Friday, January 24, 2014

Sports Nutrition: Are You Using Racing Fuel...or is it "Garbage in, Garbage out?"

Would you put cheap, pump gas in an Indy Car? ~by Andy Blasquez



Speedy Dan Clarke ~ Not just fast on 4 wheels, 
but on his road bike as well.

I can't help but be reminded of the old data-entry adage, "Garbage In! Garbage Out!" Well the same can be said about how nutrition directly influence your physical performance: Garbage in! Garbage out! 
So, would you put pump gas in an Indy Car? Of course not!  High performance cars require high performance fuels.  With the wrong fuel in your Indy Car, I doubt you could even get the thing started.  If, by some miracle, you could could, you'd never get it out of pit lane.  Racing cars just don't run on garbage, and neither do our bodies; not optimally anyway.  
The "fuel" that is required to produce optimal physical performance is not just different in quantity, but different in kind.  Assuming that you will perform at your best when your diet (your fuel) consists of pizza, beer, and Big Macs, is a mistake, plain and simply.  Why take my word for it?  Because I learned the hard way.  Now, I don't need a dozen really fast age-groupers commenting, "DUDE! I eat 4 Quarter-Pounders before every ride and I can SMOKE you, fool!"  Sir, ma'am...I'm sure you do, and I'm sure you can.  That's not the point.  The question is this: Is your performance optimal? I'm here to stress the fact that in endurance sports, especially to beginning triathletes, runners, and cyclists,  the fuel you use...all day...every day...really does matter.


IMCA 70.3 ~ 2013
A brief background, as it applies to my own nutrition an fitness.  I, since college, have considered myself overweight.  I'm 5'8" (1.73m) and in the past weighed in at about 200lbs. (90k) for most of the last 20 years.  In spite of that, and often unaware of it...I've always been really active.  I suppose folks could say, euphemistically, that I have an 'athletic' build.  To me, that simply means.. I'm far from lean; built more for MMA or rugby than churning out half-marathons and 100k weekend rides.  In fact, I often wonder why I'm not more attracted to those activities in the first place. 
15 months ago, After a bit of training in the end of 2012 and a bit more at the beginning of 2013, I did my first triathlon: the Accenture Ironman California 70.3 in Oceanside, CA.  I really, really enjoyed it.  It was everything I expected: Brutal. I crossed the finish line in 6:55.25, a whopping 3 hours after the top pros.  I also crossed the finish line at 193 lbs. (87kg). Not pretty.  Not pretty at all.


For me, this is the key to both smiles AND speed!
That was then. This is now.  With guidance from Rich Roll's program on MindBodyGreen.Com, I'm now tipping the scale at a much healthier 174 lbs. (78kg.), on my way to 165-170 lbs. on race day.  Q: Why the weight range, rather than a specific weight for race day?  A: I've never raced this lean before, and I don't want to find out, 90 miles into Ironman Lake Tahoe, that I'm actually below my ideal race weight. Never try on race-day what you haven't succeeded with in training.

Please keep in mind that I'm not writing this post as a former top-level college athlete who simply lost his way.  I'm writing it from the point of view of, "Damn!  Finally I get it!"  Truth be told, I have lost decades (yes, decades) of performance possibilities by kidding myself  and believing that my being a vegetarian is going to improve my athletic performance, that calories are calories, that avoiding certain food types...on certain occasions...sometimes...is going to be enough to take me to my dream.  As an avid athlete, you may understand this already.  If you don't, I'm hear to assure you that, food matters; fuel matters.  What you put into your body is as important to achieving your goals as your training.  


To perform at your prime; at your very best, there is a virtual laundry list nutritional principles that are...just that: principles; physical laws that cannot be broken.


1) When you refuel is as vital as what you refuel with.
  • 
    There's NO WAY that this is optimal nutrition
    If you fuel up too early you won't have immediate access to the fuel you took on.  You may not know that, however, until it's too late to make a difference.
  • If you fuel up too late, too near to your session or race, you may experience digestive discomfort as your body takes energy and blood away from your digestive system in order to focus on the larger muscle groups being taxed elsewhere.
  • If you are training for more than 90-120 minutes (on average), you've got to keep fueling throughout or you'll find yourself 'bonking'.  Not only does this lead to a sub-optimal session or event, it can also delay recovery and preparation for your next session.
  • If you wait too long after your session, when your systems are all begging for nutrient rich roods, your brain may tell your body, "Guess what!  We're not getting anything!" and your recovery systems go into 'damage control' rather than 'rebuild and improve' mode!
  • If you eat, as opposed to drink, a lot of nutrient rich foods within the first 30-45 minutes after finishing a tough session, you run two risks.
    • 1) Your large muscle groups are still requiring attention and energy that your digestive system needs to digest solids, so you may find yourself not feeling well after eating too soon.
    • 2) You may over eat as your body is screaming for anything and everything.  This often leads to eating too much...of the wrong foods...at the wrong time.
2) Be methodical. Be consistent:
Look at your nutrition choices, before, during, and after your sessions as a sort-of...science experiment. Actually it is literally a science experiment. There is only one "you". If you're at the beginning of your athletic lifestyle, you will probably make coarse adjustments in your nutrition as you don't have much background to reference. That's understandable. However, if you're a couple of years or seasons into endurance sports you'll more easily be able to narrow down what works for you.  You'll want to start pin-pointing what always works and what never does, scientifically. Only change your nutritional variables one at a time!  
As cumbersome as this may sound, it's profoundly effective. Keep a detailed log. 
Document your nutrition on a calendar: 
  • What you ate/drank the night before. 
  • What you ate/drank immediately before your race or session. 
  • What you ate/drank during your race or session. 
  • What you ate/drank immediately after your race or session. 
Document your results as well: 
  • What was your session? 
  • What was its specific purpose? 
  • How did it feel? 
  • Note your distance, pace, time, max HR, average HR, etc. 
You can keep your notes and remarks as brief as you'd like.  Even simply drawing a smiley-face or a sad-face next to you session. I guarantee that you will start noticing trends in your ‘feel’ as well as in your performance data. There really is no short-cut.


 3) Food; "fuel" affects all aspects of your body and being:
  • Digestive System ~ Organs that break down food into, vitamins,  minerals, proteins, fats, & carbohydrates. All of which the body needs for energy, growth, rest, and repair. 
    • Q: Are you giving your body a balance of all of these?
  • Skeletal System ~ Made up of bones, ligaments and tendons. Remember too that marrow (a soft, fatty tissue) produces red blood cells, many white blood cells, and other immune system cells.   
    • Q: Who knew that a compromised skeletal system could affect red blood cells, or your immune system?
  • Nervous System ~ The brain, the spinal cord, and nerves.  Emotion, mood, attitude, etc., all reside in the nervous system.  
    • Q: Have you ever felt burned out?
  • Respiratory System ~ Brings air into the body and removes carbon dioxide. For an athlete, often at rate that is 3 to 4 times as high as resting respiratory rate, compounding any respiratory issues an athlete may have. 
    • Q: Do you suffer from "Athletically Induced Asthma?"
  • Endocrine System ~ Glands produce hormones; chemicals that control bodily functions such as metabolism and growth.
  • Immune System ~ Our body's defense system against infections and diseases. 
    • Q: Have you ever gotten into a real rhythm in your training, only to find it interrupted by illness?
  • Lymphatic System ~ Also a defense system for the body, filters out organisms that cause disease, produces white blood cells, and generates disease fighting antibodies. It also distributes nutrients throughout the body, and eliminates unwanted fluids that may cause swelling.
  • Muscular System ~ Tissues that work with the skeletal system to control movement of the body. Some muscles, such as your arms and legs, are voluntary.  Others, like the ones in your heart, stomach, digestive muscles and organs, are involuntary. These are automatic. Controlled by the nervous system and hormones so you often aren’t aware of if…or how well they are working.
  • Urinary System ~ Eliminates waste from the body, in the form of urine.


    None of these systems stand alone.  Each system is interdependent. Keeping your body fueled up with the proper kind of fuel, in the proper amounts, at the right times will guarantee that you will be the best 'you' possible.

    Now bring on that guy with the 4 Quarter-Pounders.  I'm ready for a ride!

    Hugs
    Diabloman Triathlon 2013














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