Fundamentals of Endurance Nutrition (Ego pb Sammy's Team)

Fundamentals of Endurance Nutrition

CHRIS SWEET

About me (aka why should I listen to you?)

20+ years as a competitive runner, swimmer, and triathlete

Collegiate swimmer and runner

Recent professional triathlete

USA Triathlon Certified Coach

Research Librarian

My approach to nutrition Then: College athlete

◦ Mono story

Now: Mid-thirties, busy triathlete◦ Sustainability, Affordability, Evidence-driven

"Athletes who are focused on body composition take delight in training to burn calories. Because they don't want to ruin all the good work done, they skimp on calories they put back in....And so starts a cycle of high stress, with the athlete burning calories but underfueling during and after the workout. Physiologically, this cycle is best summarized as a process of underfueling, underrecovery, and eventually athletic starvation. The end result is a loss of functional mass (muscle) and a retention of nonfunctional mass (fat)". Poor performances then perpetuate this cycle. (Matt Dixon, “Well-Built Triathlete”)

Summary of the body's response to underfueling: oh shit, I'm being starved, I had better go into self preservation mode and store everything I can.

Fueling workouts vs. day-to-day nutrition

Seasonal nutrition periodization.

What are your current goals? Weight loss or performance (pick one)

You can eat/drink things before, during and after workouts that you probably shouldn’t include in your diet on a regular basis!

Nutrition Basics Calorie: a unit of heat used to indicate the amount of energy that foods will produce in the human body

Carbohydrate: sugars (simple), starches (complex), fibers (complex) that provide your body with heat and energy and are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen

Protein: any of various naturally occurring extremely complex substances that consist of amino-acid residues joined by peptide bonds

Fat: a fuel for the body, and the main form of fat is triglycerides. There are two main types of fat in food, saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fat is solid at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are liquids, or oils at room temperature.

Micronutrients/Vitamins

Become a label reader!

I don’t do fads…. Fad diets are called that for a reason.

But there is almost always something to be learned from a fad diet.

As an endurance athlete your main source of fuel needs to come from carbohydrates- specifically complex carbohydrates. (What about low-carb diets?)

But, don’t restrict protein and good fats. You need both.

Simple rules for good daily nutrition

Don’t skip meals and eat healthy snacks in-between.

Limit processed foods as much as possible.

Stay hydrated! Water primarily. Unsweetened tea. Beware soda, juices, sweetened waters

Eat lots of (unprocessed) superfoods:

Blueberries, Avocados, Salmon, Almonds, Walnuts, Dark Leafy Greens, Unsweetened Yogurt, Salmon, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Whole Oats, Quinoa, Chia Seeds, Dark Chocolate, Beans, Eggs, Sweet Potatoes.

Don’t skimp on good fats and protein.

Do I have to eat like this all the time? 80% of the time eat well 20% cut yourself some slack!

Pre-race or pre-workout nutrition Eat a high-carb, low fiber meal with some fat and protein at least 3 hours before race start.

Drink a sports drink leading up to the race, possibly an energy gel 30-45 minutes before.

Caffeine has been proven over and over again to improve performance in endurance events.

Clinically effective doses are in the 3-6mg per kg range.http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/caffeineandexercise.pdf

Note: you can train your digestive system to process nutrition while exercising

Beet juice?

Likely because of its high nitrate concentrations, beet juice

Reduced oxygen consumption, longer time to exhaustion

Some of my pre-race or pre-workout breakfasts

Eggo waffles with real butter and syrup (I eat 3)

White bagel or toast with peanut butter and honey

Scrambled eggs mixed into rice

Oatmeal with egg and added fat (due to fiber better for training than racing)

Sweet potato with butter

Common foods for pre-race or pre-workout fueling

Serving Calories Carbs Protein Fat

Frozen Pretzels 1 med 160 34g 5g 1g

Eggo Nutri Grain Waffles 1 90 14g 2.5g 3g

Sliced bread/toast (whole wheat) 1 pc 100 21g 4g 1.5g

Bagels (plain, white) 1 146 29g 6g 1g

Pop Tarts 1 210 37g 2g 6g

bananas 1 med 105 27g 1g 0g

non-acidic fruit juices (apple) 8 oz 117 29g 0g 0g

Race nutrition Some basics:• You can’t replace all the calories you are burning• Be careful- you can easily take in more calories than you can process• On the bike athletes can generally process between 200-400 calories per hour

(dependent on size and metabolism)• You can’t process as many calories while running. The range will be around

100-250• Calories should come from a mix of simple and complex carbs• Some added protein is also good (if you can stomach it!)• For racing stick to mostly liquid/gel nutrition sources

Race Nutrition Cont’d• For races lasting less than an hour you really don’t need any nutrition (sports

drink is ok)• For races between 1 and 3 hours sports drink and/or 1 or 2 gels will be

sufficient• For long races create an ideal race nutrition plan, but know how to adapt it

due to conditions (IM Wisconsin story)• Hyponatremia= Bad. Don’t rely only on water for long (>2 hours) races• Electrolytes- most sports drinks and gels have enough electrolytes without

adding extra. • My secrets for avoiding upset stomach in long races: mint Tums, Altoids, Ginger

Race Nutrition, Cont’d Swim Notes• If you expect to swim longer than 1:20ish for an IM swim and it is a multiple lap course, consider taking

a gel at the halfway point

Bike Notes:• For long races carry a bottle of your preferred drink concentrated to make an extra 4 bottles• If you are going to attempt solid foods, do it on the bike• Gel flasks are really convenient

Run Notes:• You can carry your gels and some drink in a fuel belt (I don’t like racing with one though)

My personal energy drink recommendations

Top Choices:◦ Vitargo◦ Infinit◦ EFS Pro

Other well-thought out options:◦ Hammer Heed◦ Gu Roctane◦ Powerbar Performance

Common Foods for Race/Workout Fueling

Serving Calories Carbs Protein Fat

Gel (Power Gel) 1 pkg 110 29g 0g 0g

Fruit Snacks 1 pkg 90 20g 0g 0g

Saltines 15 oz (5) 60 11g 1g 1.5g

Beef Jerky 1 pc. 82 2g 7g 2g

PB and Jelly Sandwich 1 327 30g 15g 18g

Bagels (plain, white) 1 146 29g 6g 1g

Bananas 1 med 105 27g 1g 0g

Fig Newtons 2 cookies 112 22g 2g 2g

Casey's Doughnuts! (glazed) 1 large 229 38g 5g 14g

Nutrition for Recovery Needs to occur within 30 minutes of completing exercise

Should rehydrate and contain both carbohydrates and protein.

Good examples:

Chocolate milk, Carnation, smoothie with protein, slimfast shake, tart cherry juice, PB+J

Eating a meal that contains both carbs and protein within 30 minutes is also a perfect way to kickstart recovery. Some of the above options are more convenient when you can’t eat right away.

Common foods for recovery Serving Calories Carbs Protein Fat

Slimfast (w/out sucralose) 1 can 220 40g 10g 3g

Carnation Instant Breakfast 1 pkg 130 26g 6g 0.5g

Chocolate Milk 8 oz 157 26g 8g 3g

Yogurt 1 cont. 240 47g 9g 2.5g

Drinkable Yogurt Smoothie 7 oz 70 12g 6g 0g

Protein powder (Whey) 31 g 130 5g 20g 2.5g

Peanut Butter (Jif regular) 2 tbsp 190 7g 8g 16g

Watermelon (for hydration) 1 pc. (286g) 86 22g 2g 0g

Eggs 1 large 70 <1g 6g 4.5g

Man that 45 minute spin class was brutal!

I needed a whole bottle of Gatorade during the class and I stopped by Jamba Juice for a large protein recovery smoothie afterwards!

(Beware of over-fueling and routine reward-eating)

Supplements and Vitamins•Magic Bullets don’t exist!

•Supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA!

•Have a basic metabolic panel done during a physical (or shell out the cash for InsideTracker testing)

•Tart Cherry Juice for recovery.

•Iron supplementation is sometimes necessary for athletes doing high-volume training. Don’t go nuts. 100% of daily value enough. Ferrochel Iron is the best form.

•Fish Oil: Great sourse of Omega 3 fatty acids, good for recovery

•Vitamin D: Maybe. (Vitamin D can be added to a blood panel)

•Multivitamins: Don’t waste your money

Caffeine International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: caffeine and performance.

The position of The Society regarding caffeine supplementation and sport performance is summarized by the following seven points:

1.) Caffeine is effective for enhancing sport performance in trained athletes when consumed in low-to-moderate dosages (~3-6 mg/kg)

7.) The scientific literature does not support caffeine-induced dieresis during exercise, or any harmful change in fluid balance that would negatively affect performance.

http://www.jissn.com/content/7/1/5

For more info Eberle, Suzanne. Endurance Sports Nutrition, 2nd ed.Ryan, Monique. Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes. 3rd ed.Clark, Nancy. Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook. 4th ed.Fitzgerald, Matt. Racing Weight.Lim, Allen and Biju Thomas. Feedzone Cookbook.

Sports Nutrition in Generalhttp://www.scandpg.org/sports-nutrition/sports-nutrition-professional-resources/ http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition_&_eating_concerns/sports_nutrition.php http://www.runnersworld.com/running-times-training-nutrition

Questions?