Over the next few weeks our Sports Nutritionist Mark Wolff is going to take you on an Endurance Journey. When it comes to sports and endurance, it’s not quite as simple as just going from point A to B. Any journey is built on a good solid foundation, and this is why…
Transcription:
David Katz: Thanks again for joining us on 32Gi Sports Nutrition. Mark Wolff on the podcast for the first time in 2019, and we’ve really come up with a bumper start for you this year with Mark. We’re going to look at a series of podcasts over the next couple of weeks; which really look at taking you through an endurance journey, and that foundation is so important when it comes to it.
At the forefront of Sports Nutrition
Everything starts with nutrition, and you’ve got to get that right. Mark, once again, welcome onto the podcast. I know you’ve been training really hard and in terms of nutrition it’s forever evolving and the ethos, and you’re forever updating. We talk very often but you’re forever moulding and updating and following the trends that are happening in the industry.
Mark Wolff: Thanks for having me. Yes, everybody that knows me understands that I emphasise how crucial nutrition is, sports nutrition is. With science and research, we keep scratching at the surface but there are always new things coming to the forefront and I don’t think we’ll ever stop learning. Need to be up there constantly, nutrition is forever changing, there’s always new ideas. There’s new development always coming to the forefront and it’s really important to be up to date with what’s going on out there.
DK: Mark, we’re about to start an endurance journey, and I know you always say when you start this journey you need to focus on the foundation of health because it is so important. There’s no point in just trying to go all out without getting that foundation, that base right and that really sets the tone for your entire journey.
Do you understand your health status?
MW: I agree 100% and when I speak to people about, do you understand your health status? They look at me with a little bit of a blank stare and I use this analogy, and the analogy is quite simple. This is where I look at a motor vehicle and I say to people, when you’re going on a long journey in your motor vehicle, what do you need to do to that vehicle before you go on that journey?
I’m talking a very long drive, it could be thousands of kilometres, whatever the distance is, most people will need to do something to their vehicle before they get onto that long journey. When I run through the checklist, it’s checking that the tyres are okay, checking the tyre treads, ensuring they’re pumped up to the correct pressure. You need to check the oil, you need to check the water.
I always say you need to also look at the windscreen wipers because if they’re not working properly and there’s a thunderstorm or there’s rain en route, there’s no ways you’ll get to your destination safely. Obviously the petrol tank needs to be full for the journey, because if you don’t put fuel into the engine, how are you going to fire it, how are you going to be able to drive?
What your body & a vehicle have in common
One of the questions I also ask people is when was your car last serviced? Generally when I ask people, have you serviced your motor vehicle in the last year or two, I will always see a flurry of hands rising to the surface. Most people, when I ask them, have you serviced your vehicles will say ‘yes, in the last year or two I’ve service my vehicles.
Then I go and I spin the coin to the other side and I say okay, that’s all very well and wonderful but now you are a vehicle, a human being is a vehicle. We’ve got an outer shell, just like a motor vehicle. We’ve got an array of engineering inside, just like a motor vehicle. Yes, it’s made up of kidneys and it’s got lungs and we’ve got a heart and liver, we’ve got a vascular system, we’ve got blood.
We’ve got everything inside our shells which allow us to be able to perform. When we decide to enter a race, whether it’s a marathon, whether it’s a half marathon, whether it’s an Ironman or even if it’s just getting off the couch and going to the gym and just focusing on some weight loss or getting into some endurance sport, we are putting our own vehicles into a journey.
Don’t neglect your own body!
The destination of that journey could be the finish line of some race or it could be a specific goal. Now you’re going to be putting your own vehicle under stress because let’s face it, when you do exercise, you’re putting your vehicle under stress. My next question to anybody would be, when did you have your own vehicle, in other words your own body, when did you have that last serviced?
In other words, did you go for a medical or when did you go for a medical? I can absolutely guarantee you that very few hands will come rising to the surface. Most people will never neglect their own motor vehicles but very often they will neglect their own bodies.
Your Endurance Journey – the next step
DK: Mark, I love this analogy that you use when you look at referring to a motor vehicle because it just is such an incredible synergy and makes so much sense. But that’s just the basis of it isn’t it? You’ve still got to take that and now see how do you implement it.
MW: 100%. The question I’m asking people is now that you understand what I’m talking about, what is the next step before you embark on your personal endurance journey?
DK: Mark, I think that’s definitely a question I am personally looking forward to you answering, so do tune into the podcast next week as we move onto the next phase of this incredible series along the lines of your endurance journey. If you have any questions for us or for Mark Wolff that you want to pose, that we can answer for you at a later stage, email coach@32gi.com.