Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

Why Hydration is Critical

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

When you train it is absolutely critical that you remain hydrated.  Being well hydrated:

  • Assists with recovery
  • Avoids dehydration
  • Helps you optimize your training

This graph shows exactly this positive benefit of hydration in action.  The graph shows two separate training days (from one of our clients) and compares the effects of being hydrated as opposed to becoming increasingly dehydrated.  As you can clearly see, the blue line represents speed which is controlled by monitoring heart rate.  As the run went on, the clients speed had to decrease in order to keep the heart rate in the correct zone, due to dehydration effects.  In contrast the pink graph shows the client drinking water during the session, and over the course of the session was able to maintain a much higher average speed (at the given heart rate).

So why did this happen?  When you become dehydrated your blood gets thicker (because the plasma loses its water content).  This is medically known as increase viscosity.  As the blood gets thicker it also becomes harder to pump to your muscles and needs to beat faster to deliver the essential oxygen to keep going.  Hence the athlete will either need to slow down or can continue at this pace, which could lead to adverse training effects.

If you apply this principle over several weeks and months of consistent training, a person who continually stays well hydrated will get in many more quality hours of training than someone who is dehydrated.

Now the question is who do you want to be?

Posted in Nutrition, Recovery, Training | No Comments »

Race Day Nutrition – Overlooked and Underrated

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Having invested hundreds or possibly thousands of hours training, and several thousand dollars on equipment, many people do not take a mere 30min to think about and plan a sound race day nutrition strategy.

There are a few things you need to think about when planning the strategy:

  • Personal factors (internal) such as pre race nerves and perspiration levels
  • Personal preferences such as what nutrition you currently use and what you like
  • External factors such as specific course conditions like heat and wind

Once you have identified some of these basics you can then apply a plan to the following model, including hydration at every stage:

  • What will I eat the night before?
  • What will I eat the morning of?
  • Within the critical final 2hours pre race, what do I need?
  • During the event what should I use?
  • What do I eat having competed the race to enhance my recovery?

Having thought about all of the factors above, it is critical to go and get the products you require at least 2 weeks prior to race day. The early the better (unless they are perishable) as you need to train what you will do on race day so that you are sure your stomach will agree with it.

Talk through your plan with a coach or someone with sufficient race experience and knowledge to tidy it up and then put it into action!

Posted in Nutrition, Racing | No Comments »

Training Diet

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Training places high demand in athlete energy requirements. Whether athletes train for endurance, high-intensity or stop-and-go sports, the fundamental nutritional requirements for each are similar. Day to day eating strategies are more important than focusing attention to eating before & after competition, as skills adaptations occur in response to training, not competition. A well balanced diet that provides essential nutrients required to meet training needs will have the biggest impact on your success.

Benefits To Athletes

  • Optimal adaptation from training
  • Enhanced recovery between training
  • Achievement and maintenance of an ideal body composition
  • A reduced risk of injury and illnesses
  • Consistency in achieving high level competition performances

Fluid

  • Essential for effective body temperature regulation
  • Intake before, during and after exercise help to ensure hydration during physical activities
  • Intake with meals, in between meals and throughout the day is important in maintaining well hydrated

Carbohydrate

  • Should form the basis of your meals
  • Major source of energy during moderate to intense exercise
  • Intake before, during & after exercise can help improve performance by maintaining blood sugar levels and providing additional fuel to hard working muscles
  • Many carbohydrate rich foods are also valuable sources of other essential nutrients

Protein

  • Should be included with every meals
  • Essential for growth and plays an important role in the adaptation to exercise
  • Provides building blocks for the formation of new tissue including muscle, and the repair of old tissue
  • Combined with carbohydrate and consumed soon after exercise, promotes muscle recovery

Fat

  • Required in small amounts
  • Provides essential fatty acids and facilitates fat soluble vitamins metabolism
  • Provides insulation and shock absorption for body organ especially under strenuous physical activities

Vitamins & Minerals

  • Required in protecting body immune system associated with physical activities
  • Reduce free radical damage produced during strenuous physical activity
  • Specific mineral such as calcium is required to promote bone health and iron is required to prevent iron deficiency anemia associated with physical activities

Jon

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New Years Resolutions

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Burn FatWell here we are in 2010 already (happy new year by the way) and if you are like me, you may have made a resolution to lose a little bit of fat (a little bit more than before the holiday season started in my case) and trim up.

Here is what I plan to do to get the fat down:

1. Spend more time in my fuel efficiency zone
Exercising at a very low intensity is a great way for me to burn fat. By spending time doing my training at this low intensity early in the year, my body becomes more efficient at metabolizing fat and essentially makes me a more efficient and faster (not to mention leaner) athlete in the long run. When I combine this with step 2 (see below), I become a fat burning machine and not only am I effectively burning fat when I exercise (at any intensity), I am burning a higher amount of fat when doing nothing. This is what will help me reach my goal.

You can retrain your body using a few simple techniques to become a fat burning machine.

2. Try to eat organic and less processed foods
This for me is a tricky one and is most definitely a work in progress. I have a very sweet tooth and am struggling to replace my soft drinks with water and my chocolate / sweets and fast food with less processed, less surgery foods.

Foods such as cheese, whole milk, butter, french fries, burgers, sweets, energy bars, and soft drinks are what are known as energy dense foods as they are very high in calories relative to their size or volume. This has been a typical diet of mine for the past 20 years.

Now that I am older (and wiser I hope) I am trying hard to change my nutrition habits to eat more nutrient dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, fish and lean cuts of meat. I am hoping that along with the weight loss benefits, I will see an improvement in my energy, complexion and focus.

So far the plan seems to be working, since 1 Jan when I started this, I have already lost 4mm of fat and am feeling a little more energetic. This doesn’t sound like much but it is pretty good in just 1 week. I am now at 61mm of fat and the goal is to get back down to <50mm by 21 March (half ironman). We will see how it goes.

All the best to everyone for a happy, healthy and safe 2010!

Ben

Posted in Fuel Efficiency, Nutrition, Training | No Comments »