For people exercising for more than 4 hours, up to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour is recommended. Carbohydrate foods and fluids should be consumed after exercise, particularly in the first one to 2 hours after exercise. While consuming sufficient total carbohydrate post-exercise is important, the type of carbohydrate source might also be important, particularly if a second training session or event will occur less than 8 hours later.

In these situations, athletes should choose carbohydrate sources with a high GI for example white bread, white rice, white potatoes in the first half hour or so after exercise. This should be continued until the normal meal pattern resumes. Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery.

It is recommended that athletes consume 1. Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair. Protein needs are generally met and often exceeded by most athletes who consume sufficient energy in their diet.

The amount of protein recommended for sporting people is only slightly higher than that recommended for the general public. For athletes interested in increasing lean mass or muscle protein synthesis, consumption of a high-quality protein source such as whey protein or milk containing around 20 to 25 g protein in close proximity to exercise for example, within the period immediately to 2 hours after exercise may be beneficial.

As a general approach to achieving optimal protein intakes, it is suggested to space out protein intake fairly evenly over the course of a day, for instance around 25 to 30 g protein every 3 to 5 hours, including as part of regular meals.

There is currently a lack of evidence to show that protein supplements directly improve athletic performance. Therefore, for most athletes, additional protein supplements are unlikely to improve sport performance. A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs.

Supplements will only be of any benefit if your diet is inadequate or you have a diagnosed deficiency, such as an iron or calcium deficiency. There is no evidence that extra doses of vitamins improve sporting performance. Nutritional supplements can be found in pill, tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form, and cover a broad range of products including:.

Before using supplements, you should consider what else you can do to improve your sporting performance — diet, training and lifestyle changes are all more proven and cost effective ways to improve your performance.

Relatively few supplements that claim performance benefits are supported by sound scientific evidence. Use of vitamin and mineral supplements is also potentially dangerous. Supplements should not be taken without the advice of a qualified health professional.

The ethical use of sports supplements is a personal choice by athletes, and it remains controversial. If taking supplements, you are also at risk of committing an anti-doping rule violation no matter what level of sport you play.

Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death. Drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise is very important.

Fluid intake is particularly important for events lasting more than 60 minutes, of high intensity or in warm conditions. Water is a suitable drink, but sports drinks may be required, especially in endurance events or warm climates.

Sports drinks contain some sodium, which helps absorption. While insufficient hydration is a problem for many athletes, excess hydration may also be potentially dangerous. In rare cases, athletes might consume excessive amounts of fluids that dilute the blood too much, causing a low blood concentration of sodium.

This condition is called hyponatraemia, which can potentially lead to seizures, collapse, coma or even death if not treated appropriately. Consuming fluids at a level of to ml per hour of exercise might be a suitable starting point to avoid dehydration and hyponatraemia, although intake should ideally be customised to individual athletes, considering variable factors such as climate, sweat rates and tolerance.

This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional.

The winners will, without doubt, be highly talented, highly trained and highly motivated. At one time that would have been enough. But these days it is highly likely that everyone in the race will have these qualities……where everyone else is equal, it is diet that will make the vital difference.

His primary areas of research revolve around physical development and the role of nutrition, sleep and stress in physical development. Michael works in multiple strength and conditioning environments from Rugby to Soccer to GAA, and also runs an online coaching service at Synthesize Coaching.

Metrifit provides a simple and effective method for athletes to record their well-being, stress, nutrition, sleep and training responses as part of its athlete monitoring package.

The analytics provided by Metrifit will also look for deviation from normal patterns at the individual level across many variables.

Follow metrifit. Eating for Peak Athletic Performance. Current knowledge about sports nutrition by B Pramuková, V Szabadosová, and A Šoltésová. What Is the Protein Sparing Effect? by Sandi Busch. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building?

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. Sport nutrition: A review of the latest guidelines for exercise and sport nutrition from the American College of Sport Nutrition, the International Olympic Committee and the International Society for Sports Nutrition.

Both Brian and Max train the same amount and they both give their absolute best, but they have starkly different trajectories. Brian just gets by with his training; he does not put much focus on what he is doing to help his body perform and recover.

Max, on the other hand, treats every training session with utmost importance. He fuels his training to perform and recover as best he can. If you truly want to get the most out of each training session, you must seek to perform rather than get by.

Certain factors such as genetics lifestyle can affect your ability to recover from training, but perhaps the most important behaviors that affect your ability to perform are under your control.

The biggest one is nutrition. Training is meant to cause damage to your body, and your body repairs this damage to improve. This requires energy. If your body does not have adequate caloric intake, it will be unable to fully adapt to training stimuli.

Think of your body as a car, which requires both the right type and amount of fuel to keep running. If the fuel tank is not refilled after a long drive or training session , the car will not be able to drive the next day.

Endurance sports require lots of the right kind of energy in order to perform optimally. The more you drive your high-octane vehicle, the more fuel you need to put back in to keep it running on all cylinders.

With the proper care, you can transform yourself into Max Watts. To start, remember that nutrition for weight loss is not the same as nutrition for optimal performance.

In some cases, weight loss is what will lead to the biggest performance gains—but trying to lose weight during hard training will not lead to optimal performance. The best time to lose weight is during the off-season when training intensity is low.

As a disclaimer, these recommendations assume that you are at or near your optimal weight. By properly fueling your training, you will be able to train harder and longer more frequently. Simply as a byproduct of burning lots of calories daily, many find that they gradually lean up during their training cycle.

Those with chronic energy deficits have higher levels of stress hormones that can cause their bodies to hang on to fat stores rather than lose them and even cannibalize muscle tissue. Many find that they actually get leaner and build functional muscle when fueling for optimal performance.

The biggest component of fueling for performance is timing your carbohydrate intake: focus on centering carbohydrate consumption before, during, and immediately after your training. A good carb-based breakfast will raise your blood glucose and increase liver glycogen, which your body will use in training.

This will spare muscle glycogen and prolong the onset of fatigue. Eating during training that is longer than 90 minutes is also a good idea, especially if it is a particularly intense session.

Intermittent fasting, with its varying protocols, involves limiting the time window for eating during the day. This dietary pattern might not be suitable for athletes given their training schedules or the nutrition to fuel performance.

As a result, the potential risks may outweigh the benefits. Limited eating windows may be helpful for weight loss or maintaining a strict weight class, but it can also lead to low energy availability and actually harm performance and overall health.

The pressure to maintain a low body weight for athletics can lead to restrictive diets or even clinical eating disorders, affecting both physical and mental health. These include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and orthorexia.

Athletes , especially those in aesthetics-focused sports such as gymnastics, dance, and ice skating, have the highest rates of disordered eating and eating disorders.

These eating patterns can weaken muscles, cause fatigue, and lead to injuries and complications like anemia and osteoporosis. Restrictive diets like ketogenic, plant-based, or intermittent fasting might appeal to athletes with disordered eating tendencies. Thus, athletes should carefully assess their motivations for diet changes and consult professionals to ensure their nutritional needs are met.

To summarize, the researchers found that the Mediterranean diet has the most benefits for athletes regarding recovery and performance.

Low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets show no harm to athletic performance; however, the non-ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets that emphasize protein intake might be more sustainable for the energy demands of athletics.

Vegans and vegetarians are at high risk for nutrient deficiencies, especially in nutrients essential for athletic recovery and muscle maintenance. Intermittent fasting may aid weight loss but could hamper athletic performance in endurance and aerobic sports.

For any dietary intervention, the reasoning for the change should be closely monitored by the athlete and their healthcare team to ensure disordered eating is not a risk. Restricting the type and amount of food an athlete consumes can severely impact performance and overall well-being. The Mediterranean diet is abundant in foods that support the high energy demands of athletes and promote recovery.

However, no one diet is universally recommended for athletes , and any dietary changes should be done in collaboration with healthcare professionals to ensure maintenance of overall health. Mediterranean Diet The Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains, unsaturated fats, lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables, is consistently associated with improved health and performance for athletes.

Ketogenic Diet The ketogenic diet restricts the consumption of carbohydrates and protein to boost the use of fat as an energy source, thus improving weight loss and potentially athletic performance. Low-Carbohydrate Diet People often think that Ketogenic and Low-Carbohydrate diets are the same.

However, the particular timing of ingestion of carbohydrate foods with different GIs around exercise might be important. There is a suggestion that low GI foods may be useful before exercise to provide a more sustained energy release, although evidence is not convincing in terms of any resulting performance benefit.

Moderate to high GI foods and fluids may be the most beneficial during exercise and in the early recovery period. However, it is important to remember the type and timing of food eaten should be tailored to personal preferences and to maximise the performance of the particular sport in which the person is involved.

A high-carbohydrate meal 3 to 4 hours before exercise is thought to have a positive effect on performance. A small snack one to 2 hours before exercise may also benefit performance. It is important to ensure good hydration prior to an event. Consuming approximately ml of fluid in the 2 to 4 hours prior to an event may be a good general strategy to take.

Some people may experience a negative response to eating close to exercise. A meal high in fat, protein or fibre is likely to increase the risk of digestive discomfort. It is recommended that meals just before exercise should be high in carbohydrates as they do not cause gastrointestinal upset.

Liquid meal supplements may also be appropriate, particularly for athletes who suffer from pre-event nerves. For athletes involved in events lasting less than 60 minutes in duration, a mouth rinse with a carbohydrate beverage may be sufficient to help improve performance.

Benefits of this strategy appear to relate to effects on the brain and central nervous system. During exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, an intake of carbohydrate is required to top up blood glucose levels and delay fatigue.

Current recommendations suggest 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate is sufficient, and can be in the form of lollies, sports gels, sports drinks, low-fat muesli and sports bars or sandwiches with white bread.

It is important to start your intake early in exercise and to consume regular amounts throughout the exercise period. It is also important to consume regular fluid during prolonged exercise to avoid dehydration. Sports drinks, diluted fruit juice and water are suitable choices.

For people exercising for more than 4 hours, up to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour is recommended. Carbohydrate foods and fluids should be consumed after exercise, particularly in the first one to 2 hours after exercise.

While consuming sufficient total carbohydrate post-exercise is important, the type of carbohydrate source might also be important, particularly if a second training session or event will occur less than 8 hours later. In these situations, athletes should choose carbohydrate sources with a high GI for example white bread, white rice, white potatoes in the first half hour or so after exercise.

This should be continued until the normal meal pattern resumes. Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery.

It is recommended that athletes consume 1. Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair.

Protein needs are generally met and often exceeded by most athletes who consume sufficient energy in their diet. The amount of protein recommended for sporting people is only slightly higher than that recommended for the general public.

For athletes interested in increasing lean mass or muscle protein synthesis, consumption of a high-quality protein source such as whey protein or milk containing around 20 to 25 g protein in close proximity to exercise for example, within the period immediately to 2 hours after exercise may be beneficial.

As a general approach to achieving optimal protein intakes, it is suggested to space out protein intake fairly evenly over the course of a day, for instance around 25 to 30 g protein every 3 to 5 hours, including as part of regular meals.

There is currently a lack of evidence to show that protein supplements directly improve athletic performance. Therefore, for most athletes, additional protein supplements are unlikely to improve sport performance.

A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs. Supplements will only be of any benefit if your diet is inadequate or you have a diagnosed deficiency, such as an iron or calcium deficiency.

There is no evidence that extra doses of vitamins improve sporting performance. Eating during training that is longer than 90 minutes is also a good idea, especially if it is a particularly intense session. These carbohydrates will enter the bloodstream and the muscle, maintaining your blood sugar and giving the muscle a continuous source of energy.

If you fail to eat after about two hours of intense aerobic exercise, your performance will start to gradually decline until the dreaded bonk occurs. When blood sugar drops, your body will burn through its remaining muscle glycogen rapidly.

Then, a few nasty things will happen:. The longer and harder the session is, the more carbohydrates you need.

Consuming plenty of calories during training will also help you to meet caloric requirements for the day and enhance recovery for the next bout of exercise. Finally, remember that training is a catabolic process that causes damage to your body.

Providing plenty of calories immediately after training will give your body the energy it needs to begin the repair process quickly and help you recover faster. Carbohydrates and proteins signal hormones in your body that will tell it to begin the repair process.

Without a post-workout meal, this response will be impaired; you will struggle to fully recover. Your muscles will also be depleted of glycogen. Remember that during the recovery window immediately following training, you will be able to synthesize new muscle glycogen more effectively.

The rest of the day, your body still needs carbs to replenish, but you do not want to cause a spike in blood sugar. Focus on fiber-rich, complex carbs rather than simple carb sources for your other meals of the day.

Good examples would be fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and quinoa. This is also a good time to consume some lean protein and healthy fats.

There has been increasing popularity of low-carb and ketogenic diets within the sports world recently. They have been touted as a great way to get lean and improve your performance. However, unless you are an ultra-endurance athlete, it is unlikely you will find any benefit from low-carb training.

Some low-carb training protocols have been shown to increase levels of mitochondria, but performance improvements remain equivocal. These low-carb protocols can be difficult to properly implement and may have negative implications that can offset any potential performance gains.

However, most are far better off fueling for optimal performance with a balanced carbohydrate-based diet. Amateurs especially tend to have a lot of room for improvement that can only be realized through continual training. The demands of this training are best met with proper fueling rather than experimental diets.

To summarize, low-carbohydrate training is only a good idea if your training demands longer and more steady aerobic sessions.

But if you are training for explosive, high-intensity events such as criteriums, time trials, and road races common in the amateur scene, low carb training is not a good idea.