Fueling Strategies for Training and Competition:

Endurance training and competition demand that your body be optimally fueled. A well-fortified diet is the best line of defense for hitting the wall, while also keeping adequate energy levels for your muscles and your mind.

Whether you’re a recreational fitness aficionado or an Olympic-level athlete, the goal of performance fueling is to boost your system with optimal, short and long-term carbohydrate nutrients, adequate fluids and electrolytes like sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Timing and types of nutrients vary for each athlete. Planning YOUR individual strategy will come down to 1) relying on evidenced-based information; 2) following proven formulas; and 3) trial and error. Testing out different workouts and fueling combinations, as well as comparing your favorite products to new ones on the market and measuring results will yield your winning combination.

Numerous factors such as age, gender, physique, diet, overall health, fitness level, training regimen, medical history, genetics, habits, and lifestyle all have a role to play to determine the exact macronutrient composition and quantities of fluids needed for any given workout or race. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, this RaceDay Next Level© Performance Nutrition Guide will provide basic guidelines for staying fueled and hydrated for triathlon training and competition.

Training & Competition Fuel

As your training intensifies, staying physically and mentally energized is the key to feeling great as you build longer workouts. The human body is a complex machine, with thousands of biochemical processes working in harmony to generate the energy required for steady state exercise and high-intensity workouts. Preventing energy depletion means replenishing sugars in your blood, muscles, and liver; replacing fluids and electrolytes lost from sweat, and mentally boosting focus to keep one’s eye on the finish line.

Carbohydrates

Believe it or not, you don’t have much sugar to spare. Right now, you only have about 60 to 90 minutes’ worth of stored sugar (called “glycogen”) in your liver and muscles. And even that number depends on your daily dietary intake of carbs and the intensity and duration of your daily training. If your glycogen stores drop to critically low levels, training for any length of time or at any speed will be an effort, and as veteran athletes say, you will “bonk.”

Gradual glycogen depletion can result from days of training without adequate carbohydrate replacement. Repetitive, high intensity work and spurts of faster speeds on top of your longer steady state session can also contribute to this loss. To avoid the “bonk,” you need to eat enough total daily carbohydrates and make sure that you carb-fuel before, during and after running.

Pre-Workout Meals

A pre-workout meal improves performance more so than fasting can. Athletes who train before breakfast risk depleting their liver glycogen stores which can in turn impair performance, particularly during endurance training.

A pre-workout snack helps to maintain optimal levels of blood sugar for muscles and can help restore liver glycogen stores. If you train first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, make sure to have had a carb-loaded dinner the night before, such as two servings of 100% whole grain pasta, brown rice, peas or corn with a serving of fruit, vegetables or low-fat dairy.

Have an hour before your workout begins? Keep your snack simple. Skip the fiber, fat and spices to avoid training “trots” and indigestion. Exercising on a full stomach may cause indigestion, nausea and even vomiting.

It’s advisable to get a quick energy snack one to four hours prior to your workout. To determine how many grams of carbohydrates you’ll need, multiply your kilogram body weight by the number of hours before your workout. To convert your weight from pounds to kilograms, divide your weight number by 2.2, then multiply the resulting number times the hours prior to your workout. For example:

A person who weighs 59 kilograms (or 130 lbs.) will need:

·  59 grams of carbohydrates one hour before workout. Food option: one banana and one serving of oatmeal.

·  118 grams of carbohydrates two hours before workout. Food option: one cup of whole grain cereal with almond milk and one banana.

·  177 grams of carbohydrates three hours before workout. Food option: one cup of brown rice, one cup of black beans and a green salad.

The RaceDay App will provide you with a list of products that can meet your pre- and post-workout carbohydrate needs.

Fuel During Exercise

Sports fuels are especially formulated for consumption while training or competing as an efficient way to replenish without losing your pace, your focus or upsetting the gut. Whether they come in the form of sports drinks, gels, blocks, blasts or bars, these fuels are typically high-carb, low-protein and fat, and unleash energy into your bloodstream quickly.

Consuming carbohydrates during longer workouts also improves performance, speed, recovery, and may help to prevent post-race respiratory issues. Although they may not always stave off fatigue, they can definitely delay its onset. Eating during exercise can also help you recover faster and feel more energized for your next workout.

During those final minutes of exercise, when muscle glycogen is low and athletes rely heavily on blood glucose for energy, their muscles feel heavy, and they must focus extra hard to maintain the intensity. Studies show carbohydrates consumed during exercise can also spare endogenous protein to help maintain blood sugars and improve performance.

When it comes to fueling, the specific form of carbohydrate makes little difference, although some athletes perform better with certain forms of sugars over others. Some athletes prefer a sports drink, while others like orange slices or a sports gel with water. Training is a great time to experiment with your workout fuel since not every choice works for every athlete. Trying out different brands and flavors will help you find the best one for you, so you can work out the GI kinks and compete without a snag on race day.

The recommended amount of carbs to be consumed during training is about 25 to 30 grams every 30 minutes. For races lasting more than 2 1/2 hours, higher intakes (up to 90 grams per hour) may be warranted if tolerated. For most athletes, exceeding a total of 60 to 70 grams per hour from all sport fuels combined can cause major gut distress. Keeping mental tabs on your total consumption will help you to avoid unnecessary pit stops during your workout.

Combining protein and carbohydrates in a sport fluid or snack may also improve performance, muscle protein synthesis and net balance, as well as recovery. Ingesting amino acids in small amounts alone or in conjunction with carbohydrates before or after exercise appears to improve net protein balance and may stimulate protein synthesis during activity and recovery.

It’s important to try any products prior to competition. Sometimes the serving size, taste or sugar sources can upset your system. Keep in mind that you may need less or more than the serving size on the label, depending on your energy and stress levels. Listen to your body and not the portion size.

Post-Workout Fuel

Recovery fuel strives to enhance recovery from exercise depletion, promote more effective training adaptation, and enable you to return faster to training. Improvement in your training efficiency can lead to significant performance benefits and sport career longevity, which helps to maintain immunity and long-term health.

On average, only 5% of the muscle glycogen used during exercise is resynthesized every hour after exercise. At least 20 hours will be required for complete restoration after all-out training sessions if you replenish and consume carbohydrates throughout the remainder of the day. Waiting until after you’ve showered, dressed, and headed off to eat can significantly slow down muscle replenishment. Delaying the consumption of carbohydrates for too long after training reduces overall muscle glycogen resynthesis, which can impact your next workout.

The highest capacity of muscle glycogen synthesis has been achieved with the equivalent of 1 to 1.85 grams carbohydrates per kilogram bodyweight per hour, consumed immediately after training, and at 15- to 60-minute intervals thereafter, for up to five hours.

This means snacking on carbs throughout the remainder of the day and during main meals is recommended. If you like sweets, this is the time to indulge since sweeter carbs have been shown to result in higher muscle glycogen levels 24 hours after working out, compared with the same amount of complex carbohydrates.

Adding approximately five to nine grams of protein for every 100 grams of carbohydrates (or about a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein) has been shown to enhance muscle recovery, may further increase glycogen resynthesis rate, provide amino acids for muscle repair, and promote a more anabolic hormonal response.

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