Legacy Pefform More Perforj Hincapie Careers Contact Allergy-friendly baking. Check out our other recent Education Posts. Map out your fueling and hydration plan, Hydrate and perform consistently with proper fueling dith a Glycogen replenishment for cyclists, take good notes about how it went, and then tweak it moving forward. For longer events at lower intensity, fat is the main form of fuel that is used by the body, she says. Therefore, it is important to take in enough energy as well as the right kind of energy. The Best Handheld Water Bottles, According to a Running Coach.

Hydrate and perform consistently with proper fueling -

Volek JS, Noakes T. Phinney SD. Rethinking fat as a fuel for endurance exercise. Eur J Sport Sci. Huberman Lab, Dr. SOLUTIONS ATHLETES TRAINERS SCIENCE ABOUT NEWS Menu. CONTACT US. Importance of Nutrition in Sports Performance: Scientific research and expert nutritionists emphasize the significance of nutrition in optimizing athletic performance.

Fueling the Body with the Right Nutrients: A well-rounded diet is essential for athletes to meet their performance goals and help reduce the risk of injury. Protein also aids in the recovery process after intense training sessions, specifically muscle recovery. Protein can help rebuild muscle fibers.

Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes are the primary fuel source for athletes. They provide the necessary energy to sustain physical activity and support optimal performance. Carbohydrates help restore depleted glycogen levels. Andy Galpin at the mark in the video below.

Fats: Healthy fats from sources like nuts, seeds, avocado, and olive oil are crucial for overall health and energy production. They also help with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and provide long-lasting fuel during endurance activities.

Vitamins and Minerals: Athletes require an adequate intake of vitamins and minerals to support various bodily functions and optimize performance. A diverse diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains ensures a broad range of micronutrients. Hydration: The often forgotten key ingredient.

While discussing nutrition, it is essential not to overlook the importance of proper hydration. Staying hydrated is vital for athletes to maintain their energy levels and focus during physical activity.

Water is crucial for regulating body temperature, transporting nutrients, and removing waste products. It is recommended that athletes drink water regularly throughout the day and stay hydrated before, during, and after training or competition.

Scientifically reviewed by: Dr Raj Jutley more info. Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.

This quote from American entrepreneur Jim Rohn was aimed at business people but struck a chord with me when thinking about fuelling for endurance athletes. It fits so well because getting your fueling and hydration strategy right isn't the mysterious art form that some people believe it to be.

When you boil sports nutrition down to the fundamentals, there are 3 acute costs of taking part in endurance exercise:. Of course, the wider topic of good nutritional practices for athletes is significantly more complex than the turnover of these 3 elements. But for me, the trio sit head and shoulders above the others in the hierarchy of importance during endurance exercise.

You can further refine these levels on the basis of your own deeper knowledge of your personal requirements. And then and this is the most important step , apply some structured trial and error to test out your estimates in the real world, and settle on amounts that work for you.

Before getting into the specifics of each lever, it's worth emphasising that the advice is based on optimising performance when going extremely hard in training or racing.

It doesn't necessarily apply in its entirety when undertaking easier training because requirements in all 3 areas will be reduced when rates of output are lower. Ingestion of carbohydrate has long been known to improve endurance performance, primarily during events lasting longer than 45 minutes it's worth reading this paper by Asker Jeukendrup for an in-depth review of carbs and performance.

There's a lot of debate around the optimal dosage of carbohydrates because it can be so individualised, but there are credible guidelines on how much carb athletes need per hour. The recommended amounts increase in line with the duration of activity, in recognition of the fact that stored 'endogenous' fuel is sufficient for shorter bouts of activity, but these stores become depleted over time.

So, we need to get more energy on board to avoid depletion and maintain performance levels for longer activities.

Not sure how much carb you need? Take the Quick Carb Calculator to get some fueling guidelines for your next event. When individualising levels of carbohydrate intake for your own circumstances, the following rules of thumb are useful:.

In what exact format i. gels, energy bars, carb drinks, chews you get these carbs into your system is an area of furious debate, but I think it's a distraction from the fundamental issue of getting the correct amount of carbs dialled in as the first priority. In my experience, plain energy chews , gels or bars with clearly marked carbohydrate contents on the packaging are the best way to go as they are often easily digestible.

The best way to go about the trial and error process is to perform simulation training sessions where you perform the activity you're fuelling for as close to race intensity for a prolonged period of time ideally close to race duration too. This approach will allow you to build up an initial picture of what different levels of carbohydrate intake are doing to your ability to perform and to your stomach.

Whilst there are some inter-individual differences in the amount of carbs that are needed to sustain performance, there seems to be relatively less intra-individual variance.

Optimal carb intake is reasonably stable once you dial it in, but fluid loss via sweating is significantly more volatile, both between and within individuals. So, hydration requirements can be lot more variable too in no small part due to the huge role that environmental conditions and clothing can have on sweat rates.

Image Credit: Dale Travers ©. One sensible way to approach this issue is to start at the edges and to work inwards by beginning with the lowest amount of fluid intake needed For activities of less than ~60 minutes and even up to 90 minutes in some cases , fluid intake of close to zero is definitely an option if an athlete starts well hydrated and has plenty of access to drinks to top up again afterwards.

This is certainly true in colder conditions when sweat rates are blunted because core body temperature is much easier to manage. When you get into the zone of hours and in hotter and more humid conditions , fluid intake definitely starts to be required to maintain optimal output when you're going as hard as possible.

Without it, sweat losses can result in a decrease in blood volume that manifests in cardiovascular strain and a reduction in performance. It's true that a more structured approach to drinking might be beneficial for this kind of duration in certain situations e.

In these cases, some experimentation starting around ~ml ~16oz per hour and adjusting up or downwards from there as necessary is sensible. For much longer sessions and races i. Whilst that sounds like and is! a very wide range, it's fair to say that for a large majority of athletes something in the range of mlml ~oz per hour is a decent zone in which to start some experimentation.

Struggling with hydration Hydrare fall? Check tueling these five quick tips to adn hydration so you can feel Potassium and sleep quality perform your best! Fuelign is often marketed conskstently being the magic fuelong for Hydrate and perform consistently with proper fueling skin anf good digestion, but its benefits go fuelung Hydrate and perform consistently with proper fueling that for overall health, especially for athletes. Failing to hydrate properly as an athlete can lead to suboptimal performance in training sessions and on competition days. Dehydration can lead to chronic fatigue, quicker time to exhaustion during exercise, inability to sweat enough to cool you down, impaired recovery, and can even cause you to wake up feeling less rested despite adequate sleep. That being said, staying hydrated can be challenging, especially when hydration needs increase during periods of heavy training, altitude training, or exposure to heat and humidity. If you're someone who has a hard time maintaining adequate hydration, read on to learn how to make proper hydration work for you!