31 Aug Practical Tips for Better Living — the What and the Why 

Posted at 19:05h in BLOG by
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Ed Kornoelje DO
Sports Medicine|University of Michigan Health-West

My wife asked me a good question the other day.  She asks a lot of good questions, but this one related to why I recommend what I do, particularly around medicine or training.  So, I thought about it—why do I recommend what I do?  Here’s what I came up with—the what and the why.  This is not a complete list, but items that are easy to do or check that can have a large impact on training and life.

In general, I start by asking these questions:  is it safe and is there data to back it up?  The data I am talking about can be both research (very important) and experiential (does it back up the data and make sense).  With that in mind here are my top five (I realize most/all of you are super active—some of these will seem pretty basic), and always check with your physician before starting any of these:

  1. Exercise 4-7 days per week but consider one day off/very light.  Evidence is very clear that activity most days of the week helps people live longer and healthier, and experience with athletes tells me that one day off (or very light) per week helps keep us fresh and wanting more.
  2. Strength train, heavy if possible, 2-3 sessions per week.  Very good evidence that strength training helps endurance athletes endure better, and function better as we age.  
  3. Take creatine 5mg a day.  Make sure no issues with kidney function first.  30+ years of evidence shows no harm, and a benefit to explosive events (training or sprinting), probable benefit for recovery, and still TBD benefits on cognition.  
  4. Protein—1.5ish mg/kg/day.  Maybe slightly more and slightly less is probably OK too.  No need to megadose!  Evidence shows tissue repair, immune support, as well as bone and muscle support.
  5. Get your ferritin checked!  I know many of you are like “enough already with the ferritin!”  If you have not gotten yours checked please do so!  Last week I saw three athletes (2 female and 1 male) with low enough ferritins to need iron infusions.  Two have fall marathons—I hope we can get the level up in time to make a difference.  Nothing below 35 is OK for an endurance athlete, and 50+ is the target.

Bonus tips—consider a multivitamin at least every other day and make sure you are getting 30-35g of fiber daily—both have been shown to help us love longer and lower risk of cancer and heart disease.

Hope this helps or solidifies what you are already doing.  If you have questions on any of this or need our help in any other way find us at www.umhwest.org or by calling 616-252-7778.