Athletes:
What to Eat and When for Top Performance
By Nancy Clark, MS RD CSSD
Hot off the press from three prominent nutrition and exercise associations—the
American Dietetic Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and
Dietitians of Canada—is the 2009 Joint Position Stand on Nutrition for Athletic
Performance.
While there is little earth-shattering news in this
comprehensive document (available on www.eatright.org), the authors comprehensively reviewed the
research to determine which sports nutrition practices effectively enhance
performance. Here are a few key points on what and when to eat to perform at
your best.
1. Don't weigh yourself daily! What you weigh and how much body fat
you have should not be the sole criterion for judging how well you are able to
perform in sports. That is, don't think that if you get to XX percent body fat,
you will run faster. For one, all techniques to measure body fat have inherent
errors. (Even BodPod can underestimate percent fat by two to three percent.)
Two, optimal body fat levels depend on genetics and what is optimal for your
unique body. Pay more attention to how you feel and perform than to a number on
the scale.
2. Protein recommendations for both endurance and
strength-trained athletes range from 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound (1.2-1.7 g/kg)
body weight. For a 150-lb. athlete, this comes to about 75 to 120 g protein per
day, an amount most athletes easily consume through their standard diet without
the use of protein supplements or amino acid supplements. Vegetarian athletes should
target ten percent more, because some plant proteins (not soy but legumes) are
less well digested than animal proteins.
If you are just starting a weight-lifting program, you’ll want
to target the higher protein amount. Once you have built-up your muscles, the
lower end of the range is fine.
3. Athletes in power sports need to pay attention to
carbohydrates, and not just protein. That's because strength training depletes
muscle glycogen stores. You can deplete about 25 percent to 35 percent of total
muscle glycogen stores during a single 30-second bout of resistance exercise.
4. Athletes who eat enough calories to support their
athletic performance are unlikely to need vitamin supplements. But athletes who
severely limit their food intake to lose weight (such as wrestlers, lightweight
rowers, gymnasts), eliminate a food group (such as dairy, if they are lactose
intolerant), or train indoors and get very little sunlight (skaters, gymnasts,
swimmers) may require supplements.
5. If you are vegetarian, a blood donor, and or a woman
with heavy menstrual periods, you should pay special attention to your iron
intake. If you consume too little iron, you can easily become deficient and be
unable to exercise energetically due to anemia. Because reversing iron deficiency
can take three to six months, your best bet is to prevent anemia by regularly
eating iron-rich foods (lean beef, chicken thighs, enriched breakfast cereals
such as Wheaties and Total) and including in each meal a source of vitamin C
(fruits, vegetables).
6. Eating before hard exercise, as opposed to exercising in
a fasted state, has been shown to improve performance. If you choose to not eat
before a hard workout, at least consume a sports drink (or some source of
energy) during exercise.
7. When you exercise hard for more than one hour, target 30
to 60 grams (120 to 240 calories) of carbohydrate per hour to maintain normal
blood glucose levels and enhance your stamina and enjoyment of exercise.
Fueling during exercise is especially important if you have not eaten a
pre-exercise snack. Popular choices include gummi candy, jelly beans, dried fruits, as well as gels and sports
drinks. More research is needed to determine if choosing a sports drink
with protein will enhance endurance performance.
8. For optimal recovery, an athlete who weighs about 150
pounds should target 300 to 400 calories of carbs within a half-hour after
finishing a hard workout. More precisely, target 0.5-0.7 g carb/lb (1.0-1.5 g
carb/kg). You then want to repeat that dose every two hours for the next four
to six hours. For example, if you have done a rigorous, exhaustive morning
workout and need to do another session that afternoon, you could enjoy a large
banana and a vanilla yogurt as soon as tolerable post-exercise; then, two hours
later, a pasta-based meal; and then, another two hours later, another snack,
such as pretzels and orange juice.
9. Whether or not you urgently need to refuel depends on
when you will next be exercising. While a triathlete who runs for 90 minutes in
the morning needs to rapidly refuel for a three-hour cycling workout in the
afternoon, the fitness exerciser who works out every other day has little need
to obsess about refueling.
10. Including a little protein in the recovery meals and
snacks enhances muscle repair and growth. Popular carb+protein combinations
include chocolate milk, yogurt, cereal+milk, pita+hummus, beans+rice,
pasta+meat sauce.
11. Muscle cramps are associated with dehydration,
electrolyte deficits and fatigue. Cramps are most common in athletes who sweat
profusely and are “salty sweaters.” They need more sodium than the standard
recommendation of 2,400 mg/day. Losing about two pounds of sweat during a
workout equates to losing about 1,000 mg sodium. (Note: eight ounces of sport
drink may offer only 110 mg sodium.) Salty sweaters (as observed by a salty
crust on the skin of some athletes) lose even more sodium. If that’s your case,
don’t hesitate to consume salt before, during and after extended exercise. For
example, enjoy broth, pretzels, cheese & crackers, pickles and other
sodium-rich foods. The majority of active people can easily replace sweat
losses via a normal intake of food and fluids.
Final Words of Advice
If you can make time to train, you can also
make time to eat well and get the most out of your training. Optimal sports
performance starts with good nutrition!
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