Berberine- benefits and consequences?
I am 59 and have history of high lipids and high CAC, and CKD [egfr 56] a family thing. I listen to your podcasts regularly so I am convinced of the need to add muscle and strength train. With that comes the aim of longevity so controlling blood sugar and insulin resistance. I have found Berberine helpful. But does it negate muscle growth? If so can that be overcome by timing of the effective dose? I have seen some commentators state 'Berberine only affects the level of constitutive mTor, the basal level of mTOR. When you work out the level created is much higher than basal and Berberine won't stop this. I am not too sure but thought if I exercised in the afternoon and only took Berberine early a.m that may be okay. What are your latest thoughts?
Building a higher Zone 2 base before working in the 180-240 min weekly Zone 2 protocol
Dr., I'm an average fit 37 year old male. I've read your book as well as others and have listened to a plethora of podcast pertaining to the Z2 methodology. The research no doubt indicates that training Z2 for the large majority of your training is the way to go. I'm not training for anything specific, but i am modeling a centenarian olympics"protocol" for myself following your weekly prescription in your book. Currently i run or bike on a trainer for my zone 2 workouts. I use a garmin and a heart rate strap to get as accurate of a reading as possible and i am able regulate my breathing and effort to stay in my zone 2 with near 100% accuracy. Unfortunately my run pace at this zone is painfully slow (12-10:30 pace) and bike bike wattage isn't much better(150 watts). I base my zones off my lactate threshold which i have had measured 175 bpm. Zone 2 being 90% of my zone 2 putting me around 158bpm. I understand that heart rate can vary greatly based on sleep/alcohol intake etc. My first question is heart rate the best way to train? Or should i be training by zone 2 pace/power? My second question is would it be more beneficial in the long run to boost my ftp and VO2 max/LT along with my wattage/pace for a few months in hopes that my zone 2 wattage and running paces would increase more "respectable" numbers? I've trained 90% Z2 for the past year along with 4X4 VO2max training once a week and have seen little to no increase in my Z2 paces or wattages. I average approx 200mins weekly,but i don't feel that i could work in more volume with my schedule. In comparison i know the elite athletes train abundantly in Z2, but their Z2's are closer to my Z5! If by training in upper zones for the majority of my training for a few months would it boost my current zone 2 thresholds? If so, wouldnt this be more beneficial than inching a long in my current Z2? I have STRAVA data from several friends who are comparable in me to overall fitness. One of them is not a runner, but after reading your book, he has undertaken a similar "protocol" as me. However; he did not run by heart rate. He just went out and ran for time. At first his paces were even slower than mine and his heart rate was Z3-Z5 for the majority. As he continued throughout the months, his pace improved and his heart rate dropped. He is now running in %100 Z2 at paces far faster than mine. Is it possible that this upper zone training made his zone 2 faster? Or is he just a more efficient runner than me?