So here I am at the beginning of my training again. And dare I say, hopefully a more committed schedule of everything from writing in this blog, to my strength and yoga work, as well as a more focused nutrition strategy. This winter after IMAZ, I decided I wanted to deal with making my body as healthy as possible prior to getting back into months of serious training. To that end I decided to do a couple of cleanses.
I'm no stranger to clearing things out. For the past couple of years I've done at least one liver/gallbladder flush and at least one kidney cleanse. But this time I'm also going to work on clearing out my intestines and then progressing on to the other two cleanses. The reason for this is simple. If I can clear out all of the crap in my system that these organs deal with then they will function better and I will be a healthier human being. From the perspective of this blog, what this means to me as a triathlete, by clearing out and improving the function of these bodily systems, my body will be able to handle the by products of training (read waste products).
We start with the digestive system because this is where it all begins. If your digestion is less than optimal, then everything goes south from there. For starters it is estimated that as much as 60% of your immune function resides in your gut function, and as endurance athletes we all know what that means. If your digestion is less than optimal, then your immune system function suffers. This means the potential for infection or allergy is heightened and the potential for unscheduled downtime is greater.
The other thing is if the digestion is affected and sub par then the liver and kidneys have to work harder to do their jobs. So once the digestion is supported then I'll turn my attention to the other two organs. So while this is going on my workouts are quite gentle, but frequent. Today there were two runs and two swims. The first was 30-35 min The second one was 15 min on the treadmill. The first swim was with T3 and about 90 min. The second one was 30 min of drills.
1 comment:
I'm also focusing on detoxifying foods, so it's great to read about someone else with the same approach to food. Although I'm not prepping for an IM or endurance sports this year, I am trying to focus on healing. I'm currently seeing a doctor who performs Active Release Techniques, which releases scar tissue and overly tight muscles on the area I had surgery (my hip). I figure the best way to have my body deal with therapy and the changes it brings about is to eat a very clean diet. Recently I've been reading into Traditional Chinese medicine. I never really believed in the meridians until I started doing Yin Yoga and seeing a massage therapist who is quite knowledgeable about TCM. I realized my most recent gastritis flare up was due in part to the pain I was having in my hip. There were knots in my hip that also went up to my abdomen, following the bladder meridian. With a focus on healing my stomach, my pain greatly decreased. It's pretty fascinating how everything is connected.
Hope you don't mind such a long comment!!
I wish you continued luck on your training!
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