Sports Nutrition
So you’ve been training hard. But did you know that it's just as important to think about event nutrition as it is to work on your fitness levels?
Despite the variety of current fads and trends in dietary practices, scientific advice about which foods should form the basis of an athlete's diet has remained pretty steady.
Day to Day Eating
Athletes require more energy in their diet than sedentary people, drawn from the same foods that are recommended for everyone. The biggest difference between athletes is the total amount of energy they should consume. Generally speaking the more training you do, the more you’ll need to eat - from all the recommended food sources.
Energy
Need more of it? Focus on your carbohydrates, get in enough protein, and what's leftover can come from
fat stores.
Carbohydrates
As your pace and heart rate increases, your body will rely more on stores of carbohydrate (glycogen) and carbohydrate delivered from your bloodstream (glucose) in order to keep up with the demands for fuel. Most athletes can only store enough glycogen to last around two hours of high intensity work, so these stores need to be constantly topped up. In addition, if exercising longer than two hours, athletes will need to consume some easily digested carbohydrates on the way in order to keep going.
Protein
Athletes need more protein than non-exercising people because they use some for fuel, may be increasing their muscle mass, and need to repair muscle and tissue damage. Most athletes on an unrestricted diet don’t have problems meeting their protein needs through normal eating. Those who need to work harder include people who restrict their food intake and vegetarians - who need to replace meat protein with alternative sources. It would be rare for an athlete to need a heavily protein-based meal or snack as opposed to one based mainly on carbohydrates.
Fluids
Any amount of dehydration can affect performance – there is a progressive deterioration as hydration levels fall, which may be hard to notice at first. Being organised is essential. Take a water bottle to remind you to drink, drink regularly and don’t wait till you’re thirsty as by then it’s too late.