goldyjackson
09-01-2007, 07:20 PM
I usually don't start these random threads, but I've had such an important experience lately that I thought I'd share it with you people (who have helped me so much in my lurking ways). :beer:
First some background. I've been active in aerobic sports for at least the last 16 years (I'm 34 right now). In my college days I was on the crew team, and it was after a back injury in my senior year that I started road biking. For a number of reasons, I only stuck with it for a couple of years. I picked up squash, loved it and made that my primary activity. Anyway, I've been training with a heart rate monitor for at least the last 12 years. My resting hr in college was about 48, and it's been between 53 and 58 for the past few years. I've always done intervals, I've always "trained seriously" even though I couldn't really tell you why I've done this.
I picked up road biking again about two years ago. I'm faster than I used to be, but mostly because I know how to push myself more consistently. I ride with a couple of strong riders reagurlary, and since I hovered around 173 lbs (for 5'8"--I lift weights for squash, and I've been this weight since college, pretty much consistently, even though I've tried several times to lose 10 lbs or so), I'm not the best hill climber even though I like it. No matter how well I trained, I didn't really get much faster, and my speed at a certain heart rate remained relatively the same. I am VERY active. I'm doing something, either lifting weights, playing squash, or riding the bike six days a week, without fail.
Cut to the punchline: a trusted friend of mine (who's a very accomplished trainer) convinced me to try giving up gluten for a while to see if that helped. I can't tell you the difference. In two months, I've:
gone from 173-162 lbs
resting hr has gone down about 10 bpm
hr at whatever speed has gone down about 10-15 bpm
Moreover, I have a standard hill I use to judge how fit I am. It is a steady 1.2 mile climb. My previous best time within the last year was 6:01, but all of my times were between 6:01 and 6:20. My hr at this exertion is between 179-185 (my max on a bike is 193). Today I did it in 5:34. I know some of it is the weight I've lost, but I'm amazed at the gains I've made with diet.
I ate well before, too. I've just cut out gluten pretty much. I still have some carbs, just now wheat, etc. The thing is, I never would have known. I had MILD symptoms. Nothing really extreme.
This above could fall in the "sharing too much" category, but at the same time, I figured it was really important to me, so someone out there might be interested. By the way, I've done a bit of poking around and one of the unofficial ways to see if you are sensitive to gluten is to take your hr before eating it and for the first hour after eating it...
Has anyone else even heard something similar?
First some background. I've been active in aerobic sports for at least the last 16 years (I'm 34 right now). In my college days I was on the crew team, and it was after a back injury in my senior year that I started road biking. For a number of reasons, I only stuck with it for a couple of years. I picked up squash, loved it and made that my primary activity. Anyway, I've been training with a heart rate monitor for at least the last 12 years. My resting hr in college was about 48, and it's been between 53 and 58 for the past few years. I've always done intervals, I've always "trained seriously" even though I couldn't really tell you why I've done this.
I picked up road biking again about two years ago. I'm faster than I used to be, but mostly because I know how to push myself more consistently. I ride with a couple of strong riders reagurlary, and since I hovered around 173 lbs (for 5'8"--I lift weights for squash, and I've been this weight since college, pretty much consistently, even though I've tried several times to lose 10 lbs or so), I'm not the best hill climber even though I like it. No matter how well I trained, I didn't really get much faster, and my speed at a certain heart rate remained relatively the same. I am VERY active. I'm doing something, either lifting weights, playing squash, or riding the bike six days a week, without fail.
Cut to the punchline: a trusted friend of mine (who's a very accomplished trainer) convinced me to try giving up gluten for a while to see if that helped. I can't tell you the difference. In two months, I've:
gone from 173-162 lbs
resting hr has gone down about 10 bpm
hr at whatever speed has gone down about 10-15 bpm
Moreover, I have a standard hill I use to judge how fit I am. It is a steady 1.2 mile climb. My previous best time within the last year was 6:01, but all of my times were between 6:01 and 6:20. My hr at this exertion is between 179-185 (my max on a bike is 193). Today I did it in 5:34. I know some of it is the weight I've lost, but I'm amazed at the gains I've made with diet.
I ate well before, too. I've just cut out gluten pretty much. I still have some carbs, just now wheat, etc. The thing is, I never would have known. I had MILD symptoms. Nothing really extreme.
This above could fall in the "sharing too much" category, but at the same time, I figured it was really important to me, so someone out there might be interested. By the way, I've done a bit of poking around and one of the unofficial ways to see if you are sensitive to gluten is to take your hr before eating it and for the first hour after eating it...
Has anyone else even heard something similar?