Coach Ian – Week in Review:
What I’m Reading:
Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris
Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation – Bob Roth
A 48 Hour Fast!
I had to switch up my training this week due to the current air conditions, and opted to skip my long distance run and to do a 48 hour fast, while tracking my blood glucose levels with a CGM instead. I wrote about my 2-Day Water Fast wearing a CGM here. I found this interview to be a very helpful guide:
Dr. Peter Attia Zero Q+A | Part I
My 2 Key takeaways from the interview:
- Pre-fast and post-fast meals: They discuss how important it is to enter and exit the fast, to make the transition easy and avoid refeeding syndrome. The biggest takeaway there is to enter while already in a mild ketosis and exit with a high fat meal. After extended day fasting, you will be in an insulin resistant state, so it is best to consume some fatty foods at that time.
- Autophagy Quantified: The average person will not be able to decisively test for when their body is in a state of autophagy (“self-eating”), or the process in which your body cleans out and recycles damaged cells. But Peter Attia made an interesting point that if you have a CGM, you can track when your blood glucose flatlines at around 60 (he said at about 3 days into a water fast), your body is probably at a statistically significant level of autophagy.
- I entered this stage at about 30 hours into my fast, during the night.
- One thing I don’t understand though, is how intermittent fasting is supposed to promote autophagy at 14-16 hours, yet I doubt anyone’s blood sugar levels off to around 60 at that point quite yet. Peter Attia did note that autophagy may not be a binary outcome though, so maybe it is occurring to some extent at that time frame.
Something I watched in the past week:
Netflix’s docuseries (Un)well is an interesting watch on various wellness practices. There was an episode on fasting, featuring two people I really respect – Valter Longo, a biologist whose research primarily involves fasting and longevity, and Geoffrey Woo, CEO of the ketone ester company HVMN. As implied by the name of the show, they try to dig into both the positives and negatives of each wellness practice. Within fasting, they show the risks primarily of 28-day water only fasts in the re-feeding practice by showing a sketchy looking water fasting treatment center in Costa Rica and a nutritionist spewing the outdated philosophies of “eating every few hours keeps your metabolism high.” Overall, the benefits of fasting are demonstrated pretty well and it’s worth a watch.
Something I’m trying Out:
I’ve always been interested in the Biomat to enhance recovery, but found them to be out of my price range. After a little research, I found the MediCrystal amethyst mat, which similarly does far infrared heat up to 158 degrees at a much better price than the BioMat (the BioMat pro goes for $1,750).
My amethyst mat has three elements for recovery: infrared heat, amethyst, and negative ions. Infrared heat penetrates deeply into the body, reaching the muscles and tendons beneath the surface. Many people prefer infrared saunas because they penetrate deeper and can get the same detoxification results at a lower (and less uncomfortable) temperature. Amethyst can absorb and emit far-infrared radiation, and are also believed to help with stress and sleep. Negative ions are supposed to assist in removing toxins from the body and delivering oxygen to the bloodstream.
Something I shared:
Something that I’ve been passing along to some friends is a guide that I wrote in 2019 about all the homebuying tips from my experience I had when I bought my first home. This was mainly just for me – a recollection of all the lessons I learned and things I wanted to remember for the next time I have to go through this process, but it’s been helpful to others as well.
A fun conversation I’ve had recently:
Recently, I’ve been catching up with members of our boxing, running, and fitness community to see what they’re up to! I enjoy highlighting some of the members of our community and bridging different communities – boxing, running, and fitness, so people can see a little bit of what others do. A lot of people in boxing think I’m crazy for running marathons, and a lot of runners think I’m crazy for what I do in boxing. The truth is that I’m just another face in these different communities, and once you dive into any of these sports – it’s really not that crazy at all.
This week, I spoke to Dreamland’s own professional boxer Ali Ahmed. Ali is the most disciplined athlete I’ve ever met, so it was fun to learn a little more about towards his approach towards training and health.
Upcoming weeks feature Dreamland Boxing professional boxer Vicky Zhao and LA-based strength and conditioning coach Marlon Fernando.
What’s New at Dreamland Boxing
As you may know, I am currently donating my time to host virtual online boxing classes for the members of our 501c(3) non-profit boxing gym, Dreamland Boxing. As an active member of Dreamland, you will receive the materials and video recaps of each lesson through my website under the “Premium Drills” section. This week had some fun technical drills using household equipment and a tennis ball.
In addition, I will be returning to teach an outdoor class on Friday at 4:30PM, in addition to my virtual classes on Monday and Wednesday at 6PM.
Vicky Zhao has filled her paperwork to turn professional after an unblemished amateur career. Coach Jesse continues to work with aspiring pros Sandra Magallon and Vicky Zhao.
Dreamland Boxing is also hosting outdoor classes and offering private and semi-private lessons. Visit http://www.dreamlandboxing.org or email dreamlandboxing7@gmail.com for more information on how to sign up today!