What's wrong with us?

 Once upon a time in a galaxy far away, I used to write a monthly magazine column designed to tell readers they're wrong about everything. The editor must have really liked me, because the accepted practice is to do quite the opposite; people like to read things and think “Yes, I agree with that, that's my experience.” But somehow I didn't get fired and it kept me gainfully employed for years...

Now, in another universe, I find myself helping a lot of people with their health, fitness and nutrition, and I promise that I don't in real life tell them they're wrong all the time. 'Cos I need the money. The trouble is, there's too much information out there at your fingertips, and while it may mostly be correct in a very literal sense, it's not always really helpful. And everyone is pushing their unique agenda in the hope that it makes sense and you buy in.

Here are some awkward facts. 

BMI is nonsense. Apparently I'm overweight, but I'm 13% body fat and I can see my abs in the mirror.

10000 steps a day is a nice goal, but 5000 decent steps is a better one. If you're not getting your heart-rate up, getting a bit out of breath, you aren't really achieving the cardiovascular benefits that the step-count fans are raving about. 

You may think you know how many calories you're imbibing, or how many you're burning, but you probably don't. It's really hard to measure, so if you used some simple online calculator or app, you could well be miles away from the truth. If you have a wrist based device, that's probably wrong too. In one meta-study of 65 different articles, for energy expenditure, the mean average percentage error was >30% for all the brands, showing poor accuracy across devices. That's awful.

It's 90% nutrition and 10% about the exercise. You can't outrun a bad diet. But that doesn't mean you can 'not do the exercise.'

Shameless plug. Hiring a personal trainer can significantly enhance your fitness journey, providing customized programs, expert guidance, motivation, and support. Whether you’re a beginner trying to get started or an experienced athlete looking to take things to the next level, a personal trainer can be a valuable ally in achieving your health and wellness goals.

Soul/Mega Firefly XS Kid's Slalom Kayak

 

 So, we've got out for a little paddle in the Soul/Mega Firefly XS, and here are some first impressions.

It's being marketed as a slalom trainer for kids, but it doesn't look much like a slalom boat. Since Soul also make a plastic kids slalom boat that looks exactly like a slalom boat (the Angel), we asked the designer Corran what his thinking was.

“The Angel, I was still thinking slalom boat, shrunk down. The Firefly I’ve come at from another angle. Make a boat that will allow kids to paddle slalom. Most kids are coming out of modern plastic kayaks and those are all planing hull. So this is a planing hull so it paddles the same way. It’s a familiar feel, making the transition back and forth from plastic to slalom easy. For its width it’s shorter and has more rocker than a normal boat, and ironically that’s what the new rule change coming in 2 years will effectively do. Shorter and more rocker makes it predictable and easy to put where you want it to be.”

So... it doesn't look like a slalom boat and it isn't a slalom boat; it's a whitewater boat that's great for learning slalom skills in, but probably also a bunch of other stuff as well. I thought the Firefly looked very like the Particle Accelerator, a fast adult kayak predominantly designed for kayakcross and extreme racing, but also a super playful and sporty boat for fun that can do freestyle tricks. In fact I confess I tried to get in it myself. Man, if I was a couple inches narrower I would throw this thing around like a rag doll. Anyway...

Soul Particle Accelerator

8yr old Elsa knows nothing of Particle Accelerators. Neither does she need a boat that blunts, cartwheels and spins, but she may come to appreciate that later. For now she thought it looked approachable, and was pleased to discover that it doesn't feel as if flipping over is imminent. These are the priorities of a child. And colour...

Elsa: Why is it orange?

Me: It's a demo boat. They're all orange. My F-Bomb is orange too...

Elsa: That's horrible... Why do they make them like that?

Me: Maybe so they are easy to spot when people are paddling them. Or maybe so no one will steal them...

Elsa: Hmmm... At least the cockpit is blue. But that will be covered up. It's bad thinking.

Me: Just paddle it OK?

The funny flat bit at the front of the cockpit rim caught my eye immediately and I assume it is a cunning design to make it easier for children to pull their deck. For safety we use a ludicrously loose deck; it's literally just draped over the cockpit rim. Its purpose is just to stop water splashing on Elsa's legs, which she hates. If she tips over it will just fall off.

Similarly I thought the seat looked really pro and excellent for being located in the boat, but Elsa didn't like it because she plonks herself down in quite an undisciplined fashion and hurts herself on the pointy bit at the front. I think a foam seat might be better for kids. Or a brain transplant.

On receipt of Elsa's feedback, Mega informed us that they will change out the seat for future boats.

The slalom style flush grab loops look really pro too, but we tied some webbing tails through them because grabbability/krabbability (definitely a word) is more important than not hitting poles or getting hung up in trees, when you are eight. And I will always have to tow her home. Mega tell us that they are bringing a new handle design to the production boats - this will probably address that issue.

So, onto the water. Elsa can paddle her plastic Minime playboat in a straight line without a skeg, so she set off confidently in the Firefly. Only to find that every now and then it kind of veers off into a turn that is clumsy to recover. THIS IS A GOOD THING. I remember my first slalom boat at age 15, and how frustrating it was initially that it did that, but you get over it pretty quickly. It's a function of a boat being good at carving turns. You just have to catch it before it kind of oversteers into a spin. After half an hour (a stressful half hour) of me very gently trying not to let her get annoyed and bail out of the mission to play on the swings, Elsa could keep the boat pointed at a distant landmark, or spin 360 and arrest the spin pointing right back on target. Directional instability = manoeuvrability but requires some paddler ability. OK.

The wobble test was also a success. The boat feels pretty stable (I assume, I can't fit in it), but Elsa happily rocked it from one edge to another which means that when she wants a bit of lean in her transitions she will be able to do it. She doesn't weigh much more than 25kg, so it's hard to get an edge on unless the boat is designed this way.

We crossed some eddylines but actual rapids will have to wait for another day. I was pleased that Elsa didn't get uncomfortable on the journey, and could get out of the boat on her own when we got back. Winning so far.

The boat is made in the UK by Mega Performance Kayaks, and you can get it here...

The Afterburn Effect of Exercise

It's much talked about, and it's alleged that many extra calories are burned. But is it real? If so, how can we get it? And is it even worth it?

The exercise afterburn effect is a phenomenon that occurs after completing a workout or physical activity. It is an ongoing elevated rate of calorie expenditure that may continue for hours or even days after exercise. This phenomenon is more scientifically known as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). The afterburn effect has been studied extensively and found to be both significant and beneficial for individuals seeking to lose weight or increase their overall fitness level. In short, when an individual engages in physical activity, the body uses up its reserves to fuel the workout. Therefore, after the exercise session, the body must replenish these reserves. As a result, recovery requires the body to burn more calories than if the activity had not been undertaken. This extra calorie expenditure is called the afterburn effect.

The body needs extra oxygen to replace the ATP (the front line of energy supply) and muscle glycogen used during the workout to recover to its normal resting state. It also restores the blood oxygen level and (somewhat counter-intuitively) has to work to lower body temperature. Oxygen/energy is required to mobilise protein to repair the damaged muscle tissues. The more oxygen is needed to restore the body to homeostasis, the more calories will be burnt post-workout.

The afterburn effect is generally considered to last anywhere from 15 minutes to 48 hours, depending on the intensity of the activity. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has been found to have the most significant afterburn effect, with some studies showing that the calories burned can be up to 15% greater than those burned during the activity itself. Studies do not tend to extend beyond 48 hours because the gains are small and hard to measure after that, but exceptionally, this study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20886227/#article-details pursued results up to 72. It was reported that a one-set high-intensity resistance training session was shown to have the same effect as three sets in elevating resting energy expenditure in overweight college males tested. This effect was measurable all the way out to 72 hours.

The afterburn effect can be beneficial for those looking to lose weight, as it can help increase the number of calories burned throughout the day. It also helps to improve an individual's overall fitness level, as the body must work harder to replenish the energy stores that were used during the activity.

In addition to weight loss and increased fitness, the afterburn effect has also been found to have other health benefits. For example, it is believed to increase the production of testosterone and human growth hormone, which can help to build muscle mass and improve bone density. It can also help to reduce stress, enhance the quality of sleep, and reduce the risk of certain diseases.

Although the effect may be exciting, afterburn should not be confused with the thermic effect of increased muscle mass. Individuals with more lean muscle do burn more calories, even at rest, than less muscular folk. Whereas people who regularly train steady state cardio or endurance workouts may even burn fewer calories at rest because their bodies have been honed to greater heights of metabolic efficiency! The afterburn effect refers to the calorific cost of replenishing the oxygen debt of exercise, not the calorie burn of muscle mass or other normal resting physiological functions.

This study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17101527/#article-details found the additional post-exercise calories to be in the region of 6-15% of the calories used by their subjects in the actual workout. They commented that the EPOC effect appears to increase linearly with the intensity of the exercise. In the aerobic workout zone, 60-65% of HRmax, we expect that the afterburn effect accounts for 0-5% of the calories used in the actual exercise. For more strenuous workouts, 75-85% of HRmax increases to 5-10%. High intensity training, whether resistance, interval or endurance, boosts that figure to 10-15% of workout calories!

There are no disadvantages to burning a few extra calories over and above what we set out to do in the gym or on the trail, but keeping the value of afterburn in perspective is essential. A 500kcal workout is going to result in an extra 75kcals burnt post-exercise. In this sense, optimism that EPOC plays an important role in weight loss is unfounded, especially since, as detailed above, achieving even that 15% figure requires a level of training intensity that is unlikely to be tolerable to a less athletic individual! However, every little helps; all calorific deficits result in weight loss to a lesser or greater extent, and reduction of excess weight has been shown to contribute to the quality of life as well as a marked decrease in all-cause mortality.

However, the duration and magnitude of the EPOC generated by high-intensity resistance training suggest that it would be a valid strategy as part of a weight management program for individuals who would commonly have opted for low-intensity, steady-state activity.

"A 15–20 minute HIIT session elevates your VO2max – which enhances aerobic endurance fitness – the same amount as 60 minutes of actual endurance training whilst torching a similar amount of calories" (Helgerud et al. 2007; Little et al. 2009; Tabata et al. 1996).

# Use a heart rate monitor with a suitable app to measure your exercise calories. Chest strap monitors are much more reliable than wrist devices.

# Make sure you enter your correct age and weight in the app. Otherwise, the results will be wrong.

# The harder you push yourself, the more bonus calories you'll use up. But don't get so obsessed with calorie burn that you train too hard or too long and cannot face it tomorrow!

# Rest/recovery and sleep are vital for the repair processes that use extra calories. Don't burn the candle at both ends!

# Use a calorie counting app to track your nutrition. There is little point in knowing what you burn if you don't know how much you're eating.

# Don't try to lose more than 1-2 lbs a week. You will have no energy, and your weight will bounce back up later. You might also be exposing yourself to health risks that are more severe than those associated with weight.

# Remember, the only exercise program that works is the one you can stick to! So count the calories, do the maths, but don't be so focussed on that last 100kcals that you stop having fun!

The afterburn effect is a beneficial phenomenon that can help individuals lose weight, increase their fitness levels, and improve their overall health. However, it is essential to note that the maximum afterburn can only be achieved with medium to high-intensity exercise and will not occur with low-intensity activities. Therefore, engaging in HIIT or other high-intensity activities is recommended for those hoping to take advantage of the afterburn effect. However, always seek professional medical advice before embarking on such a program.

Check back soon for a rant about why you don't know your BMR or how many calories you're actually digesting. In the meantime, don't forget to breathe!

Another Fine Book

The long and twisted survival book saga continues; this latest iteration of a thing I co-wrote in 2003ish has just appeared on my Amazon page. It's not the same old thing though. 

The story is that in 2021 the publishers decided to dismantle that book and publish two separate ones. I rewrote the the urban, travel and combat parts which were published as Urban Survival and Antonio did the bushcraft and wilderness skills which incidentally features me spearfishing on the front cover. 
 

Now, to my surprise, they've stuck the two back together again as Survival, A Practical Guide and I wait, patiently watching the letterbox, for it to fall through my door!