ironman races, used the sauna during the last 3 weeks to get more heat adapted, and did a little more strength based workouts. (Not tracked in Intervals). I also focused more on Z2 efforts while running. The Oak Island Half Marathon got me running a lot more early season. Overall, I had some good PR’s during the last 4 months: read more

Cycling: FTP over time

paschmann

Tracking cycling endurance training progress over time. As I have shifted my focus from MTB racing to Endurance/long distance triathlon, My sprint power has decreased slightly (5 minutes and 1 minute) but FTP (20 min+) has slowly been ticking upward. Since I have been swimming and running more, it probably has not increased as much as I hoped, but I am learning endurance is not something that gets established overnight ….

Is Hypoxanthine the future for monitoring endurance performance?

paschmann

Super interesting article on the use of Hypoxanthine (from sweat) being used as a predictor of performance in athletes.

Having done HR tracking, Power and over the last couple of years, Lactate, it’s always interesting to hear of new methods and advancements in performance, and opportunities to improve metabolic health. So while I am still waiting for a reasonable/practical real-time Lactate monitoring solution, maybe I should skip to the next big thing …

Check it out here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23670363/

Abstract

Purine metabolism reflects the exercise-induced muscle adaptations and training status. This study evaluated the utility of plasma hypoxanthine in the prediction of actual sport performance. We studied male athletes: 28 triathletes (21.4±2.9 years), 12 long-distance runners (23.2±1.9 years), 13 middle-distance runners (22.9±1.8 years) and 18 sprinters (22.0±2.7 years). Season-best race times were considered, achieved over standard triathlon, 5 000 m, 1 500 m and 100 m, respectively. Incremental treadmill test was administered to determine maximum and “threshold” oxygen uptake. Resting and post-exercise plasma concentrations of hypoxanthine, xanthine, uric acid and lactate were measured as well as resting erythrocyte hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase activity. Simple and multiple regression analyses were used to identify significant contributors to the variance in performance. Hypoxanthine considered alone explained more variance in triathletes, long-distance runners, middle-distance runners and sprinters (r 2=0.81, 0.81, 0.88 and 0.78, respectively) than models based on aerobic capacity and lactate (R 2=0.51, 0.37, 0.59 and 0.31, respectively). Combining purine metabolites and cardiorespiratory variables resulted in the best prediction (R 2=0.86, 0.93, 0.93 and 0.91; r=0.93, 0.96, 0.96 and 0.95, respectively). In summary, hypoxanthine is a strong predictor of performance in highly trained athletes and its prediction ability is very high regardless of sport specialization, spanning the continuum from speed-power to endurance disciplines. read more

Endurance Racing – Sweat Analysis

paschmann

Sweat, and specifically Sodium, is one of the three “levers” for endurance athletes when it comes to hydration and nutrition (fueling) and subsequently your performance. The other two key elements or levers are Carbohydrates and Fluids.

The most important part about sodium/sweat is that everyone has a unique sweat loss rate, and a unique sodium content ratio in their sweat. So while a more generalized approach can be defined for consuming carbohydrates, the same is not true for electrolyte loss. This is why having a sweat test is critical for athletes wanting to perform, understand and take advantage of their data to understand their personal needs and requirements. read more

Running Notes

paschmann

LTHR

Zone 1: Less than 85% of LTHR – 136

Zone 2: 85–89% of LTHR – 136 – 143

Zone 3: 90–94% of LTHR – 144 – 150

Zone 4: 95–99% of LTHR – 151 – 158

Zone 5a: 100–102% of LTHR – 159 – 163

Zone 5b: 103–106% of LTHR – 163 – 170

Zone 5c: More than 106% of LTHR – 170+

Swim Technique Notes

paschmann
  • Rotate body to gain more reach
  • use hand and forearm to catch the water
  • Keep shoulders down/low and use lats , not shoulder to pull
  • Start slow and get faster with pull
  • pull all the way down past waist
  • Breathing:
    • keep one goggle eye in water, one out
    Think about making your body as long as possible with timing

    Drills:

    • Rotation
      • kick, check rotation, arms at side
      • rotate kits and shoulders, everything in sync
      • 6 kicks one side, 6 kicks flat, 6 on left side (Using fins)
      One arm forward with fins on
      • Swim on side, like superman, make sure body is parallel to wall
      • try to breath
      Skull Drill
      • Use just your hands and work in a small figure 8 rotation to propel yourself down the pool (probably very slowly)