💪 The everyday athlete newsletter #88

👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #88 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.

Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):

🥱 Fatigue after eating

That freaky thing above — would you believe — is a picture of your mitochondria on an assault bike, overwhelmed under the stress of fatigue.

(at least, that is what I asked AI to generate)

Let me explain.

10% of our energy is used to digest food. Which is part of the reason why we might feel an energy dip after eating.

The other part is if we overwhelm our mitochondria with too much glucose.

See, mitochondria are little factories that live in our cells. They turn the glucose (sugar) from carbohydrates into energy we can use.

But if we send too much glucose to our cells, too fast, we overwhelm the poor little guys.

It’s like putting your mitochondria on an assault bike and telling them to go balls-to-the-wall… they’re gonna be spent pretty quick.

So our energy factories slow down, drop energy production and we feel fatigued.

But we can limit how fast and how much glucose gets to our mitochondria by eating our carbs with (or better, after) protein, fibre and fats (plenty more detail on this in newsletter #57 on curbing blood sugar).

It seems breakfast is the biggest high-carb-low-protein-and-fat culprit.

Because, thanks to the corporate food giants, we’ve been led to believe the only way to go-and-go-and-go is with Milo cereal.

"But cereal/toast is so quick and easy in the morning…"

Meet the 60-second brekky shake:

• 1-2 scoop whey or plant-based protein powder (protein ✅ )
• 1 tbsp psyllium husk (fibre ✅ )
• 1 tbsp coconut/mct oil (fat ✅ )
• [Optional] 1/2 cup frozen fruit (carbs ✅ )

Blend with ice and water/milk of choice.

Plus when we have protein in the morning (aim for at least 30g), new research suggests we can better grow and maintain muscle (compared to getting it all later in the day).

30g of protein (e.g. 4 eggs and half a can of lentils) can be hard to do at brekky. So the shake above is a good hack.

🤖 AI at the Olympics

Last week the AOC announced body tracking AI technology will be used to help judges score at the Paris Olympics.

Elite athletes have been using this technology to improve technique and minimise injury for years.

And now it’s also becoming available for us punters. Fitness apps like Tempo use the same technology to give you real-time feedback on your exercise form. Kemtai is another in the game for physio and rehab.

My guess is that this tech will be in every gym, fitness app and physio within the next couple years.

Cool stuff.

If you've ever tried one of these apps or have experience with the tech, would love to hear your thoughts (considering it for Hexa Life).

🧑‍🍳 App: Food Mood

Google Labs is a website that lets you experiment with some of their latest AI tools before they launch them.

One of them is a recipe generator called Food Mood.

Add the ingredients you have in the fridge, what cuisine you’re after and it’ll spit you out a recipe.

And it’s not bad. Definitely needs some AI proofing, but there’s plenty of inspiration for pulling together random ingredients that work.

Saved me the other night staring into the fridge wondering what on earth I was gonna do with 500g of pork mince.

Let’s set the scene.

I’m on a streak of serving up sub-par to average dinners this week. So the pressure is on. Which means my go to, open-the-fridge-and-jam-some-ingredients-in-a-stir-fry-that-I-think-will-work, wasn’t going to cut it.

I get up Food Mood. Choose dinner for two. Vietnamese and Thai fusion. That must include pork mince.

And…

It served up a pretty decent recipe.

I ended the cold streak and the household was at peace again.

It's certainly not a 5-star meal, but it might save you when it's crunch time.

Try it here.

That's it!

Have a great weekend 🤙

P.s. one of the great mysteries

Matt

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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service and is not a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information given in this email is general in nature, written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.