Updated: Running on empty - why athletes eventually run out of gas

Alastair Leslie in the lead (Rod Dixon in 3rd)

Why is it that elite athletes have roughly ten years of peak performance in them after which the  slow decline begins?  

If an athlete starts training hard at 16, he or she will peak several years later, then slowly decline from their late 20's.  If they start at 30, they will peak 5-10 years later and then begin their slow decline.  Veteran New Zealand runners like Jack Foster and John Campbell are good examples.  Despite being late-comers to the international running scene, both set several world class times in their late 30's and 40's.  Both had a good ten to fifteen years at the top before gradually losing form.

While some of this decline is due to the inexorable processes of ageing, this is not entirely the case as is indicated by the extraordinary careers of late starters such as Foster and Campbell.

Let me explain what I think happens as athletes get older by referring to the case of former national level runner, Alastair Leslie (Alastair has given permission for his personal information to be used in writing this article).

Alastair winning comfortably ahead of
 Liam Healey

As a 16 year old, Alastair Leslie was one of New Zealand's most promising middle distance track athletes. Coached by the legendary  Arthur Lydiard, Alastair turned out a number of impressive performances between 1975 and 1990:

• 100m - 11.6s
• 400m - 50.5s
• 500m - 1:51.07
• 1500m - 3:44.60
• Mile - 4:02.28
• 5,000m - 14.11



Alastair with his coach,
Arthur Lydiard

• Half marathon - 1hr 7minutes.

He raced John Walker, Rod Dixon and other international stars of the 80's before beginning the inevitable slow decline into exhaustion from which he has never recovered.  Now 52 years old, Alastair is still feeling distinctly tired -"burned out" - and struggling to exercise enjoyably.  Rest has not made the problem go away.

Alastair looks remarkably fit and healthy.  However, he has tell-tale signs that all is not well - Such as not handling stress quite as well as he might have in the past, insomnia, dry thin skin, poor exercise capacity and constantly tired.  He feels like he is "Running on Empty".

Alastair's Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) highlights several nutrition factors, other than ageing, that may be contributing to his "Tired Athlete" condition.

High HTMA zinc and chromium in the presence of low manganese and
molybdenum, may actually be losses of these minerals (Zn and Cr)
 from the body stores and therefore indicate deficiency.

Alastair's HTMA (right) is typical of those for tired athletes - He really is running on empty - Most nutrients appear to be precariously low - Ideally, each being within the "Reference Range".

Training with Keith Livingstone, author of
the book, "Healthy, Intelligent Training"
Circa 1980

Low magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) may compromise muscle and nerve function.  Low sodium (Na) and potassium (K) indicate poor adrenal function and possibly thyroid and blood pressure problems.  Low copper (Cu) relative to zinc (Zn) and low manganese (Mn) may lead to weak connective tissue, brittle bones and an unhealthy cholesterol profile.  High chromium (Cr) to manganese is associated with insulin resistance and problems with blood sugar regulation. There is more; but I am sure you get the point: There's a lot going on!

Of interest is the presence of mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb).  This is a common finding, presumably due to the contamination of our environment and food chain through the increasing use of chemicals, metals and the burning of fossil fuels.  Mercury, in this case, is probably due to eating canned tuna most days, rather than via dental amalgam.  Lead contamination can be from many sources, including stripping off old paint during home renovations.  Low adrenal and thyroid function may turn a person into and "accumulator" of toxins, rather than being an "excretor"

Lead and mercury bind with nutritional elements such as zinc, iron, calcium, selenium and magnesium, rendering them unavailable for biological use.  Mercury's effect on selenium (Se) and zinc, for example, interferes with their role of protecting skin cells from UV damage and preventing chronic inflammation. This process may be a precursor to many cancers, including breast and prostate cancer.

Alastair in winning form

My experience with the HTMA is that people in New Zealand and Australia who work with their hands tend to have elevated arsenic, presumably from working with arsenic treated timber. This may partially explain soaring rates of prostate cancer which seems to be affecting tradesmen and farmers more than others.

Alastair's HTMA profile is indicative of trends towards depression and fatigue.  It is hardly a surprise if a person is tired and grumpy when they are running on empty.

We can conclude from Alastair's HTMA that a good deal of what he may be attributing to ageing is actually somewhat controllable.

Alastair owns BodyShape Fitness Studio
Tawa, Wellington

Alastair is gradually restoring his health and running "mojo" through a personalised programme of nutritional balancing. His HTMA helps to take out the guessing of what foods and nutrients to include or exclude. It will be repeated at regular intervals to monitor his progress and to fine tune the programme.

Thanks Alastair for allowing us to share your story.

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Why did Nick Willis fail to fire during the Final of the London Olympics 1500m?

Too many distractions: Click on the image above
to view the video.

Here I am, sitting in Wellington about to make some observations as to why Kiwi runner, Nick Willis, failed to perform up to pre-race expectations in the final of the Olympic 1500m.  Risky!  But here we go...

I think there are three factors that may have been at work: Too much extracurricular activity, running on empty and being in one of the classiest bunches of runners ever assembled.

 I'll comment on the first two - the last needs no comment.

Extracurricular activity

If you are the owner of a thorough-bred race horse contesting the Melbourne Cup, you sure would not be show-ponying it all over the place during the weeks and days leading up to the biggest race of its short career.  Race horses, like Olympians, are highly-strung creatures.  They are easily thrown off their game by the slightest of upsets (Shot-putter, Valerie Adams, is a good example:  Discovering, to her horror, that she was not on the starting list less than 24 hours before her event and going on to under perform).

High performance creatures need routine.  They need quiet time.  They need to focus.  They need rest.  Nothing at all must be allowed to disturb, or upset them. Their adrenals need to build reserve capacity - not to be emptied during the days before they must produce the most high-octane burst of biological energy possible.

In Willis's case, was he asked to do too much leading up to his race? Flag-bearer for the NZ team, countless interviews and appearances.  Was there too much pressing of the flesh, too many luncheons and too many speeches?  The overt pressures of the growing expectations of a nation were clearly placed on his thin, though athletic shoulders.  Did he have enough quiet time? From the outside, looking in, this appeared not to be the case.

How often and for how long was he able to close the door and chill out without being interrupted?  How often and for how long was he sitting and standing about at receptions, shaking hands?  It looked like there was a lot of that going on.

An athlete needs to be resting physically and mentally when not training?  Focusing on what really matters - winning the Big Race.

My sister, Lorraine, taught me this:  When an athlete is not actually training or competing, she should be snoring away, having a good feed, stretching, or having therapy, like a good massage.

I am sure Willis was carefully managed; but were there some things that could have been done better - Things that can be done better next time?

Running on Empty

Time and time again, almost without exception, when we do a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis of an elite athlete, we discover a number of nutrient imbalances - Indicating that they are close to running on empty and have varying degrees of adrenal exhaustion.  What I mean by this is the athlete simply has not the nutrients inside them to fuel sustained high performance.  We also discover that their glandular systems are less than optimum.  This may be exacerbated by an excess of some nutrients that ends up creating a relative deficiency between nutrients.  There may even be interference with sensitive biochemical processes by medications as seemingly innocuous as an oral contraceptive, IUD or implant.

An athlete must have strong, vigorous glands - not exhausted ones

While Nick Willis is supported by some of the best sports medicine talent available, he displayed some tell-tale physical signs of adrenal exhaustion in the weeks leading up to this day, such as slightly sunken eyes (Often incorrectly attributed to just being thin).  Sure he reported feeling great in the days leading up to the Big Day; but I wonder just how much reserve was there actually sitting in the tank?  A full tank, half a tank, or just about empty?  Without the right testing, nobody can tell until the tank suddenly becomes empty.

High performance athletes are poised on a knife edge.  The slightest slip and they fall into exhaustion, injury, or both.  A part-empty tank may explain, in part, why he failed to fully recover after the semis and why his legs did not have anything left in them once the hammer went down towards the end of the race.

Here is an article about this matter of athlete exhaustion: http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/01/running-on-empty-why-athletes.html
Another related article: http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/about-female-runners-and-stress.html
And this: "Hero to Zero" in a single race for this former international cyclist:
http://blog.garymoller.com/2010/04/tired-female-athlete-wonders-if-cause.html

We need Sir Patrick Hogan

When the inevitable High Performance Review Committee is convened to analyse where and why we went right and where and why we went wrong, I nominate Sir Patrick Hogan as a Special Consultant to the Committee.

"As a man who built an empire from the grass roots of the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, Sir Patrick Hogan is rightfully regarded as the King of "down under" horse breeding.

For 30 years Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan's Cambridge Stud has ruled the roost as the number one nursery for thoroughbred champions in Australasia."

http://www.cambridgestud.co.nz/index.asp?pageID=2145847155

We can learn a lot from the horse breeding and racing industry and Sir Patrick is the Man.  

What's good for the horses is good for our athletes.

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.