lifestyle – Dr Nicky Keay

Excess is a Fatal Thing. Nothing Succeeds like Moderation

1 January 2023

Oscar Wilde quipped that “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” However, when it comes to enjoying a healthy lifespan, nothing succeeds like moderation.

**Harnessing Hormones through Lifestyle Choices for Health**

Personalising Health through Lifestyle

Hippocrates advocated that giving each individual just the right amount of exercise and nourishment, not too little and not too much, is the safest way the health. Although Hippocrates is often known as the father of medicine, more accurately he could be described as the father of health. Health being not just the absence of disease, rather the positive combination of physical, mental and social health.

In ancient Greek times it was not known why moderation, of nutrition and exercise surely lead to health. As I describe in “Hormones, Health and Human Potential” it is the interactions of these behaviours with our hormone networks that maintain internal harmony known as homeostasis. Homeostasis is equilibrium of the internal environment to support all physiological processes for health. Hormone networks can adapt and withstand a certain degree of external excess in the form of too much or too little nutrition or exercise. However there comes a critical point, personal for each individual, where continued excess of unbalanced behaviours will tip over into adverse effects on health. Incidentally in this situation it is not hormones that become unbalanced, rather unbalanced behaviours have forced hormone networks into extensive adaptive changes.

Rebalancing Lifestyle Choices

There are certainly ever emerging challenges for attaining just the right amount and timing of each lifestyle choice around nutrition and exercise. Everyone likes a “quick fix”: apart from your hormones and your health. This is why New Year’s resolutions around extreme dieting or exercise at either end of the spectrum don’t lead to long term benefits. Another problem is that it is difficult to override in-build “safety” mechanisms, so it is challenging psychologically to stick to original intentions. Your body and millions of years of evolution knows best. This can leave you deflated and demotivated. You can’t stick to your plan and this plan does not bring the success you expected. What are the ways to set you on the surest path for optimal heath?

Lifestyle choices for 2023

Exercise

There are two very important factors in your choice of exercise. Firstly, that this is something you personally enjoy. Studies show that those who chose exercise that they enjoy are more likely to keep exercising and make healthy food choices. My personal favourite is taking a ballet class with my excellent teacher and friends of many years. Dance also covers the second important point about exercise choice in that it should involve different types of fitness. I see many people just focusing on a cardiovascular type of exercise, neglecting strength, flexibility and neuromuscular skills. However, if ballet is not your thing, then choose your exercise types wisely for enjoyment and to cover all bases of fitness.

Nutrition

Nutrition is very similar to exercise in that food choices should cover all the nutritional requirements for the individual and not neglect the enjoyment element of eating. Trying to adhere rigidly to any type of diet that does not encompass these elements will not end well for health in the long run. I see a lot of exercisers who end up in unintentional or intentional low energy availability with associated adaptative down regulation of hormones, which can be challenging to rectify. At the other end of the spectrum, for those who maybe have favoured energy intake over energy expenditure, the type of weight reduction diets that purport to give rapid weight loss, can often be counterproductive in the long term. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Sleep

“Sleep is the chief nourisher in life’s great feast”. Although Shakespeare did not realise at the time of writing “Macbeth”, sleep certainly is the chief nourisher when it comes to hormones. Many hormone biological clocks, biochronometers, are set according to our sleep patterns with recent research showing that lack of sleep adversely impacts hormone health for men and women. So aiming for good sleep patterns is something relatively straight forward and actionable to support health.

Stress management

We often have our own personal responses to “stress”. This could be responding through an excess of behaviour at either end of spectrum: eating and/or exercising too little or too much. Especially when combined with disrupted sleep patterns, this creates the perfect storm for challenging hormone health. This vicious circle can become a repeating pattern of response to “stress”. I put “stress” in inverted commas intentionally, because “stress” is our personal interpretation of external stressors. We each have our own interpretation of events and our personal response.

For this reason, “stress” management strategies are a personal choice. Identifying your personal triggers for deviating away from balanced behaviours is an important starting point. Then noting what tends to be your typical response is to these triggers. Can you explore more helpful ways to deal with your personal triggers? Is this listening to music, reading, mediation, meeting with friends or as Hippocrates advised going for a walk? I often see people (including myself) who have tendency to over exercise when confronted with stress provoking situations. So, in this case, going for more walks wouldn’t be the best option. Make sure your strategies are personal to you.

Moderation for Optimal Health 2023

The top tip for optimal health in 2023 and beyond is to aim for moderation and balance across the key lifestyle choices of exercise, nutrition and sleep. Combined with your personal stress management strategies to avoid too much or too little of any of these behaviours, this is the surest way to health as Hippocrates advised. If you do need to modify or fine tune your choices, making small changes that you can sustain over the whole year and beyond will bring success in health.

Next steps

“Hormones, Health and Human Potential: A guide to understanding your hormones to optimise your health and performance” is available in paperback and Kindle (illustrations in colour) from Amazon and direct from Sequoia books (ship overseas)

Hormone Health advisory appointments are available

Presentations and workshops

Health, Hormones and Human Performance Part 2

8 April 2018

Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sports and Exercise Medicine are crucial determinants of health and human performance, from reluctant exerciser through to elite athlete and professional dancer. This is what the recent BASEM spring conference set out to demonstrate. The previous blog described functional disruption of Endocrine networks caused by non-integrated periodisation of the three key lifestyle factors of exercise/training, nutrition and recovery/sleep, can lead to adverse effects on health and athletic performance.

Integrated periodisation of exercise, nutrition, recovery for optimisation of health and performance (Keay BJSM 2017)

Grace, aesthetic line and ethereal quality belie the athletic prowess required in ballet. What are the Endocrine, metabolic and bone health consequences for this unique group of athletes? Dr Roger Wolman (Medical Advisor to National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science) returned to the important topic of insufficient energy availability in sport/dance where being lightweight confers a performance advantage, resulting in dysfunction in multiple endocrine axes. Dr Wolman discussed his recent research studies in dancers revealing an intriguing synergistic action between oestrogen and vitamin D, which is itself a steroid hormone. Evidence was presented to demonstrate how being replete in vitamin D has beneficial effects on bone, immunity and muscle function. Thus it is key in preventing injury and supporting health in athletes, with particular relevance in premenarchal and postmenopausal women, who are in relative oestrogen deficient states. This presentation will certainly change my clinical practice and, I am sure, that of many in the audience, in ensuring that athletes/patients are vitamin D replete. This may have to be achieved in the form of strategic use of sports informed vitamin D supplementation, given that even walking naked for 5 hours a day outside during UK winter, would not stimulate enough vitamin D production. Therefore, to the relief of many in the audience, Dr Wolman did not recommend this strategy.

Dr Kate Ackerman (member of RED-S IOC working group) explained why we should all tap into our inner endocrinologist. Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) goes far beyond diagnosing and treating injury. Is there any underlying endocrine cause for suboptimal health, performance or injury? Be this an endocrine diagnosis that should not be missed, or a functional endocrine dysfunction due to relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). Dr Ackerman explained the importance of the multidisciplinary team in both identifying and supporting an athlete experiencing the consequences of RED-S. New research from Dr Ackerman’s group was presented indicating the effects of RED-S on both health and athletic performance.

Females now have combative roles alongside their male counterparts. What are the implications of this type of intensive exercise training? Dr Julie Greaves (Research Director of the ministerial women in ground close combat research programme) presented insightful research revealing that differences in the geometry of bone in men and women can predispose towards bone stress injury and account for increased incidence in this type of injury in female recruits.

Lunchtime discussion and debate was focused on the determinants of athletic gender, lead by Dr Joanna Harper and Professor Yannis Pitsiladis (International Federation of Sports Medicine). Rather than relying on genetic sex, testosterone concentration was proposed as the criteria for determining whether an athlete competes in male or female events. That testosterone concentration is linked to performance was demonstrated in a study published last year in the BMJ where female athletes in the upper tertile of testosterone were shown to have a performance advantage in certain strength based track and field disciplines. This could potentially be an objective, functional metric used to determine sporting categories for transgender and intersex athletes. The only current uncertainty is how previously high levels of testosterone seen in male, or intersex athletes would have already had an impact on physiology, if this athlete then wished to compete as female and therefore lower testosterone levels with medication.

Nutrition is a key component in optimising health and performance through the Endocrine system. Dr Sophie Killer (English Institute of Sport) explained practical implications for athletes. In a study stimulating a training camp, there were distinct differences between athletes on different regimes of carbohydrate intake in terms of endocrine markers and psychological effects. Those athletes on restricted carbohydrate intake fared worse.

Insulin insensitivity is the underlying pathological process in developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome. What is the crucial lifestyle intervention to combat this? Dr Richard Bracken (Swansea University) presented the science behind why and how exercise improves blood glucose control and therefore ultimately risk of developing the macro and microvascular complications of diabetes. T2DM is an increasing health issue in the population, which has to be addressed beyond reaching for the prescription pad for medication. Dr Bracken outlined some effective strategies to encourage the reluctant exerciser to become more active. Having worked myself in NHS diabetic clinics over many years, this was a key presentation at the conference to demonstrate that SEM goes far beyond a relatively small group of elite athletes. Highlighting the crucial role of physical activity in supporting health and performance through optimisation of endocrine networks: uniting the elite athlete and the reluctant exerciser.

One road to Rome — One Road to Rome (BJSM Keay 2017)

Motivate2Move initiative aims to shift the emphasis from treating disease, to preventing disease. Dr Brian Johnson presented the excellent resource for healthcare professionals to encourage, motivate and educate patients in order to consider exercise as an effective and enjoyable way to improve health.

Hormones play a key role in health and human performance, applicable to all levels of exerciser from reluctant exerciser to elite athlete.

FactorsWordCloud4

References

Health, Hormones and Human Performance BASEM Spring Conference

Video of presentation on Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sport and Exercise Medicine from BASEM Spring Conference

Sports Endocrinology – what does it have to do with performance? Keay BJSM 2017

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep Keay BJSM 2017

One road to Rome: Exercise Keay, BJSM 2017

Healthy Hormones

8 April 2018

Is your training in tune with your hormones and nutrition to optimise your athletic performance?

Hormones are internal chemical messengers regulating all aspects of your health and athletic performance. Discussed at recent BASEM conference “Health Hormones and Human Performance”

webmd_rm_photo_of_porous_bones — Bone health can be at risk if hormone status not optimal

How? To enable your hormones to do the best job they can for your health and sport performance, you need to find a balance between what, how much and when you train, eat and sleep. In the diagram below, this represents staying on the healthy green plateau. Too much, or too little of any of these choices can lead to imbalances and tipping off the green plateau into the red, less healthy peripheries.

Integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery for optimal health and performance (Keay, BJSM 2017)

What? Imbalances between training load, nutrition and recovery can cause problems in the Endocrine system: the whole network of hormone interactions throughout your body. The bottom line is that if insufficient energy is provided through nutrition to cover both your training demands and the “housekeeping” activities within the body to keep you alive, then your body goes into energy saving mode. This situation is called relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S) and has the potential to adversely impact one or more of the important systems in your body vital for optimal health and performance.

RED-S has evolved from the female athlete triad described in 1980s by Barbara Drinkwater in NEJM, where although female runners were consuming same dietary intake, those with higher training load were more likely to have menstrual dysfunction and low bone mineral density. Since this original description it has become obvious that the reproductive axis is just one of several hormone networks to be impacted by low energy availability and that RED-S also impacts the other half of the population: men.

Why? Suboptimal levels of energy availability to support health and performance can arise unintentionally, for example with increased training loads and/or times of growth and development in young athletes. Intentionally restrictive eating patterns can also be the cause of RED-S, particularly in sports/dance where low body weight confers a performance or aesthetic advantage. It is an indisputable fact that in order cycle up a mountain you need to overcome gravity and produce high watts/kg. Equally it is pretty impossible to do pointe work, let alone 32 fouttées en tournant en pointe unless you are a lightweight dancer. However if this at the expense of disrupting your hormones, then the advantage of being low body weight will be lost.

How to know? How to know if you, a teammate or a fellow athlete is at risk of RED-S? If you are a female athlete then your hormones are in balance if you are having regular periods (this does not include withdrawal bleeds as result of being on the oral contraceptive pill). Any woman of reproductive age from 16 years to the menopause should have regular periods (unless pregnant). Regular menstruation acts as the barometer of healthy hormones in women. If this is not the case, whether you are an athlete or not, you need to get this checked out medically to exclude underlying medical conditions. Having excluded these, then you need to review the integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery. In male athletes there is not such an obvious sign that your hormones are at healthy levels. However recurrent injury/illness/fatigue can be warning signs. The diagram below shows all the potential adverse effects of RED-S on performance. Be aware that you do not have to have all, or indeed be aware of any of these effects if you develop RED-S.

Screen Shot 2017-05-20 at 19.16.28 — Potential Performance effects of RED-S (IOC statement BJSM 2014)

So What? If you are an athlete/dancer, you may be thinking that none of this applies to you. You are feeling and performing fine. Maybe you have not yet experienced any of the detrimental effects of RED-S. However, you will never know how good an athlete you could be and whether you truly are performing to your full potential unless you put yourself in the best position in terms of your hormones to achieve this goal.

performance-potential — Suboptimal performance as result of RED-S (Keay, BJSM 2017)

Key Points

• Insufficient nutrition intake (quantity and quality), whether intentional or not, results in RED-S and multiple hormonal disruptions

• RED-S has detrimental health and athletic performance consequences in both the short and the long term

• Some consequences of RED-S are irreversible for example poor bone health, unless intervention is swift

Check points

• Are you suffering with frequent injuries/fatigue/illness over last 3 months or more?

• Female athletes: if 16 years or older have your periods not started? Have you missed more than 3 consecutive periods?

If yes to any of above, seek medical advice from someone with experience Sports Endocrinology. Now! The longer you leave the situation the harder it will be to rectify. Initially underlying Endocrine conditions per se have to be ruled out. RED-S is a functional dysfunction of the Endocrine system, so a diagnosis of exclusion. Having established RED-S as the diagnosis, monitoring Endocrine markers can be very helpful as these are examples of objective metrics in monitoring energy availability and therefore response to optimising integrated periodisation of nutrition, training and recovery.

Integrated periodisation of key training factors support healthy hormones to drive improvements in performance

What to do? Don’t ignore! Although you may think you are fine, if your hormones are not working for you, then you will never reach your full potential as an athlete/dancer. For female athletes having regular periods means your hormones are in healthy ranges and this is normal. Not starting and/or missing periods is not healthy, for any woman.

For both male and female athletes, if you are experiencing recurrent injury, fatigue or illness, you need to get this checked out. There may be a simple explanation such as viral infection, low vitamin D or iron. However it may be that the underlying reason is due to hormone issues.

If you are an athlete, coach, teacher or parent and concerned that you/an athlete in your care has not got the balance right to optimise health and athletic performance, then a 3 way discussion will help and support the decision to seek medical advice as appropriate.

References

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep Keay, BJSM 2017

Optimal health: including female athletes! Part 1 BJSM 2017

Optimal health: including male athletes! Part 2 BJSM 2017

Optimal Health: Especially Young Athletes! Part 3 BASEM 2017

Optimal Health: For All Athletes! Part 4 BASEM 2017

Low Energy Availability is Difficult to Assess But Outcomes Have Large Impact on Bone Injury Rates in Elite Distance Athletes Sport Nutrition and exercise Metabolism 2017

Cumulative Endocrine Dysfunction in Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) BJSM 2018

Presentation at BASEM conference “Health, Hormones and Human Performance”

Health, Hormones and Human Performance Part 1

2 April 2018

How hormones determine health and athletic performance

Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sports and Exercise Medicine are crucial determinants of health and human performance, from reluctant exerciser through to elite athlete and professional dancer. This is what I set out to demonstrate as the chair of the recent British Association of Sport and Medicine conference, with insightful presentations from my colleagues whom I had invited to share their research and practical applications of their work. The audience comprised of doctors with interest in sport and exercise medicine, representatives from the dance world, research scientists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, coaches and trainers. In short, all were members of multi-disciplinary teams supporting aspiring athletes. The importance of the conference was reflected in CDP awards from FSEM, BASES, Royal College of Physicians (RCP), REP-S and endorsement for international education from BJSM and National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS).

Exercise is a crucial lifestyle factor in determining health and disease. Yet we see an increasing polarisation in the amount of exercise taken across the general population. At one end of the spectrum, the increasing training loads of elite athletes and professional dancers push the levels of human performance to greater heights. On the other side of the spectrum, rising levels of inactivity, in large swathes of the population, increase the risk of poor health and developing disease states. Which fundamental biological processes and systems link these groups with apparently dichotomous levels of exercise? What determines the outcome of the underlying Endocrine and metabolic network interactions? How can an understanding of these factors help prevent sports injuries and lead to more effective rehabilitation? How can we employ Endocrine markers to predict and provide guidance towards beneficial outcomes for health and human performance?

If you weren’t able to come and participate in the discussion, these are some topics presented. My opening presentation (see video below) set the scene, outlining why having an optimally functioning Endocrine system is fundamental to health and performance. Conversely, functional disruption of Endocrine networks occurs with non integrated periodisation of the three key lifestyle factors of exercise/training, nutrition and recovery/sleep, which can lead to adverse effects on health and athletic performance.

In the case of an imbalance in training load and nutrition, this can manifest as the female athlete triad, which has now evolved into relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S) in recognition of the fact that Endocrine feedback loops are disrupted across many hormonal axes, not just the reproductive axis. And, significantly, acknowledging the fact that males athletes can also be impacted by insufficient energy availability to meet both training and “housekeeping” energy requirements. Why and how RED-S can affect male athletes, in particular male competitive road cyclists, was discussed, highlighting the need for further research to investigate practical and effective strategies to optimise health and therefore ultimately performance in competition.

A degree of overlap and interplay exists between RED-S (imbalance in nutrition and training load), non functional over-reaching and over-training syndrome (imbalances in training load and recovery). Indeed research evidence was presented suggesting that RED-S increases the risk of developing over-training syndrome. In these situations of functional disruption of the Endocrine networks, underlying Endocrine conditions per se should be excluded. Case studies demonstrated this principle in the diagnosis of RED-S. This is particularly important in the investigation of amenorrhoea. All women of reproductive age, whether athletes or not, should have regular menstruation (apart from when pregnant!), as a barometer of healthy hormones. Indeed, since hormones are essential to drive positive adaptations to exercise, healthy hormones are key in attaining full athletic potential in any athlete/dancer, whether male or female. Evidence was presented from research studies for the role of validated Endocrine markers and clinical menstrual status in females as objective and quantifiable measures of energy availability and hence injury risk in both male and female athletes.

Triumvirate of external factors impacting Endocrine system and hence performance

Alongside training metrics, if female athletes recorded menstrual pattern (as Gwen Jorgensen recently showed on her Training Peaks) and all athletes kept a biological passport of selected Endocrine markers; this could potentially identify at an early stage any imbalances in the triumvirate of training load, nutrition and recovery. Pre-empting development of RED-S or over-training syndrome, supports the maintenance of healthy hormones and hence optimal human performance.

Look out for presentations from speakers which will be uploaded on BASEM website shortly.

References

Video of presentation on the Endocrine and Metabolic Aspects of Sports and Exercise Medicine BASEM conference “Health, Hormones and Human Performance”

Study of hormones, body composition, bone mineral density and performance in competitive male road cyclists Investigation of effective and practical nutrition and off bike exercise interventions

Sports Endocrinology – what does it have to do with performance? Keay BJSM 2017

Cyclists: Make No Bones About It

20 February 2018

Competitive cyclists are potentially at risk of suboptimal bone health. Although cycling is excellent for cardiovascular fitness, this type of non skeletal loading exercise does not mechanically stimulate osteogenesis (bone formation). This situation of low mechanical osteogenic stimulus to build bone can be compounded by restrictive eating patterns and associated hormone dysfunction of relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S).

In a recent pilot study 7/10 competitive cyclists (Cat 2 and above) had low age-matched bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine. This is comparable to another study where 15/28 male cyclists training over eight hours a week were found to have low BMD for their age and were therefore at risk of low trauma fracture. However, cyclists with a lower training volume (Cat 4) did not fair so badly in terms of BMD, due to higher body mass index (BMI) and fat mass. Although greater body mass mechanically loads the skeleton, the downside is that you need to generate more power to get up a hill.

Why is cycling unique compared to other sports where an important adaptation to training is to improve, not impair, bone health? What are the practical solutions to prevent this potential negative effect of cycle training?

fullsizeoutput_2b8 — Site Specific Effects on Bone Mineral Density

The illustration shows how different sports exert site specific effects on the bone mineral density of the skeleton. In general terms, hip femoral neck BMD is more dependent on mechanical loading osteogenic stimuli, whereas lumbar spine BMD is more dependent on nutritional and Endocrine status.

What are the most effective mechanical osteogenic stimuli? Evidence from animal models demonstrates that bone responds to exercise that is dynamic, non-repetitive and unpredictable. Load and repetitions are not such important factors. This is shown in a study of track and field athletes, where sprinters were found to have higher BMD at load bearing sites of the skeleton than long distance runners due to a local loading effect rather than a systemic effect associated with repetitive loading nature of longer distance running. The other important consideration is that sprinters and rugby players tend to weigh more with higher lean mass than distance runners, providing higher skeletal loading forces. These differences in anthropometric and body composition metrics are also associated with different nutritional and Endocrine status.

In contrast to sports involving running, rowing creates a mechanical osteogenic stimulus that is directed through the lumbar spine, resulting in an associated increase in BMD at this site. This site specific effect of rowing can prevent bone loss at the lumbar that would be anticipated with rowers experiencing RED-S.

Swimming and cycling are similar in that both these types of exercise do not provide mechanical skeletal loading osteogenic stimulus. However the consequences on BMD, particularly at the lumbar spine, can be compounded in cycling by the performance advantage of low body mass and therefore potential of restrictive nutrition and consequent effect on Endocrine status: factors which impact bone health.

In the recent pilot study of competitive cyclists, although 7/10 had below average for age lumbar spine BMD, those with stronger bones had a previous history of other sports that improve BMD at this site: namely rugby and rowing, together with the cyclist doing concurrent and consistent weight training throughout the season. These findings were consistent with a study where male riders who had undertaken pre-season weight training had better BMD than riders who had not. Cumulative skeletal loading over a lifetime determines BMD. However, the skeletal system is dynamic and as with any training adaptation, any beneficial effects of skeletal loading exercise are reversible if not maintained throughout the lifespan.

Typically, the objective of off-bike strength and conditioning (S&C) is aimed at producing higher watts on the bike. Some strengthening exercises may, as by product, produce an osteogenic stimulus indirectly by muscle pulling on bone. Should off-bike work include specific mechanical axial skeletal loading exercises that are continued throughout the season? Skeletal loading exercises for cyclists would have to be effective and practical, not requiring access to gym and possible to fit into training schedule throughout the season. This will be investigated in an forthcoming study of competitive male cyclists.

In meantime there will be more discussion on “Health, Hormones and Human Performance” at the BASEM conference 22 March. All welcome, including athletes and coaches, alongside healthcare professional working with athletes.

References

Male Cyclists: bones, body composition, nutrition, performance

Cycling and bone health: a systematic review BMC Medicine 2012

Male Athletes: the Bare Bones of Cyclists

Comparisons of Bone Mineral Density Between Recreational and Trained Male Road Cyclists Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 2016

Longitudinal Assessment of Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition in Competitive Cyclists Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2017

Kings and Queens of the Mountains Science4Perforamnce

Inhibition of osteopenia by low magnitude, high-frequency mechanical stimuli Drug Discovery Today 2001

Bone density and neuromuscular function in older competitive athletes depend on running distance Osteoporosis International 2012

Menstrual state and exercise as determinants of spinal trabecular bone density in female athletes BMJ 1990

Male Athletes: the Bare Bones of Cyclists

Resistance Training Is Associated With Higher Lumbar Spine and Hip Bone Mineral Density in Competitive Male Cyclists Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2018

A meta-analysis of brief high-impact exercises for enhancing bone health in premenopausal women Osteoporosis International 2012

Jumping Improves Hip and Lumbar Spine Bone Mass in Prepubescent Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial JBMR 2001

Longitudinal Changes in Bone Mineral Density in Male Master Cyclists and Nonathletes The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 2011

Male Athletes: the Bare Bones of Cyclists

16 February 2018

Chris Boardman is an Olympic gold medal winner and world record breaking cyclist. However, he explains in his biography that he retired in his early thirties with weak bones and low testosterone. At the time he was treated with medication aimed at improving his bone strength, but this severely impacted his performance on the bike.

What was the cause of this superlative male athlete’s unhealthy condition that ultimately lead to his retirement? Is this still an issue for male cyclists today? Is it limited to elite professional riders?

Periodisation of key training factors support the Endocrine system to optimise performance

In 2014 the IOC published a description of relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S), where nutrition intake is insufficient to cover training demands and the basic “housekeeping” activities of the body. This induces an energy-saving mode that impacts health and therefore athletic performance. The female athlete triad had been previously described as the combination of disordered eating, menstrual disruption and impaired bone health. RED-S goes beyond the female athlete triad to include a broader range of impacts on systems other than just the bones and female hormone production. Significantly RED-S includes male athletes. Today, Chris Boardman would be diagnosed with RED-S.

Has this new information improved the identification and support of male athletes at risk of RED-S? In a recent pilot study, 5 out of 10 competitive amateur riders (Category 2 and above) were in the lowest age-matched percentile of body fat and 9 out 10 where in the lowest 6% relative to the population of similar age. Significantly, 7 out of 10 riders had below-average for age bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine, with two males having bone densities that would be low for an 85 year old.

Why is poor bone health a particular risk for competitive male cyclists? Depending on the type of exercise, beneficial adaptations include mechanical strengthening of specific parts of the skeletal system. For example, assuming good nutrition, runners tend to have strong hips, whereas rowers have more robust spines in terms of BMD and bone microarchitecture. Conversely the non-weight-bearing nature of cycling and the generally lower level of upper-body musculature reduce the mechanical loading forces though the spine: low osteogenic (bone building) stimuli. Although similar to swimming, in the sense that body weight is supported in the water, the major difference between these two forms of exercise is that in cycling, particularly for climbing, low body mass confers a performance advantage. This brings in the additional factor for bone health of potential inadequacies in nutrition and therefore consequences on hormone production.

An optimal balance of training, nutrition and recovery drives beneficial adaptations to exercise throughout the body. The body’s Endocrine system releases hormones that stimulate positive changes, such as the process of improving the efficiency of delivering and utilising oxygen and nutrients to exercising tissues, including the skeletal system. Any imbalances in periodisation between the three inputs of training, nutrition and recovery will compromise health and athletic performance.

Cyclists are at particular risk of insufficient fuelling. This may be an intentional attempt to maintain low body weight, which can lead to healthy eating becoming an unhealthy orthorexic pattern, where vital food groups for endurance sport, such as carbohydrates are excluded. There is also a practical element to fuelling adequately during long rides and refuelling afterwards. Consistency of nutrition throughout the day has been highlighted in a recent study of male endurance athletes where although an average 24 hour intake may be sufficient, if there are any significant deficits during this time, then this is reflected in increased adverse impact on catabolic Endocrine makers. In another study of male athletes if refuelling with carbohydrate and protein after training did not occur promptly, this lead to an increase in bone resorption over formation markers.

Recovery is an essential part of a training schedule, because the adaptations to exercise occur during rest. Sleep, in particular, is a major stimulus for growth hormone release, which drives positive adaptive changes in terms of body composition and bone turnover. Conversely, insufficient recovery time due to a packed schedule of training and work, places extra stresses on the Endocrine system. Getting to bed half an hour earlier than usual every day quickly adds up to an extra night’s sleep.

Does it matter if some areas of the skeleton are weaker than others? Yes, because this increases your risk of fracture, not just if you come off your bike, but also with relatively low force impacts. In the case of runners and triathletes, bone stress injuries are more likely to occur as an early warning sign of impaired bone health due to RED-S. Since low impact forces are absent in cycling, it may take a crash to reveal the strength of a rider’s bones. Studying the list of injuries in elite cyclists there are many fractures, with longer recovery time for vertebral fractures. So potentially cyclists can develop more severe bone health issues than other athletes, before becoming aware of the situation.

If you are a male cyclist, what can you do to prevent issues of bone health and risk of developing RED-S and suboptimal performance on the bike? Watch this space! A study is planned to investigate practical and effective strategies to optimise health and performance on the bike. In meantime there will be more discussion on “Health, Hormones and Human Performance” at the BASEM conference 22 March. All welcome, including athletes and coaches, alongside healthcare professional working with athletes.

References

Mechanisms for optimal health…for all athletes! BJSM 2017

Optimal health: including female athletes! Part 1 Bones BJSM 2017

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep BJSM 2017

Sports Endocrinology – what does it have to do with performance? BJSM 2017

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) Practical considerations for endurance athletes

Within-day Energy Deficiency and Metabolic Perturbation in Male Endurance Athletes International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2018

The Effect of Postexercise Carbohydrate and Protein Ingestion on Bone Metabolism Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine 2017

Sleep for health and sports performance BJSM 2017

Cumulative Endocrine Dysfunction in Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)

31 December 2017

Screen Shot 2017-12-24 at 22.35.18

Unfortunately I continue to see athletes, both male and female, whose health and athletic performance is hampered due to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S). There have been some high profile athletes who have been very open about how RED-S has affected them, alerting younger athletes to potential pitfalls.

Does this issue warrant highlighting? Yes! The athletes I see and those that speak out are only just the tip of the iceberg. In a study of exercising females, half were found to have subtle menstrual hormone disruption such as luteal phase deficit or anovulation. A third were amenorrhoeic, with no periods at all. All women of reproductive age, whether an athlete or not, should have regular periods, otherwise there are potential serious health and performance sequaelae. However studies in both the USA and Australia have revealed that the majority of young exercising women are not aware of the link between menstrual disruption and deleterious, potentially irreversible effects on bone health.

The impact of non-integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery has evolved since the early description of the female athlete triad. The constellation of amenorrhoea, disordered eating and osteoporosis is now considered to be a clinical spectrum. In turn the female athlete triad is part of a much broader picture of RED-S, which includes adverse multi-system effects beyond bone health and is also seen in male athletes.

Although an athlete may appear healthy, what are the underlying Endocrine disruptions occurring in RED-S that ultimately will impede both optimal health and performance to full potential? In general, female exercisers are more susceptible to internal and external perturbations as the female Endocrine system is more finely balanced than in males. Nevertheless, in a study of male athletes, in the short time period after completing a training session, bone turnover was adversely affected, with an increase in markers of resorption relative to formation, if an athlete did not refuel rapidly with protein and carbohydrate. In the now classic research by Loucks, 5 days of manipulated energy restricted availability, via dietary intake and exercise output, caused disruption in LH pulsatility in previously eumenorrhoeic women. From this research and subsequent studies, not only is the reproductive axis disrupted with reduced energy availability, in addition hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (decreased T3) and adrenal axes (increased cortisol) and decreased IGF1 due to relative GH resistance are all disrupted. These interactive hormonal dysfunctions occur even before reduction in sex steroids. A recent study demonstrated that beyond the average energy availability over a 24 hour time window, within day energy deficits in terms of duration and magnitude are associated with a greater degree of disruption of Endocrine and metabolic markers, in particular decreased oestradiol and increased cortisol. So consistency of nutrition, not only during a training season but from day to day is vital.

Although energy availability is the crucial factor in the pathophysiology of RED-S, measuring this is not practical for all athletes in terms of accuracy and cost. Clinical menstrual status in female athletes and basic Endocrine markers are proposed as being more reliable and accessible. The Endocrine system is very sensitive to internal and external perturbations, as described above, and presages performance consequences of RED-S, such as injury. An important starting point is for all female athletes is to ask themselves: are my periods regular? This is also a vital question that coaches and parents need to consider for athletes in their care. If the answer is no, then this needs to be assessed, ideally by those with experience in Sports Endocrinology.

Why are these clinical and biochemical markers of Endocrine dysfunction important for athletes? Essentially there are significant health and performance implications for athletes. As outlined in the stories of female athletes, by the time career limiting stress fractures become obvious, typically in early twenties, the Endocrine system has been in disarray for a significant time. Long term, irreversible poor bone health and adverse body composition have been established.

In my opinion, emphasis should be placed on the positive outcome of integrating periodised training, nutrition and recovery to support a functional Endocrine system and therefore optimal health and ability to reach full athletic potential. For example for female athletes, competing in sports where low body mass confers a performance advantage, such as ballet, gymnastics and road cycling, finely tuned neuromuscular skills are essential to reach maximal potential and minimise injury risk. Yet these are the athletes most at risk of developing RED-S, with consequential adverse effects on menstrual cycles, endogenous oestrogen secretion and neuromuscular function.

Rather than reading headlines about the concerning health issues amongst athletes, more guidance for athletes and those working with them, on the warning signs and how to combat RED-S are needed so that athletes can reach their full potential and the headlines become about athlete achievements.

For more discussion on the Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sport and Exercise Medicine, all members of multi-disciplinary team working with athletes, including athletes and coaches are welcome to the BASEM Spring Conference

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References

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) Practical considerations for endurance athletes

British middle-distance runner Bobby Clay is struggling with osteoporosis but wants her experience to act as a lesson for fellow young athletes Athletics Weekly 2017

In a special AW report, former English Schools champion Jen Walsh reveals the devastation that the female athlete triad can wreak Athletics Weekly 2017

Optimal Health: Especially Young Athletes! Part 3 – Consequences of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports BASEM 2017

Prevalence High prevalence of subtle and severe menstrual disturbances in exercising women: confirmation using daily hormone measures. Human Repro 2010

Energy deficiency, menstrual disturbances, and low bone mass: what do exercising Australian women know about the female athlete triad? Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2012

Female adolescent athletes’ awareness of the connection between menstrual status and bone health J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2011

Optimal health: including female athletes! Part 1 Bones BJSM 2017

Optimal Health: For All Athletes! Part 4 – Mechanisms BASEM 2017

Sports Endocrinology – what does it have to do with performance? BJSM 2017

The Effect of Postexercise Carbohydrate and Protein Ingestion on Bone Metabolism Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine 2017

Luteinizing hormone pulsatility is disrupted at a threshold of energy availability in regularly menstruating women JCEM 2003

Within-day energy deficiency and reproductive function in female endurance athletes Scandinavian Journal of Science and medicine in Sports 2017

Low Energy Availability is Difficult to Assess But Outcomes Have Large Impact on Bone Injury Rates in Elite Distance Athletes Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2017

Body Composition for Health and Sports Performance

Reduced Neuromuscular Performance in Amenorrheic Elite Endurance Athletes Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2017

Conferences in Sport/Dance, Exercise Science and Medicine 2018

12 December 2017

Conferences for the New Year:

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If you are interested in any aspects of Sport/Dance, Exercise and Lifestyle Medicine here are some suggestions:

British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine Spring Conference 22 March 2018 “Health, Hormones and Human Performance” Covering the Endocrine and Metabolic aspects of Sport, Dance, Exercise Science and Medicine. From the elite athlete to the reluctant exerciser. Aimed at all those members of the multidisciplinary team working with athletes/dancers, plus athletes/dancers and their coaches/teachers.

CPD points awarded from Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine FSEM

BASES British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences CPD awarded

British Journal of Sports Medicine Quality International Education Approved

CPD points from Royal College of Physicians

CPD from REP-S

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Why? The balance and timing of exercise, nutrition and recovery is key to optimising health and all aspects of human performance. Intricate network interactions between the Endocrine system and metabolic signalling pathways drive these positive adaptations. However, non-integration of these lifestyle factors can disrupt signalling feedback pathways and predispose to maladaptation and potentially disease states.

What? Discussion, led by experienced clinicians and researchers will cover:

· Key role of Sports Endocrinology in health and performance

· Effects of exercise modalities on body composition and bone health

· Machine learning in interpreting biochemical & metabolomic patterns

· Endocrine & metabolic markers in assessing health & training status

· Gut metabolism in supporting health and performance

· Exercise as crucial lifestyle factor in pre-existing metabolic dysfunction

Who? This conference is relevant to all members of multidisciplinary teams supporting both reluctant exercisers and elite athletes. Medics, researchers, physiologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists, coaches, athletes. All welcome.

Health, Hormones and Human Performance will be a conference of interest to all those involved with aspiring and elite athletes, including dancers (National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science NIDMS) and those supporting reluctant exercisers through Lifestyle Medicine.

Latest news from BASEM. Interview with BASEM Today Issue 41 – Winter 2017

Wales Exercise Medicine Symposium by Cardiff Sports & Exercise Medicine Society 27/1/18. This includes Dr Peter Brukner, founder of the Olympic Sports Medicine Park in Melbourne, and an afternoon session discussing the female athlete through the lifespan. CPD points applied for from the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, REPs and the Royal College Of General Practitioners.

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Women in Sport and Exercise Conference 2018 13-14 June Organised by The Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network and attracting British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) CPD points.

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Body Composition for Health and Sports Performance

9 December 2017

Screen Shot 2017-12-02 at 15.03.23 — Body Composition from DEXA scan

Focusing on changes in body weight and body mass index (BMI) alone, as outcome measures of lifestyle interventions, ignores the beneficial multi-system and psychological effects of lifestyle medicine, in particular exercise. This includes advantageous changes in body composition for health and performance.

Why is body composition important? Because not all weight is equal in terms of tissue composition and distribution. To support optimal health, favourable levels of lean mass versus fat mass decreases the risk of sarcopenia, associated bone loss and metabolic syndrome. For athletes, high lean mass coupled with low fat mass is related to improved athletic performance, especially in disciplines where strength to weight ratio a major consideration and/or those disciplines such as gymnastics and ballet where an aesthetic component confers a performance advantage.

The range of methods for measuring body composition have advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy, accessibility and expense. Although accurate in experienced hands, skin fold measurements are limited to giving a measure of subcutaneous fat. Impedance scales have the advantage of giving a measure of both total and visceral fat percentage, however accuracy is dependent on hydration status, amongst other variable factors. Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan is the “gold standard” for measuring body composition to include bone, lean and fat: both total and visceral. DEXA scan is relatively inexpensive and very low radiation dose compared to traditional X ray or computerised tomography (CT). This method of assessing body composition during training seasons is used by some professional sports teams. The illustration above shows a trained male with total fat in the athletic range. Although simple to measure, BMI does not accurately reflect body composition. All methods of assessing body composition can potentially have role in monitoring changes, for example over training seasons, and trends for individuals rather than relying on the absolute values of metrics measured.

How to go about optimising body composition? Combined exercise and nutritional strategies trigger and reinforce favourable metabolic and Endocrine signalling pathways. The detail of these lifestyle strategies will depend on the clinical context and the objectives of the individual: ranging from a sedentary person trying to improve health and well being, to an athlete aiming to improve sport performance. In all scenarios protein intake is an important factor in supporting lean mass, alongside tailored exercise/training. Temporal considerations for optimising body composition in athletes include the age of the athlete and targeting key competitions during a training cycle and in long term over athletic career. Ultimately optimising body composition has to translate to improved athletic performance for the endurance athlete. So aiming for “high quality weight loss” with retention or even improved lean mass, is more likely to support performance, rather than focusing on fat mass loss in isolation, which may occur in any case as a secondary consequence of integrated periodised training, nutrition and recovery. Striving for weight loss and reduced fat mass without careful monitoring and attention to effects on performance, can run the risk of athletes developing relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). Female athletes with functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea have been shown to decreased levels not only of lean and fat mass, but in addition reduced metabolically active brown fat and the associated hormone isirin which promotes fat “browning” and impacts bone mineralisation. In addition, there are differences between male and female athletes to be considered in terms of body composition and cycling performance.

From middle-age, both lean mass and bone mineral density (BMD) decline: sarcopenia and bone health intertwined. In order to mitigate against these changes, resistance exercise is particularly beneficial to stimulate muscle and load the skeleton and for metabolic and cognitive benefits. BMI is particularly misleading as a metric to assess risk of disease in menopausal women. Rather, the finer detail of body composition, for example visceral fat area, is more informative in terms of metabolic and psychological health.

Body composition is a more reliable indicator of health than body weight or BMI. Nevertheless body composition in isolation is not the sole determinant of health and performance. Rather body composition is just one of many multi-system effects mediated by integrated metabolic and Endocrine signalling pathways. These network effects are driven by lifestyle factors including exercise, nutrition and recovery, to determine health and sports performance.

For more discussion and debate on the role of body composition for health and performance BASEM Spring Conference 2018 6 CPD points from FSEM and BJSM approved for international education

BAsem2018_SpringConf_BJSM FSEM_CPD_Award Screen Shot 2017-12-12 at 14.47.15

References

Challenging those hard to shift, big fat obesity risks BMJ 2017; 359: j5303 British Journal of Medicine 2017

Lifestyle Choices for optimising health: exercise, nutrition, sleep British Journal of Sport Medicine 2107

One road to Rome: Exercise British Journal of Sport Medicine 2107

Current Status of Body Composition Assessment in Sport Review and Position Statement on Behalf of the Ad Hoc Research Working Group on Body Composition Health and Performance, Under the Auspices of the I.O.C.Medical Commission

International society of sports nutrition position stand: diets and body composition Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2017
Case-Study: Body Composition Periodization in an Olympic-Level Female Middle-Distance Runner Over a 9-Year Career International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2017

Body composition assessment of English Premier League soccer players: a comparative DXA analysis of first team, U21 and U18 squads Journal of Sports Sciences

Protein Recommendations for Weight Loss in Elite Athletes: A Focus on Body Composition and Performance International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2017

Optimal Health: For All Athletes! Part 4 – Mechanisms British Association for Sport and Exercise Medicine 2017

Effect of Chronic Athletic Activity on Brown Fat in Young Women Plos One 2106

Irisin levels are lower in young amenorrheic athletes compared with eumenorrheic athletes and non-athletes and are associated with bone density and strength estimates Plos One

Kings and Queens of the Mountains Science4Performance

Low bone mineral density in middle-aged women: a red flag for sarcopenia Menopause 2017

Resistance training – an underutilised drug available in everybody’s medicine cabinet BJSM 2017

Benefits of resistance training in physically frail elderly: a systematic review Ageing Clinical and Experimental Research 2017

Is BMI a valid measure of obesity in postmenopausal women? Menopause 2017

Association of visceral fat area with the presence of depressive symptoms in Chinese postmenopausal women with normal glucose tolerance Menopause 2017

Health and Performance during Lifespan: latest research

16 November 2017

LifeSeasonDay

Your lifespan depends on genetic and key lifestyle choices

Lifespan is dependent on a range of genetic factors combined with lifestyle choices. For example a recent study reported that an increase in one body mass index unit reduced lifespan by 7 months, whilst 1 year of education increased lifespan by 11 months. Physical activity was shown to be a particularly important lifestyle factor through its action on preventing age-related telomere shortening and thus reducing of cellular ageing by 9 years. Nevertheless, even though males and females have essentially identical genomes, genetic expression differs. This results in different disease susceptibilities and evolutionary selection pressures. More studies involving female participants are required!

Circadian clock

Much evidence is emerging about the importance of paying respect to our internal biological clocks when considering the timing of lifestyle factors such as eating, activity and sleep. For example intermittent fasting, especially during the night, and time restricted eating during the day enables metabolic flexibility. In other words, eating within a daylight time window will support favourable metabolism and body composition. No midnight snacks!

For athletes, even more care needs be given to timing of nutrition to support athletic performance. In the short term there is evidence that rapid refuelling after training with a combination of carbohydrate and protein favours a positive balance of bone turnover that supports bone health and prevents injury in the longer term. Periodised nutrition over a training season, integrated with exercise and recovery, is important in order to benefit from training adaptations and optimise athletic performance.

Protein intake in athletes and non athletes

Recovering from injury can be a frustrating time and some athletes may be tempted to reduce food intake to compensate for reduced training. However, recommendations are to maintain and even increase protein consumption to prevent a loss of lean mass and disruption of metabolic signalling. In the case of combined lifestyle interventions, such as nutrition and exercise aimed at reducing body weight, these should be directed at improving body composition. Adequate protein intake alongside exercise will maintain lean mass in order to minimise the risk of sarcopenia and associated bone loss which can occur during hypocaloric regimes. Good protein intake is important for bone health to support bone mineral density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fracture.

Adolescent Athlete

In the young athlete, integrated periodisation of training, nutrition and recovery is of particular importance, not only to support health and performance, but as an injury prevention strategy. Sufficient sleep and nutrition to match training demands are key.

Differences between circadian phenotype and performance in athletes

For everyone, whether athlete or reluctant exerciser, balancing and timing key lifestyle choices of exercise, nutrition and sleep are key for optimising health and performance. However there are individual differences when it comes to the best time for athletes to perform, according to circadian phenotype/chronotype. In other words personal biological clocks which run on biological time. An individual’s performance can vary by as much as 26% depending on the time of day relative to one’s entrained waking time.

Later in Life

Ageing can be can be confused with loss of fitness and ability to perform activities of daily living. Although a degree of loss of fitness does occur with increasing age, this can be prevented to a certain degree and certainly delayed with physical activity. Exercise attenuates sarcopenia, which supports bone mineral density with the added benefit of improved proprioception, helping to reduce risk of falls and potential fracture; not to mention the psychological benefits of exercise.

For more discussion on Health Hormones and Human Performance come to British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine Spring Conference

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