Education

Coaching, Education, Ironman, Self Care, Yoga

Embracing the dark

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Our programmed minds work fast. A lot of things are coming at us, so we do need these trigger fast default values that we place on things. Helps us to process and deal with the world. We can have defaults that work for us and that hold us back.

I believe our default value of “bad” for the adjective “dark” doesn’t serve us well.

Light and Dark

The darkside

Anger as being dark

The dark wolf (or black)

The Dark Side of the Force ???

Black magic (they totally jacked up the word “black” with that one)

The Dark Knight ???

Black cats

Nightmare (night didn’t do anything bad …)

Black hearted

Disney’s Hercules depicts Hell as dark (The Underworld)

I could totally go on a tangent on how we thing the light is GOOD and the absence of light is bad, but Newton would beg to different and maybe some of the scientist and yogi’s too. Some think that the process of things (in a BIG picture) requires the cycling through light and dark (expansion and contraction) (sun to black hole …) blah blah blah. Back to my point … which is …

I think we do ourselves a big fat disservice when we default to anything with the adjective “black” or “dark” instantly gets a “bad” wrap.

For all of my life, I have been scared of the dark. Not like …. “scared” but more like “fight or flight” heart rate is now “160 thank you and panic is ensuing”. Like PTSD.

Hahahaha. You all are gonna start to like I need a straight jacket.

An example of how I use to live with this … I use to live in a house that the washer and dryer were in the basement (one of the quad level houses with 1/2 a basement with scary creepy steps …). The basement light was a bulb with a string on it, the basement wasn’t finished, etc. So when I would be climbing (crawling) up the stairs with my laundry, if I was going to adult well and turnoff the light, I would have to exit in the dark. I would have a mini panic. Each and every time. My smart brain would say “Bk, you’re stupid. You KNOW there is nothing in this basement that would hurt you.” And the badass voice would say, “you could probably kick their ass even if they were here 😉 ). Anyway, one of the voices would be “you are not safe”. That one is a hard one to deal with (or silence).

In my coaching and life experience, we don’t heal (silence some voices) but having an underlying thought that it’s “bad”. When I tore up my right AC joint, that shoulder didn’t get better until I stopped calling it my “bad shoulder”. It lots lots better when I called it “bambino”.

I tell people now …. “don’t slap the baby”. This goes for either dealing with hurt hamstrings, plantar fasciitis … or the soft spots of the heart.

It. Is. All. Energy. All of it.

More of the point BK ….

So the thought of doing night diving in Ecuador was sort of an interesting one. I’m pretty fearless and if there is a “reasonable amount of danger” involved … I’m in. I guess I like living on the edge. I’m usually well prepared and what not tho. 😉 I have an adventurer’s heart, which in this case just about completely won over my fear of not being able to see what’s around me. To lay in a bit of backstory … not to beat it like a dead horse, but …. I have copious amounts of glorious stories from my childhood that explain why the heck I’m a touch cray cray. This is a good one. I

might have been taken to see Psycho when I was … way to young, 8 maybe. When Norman got the part about whacking his mom over the head with a shovel … I finally ran out of the theater and sat (by myself) by the doors until the movie was done. What makes this super funny …. in a really ironic (perhaps f’ed up) way …. years later I had to visit my dad in Iowa for a month during the summer. He lived in this house … that no joke … looked EXACTLY like the Bates’ house. Ancient, creaky, 200 years old …. fill of dusty antiques, secret passage ways between rooms …. I shit you not. Hahahaha. I type this and what to laugh my ass

off and cry at the same time. I stayed in the north room for years, which had the attic door, which lead to the attic, which housed a big ass colony of bats. Let your mind wonder for a bit. This house was the bomb really. It had a spiral back stair case and and and … lovely. I finally got to stay in a better room that was a bit less …. anyway. I ended up 40 completely scared of the dark.

**Back to night scuba diving** …. So the adventure voice was fully in charge until I was sitting on the edge of the boat to **fall backwards** into the “**not filled with light**” ocean in the “**no sun to be seen**” sky. But I know how to tell the scared one “shhh” it’s ok. Really. And that generally works anymore.

As an aside. In the yoga world, we teach that back bends in general are filled with “fear” from not being able to see what’s coming next. hahaha. So this flipping over the side of a boat definitely pushed me WAY outside my comfort zone for a moment. “BK, what the f are you doing???” “Do we really have to do this?” I know exactly where these voices come from and that gives me power to shush the voices enough to get through until the adventure’s voice is loudest again. Or the warrior’s voice … that ones pretty loud too. (as well as working towards those parts of me not needing to express themselves so much. Healing the soft parts.)

Flipping off a perfectly good boat in the “unlight” …. I won’t lie. I sort of messed up the flipping business a little bit and ended up doing a somersault in the “can’t see shit” cold water. (Yeah yeah. It’s the ocean. Cold. I had a lot of neoprene on too. Add that in for those that know).

And this is what the voices had to say.

1. Nice job BK! You are going to drown because you screwed that shit up and you can’t use your flashlight right now because you have no idea which way is up and you FOR SURE can’t blind anyone use your light wrong and being a jerk face. 75%

2. BK. STFU and figure out which way is up. 23%

3. HOLY F ME. Scared. This was just a feeling, but it’s intense. (The kind that you pee. Lizard freaking brain). 3%

Looks like the snarky voice won out on that. And can apparently get shit done. 😉

Once I got myself righted and my light on. All was good. GREAT actually. Like maybe voices said “F$ck YEAH!” This is way cool!!! It was surprising very serene, peaceful. There was something about without the constant site of those I was diving with … I felt totally at peace with the ocean. I was INVESTIGATING. So cool. Our guide took us to a shallow cave where we saw and chilled with a sea turtle that was sleeping.

I was at peace. And stupid excited to be experience this beautiful piece of the earth.

Super glad that I didn’t let legitimate fear and issues stop me from experiencing that moment.

 

 

That’s the point?!

 

 

There are beautiful things in the darkness.

The dark places aren’t necessarily “bad”.

That dark wolf is a needed part of being badass. That’s your warrior.

You don’t/won’t heal your soft spots saying they are broken or bad. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

(ps.  I’m not afraid of the dark anymore.)

Education

Ducks that heal lies

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When we get abandoned as a child, or heck, not have the basics from the beginning … shit can end up being really hard at 45.

As a baby, we learn and thrive in acceptance from our parents. They smile when we smile. We coo when they coo. It’s part of human development. The human baby is so immature when it’s born. Darwin. So we aren’t prepared at all for anything. We are freaking smart as a species but oh so fragile.

So it’s one thing to not have enough. The basics. Food. Water. Safety. Smiles. Hugs. I love yous. Family. Toys. Laughs. Our inner self is there, perfect and whole, yet gets covered with how we manage to provide for ourselves. How we mold ourselves into a human that can survive physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually in this world.

For me. I love stuffed animals. That’s really the only toy I remember having besides some GI Joes I threw into an aquarium. This stuffed alligator. He had these cool teeth that were plastic and kind of fun. He lived in the 2nd drawer of my dresser. So today I have Ganesh. The blue eyed elephant. He goes with me everywhere. Even Julie knows to leave him along. Interesting how we … fill our needs.

On a different note, the feelings and emotions of being abandoned are intense. They are very intertwined with the basic needs of being loved and accepted. Feeling safe. Being left behind can bring with it self-doubt, self-judgement and That stupid and oh so destructive belief (lie) …

“I am not enough”

“I am not good enough”

“I don’t deserve”

I’m an engineer and a tri coach, not a therapist with all the smart brainiac words. You get the meaning, and if you’ve experienced a parent leaving or a spouse or or or …. you know what I’m talking about. Our brains do this crazy thing of trying to make sense of things that don’t make sense. A parent leaving a child. That is not what is suppose to happen, there needs to be some sort of reason right?!

Zip forward a couple of years, 10 years, 20 years … and look where we find all the pieces of ourselves. Flavored by so many lies and bullshit beliefs what the inner self can’t seem to get in a word edgewise.

Oh the things that one puts up with, does not adult well … because of these beliefs (lies).

I’m not blaming anyone. Shit happens. People make mistakes. (I do not buy into “the person was doing the best they could at the time”. I find this a big fat f’in copout. Sometimes people puss out and take the easy way out. Sorry. Not sorry).

It’s unfortunate that our “health care” (“human being care”) system (or lack of one) doesn’t deal with this part well. Lives and careers, families and suicides … all flavored by this. Big fat stupid important stuff and we are doing a shitting job at healing our hearts. I have PLETHORA to say about this but I get off track.

So at 30 or 35 or 40 something, or sooner if you’re lucky, you become aware that … you are so much more. And hopefully you get a tiny taste of the possibility of turning inward, that you ARE NOT actually those beliefs.

YOU ARE AWESOME

and maybe

YOU ARE A BADASS

You know what’s the most BADASS. A mom and dad creating a human being and rocking that sh$t out. Shepherding a tiny human being into being a brilliant and loving human adult. THAT is BA. I had the privilege teaching two littles how to read. That’s BA. Again. I digress. Back to the point. You get a breath of the truth, just one is all you need … YOU ARE A BADASS.

So you get to work on healing the heart. And it’s tough stuff. You might meditate to get control of the emotion terrets. You might even think for a moment that you need to stop saying the f word. You might think you really need to change who you are.

And then you hopefully get to the point where you know that, yes, shit might have been F$CKTASTIC but there is no point in blaming others anymore. You can forgive. I don’t think forgetting is necessary as you ARE suppose to be wiser and that doesn’t mean sitting your head in the sand. It means learning and not repeating the mistakes over and over. EVOLVING. If you forgive, the forgetting part really doesn’t matter, as you aren’t hanging that victim bullshit on it. It’s just another artful paint stroke of the YOU canvas. You don’t have to forget to get back to whole and healed.

YOU ARE ALREADY WHOLE

You just need to drop some of what you picked up to help you get through the bad patch.

You become strong enough to be open and love like you were created to do. People leaving and doing hurtful things IS NOT about you. It’s about them. Their lessons. You have your own. Be wise to know the difference.

I left my duck friends in the care of the earth. As it should be. They will return to nurture the earth, trees and other animals. As it should be. I leave thoughts of my alligator there as well, placing more of my heart in Faith and belief that I’m just completely fucking (autocorrected to ducking) FINE.

Because maybe this nagging lie that I’m broken is total bullshit. #nmf

Education

Epic 2018: Drawing closer (inward) to the next version of myself

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As I sit typing to you at Greenwich and 111th street on a box, returning to a place of sorrow filled discovery, I want to share my heart. To give the feelings (energy) back to the universe. To fully feel both sides of this day. Thanksgiving. The beautiful scenes and moments as well as the equally heart grasping sad moments.

Yin and yang. Light and dark. Positive and negative. (Hopefully to see and experience them more objectively, as this seems to be karma’s lesson for me this year). Being brave enough to really feel the feelings, communicate them … to release them like butterflies back to the beautiful earth.

I have so many thoughts that I want to express. Feelings to let flow from my heart, through my fingers to the universe (aka blog, book, your heart) with the earnest intention of letting go of what I don’t need anymore, healing soft parts and maybe (hopefully) inspiring others to do the same. I look at the world and my heart is so saddened with the disregard, blindness, hardness, anger, hate. Love will heal all. This I have always believed. This I have faith in. Unwavering faith. And with this next challenge I have committed to (epic freaking comeback of 2018, being the best human being I can and hopefully rock out another ironman) I am working to bring more of all my being to that faith. To live more in that. The truth that all that is needed is LOVE. Less in pain, hurt and anger.

Quick shift in gears. (T1)

I want to blog about my experience of the medical mission trip to Ecuador and the following adventures. The experience was so intense and I came back a different person. So different that I kind of don’t know myself anymore, yet at the same time I feel as if I’m more “me” than I have ever been. I’m pretty excited to see how I evolve … more on that adventure.

A good friend asked me during the mission trip what I was learning (like big life lesson). I thought for a couple days and landed on being more …. open and honest, clear eyes and full heart, to the equal and opposite side of things. The JOY and the PAIN, as if they weren’t “good” or “bad” but more just opposite ends of this beautiful rainbow that I’m experiencing. As I ask for MORE EPIC adventures/results/goals/victories, I need to toughen up a bit or something to experience the other side of it without … my habitual “OMG” reactions. So much more on this … but maybe you get the idea.

(T2)

LIGHT: This morning running with my friends at the Say Grace 5K. I love racing with my friends. As I’m a HUGE SOCIAL BUTTERFLY! For a person that use to (still has) person space issues (thanks Coach for helping me work on this by sitting on me with your sweaty body 😉 ) I love love love hugging my peeps and planting kisses on their cheeks. More hugs and kisses I say! 🙂

DARK: Experiencing the complete suckage of the state of my running. These heart rhythm struggles have really brought me to my knees. Who likes to get past (in the dust really) by all their friends. And past by the lady that says … “oh, you’ll be waiting on me because I’m super slow”. Humbling. (I will definitely call bs with any dogging of the back of the packers. Or bullying on fb in this realm. Nope.)

Honestly this new lesson for me, experiencing both ends equally is making me feel like I’m bipolar. For reals. The joy of running with friends, racing, getting cool bling, finish line crosses and then hiding behind a tree for a bit because the race was crap-freaking-fantastic and makes you doubt with every foot fall any success at ironman. Hiding behind the tear to let the tears fall. #cleareyesfullheart

The ponying up. Not texting your coach to tell you to ignore the thoughts of doubt because …. it’s so early and what are you going to do quit? Maybe it’s progress to not text him, yet to hear his voice in your heart … “get your mind right Kissinger”. Get on the pony and go biking.

LIGHT: Going on a beautiful (seriously beautiful) bike ride. With good friends. The weather is gorgeous and we just ignore the stupid slow legs and enjoy yourself. Take a couple good selfies. ;). After all, isn’t THIS what Thanksgiving is about … being thankful for the tiny moments that you have. That you have breath to breathe. Sun to see by. Wind to try the sweat and tears.

DARK: Experiencing the beautiful land with so much awareness that you spy and full experience the state of the human condition. A bag full of dead animals. Are they kittens, puppies or dead ducks. Does it matter? What do you do with that feeling … that some human beings are terrible. That as a species, we are destroying this very beautiful place. Maybe that’s why we focus on Black Friday sales, buying stuff we don’t need or can’t afford, to stick our head in the sand about how horrible of a species we actually are. So vivid in my mind and heart is swimming with sea turtles and experience life in a POOR country yet feeling so much more … at peace there as they CLEARLY volume life more than we do. My heart aches for the life that is now in this box. Discarded like trash. No value.

Maybe there is the soft spot. Having been always left in one manner or another.

So … typing this on a box filled with useless loss, a bag full of dead ducks, I feel this experience fully. And am extremely grateful. That I am becoming wiser. Less harden. Stronger and more at ease. I will figure out how to gracefully and with love return these creatures to the earth and with them, let go a bit of my abandoned “soft spot”. Very grateful for a texted question from mostly a complete stranger …. “what got you off course.” The honest answer … “being hurt and losing a bit of faith in the universe.”

I am returning to that place of peace. FAITH.

A place of security, however not devoid of pain and joy. As both are needed to change the soul.

Adrenal Health, Diet, Eating, Education

#61 The All Day Energy Diet with Yuri Elkaim

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5629708/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]

 

Coach BK and Yuri Elkaim chat about how important nutrition and  health eating is, especially when considering endurance athletes and female health.

Yuri Elkaim is a health and fitness expert, “energy nutritionist”, and author of The All-Day Energy Diet. He wrote this book for himself – he battled for 20 years with crippling health issues, which included extreme fatigue – as well as millions of everyday people for whom low energy is robbing their lives.

Now, serving over 250,000 people on a daily basis via email and with over 15 million Youtube videos watched, Yuri is most famous for helping people enjoy all-day energy and amazing health in a very short period of time without radical diets or gimmicks.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Health from the University of Toronto and is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Yuri is also a former pro soccer player and served as the strength & conditioning and nutrition coach at the University of Toronto for 7 years. He’s on a mission to transform the lives of more than 10 million people by 2018. For more visit:

http://www.yurielkaim.com

Education

#60 Ironman Arizona Triathlon Race Review

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5629149/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]Coach BK of BK Coaching and Ironman Triathlete Nelson Rodriguez chat about Ironman Arizona. This is an excellent race as a first time ironman race and to the newer to triathlon athletes.

KEY POINTS

Swim:

  • Self seeding rolling start in Temp Town Lake which looks like a canal.
  • Athletes enter the water off a metal type dock
  • The water temp is usually cooler with sleeveless wetsuits being just fine

Bike:

  • 3 loop course with 2577 ft of gain
  • Wind can pick up later in the day and turn into a head wind
  • Roads are great and the support is excellent

Run:

  • 2 loop course that is flat
  • Just about the entire course is on pavement, which is very unforgiving
  • The run has zero shake so make sure to understand how to protect yourself from the sun and heat

 

Education

#58 Paleo for Women with a lot of talk about adrenal health

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Coach BK:  Cert. yoga/triathlon/nutrition

Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD

Coach BK and Dr. Ballantyne give a very informative chat on how paleo is a great way for female endurance athletes eat, how to improve adrenal health and have more energy.

For a free athlete health assessment –> www.bonniekissinger.com/aha

 

Eating, Education

Health Benefits of Garlic

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GARLIC

Garlic is probably the best researched and most commonly used herb in the world.  Native to Central Asia, garlic is now used in most every country’s ciusine. Mention of garlic can be found in the ancient medical tests of Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome, some dating as far back as 5,000 years.  This world-renowned cure-all herb has been touted for everything from weight loss and infections to low energy, dysentery, snake bites and low libido (1).  A search through the research literature of todays yields over 4,000 citations on garlic, suggesting it is just as popular in modern times as it was in ancient times.

Much of the research on garlic has focused on the organosulfur compounds, or OSCs, found in the whole clove, which are responsible for its flavor and distinct smell.  While allicin is probably the best recognized of the OSCs, there are actually many different types of OSCs found in garlic.  Some of these compounds, like allicin are dependent of enzymes that are activated when garlic is crushed, chopped, or chewed.  Others, like those found in aged garlic supplements, are formed during the aging process or are formed as breakdown product of other OSCs (2).  These OSCs are believed to be responsible for the majority of the health benefits of garlic though polyphenolic compounds and prebiotic fibers in garlic may also contribute to its health benefits.

CARDIOVASCULAR BENEFITS

Probably the best researched and most celebrated benefit of garlic is its ability to benefit the cardiovascular system.  Indeed, garlic has long been used for conditions that affect the cardiovascular system.  Research studies show that garlic supplements are quite ueful for the treatment of uncontrolled  hypertension, lowering blood pressure by about 10 mmHg systolic and 8mmHg diastolic, similar to standard blood pressure medications. (3)  Mechanisms by which garlic reduces blood pressure include inhibiting the aggregation of platelets, thus keeping the blood flowing smoothly (4), relaxing the blood vessels, and even blocking production of hormones that cause blood pressure to increase (5).  Garlic may also benefit the cardiovascular system by reducing LDL cholesterol levels and modulating inflammation (6).

 

ANTIMICROBIAL and ANTIVIRAL

As far back as 1858, Louis Pasteur carried out experiments to confirm the historically recognized bacteria-fighting activity of garlic (7).  Today garlic is recognized for its ability to fight not only bacteria, but also fungi, viruses and parasites (8).  The OSCs in garlic appear especially beneficial for limiting the growth and even killing H. pylori, a microbe that commonly infects the stomach and causes ulcers (9).  Research into the effects of garlic on the immune system show that it can increase the responsiveness of several important antiviral immune cells such as Natural Killer cells and specialized gamma delta T cells (10).  Ultimately the increase in immune cell function has been related to fewer symptoms and reduced severity of cold flu as well as less time missed from work (11).  Beside fighting microbes directly, garlic may serve as a prebiotic, helping to strengthen the good bacteria so they are better able to fight off infectious agents in the first place (12).  Garlic also reduces the inflammatory compounds that certain microbes produce (13).

 

DETOXIFICATION

Although much more research is needed to fully understand this connection, the OSCs in garlic are believed to support the body’s detoxification processes.  First, OSCs  support the detoxification process, helping the body to neutralize and eliminate carcinogens and toxins.  Other studies indicate that garlic supplementation increases the liver’s levels of glutathione and other important antioxidant enzymes involved in detoxification processes.  Furthermore, because many toxic compounds are eliminated from the body through the process knows as sulfation, by providing extra sulfur, garlic helps provide substrate to facilitate elimination of harmful compounds by the liver (14,15).

BRAIN HEALTH

The OSCs found in garlic display remarkably utility, benefiting not only the health of the body but also the health of the brain.  Some of the most interesting benefits of OSCs include their ability to increase growth of new nervous system tissue, protect the brain from beta-amyloid plaque induced inflammation and damage, and strengthen the blood-brain barrier (16,17).  Studies in an effective intervention-preventing inflammation from causing brain dysfunction (18).  Other studies show garlic increases the brains natural antioxidant defenses, helps with neurotransmitter signaling, and OSCs act as antioxidants themselves (19).  Overall, there exists a solid body of preclinical evidence suggesting garlic supplements have a promising future as prophylactic treatments for the development of neurodedegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease (20,21).

OTHER BENEFITS

Several of the OSCs found in garlic have been investigated for their ability to modulate inflammation (22,23).  Many of these studies have focused on garlic-related anti-inflammatory effects in the  gastrointestinal tract.  These studies suggest garlic modulates inflammatory reactions to pharmaceuticals, toxins, and pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract, making it applicable to a large portion of the population (22).  References available upon request.

 

Athlete, Education, Podcasts, Triathlon

Electrolytes

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Athlete Electrolyte and Hydration 101

(candid notes from the podcast.  Listen!!)

INTRO

Coach BK and Endurance Athlete / Nutritionist Rachel Shuck, chat about Electrolytes in a 101 kind of fashion.  What the runners and triathletes need to know to perform well, be healthy and be safe.

BACKGROUND

MAIN – What are electrolytes

GOOD DESCRIPTION:  Active.com

Electrolytes are minerals that, when dissolved in water, break into small, electrically charged particles called ions. Present wherever there’s water in your body (think blood, cells and cell surroundings), electrolytes regulate your body’s fluids, helping to maintain a healthy blood pH balance, and creating the electrical impulses essential to all aspects of physical activity — from basic cell function to complex neuromuscular interactions needed for athletic performance.

The water then serves as a conductor, allowing ions to move across membranes and carry fluid, nutrients and waste. In the process they trigger nerve impulses and muscle function and allow ions in the blood to neutralize lactic acid as well as other acids dumped into the bloodstream as waste.

OR

  • Facilitate thoughts
  • Facility all movement
  • Control h2o
  • Control timing and sequence of “events”

-To be a bit geekie, electrolytes are ions (particles with a charge on them) that control movement of molecules.

-Na, K, Mg, Ca are all positively charged

-Chlorides, Phosphates, Sulphates, Carbonates are all negatively charged.

–The ions (+ -) accumulate in the watery blood system of our body. All of our cells use that (+ -) charge differential as a driving force when they isolate (permit) some ions on the inside of the cell and others on the outside.

In laymen terms:  Electrolytes ring doorbells and open doors.  Stuff goes in and out.

Main Players are:

Sodium – help “excite” nerves and muscles

Chloride – help “excite” nerves and muscles

Calcium – aids muscle contraction

Magnesium – aids healthy cell function

Potassium – helps regulate pH balance

Phosphate – helps regulate pH balance

What is sweat?

NA 0.9 m/L, K 0.2 g/L, Ca 0.015 g/L, Mg 0.0013 g/L, trace elements, and obviously most h2o

NOTE:  Don’t think linearly when looking or listening to the percentages mentioned of the elements and think that they are prioritized as Na more important and Mg less.

YO!!!  Did you know that 4 – 10% of your water gets replaced with “fresh” water everyday.  Blood is approx 93% water, muscle is about 73% water and body fat is about 10% water.

YO!!!! Also, did you know:  during the metabolic process, you make your own water!  When muscles burn glycogen (fuel for the mitochondria), they release about 2.4 units of water for every 1 unit of muscle glycogen. :)) COOL UH?!?!  This helps the body protect itself against dehydration.

DRINKING

As a rule of thumb we need to be drinking Body Weight x .31.  In long distance biking we say about a bike bottle an hour.  Tho these numbers are very individualized.  This you just need to figure out and train with consistently.  It really depends on your sweat ratio.  Which a good coach can do.

NOTE:  Electrolytes ARE NOT Vit C or Vit B or or or   … soooo.  Products (and some fancy products) that use the work “hydrate” but have no Na, Ca, Mg or K (chloride comes with them) in them is misleading for electrolyte replenishment, aka helping you to hydrate or USE h2o.  Vit C does not help you absorb.

Interesting Factiod.  If you don’t have enough sodium, your body produces a hormone, ADH that helps to prevent you sodium to dip too low.  This hormone promotes inflammation in your arteries.

HEED THIS ADVICE.  Do not take NSAIDS when it’s hot and your training/racing.  The prostiglandins produces are large molecules and are damaging to the kidneys.

NOTE:  You can’t “stock up” with electrolytes.  It doesn’t work like that.  The kidneys are highly involved.  Let’s assume they are working up to par.  You can fill up the tank, but not stock up.  The body will balance everything out and get rid of what it doesn’t need at that point.

BACK GROUND INFO:

http://www.bodybio.com/content.aspx?page=elyte-electrolyte-101

The membrane of every cell is composed of fat and acts as an insulator. By encouraging more of the sodium ions to accumulate in the blood stream, outside the cell (with potassium on the inside), they build up a charge on either side of the cell wall. That charge separation then becomes the driving force for all cells to be able to move the life giving materials in and out of the cell. It’s important to understand this because all the electrolytes are vital for cellular function and especially necessary for high performance. Simply put, without them we could not exist… even with the absence of just one of the basic 4 electrolyte minerals, we would be history.

The list of functions that electrolytes control is endless but include; temperature control / fluid level / cardiac arrhythmia / respiratory rate / digestion / fluid transport across cells / ion transport / renal function (bladder control) / neurological function / signal transduction / thought / memory/ all the senses both gathering information and then transporting that message to the brain and to the muscles including the sense of touch / energy production / glucose metabolism etc. etc. It is easier to count the stars in the sky than to list all the functions in the body controlled by electrolytes. But the body, in its miraculous evolutionary way is structured to maintain it all in some combinatorial marvelous life-giving manner. The majesty of it all is so wondrous that the study of cells and of life can often leave one breathless. We frequently sit back in our research as the concepts unfold and are literally awestruck. The most one can attempt is to try and convey a small picture of this wonder.

http://www.bodybio.com/content.aspx?page=elyte-inside-a-muscle-cramp

Cramping is one of the most common complaints of athletes. It can occur at any time but more often at the tail end of their workout. Cramps are a one way street in the complete cycle of muscle action. All body motion is controlled by the opening and closing of ion channels that sit in the membranes of all cells. Sodium (Na) contracts the cell and potassium (K) relaxes it. Similar action occurs to transmit a thought with Na and K triggering neurons (depolarizing) to both transmit and fire. In effect the electrolytes do it all. You can’t blink your eye or even see or hear without them.

A heart cell begins the process with Calcium (Ca) signaling the Na ion channel to open to begin the contraction cycle. There are hundreds of Na and K ion channels on each cell. A half second later Magnesium (Mg) encourages K to rush in which relaxes the cell. That’s the beat of your heart or the closing of your fist. With a heart cell the cycle is non stop; constrict with Na and relax with K. Its quite easy to see what happens when a muscle cramps. In essence you have half a beat. If a cramp hits your heart, you’re history, but in a different muscle you’ll hurt, but recover. If you’re swimming in a race half way home, it could be a disaster. Whenever it happens, it’s the guys in charge of the relaxing half of the cycle, Mg and K, that are missing.

Actually, what is happening, is that the high K concentration is sufficient to complete the back side of the heart beat, or leg pump, etc. Without those 2 electrolytes Mg and K, in plentiful supply, your muscles have only the first half of the action potential to work on. Over time, that’s a one way street, that can end up as a cramp. Cramps don’t usually occur when your doing sprints, they are the result of cellular stress (loss of electrolytes) over long workouts.

THIS IS COOL!!!

A number of coaches have tried “pickle juice” to prevent cramping in hot weather. Pickle juice is predominantly vinegar. Vinegar is acetic acid, and is used to remove sodium (Na) with individuals with high blood sodium levels. The coaches are lowering their athletes Na levels to prevent the first half of the muscle cycle instead of making sure that they have enough of all the electrolytes needed. Lower Na and you may not begin the cramp. Not exactly what the doctor ordered, but it can work.

However, you are removing Na to restore balance, instead of providing the correct electrolytes that the body needs at that moment, which is ……..Mg and K. Training logic says that you want as high a level of electrolytes as possible, all the time, not robbing one, Na, to achieve balance.

Sodium Closes (constricts) and Potassium Opens (relaxes)

In essence, the closing and relaxing of a muscle is dependent on the four mineral horseman of function, calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K).  Sodium constricts and potassium relaxes, with Ca and Mg initiating each phase of the action.  If an individual is low in potassium, it appears that that singular event of low potassium can be sufficient to permit a cramp to occur. Without enough potassium available to complete the relaxing cycle, a random signal (or even a conscious one) to close by an out of balanced condition can leave almost any muscle in a locked position.

To understand sodium’s influence on the closing of a muscle and potassium’s role in engineering the reverse (the opening), it could be helpful, though somewhat macabre, to examine the procedure for executions.  Generally, the act of hanging was replaced by electrocution, which was in turn abandoned by the painless, yet highly efficient act, of an injection of a high concentrated solution of potassium.  Flooding the body with potassium forces all muscles to relax.  Eventually the concentration of potassium becomes so high that it dwarfs the normal balance with sodium, thereby restricting any ability to affect a normal muscle function.  The net result is to block the beating of the heart.  In effect the prisoner relaxes to death.

Essentially an execution by injection is the reverse of a cramp.  The execution is clearly an excess of potassium and the cramp appears to be the reverse.  The injection of potassium overwhelms the normal balance of sodium and robs it of its ability to initiate muscle function; the body cannot begin any function, you couldn’t even blink your eye.  The reverse of high sodium (or to be more precise, the absence of sufficient potassium) is an imbalance that sets up a condition for a cramp to occur.  The poor individual with insufficient potassium on hand may not be able to relax that muscle and must message or stretch the knotted jumble of muscle to force some potassium into the cells to turn off the tight cramping condition.

The potential cure for a cramp would logically be to have available sufficient stores of potassium.  However, magnesium also plays an important role in muscle function, so it is necessary to insure an adequate supply of magnesium.  Calcium is also important, but there is a ready supply from our storehouse of bone which appears to be sufficient for muscle function.   However, the supply of sufficient Ca and Mg as we age, is often insufficient, even though normal blood test results suggest there is enough.  But, that is a subject beyond this current discussion of cramps.

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