Thread Performance review: Going from dad bod to Father Figure

USA Today

4 days ago

As I get older, I can relate much more with the non-Frank Thomas characters in all those Frank Thomas commercials. I'm a dad in my 40s. Fitness is no longer a side effect but something that has to be planned. Gravity appears to have found an extra gear. Things are slower. Weight that comes on, stays on.
This was has been on full display the past two NFL seasons. The rigors of coverage lend to stress eating and limited gym time. Factor in Wisconsin winters and right around the Super Bowl is when my weight peaks each year.
The theory of my fitness is an easy one. Do I want to feel good in a bad way (powering through a full bag of Doritos and drinking six beers on a Saturday)? Do I want to feel bad in a good way (sore and eating chicken, beans and rice most nights)? I'm never going to live one way without the other for more than a little while, but I can lean toward the latter in long stretches to keep my body from falling into disrepair.
Thus, spring turns into a rebuilding mode. This year, I had help. Thread Performance sent along a 30-day Performance Bundle consisting of its Daily Fuel, Edge and Strength supplements -- a combination of proteins and nutrients that, combined with a return to the weights and trails, promised at least a slightly less disappointing body. 2XU sent along some compression tights for running and other workouts as Madison slowly emerged from its winter slumber.
The goal was simple. Six days of supplements per week. Six workouts -- three weights, three cardio -- per week for five weeks. All the while, I'd be eating more responsibly, but not cutting out the easiest shortcut to losing my unwanted gut. Giving up beers (and other alcohol) would shed probably 1,000-plus calories from my weekly budget. But this was the home stretch of college basketball season and my desire to crush beers (reasonably and responsibly) while Vanderbilt crashed out of the NCAA Tournament was more appealing than dropping a few extra pounds in that month-plus.
I started this journey at 171.5 pounds. My body fat, per a not-especially-reliable scale, was about 23.1 percent. Ideally I'd like to get that down to 160 and 18, but that's more work than I'm willing to put in. For five weeks I'd be happy with a modest drop in either category. I thought about taking a before/after photo here for you, then decided that would be weird.
The pack has everything I need for a month of muscle building, fat-shrinking prosperity. Thirty individual packets of Daily Fuel, a vanilla-flavored protein powder (21 grams) with "25 organic superfoods" that promises vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Sixty capsules of Daily Strength, a patented "muscle accelerator blend" called RIPFACTOR that I cannot say without sounding like I'm about to tell you about an upcoming monster truck show (it contains 500 mg of organic beet root powder, as well). Thirty capsules of Daily Edge, which is mostly minerals (iron, zinc, copper) mixed with another beet root base.
I... have concerns. But I am also out of shape and lacking motivation. Let's jump in.
Daily Fuel (vanilla): B+
I'm adding this to my typical morning routine. I start with four glasses of cold water before making coffee. I typically add a scoop of protein powder to that and, three times a week, a scoop of creatine powder. Aside from multivitamins, that's pretty much the scope of my supplement intake.
The powder smells appealing. The vanilla is clean and sweet. There's just enough flax to give off a mild granola bar vibe. I mix it with some two percent milk and a little Splenda as well, because despite the fact I have been drinking coffee for the last decade, I am still, decidedly, bad at it. A few slightly concerning bright red dots float to the surface of my coffee foam. Huh.
There's a minor grittiness to the taste but ultimately it's sweet and just a little bit like a dessert-style trail mix. That's a compliment. It's a proper vanilla that works well with a regular cup of coffee (in this case, the tail end of a bag of Death Wish).
Around 2:30, I slugged back the three capsules of Daily Edge and Strength to accompany my late lunch. The capsules are sealed but still manage to taste the way food at a petting zoo smells.
My post-fuel workout went roughly as expected. Slightly energizing while being uniquely bad and simultaneously exhausting since I'm coming off a cold and have barely done anything active the last two weeks. The workout, for reference:
... with some random stuff thrown in depending on how I'm feeling. Turkish getups? Hate it, but sure. Ball slams? Kettlebell swings? Whatever. I'm just trying to look good (and not screw up my knees/back any more than they already are in the process).
Day 2 is a run day -- nothing significant, just a mile because my cardio is a big pile of garbage at this point. I've got my 2X tights on a 45 degree day. These are, well, snug. I'd show you a picture, but again, feels weird. However, they do a solid job keeping me warm and, importantly, helping ward off the calf strains that derail my running progress a couple times per year. Let's talk about that real quick:
2XU Compression Tights: B+
The compression makes the Light Speed tights a bit difficult to get on, but that's expected. The gold markings look good on the black and there's a small, zippered pocket for a house key or some cash, which is a nice utilitarian touch. The compression does make me feel a bit energized for this run, though that's more a placebo effect than anything. Plus, going from 10 percent ready to work out to 15 is a 50 percent bump, just not in a way anyone really cares about.
I'm wearing shorts over them because I would prefer not to subject my neighbors to a full tour of my Hank Hill body. But 2XU does a good job in that department as well -- these are snug, but not entirely form-fitting. I'm also wearing them down over my ankles and socks to cover my heel; I'm not sure if that's how you're supposed to do it, but it's how I've been wearing tights since high school.
These did a bang-up job of keeping me warm. Almost too warm; I've got a decent lather going. Importantly, my biggest concern -- reaggravating the calf strain that had me give up running last spring -- didn't play a role. While the tights sagged a bit (possibly by being pushed down by my Wisconsin winter gut (tm)) and there was some minor early discomfort in my left heel and where the bottom of the tights met the top of my foot, things felt pretty good.
Er, as good as they could feel as I struggled through a 10 minute mile.
I will admit, it did feel like there was an extra spring in my step after I stopped at one mile, walked a bit, then ran the last block home. Though the heaviness in my legs persisted, I do think an unpleasant workout was made a bit better by the tights. Even my post-run stretching felt a bit more rewarding.
The real test came two days after. I'm moderately sore but not in a bad way; heavy quads, slightly tight calves but nothing that would stop me from running again. I'm not gonna do that until I get another 40-plus degree day, but it's nice to know. I do think I feel better than I normally would.
The Power Recovery tights are a significantly better fit for long-range cardio. My feet are more comfortable thanks to a stirrup leg. The waist doesn't sag as much. The compression around my calves fend off the cramps and strains that ruin my summer attempts to get my mileage up. There's a bit of a concern for other bending/twisting workouts -- churning out burpees with these did bring the sagging issue back to the forefront -- they perform as advertised.
These do seem to have more of a positive effect on my performance than the Light Speed. That performance still is not great, but I feel like it's better than it would have been otherwise. That's all I can ask for.
OK, back to Thread. While it's unlikely I'm getting much from the supplements 30 hours into the process, I will say this run was better than a late January attempt. I feel terrible, sure, but I'm not outwardly considering collapse as a do a post-run stretch. Progress!
But still, these capsules smell terrible. The packaging ensures me I can break them apart and eat them that way if I prefer. I do not.
There is one noticeable downside. My arms are cramping throughout my post-run stretch despite being hydrated out the wazoo. Is that a supplement problem or just the fact I'm 41? It's creating a lot of sharp winces that have my daughter concerned. Don't worry sweetheart, dad is just paying for treating his body like the trash can at a minor league baseball game for the past three months.
Week 2, with more alternating between runs and lifting and an occasional cross training day, is derailed by a cold. Nothing too bad, but enough to cost me a couple days of work. By the time I'm back at the weights it feels like whatever I gained last week is gone and I'm exhausted again. The hope is this is just the lingering remnants of whatever turned my sinuses into a bog.
The good news is the week's runs go longer and faster than I'd planned. Not long or fast, mind you, but better than expected after four days without cardio. Maybe the extra rest helped, but I'd be open to chalking this extra gas tank up to a cleaner diet. The cramping that arrived earlier has quieted to a dull ache (and some signs of tennis elbow).
Week 3 sees some fatigue set in. It's also a six workout week -- three runs, two days of weights and one day with some plyometrics and some basic lifting. My legs are tired, but flipping from dead lifts to running two-plus miles without feeling heavy, which is a welcome change. I also drank less this week, dropping my weight down to 167 pounds. My body fat rose slightly, but I don't trust an old Fitbit scale to be accurate there. More importantly, I feel like I look better and, despite the tired arms/legs and general soreness, feel pretty good.
By Week 4 I'm down to 166 pounds (but my body fat is up to 24.1 percent. Scale!). The biggest improvement I've seen -- something that hasn't been a part of my normal protein/creatine combo -- has been the recovery in my legs. Normally swapping deadlifts/squats/cross training and runs would leave them heavy and tired. But I was able to get into 5K shape while deadlifting more than I have in a decade (or possibly ever) without feeling too bad.
That's extremely helpful, even if it's just a tipping point to keep me from ditching my workout plan three days into the week.
Thread's biggest benefit is its recovery. It didn't do the work for me, but it gave me the gas tank to get it done myself. In five weeks I went from not being able to run a mile to knocking out four-plus with minimal issue. That's not especially impressive, but I did it while only running twice per week, on average -- and with leg-tiring dead lifts in between.
By the end of five weeks, I've dipped from 171 pounds to 165. Did I get sick almost immediately afterwards, spend a full month battling my own body's unparalleled mucus production and lose a significant chunk of that progress? Absolutely.
That meant it took a while to test my Thread Performance outcomes against my typical protein/creatine combo. By June I was back to normal(ish) and back on my schedule. I do feel a noticeable recovery and cardio difference now that I'm off Thread's supplements. Notably, the leg fatigue is back and my cardio isn't responding the way I'd hoped. It's not bad -- again, lots of this is because my body is simply naturally getting worse because time is a thief that robs us all -- but it's undeniably worse.
Thus, I think it's a reasonable conclusion that Thread Performance helped me get through my workouts and available for the next one. The 2XU tights, as difficult to get on as they were, were a positive influence that aided in the recovery while serving a utilitarian purpose in a cold spring. If I were serious enough to go through this schedule without drinking, the results would have undoubtedly been better, but I'm still pretty happy with six pounds in five weeks while building up my cardio and strength.
Will it work for you? No idea! This is just an anecdotal review of how I felt better working out with these supplements than I do without them.