I've said many times that training is the process of taking a single snowflake and gradually turning that into an avalanche. By Reno and Nationals I was where I needed to be but yet I still needed to raise to another level physically to be ready for Worlds. I also tell me kids that the vault is like a bank account in that you have to invest energy into the take off if you expect a big dividend on top of the jump. With that in mind, the penny got on top with at least a dollar today, yet I'm still along way away from being the $100 bill I'm shooting for.
Yesterday I was crippled and limping around from the hard running. My body felt like it had a hard workout but also like it was learning to run fast again. All week I have felt like crap and today - I am NEW! I got into my cardio this morning and everything was easy. I go to my lifts and everything felt light. So like I suggested, at some point either me or my body would give up and get with the program of the other one. Today the body gave in. So from experience I am now on the path to progress toward the goal.
Diet & Supplements My great friend for over 30 years, Dean Gregory asked that I discuss this. Dean was my training partner during perhaps the hardest two years of training in my life so he knows and understands training principles. Besides being a certified genius, he's very instinctive into what works and paths to take. He's been behind the scenes to my training since my ramp up to Sydney. He will also come to Sacramento from Washington State to watch me jump. But I think my answer here, as well as my rationale will surprise him and everyone else. I don't take any supplements and I'm not that careful with my diet.
Let's start with the diet. Three letters in that word spell DIE. I will eat whatever I want in small doses. I try not to ever feel full but I will eat one decent/regular meal a day and everything else will just filled in with whatever sounds good. So breakfast is usually cereal and fruit. Lunch is usually out and dinner is something small. If I eat out for breakfast then that is my big meal of the day so the rest of the day is more limited. I do not drink alcohol but I drink TONS of tea and some diet drinks. I flush my body to keep everything moving because if I don't my body tends to retain water. I can go up 6-8 lbs. (3-4kg) if I don’t do this flush. That said, I never drink during workouts nor carry water around the gym. OK, so weird but that's me.
Supplements are different story. For 11 years I was a lead instructor for the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. This is where the profit money went from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Our mission was to teach high school coaches how to coach their athletes. Our resources as far as research were unlimited and the team of instructors was a who’s who in every event. In the pole vault it was Jan Johnson, Dan Ripley, Mike Tully and his coach, Dave Johnston, me, etc. So every event was stacked like that with coaches and I spent most of my time trying to learn how what they did could help me and my vaulters. Here’s what I learned;
87% of elite athletes say they take supplements “just in case they actually work”, or to “make sure the gaps are covered in whatever they may be deficient in”.
People mainly took their supplements when they were training but tended not to when they were off. So was the improvement due to consistent training or supplements.
There is no double blind proof that any supplement provides an athletic advantage. YES, higher levels of the vitamin were present in the blood and urine, yet performance did not change.
The ONLY legal supplement that provided a benefit was creatine monohydrate, which makes you retain water and increases bulk, and many times causes cramping. So there you have it. I eat regular food, don’t drink water or energy drinks during training, and take no vitamins of any type. Not very exciting and contrary to most thinking. Again, I’m just weird that way. Thanks for your support and have a great day! Bubba
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