Home Articles Winter Training – Where you get the Energy.

Winter Training – Where you get the Energy.

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This winter provides the perfect opportunity for you to train… …train at eating the right food at the right time to maximize your performance. By now, if you have followed the food pyramid as outlined in article 1, you are ready to focus on nutritional strategies for your sport, running. The two greatest nutritional concerns of athletes are protein and vitamins/mineral status, it is interesting therefore to note that when the diets of many athletes are analyzed the actual problem areas identified are carbohydrate (CHO) and fluid. A higher CHO intake has been shown to better maintain performance and mood state during intensified training. CHO ingestion during exercise improves exercise performance and assists in attenuating the immunosuppressive effects of sustained endurance exercise

Carbohydrate is the preferred and most efficient energy source for working muscles; however the body can only store limited amount of carbohydrate, in the form of glycogen, in the muscles and liver. Therefore in order to provide the working muscles with energy the athlete must ensure that these stores are full and also that there is circulating carbohydrate for the muscles to use so that the stores do not deplete early in a run.

This is the first important nutritional aim of a runner; to adequately stock the body with carbohydrate before training and to provide top-up carbohydrate during training or events.

The main sources of carbohydrate in the diet are the foods you find on the bottom shelf of the food pyramid – bread, cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta. Many fruit and vegetables naturally contain carbohydrate as do some dairy products. We look to the top shelf of the pyramid for the refined carbohydrates such as sugar, honey and glucose based sweets and drinks. All of these have a role in providing the body with adequate amounts of carbohydrate.

The amount of carbohydrate required is outlined below and I recommend that you calculate your requirement and estimate the amount of food you require to meet this. It is not necessary to do this regularly but occasionally reviewing requirements and actual intake allows you to keep on the right path. (pic 1 “carbohydrate Intake, download a higher quaility picture at the end of this article)

It is important periodize daily energy and CHO intakes to reflect daily training demands. The aim if this nutritional strategy is to maximize daily training performance, particularly for high intensity/quality training sessions
• It’s not about a “high” carbohydrate intake, it’s about the “right” amount of carbohydrate
• Daily amount consumed should reflect daily training loads therefore on free days follow the food pyramid as appropriate;
• Orientate additional CHO around exercise so if training in the evening the afternoon snack should reflect the higher energy requirements for the evening ahead.
• Think ‘carbohydrate’ in preparation for, immediately prior, during or after the session

The following is a brief list of food which provides just 50g of Carbohydrate, this is effective in highlighting the actual amount of CHO you need in comparison to the amount that you may be taking daily. (pic 2 “food and Carbohydrate” download a higher quaility picture at the end of this article)

The following are some practical ways of increasing carbohydrate in the diet
? Base every meal around a CHO rich food eg bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereal, potato
? Consume high CHO snack between meals eg fruit, wholemeal scone, lowfat yoghurt, dried fruit, cereal bar, fruit smoothie.
? Use thicker slices of bread
? Add potato/pasta/rice to soup and salads
? Eat boiled, baked or mashed potato instead of chips
? Add fruit to cereals and desserts
? Freeze leftover dinners for after training e.g pasta bakes.

This approach will assist athletes in maintaining/achieving a weight and body composition that optimizes performance. While some athletes are concerned about increasing carbohydrate and subsequent weight gain, it is the additional contribution of fat through increasing quantity of food which will be a factor of weight gain, so the challenge is to increase CHO (bread) without extra fat (butter).

For those aiming to run for greater than 90 minutes, these winter months can be used to develop a method of taking fluid/food on board while running. In training and events of less than 90 minutes it may be sufficient to take adequate carbohydrate prior to the race and rely on water stations for fluid. In events of a longer distance it is imperative that you have a hydration/nutrition strategy. It is not practical to rely on water stations around the course and the absence of these during training means it is not possible to effectively practice this strategy. It is also worth noting that the stations may have unfamiliar drinks which have the potential to cause gastric upset, finding out what the organizers are going to provide on the day and practicing with this is important if relying on this method. Carbohydrate gels are convenient and can be used in events with water from the water stations however again it is difficult to practice in training. Sports drinks seem the obvious solution but it is important to find one you tolerate and a way of carrying it.

In the coming weeks, start to plan your days around training times, experiment with a variety of foods and then develop a nutritional strategy for short and long runs. I encourage you to start testing and practicing nutritional strategies that work for you. Your nutritional strategy is unique and should be practiced and modified as you learn more about what to eat to maximize performance.

In the next article I will focus on hydration strategies for training and look specifically at sports drinks.

Ruth Kilcawley
The two greatest nutritional concerns of athletes are protein and vitamins/mineral status, it is interesting therefore to note that when the diets of many athletes are analyzed the actual problem areas identified are carbohydrate (CHO) and fluid. A higher CHO intake has been shown to better maintain performance and mood state during intensified training. CHO ingestion during exercise improves exercise performance and assists in attenuating the immunosuppressive effects of sustained endurance exercise

Carbohydrate is the preferred and most efficient energy source for working muscles; however the body can only store limited amount of carbohydrate, in the form of glycogen, in the muscles and liver. Therefore in order to provide the working muscles with energy the athlete must ensure that these stores are full and also that there is circulating carbohydrate for the muscles to use so that the stores do not deplete early in a run.

This is the first important nutritional aim of a runner; to adequately stock the body with carbohydrate before training and to provide top-up carbohydrate during training or events.

The main sources of carbohydrate in the diet are the foods you find on the bottom shelf of the food pyramid – bread, cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta. Many fruit and vegetables naturally contain carbohydrate as do some dairy products. We look to the top shelf of the pyramid for the refined carbohydrates such as sugar, honey and glucose based sweets and drinks. All of these have a role in providing the body with adequate amounts of carbohydrate.

The amount of carbohydrate required is outlined below and I recommend that you calculate your requirement and estimate the amount of food you require to meet this. It is not necessary to do this regularly but occasionally reviewing requirements and actual intake allows you to keep on the right path. (pic 1 “carbohydrate Intake, download a higher quaility picture at the end of this article)

It is important periodize daily energy and CHO intakes to reflect daily training demands. The aim if this nutritional strategy is to maximize daily training performance, particularly for high intensity/quality training sessions
• It’s not about a “high” carbohydrate intake, it’s about the “right” amount of carbohydrate
• Daily amount consumed should reflect daily training loads therefore on free days follow the food pyramid as appropriate;
• Orientate additional CHO around exercise so if training in the evening the afternoon snack should reflect the higher energy requirements for the evening ahead.
• Think ‘carbohydrate’ in preparation for, immediately prior, during or after the session

The following is a brief list of food which provides just 50g of Carbohydrate, this is effective in highlighting the actual amount of CHO you need in comparison to the amount that you may be taking daily. (pic 2 “food and Carbohydrate” download a higher quaility picture at the end of this article)

The following are some practical ways of increasing carbohydrate in the diet
 Base every meal around a CHO rich food eg bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereal, potato
 Consume high CHO snack between meals eg fruit, wholemeal scone, lowfat yoghurt, dried fruit, cereal bar, fruit smoothie.
 Use thicker slices of bread
 Add potato/pasta/rice to soup and salads
 Eat boiled, baked or mashed potato instead of chips
 Add fruit to cereals and desserts
 Freeze leftover dinners for after training e.g pasta bakes.

This approach will assist athletes in maintaining/achieving a weight and body composition that optimizes performance. While some athletes are concerned about increasing carbohydrate and subsequent weight gain, it is the additional contribution of fat through increasing quantity of food which will be a factor of weight gain, so the challenge is to increase CHO (bread) without extra fat (butter).

For those aiming to run for greater than 90 minutes, these winter months can be used to develop a method of taking fluid/food on board while running. In training and events of less than 90 minutes it may be sufficient to take adequate carbohydrate prior to the race and rely on water stations for fluid. In events of a longer distance it is imperative that you have a hydration/nutrition strategy. It is not practical to rely on water stations around the course and the absence of these during training means it is not possible to effectively practice this strategy. It is also worth noting that the stations may have unfamiliar drinks which have the potential to cause gastric upset, finding out what the organizers are going to provide on the day and practicing with this is important if relying on this method. Carbohydrate gels are convenient and can be used in events with water from the water stations however again it is difficult to practice in training. Sports drinks seem the obvious solution but it is important to find one you tolerate and a way of carrying it.

In the coming weeks, start to plan your days around training times, experiment with a variety of foods and then develop a nutritional strategy for short and long runs. I encourage you to start testing and practicing nutritional strategies that work for you. Your nutritional strategy is unique and should be practiced and modified as you learn more about what to eat to maximize performance.

In the next article I will focus on hydration strategies for training and look specifically at sports drinks.

Ruth Kilcawley

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