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Nutrition

Saved Tuesday 11th March, 2008 3:07pm by Peter Creagh
Edited Saturday 13th September, 2008 5:59am by Peter Creagh

Epic Nutrition - Getting to the finish line with energy to burn!

Main Nutrition Goals

  1. Recovery - Replenish energy stores post training and stop muscle breakdown
  2. Pre competition - Start loading up the Glycogen stores 48 hours out of race start
  3. Day of the Race - Ensure adequate fuel but don’t overfill
  4. During the race nutrition
  5. Hydration

Carbohydrates

  • Major source of energy in exercise of high intensity
  • Major source = Glycogen
  • Glycogen found in muscle tissue and liver
  • Many factors will affect glycogen usage
    • Intensity
    • Duration
    • Training history

Carbohydrates in the 21st century

  • Glyceamic Index (GI) – This is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrate in a food is absorbed into the body and enters the blood stream
  • High GI – broken down and absorbed quickly
  • Low GI – broken down slowly and absorbed over a longer period of time

Glyceamic Index in Sport

  • High GI ideally for recovery
  • Low GI ideally eaten throughout the rest of the day
  • As energy and carbohydrate requirements increase - High GI foods become more important

High GI Foods

  • Sports drinks
  • Rice Cakes
  • Crisp Bread
  • Water crackers
  • Short grain Rice (calrose)
  • Potato
  • White Bread
  • Bagel/Baguette
  • Melon/ Pineapple
  • Sao Biscuits
  • Jelly lollies
  • Cornflakes/ Ricebubbles
  • Dates/ Sultanas
  • Cereal Bars

Medium GI foods

  • Ryvita
  • Crumpet
  • Sustain / Just right
  • Couscous
  • Soft drink/ Cordial
  • Mango/ Paw Paw
  • Corn
  • Orange juice
  • Muffins
  • Muesli bar
  • Banana
  • Kiwi Fruit
  • Rye bread
  • Honey sandwich (white bread)

Low GI foods

  • Rice (Long grain)
  • Pasta/ noodles
  • Mixed grain/stone ground wholemeal bread
  • Muffins (cake like) eg apple
  • Legumes (eg baked beans)
  • Many fruits eg. Apple, pear
  • Milk & yoghurt
  • Sweet potato
  • Oats/All bran
  • Baked Beans/ Lentils

Athlete’s average Carbohydrate requirement

  • Recovery and fuel needs for moderate exercise program (<1hr of low intensity exercise) 5-7g/kg BM/day
  • Recovery and fuel needs for endurance athlete (1-3hrs of moderate to high intensity exercise) 7-10g/kg BM/day
  • Recovery and fuel needs for extreme exercise programs (>4-5hrs of moderate to high intensity exercise) 10-12g/kg BM/day

Adapted from Burke et al, Sports Med 2001:31:267-299

Protein Needs

  • Protein balance required
  • Immune function
  • Repair/Resynthesis/Regeneration
  • Growth and development
  • Overall intake rarely often to low but often to low in recovery phase
  • Studies have shown better usage with carbohydrate source

Good Sources of Protein

  • Red Meat poultry and seafood
  • Dairy Products
  • Legumes
  • Nuts
  • Eggs

Fat intake

  • Dependent on weight goals
  • Chronic restriction may result in loss of important micronutrients
  • Important fat soluble vitamins and anti-oxidants
  • May be important for replenishment of IMTG stores.

Vitamins and Minerals

  • Important rule to remember – “Just because a little is good doesn’t mean more is better”
  • Important Vitamin and Minerals
    • Vit B
    • Vit C, A, E
    • Anti-oxidants
    • Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium
  • All available in a well balanced diet

Recovery

  • The most important part of training nutrition is to ensure you recover
  • between sessions
  • Carbohydrate – 1g/kg body weight High GI foods
  • Protein – 10-20g
  • Within 30min after finishing training
  • Within 2 hours of finishing training have a meal with 1g/kg carbs and 10-20g protein with a little bit of good fat.

50g Carbohydrate snack choices

  • 50-60g jelly beans or jelly lollies
  • 1 round of thick jam/honey/banana sandwiches
  • 3 pieces of fruit ( melon and pineapple are good choices)
  • 2-3 muesli bars
  • 1 -2 “sports” bar/ sports gel
  • 3 rice cakes with jam/honey
  • 1 large or 2 small cake style muffins, fruit buns, scones
  • 2 large pancakes (100g) with lots of syrup
  • bowl of pasta/rice with low fat toppings or cup of creamed rice
  • 1 large baked potato (250g)

Adapted from “Peak Performance” Hawley and Burke 1998

50g Carbohydrate sources with 10g Protein

  • 250-300ml liquid meal supplement (eg Sustagen)
  • 250-300ml Fruit smoothie
  • 1 litre of milk
  • 600ml low fat Flavoured milk
  • 250g tin of Baked beans on 2 slices of toast
  • 2 slices of bread and thick spread of peanut butter
  • 1 sandwich with meat/chicken/cheese filling and 1 piece of fruit
  • 1 bowl of cereal and milk

Adapted from “Peak Performance” Hawley and Burke 1998

Pre Competition

  • 48 hours leading in to competition increase carb intake
  • 7-10g of carbohydrate/kg body weight
  • Minimise fat intake and increase fluid intake
  • If trouble with cramping dehydration use 20ml if glycerol in 600ml of sports drink 3x over the day before the race and the day of the race

Pre Race Nutrition

  • Small high carb meal (4g/kg body weight)
  • Stick with what you know
  • 2-4hours out of start of race
  • Ensure adequate fluid for satisfactory hydration

During Competition

  • Try to get in ~ 60g of carbohydrate per hour
  • Can be taken as sports drink or carbohydrate shots and water
  • If have trouble with cramping use sport drink for extra electrolytes
  • Don’t over hydrate

Hydration

  • Most important nutrient of all H2O
  • Drink regularly and in small amounts
  • Best way to improve performance is to improve hydration
  • 2% weight loss (dehydration)=up to 10% decrease in performance

Race Hydration

  • Important to drink regularly and to a plan if below 3.5 hours
  • If greater than 4 hours then try to drink to your thirst
  • Use sports drink over water preferably
  • If prone to cramping hyperhydrate with Gastrolytes and glycerol

Supplementation through Race (caffeine)

  • Caffeine increases central nervous system stimulation
  • Decreases the rate of perceived exertion (ie: you are working harder than you feel)
  • Helps to burn fat and spare your glycogen stores
  • Doesn’t dehydrate you and will not make you sweat
  • 1 g / per kg body weight (red bull, espresso shot, caffeine tablets)
  • Caffeine: Take 1 hour before race and every 1 1⁄2 hours

Supplementation through Race (Carbohydrate Gel)

  • Carbohydrate gel good way to get carbs into system
  • Do not drink sports drink straight after having gel, the mix of carbs in drink and gel will sit in your stomach
  • Use water straight after and again 10-15 min after before having sports drink
  • Use to a plan throughout race

Further information www.sportsdietitians.com.au

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