C6 Tuesday, August 6, 2013
FITNESS & WELL-BEING
Eggshell membrane offers joint pain relief ........................... Sunory Dutt life@scmp.com
Corporate executives are competing in some of the world’s toughest endurance events to prove their mettle, writes Rachel Jacqueline
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unning in the desert in summer would be unthinkable for most people, but not for Clive Saffery. He has run Badwater five times, a gruelling 217-kilometre ultramarathon through Death Valley, California, in temperatures so hot that the soles of his shoes melted. As if not challenging enough, he juggled training for the race while holding an equally challenging full-time job as chief executive of Swire Beverages for the mainland and Hong Kong. Saffery, who is now retired, is one of a new generation of Hong Kong executives performing impressive feats of endurance in their limited spare time. They comprise the bulk of participants at endurance running events held by Action Asia Events, says race director Michael Maddess. More than 19 per cent of participants last year were chief executives or managing directors, with another 32 per cent in managerial positions. More than 17 per cent earned more than HK$200,000 a month. The rate is even higher for Hong Kong-based race organiser RacingThePlanet, which holds seven-day, 250-kilometre-long desert marathons. More than half of those taking part are employed at a senior management level. Most people struggle to find the time or energy to work out at all. Just how do these corporate athletes do it? Their true strength, it seems, lies in the mind. “These events are just as mental as they are physical,” says Samantha Fanshawe, vice-president of RacingThePlanet. Military discipline and doggedness is also required. Ted Kennedy, founder of CEO Challenges, who organises the World’s Fittest CEO Challenge each year, says there are marked similarities among participants. “Apart from being disciplined and driven, they’re all extremely competitive – even if they tell you they’re not. “Most of them have some athletic talent that they put aside to focus on their career early on … and now they have more time and enough money to pay for experiences that money can’t buy.” More than 600 CEOs have taken part in the CEO Challenge since the company was established eight years ago, Kennedy says, with at least half coming back for more each year. For Saffery, 58, the motivation is far more fundamental. “It was the sheer insanity of it,” he says of his 40-hour-plus sojourns through the desert, which he successfully finished three times. “It brings you to the very limits of what the body can handle.” It is also a way – albeit a brutal one – to survive the corporate world. “I was in a
Olaf Kasten (left) and Kirsty Boazman (below) both do high-intensity workouts despite their hectic schedule. Photos: Warton Li, Paul Yeung
It takes a special type of person to do what they do. A-types have to be No 1 LAURA WALSH, COUNSELLOR
Ted Kennedy (right) founded CEO Challenges. Photo: Dragos Dorobantu
ruthlessly competitive business based on daily targets, and training for a big race had many similarities,” Saffery says. “No matter what you did last week, last month or even yesterday, you have to go out and do it all again today. “[The training] gave me a great opportunity to think about the business with a clear head. … On many occasions I’d deliberately set out on a run to not just achieve my training goals but also to learn at least one thing about my business.” Battling on the bike, in the swim and on the run has better prepared Ironman Olaf Kasten, 40, for professional life. “There is always something that can go wrong. How quickly you can recover, move on and set your next goal, and how you deal with it, will play a big part in how successful you will be,” he says. Kasten was the first amateur triathlete to cross the finish line at this year’s Melbourne Ironman. At the same time, he was just establishing an executive coaching business after leaving his position as head of trading at one of Hong Kong’s big banks. Achieving his goal was, and continues to be, a matter of prioritising, consistency and
flexibility. Waking up before sunrise several days a week, Kasten allocates a large part of his week to training – reaping impressive results. “But this is true in business and in sports,” he says. In fact, the qualities found in these top executives are also those found in top athletes, says Hong Kong Sports Institute sports psychology officer Henry Li. The business elite demonstrate resilience, mental toughness and high stress tolerance in the office every day. “It is this kind of mentality that is very similar to competitor athletes, particularly in endurance sport,” he says. Kirsty Boazman, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, believes endurance sports have been the driving force behind her successful career. “My physical fitness is directly linked to my mental agility and emotional wellbeing,” she says. “I’ve always found greater creativity when on a running machine than sitting at a desk.” Boazman paddled with the first Hong Kong women’s crew in one of the world’s longest canoe races from Molokai to Oahu island in Hawaii in 2011. She travels to Hungary later this month with the Australian team to take part in the World Championships. Sacrifices are necessary: sleep, social lives and, often, time with family. To prepare for Badwater, Saffery would wake before dawn to squeeze in two hours of heat training in a sauna before heading to work. During weekends, he would do back-toback runs to chalk up the miles. These days, Kasten takes Wednesday and Friday mornings off for up to five hours
Clive Saffery (above) on the Black’s Link trail. Photo: Dickson Lee
of training each day, as well as shorter efforts on other days. But even with a full-time job back then, he was training up to 15 hours a week. Sports psychology counsellor Laura Walsh says these corporate athletes have an unwavering drive to succeed. “It takes a special type of person, what they term an A-type, to do what they do. A-types have to be No 1, and they’ll make the sacrifices they need to get there.” Extreme challenges of endurance allow these motivated corporate types to “reach a type of physical limit they cannot feel while sitting in their office chair”, Li says. Put simply, endurance is the final piece of the jigsaw that makes them feel more alive. Often missing from their regime, however, is recovery and rest. This may cause fatigue and affect motivation in both their athletic and professional lives, says Walsh. But the athletes insist it’s worth it. Training for and participating in such tests of endurance brings out the best in themselves – and others. Running a marathon in the North Pole brought together the Convoy Financial Group corporate community, according to company chairman Quincy Wong Lee-man. In April this year, a team of five colleagues, including Wong, travelled to the stark, wintry desert to compete in the annual marathon. The team battled minus 30-degree Celsius wind chill on rugged snow tracks that made the distance almost impossible. “The event built our trust in one another and we all learned a lot,” says Wong, who would train with his colleagues in a freezer to prepare for the challenge. “I am impressed by my teammates.” Ultimately, being part of this new business elite is about making choices, Boazman believes. “Frankly, many of us seek imbalance,” she says. “We are happiest when there is an overload or a tipping of the scales in favour of one part of our lives. “Everyone chooses what goes into their day and, at the moment, I enjoy putting a larger than normal physical element into my day … A fit employee is usually a dedicated one.” life@scmp.com
cartilage health and recovery, there has been no research conducted by third-party medical centres or universities to prove that it’s more effective than conventional drugs or food supplements in easing joint problems,” he says. “The therapeutic concentration has to be identified by clinical trial.” Eggshell membrane may be a rich and cheap source of these nutrients and readily available from eggshell waste products, but one should bear in mind that it is not the only natural source of nutrients for joints. Chung cites the example of traditional Chinese medicine food therapy that advocates chicken feet, pig knuckle, sea cucumber, cow’s tendon and fish maw as joint protection foods. All these foods naturally contain hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen and amino acids as building blocks for connective tissues and cartilage. Also, these nutrients are not necessarily absorbed intact and, depending on the individual, the body may not fully utilise these nutrients as cartilage building blocks for joint recovery. Supplementation is to ensure sufficient levels of nutrients for joint recovery. “Also, due to the recent avian
The egg, both its yolk and white, is well known to be a nutritional powerhouse of protein, vitamins and minerals. But an almost invisible part of the egg – the membrane, the protective layer lining the inside of the shell – has lately attracted attention for its strength and durability. Scientists have found that the eggshell membrane is a completely natural source of many nutrients, such as hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen and amino acids that play a vital role in providing relief from joint pain, stiffness and connective tissue disorders. Extracts from the membrane may also lessen the symptoms of osteoarthritis. It reportedly encapsulates a concentrated source of calcium that is more readily absorbed by the body compared with standard sources of calcium, and provides relief from joint pain. The benefits of these ingredients are lost once the egg is cooked. But a proprietary process carefully extracts the delicate membrane within minutes of cracking, so it can be purified into nutraceuticals. According to results of a trial conducted by the National Osteoporosis Foundation, a daily supplement of 500 milligrams of eggshell membrane taken over 10 days was found to not only reduce joint pain, but also stiffness. In another study published in the RAYMOND CHUNG, NUTRITIONIST Clinical Interventions in Aging journal, patients who took 500mg of natural eggshell membrane for 30 days were completely free of pain at the end of trial. flu issue, if the extraction US-based supplier of method cannot ensure the commercialised eggshells extract is free from avian flu virus ESM Technologies has contamination, it can be a developed a method to potential route for infection,” separate eggshell membrane says Chung. from eggshells to produce Degenerative joint disease is 100 per cent pure natural extremely common, with the eggshell membrane powder. knee and hip frequently affected. A pilot study done in 2009 People have a number of showed that the powder is a options in treating this problem, possible new effective and safe with evidence supporting therapeutic option for the strengthening of the muscles treatment of pain and around the affected joint and inflexibility associated with joint weight loss for those individuals and connective tissue disorders. It also showed that significant who are overweight. Can nutritional supplements, proportions of treated patients might be helped considerably by such as glucosamine and eggshell membrane, help? the supplement. Another “While many people take preliminary study in 2009 showed the powder significantly glucosamine [and] chondroitin, there is poor evidence that these reduced both joint pain and supplements improve patient stiffness, compared with a symptoms greater than a placebo, in osteoarthritis placebo,” says Dr Bradley Graw, of the knee. However, more intensive and orthopaedic surgeon at Sports, Orthopedic And Rehabilitation long-term studies need to be carried out before the benefits of Medicine Associates Clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area. eggshell membrane can be “There is a low incidence confirmed, says Dr Kong Siuof side effects, however, so wah, specialist in orthopaedics if my patients do not have and traumatology at Matilda kidney problems, I do not International Hospital. dissuade them from taking “Natural eggshell membrane these supplements.” is still not a popular supplement Graw reminds his patients for osteoarthritis treatment in that not all supplements are Hong Kong. So I can’t make a conclusion on whether it is really made in the same way and that regulations do mandate the beneficial,” says Kong. assessment of the quality or Raymond Chung Tsz-man, concentration of active nutritionist at Albert Place Practice and Mineralysis, agrees. ingredients – eggshell membrane included. “Although eggshell membrane naturally contains hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, chondroitin and collagen, which are important nutrients for
No third-party research has proved eggshell membrane is more effective than conventional drugs or supplements