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n u t r i t i o n b y J a c q u e l i n e B e r n i n g , Ph D, RD, C S S D
TEST 2:
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Fueling Athletes forTraining and CompetitionNu trition recom mendations for before, during and after workouts or com petitive events.
Some of the questions most frequentlyasked of sports dietitians deal with food
and fluid consumption before, during and
after exercise. Indeed , athletes, are bom -
barded with nutrition misinformation, re-
sulting in confusion about what they
should eat or drink during training or,
more crucially, during competition. Th is
article provides science-based guidelines
on food and beverage choices that are
easy to understand and adopt and that al-
low athletes to m aximize their po tential.
Recently, the American DieteticAssociation, Dietitians of Canada and the
American College of Sports Medicine
published a joint position statement re-
garding nutrition and athletic perform-
ance (Rodriguez et al. 2009). Among
other topics, the position statement used
evidence-based science to make recom-
mendations for athletes on foo-d and fluid
consumption before, during and afier ac-
tivity. Using this docu men t as a founda-
tion, the guidelines described here have
been developed to provide practical rec-omm endations that sports dietitians can
use to help athletes make food and fluid
choices before, during and after workouts
or competition.
Preworkout Nutrition1. Athletes should eat before physical ac-
tivity as opposed to working out in a
fasted state (Rodriguez et al. 2009).
Consum ing foods high in carbohydrates
(CHO) before exercise increases muscle
glycogen stores and main tains blood glu-
cose. Studies have shown that consum ing
a pre-exercise meal low in fiber and fat,
moderate in protein and high inCHO
can extend the exercise time and provide
added energy (lentjens et al. 2003;
Moseley, Lancaster & Jeukendrup 2003).2. At least 4 hours before activity, athletes
should drink about 5-7 milliliters [ml|
per kilogram of body weight (2-3 ml
perpo undo f body weight) of water or
sports drink (Rodriguez et aL 2009).
Consuming fluids at least 4 hours prior to
a workout allows enough time to opti-
mize hydration status and allow for ex-
cretion of excess fluid (Rodriguez et al.
2009). Fluid consumption will vary
depending on environmental factors,
exercise intensity, bod y size, training sta-
tus and gender.A sports drink consumed
before exercise should contain 6%-8%
CHO (60 -80 grams CHO per liter) and
110-165 milligrams of sodium per 8-
January 2011 IDEA Fitness Journal
ounce (oz) serving (Chryssanthopoulos& W illiams 1997; Chryssanthopoulos et
al. 2002).
3. The volume of the preworkout meal or
snack, the timing of ingestion and the
start of the workout are all interre-
lated (Rodriguez et al. 2009).
Athletes should consume smaller meals
closer to the start of a competition, while
larger meals should be consumed further
out from the workout. Studies on CHO in
which athletes consume 200-300 gof
CHO 3 -4 ho urs before competition haveshown that this helps performance
(Rodriguez et al. 2009; Bloch & Wheeler
1999). Athletes may benefit from con-
suming liquid CHO, such as pre-exercise
beverages or gels (25 g CHO/4 oz) or
sports drink (containing 6%-8% CH O
solution) an h our o r less before the start
of activity (Anantaraman et al. 1995).
Consuming a concentrated source of
CHO a round 15 minutes before a work-
out works well when athletes do this in
conjunction with CHO intake during thatworkout.
4. Athletes' individual needs and prefer-
ences should be identified and met
(Rodriguez et al. 2009). »
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Athletes should always experiment with
the type, amount and t iming of a pre-
work out m eal before a t rain ing sess ion;
they should not start a new strategy at the
time of a compe tition. T his will allow ath -
letes to find meals that work for their
events and not interfere with pe rformance .
Nu tr i t ion Dur ing a Workout1. Research supports the benefit that
CHO consumption in amounts typi-
cally provided in sports drinks
(6%-8% CHO) has on endurance per-
formance in events lasting 1 hour or
less (Rodriguez et al. 2009; Sugiura &
Kobayashi 1998; Jeukendrup et al.
1997; Nicholas et al. 1995).
2.For
longer events, consuming 30-60 gCHO/bour has been shown to extend
endurance performance (Rodriguez et
aL2009).
This is especially impo rtant for athletes who
have not consume d a preworkout meal or
have restricted calories or CH O du ring ex-
ercise, for mainten ance of blood glucose.
3. Consumption of6 -12 oz of sports drink
with 6%-8%CHO every 15-30 minutes
during a workout can extend the work-
out capacity of athletes w ho p articipate
in interm ittent activity (Jeukendrup etal. 1997; Anantaraman et al. 1995;
Below et aL 1995; Carter et aL 2003; el -
Sayed, Balmer & Rattu 1997).
Nutrit ion forPostworkout and Recovery1. It is imp ortan t to replace fiuids and
electrolytes that are lost during activ-
ity. Consum ing rehydradon beverages
and salty foods during m eals/snacks
will help replace fluids and electrolyte
losses (R odriguez et al. 2009).
Athletes should drink 16-24 oz of fluid
for every pou nd of body weight lost (and
not replaced) during activity (Rodriguez
et al. 2009). It should be recognized that
complete rehydration requires sufficient
sodium and potass ium replacement and
extra fluid intake exceeding that which is
lost in sweat and urine during activity.
2. Timing and composit ion of the
postexercise m eal depends on the in-
tensity and duration of the exercise
session and wben the next workout
will occur (Rodriguez et al. 2009).
Not all athletes need to practice recovery
nutri t ion . For example, a cross-country
runne r w ho trains in easy runs before a ta-
It is importantto replacefluids and
electrolytestha t are lostduring activity.
pering week does not empty glycogen
stores and has enough time for complete
recovery before co mpetition. For those d o-
ing intense training m ultiple times a day,
an appropriate diet strategy between work-
outs will be very relevant and imp ortan t.
3. Timing of postworkout CHO intake
affects glycogen synth esis.
Consumption of 1.0-1.5 g of CH O/kg with-
in 30 min utes after exercise and at 2-hour
intervals (up to 6 hours) results in higher
glycogen levels than when ingestion is
delayed for 2 hours (Rodriguez et al. 2009).
Wh en the recovery period is limited to
only a few hour s , rehydrat ion a nd refu-
el ing can be achieved by ingest ing a
CHO -electro lyte solut ion in volumes of
at least 150% of the workout-induced loss
in body weight and by consuming C HO -
rich foods (M oore et al. 2009).
4. Protein plays a role in recovery nutri-
t ion.
The jo in t posi t ion s tatem ent ad dressed
the fact that add ing protein to a recovery
regimen does not increase muscle glyco-
gen to a greater extent than CHO alone
when CH O i s consum ed in recom-
mend ed am ounts (R odriguez et al. 2009).
However, adding protein to the recovery
snack v«ll provide am ino acids for build-
ing, maintenance and repair of muscle.
Wh ile CH O is the prima ry source of
energy for muscles , consuming a small
am oun t o f p ro te in sho r t ly af t e r ac t iv -
ity assists in the repair and synthesis of
musc le p ro te in in the body . Ath le tes
should meet their protein requirements
b y c o n s u m i n g p ro t e in t h ro u g h o u t t h e
day rather than ingest ing i t a l l in one
meal or snack. Research by Howarth et
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a l. (2009) suggests that aboat 20 g of
protein is the maximum amount
needed to stimulate synthesis and repair
of muscle.
In addition, research shows that in-
gestion of 7-10 g of protein a long with
CHO within 30 minutes of physical a c-
tivity is enough to start muscle protein
synthesis. Repeated feedings up to 6
hours postworkout may help provide a
pulsing effect for muscle rebuilding over
time (Moore et al . 2009).
Opt imal Nut r i t ion TowardOptimal PerformanceAdopting nutrition strategies presented
within the joint position statement can
improve physical a ctivity tolera nce an dhelp athletes recover rapidly from train-
ing and competition. An important
premise of these general recommenda-
tions is that the optimal mixture of nu-
trients to speed recovery from hard
training and competition can be ob-
tained by eating wholesome foods and
beverages, provided correct choices are
made regarding food type, am ount a nd
timing. •
Jacqueline Beming, PhD, RD, CSSD is a
professor at the University of Colorado at
Colorado Springs, and sports dietitian for
Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies
and Cleveland Indians. She also is a nutri-
tion consultant to The Gatorade Sports
Science Institute.
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