Sports Nutrition
Eat Carbs Before & During Workouts
Preworkout carbohydrate: Is it a good idea? It depends. If you’re in a mass-building phase and want to push it to the max, fuel yourself with carbohydrate before and during your workout. In this phase, the best timing recommendation for eating before exercise is to eat a small meal of carbohydrate and protein one and a half to two hours before working out. This meal should contain about 50 grams of carbohydrate (200 calories) and 14 grams of protein (56 calories). These amounts can vary based on your individual calorie needs as well as the amount of food you can tolerate before exercise.
If you are trying to lose fat, you want to minimize the carbohydrate you take in before your workout since you are training to burn fat. I suggest cutting your carbohydate-protein meal in half. Thus, your meal would contain about 25 grams of carbohydrate and 14 to 15 grams of protein.
And, of course, you should make sure you are always well hydrated. Drink 2 cups (473 milliliters) of fluid within two hours of working out and another cup (237 milliliters) 15 minutes before exercise. Following this pattern will ensure that you gain the greatest energy advantage from your preexercise meal without feeling full while you exercise.
If you want a little extra boost, try drinking a liquid carbohydrate just before your workout. In a study of strength trainers, one group consumed a carbohydrate drink just before training and between exercise sets. Another group was given a placebo. For exercise, both groups did leg extensions at about 80 percent of their strength capacity, performing repeated sets of 10 repetitions with rest between sets. The researchers found that the carbohydrate-fed group outlasted the placebo group, performing many more sets and repetitions.
Another study turned up a similar finding. Exercisers drank either a placebo or a 10 percent carbohydrate beverage immediately before and between the 5th, 10th, and 15th sets of a strength-training workout. They performed repeated sets of 10 repetitions, with three minutes of rest between each set. When fueled by the carbohydrate drink (1 gram per kilogram of body weight), they could do more total repetitions (149 versus 129) and more total sets (17.1 versus 14.4) than when they drank the placebo. All this goes to show that carbohydrate gives you an energy edge when consumed before and during a workout. The harder you can work out, the more you can stimulate your muscles to grow.
If you sip a carbohydrate drink over the course of a long workout, be aware that you can take in too many calories. When counseling clients, I recommend that they alternate between drinking a carbohydrate beverage and drinking water during training, especially if their workouts last more than an hour. That way, they don’t consume too many calories from the carbohydrate drink.
The key is to figure out how many grams of carbohydrate you need daily. If you supplement with a sport drink, be sure to count the carbohydrate in the drink as well. Consider your goals—mass building or fat burning—and listen to your body for signs of fatigue. Adjust your carbohydrate intake accordingly, depending on your goals and energy level.
During strength training, glycogen is pulled from storage to replace ATP, the enery compound inside cells that powers muscular contractions. The ATP is broken down in the cells through a series of chemical reactions. The energy released from this breakdown enables the muscle cells to do their work. As you train, the glycogen in your muscles progressively decreases. You can deplete as much as 26 percent of your muscle glycogen during high-intensity strength training.
Some people might argue that a 26 percent decrease isn’t enough to affect strength-training performance. After all, endurance athletes lose as much as 40 percent or more of their glycogen stores during a competitive event. What’s the big deal? Well, research has shown that glycogen depletion is localized to the muscles you work. Let’s say you train your legs today. During your workout, glycogen depletion occurs mostly in your leg muscles, but not much in your arms, chest, or elsewhere in your body. If scientists measured your glycogen levels after exercise, they might find a 26 percent depletion overall. But your leg muscles could be totally emptied. Hard training depletes glycogen from the individual muscles worked.
This is an excerpt from Power Eating – 3rd Edition by Susan Kleiner and Maggie Greenwood-Robinson.Get 15% off this book with coupon code NEWS29.
If you are trying to lose fat, you want to minimize the carbohydrate you take in before your workout since you are training to burn fat. I suggest cutting your carbohydate-protein meal in half. Thus, your meal would contain about 25 grams of carbohydrate and 14 to 15 grams of protein.
And, of course, you should make sure you are always well hydrated. Drink 2 cups (473 milliliters) of fluid within two hours of working out and another cup (237 milliliters) 15 minutes before exercise. Following this pattern will ensure that you gain the greatest energy advantage from your preexercise meal without feeling full while you exercise.
If you want a little extra boost, try drinking a liquid carbohydrate just before your workout. In a study of strength trainers, one group consumed a carbohydrate drink just before training and between exercise sets. Another group was given a placebo. For exercise, both groups did leg extensions at about 80 percent of their strength capacity, performing repeated sets of 10 repetitions with rest between sets. The researchers found that the carbohydrate-fed group outlasted the placebo group, performing many more sets and repetitions.
Another study turned up a similar finding. Exercisers drank either a placebo or a 10 percent carbohydrate beverage immediately before and between the 5th, 10th, and 15th sets of a strength-training workout. They performed repeated sets of 10 repetitions, with three minutes of rest between each set. When fueled by the carbohydrate drink (1 gram per kilogram of body weight), they could do more total repetitions (149 versus 129) and more total sets (17.1 versus 14.4) than when they drank the placebo. All this goes to show that carbohydrate gives you an energy edge when consumed before and during a workout. The harder you can work out, the more you can stimulate your muscles to grow.
If you sip a carbohydrate drink over the course of a long workout, be aware that you can take in too many calories. When counseling clients, I recommend that they alternate between drinking a carbohydrate beverage and drinking water during training, especially if their workouts last more than an hour. That way, they don’t consume too many calories from the carbohydrate drink.
The key is to figure out how many grams of carbohydrate you need daily. If you supplement with a sport drink, be sure to count the carbohydrate in the drink as well. Consider your goals—mass building or fat burning—and listen to your body for signs of fatigue. Adjust your carbohydrate intake accordingly, depending on your goals and energy level.
During strength training, glycogen is pulled from storage to replace ATP, the enery compound inside cells that powers muscular contractions. The ATP is broken down in the cells through a series of chemical reactions. The energy released from this breakdown enables the muscle cells to do their work. As you train, the glycogen in your muscles progressively decreases. You can deplete as much as 26 percent of your muscle glycogen during high-intensity strength training.
Some people might argue that a 26 percent decrease isn’t enough to affect strength-training performance. After all, endurance athletes lose as much as 40 percent or more of their glycogen stores during a competitive event. What’s the big deal? Well, research has shown that glycogen depletion is localized to the muscles you work. Let’s say you train your legs today. During your workout, glycogen depletion occurs mostly in your leg muscles, but not much in your arms, chest, or elsewhere in your body. If scientists measured your glycogen levels after exercise, they might find a 26 percent depletion overall. But your leg muscles could be totally emptied. Hard training depletes glycogen from the individual muscles worked.
This is an excerpt from Power Eating – 3rd Edition by Susan Kleiner and Maggie Greenwood-Robinson.Get 15% off this book with coupon code NEWS29.
Sports nutrition – pushing your performance limits
by Kelly Hannigan, NMD
You crouch, poised, squinting in the sun, waiting for the serve. Your eyes watch the ball spin as it rises, anticipating the follow-through delivery. You react, springing toward the open volley and smashing a return with lightning speed.
Think. Did you have to tell your feet to move forward, your arm to raise the racquet, your eyes to focus? No. Every movement is automatic, a reaction from years of disciplined training and practice, practice, practice.
In a similar manner, your body is reacting from a cellular level on the inside. Your lungs are opening up to pull in oxygen. Your heart is pumping blood faster. Blood vessels are dilating in the muscles to let more oxygen reach the cells to prevent lactic acid build up and to retrieve stored glucose from the tissue to fuel the body for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) energy. Your joints are lubricated, bones are strong, tendons and ligaments flexible and ready for action. The energy demands on your body are tremendous. The thyroid gland is preparing active hormones for cellular use. Your basal metabolic rate is registering temperature needs for enzymatic conversions. The immune system is on guard in case of injury to protect you against infections. Instinctively your brain and nerves are coordinating every second of action; the autonomic nervous system switches to sympathetic, dilating your pupils, opening the bronchi, standing every hair on end. The adrenal glands pour out corticosteroids while your stomach flips with the thought of your competitor’s challenge.
Will you be able to outperform him? Will your body support you? Will your recovery be efficient enough for you to do it all again? Will you be ready? Are you ready now?
You make sure that you get six to eight hours of sleep every night to allow your body to rest, regenerate and repair. You drink plenty of water to remain hydrated. And you eat a diet balanced in proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
You have no problems maintaining your competitive edge. You rise and return to the game easily day after day without stress, strain or injury. You are healthy and rarely sick. Your liver and bowels detox toxins effectively. You feel young and even have energy to spare despite work, personal and family activities.
Or do you? If you don’t, then you need to consider how your health is. Your health is only as good as your foundation, your ability to biochemically use every vitamin, mineral and nutrient that you ingest. Your nutritional foundation should support all your body functions from internal cellular levels to large organ functioning.
How do you build your health foundation? Your body needs basic nutrition. As an athlete, you also need special nutrients to meet the physical demands you make that go beyond normal functioning to push the performance buttons to the limits.
From a naturopathic physician’s perspective, I would recommend a high quality multiple vitamin and mineral formula as a basic. Look for one that contains specific nutrients to support the external (bones and joints) as well as internal (cell, tissue, organ) structures. In the list below, I have outlined the benefits of building a strong nutritional foundation for athletic performance and the nutrients that will support that foundation.
In order to optimize nutritional absorption and utilization, I cannot stress enough the importance of a healthy digestive tract. Specifically, appropriate levels of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid in the stomach help with initial carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. If the larger food molecules are not broken down into their simple forms of glucose, amino and fatty acids, they cannot be absorbed or delivered to the body as ATP energy. If larger food molecules sit in the intestines, they can irritate the lining and potentially cause immune reactions and fatigue. I find that 70 percent of an ill patient’s symptoms resolve with proper gut management. Maintaining your gastrointestinal tract will have an impact on your athletic performance.
Nutritionally, glutamine is an important amino acid to repair the inflammation and integrity of the gastrointestinal tract lining, along with glucosamine and the B vitamins. Additionally, acidophilus and bifidum strains of bacteria in the intestines assist food digestion and prevent infectious organism overgrowth. FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides) help to maintain these “friendly bacterial flora” by being an available food source.
Before you step on to the court, ask yourself: Are you maintaining a healthy foundation to optimize your competitive edge? Are you going beyond the basics to target nutrition specifically for sports performance and a shorter recovery time? Building your foundation could be as easy as visiting your health food store shelf. Sports nutrition is becoming more than sports bars and sports drinks. Many specialized formulas will include the ingredients listed below in pill, powder and shake forms. Check the list. You’ll soon be on your way to building your foundation and pushing your performance limits. After all, you’re going to need it to practice, practice, practice.
What your body needs
Your body is in a constant state of activity and needs certain nutrients to perform. The list below explains the body’s physical action and specifies the nutrients needed to fulfill that action. If you decide to supplement any of the nutrients, note that the amino acids and B complex vitamins should be taken in a balanced form so one does not deplete another in the same family. Your age, activity and diet will also be a factor. Taking a multiple vitamin-mineral formula assures you of getting the right proportions of one nutrient to another and is a good way to build a strong nutritional foundation.
Athletic requirements ~ Nutrients needed:
Improved digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats ~ Bromelain, betaine HCL, glutamic acid, glutamine, choline, inositol, and fructooligosaccharides (FOS)
Optimal energy production in the mitochondrial Kreb’s cycle ~ Malic acid, CoQ10, L-carnitine, chromium, magnesium malate, ribose (an ATP component), and B vitamins
Support and building of the immune system ~ Vitamins A as beta carotene, Ester C, E and B’s, selenium, zinc, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine (to form L-glutathione) and ornithine
Better adrenal and thyroid gland activity ~ Stress-reducing B vitamins, chromium, copper, glutathione, iodine and tyrosine
Repair, maintenance and growth of muscle tissues ~ Amino acids in easily assimilated forms, magnesium, calcium and carnitine
Healthy bones and osteoporosis prevention ~ Calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and K, boron, B6, B12 and folic acid
Well-functioning joints ~ Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, bromelain, betaine HCL and MSM
Tissue repair ~ Vitamins A, C, E, zinc, proline, serine, ornithine
Healthy cardiovascular structures ~ CoQ10, niacin, L-carnitine, methionine, inositol, choline, biotin, bioflavonoid complex, rutin, hesperidin complex, all B vitamins and folic acid
Anti-aging and steroid hormone production ~ Growth hormone releasers: ornithine, L-arginine, L-carnitine; anti-oxidants vitamins A,C,E, selenium, glutathione; branched chain amino acids: leucine, valine, isoleucine
Support for the brain and nervous system ~ Phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, B vitamins, choline, biotin, inositol and folic acid
Liver detoxification and fat metabolism ~ MSM, methionine, choline, inositol, B vitamins, PABA and L-carnitine
by Kelly Hannigan, NMD
You crouch, poised, squinting in the sun, waiting for the serve. Your eyes watch the ball spin as it rises, anticipating the follow-through delivery. You react, springing toward the open volley and smashing a return with lightning speed.
Think. Did you have to tell your feet to move forward, your arm to raise the racquet, your eyes to focus? No. Every movement is automatic, a reaction from years of disciplined training and practice, practice, practice.
In a similar manner, your body is reacting from a cellular level on the inside. Your lungs are opening up to pull in oxygen. Your heart is pumping blood faster. Blood vessels are dilating in the muscles to let more oxygen reach the cells to prevent lactic acid build up and to retrieve stored glucose from the tissue to fuel the body for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) energy. Your joints are lubricated, bones are strong, tendons and ligaments flexible and ready for action. The energy demands on your body are tremendous. The thyroid gland is preparing active hormones for cellular use. Your basal metabolic rate is registering temperature needs for enzymatic conversions. The immune system is on guard in case of injury to protect you against infections. Instinctively your brain and nerves are coordinating every second of action; the autonomic nervous system switches to sympathetic, dilating your pupils, opening the bronchi, standing every hair on end. The adrenal glands pour out corticosteroids while your stomach flips with the thought of your competitor’s challenge.
Will you be able to outperform him? Will your body support you? Will your recovery be efficient enough for you to do it all again? Will you be ready? Are you ready now?
You make sure that you get six to eight hours of sleep every night to allow your body to rest, regenerate and repair. You drink plenty of water to remain hydrated. And you eat a diet balanced in proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
You have no problems maintaining your competitive edge. You rise and return to the game easily day after day without stress, strain or injury. You are healthy and rarely sick. Your liver and bowels detox toxins effectively. You feel young and even have energy to spare despite work, personal and family activities.
Or do you? If you don’t, then you need to consider how your health is. Your health is only as good as your foundation, your ability to biochemically use every vitamin, mineral and nutrient that you ingest. Your nutritional foundation should support all your body functions from internal cellular levels to large organ functioning.
How do you build your health foundation? Your body needs basic nutrition. As an athlete, you also need special nutrients to meet the physical demands you make that go beyond normal functioning to push the performance buttons to the limits.
From a naturopathic physician’s perspective, I would recommend a high quality multiple vitamin and mineral formula as a basic. Look for one that contains specific nutrients to support the external (bones and joints) as well as internal (cell, tissue, organ) structures. In the list below, I have outlined the benefits of building a strong nutritional foundation for athletic performance and the nutrients that will support that foundation.
In order to optimize nutritional absorption and utilization, I cannot stress enough the importance of a healthy digestive tract. Specifically, appropriate levels of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid in the stomach help with initial carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. If the larger food molecules are not broken down into their simple forms of glucose, amino and fatty acids, they cannot be absorbed or delivered to the body as ATP energy. If larger food molecules sit in the intestines, they can irritate the lining and potentially cause immune reactions and fatigue. I find that 70 percent of an ill patient’s symptoms resolve with proper gut management. Maintaining your gastrointestinal tract will have an impact on your athletic performance.
Nutritionally, glutamine is an important amino acid to repair the inflammation and integrity of the gastrointestinal tract lining, along with glucosamine and the B vitamins. Additionally, acidophilus and bifidum strains of bacteria in the intestines assist food digestion and prevent infectious organism overgrowth. FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides) help to maintain these “friendly bacterial flora” by being an available food source.
Before you step on to the court, ask yourself: Are you maintaining a healthy foundation to optimize your competitive edge? Are you going beyond the basics to target nutrition specifically for sports performance and a shorter recovery time? Building your foundation could be as easy as visiting your health food store shelf. Sports nutrition is becoming more than sports bars and sports drinks. Many specialized formulas will include the ingredients listed below in pill, powder and shake forms. Check the list. You’ll soon be on your way to building your foundation and pushing your performance limits. After all, you’re going to need it to practice, practice, practice.
What your body needs
Your body is in a constant state of activity and needs certain nutrients to perform. The list below explains the body’s physical action and specifies the nutrients needed to fulfill that action. If you decide to supplement any of the nutrients, note that the amino acids and B complex vitamins should be taken in a balanced form so one does not deplete another in the same family. Your age, activity and diet will also be a factor. Taking a multiple vitamin-mineral formula assures you of getting the right proportions of one nutrient to another and is a good way to build a strong nutritional foundation.
Athletic requirements ~ Nutrients needed:
Improved digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats ~ Bromelain, betaine HCL, glutamic acid, glutamine, choline, inositol, and fructooligosaccharides (FOS)
Optimal energy production in the mitochondrial Kreb’s cycle ~ Malic acid, CoQ10, L-carnitine, chromium, magnesium malate, ribose (an ATP component), and B vitamins
Support and building of the immune system ~ Vitamins A as beta carotene, Ester C, E and B’s, selenium, zinc, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine (to form L-glutathione) and ornithine
Better adrenal and thyroid gland activity ~ Stress-reducing B vitamins, chromium, copper, glutathione, iodine and tyrosine
Repair, maintenance and growth of muscle tissues ~ Amino acids in easily assimilated forms, magnesium, calcium and carnitine
Healthy bones and osteoporosis prevention ~ Calcium, magnesium, vitamins D and K, boron, B6, B12 and folic acid
Well-functioning joints ~ Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, bromelain, betaine HCL and MSM
Tissue repair ~ Vitamins A, C, E, zinc, proline, serine, ornithine
Healthy cardiovascular structures ~ CoQ10, niacin, L-carnitine, methionine, inositol, choline, biotin, bioflavonoid complex, rutin, hesperidin complex, all B vitamins and folic acid
Anti-aging and steroid hormone production ~ Growth hormone releasers: ornithine, L-arginine, L-carnitine; anti-oxidants vitamins A,C,E, selenium, glutathione; branched chain amino acids: leucine, valine, isoleucine
Support for the brain and nervous system ~ Phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, B vitamins, choline, biotin, inositol and folic acid
Liver detoxification and fat metabolism ~ MSM, methionine, choline, inositol, B vitamins, PABA and L-carnitine
- Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Consult your health care professional for guidelines regarding your specific needs for any of the above nutrients.
- ©2001 TyH Publications Kelly Hannigan, NMD, is a naturopathic physician with a private practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The New Food Pyramid
If you don't already know that there is a new Food Pyramid.
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| mpk_poster.pdf |
| mpk_poster2.pdf |
