ACTN3 CC – Origins of a Sprinter?

History is cool. My parents passed away at a relatively early age when I was young so I never got to share with them the things about them that make me what I am. I remember them telling me little snippets of their lives and family stories. They were both athletic. I know my Dad played HS football, and my mom played softball for Galileo high school (our football rival in my days). But I do miss the opportunity to discuss these things with them now.

Socially and culturally we all know who we are. When people ask it is typically a pretty quick response, "I’m black… … from an inner-city… … parents are from the south… ...blah blah blah." But sometimes you may ask yourself "where did I originate… …who am I?"

So a couple years ago I had my DNA tested so I could learn more about my past. The largest portion of my ancestry was 48% West African (68% Sub-Saharan African total), Wahoo! That was followed by 26% European, and 4 % East Asian and Native American. Cool huh?

One of the most interesting findings was that I have two copies of the alpha-actinin-3 gene (CC) which produce protein which means I have one type of fast-twitch muscle fiber. This means my fast-twitch muscles (white muscle fibers) have a very efficient metabolism and require less oxygen for energy production.

Studies of elite sprint athletes show that they have at least one copy of this gene. Absence of two of these genes is an advantage for endurance athletes which allow their muscles to rely on efficient oxygen consumption.  

Now that is just the genetic side of the coin. Environment can then determine the other 40-60% of your abilities. So in an effort to embrace my past I felt compelled to give sprinting a try. Hence, my current quest… …three years to see what is possible.  That is how I am currently choosing to connect with my past.

Belly fat

While I'm in the general physical preparation phase of training I can't help but think about the difficulty of getting the weight down.

My BMI is 27 and I would like to get it down to 24 by the time I get to competition.
That would require me to lose 23 lbs! (or grow to 6'4" - daaah! that's not it.).
Whew, can't imagine what 178 pounds will feel like again.
Timing will be crucial because I don't know how maintenance would effect my competition training.

The training I have down, now it's going to be experimenting with the proper diet.
The challenge is to maintain the muscle and lose only fat. So I will need sufficient protein and fat, but watch my timing on the carbs.

According to my food journal, it's not a quantity problem but a quality problem.
More natural foods; fresh vegetables, and home cooked meals. Keep an eye on the sugars.

Some stats... ...not great but promising

 

Some stats as of December 2013

• 100m               13.77s (14.7s 11/9/13)
• Flying 60m      *7.81s
• Flying 30m      *4.08s
• 30m                 4.46s
• 10m                 2.31s
• Standing long jump     2.6m
• 3,5,10 bounds             6.1m, 11.3m, 22m
• Vertical jump              71cm (excellent!)

*definitely did not give myself enough room to accelerate, nor enough recovery time in between... ...I was nervous about my car getting towed.

I am positive I can make great improvements on these just through fitness and then learning the proper form.

Phase 1: General fitness

Running and resistance training.
I am currently working on getting my 3 mile pace down from 10 to 8 min/mi.
This is a challenge for me because I hate running distance (most distance runners probably would consider 5km a sprint more than distance).

When I did a decent amount of distance work last year I got down to about 9:30 pace
for 3 miles, and about 9:45 for longer runs.

I'm doing OK for resistance training, and have been taking it easier in the winter.
Bench and squat 245
Deadlift 275
Press 115
Thrust 225
Power clean 155


It would be sufficient to do about 1.5 bodyweight of each with the exception of the last two lifts.
Getting the press to about 155, clean 185, and the thrust to 275 would be good enough.
This December I did get the pistol squat for my left (power) leg, 2 rep max. Still working on
the right leg.


I started a food journal in December, and my intake is about 1900-2700 calories, which is probably too low considering the resistance training. So I have decided to ease up on the worrying about how much I eat and concentrate on strength, power, and conditioning.

 Supplement of the month: ZMA-5, which is just zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B worked well for me. It is intended to increase testosterone levels and improve sleep. I can definitely attest to the improved sleep, but can only hope the testosterone increased??

Trying soy whey for the first time. I typically do regular whey protein, and recently tried the casein whey which has the slow release system. Did not notice any difference with the casein, but the soy is supposed to help with cholesterol.

Awefully Green Thumb

Well it's been really nice lately. It feels great to get the kids out of the house and play.

I finally planted my bulbs last week and already we can see signs of life.
My strawberry bulbs are trying to stretch out of the dirt. Even though they will blossom, they won't bear any fruit until next year. So it will be a good lesson for kids about time... ...and how it differs for humans, animals, and plants.


Even our tree has blossomed.

Nice day to work on the garden

Finally, we had a couple nice days.

I decided to fix my low maintenance garden in the front of my house.

I'm embarrassed to post a before pic... ... put it this way... there were some perrenials (or fancy weeds).

Mya's preschool sold flower/fruit bulbs for a fundraiser. I bought about thirty.

Now I have to figure out how/when/where to plant them.

It's an understatement to say that I don't know a damn thing about gardening. I grew up in the inner-city San Francisco where probably 50% of the residents consider concrete as a perfectly good substitute for grass... ...absolutely low maintenance.

The closest I came to gardening is cleaning up the dog's mess in the planter box in the backyard.

I'm the typical 'grass lawn runs straight into the wall of the house' guy.

Well today, I just got out there and pulled weeds and removed 3 years of mulch and bark chips. I'm guessing flowers will need some type of enriched soil. Damn... ...$$$. It's not that I'm cheap... ... I just tend to over spend. I typically buy the wrong thing first then figure out what I should have bought and then go buy the right thing.

Well there's a 5' x 12', 8" deep hole in my yard... ... and it's going to stay that way because I didn't bother to check the news, apparently we are going to have another cold snap this week, they call it an 'onion freeze' or something like that.

Huhhh.... ...I'm always trying to skate up hill... ...that's my flow.

Snaps from the "Hive"

Some pics of the characters buzzing around the "hive".



Goose and the kids
Mya, and her pre-school crafted headband.















Tre, big brother.

aka "the boy".
D.D. (Jr.) aka "the boy".

He's rich with nicknames.