December 2021

What I’m thinking about this month:

• DFA alpha1 and VT1 - I mentioned last newsletter that I was experimenting with using the Fatmaxxer app to monitor my DFA a1. I use this during my indoor training sessions. My first question was whether DFAa1 would cross below 0.75 at around the top of my Zone 2 (137 BPM, determined by algo & by gas-exchange testing), which theoretically it should since that’s Ventilatory Threshold 1, where you transition to burning carbs, not fat. So far I’m finding that a1 stays above .75 up to about 142-145 BPM, which means I can perhaps push up my Zone 2 if I want to maximize fat oxidation on my endurance rides. I’m going to continue testing this.

  • A New Detection Method Defining the Aerobic Threshold for Endurance Exercise and Training Prescription Based on Fractal Correlation Properties of Heart Rate Variability

• While we are on the topic of performance at various thresholds, this caught my eye, as fish oil is one of the key supplements in my health arsenal and is a good source of DHA.

• Ketones - I got some of the new HVMN 2.0 (warning, it does not taste good but the dose is small, basically a shot) and a Keto-Mojo meter to measure the impact directly. So many interesting angles to how this relatively new supplement (which simply mimics an energy source your body already produces) may support health goals. I’m more interested in focus / work productivity and steady state endurance performance, but there are others.

• Crypto - rough end to the year, that’s for sure. Helps to have a long time horizon (mine’s 10-20 years). I’ve been diversifying into segments beyond my core BTC & ETH holdings and the metaverse is one area I’ve looked more at. I was skeptical of this buzzword as it is really a new label on something already in use every day. For example, Zwift is a “metaverse” - a virtual world where you interact with people (riders) and places (routes) and things (your bike, aero wheels, etc.). Once I understood the degree to which metaverse was already in use and generating revenue I started putting more into a few blockchain based projects. Why blockchain based technologies? I think distributing and decentralizing are key themes of the next 20-40 years and the blockchain is an enabler of that. A few projects I’ve bought into (by ticker symbol) are MANA, SAND, WILD, and ENJ. Here’s a simple way to find more projects in this space. At the risk of stating the obvious, this is not investment advice, DYOR, etc. etc.

• I got some new weights and have been able to get back to doing RDL’s - Romanian Dead Lifts. They have been tested and shown to be one of 2 optimal exercises for hamstring activation. These are one of the staples in my leg / posterior chain routine.

  • Muscle activation during various hamstring exercises

  • The Landmine RDL - this is how I do them.

• The best synopsis I’ve yet read on the role of Vitamin D in COVID prevention / treatment, and one of several reasons I’ve never been in a hurry to get vaccinated (the definition of which is WIP anyways):

  • Vitamin D and COVID-19: The Current State of the Evidence

  • A more recent article, even more compelling, that didn’t make the above summary: COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 

  • If you want to measure your levels here’s the service I use. I’ve been testing 2-4x / year for several years, and it’s been very impactful in my health journey.

• Snow record at Tahoe for December. Woohoo!

From the parking lot of the IBM Research center, looking east toward Mt. Hamilton: