Dear Mark: Body Composition Through the Years
I got this email from a reader a couple months ago and was reminded of it when I stumbled across some old race photos recently.
Dear Mark,
I saw your photo on your blog post called Washboard Abs on a High-Fat Diet, No Ab Workouts and No Cardio and it got me wondering what you looked like as an endurance athlete when you were younger. Did you look like a typical long distance runner with hardly any muscle mass to speak of? You’ve noted that you used to eat a high-carb diet. How, if at all, do you think this played into your body composition at the time? Also, do you have any photos to share?!
Pat G.
Then my friend, blogger-cartoonist Enrique Gonzales (with whom I have had a few philosophical discussions as to “why be fit?”), asked this:
Dear Mark,
Did you at any time in your life ever up your calorie intake to get bigger? Since you were a marathon runner, I am guessing that you were not very large. Was it a clean bulk or did you simply adopt a primal-esque diet as the muscle slowly packed on? Also, what advice would you give to scrawny guys that wish to have nothing more than a light athletic build like Bruce Lee or Zac Efron?
In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking more into the question of just what constitutes “ideal body composition.” It’s a broad philosophical discussion that often pits genetics against lifestyle, body-building against functional strength, and even health against fitness. I thought today I might open by using the above questions to analyze my own changes over the years and explain how I got to where I am today.
I was a distance runner from the age of 13 until about 28. During that time, I had a typical high-carb diet (1000+ grams of carbs most days) which I burned off every day. Even though I also consumed large amounts of protein and I lifted weights as part of my training, I just couldn’t keep much upper body mass. Chronic cardio does that; it’s catabolic and sugar-driven. The signals I gave my genes from running 70-100 miles a week created the body-composition I wound up with. I raced at 142 pounds (actually a little heavy for a 5’10″ marathoner) and 7% body fat, but was still over twenty pounds lighter than I am today. For grins, here’s a picture of me finishing the Boston Marathon in 1974. Typical body-type of a marathoner, but very lacking in muscle mass.
A series of classic overuse injuries forced me to retire from running at the elite level in 1980 and I found myself doing triathlons for a few years. I raced Ironman Hawaii (4th place overall in 1982) at 152 pounds. Running less, but swimming and cycling more allowed me to put ten more pounds of muscle on my legs, chest and shoulders (different gene signals). I was still at 7-8% body fat then, and I still needed tons of carbs (mostly from grains) to fuel the beast. Here’s a Runner’s World cover I did in 1986 at that weight. A little more upper body, but still not much.
I retired from all competition after I won my age-group in the 1988 Desert Princess Duathlon World Championships. My wife Carrie and I were about to get married. She and I had met at a gym so I knew she was into fitness. We did a photo shoot for Triathlete Magazine in January 1989 – almost 20 years ago to the day. Sorry about the neon Speedo – it was the 80’s.
Shortly thereafter, I completely revamped both my eating style and my exercise style. I cut way back on cardio and increased the intensity of my strength-training (as did Carrie). I also cut way back on carbs and increased protein and fat. Eventually I eliminated grains altogether (as has Carrie). Here we are last year in Cabo – nearly twenty years later. She won’t mind my saying that she’s now 53, and I’m 55 (52 and 54 in the photo below). Based on the gene signals (I call it “gene reprogramming” in the book) we have been generating from our diet and exercise styles, we are both at the same or lower body fat than we were 20 years ago when we were both doing far more cardio and both eating the Conventional Wisdom high-complex-carb diet! Today I weigh 164 and still carry around 8% body fat, so I have maybe 16 pounds more muscle than I did when I was a marathoner.
I have tried on several occasions to increase my muscle mass through a focused program of more intense weight-training and more copius eating. But I’m what we call a “hardgainer”. The most I was ever able to weigh was 169. That extra five pounds of muscle was not only difficult to achieve (and still keep body fat low) it was almost impossible to retain. I had to eat way more (and more often) than I intuitively wanted to and couldn’t skip more than a few hard workouts or I’d start to lose the muscle. I also couldn’t play hard without burning it up. I realized that this was a totally non-Primal pursuit.
The Primal Blueprint is about finding your own personal optimum body composition by eating and moving like Grok. It’s about functional strength and power-to-weight ratios – not excessive body fat, but also not excessive and “expensive to maintain” muscles. It’s about arriving at a comfortable lean mass that reflects the signals you have given your genes. In my case, at 55 years old, I just want to have fun, be able to move well and stay healthy. I said when I turned 40 that “I no longer want to be fit. I just want to look fit.” But the reality is that I work out now mostly to be able to play. I stay flexible enough to play golf (OK, not well). I sprint once a week and do leg work to be able to snowboard five days in a row or to dash for the long bomb in my weekend Ultimate Frisbee games. I do upper body work to be able to go out for two hours on a stand-up paddle surfboard. I hike because it’s play (not work), but if I decide to start running a trail, I can. So, I guess I am fit.
There’s another important consideration. I don’t want to get injured. Trying to pack on extra muscles that supersede your ideal body composition can invite injury. Muscles don’t get bigger unless you add more stress. It takes a lot more work for someone like me, who’s already been lifting “heavy” for 30 years to start upping it a notch. I hit a personal record on the bench press two years ago and am still paying for it with a rotator cuff issue. From here on in, I don’t want to have to sit on the sideline.
Finally, from a health and longevity perspective, the less I can eat and still maintain functional composition (Primal Fitness) the better. Because my high-fat, moderate protein, low carb diet has the effect of decreasing hunger and appetite, I naturally eat less than I would have in the old carb days. But since I also don’t work out as much, I maintain the muscle mass I do have on what many might consider a Spartan diet. Of course, the only “proven” strategy for increased lifespan is calorie-restriction, so that’s an added benefit of going for the Bruce Lee look versus the Hulk Hogan look. It just feels better.
Here are a few more pics to illustrate my changes in body composition through the years as they relate to the various signals I have sent my genes. A few are from this year’s trip to Cabo – almost 20 years to the day from the date the Triathlete Magazine photo above was taken. (You may need to scroll down the page a bit to view the enlarged version.)
Further Reading:
Dear Mark: Healthy Body Weight?
A Primal Blueprint Sample Menu
Dear Mark: Weightlifting Weary
Subscribe to Mark’s Daily Apple feeds
Posted By: Mark Sisson
You looked good too when you were a triathlete. So I think you are not that good exmple for the fact that endurance sports and high carb diet is bad for our health or leastwise for our look. But I do understand that you feel fitter in these primal days.
Fantastic post. I HATE exercise, but love to move when it is associated with something fun. It just makes you feel good to be playing soccer, hiking, or doing other fun things with your kids. The problem is…right now I’m too out of shape to do it! So, now I can focus on some primal changes…like the sprints (which take up so much less time) and weights (which I don’t mind) and the dietary changes and look forward to the body of a 53 year old!
Oh, and I would love to hear from Carrie, too.
Dear Mark,
In your blog I often see you mention that our genes change and signal something when we exercise. I trust that these events probably often happen, though I don’t know when and how they happen. I have no knowledge of processes on that molecular level, and I don’t see how I could use the fact that my genes possibly change along the way. You don’t give me any clue either. As far as I could see, our awareness of gene signals and changes produced no useful idea or tool for our practice of exercise and training. We exercise the body, so the body adapts by improving strength and endurance. That is really important and useful knowledge, and we can see and measure the changes in our body.
Such adaptation of the body has always been the response to exercise and training. It was a complete picture long before we learned from the scientists that there are also genes involved. If I am not a researcher in biochemistry, I cannot see or measure how our genes signal or change. My question then is this: why even bring up the genes into our picture of exercise, when we cannot get any practical gain from that information at the present state of science? I feel that talking often about gene adaptation in such casual manner is kind of useless guesswork and a distraction. But I hope you have your reason.
Best Regards
Alex
Hi, just wondering why Carrie doesn’t eat grass fed and finished beef???thanks
Alex – You may be new here so I’ll point you to the various articles we’ve done on gene expression. Hopefully they will answer all of your questions:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forging-your-own-genetic-destiny/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/control-lifestyle-genes/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/epigenetics-and-depression/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/metabolic-fingerprinting/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gene-expression-2/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/genetic-expression-geography/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/control-gene-expression/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gene-expression/
Let me know if this doesn’t clear up any confusion that may exist.
Cheers!
Mark,
Great post! You look fantastic for a 35-year old (wink). Your wife does too. Much respect for leading by example!
Hi Mark,
I read all the referenced posts about genes you gave me, and it was a waste of time.
I’m all for the healthy lifestyle you promote, and I happily practice it. As for our genes, I’ve got it that the genes do not necessarily define our destiny, we have a good chance to influence our fate by our lifestyle. OK, that is clear, and that is about all that makes sense to me.
The rest is useless guesswork because we cannot get any practical gain from gene information at the present state of science. This science probably holds good potential to uncover mechanics of gene identification, control and influence on our health in the future. There is some room for fantasy there, but that should not be all fantasy all the time.
Bonny also commented on January 12, 2009 at http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forging-your-own-genetic-destiny/ that “the mechanisms controlling gene expression are unknown. Truth be told, scientists look at changes in gene expressions and can make little sense of them beyond a few unexplained patterns and correlations.” She obviously knows it as she works in that field.
Cheers,
Alex
Hi Mark
Firstly, you and Carrie look amazing! I bet you feel that way too. I’ve been reading almonst daily your blog for a few months now and love it! Everything just makes so much more sense now. I have mostly been following it for that time as well. I feel alot better, but I want to loose 10lbs and 6%bf. I am 5’4″ 130. My thought is to really strictly adhere to a ketogenic diet for 8 weeks ish(re-evaluate at that point) Am I correct saying that would be to keep it under 50g carbs/day? I am also doing TT, and enjoy it and HIIT and the odd tabata sprint session…. (at least thats the plan. I’ve done it for about a week.) I would love your input and knowledge to help me out on my goal. I would like it to happen pretty quickly:)
Also, what does Carrie’s workouts and diet look like?
Thank you ever so much! I am so glad I found your site, I plan on buying a copy of your book for everyone I’ve told about your blog.
All the best!
-Alecia
Alex, sorry you feel the references were a “waste of time” and understanding gene expression is “useless”. The book will explain all this in detail. I guess I missed Bonnie’s comments earlier as well. She suggests that there is no “good” or “bad” gene expression; and she is correct. Genes don’t know or care when they switch on or off. They simply respond to the signals they are given by other genes or by chemical signals in their immediate environment. Type 2 diabetes happens when some specific genes are desperately responding to a chronic excess of toxic sugar in your bloodstream. They don’t know or care that you get sick in the long term because they are only responding in the short term (to keep you alive or to try to maintain homeostasis). Autoimmune dieases are the result of genes associated with your immune function over-reacting to perceived threats (which may or may not be real). Mesenchymal stem cells “decide” to become fat cells or muscle cells or bone cells depending on signals you (through your diet and/or other behavior) send the genes that are involved in their maturation or transformation. When I talk about “good” or “bad” gene expression, I have “anthropomorphosized” the discussion with an understanding that my readers get what I mean by good and bad – that some gene direction is favorable to health, longevity, fitness, etc and that some is not.
Genes are being switched on (or not) every second of every day of your life. You reference working out. Your workout choices most assuredly direct which genes invloved in muscle growth, energy production, bone density, etc get switched on (or not). That’s why marathoners look different from body-builders. It’s not magic. It all comes down to the signals generated by YOUR choice of activity (as well as your choice of what you eat in fueling that activity). Genes respond to everything we do. Not all, of course, but many more than most people could ever imagine. That’s the personal power that we wield and what we at MDA find so fascinating.
Mark,
If this post alone doesn’t help people to try the Blueprint or buy your book, I don’t know what will! Fantastic stuff (well….minus the speedo). People love to see real changes and you certainly are a shinning example. This post should be the cover of your book….but only if you can PhotoShop some Hawaiian shorts on that old picture.
Mike OD
Dear Mark,
I suggest whenever you want to mention genes in your post, and speculate about genes’ promise and magic to influence our health, it is fitting to ask “How is it going to help the readers in their pursuit of better health and fitness?” Then you will find that in the majority of cases such science fiction about genes is not going to help anybody at the present state of science. You will find that it wouldn’t produce a practical idea or method for improving either health or fitness. I believe that such ‘dreaming’ changes the focus from practical to abstract, and often it is a distraction.
You manage to improve your health and fitness without knowing exactly what happens to your genes. Today it is the only practical way to go. Talking about genes’ magic and power can fool some people into waiting for information from their genes that would help them in some way. But we get good results by acting today, not by waiting for this science to develop tomorrow.
All the best
Alex
Alex, it would appear from your tone that you haven’t read much on this site. I guess that’s the problem with a blog that has over 1300 posts and then someone discovers it and only reads a few recent articles. In fact, every post I do is contemplated to address the question: “how is it going to help the readers in their pursuit of better health and fitness?”
Information about genes is no longer “science fiction” as you put it. Thousands of papers describe how specific genes react to specific signals from the environment. It’s the most exciting area of biology today. This information can indeed help provide very specific methods “for improving health or fitness.” When I work out or when I dine, I have a very clear picture of what’s happening with gene expression and there is nothing “magic” about it. As I say here all the time, it’s always about acting today and NOT waiting for some information about a SNP or variant (or the development of a new drug based on that SNP) that might give the reader an excuse not to take action. I honestly don’t know where you get that I’m “fooling people into waiting” for anything.
I’m also not sure what science background, if any, you have, but I would recommend reading these books: The Agile Gene, The Dependent Gene, and The Biology of Belief – as a good starting point. Read them and you will perhaps start to get excited about what we DO know and the power we have to elicit particular gene responses…or else you could go about your life simply assuming that you have no say in the matter, as many billions have done and still do.
Hello Mark,
You said “When I work out or when I dine, I have a very clear picture of what’s happening with gene expression and there is nothing “magic” about it”. Would you please give us one example of practical method or idea implemented in a lifestyle that derived from specific information about the genes. Something that helped improve health or fitness, and no old method would work. Having “clear picture of what’s happening with gene expression” sounds to me as creating mental images rather than using genetic data. Maybe my skepticism comes from reading this fancy concept of gene expression romanticized and repeated too many times. I want an example of data where this concept was successfully applied, and no old method would work.
I trust more the early sobering words of Bonny: “the mechanisms controlling gene expression are unknown. Truth be told, scientists look at changes in gene expressions and can make little sense of them beyond a few unexplained patterns and correlations.”
Cheers,
Alex
I wish I could find a woman who got better looking as she got older people tended to overrestimate my age when I was younger and now tend to underrestimate it so I must be doing something right. But you two look to be doing *everything* right
Trinkwasser, thanks. I don’t know about “everything” but we certainly do our best to apply the information we’ve gathered, and in a way that is fun and playful.
I have trained for two Ironmans, but I’m now starting not to enjoy the extended training time, plus I don’t really like swimming! I am now going to focus on some shorter races and start doing some more high intensity sprints and tabatas, etc. I have fat just beneath my navel that refuses to budge, so I’m hopeful this new approach will allow me to bust through a plateau I have had for the past three-four years. Hopefully, my genes will get the message! Thanks again for all of your advice via this blog!
Standard body weight scales provide a measure of total weight, but don’t determine the lean-to-fat ratio of that weight. Standing on most scales can tell you only if you weigh more than the average person, but not if that weight is fat or muscle. Based only on scale weight, a 250 pound athlete with 8% body fat may be considered “overweight” by a typical weight chart. Such charts are not a good indications of ideal body weight for general health or for athletic performance.
Bear in mind that bone mass plays an important role in determining ones actual BMI. A good approach is to determine if they are small, medium or large boned if equipment is not available.
Wonderful site, and such a sincere following. Kudos to you.
Mark,
I am just now discovering your diet and want to know: How will this diet protect me from a history of serious prostate cancer in my family? Thanks, P
I know one site who will help you and give this type of services.
I suggest you should try or visit this site.
I am saying this because I have also used this site.
A report in the media states that a specific diet will protect individuals from cancer. However, no data are reported to support this statement. Is this statement a hypothesis or a conclusion?
body composition scans
I just started training for my first triathlon. I dropped a lot of weight right away due to the increased exercise and more conscientious eating. I’ve hit a barrier now though, will this diet help me drop these last 15 pounds?
These are some really great pictures. It is so important to be active and to stay healthy. These pictures show that at any age you can stay healthy and look great.