You can get more out if you put more in. As long as it’s the right stuff you are putting in, Dr Kirsty Fairbairn writes.
Oh my goodness, I have been totally distracted these past two weeks, because I love watching sport.
The perseverance of picking yourself up and trying again, for it all to come down to a decision or a millisecond, in one event.
I speak like I know it, but I cannot profess to great athletic ability. I know it only as a member of the support crew.
My career has involved helping recreational and elite athletes eat in the right way so they can perform again and again.
When you demand so much from your body, you get more out of it if you invest back in. That applies to all of us, not just athletes!
New Zealand has a strong sporting culture; we embrace and enjoy sport. We are very talented, and we like playing sport not only to win but to spend time with friends.
The good news is that whether you are an Olympian, a weekend warrior or a gym-goer, there are some nutrition tips to help you get the best out of your body, in sport and in life!
There are three main points to emphasise in sports nutrition:
• Eating well around training delivers much greater benefits than just eating well around competition.
• Timing is important.
• If you don’t have the right food with you, you won’t be eating it. Pack your food with your sports gear.
That’s right, sports drink is not on my "critical" list. Neither are supplements! More on that another time, perhaps.
Sportspeople put in hours of training so that they get better at their sport, or at least so that they feel better when taking part (as in my case!).
The purpose of all that training is to create "adaptations", changes in how your body works to help it deal with the stress of exercise.
Exercise is a stress, but it is good for our bodies to feel that and to adapt to it. That adaptation makes us healthier as well as stronger, faster and able to sustain better concentration for longer. Some training adaptations are listed below.
The goal of sports nutrition is to make food choices that help the body improve itself. To adapt, our bodies need to refuel, restore and rebuild. They need to get the materials to do that from our diet.
The human body might seem adaptable and resilient, whereby it feels like you can feed it whatever you want and it will keep delivering (externally at least, and especially when you are young).
However, over time, making poor food choices will start to show in how well you can perform and concentrate. Over the long term, you might gain weight or succumb to lifestyle-related diseases.
For sportspeople, we think "from the inside out". What stresses is the athlete placing on their body? What nutrients will their body need to restore itself and adapt well to that stress? And where do we get those nutrients from?
We need a clear understanding of exercise physiology and biochemistry to understand the demands being placed on athletes, and a great understanding of the food supply to know where to get those nutrients from and when our athletes should eat them.
This does mean that nutrition advice should be individualised, tailored to each athlete and their training schedule.
The importance of eating well
Eating well before training helps you get a better bang for your buck from the time you invest in exercise. Going into a session tired or dehydrated means you can’t train as well as you could have otherwise.
Also, eating well after training means that you provide your body with the nutrients it needs to restore itself and create those adaptations you are looking for.
Different types of exercise cause different types of stress, hence require a focus on slightly different nutrients.
Most types of exercise burn carbohydrate, hence carbohydrate is the go-to, preferably from fruit and wholegrain sources: brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholegrain bread and wholegrain muesli.
This is as much about providing good usable fuel to your body as it is about training your taste buds to like the right kind of diet for a long, healthy life.
Nearly all types of exercise would benefit from antioxidants afterwards, which come via fruit, vegetables, tea, shellfish and nuts.
Antioxidants are best to come from food, as using high-dose antioxidant supplements may compromise your adaptation to the exercise in the long term.
When you should eat depends on how long you have between sessions. If you have 12 hours or more, making sure that you eat enough carbohydrate through your day will be enough to restore your fuel stores before the next session.
You don’t need to shovel down extra calories for recovery’s sake immediately after training. Although, if you usually have a meal at some point afterwards or a healthy snack during the day, you could shift the timing of that snack to within 40-60 minutes of your workout if you want.
If you have two training sessions within four to eight hours of each other, then you would benefit from a carbohydrate-rich snack within 40-60 minutes of the first session to optimise the restoration of your muscle glycogen (fuel) stores.
If you have done resistance exercise, adding some protein to that snack will help your muscle fibres rebuild themselves into stronger ones too. Good snack ideas are listed below, but remember, every individual’s needs are different!
Of course, you cannot reap the benefits of improved nutrition supply to your hard-working body unless you have the food with you!
I have seen many athletes fall over at this hurdle by forgetting to take food with them. Hours later they are so hungry that they walk into a shop and want to eat everything in there!
These poor food choices then compromise the return on investment from the previous session. Don’t let that happen to you!
Adaptions the body makes in response to regular exercise
• Build more fuel-burning engines (mitochondria) inside the muscle cells
• Improve blood supply throughout muscle
• Improve ability to deliver oxygen to your muscles (and brain)
• Improve glucose uptake into muscle
• Improve ability to burn both fat and carbohydrate as fuels
• Stronger heart, pumping blood more effectively
• Able to exercise at a higher intensity before lactate is produced
• Greater muscle strength and power
Post-exercise recovery snack ideas
Carbohydrate foods
• Wholegrain sandwich with honey
• Small can of creamed rice
• A banana or large pear
• 2 tubs of yoghurt
• A handful of dried fruit (wash down with water)
Protein included
• Wholegrain sandwich with peanut butter or cheese
• Small can of tuna
• Small can of baked beans (with or without wholegrain bread)
• 300-500ml flavoured milk
• A handful of nuts
- Dr Kirsty Fairbairn is a health, wellness and sports dietitian at Invigorate Nutrition (www.invigoratenutrition.com), based at Eclipse Health, Wellness and Performance, Hanover St, Dunedin.
