Extreme Fitness E-Book

Chris McNab

• Herausgeber: Amber Books Ltd
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Serie: SAS and Elite Forces Guide
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 252

Beschreibung

Who’s going to guide you when your military boot camp class is over? What’s going to help you prepare for the next boot camp challenge? With the aid of superb line artworks, SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Extreme Fitness demonstrates to the reader how special forces soldiers are trained to reach and maintain peak physical fitness.
The book explores the different training methods to build up physical strength, speed, agility and endurance, across running, swimming, weight training, circuit training and triathlon events. In addition, it addresses the importance of diet and nutrition, injuries and rest, and using mental fitness to help physical health.
With more than 300 easy-to-follow artworks, training tips and workouts used by the U.S. Navy SEALs and British Royal Marines, Extreme Fitness is the definitive guide for the person who wants to be their best.

Leseprobe

EXTREME FITNESS

SAS and Elite Forces Guide

CHRIS McNAB

This digital edition first published in 2015

Published by Amber Books Ltd United House North Road London N7 9DP United Kingdom

Website: www.amberbooks.co.uk Instagram: amberbooksltd Facebook: amberbooks Twitter: @amberbooks

Copyright © 2015 Amber Books Ltd

ISBN: 978-1-78274-184-8

Picture Credits

All photographs courtesy U.S. Department of Defense

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purpose of review no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or publisher, who also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.

www.amberbooks.co.uk

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

1. Preparing the Body

2. Military Workouts

3. Extreme Running

4. Extreme Water

5. Extreme Resistance

6. Mixing It Up

7. Mental Preparation

8. Injuries

Glossary

Index

INTRODUCTION

I am a relative latecomer to the world of endurance events. Having invested much time in intense martial arts training and competition during my early–mid 20s, I then suffered the all-too-familiar drop in fitness during my late 20s and early 30s as the pressures of family and career crowded in. The stamina of my youth began to drain away slowly, but the desire to stay in shape nagged in the background.

Military-style training aims to develop all levels of fitness, including the physical coordination required for this tyre-sprint obstacle.

The turnaround came in my mid 30s, when following some health problems I accepted that there were no excuses for a sluggish lifestyle. I decided to take up running in a serious way, and as I lived in Wales – one of the more undulating regions of the U.K. – this almost certainly meant I would become a hill runner.

I started small, with runs of less than 5km (3 miles), by pushing myself up the minor mountain just a mile from my front door. Playing the long game, I added small amounts of distance with each run, and started tackling new peaks. The biggest surprise was how much and how quickly I was hooked. I felt energized and renewed, and experienced the euphoria of conquering peaks and distances that just weeks before felt unobtainable. Soon I was running for hours not minutes, up slopes that bordered on climbs, tracking through the countryside of Wales. The new surge of fitness spurred me to add other activities, including weight training and circuit-training. By the time I reached 40, I was fitter than I had ever been in my life.

By using military PT techniques, which have an all-round focus on physical development, you will vastly increase fitness levels.

A particular inspiration for my activities was the military. As a military historian, as well as a sports enthusiast, I have always been slightly in awe of the incredible physical feats that soldiers perform, either in battle or in training. I run miles up mountains, but soldiers do the same while carrying limbdeadening loads of pack and weaponry. In the world of the Special Forces, the training and selection regimes would in many cases halt a professional athlete, the trials testing every aspect of the soldier’s physical and mental courage nearly to destruction. Furthermore, the military has over the years developed vast expertise in the art of bringing people to the peak of their physical condition. In effect, armies run the largest fitness programmes in the world, globally taking thousands of men and women to exceptional levels of performance every year. Because of these programmes, there are few better organizations to teach us about how to develop extreme fitness.

Military selection programmes demand superb aerobic endurance fitness, often fostered by long-distance runs.

This book is about developing your physical condition to its limits in sports ranging from running through to rowing. The advice is both practical (based on the latest research and expert advice) and mental – those who possess extreme fitness need as much mental grit as bodily stamina. At every step of the way, we shall take on board lessons and insight from the military, particularly its Special Forces, whose personnel are exceptional endurance athletes. By adopting this perspective, the civilian athlete will discover new ways in which to excel, and tackle challenges that previously were beyond his or her reach.

Adult diet should include all major food groups, as contained in these MRE packs.

1

Achieving the standards of physical fitness possessed by elite soldiers is not for the faint hearted. Before you launch into any high-impact training programme, you need to make an honest judgement about your capabilities.

Preparing the Body

Developing extreme fitness is a laudable goal, but one that needs to be handled with some caution. There are no short-cuts to be taken here. There is no chemical, technology or technique that will take you from average fitness to super fitness in a matter of weeks. As we will see in this book, there are training programmes that can accelerate your physical development dramatically, but these will still require dedication and patience to implement for you to see the long-term rewards.

Before you embark on an extreme fitness programme, you need to do some basic physical housekeeping and some honest assessment. The fact is that high-impact training will place acute levels of stress upon your cardiovascular and muskuloskeletal systems. If you don’t respect this fact by preparing your body through good lifestyle and fitness practices, the chances are that your training programme could end – and for good – in a nasty injury or other physical incident. Note that in basic military training, within every 100 male recruits an average of 6–12 will experience training injuries each month. In the Special Forces units, these rates can climb as high as 30 per 100. This data, provided in the United States by researchers Kenton R. Kaufman, Stephanie Brodine and Richard Shaffer, also provided some firm conclusions about the core risk factors in why the rates of injury were so high:

Parkour Training

Parkour demands exceptional upper-body and core strength, as well as excellent spatial judgement. All techniques should be developed at safe heights before testing on elevated buildings.

Data collected show a wide variation in injury rates that are dependent largely on the following risk factors: low levels of current physical fitness, low levels of previous occupational and leisure time physical activity, previous injury history, high running mileage, high amount of weekly exercise, smoking, age and biomechanical factors. Kaufman, et al., ‘Military Trainingrelated Injuries’

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379700001148

Much about this list is focused upon factors that take place outside the actual training regime. If, for example, the recruit has undertaken little exercise in civilian life before he enters the military world, the chances of injury during basic training increase significantly. Smoking also has an impact on cardiovascular efficiency, reducing both endurance and physical strength. Those who are carrying a previous injury run the risk of a repeat injury when the body is subjected to the new loads and strains of martial training.

Exhaustion

Pushing yourself too far, too fast, can have negative consequences on your fitness regime, including over-use injuries and exhaustion. Build up your training gradually, allowing for rest days and moderate exercise days in your training schedule at regular intervals.

U.S. Armed Forces Tip – the Components of Physical Fitness

The components of physical fitness are as follows:

•    Cardiorespiratory (CR) endurance – the efficiency with which the body delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for muscular activity and transports waste products from the cells.

•    Muscular strength – the greatest amount of force a muscle or muscle group can exert in a single effort.

•    Muscular endurance – the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements with a sub-maximal force for extended periods of time.

•    Flexibility – the ability to move the joints (elbow or knee, for example) or any group of joints through an entire, normal range of motion.

•    Body composition – the amount of body fat a soldier has in comparison to his total body mass.

– FM 21-20, Physical Fitness Training, 1-3

The moral of this information is that before you start extreme training, do an honest and thorough audit of your current health. This procedure is not to dissuade you from ambitious fitness goals, but to ensure that you tailor-design your programme to your physical needs.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle choices are absolutely critical to your fitness programme, as indiscipline in one area of your life can wipe out the benefits of discipline in another. Smoking is a habit you certainly need to cut out if you are to embark on military-style training. A study published in February 2001 in the United States assessed a total of 29,044 U.S. Air Force (USAF) personnel undergoing basic training over a 12-month period, and looked at the relationship between smoking and the rate of premature discharge from the service. The study found that 19.4 per cent of smokers were discharged, as against 11.8 per cent of non-smokers (Klesges et al., 2001). The report’s writers declared that ‘the best single predictor of early discharge was smoking status’, and that across the Department of Defense (DoD) smokers were costing the services more than $130 million.

Effects of Smoking on Army Recruits

Studies of army recruits have yielded the following facts about smoking and training performance:

•    Smokers were twice as likely to fail basic training as non-smokers.

•    Smokers in endurance tests reach exhaustion earlier than non-smokers.

•    Smokers ran a shorter distance in 12 minutes than non-smokers.

•    Non-smokers ran an 80m (262ft) sprint in a significantly shorter time than smokers.

•    Smokers in a 16km (10 mile) run were consistently slower than non-smokers.

•    For every cigarette smoked per day, finishing time increased by 40 seconds.

•    Smoking 20 a day increases the time to run 16km (10 miles) by 12 age years.

www.gasp.org.uk/articles-fitness-and-smoking-.htm

Given the extent of public knowledge about the dangers of smoking, especially the dramatically increased risks of cancer, we do not need an elaborate argument for the reasons to stop. From the perspective of developing extreme fitness, cigarettes decrease cardiovascular efficiency – smokers have an increased heart rate and a reduced ability to take in and process oxygen, thus powers of endurance are weakened. Furthermore, the impact of smoking on muscular strength and flexibility means that smokers derive less benefit from exercise than nonsmokers. Smoking also has a detrimental effect upon the health of bones, joints and tissue, resulting in extended injury recovery times when compared to non-smokers. Research into people with tibia fractures, for example, found that the injuries of smokers took four additional weeks to heal when compared to those of non-smokers.

Muscle Groups

Your exercise regime should focus on developing all major muscle groups, to create a balanced physical strength.

Posture

Holding your body in the correct posture during exercise can prevent injury and increase the strength of core muscles. The vertical dotted lines in these pictures show the alignment of the spine weight being carried directly over the body’s centre of gravity (the horizontal line). When standing, hold your body up straight and avoid tilting on either hip to prevent strain.

For these, and many other reasons, smoking has to stop before you attempt any extreme fitness programme. You must also look at your diet. Nutrition is the bedrock of any good fitness programme, as the food you eat provides not only the fuel for energy, but also has a central effect on the body’s muscle development, fat-to-muscle ratio and your ability to combat certain diseases. Unfortunately, we are surrounded on a daily basis by large volumes of tempting but nutritionally empty foods. These foods, such as low-cost burgers, take-outs, confectionary and carbonated drinks, are typically packed with sugar, salt and fat, and do little except satisfy a temporary craving. Long-term and excessive ingestion of these foods results in effects such as obesity, coronary heart disease, increased likelihood of some cancers, type 2 diabetes and general unfitness.

Effects of Smoking

Smoking not only hinders you from reaching your fitness goals, it can cause serious and potentially life-threatening diseases.

Understanding Calorie Intake

To understand the nature of the problem, and its solution, we have to understand the issue of calorie intake. A calorie is essentially a unit of energy produced by the digestion of food. We certainly need a base level of calorie intake just to maintain essential physiological processes – an adult male of average build requires about 2000–2500 calories a day, while a female needs around 1500–1800. If calorie intake exceeds calories consumed, then the result is typically weight gain. We can, however, increase the number of calories burned each day through exercise and activity. The equation for calculating the exact calorie consumption is complicated, and relates to areas such as body weight, metabolism and type of exercise, not just to the length of time spent performing the activity. As an illustration, however, the following figures are based on a 68kg (150lb) man performing the stated exercises over a 30-minute period:

•    Aerobics (high impact)

238 cals

•    Cycling (vigorous)

340

•    Calisthenics (vigorous)

272

•    Football (competitive)

306

•    Martial arts

340

•    Rock climbing

374

•    Running (10km/h; 6mph)

340

•    Skiing (cross-country, moderate)

272

•    Swimming (freestyle, moderate)

238

•    Walking (brisk)

129

•    Weight training

109

As this list illustrates, the calories burnt according to the type of exercise vary considerably, from just over 100 to nearly 400. Yet regardless of the type of exercise, the calorific content of many foods can easily exceed even several hours of high-intensity exercise. For example, a large burger, chips and drink from a high-street fast-food chain can quite comfortably exceed 1300 calories; this calorie injection would take nearly four hours of running to burn off. A BLT baguette with butter, depending on size, is around 800 calories. A simple chocolate bar can add 500 calories in a couple of minutes.

From these quick figures, you can see instantly how easy it is for calorie intake to exceed calorie burn-off to a dramatic extent. This is evidenced by one of the great health crises of the modern age – obesity. Data for 2009–2010 calculates that nearly 70 per cent of Americans are overweight, and the problem has now extended to the military. Over the last 15 years, the number of clinically obese soldiers serving in the U.S. Army has tripled. In the 10 months leading to December 2012, a total of 1625 soldiers were actually dismissed from the forces because of their obesity.

Calorie Requirements – Men

Knowing how many calories you should consume in a day enables you to control your intake. If you are increasing activity, you will need to increase calorie intake unless your immediate goal is to lose weight.

However, this unsettling picture is not always straightforward. Some soldiers point out that military obesity often occurs following injuries suffered during extreme training sessions.

Obesity – United States

Obesity is defined by the World Health Organization as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. The ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Being obese puts you at greater risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The table here shows U.S. obesity levels, 1960–2003.

Nevertheless it does illustrate that even those individuals who are surrounded and immersed in a culture of physical fitness can still fall prey to obesity in such a calorie-rich environment.

Diet Management

During an intense diet/weight loss regime, especially one that the body has not experienced before, weight loss can be quite rapid. The problem is that such regimes are typically not sustainable over a long period of time. For a start, any weightloss programme that requires an unusual diet, particularly relying on proprietary supplements such as diet shakes, tends to become cloying and unsustainable over time. These restrictive diets frequently build up cravings for sweet, fattening foods, creating a mental pressure-cooker effect that results in excessive, rapid calorie consumption when the subject finally falls from the programme. But compounding this problem is an interesting dietary slingshot effect, revealed by recent research from the U.S. National Institutes for Health.

A Square Meal

The importance of a healthy, well-balanced diet can not be underestimated when in training. In military circles, it also provides the opportunity for mental relaxation and camaraderie.

The research took to task the long-standing myth that if we cut our calorie consumption to 500 calories below our recommended allowance, then we can expect to lose 0.45kg (1lb) a week, or a total of 26kg (52lb) in a year. The U.S. researchers, using more accurate long-term modelling of how the human body behaves, found that weight loss takes place over a much longer duration than previously believed. In fact, the excess 26kg (52lb) would take an average of three years to shift with a 500-calorie reduction, allowing for metabolic changes as the subject’s body adjusts to the progressive weight loss.

Weight-Loss Strategies

This diagram illustrates the fundamental principles of effective and consistent weight loss. Include all four elements of weight loss and excess weight will fall off.

In reality, most people on strict diets see the maximum results after six months, but then 50–80 per cent of people subsequently not only put the weight back on, but also end up fatter than they were originally. The cause of this effect is that for an overlap period, the body continues to lose weight (because weight loss is a slow process) while the subject reverts to old dietary habits. This situation fools the subject into thinking that he will continue to lose weight even though he is eating heavily. Unfortunately, time will correct that misunderstanding – eventually the weight will go back on, and quickly.

Moderation and Habit

The point of the research above is not to discourage people from embarking on diets. Reducing calories and increasing exercise will indeed burn off excess weight, and the greater the effort the greater the weight loss. The key point however is sustainability. A well-balanced diet with calorie control should be a long-term habit, and not a short-term policy. To accomplish this, we need a simple approach to weight control that is both mentally and physically achievable, and which can become part of the general background to our lives for years, not just months.

Thankfully, this process is neither complicated nor onerous. The balance of all the sensible and properly researched dietary boils down to a few essential points. The first is that timeless piece of advice: ‘Everything in moderation.’ Contrary to what we might expect, a large, fatty burger is not in itself bad for our bodies. Rather, it is the excessive and frequent consumption of such foods that results in adverse health effects. In reality, if we eat a truly balanced diet, high in fruit, vegetables and lean protein, and consume high-fat, high-calorie foods infrequently, then our bodies will get everything they need. Simple calorie counting will inform you of whether you are exceeding your daily limit; the internet and smartphone apps offer many different calorie-counting software options. One key point – make sure that you count absolutely everything you eat, including all those little ‘snacks’ that can add up to several hundred calories a day. Many a person has been perplexed by their inability to lose weight, not realizing that the culprit lies in the numerous minor meals and snacks eaten throughout the day.

Your aim is to make this diet of moderation and balance part of your ingrained daily habit. There are several ways in which you can use your imagination in this goal. First, adopt ‘mindfulness’ when it comes to food. This simply means that you are aware of every act of eating, rather than just blindly snacking when the urge takes hold. Whenever you are confronted by the need to eat, or tempted by a certain food, make yourself conscious of the moment and ask yourself questions such as:

Am I really hungry? If you ate a meal a short while ago, chances are you are simply tempted rather than hungry. Be particularly careful if you are feeling bored or stressed, as food might be a convenient route to alleviate these symptoms. You might also be misinterpreting thirst – have a good drink of water and you will often find your hunger abates. You can also try going for a walk – the movement shakes off some of that boredom and stress, and makes you less likely to turn to the food cupboard.

Calorie Burning

Be aware that the calorific value of many foods is extremely high, especially processed foods high in fat. The diagram above shows how long it takes to burn off a cheeseburger and French fries via various activities.

Eating at the Table

Eating at the table or with others means that you eat more slowly, which gives your body more time to register when you have had enough.

How much do I need to eat? Here we are in the realm of portion control, and it’s a critical issue in the modern world. Nutritionists have noted that portion sizes and its calorific content has been inexorably creeping up in developed countries. Around 20 years ago, a two-slice portion of pizza amounted to about 500 calories; today it is closer to 850. Soda used to be sold only in 350ml (12oz) cans; now 500ml (17.5oz) bottles are more common, taking the calories from 145 to 242. Eating out has become a matter of epic indulgence. In many restaurants a meal consisting of a starter, main course and desert will easily total more than 2000 calories.

As a general rule, look to decrease your portion sizes, or at least substitute the high-fat foods with something less calorific (see feature box below for more tips).

How is the food prepared? Even a healthy food can be made into belt-busting stodge by its cooking method (think about the difference between a roasted chicken leg and one coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried).

When choosing foods in a restaurant, follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture advice: ‘Order steamed, grilled or broiled dishes instead of those that are fried or sautéed. Avoid choosing foods with the following words: creamy, breaded, battered or buttered.’ Be careful with salad dressings – they can transform a healthy salad into a fattening meal.

Tips for Reducing Your Portion and Calorie Consumption

•    Prepare your food on a smaller plate. This simple psychological trick fools your mind into thinking that it is receiving more food than it actually is.

•    Eat slowly, and be aware of the taste of every mouthful. Doing this will more quickly produce feelings of satiation.

•    Shortly before eating a major meal, snack on something healthy, like a stick of celery or a low-fat yoghurt. This will take the edge off your hunger and help limit you indulging at the table.

•    Think carefully about how food is prepared and cooked. Opt to fill your plate with foods that have been prepared healthily, such as boiling or grilling.

•    When eating out, avoid oversized portions and choose foods that are prepared in a healthy way. Watch your drink consumption – unlimited refills of soda can add many hundreds of calories to your meal.

•    At a restaurant, don’t keep eating when you are full – ask for the remaining food to be packaged up in a take-out box.

Harmful Substances

Drugs and alcohol can have a damaging effect on weight loss. Not only do you eat more when intoxicated, most alcohol has a high sugar and calorie content.

Avoid all illegal drugs and moderate your intake of alcohol to around one or two units a day.

One helpful psychological tip to help you ensure good food habits is to imagine that a nutrition-wise sentry polices your mouth every time you go to eat. He asks all the right questions before he lets the food in. Try this technique for a 28-day period; research has shown that if you can follow a pattern of behaviour solidly for 28 days, there is a good chance that it will remain as a long-term habit.

Essential Foods

So what foods should you be eating to support your extreme fitness development? Fitness manuals are replete with advice about specialist diets, but as this book is for the general reader, and not necessarily the professional athlete, I again opt for a simple approach that is easier to sustain over time. The critical point is that you need to construct a diet from across the food groups to ensure that your body receives all the essential elements it needs for energy, a strong immune system and tissue repair. Everyone should aim to eat the correct balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are used by your body to make glucose, which provides your muscles and body functions with energy. In this role, carbohydrates are obviously vital for those engaged in an intense fitness programme. You can find carbohydrates in fruit, vegetables, breads, cereals, grains, milk (and milk-based products) and anything sugary (cakes, sugar-rich drinks and confectionary). The problem is that not all carbohydrates have the same nutritional value.

Simple carbohydrates have a chemical structure consisting of one or two sugars, and they include the sugars in many fruits plus the refined sugars used in the production of sweets, cakes, jam, biscuits, etc. These sugars are broken down very quickly by the body to provide an immediate jolt of energy, so they do have a practical use for providing an extra boost when stamina flags. The problem is that this energy doesn’t last for long, and foods heavy in refined sugars provide few other benefits for the body.

Complex carbohydrates, by contrast, have three of more sugars linked structurally in a chain, and take longer for the body to digest. The result is that complex carbohydrates release their energy over a long period, something useful for endurance events. Many complex carbohydrates also provide high levels of fibre, which helps to establish an efficient digestion system. You can find complex carbohydrates in foods such as vegetables, wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals, oatmeal, grains, brown rice and pasta, beans and lentils. Given their benefits, plus their increased contribution of vitamins and minerals (see below), complex carbohydrates should form the bulk of your carbohydrate consumption, with simple carbohydrates used only as a temporary energy pick-up. The United States Air Force Dietetics (USAFD) organization recommends that 45–65 per cent of your total calorific intake is in the form of carbohydrates, with at least half your grain intake in the form of whole grains.

Working Out

A combination of strength- and stamina-building exercises will result in the most useful workout. This dumbell exercise strengthens the lats and abdominal muscles.

Proteins

Proteins are, like carbohydrates, another essential component of your diet. Proteins, made up of amino acids, are the structural building blocks of our bodies right down to the cellular level. These proteins are constantly broken down and replaced, and dietary protein intake is therefore critical not only to fundamental body functions, but also recovery from fitness activities and improvements in muscle strength. Protein is found in the following foods: meat (including poultry and fish), legumes, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, milk/milk products and (in small amounts) grains and some types of fruit and vegetables.

In athletes, protein demands are high, and the USAFD recommendation is that protein constitutes 10–35 per cent of your diet. Athletes – and especially weight lifters and bodybuilders – often use protein supplements in order to help the rapid development of muscle mass. Typically these come in the form of pills or a powdered formula for adding to drinks. Whey-based proteins appear to be the superior form of supplement (although they are not well-suited to people who are lactose intolerant).

I treat the subject of supplements with some caution. Protein supplements do indeed seem to aid muscle development and recovery with few side effects, at least in the short and medium term. A controlled scientific trial in 2003 tested protein supplements on U.S. Marines undergoing rigorous training at the U.S. Marine Corps Base, Parris Island. The protein-supplemented group (as opposed to placebo and control groups) appeared to experience clear benefits:

[They] had an average of 33 per cent fewer total medical visits, 28 per cent fewer visits due to bacterial/viral infections, 37 per cent fewer visits due to muscle/joint problems and 83 per cent fewer visits due to heat exhaustion… Muscle soreness immediately postexercise was reduced by protein supplementation vs. placebo and control groups on both days 34 and 54. Post-exercise protein supplementation may not only enhance muscle protein deposition but it also has significant potential to positively impact health, muscle soreness and tissue hydration during prolonged intense exercise training, suggesting a potential therapeutic approach for the prevention of health problems in severely stressed exercising populations.

– www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14657039

Food Types

This diagram shows the variety of food groups you should eat every day for optimal health. By varying the types of foods within each group, your intake of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals will support your training regime.

Sources of Fats

Fats are an essential part of any diet. Unsaturated fats, such as those found in fish and nuts, can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Saturated fats found in butter and oil are high in calories and have few health benefits, thus should be limited in your overall diet.

The Press-up

An effective press-up should feature a full range of motion, the arms being at 90 degrees at the lowest part of the movement. Keep the body straight and aligned at all times during the movement.

On this basis, protein supplements have a clear role in post-exercise recovery. Treat any supplement with caution, however. Many are recent additions to dietary control, and the long-term effects are yet to be seen. As with the dietary advice above, use them in moderation and place your confidence more in a well-rounded conventional diet. Only purchase supplements from approved dealers, and check out several reviews of the product (including any independent medical articles) before using it. It is also a good idea to consult a doctor before embarking on a supplement programme – one that produces beneficial results for one person could cause medical harm in another.

Fats

Beyond proteins we move into the realm of fats. Fats are traditionally regarded as the bogeyman of the dietary world on account of their primary responsibility for the obesity epidemic plaguing modern society. The problem is that fats both taste good and are a highly concentrated source of calories. They also come in different varieties with contrasting properties. On the ‘bad fats’ side are saturated fats and trans fats. Foods high in saturated fats include fatty meat, processed meat products (such as pies and sausages), butter, cheese, cream and much confectionary, biscuits and cakes. Consuming these products heavily and repeatedly can result in the build up of cholesterol in the blood, a major factor in the cause of heart disease and stroke in later life.