Fasted training sessions and intermittent fasting are creating quite the buzz with the promise of weight loss and performance benefits. And, seemingly everyone is doing it, so what could be the harm? If you’ve ever jumped out of bed for an early morning workout without eating and didn’t grab a banana or bar, then you’ve done a fasted workout. Some athletes consciously forgo eating since they feel better training on an empty stomach, while others claim pre-fueling isn’t high on their priority list.
[Read more…]Hydration and Athletic Performance
Recently, I gave a sports nutrition talk to a local triathlon club. As an ice breaker, I started by asking a few basic questions to gauge their knowledge about proper hydration while training. Their answers and misconceptions mirrored those that I have heard from hundreds of athletes over the past three decades. Athletes, specifically runners, when asked about their hydration practices, most frequently respond by saying such things as, “I don’t need to hydrate while running, and will drink after my workout.”
Other athletes have no hydration plan at all, saying such things as “If I become thirsty, I will stop and sip from a water fountain along the route.” While others will make excuses about why they don’t drink while training, including not willing to carry fluids and sport
Trust me, I have heard every excuse why athletes do not hydrate during their workouts.
[Read more…]The Female Athlete’s Guide to Fueling & Hydration for Optimal Performance – Part III: Recovery Fueling
Part III of The Female Athlete’s Guide to Fueling & Hydration. In this blog, we discuss the role of recovery, how to optimize and accelerate recovery, and the best options and strategies for female athletes.
Part II covers fueling/hydrating during training and racing.
The post workout/event recovery fuel is designed to speed up the repair of damaged muscle tissue, replace glycogen/energy stores, and promote physical adaptation. Immediately following a training session, muscle cells are open, insulin sensitivity elevated, and the body is primed to absorb simple sugar and protein, so the quicker you refuel, the better.
[Read more…]The Female Athlete’s Guide to Fueling & Hydration for Optimal Performance – Part II: During The Event or Training
Part II of The Female Athlete’s Guide to Fueling & Hydration. Part I covers Pre-Workout Fueling. Here, we address how a female athlete can best fuel and hydrate in a training/race environment to ward off GI distress and perform to their full potential.
There is a lot of confusion around what brands and types of fuel are best–and for a good reason. The market is flooded with a variety of sports nutrition products, and what works for one athlete won’t necessarily work for another. This is all the more reason to test drive the products for yourself. The end goal being that come race day your fuel plan is ironclad.
What a Woman Should Eat During…
[Read more…]The Female Athlete’s Guide to Fueling & Hydration for Optimal Performance. Part I: Pre-Workout Fueling
Imagine you are preparing for a long road trip. How often do you pack the car, check for missing essentials, hit the bathroom, and fill the gasoline tank with water before heading out of town? Never, I hope! Why, because cars don’t run on water. Automobiles use gasoline as fuel and depending on the vehicle, they require a specific octane rating for optimal performance. Similarly, an athlete, specifically a female athlete, should take the same approach to her fueling plan.
[Read more…]Ironman Bike Fueling 101 – All About Eating and Drinking During Ironman Bike Leg
Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or new to the 140.6 scene, nailing your IRONMAN bike fueling/hydration plan can be tricky, with a lot riding on getting it right. With the numerous sports nutrition products on the market today, figuring out how to fuel for 5-7 hours can be daunting, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one athlete doesn’t necessarily work for another, and no matter how appealing it might sound, the “rolling buffet” approach—eating and drinking everything in sight along the race route—will do more harm than good.
Reduce Inflammation with Foods, Not Pills — A Guide for Athletes
There’s no denying that endurance triathletes put themselves through intense training loads—all for a good cause, of course, but at what health cost? The purpose of a heavy training load is to improve aerobic endurance, muscle adaptation, and strength, but it also increases oxidative stress, better known as inflammation. Many people don’t realize how much they can reduce inflammation with food!
Inflammation is a bit of a buzzword in health these days but in reality, [Read more…]
Avoiding GI Distress in Endurance Triathlons
It’s race day, and you are ready to cash in on your hard-earned fitness after hundreds of hours devoted to swimming, biking, and running. During the race, all goes as planned in the swim and bike—only for a plethora of gastrointestinal issues to hit you on the run: nausea, bloating, reflux, stomach pain, cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting. Heaven forbid, you might even be at risk of a DNF!
If this is your story, you are not alone. GI problems are the most common cause of underperformance in endurance events. [Read more…]