Boosting your athletes’ performance may be as simple as changing when they eat. The primary goal of sport nutrition is to enhance optimal performance. By increasing the availability of muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrate) before, during, and after activity, your athletes will be able to sustain the intensity of the activity as well as facilitate recovery from each training session.

What should your athletes eat pre-exercise?
•Eat a small meal about 2-3 hours before exercise or competition.
•Consume foods that are high in carbohydrates and low in fat.
•Drink a carbohydrate beverage or small snack consisting of 10–30% carbohydrate an hour before exercise.
•Avoid eating foods high in sugar (candy, syrups, soft drinks), which provide an initial rush of energy followed by a crash that leaves your athletes feeling sleepy.
•Each athlete has individual food preferences, so encourage them to experiment with different food combinations to find the right mix.

What should your athletes eat during exercise?
•Typically there is enough energy stored in the muscles to fuel workouts lasting between 60 and 90 minutes.
•During prolonged or strenuous exercise sessions over 90 minutes in duration, eat or drink carbohydrates at regular intervals throughout the session.
•Drink 8 ounces (1 cup) of a sports drink containing a 6–10% carbohydrate concentration every 15–20 minutes.

What should an athlete eat post-exercise?
•Don’t have them wait to eat. Refueling within the first 2–3 hours after exercise is crucial for fast recovery.
•The athlete should drink a high carbohydrate beverage (10–30% carbohydrate concentration) immediately following a workout.
•Liquids are absorbed very quickly and help with optimal rehydration.
•Make sure the athlete eats a well-balanced, high-carbohydrate meal and drinks plenty of fluids, especially within the first 2-3 hours following the exercise session.

Practical Application
•For optimal glycogen resynthesis, have your athletes follow these carbohydrate intake guidelines during the 20 hours following a workout:
•Immediately after exercise (15–30 minutes): 75–100 grams of carbohydrate
•Within the next 2–3 hours after exercise: 100 grams of carbohydrate
•Every 4 hours thereafter: 100 grams of carbohydrate
•In practical terms, 75–100 grams of carbohydrate is equivalent to eating:
◦A banana and a bagel
◦1⁄2 cup of raisins and a slice of bread
◦2 cups of orange juice and a cup of yogurt

Nutrient Update: Although this article’s original focus was on glycogen and hydration, it’s important to recognize the value of adding protein to your meals. Chocolate milk is one popular example of a protein/carbohydrate beverage used for recovery, discussed here. For an even more specific discussion of protein, including type, dosing, and timing, see Protein Needs for Athletes, from which the following excerpt is derived:

“The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends athletes consume 1.5 to 2.0 g/kg of body weight of protein to ensure adequate protein intake. Athletes involved in moderate amounts of intense training (2 – 3 times per week for 30 – 45 minutes per session) should consume levels at the lower end of this range (110 – 130 grams/day for a 75kg athlete) while athletes involved in high volume intense training should consume levels at the upper end of this range (130– 150 grams/day for a 75kg athlete).”

Original Title: Sports Nutrition Primer
Author: Debra Wein, MS, RD, LDN, NSCA-CPT
Publication: NSCA Performance Training Journal. 4(1): 5-6, 2005.

Aerobic Exercise: A Key to Successful Aging

Exercise is a beneficial tool in aiding weight loss and improving symptoms of diabetes and heart disease. But now evidence supports the idea that exercise could help people better cope with the aging process. As age progresses, the capacity for aerobic exercise declines, and this decline is often accelerated by development of chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. However both observational and intervention research shows that exercise can increase peak oxygen consumption in the elderly in both healthy and disease states, and can exert beneficial effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, bone density, and quality of life. In other studies, resistance and balance training in the elderly have been associated with reduced fear of and risk for falls, a major health risk for this age group. It is recommended that adults engage in 150 minutes of physical activity per week, and continue exercising as they age. Physicians and communities should work towards increasing the low participation rates of older adults in home based and supervised exercise programs.
Fleg J. Exercise in the Elderly: A Key to Successful Aging. Discovery Medicine. 2012 Mar;13(70):223-8.

Goal Setting Made Easy

Are you faced with what you perceive as an “impossible goal?” Let’s review some strategies to help you overcome physical and mental barriers to achieving a successful performance.

1. Focus on the process. Every training program has a plan. Embedded in this plan is a process or many processes. It is important to get your thoughts away from the outcome and place your mental energy on what you need to do to accomplish the task. Focus on what you control, which is your performance, not the end result. This means developing the appropriate plan to achieve your goal.

2. Do it, then do it. You read it right—do it, then do it. This means:

a. Mentally perform and succeed. See, feel, mentally experience successfully performing and accomplishing your goal.

b. Physically perform the skill just as you have in your imagination. This includes identifying weak points, then following your plan to eliminate them.

3. Give yourself reasons to believe. Don’t accept your doubts, instead, battle against them. Convince yourself with “the facts” as to why you should be and will be successful. Identify the reasons you will be successful and use them to combat the lingering doubts. These reasons can come from the good things you have done in training and past competitions, positive comments from coaches or teammates, or your work ethic. Focus on optimizing your training to build confidence in all your abilities.

4. Try, try again. How you react to previous failures is going to influence future attempts at similar challenges. Stop telling yourself, “I’ll never be able to do this.” Start analyzing what you need to do differently and what you need to work on to improve your performance. Learn the lessons from your failures and apply them to future endeavors when you try and try again.

5. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Enough said.

Source Article: Riewald, S. Accomplish the As Yet Unaccomplished. NSCA Performance Training Journal 9(2): 24-25, 2010.

Stretches and exercises to help limit lower leg injuries in distance runners

Jumping right into distance running for the first time or after a prolonged break can have a detrimental effect on your body—particularly the lower half. Inadequate preparation and improper training progression through a new distance running program makes you much more likely to run into any number of potential injuries. Often runners end up with muscle or tendon strains or overuse injuries requiring months of rehab. One of the more common injuries in distance runners is the Achilles tendon strain, but it can avoided by incorporating a little strength training and stretching in accompaniment to your increasing mileage.

The following exercises are examples of techniques to strengthen and stretch the lower legs and get ready for your training program. It is important to note that if you begin to feel pain in your legs, knees, or ankles, have them assessed by a licensed physical therapist as soon as possible rather than trying to self-diagnose or rehabilitate an injury on your own.

Calf raise

From a standing position, slowly rise up onto your toes as if you’re reaching for something on the top shelf. Hold for a count of 3 at the top, then slowly lower back down to the ground (no bouncing). Standing on the edge of a step with the heels hanging off the edge and/or adding extra weight (dumbbells or a standing calf machine) will increase the difficulty of this exercise.

Seated calf raise

From a seated position, slowly rise up onto your toes. Hold for a count of 3 at the top, then slowly lower back down. Adding weight by placing dumbbells on the thighs just above the knees or by using a seated calf raise apparatus at the gym will increase the difficulty of this exercise.

Wall calf stretch

Facing a wall, step one leg away from the wall, keeping the back foot flat and the knee straight. Bending the knee slightly will stretch a slightly deeper portion of your calf muscle.

Take-home message:

Preparing yourself for the long miles you’ll travel as a distance runner is extremely important for remaining uninjured. Adding these 3 simple and time-efficient exercises will help keep you running down the road while avoiding the one that leads to the rehab center.

Source Article: Brumitt, J. Practical tips to reduce rear leg and rear foot pain in long distance runners.NSCA Performance Training Journal. 8(1), p 5-7 (2009).