Welcome to the January Newsletter from Movéo. We hope you had an excellent holiday season, and took time to relax, catch up with family and reflect on the year passed. 2012 was a great year at the clinic, and also a year with lots of change. We added new practitioners to our team, supported many community events and enjoyed lots of laughter along the way. Our sincere thanks to all of you for making Movéo the fun-filled, dynamic place that it is. We look forward to many more years of supporting you  and helping you stay strong and healthy.

In this month’s newsletter we feature our F.a.C.T. Certified Lactate Balance Point Testing expert Nicola Gildersleeve. Nicola brings an excellent skill set to the team which many of our clients are excited about using to help them in their training. As usual we highlight some of the events coming up in the community and exciting races to look out for.

Read on for the full story, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can help you in any way.

Contents:

  • Introducing Movéo Team Member Nicola Gildersleeve
  • What is Blood Lactate Testing?
  • A Testimonial From a Happy Client
  • 3 Quick Links to Great Fitness Tips
  • Events Coming Up in February and March

Introducing Nicola Gildersleeve

Nicola was born and raised right here on the North Shore. She completed a Diploma in Human Kinetics from Capilano College and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Kinetics from UBC. Nicola went on to become a competitive runner, with a specialty and passion for ultramarathons. She saw her best results (3:02 marathon) training with heart rate and took a keen interest in getting certified so she could teach others.

We took a few minutes with Nicola to find out a little more about her passions:

1. What makes your eyes light up in your job?
Helping others successfully complete their goals!

2. What’s your favourite activity on the weekend?
Trail running in the rugged North Shore mountains!

3. Guilty pleasure?
Home baking!

4. If you didn’t work at Movéo where would you be today?
If I didn’t work I would be a professional ultra distance runner and would train and race in mountains all over the world…wait, I already do that…I’m just not paid!

5. What types of clients do you most enjoy working with at Movéo?
I  really enjoy working with recreational athletes of all ages because I have so much to teach them about proper training and they often see the biggest gains.

What is Blood Lactate Testing?

By Nicola Gildersleeve

Blood Lactate can be used by sport scientists, coaches, and athletes to accurately determine appropriate training intensities and recovery periods.

Blood Lactate testing is far more precise than the outdated and inaccurate method of using percentages of maximum heart rate to set training zones. Because heart rate responds differently in each individual, heart rate zones need to be determined by measurement of physiological variables, not set by mathematical formulas. Furthermore, the relationship between exercise intensity and heart rate is different for different exercises. Training recommendations for running will not be the same as heart rate recommendations for cycling.

There are two components to the test protocol:

1. The Performance Line (or step test) is used to compare performance changes over time. One can see at a glance how an athlete improves his/her performance over time and how to adjust a training program to show continued improvement. It can also be used to determine whether a particular training program has been ineffective and allow an athlete to make appropriate changes to address the problem.

2. The Lactate Balance Point (LBP) is the determination of the body’s ability to balance the production of lactate in working muscles with its clearance by the body.

What is blood lactate?

Lactate is a metabolic product produced in the muscle cells during exercise. It can be measured by taking a drop of blood at a finger tip the same way diabetics monitor their blood sugar level. The blood lactate level increases with exercise intensity and shows clearly the transition from aerobic to anaerobic activity.

Duration: The test can take anywhere from 45-60 minutes. Allow at least 10 minutes for discussion post-test to go over the results.

Benefits:

– Determines a benchmark of fitness
– Determine your rate of recovery
– Tracks changes over time
– Determine whether or not a particular training plan is making you better or worse
– Identifies strengths and weaknesses
– By interpreting the results, the tester can determine one’s specific training zones
– Determines the point where your body goes from aerobic to anaerobic

A Testimonial From One of Nicola’s Clients:

I have been running for years, but if I was to figure out what pace I should be running at, I wouldn’t have a clue. So when Nicola came to talk about training with a Heart Rate monitor, and more importantly figuring out your Lactate Balance Point I signed up for the test. After some time on a treadmill the end result was her telling me that I need to be at “x” beats per minute and run a 11 minute 47 second mile for my half marathon.

Today I ran 13.4 miles in 2hours and 39minutes. So divide 13.4 miles by that works out to…get this everyone 11 minutes and 51 seconds per mile. So in November we worked out if I train with the Heart Rate monitor with my Lacate Balance point I should run at 11 minutes and 47 seconds. I was 4 seconds off per mile which is fabulous!

Grace Dedinsky-Rutherford

Interested in improving your training through a Lactate Balance Point test? Call Movéo to book an appointment with Nicola today!

3 Quick Links

Here are 3 quick links on sport and health to get your mind going:

Dr Jenn Turner featured in Hockey Now Magazine

Brendan Brazier from Thrive Forward talks about Improving the Quality of your Sleep

Six Healthy Winter Smoothie Recipes

Events coming up in February and March

AC Campobasso

Movéo is proud to sponsor local soccer team AC Campobasso. Their next three matches are:

  • AC vs. Westside FC “A”. Sunday Feb 3rd @ Ambleside. 6pm kickoff.
  • AC vs. Serbian White Eagles. Sunday Feb 10th @ Ambleside. 6pm kickoff.
  • Lobbans CCB FC “A” vs. AC. Saturday Feb 16th @ Newton Athletic Turf. 8pm kickoff.

Run and Triathlon Training Clinics:

KNC Multisport Sprint Distance Triathlon Training Clinic
Starting Sunday Feb 3rd (16 weeks)
Goal Race: North Shore Sprint Triathlon

Mountain Madness Trail Running Clinics
Dirty Duo Starting Jan 12th (8 weeks)
Tender Knee/Iron Knee Starting March 23rd (10 weeks)

North Shore Athletics Tuesday Night Run Clinics
Starting January 8th @ 6:30pm (16 weeks)
4 different ability levels to suit YOUR fitness level

Events:

The Yeti Snowshoe Race in Whistler Olympic Park
Sunday March 2nd

The Dirty Duo Trail Race
Saturday 9th March