Nutrition for Performance
Second only to weight loss, sports nutrition seems to be an area of the nutrition world particularly susceptible to misinformation and trendy (but potentially harmful) products. While this post isn’t intended for professional athletes, I hope it breaks down the basics and provides a framework for optimizing your performance.
Carbs are the primary fuel source for our muscles.
While our muscles are composed of protein, their main fuel source is actually carbohydrates. When we start a workout, our body first uses any carbohydrate remaining in our blood stream from our last meal (which exists in the form of sugar) to produce energy. Once it has exhausted that fuel source, it starts breaking down our liver and muscle carbohydrate stores. As you can imagine, if you enter a workout fasted or without a recent carbohydrate containing meal or snack, your body is going to have a harder time fueling your activity. While our body can store fat and then convert it into a usable form for fuel, this process is less efficient. When alternate fuel sources are depleted, our bodies may also start breaking down muscle, which we all want to avoid.
Following a workout, protein does become more important for recovery along with carbohydrates. For most, this protein can be obtained from a meal versus a protein bar or powder.
For pre-workout fuel:
If the start of your workout is 3 hours or more since your last meal or you feel any signs of hunger, enjoy a carbohydrate containing snack pre workout. I also recommend including a small amount of protein and avoiding high fat food choices (to minimize digestive discomfort).
1 slice of bread with PB and sliced banana OR avocado and a hard boiled egg
small bowl of oatmeal with fresh fruit and sliced nuts
plain or low sugar yogurt (Siggi’s is great) with a sprinkling of granola
homemade energy balls or a fruit/nut based bar such as RX bars or Lara bars
whole grain crackers with tuna
air popped popcorn and nuts
apple chips with mixed nuts
apple slices with yogurt or nut butter as a dip
Don’t forget about overall eating patterns and food choices.
Many of us focus on our nutrition surrounding a workout and disregard our overall eating habits. Our bodies function best on nutrient dense foods to deliver a wide variety of macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). The whole picture is also important to point out for those who have incorporated fitness to support weight loss or another health related goal. Nutrition typically plays a much greater role than exercise alone.
Fuel is needed DURING a workout for endurance activity > 1 hour.
If you’ve ever “hit a wall” or “boinked” before you know exactly how it feels to run out of fuel. About one hour into an endurance activity, our bodies have used up both the readily available and stored carbohydrate. It’s important at this time to supply a continuous stream of fuel to sustain the workout. Generally, most people need around 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour beyond the 1 hour mark. There is a range of ways to provide this continuous fuel, including gels, chews, beverages or even whole foods based source. I’ve linked some options below:
Beverages
Chews/Gels
Honey Stinger Waffles
A huge thank you to Stasi Kasianchuk, MS, RD, CSSD, EP-C, CSCS of Enrich Health Consulting for introducing me to many of these products.
Hydration is individualized and so important, especially in the heat.
We’ve all heard the recommendation “8 glasses per day,” but this is highly variable based on the age, gender, activity level and sweat rate of an individual. An easy way to determine your hydration needs for a workout is to weigh yourself immediately before and after, taking note of how much water you also consumed. In general, every pound (lost in sweat) indicates a need of 16 oz or 2 cups of water. Since we also lose electrolytes (sodium and potassium) in our sweat, I recommended either choosing a fuel source that contains these, or adding electrolytes to your water. My favorite option for electrolytes are nuun tablets that are conveniently added to water.
If you’re interested in a personalized plan to meet the needs of your sport, book a get to know you call with me.