Hey OPT,

I couldn't agree with you more about the resiliency and emotional toughness being a major player. However, I don't know if you're familiar with the CSORT (Computerized Special Operations Resiliency Test), but thus far, they've been unable to draw any usable data from it. Guys score a perfect on it and DOR during indoc, meanwhile, other guys can score a 1 on it and still be standing there on graduation day. There seems to be no correlation whatsoever based on preliminary data.

Want a bizarre correlation? It seems that blue eyes and the number of tattoos a trainee has are correlated to the odds of him finishing. I have absolutely no explanation for that, but I really wish I did.

I really like your observation about people who don't care or think about their hormones. I've often observed that the alpha males that I've worked with never obsess over the details. They just do what they do. Meanwhile, the guys fighting tooth and nail for that top spot, measuring out their food, taking their blood glucose after every meal, utilizing the emWave2, doing saliva testing, etc, their hormones are completely out of whack. But it's chicken or the egg since I can't possibly have data on them before they started tracking their data. I don't know if their obsession with their hormones and training causes the drop the sex hormones and spike in stress hormones, or if they were that way to begin with.

That being said though. I've seen some monsters who had horrible bloodwork, but still looked and performed like gorillas. I had a kid with a total T of 420 ng/dL squat 3x bodyweight, snatch 1.5x bodyweight, and still run a sub 18 minute 5K. His saliva cortisol was constantly depressed, suggesting later stages of adrenal fatigue.

As for the gust and stress combo, if you're not familiar with him, check out Col. Dave Grossman. He gave a lecture some time ago talking about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system in combat. Basically, when all hell breaks loose, your body says "forget about digestion!" And thus the bowels and bladder empty whatever contents they might be carrying, so that all of the body's energy and resources can be utilized for addressing the immediate threat.

I'm particularly interested in your HRV data from the OmegaWave. I've been using the emWave2 software, and I've yet to find any real correlations. Although.... I did notice that in using Phil Maffetone's MAF test, a drop in performance while maintaining the same heart rate was a very strong predictor of reduced thyroid function.

I'm really looking forward to talking with you both!

Thanks Mike! Email inbound!

Now, I NEVER want to make the comparison between athletic competition and combat. Only an ignoramus would do so. BUT, I will say that I do believe that an individual could psychologically work themselves up enough in a competition setting that they are near the level of the stress one might feel in a combat situation. Further, for veterans who have been in that combat situation, I believe that the body has a "memory" and they are capable of channeling that past energy and psychological state so that they are able almost "flip the switch" themselves between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

The human body is the most amazing thing in the world. I fully believe that we are able to adapt to stress in a manner where we can perform no matter our physical state. I've seen guys run on broken legs, climb with dislocated shoulders, and sprint with a torn achilles. Certainly we're capable of overcoming a less than optimal adrenal state. Just to keep my statement in perspective though, I believe that it is entirely a short term ability. Just like running on a broken leg or sprinting with a torn achilles. They can do it till the threat is over, and then they're laying on the ground screaming in pain. We can overcome our adrenal state while the threat is present, but what you really have to worry about is what is going to happen when that threat is gone.

I really hope to hear back from you on this, I rarely find anyone who is as interested in it as I am.

Hey Mike,
I'm new here, just stumbled across your blog. I think you have some really interesting ideas here and I'm very eager to see the results of your Adrenal Function data. This is a topic that has been of great interest to me, and I've done an extensive amount of work and research on it. You brought up some interesting points I'd like to discuss with you. Just some observations I'd like to share with you, and hopefully you'll get a chance to respond.

"There's a significant amount of adrenal dysfunction in high end athletes. Is this training induced, or pre-existing, and hindering the athlete, or both? Important questions."

I've noticed this in elite soldiers. Special operations members have classic adrenal dysfunction, reversed diurnal rhythm, low cortisol, low DHEA, low testosterone, high blood sugar, and yet they thrive. It's mind boggling. I've seen guys with pre diabetic blood sugar goes days without food and never have any energy issues, and then they still manage to perform well with tasks that would break the average person like carrying a 50 pound ruck over rough terrain for 50 miles in under 20 hours. It defies everything I've ever learned. However, it is my belief that it is training induced, and is actually an adaptation that they make to the stressors of their environment. I say this because some of these special operators were athletes of mine before going to Ranger School, BUD/S, BRC, BUD/S, etc, and they did not have the signs of adrenal dysfunction. Yet, after a few years of training, a handful of deployments, and the stress of combat as counter intuitive as it seems I believe that these are actually positive adaptations. They have no "off" switch, and therefore, when normal people have to accelerate from 0 to 60 in a fight or flight situation, these guys cruise at 45, so they're only going 45 to 60 and it makes them better at reacting to threats and unexpected situations. Is it healthy? Probably not. But is it keeping them alive in their line of work? Definitely. I don't believe it hinders their performance at all, but I do believe it decreases their longevity.

"Some athletes compensate VERY well; despite training load, hormones like DHEA, Progesterone, and Testosterone are all quite healthy."

I haven't seen this actually, I generally see guys in a hypogonadal state. Or at least, hypogonadal by my standards. I'll see guys who are 25 with a total testosterone of 450 ng/dL. Yet, they far out perform their "optimally gonadal" peers. It is my belief that we place far too much value in testosterone. Yes, it is important, but I've seen guys with T levels over 800 who had longer recovery times and lower response to training than guys who were at 400 total T. I'm not saying I know what it is, but I think there is another variable in this equation that is making all the difference. Athletes, well humans in general really, have an amazing ability to adapt to almost anything. That "compensation" as you point out is taking place constantly. I suspect that IGF-1 plays a large role in this, but I just don't have the quantity of bloodwork data to draw that inference.

Despite relatively clean diets, GI (gastro intestinal) issues are common---low GI melatonin, positive indican scores, and elevated nightime cortisol.

Again with the reversed diurnal rhythm. Low cortisol in the AM, high cortisol at night. Check out their sleep cycles though. They usually drop into delta phase sleep literally 10-15 minutes after falling asleep. It's like their body knows what it needs and goes straight for it. GI issues do seem extremely common though. I know alot of guys talk about taking a "combat dump" or getting "battle runs." I have to assume that it has something to do with the body switching back and forth between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Obviously, I can't really gain data on this since it would be completely impractical to be doing blood draws in the middle of a gun battle in some Afghan village, but I would imagine that their adrenals are pumping out as much aldosterone and adrenaline as they can, and once the threat is neutralized, the body goes into "repair" state and starts pumping out as much cortisol (the body's natural anti-inflammatory) as it can. I think this constant flip flopping between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system is the main driving force behind the GI issues. After all, when we go into "flight or fight" the last thing our body is worried about is how to digest last night's dinner.