After you have your daily nutrition where it needs to be to support your training, you can improve your performance even further by eating correctly before, during and after your training sessions and races. You will improve your performance if you eat and hydrate properly before exercise or during exercise, but you will improve your performance the most if you do both. You will also improve your performance at your next workout if you eat properly after your training session. So, each of these components of sports nutrition are important and doing all three will make the most significant improvements in how you feel and how you perform. One of the reasons you are training is to get your body ready for your race and an important aspect of training is getting your stomach ready to utilize fuel before, during and after workouts.
What you eat and drink before a workout can determine whether you are able to push yourself to get your best performance. The first step that many people are missing is to take in some calories before you exercise. The best calories to take in are carbohydrates and how much depends on how far in advance of your workout you are able to eat. For shorter weekday workouts, eat 30-60 min before and choose foods that are easy to digest like liquids (sports drink, juice, smoothie, bananas, plain toast, sports gel, etc.). For longer weekend workouts or races, eat 1-3 hours before and choose a meal or snack that contains complex carbohydrates, a little protein, and that is low in fat. Examples include a granola bar and banana, bagel with peanut butter and a piece of fruit, a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a fruit. You can experiment with different breakfasts and amounts to see what you tolerate the best and then you should stick with that same meal before all of your runs.
During workouts, muscles use glycogen (the stored energy form of carbohydrates) and fat for fuel. Both fat and glycogen are used in most activities. Fat can be used as a fuel during aerobic exercise, but glycogen is the main fuel during strenuous exercise and anaerobic exercise, meaning that you need to be able to take in carbohydrates during workouts. If you are exercising under an hour, you do not need to take in carbohydrates but you will perform a little better if you do. So if your workout is strenuous or you are competing, then taking in carbohydrates even if it is under an hour is a good idea. You want to drink 4-8 oz of water or sports drink every 10-20 minutes during exercise. Drinking early and at regular intervals is important because your stomach actually absorbs liquids better when it is not totally empty. This means that if you give your stomach fluid from the beginning, it will absorb better and you will avoid the sloshing around feeling in your stomach. For exercise over an hour, you definitely need carbs and the best form is a sports drink. Most sports drinks are formulated to be the correct dilution to be absorbed most efficiently, so avoid diluting your sports drinks if possible. Most people’s stomachs can tolerate full strength sports drink if they slowly work up to it. If you are exercising over an hour and a half, then you need additional carbohydrates from gels, bars, jelly beans, or other well tolerated (and easy to chew) foods. You want to experiment with different flavors of gels and different types of fuel to see what you like best. You typically need about 100 calories per hour from these foods (i.e. one gel) per hour. This is in addition to your sports drink to get in 120-300 calories per hour depending on the person and the event.
What you eat after your workout determines whether your muscles recover effectively, which can help you perform better at your next workout. Right after exercise, your body’s hormone levels are at an optimal level to store extra glycogen. A well trained athlete can actually store more glycogen in the muscle that does the most work during their sport (i.e. in the leg muscles for runners), which means you can start a race with more stored energy. But, if you don’t give your muscles carbohydrates to store, then you will miss out on this important training benefit. To capitalize on this training effect, you need to eat a snack or meal with carbohydrates and protein within 30 minutes of completion and eat again within 2 hours. Good post-exercise food examples include lowfat chocolate milk, trail mix and a banana, smoothie, bagel, deli sandwich and a piece of fruit, pancakes and an egg white omelet with an orange juice, or a meal replacement bar. You should also drink 24 ounces of water or sports drink for every pound body weight lost so you are well hydrated for your next workout.
There are many reasons that people do not eat before, during or after they workout, including not wanting to wake up any earlier than they already do, stomach issues, time constraints, habit, or because they believe they will burn fat more effectively on an empty stomach. Making time for taking in some carbs before and workout will help tremendously. You want to stick with foods that you can easily tolerate. Everyone is different, so you may need to experiment with different foods to avoid stomach issues. Many of the stomach problems that occur during runs can be resolved by getting your body used to drinking and eating before and during workouts using trial and error. If you have problems that you cannot resolve, a dietitian can work with you to help figure out what is going on and give you ideas to help. Lastly, you do not burn more fat overall if you exercise on an empty stomach. You actually burn more fat overall if you eat a little before your workout because you will have more energy to workout harder and burn more calories during your workout, resulting in more fat burning for energy during the day. Sports nutrition is very individualized and what you eat has a huge impact on your exercise results. Just think what you could accomplish with proper fueling!
-Cassie Dimmick, MS, RD, LD, CSSD
Registered and Licensed Dietitian
Board Certified in Sports Nutrition
Achieving Your Best, LLC http://www.achievingyourbest.net/
