Exercise & Nutrition
Athletes often neglect to fuel their body properly before, during, and after intense bouts of exercise as well as between successive days of intense training and competition. Poor recovery practices may lead to early fatigue, dehydration, poor health, and poor athletic performance during the competitive season.
The athlete can avoid these problems by consuming nutrient dense foods and fluids before, during and after exercise and competition. The body requires a balance of CHO, fat, Pro, vitamins, minerals and water in order to maximize recovery and maintain good health. Carbohydrates should be consumed prior to exercise and more importantly immediately after exercise or competition because glycogen storage in the body is limited and needs to be refueled daily.
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Pre-Exercise Nutrition
Consuming CHO-rich foods (.5-2 grams/lb. of BW) 1-4 hours prior to exercise will maintain normal blood sugar, settle the stomach, and provide energy. The pre-exercise meal should be made-up of 60-70% nutrient dense CHO.
Carbohydrate loading prior to an endurance event
Not all foods settle in the stomach the same from person to person. Experiment with different pre-exercise meals so you can find out which works best for you.
The timing of consumption depends on the size of the meal and how well your stomach can tolerate pre-exercise digestion. For example:
- Allow 3-4 hours for a large (800-1200 calorie), high CHO meal to digest
- Allow 2-3 hours for a medium (400-800 calorie), high CHO meal to digest
- Allow 1-2 hours for a small (100-400 calorie), high CHO meal to digest
Examples of when & how much to eat before training/competition
Examples of pre-exercise snacks
The pre-exercise meal is a great opportunity to take-in needed fluids. An athlete should attempt to drink 16-24 ounces of fluid (a mix of water, sports drinks, and fruit juices) two hours before training or competition. This fluid intake will contribute to adequate hydration.
Nutrition During Exercise
Ideally, during extensive exercise that lasts for more than 60-90 minutes, you should try to balance your water and energy output with enough fluid to match your sweat losses and enough CHO to provide energy and maintain normal blood sugar level.
- Consuming a CHO/Pro mixture (35-40 g CHO, 6-10 g Pro) during exercise will delay fatigue and aid in the recovery process
- By consuming CHO during exercise, such as the sugar in sports drinks, your muscles have an added source of fuel and also help maintain normal blood sugar levels to help "feed" your brain
- You can increase your stamina by consuming 100-250 calories of CHO per hour (after the first hour) while performing endurance exercise
- Can be done with 4-8 ounce glasses of a sports drink (with 50 calories per 8 ounces) or two cups of a sports drink with a banana, or an energy bar (plus extra water)
- The body doesn't care if you ingest solid or liquid CHO, you just have to learn which foods and fluids settle best in your body
- Keep in mind that too much sugar or food taken at once can slow down the rate at which fluids leave the stomach and become available to replace sweat losses. This is of greater importance in hot weather versus cold weather
Exercise Recovery Nutrition
What you eat and drink after exercise can have a great effect on your recovery process.
- Immediately after exercise and between events, the athlete should drink 32 plus ounces of fluid for each hour of exercise or competition completed. The goal is to replace fluid losses and restore energy and electrolyte stores. This volume of replacement fluid should include a combination of the following:
- Juices, which supply water, CHO, vitamins, and potassium.
- Watery foods such as watermelon, grapes, and soups that supply fluids, CHO, vitamins and potassium.
- High-CHO sports drinks or soft drinks, which supply fluids and CHO (but minimal, if any, vitamins or minerals)
- Commercial fluid replacers, which supply fluids, some CHO and sodium, and a few vitamins if fortified with them.
- Water, which tends to be convenient, well tolerated, and least expensive.
- If you become dehydrated during an unusually long and strenuous bout of exercise, you should drink frequently for the next day or two to recover from the fluids lost during your workout.
- A CHO/Pro mixture (with at least 15 g of Pro, particularly the essential amino acid leucine) consumed immediately after a workout will help restore muscle glycogen and increase muscle Pro synthesis, thus maximizing recovery and improving workout gains
- To optimize muscle glycogen replenishment and Pro recovery, you should consume CHO-rich foods and beverages within 15 minutes after your workout
- Target CHO intake is about 0.5 grams of CHO per pound of body weight every hour, taken at 30-minute intervals for 4-5 hours
- Individualized post-exercise CHO intake
- At least 15 g of Pro, particularly the essential amino acid leucine should be combined with the CHO during the recovery process
- Healthy and easy post-exercise food choices include:
- Orange juice and medium bagel
- 16 ounces of cranberry juice
- One bowl of corn flakes with milk and a banana
- A slice or two of turkey on a bagel
- A little lean meat in spaghetti sauce
- An energy bar with at least 6 grams of Pro
- Electrolytes lost during your workout need to be replaced. This includes sodium and potassium that can be achieved through eating a small bag of pretzels, orange juice, yogurt, or simply adding small amounts of salt to the food that you eat