Summer Time Trial Series, Race 4 Report..

This report is a little bit late and reasoning for this has been debated.. but i was just busy, that’s all.. no other reason. Anyhow, let’s get down to the nitty gritty, on a warm sunny evening 10 riders turned up which was considerably less than expected. This perhaps outlines the type of people we have attending our sessions.. one sniff of sun and they are off to the beer garden. The course was a tough 8 miler with a climb of Parbold hill thrown in for good measure and a few nasty drags which were enough to deaden the legs. The fastest ride of the night was Ste Hilton with 23:20, which was very quick for the tough course.. there was an offer of riding twice but everyone cited that they had to be home early. Despite this, they hung around for at least 40 minutes after the first lap.. obviously didn’t need to be home that early..!

Not only am I late in producing this report, I have in fact lost the results sheet and have no more times.. I can only apologise for my oversight but in truth its the participating which counts. Tomorrow id chain gang and next week back to TT, I promise I will look after the results better from now on.

Regards
Mr Laithwaite

Endurance performance, it’s all about damage limitation..

The term D.O.M.S. is used frequently within the world of endurance, it represents the ‘Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness’. The name refers to the fact that sometimes you don’t actually feel the effects of a training session or race until the following day when you step out of bed. Those who have ran a marathon will understand the sensation. You cross the line and undoubtedly you’re tired but there isn’t a great deal of physical pain. However, the next morning, or perhaps even the morning after that, your attempts to walk downstairs backwards provide the family with the highest level of entertainment they have experienced in their lifetime.

The same may be said of the inexperienced cyclist who decides to enter a 100 miles hilly cycle sportive, despite a poor training background. Aside from the embarrassment of being unable to sit down for a week, the morning after generally requires a family member to assist their descent to breakfast. So what’s happened? Has someone been repeatedly battering your tired legs throughout the night whilst you failed to wake from your exercise induced, coma like sleep? The answer lies with D.O.M.S. and the inflammation process.

The inflammation process

During a marathon running event the muscle tissue is damaged due to repeated stress and this triggers the inflammation process. The damage occurs ‘during’ the marathon but the inflammation process takes 24-48 hours to reach its peak, so the pain you feel the following morning was actually happening ‘real time’ during the second half of the race.

An important note to make here is that when people slow down in the final 6 miles of the marathon, we generally assume it is caused by low carbohydrate stores, often termed ‘hitting the wall’. However, there is likely to be a significant amount of muscle tissue damage by this stage in the race which will undoubtedly have an impact upon performance. Due to the D.O.M.S. effect, we rarely discuss the significance of tissue damage during the event. It’s important to recognise that the pain you experience 24-48 hours after the race is caused by damage which happened ‘real time’ in the second half of the marathon.

*Part of the inflammatory process involves fluid build up in the damaged area, due to this fluid build up you may weigh more 24-48 hours after the marathon that you did before, perhaps even 1-2kg extra in weight! Don’t worry.. it’s just water and it will pass.

How do I know if I’ve got tissue damage as opposed to simply having tight muscles?

1. It’ll be very ‘tender, warm and swollen’ and if someone squeezes your leg you’ll instinctively want to punch them (NB: they never see the funny side of your response).
2. When you stretch, it makes no difference to the tenderness, the pain still exists (it’s not tight, its damaged) and its probably better if you actually don’t stretch!

*Myth explosion – the pain and tenderness the day after the event has absolutely nothing to do with lactic acid in the muscles.

How does damage affect performance?

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that a damaged muscle will not work as effectively as a healthy muscle. However, aside from the actual physical damage directly affecting performance, it’s possible that the inflammation process is acting on a much higher plane and going straight to the governor.

The central governor

There are various theories regarding ‘why we slow down’ and one of the most prominent in recent years has been the ‘central governor’. This theory suggests that fatigue is controlled by the brain (which can effectively switch off nerve signals to muscles) rather than fatigue being controlled by ‘peripheral factors’ such as the ‘actual muscle damage’.

Okay, here is a simple example:

1. The muscles is damaged and therefore doesn’t work well, as a result you slow down. That is ‘peripheral control’, the muscle is damaged and the muscle doesn’t work, at no point is the brain involved.
2. The muscle is damaged and somehow the brain’s monitoring system detects this. As a result the brain blocks nerve signals to the muscle so it can’t function fully and you are forced to slow down, that’s central governor control.

Why are we talking about central governor and gone off track from inflammation?

Yep, I was hoping you’d ask that. When we damage a muscle we kick start the ‘inflammatory process’ which is a chain of events involving a series of chemicals, each having a different purpose and action. One of the most widely researched in a chemical known as Interleukin-6 (IL-6) which is released into the blood stream during early stages of muscle damage and inflammation.

Research suggests that IL-6 is detected by the brain and as a consequence, the brain then acts to slow you down in some way. In one study (completed by Tim Noakes 2004) runners completed 2 separate 10k runs a week apart. They were healthy during both but prior to the second run they were injected with IL-6 and ran almost a minute slower.

Just stop and think about this for one second

Look at the 2 examples given at the top of this page for ‘peripheral control’ and ‘central control’. These 10k runners did not have muscle damage prior to either 10k, they were healthy, fuelled and ready to go until injected with IL-6. Their slower time cannot be explained by muscle damage, low fuel or any other form of peripheral control. The only possible explanation is the circulating chemicals.

The chemical IL-6 has even been suggested as a possible cause for the lethargy associated with ‘chronic fatigue’ or ‘chronic overtraining’. We know that all general illnesses and all forms of stress kick start the inflammation process and that in turn creates IL-6.

What causes the damage?

1. Damage will be far greater if you’re not conditioned to the distance and terrain. In simple terms you need to spend time on your feet and do the longer sessions.
2. Harder surfaces are more likely to cause damage, although this isn’t always strictly true as runners do become accustomed to the surface they train on.
3. Running down hill is the real killer as the muscles contract eccentrically, braking your speed, thereby causing much greater damage.
4. This isn’t limited to running, cycling for several hours and repeatedly performing the same pedal action will lead to muscle tissue stress and damage.

How can you avoid the damage?

1. As above, you need to complete longer sessions, including downhill running if relevant.
2. It’s possible that damage may be reduced, by using compression clothing. Research is very poor but ‘subjective’ feedback suggests that it certainly helps.
3. Your weight will have an impact upon damage, if you have a few KGs to lose, it will help!
4. Whilst this is a subjective / commercial / controversial addition to the list, we’ve found that specific shoes will also help, in particular the Hoka shoes which are specifically designed to reduce impact, in particular on descents. Our personal findings are that Hoka’s dramatically reduce damage and associated DOMS.

How can you deal with the damage?

1. Nutritional interventions, specific foods and supplements can combat inflammation and help your recovery and performance. For more information see previous blogs from March relating to nutrition for optimal recovery.
2. Ice baths or standing in a cold lake/river following your training runs can also be beneficial. Once again, research is undecided with regards to benefits but subjective feedback suggests that it helps to reduce DOMS.

*It’s important to note that the inflammatory process is a vital part of rebuilding damaged tissue, despite the fact that this article views it as a negative occurrence. Don’t take NSAIDs (anti-inflammatories) unless prescribed, they are not the answer.

What should I do if I have tissue damage?

1. Rest and let your legs recover for a few days.
2. Avoid very deep post event massage or stretching, sticking fingers into or stretching damaged tissue is never a good idea, wait a few days at least.
3. Eat the right foods and focus on anti-inflammatory diet.
4. After a few days do some light exercise such as cycling to encourage blood flow to the area and assist the repair process.

Happy training!!

Marc Laithwaite
www.theendurancecoach.com
www.theendurancestore.com

Summer Time Trial Series, Race 3 Report

The weather held off long enough for the time trial to take place in dry conditions and 19 riders braved the 2 lap course with Hunter’s Hill climbed twice. The route is a 2 lap affair totaling 12 miles but the course is twisty, technical and hard going in many places. Starting at the High Moor restaurant, riders departed at 30 second intervals and were initially aided by the breeze, but this turned against them as they started the return towards Hunter’s Hill.Well done to everyone for turning out and testing yourselves. Next week is chain gang and the following week a challenging 9 miles TT including Parbold Hill. To see full details click on the Summer Time Trial Series tab above.

33:48  Marc Laithwaite
34:02  Ste Hilton
35:13  Pete Murray
35:51  Paul Dunn
36:17 Norman Turor
36:22  Simon Plumtree
37:31  Dave Gaskell
37:48  Sean Spillane
38:02 Andy Rawley
38:20  Graham Johnson
38:39  Roger lowe
38:47  Chris Wilson
39:52  Mark Hanken
40:48  Tim Riding
40:56  Brett Connolly
42:30  Warren Moorfield
43:20  Fiona Hilton
44:29  Tracy Hampson
44:30  Mark Fenn

Hydration Strategies for Endurance Athletes

Your body needs fluids for various functions. Body cells and tissues are filled with fluid, the nervous system requires fluid and the fluid component of your blood (known as plasma) is also affected by your drinking habits. Exercise leads to a loss of body fluids via sweating and breathing and this loss of fluid can eventually lead to what is commonly termed dehydration.

What happens when we drink?

When you put fluids into your stomach, they pass through the stomach wall into your blood vessels and effectively become plasma. As your blood stream can pretty much reach any part of your body, any tissue or any cell, this fluid can be transferred from the blood stream into the tissues or cells.

How does fluid actually pass from one place to another?

To get the fluid from your stomach into your blood stream or from your blood stream into tissue cells requires a process termed ‘osmosis’. Salt acts like a magnet drawing fluid towards it and the concentration of salt in your blood and tissues determines the shift of fluid around your body. When you take a drink of water it reaches your stomach and waits to pass through the wall into your blood stream. Your blood is saltier than the water in your stomach and due to the higher level of salt in the blood, the water is drawn from the stomach, through the wall and into the blood. This water effectively becomes blood plasma and travels around your body. If it finds muscle tissue, which has a higher salt concentration, the magnetic pull of the salt within the muscle will draw the fluid from the blood into the muscle.

In simple terms, when something is dehydrated, it becomes salty. By becoming salty it’s magnetic pull increases in power and it attracts water towards it. That’s how fluid shift and hydration works within the body, that’s ‘osmosis’.

What happens when you dehydrate?

When you dehydrate your tissues and blood have less fluid thereby making them salty, in the hope that they can attract fluid towards them. Your blood becomes thicker as you still have the same amount of ‘blood cells’ but the fluid component is reduced, thereby making it more concentrated. Not only does the blood become thicker (making flow more difficult), the absolute amount of blood is also reduced so you have to pump the smaller blood volume more quickly around the body, thereby increasing heart rate.

So how much should I drink?

Most guides will recommend somewhere between 1 – 1.5 litres per hour depending upon individual sweat rates, but it is unlikely that this amount can actually be absorbed when you are exercising. As each litre of fluid weight 1kg in weight, it is possible to calculate (very roughly) fluid loss by taking weight before and after and this will give you an estimation of how much you need to drink.

There needs to be some common sense applied to hydration. Your body tells you when you need fluid by making you feel thirsty and then you should drink however much you’ve lost. Your body operates very much like a water tank with an overflow system. Once the tank is full, any further fluid will be dispensed with by a visit to the toilet! It’s correct to say that urinating frequently and especially if the urine is clear, is not a sign of optimal hydration, it’s a sign you’re drinking too much.

Drinking too much is worse that not drinking enough

For many years marathon runners were encourage to drink at every aid station and the key phrase was often “don’t wait until you’re thirsty, it’s too late then!” Unfortunately a few of those people died as a consequence due to a condition known as ‘hyponatremia’, which is excessive dilution of body salts.

Hyponatremia can be explained in this simple manner:

Take 1 medium sized bucket and add a teaspoon of salt and a pint of water to create a salt solution. Add another pint of pure water to the same bucket and you have now diluted the salt solution (it’s a bit weaker). Add another pint of pure water to the same bucket and dilute the salt even further. Keep going until the salt solution is so weak you can hardly even taste the salt.

We said earlier in this article that salt acts like a magnet and attracts water towards it:

‘When you take a drink of water it reaches your stomach and waits to pass through the wall into your blood stream. Your blood is saltier than the water in your stomach and due to the higher level of salt in the blood, the water is drawn from the stomach, through the wall and into the blood’

What if you’d added so much water to your body that the blood wasn’t salty at all, it was diluted so much that it lost all its pulling power?

What are the best guidelines?

Drink sensibly, let thirst guide you and don’t force load yourself with water. Some of you may be thinking at this point that you can take salt tablets with your water to resolve the problem? The research has shown that it’s not a lack of salt, which leads to hyponatremia, it’s drinking too much fluid.

Practical application of hydration strategies:

1. If you’re urinating frequently and it’s clear, you may be drinking too much.
2. Bloated stomach is one of the first signs of hyponatremia, coupled with vomiting liquid. Headaches are also a common symptom.
3. Use electrolyte tablets in hot weather, but understand that hyponatremia is generated by too much fluid, as opposed to not enough salt.
4. Use thirst and urine colour as indicators of hydration status. Very dark, infrequent urine is a sign of dehydration.
5. Weigh yourself before and after exercise as a simple guide to fluid loss, each litre of water weight 1kg, each millilitre weighs 1g.

At The Endurance Coach we offers sports science testing services and diet analysis. We specialise in metabolic efficiency for endurance athletes and we are continually striving to keep you going further and faster for longer. All testing sessions and consultations cost £95, last 2 hours in duration and include a 16 week training plan to follow. For more information visit our website www.theendurancecoach.com

Regards
Marc Laithwaite
www.theendurancestore.com
www.theendurancecoach.com

Summer Time Trial Series, Race 2 Report and Results

Summer time trial series? Really?

On what will be for ever known as ‘Monsoon Thursday’, most riders chose to stay home but 12 people who clearly had nothing better to do turned up at The Endurance Store to ask: “Is it on then??” The answer was a profound yes, it was after all only rain and skin is waterproof. The event was 14 miles (2 laps of 7 miles) from Newburgh village. The problem was that the route to and from Newburgh village includes Parbold Hill.. bad planning by all account.

The rain lashed it down from the start with riders leaving at 30 second intervals, but to everyone’s credit, they rode it hard and got round safe! Ste Hilton was quickest with a very nippy 35.13 for the 14 miles, hilly technical course. The results for event 2 were as follows:

Ste Hilton 35.13
Marc Laithwaite 35.53
Peter Gaskell 37.30
Pete Murray 37.51
Richard Bardon 38.20
Andy Rawley 40.04
Graham Johnston 43.23
Chris Wilson 44.38
Paul Swift 45.10
Tracy Hampson 46.03
Mark Fenn 47.07
Steven Unsworth 50.08

There was slight drama at the end when Ste Hilton’s bike was pushed over leaving a black mark on the white frame. Tensions rose and Pete Murray was clearly standing closest to the bike when it was last seen upright. Murray denied any involvement in the incident and without any forensic evidence, it was a slightly awkward ending to the evening which then got worse as we all had to ride back over Parbold Hill.. Bad planning indeed..

Next TT Thursday 10th May, meet 6:45pm at the shop to start 7:00pm

See you there..

 

Race day nutrition, how to fuel during your event..

We have previously discussed the 2 main fuel sources for endurance exercise (fat and carbohydrate) and how you should optimise your body to burn fat, thereby allowing you to save precious carbohydrate stores. One of the discussion points was the avoidance of excessive nutrition products during training sessions. Providing a ready source of carbohydrate via sports products can reduce the amount of fat used during training sessions. If you’re using less fat during your training, you’re not allowing your body to practice the fat burning pathway.

This all changes during competition, as your main priority throughout the course is ‘topping up’ the ‘carbohydrate tank’. As previously discussed, the carbohydrate tank is quite small and can run low quickly which would cause you to slow down significantly. In this section, we will presume that you have optimised training and diet for metabolic efficiency. Our main focus during the event and in this section of the guide is optimising carbohydrate intake during competition.

The limitation of carbohydrate intake

You can only absorb approximately 60g of carbohydrate per hour. Imagine that there are small boats, which ‘ferry’ carbohydrate across the intestine wall into your blood stream. Unfortunately you only have so many ‘ferry boats’ so no matter how much you throw in there, the amount which can be ferried is limited to a pretty standard 60g. If you take too much, you risk stomach upset due to delayed emptying.

Why is the 60g limit a problem?

Each gram of carbohydrate equates to 4 calories and 60(g) X 4 calories  = a maximum absorption of 240 calories per hour. You will utilise anywhere between 500-1000 calories per hour depending upon how hard you are pushing yourself. Initially this calculation may look pretty bad! If you can only absorb 240 calories and you are burning 500-1000 calories, how long before the tank runs dry!! However, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Remember that when exercising you are using both fat and carbohydrate. The 500-1000 calories per hour comes from both fat and carbohydrate and you only need to be concerned about those from carbohydrates.

There are 3 important things to consider:

1. How many calories do I burn per hour?
2. How many of them come from fat?
3. How many of them come from carbohydrate?

You don’t need to worry about the calories coming from fat as your ‘fat tank’ will not run out, that’s why we have encouraged metabolic efficiency from the outset. However, you do need to worry about how many calories are coming from your carbohydrate tank as this has the potential to run out, causing you to slow or stop.

Consider the following example:

A runner or cyclist moving quickly is burning 1000 calories per hour of which 25% come from the carbohydrate tank (25% of 1000 = 250 calories) and the remaining 75% come from the fat tank (75% of 1000 = 750 calories). We know that the body can absorb 240 calories of carbohydrate per hour so if this runner is feeding effectively, he can replace pretty much all of his carbohydrate calories and keep his carbohydrate tank pretty near full.

Unfortunately, runners and cyclists moving quickly are very unlikely to be using fat as a fuel to such a large extent. It’s likely that at higher speeds, no more than 30% of the calories will be sourced from fat, leaving the remaining 70% to come from carbohydrate. This means that the athlete cannot absorb enough carbohydrate to replace what they’ll be using.

What are the consequences of carbohydrate stores running low?

Your carbohydrate tank starts to run low and your blood carbohydrate (sugar) levels will drop, thereby reducing the amount supplied to your muscles. Your body will force you to burn greater amounts of fat to compensate for the drop in your carbohydrate tank, thereby forcing you to slow down.

Things to consider:

1. Your fat burning should be optimised beforehand by training and eating effectively, as per sections 1-3 of this guide.
2. During the event you should aim to consume 60g of carbohydrate every hour.
3. During the event you should avoid going too hard, pacing is critical for fuel conservation!
4. 60g is the optimal amount of carbohydrate. Less than 60g is not enough and more than 60g can slow absorption.

Practical application of race day nutrition:

1. Carbohydrate drinks are popular, as a simple guide 60g of powder is your supply for 1 hour.
2. Carbohydrate gels are also popular and generally contain 20-30g each
3. Energy bars are also used and they generally contain 60g each
4. If you’re not a fan of sports products, just choose your own foods which are high in carbohydrate.
5. For shorter events, carbohydrates which are higher on the glycemic index are best, as they enter the blood quickly. For longer events, the speed of uptake is less critical so glycemic index becomes less important.
6. However and whichever foods you choose to take on board, during the actual event you should focus primarily upon high carbohydrate intake and lower fat and protein.
7. Ultimately, if you find eating food difficult during longer endurance events, choose any foods which generate an appetite. Irrelevant of sports science knowledge, in longer events, eating ‘anything’ is better than eating nothing.

Questioning the 60g limit

There are lots of sports drinks on the market and pretty much every one of them is the same in content. They mainly consist of a carbohydrate named ‘maltodextrin’ which is a long chain of ‘glucose’ pieces. You’ll see maltodextrin on the side of most commercial sports drinks containers.

The science bit:

Maltodextrin (glucose chain) has always been used for sports drinks and generally always used for research purposes. We spoke earlier about the ‘ferry boats’ which carry carbohydrate across the intestine wall and the fact that they can’t carry more than 60g of carbohydrate, but it may not actually be the case. It may be true that we can only carry 60g of ‘glucose’ across the intestine wall but glucose is not the only carbohydrate.

There are some different ferry boats moored up which are waiting to carry ‘another’ carbohydrate, namely fructose. Because a lot of the early research only used maltodextrin (glucose chain), the 60g of carbohydrate per hour limit might not be true, it may only refer specifically to glucose.

Research suggests that by combining 60g of glucose (as maltodextrin) with 30g of fructose, we may be able to take on board 90g per hour in total. Some commercial sports drinks already combine carbohydrates for this reason.

Happy Training
Marc Laithwaite
www.theendurancecoach.com
www.theendurancestore.com

Thursday Night Summer Time Trials start at last!

Twelve riders showed up for the 1st time trial of the summer series. The course was 2 laps of the Parbold Duathlon circuit- which means twice up Parbold Hill. We were fortunate with near perfect conditions although it was still tough going up Parbold Hill. The times were as follows,

1. Marc Laithwaite                          31.48

2. Richard Bardon                          33.17

3. Pete Gaskell                               34.27

4. Paul Dunn                                   34.56

5. Rory Crane                                  35.52

6. Graham Johnson                         36.45

7. Roger Lowe                                 39.30

8. Brett Connolly                              39.52

9. Chris Wilson                                40.05

10. Ollie Fairway                              41.30

11. Tracy Hampson                         44.50

12. Andy Rawley                             DNF

Next week we are back to the chain gang. We meet at the Endurance Store at 6.45pm, ready for a 7pm start.

The periodisation of nutrition, what to eat and when..

This article is the third of a 5 part series, which will aim to give advice regarding nutrition and it’s impact upon performance and recovery. The 5 articles will cover the following topics:

1. Metabolic efficiency for endurance athletes.
2. Planning your weekly eating to enhance training and recovery.
3. Periodisation of nutrition, deciding what and when to eat.
4. Sports event nutrition, what to eat on the day.
5. Hydration strategy for sports events.

We operate a sports science testing facility in St Helens, Merseyside and have a particular interest in metabolic efficiency for endurance sports. Over the last 12 months whilst we have championed training to enhance fat utilisation, we have also reached the conclusion that manipulating training sessions alone may not be enough to change metabolism. We believe that weekly eating also plays a major role upon metabolism and should be address to work collectively with your training programme for maximum gain.

What is periodisation?

The term periodisation is more commonly used when referring to training programmes. The periodisation of training refers to breaking your training into time-phased blocks, each with specific objectives. Macro, Meso and Micro ‘cycles’ are commonly used within sport, these are Greek terms for large, medium and small training ‘cycles’. A Macro-cycle may be a year or more, for Olympic athletes, the macro cycle is often a 4 year cycle. Meso-cycles are commonly made up of 1 or more months and a Micro-cycle will generally consist of a weekly plan.

Endurance athletes commonly follow periodised training schedules, even if they don’t realise it! The race season tends to be summer based, so already your year is periodised. You may have 1 key event, which you are building towards and ideally would like to be at your peak level of fitness when you reach it. If you do have 1 key event, you’ve probably pencilled in a few practice events which will help you build your level of conditioning. If you resemble this scenario, in many ways you have already periodised your training plan.

Phases of periodisation

Depending upon your coach, schedule and personal preference, your schedule may be broken into several phases with very specific names for each time-phased block. For the purpose of this article, we will introduce a simple 3 phase model.

Phase 1: Base (8-16 weeks)

If you are an endurance athlete you will have heard of the concept of developing your ‘base’. Base training should provide a foundation for your later success and generally involves more volume and less intensity, presented as longer and slower sessions. Strength training is often included within the base phase as this helps to provide a strong foundation and reduce the risk of injuries as training progresses. Base training tends to be very ‘generalised’ and less ‘specific’ as training sessions are not directed towards a specific event, purely to develop a strong, general base level of fitness.

Phase 2: Build (8-12 weeks)

During the build phase, training intensity increases and may include interval type training. Due to the higher intensity of some sessions, the total volume (time in hours) may decrease but the actual stress on the body may be higher. You may enter some early season events as ‘training’ and sessions may become more ‘specific’ e.g. your long run may be at ‘race pace’ or you run with the same kit, shoes or pack.

Phase 3: Peak (4-6 weeks)

Phase 3 will hopefully help you to reach your peak level of fitness at the right time, to coincide with your most important event of the year. The peak phase may include very high intensity training sessions to raise your performance level, or alternatively more ‘specific’ sessions, which match your event demands as closely as possible. During this phase you will also make adjustments to your event strategy, decide upon the correct pace, nutrition and objectives for the event.

Is this a training article or a nutrition article??

Yes, I asked the same question and I actually knew what was coming next. The reason for the initial focus upon schedule planning is that training and nutrition are in fact interrelated and inseparable. Good nutrition supports your training, adaptation and progression, so before we can plan nutrition, we have to look at your schedule.

The specific objectives of each training block should be supported by the manipulation of your diet. In simple terms, your food intake at any current time should reflect your training at any current time. Before we plan nutrition we need to ask some questions regarding your training:

1. What am I doing in this block?
2. What am I doing this week?
3. What am I doing today?
4. What time am I doing it?

The answers to these questions then allow us to make decisions based upon:

1. How much and what am I eating in this block?
2. How much and what am I eating this week?
3. How much and what am I eating today?
4. What time am I going to eat it?

Examples of nutrition periodisation     

The concept of nutrition periodisation can be a difficult one to grasp and the easiest way to explain is to give a simple example:

An endurance athlete is completing an 8 week base phase of training and one of the specific objectives is to develop metabolic efficiency by using larger amounts of fat as an energy source. With the base training phase, he continues to complete high intensity interval sessions twice per week which he does with his local club on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

He adopts the following principles:

1. Throughout the 8 weeks the athlete ensures that his daily nutrition intake is balanced, eating no more than 40% of total calories from carbohydrates, all of which are from good quality, low glycemic index sources. The remaining 60% of total calories is divided between good protein and good fat. Avoiding excessive intake of bad carbohydrates will encourage fat usage throughout the 8 weeks, so he applies the 40/30/30 principle at all times.
2. The athlete has a 1 hour low intensity workout planned at 8:00am Tuesday morning and decides that on Monday evening, his dinner will be relatively low in carbohydrate (in particular the bad ones) as this will ensure that on Tuesday morning, the usage of fat will be higher than normal, due to lower glycogen levels.
3. On Tuesday morning the athlete hydrates but avoids breakfast, thereby encouraging fat usage. If he feels that he needs to eat, he eats a higher fat/protein source with lower carbohydrate content such a yoghurt, nuts, seeds and a chopped banana. This is different to his high carbohydrate breakfast eaten before events, which includes a large bowl of cereal, followed by toast and jam. The lower carbohydrate breakfast encourages greater fat utilization during the session.
4. During the training session the athlete avoids high carbohydrate sports products and opts for water only. If it’s a warm day, he adds an electrolyte supplement with zero calories. This continues to encourage fat usage during the training session.
5. At 6:00pm on Tuesday (same day) the athlete has a very high intensity training session with the local running club. Understanding the importance of carbohydrates for this session, the athletes ensure that he takes a carbohydrate and protein/carb recovery drink once the 8:00am low intensity session is complete to repair and replenish.
6. The athlete ensures that whilst remaining balanced with proteins, fats and carbohydrates, lunch contains a good source and quantity of carbohydrate, to supplement the evening training session.
7. The athlete has a final high carbohydrate snack at 3:00pm consisting of toast, jam and a sports drink in preparation for the 6:00pm high intensity session.
8. The athlete continues to use a sports drink throughout the evening session and follows it immediately with a protein/carb recovery drink to repair and replenish.
9. As the planned training for Wednesday morning is no more than a 30 minute easy run with no specific objective other than recovery, the athlete east a normal, balanced meal on Tuesday evening.

The above gives a practical example of how eating with a 24 hour period is tailored specifically towards training sessions and their objectives. One of the prime objectives of the 8:00am workout was to encourage fat usage and the diet was adapted accordingly. The 6:00pm high intensity session requires a greater focus upon quality and intensity for which carbohydrates are a necessity.

Practical application of nutrition periodisation

Unless you are a full time athlete, you can’t spend hours each day planning your meals to match each and every requirement of your training plan, but there are some simple and practical guidelines you can follow:

1. Go back to basics and always remember that your daily eating should be balanced. Your intake should consist of good carbohydrates, good proteins and good fats with percentages based upon 40/30/30 principle as previously recommended. This is the most important principle of your diet and provides the foundation for health and performance.
2. Look at your weekly plan and identify a pattern. If you are a club athlete, it often consists of long session Sunday, with interval or harder sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. The other days may well be easier and shorter with rest days included. Identify both the longer sessions and the harder sessions and rate simply as how tired and sore you feel following each. Ultimately you need to know which training sessions are placing the most stress on your body.
3. Make sure you increase carbohydrate intake prior to the harder sessions. The simplest way to do this and prevent the need to make adjustments to your food preparation is to add sports drinks, bars or a high carbohydrate snack 3 hours before. The remainder of the daily diet can stay the same. If the hard/high quality session is in the morning, consider an extra carbohydrate snack the evening before and again for breakfast. You may well have identified that your longer run session is one of your hardest, despite the intensity being relatively low. See point 5 below for more detailed explanation and advice.
4. You don’t need to increase carbohydrate prior to any short duration, low intensity sessions e.g. 30-40 minute easy run and we would discourage you from doing so.
5. For longer and lower intensity sessions such as a 90 min+ run or 2-3 hr+ cycle ride, it’s not necessary to increase carbohydrate usage. This is based upon the athlete maintaining a low intensity for the full duration and resisting the urge to work harder at any point. If fat utilisation is an objective for this session, you should consider low carbohydrate beforehand and in some cases no carbohydrate. If this is not possible, choose a low carbohydrate breakfast and refrain from taking any energy source until at least 60 minutes into the session. After this point, carbohydrate intake is unlikely to reverse fat usage and may allow you to continue for longer, recovering more quickly.
6. The utilisation of fat occurs ‘during’ the training session only and is not affected by what you eat upon ‘completion’ of the training session. If you choose to take a recovery product or snack upon completion of the session to speed your recovery, this does not impact upon the benefits of fat usage, the training session has ended.
7. If you choose to ‘push the boundaries’ of fat usage and train for 4-5 hours without taking on board carbohydrates, the outcome is likely to be negative. Aside from suppressed immune function, your ability to recover and train on the following days will be limited. Enhancing fat usage is an extremely useful training tool, but as with any other training method, there is an optimal level of application.
8. Avoid sports products during all short duration, low intensity sessions (less than 60 min). No sports drinks, gels or bars (or any other source of carbohydrate).
9. Recovery products are vital following harder/longer/high intensity workouts, which leave you feeling tired/sore for the following 12-24 hours. Take them within 20 minutes of completing the session, immediately if possible. They are not necessary for low intensity workouts and add unnecessary calories to your diet.
10. On rest days or during ‘rest phases’ you do not need to eat high quantities of either carbohydrates or food in general. Fewer calories are used on rest days and this should be reflected in your diet.

To summarise..

The topic of nutritional periodisation can often appear complicated upon first glance, but with practice and persistence you can apply basic principles. Advice and application varies widely between each individual which prevents us from providing a simple and objective approach. Our advice always remains centred upon eating the right foods, in a balanced manner, on a daily basis. Once that is achieved, the concept of periodisation can help you to fine tune your training adaptations, your recovery and ultimately your performances.

Go forwards, train hard and stay healthy

Regards
Marc Laithwaite
www.theendurancecoach.com
www.theendurancestore.com

Planning your weekly eating to enhance training and recovery..

This article is the second of a 5 part series, which will aim to give advice regarding nutrition and it’s impact upon performance and recovery. The 5 articles will cover the following topics:

1. Metabolic efficiency for endurance athletes.
2. Planning your weekly eating to enhance training and recovery.
3. Periodisation of nutrition, deciding what and when to eat.
4. Sports event nutrition, what to eat on the day.
5. Hydration strategy for sports events.

We operate a sports science testing facility in St Helens, Merseyside and have a particular interest in metabolic efficiency for endurance sports. Over the last 12 months whilst we have championed training to enhance fat utilisation, we have also reached the conclusion that manipulating training sessions alone may not be enough to change metabolism. We believe that weekly eating also plays a major role upon metabolism and should be address to work collectively with your training programme for maximum gain.

The basic principles of healthy eating

As an endurance athlete, it is critical that you optimize your diets to keep you healthy, injury free and performing at your best. The foods that you eat have a huge impact upon your ability to train on a daily basis, recover between sessions and compete successfully. An endurance training programme should be supported by a high quality diet if you hope to achieve your long term goals.

Getting the right balance

Many endurance athletes overestimate the daily carbohydrate intake required and eat predominantly carbohydrate foods. This excessive focus on carbohydrate intake can result in a detrimental lack of proteins and fats. Coupled with this, over emphasis upon carbohydrate intake can also affect your metabolism and reduce the ability to utilize fat as a fuel source.

Our recommendation is that your total daily calorie requirements are supplied, based upon the following basis:

Good quality carbohydrates: 40% total calories
Proteins: 30% total calories
Good quality fats: 30% total calories

No such thing as a bad carbohydrate, just depends upon when it’s eaten..

Carbohydrates are used for energy within the body and are generally categorized as good and bad. The bad versions may be referred to as refined, processed or simple carbohydrates and the good ones more commonly referred to as complex. This is a little misleading as not all complex carbohydrates are good and not all simple carbohydrates are bad.

Essentially, the most important thing is how quickly the carbohydrate enters the blood stream. The good carbohydrates enter more slowly and ‘drip feed’ us with energy whilst the bad one’s enter quickly and lead to high blood sugar levels. The glycemic index rates foods from 1 (slowest) to 100 (quickest) and is one of the best guides for assessing good and bad forms of carbohydrates.

It is important to get most of your daily carbohydrate intake from the good varieties of carbohydrate such as wholegrain foods, fruits and vegetables. Refined or processed carbohydrates should not form part of your general balanced diet.  However, there are times during training training and racing when bad carbohydrates are most useful. If you are part way through a long training session or race and your carbohydrate levels are low, you need foods which will provide you with an instant energy hit. We’ll discuss more of this when we reach the topic of training and race day nutrition, but for now, they are off the daily menu. See table 1 for examples of good and bad carbohydrates.

Proteins

Good quality proteins should be consumed with every meal and snack. When introducing strength training or increasing training volume/intensity, this should be accompanied by an increase in protein intake. They are vital for recovery so should be taken following each training session. See table 2 for examples of good quality proteins.

Fats

Fats are essential to health and performance. Their roles include controlling blood glucose levels, assisting immunity and reducing inflammation (more on inflammation later). Good fats should be included on a daily basis.  See table 2 for examples of good quality fats.

Table 1

Good carbohydrates:	Bad carbohydrates:
Muesli Allbran Fruit n fibre Porridge oats Bulgar wheat Quiona Brown/wild/basmati rice Wholemeal pasta Wholegrain bread Sweet potato Vegetables Fruit	Sports drinks Sports gels Cereal bars Jelly sweets Jaffa cakes/figrolls Pancakes/breads Sugar cereals White bread or rolls White rice, pasta and noodles General potatoes, boiled/mashed/new/baked Rice cakes

Table 2

Good proteins:	Good fats:
Turkey Chicken Lean beef and lamb White fish Tinned tuna/salmon Oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, fresh tuna) Eggs Milk Plain yoghurts	Oily fish (other e.g. mackerel, sardines, herring, trout, pilchards) tinned varieties are ok. Olive oil/nut oils Nuts and seeds Avocado Flaxseed/linseed

Enhancing your recovery

Effective recovery is arguably the most important component to your training but often the most neglected and least planned. Recovery is the period of time where you reap the benefits of your training and the adaptations occur. How you choose to recover can have a profound effect upon:

1. How well you can train in your next session

2. Your ongoing risk of injury

3. Your risk of picking up opportunistic infections

4. Your ability to reach your true potential

Endurance training places a great deal of stress upon the body. The potentially negative responses to this stress include:

1. Muscle and tissue damage (micro tears in muscle and tendons, leading to inflammation)

2. Carbohydrate depletion in the exercising muscles (low carbohydrate stores)

3. Dehydration via sweating and respiration, leading to a reduction in blood plasma volume (the fluid component of blood)

4. Suppression of the immune system

Following exercise your body is in a state of ‘catabolism’ (breakdown of muscles and tissue) due to the stress caused by training. By implementing a nutritional strategy that not only provides the correct nutrients but also ensures they are eaten at the appropriate times, you can enhance the process of ‘anabolism’ (repairing and building up of muscles and tissue), thereby maximizing training adaptations and speeding up the recovery process.

There is a ‘golden window of opportunity’ immediately after training when your body is more adept to re-fuelling and recovering. Whilst the window exists for a short time only, recovery takes place for several hours afterwards. Recovery should be treated as the full time between training sessions, whether this is 8, 24 or 72 hours.

Carbohydrate intake for recovery

Glycogen synthesis (carbohydrate storage in muscles and liver) is a fairly slow process and it can take up to 24 hours to fully replenish stores after hard training. When carbohydrate is consumed immediately after training the rate of uptake into the muscles is faster (golden window mentioned earlier). There is greater emphasis on making the most of this window when recovery time is short between sessions (e.g. twice a day training).

If an athlete is glycogen-depleted (low carbohydrate stores) after exercise, they should consume a carbohydrate intake of 0.6 –1.0 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight per hour during the first 30 minutes. They should then repeat this every hour until the next meal, which should contain good quality carbohydrates.

Example: A 62kg athlete would therefore consume between 37.2 (62×0.6) and 62 (62×1) grams of carbohydrate within the first 30 minutes and repeated every 2 hours for 4-6 hours.

A single sports/energy bar will generally contain 50-60g of carbohydrate and a single gel contains 15-20g of carbohydrate (check the side of the packet!).

The best type of carbohydrate to consume immediately post training is high glycaemic index carbohydrate, which enters the body at a fast rate e.g. sports drinks and energy bars

Protein intake for recovery

Consuming protein immediately after training will help to promote muscle repair and anabolism but the source of protein consumed after training is important. Research has shown that ‘whey protein’ is the most effective (which is a fast absorbing high quality protein providing all the essential amino acids and branch chain amino acids required for muscle building and repair). Whey protein can be sourced from consuming dairy products such as milk and yoghurts, recovery drinks, protein bars and whey protein powders.

Combining carbohydrate and protein for recovery purposes

A well-practiced approach is to consume a recovery snack containing carbohydrate and protein in a 3:1 ratio within 30 minutes of finishing your workout. In simple terms, for every 3 grams of carbohydrate you consume, you should include 1 gram of protein.

Chocolate milk has been found to be one of the most effective recovery drinks because it includes all nutrients required to enhance the recovery process including carbohydrates, protein, fluid and electrolytes it can’t get easier than that! Other examples include specific recovery drinks, milk + banana, dried nuts and fruit, chicken sandwich or making your own recovery drink/shake with whey protein. For those athletes who find it difficult to eat solid food immediately after training and for convenience a recovery drink is the perfect option as liquid foods are absorbed much more quickly.

Hydration for recovery

What you ‘choose’ to drink immediately after exercise will determine how effectively you rehydrate. Research has shown that drinking water alone in the recovery period is not sufficient to restore ‘body water’ and the addition of electrolytes (sodium particularly) is required. Sodium is responsible not only for the uptake of fluids but also its retention within the body and movement between tissues. If you eat foods following exercise to replace protein and carbohydrates, this will generally replace any lost electrolytes and further supplements are not required.

If you wish to gain an estimate of your sweat rate to help you plan your nutritional strategy, weighing yourself before and after exercise will help you calculate fluid losses. Each millilitre of fluid weight 1 gram and each litre weight 1 kg, your fluid loss will be influenced by temperature, wind chill, clothing and state of hydration at the start of training. We suggest the following for hydration:

1. Sports drinks with electrolytes

2. Milk based drinks (shown to be extremely effective for rehydration)

3. Water and food combined (food will contain sodium which will help with the retention of fluid).

Reducing inflammation caused by endurance training

Significant levels of training induced inflammation, is known to have a negative impact upon both training and performance. The inflammation is triggered by daily soft tissue damage as a consequence of intense training and is recognized as muscle tenderness or soreness. Often the symptoms are felt 24-48 hours following training and athletes commonly wake up in the morning and feel a little ‘sore’ as a consequence of the hard training session or race the day before.

The inflammatory pathway is known to inhibit performance. Specific chemicals which circulate as a consequence of inflammation, have an inhibitory effect and can lead to poor mood state and low motivation. For this reason, it’s important that we apply a nutritional strategy, which will minimize inflammation.

The consumption of omega 3 fish oil is the most widely researched method of reducing inflammation in athletes. It is the essential fatty acids within these fish oils known as EPA and DHA that are the functional components involved in reducing inflammation. The recommended dosages of omega 3 supplementation on a daily basis, is equivalent to 1.5g of EPA/DHA. There are various supplements available, but the EPA/DHA levels within each should be checked carefully.

An intake of 150-200g of fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, tuna, and sardines a minimum of 4 times a week would be sufficient for most and you would not require fish oil supplementation. However, if this isn’t practical, then a daily supplementation of omega 3 fish oils containing the stated dosages above would be very beneficial. Taking omega 3 fish oils during exercise is not worthwhile and does not reduce inflammation within that session. It is the consistent daily intake of omega 3 oils that will lead to an overall reduction in inflammation after training.

The best time to take omega 3 fish oils is with meals where absorption is enhanced. If you are on any medication for blood pressure or heart problems please consult your GP before increasing oily fish consumption or taking supplements.

Antioxidants and inflammation

Endurance training presents a greater risk of harmful damage caused by ‘free radicals’, which are produced during exercise. Free radicals make their way around your body eating through cell walls and destroying cell structures, thereby allowing cell contents to leak out into the blood stream.

Antioxidants combat ‘free radical damage’ and can be found mainly in fruit and vegetables, there are many different antioxidants that help to mop up free radicals in the body and each antioxidant has a specific purpose. Examples of antioxidants include vitamin C (e.g. oranges, red peppers, lemons, kiwis, peas), Vitamin E (e.g. almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and soybean), Beta Carotene (e.g. carrots and sweet potato), and phyto-chemicals such as flavanoids (e.g. green tea, quercitin, cocoa, pomegranate juice, fish oils).

The most effective way to increase antioxidant intake is to consume a varied diet, focusing upon foods that are natural sources of antioxidants such as fruit and vegetables. The use of high dosage, single antioxidant nutrients e.g. vitamin C or co-enzyme Q 10, is not recommended because many antioxidants work synergistically in the body and have a more potent effect when combined with others.

Antioxidant rich fruit and vegetables tend to be those that are darker and richer in colour e.g. blueberries ( and all other berries), broccoli, beetroot, pomegranate, red cabbage, carrots, plums, tomatoes, peppers, red grapes, sweet potato, pumpkin, oranges. Doubling up on your fruit and vegetables on a daily basis can increase the antioxidant property of your blood by as much as 15-25%.

In summary, you should take the following steps to enhance your weekly diet and your training:

1. Don’t over eat carbohydrates, your protein and fat intake should also be considered.
2. Look at your plate and the portions of each, does it look like 40 / 30 / 30 or is it more often 80/10/10??
3. Avoid the white carbohydrates such as bread/rice/pasta/potatoes and swap for the wholegrain/brown version
4. Bulk up on fruit and veg carbohydrate contribution rather than the white carbohydrates
5. Include a good portion of dark coloured fruit or veg every day which will be high in antioxidants (as per final paragraph)
6. Ensure your protein and fat contribution is from the ‘good list’ as much as possible
7. If you don’t eat oily fish 4 times per week, get a high quality omega 3 supplement which is high in EPA/DHA
8. After harder training sessions, ensure you take a drink which includes carbohydrate and protein within 10-20 mins of finishing

You can choose to make radical changes to your diet or you can make small changes, but any change for the better, no matter how small, will help you to recover quicker, train harder and race harder.

Marc Laithwaite
www.theendurancecoach.com
www.theendurancestore.com

*Article adapted from original produced by Rebecca Dent, performance nutritionist with Scottish Institute of Sport.

Metabolic efficiency for endurance athletes, tapping into fat..

This article is the first of a 4 part series, which will aim to give advice regarding nutrition and it’s impact upon performance and recovery. The 4 articles will cover the following topics:

1. Metabolic efficiency for endurance athletes.
2. Planning your weekly eating to enhance training and recovery.
3. Sports event nutrition, what to eat on the day.
4. Hydration strategy for sports events.

We operate a sports science testing facility in St Helens, Merseyside and have a particular interest in metabolic efficiency for endurance sports. Over the past 24 months we have completed endless hours of testing. We believe that metabolic efficiency is one of the key factors for success in endurance sports and we also believe that training alone is not sufficient to unlock potential. This series of articles will discuss the link between training and nutrition and how they can be manipulated to make you a better athlete.

Nutrition Part 1: Metabolic efficiency

During endurance events there are 2 main fuel sources, these are fat and carbohydrate stored within the body. Protein is used in small quantities but generally only supplies 2-4% of the overall energy demand, with the remaining 96-98% coming from fat and carbohydrate.

It is important to note that even during the latter stages of an event, our use of protein for energy does not increase. Muscle tissue may become damaged and there will be significant protein break down, but this is not being used for energy.

Fat is available in relatively large quantities within the body. A 70kg person with 15% body fat equates to 10.5kg of body fat (70 x 15%). In terms of stored calories, 10.5kg of body fat provides 94,500 stored calories (10.5kg = 10,500g with 9kcal per gram).

When moving at moderate speeds you will burn 500-750 calories per hour, so with 94,500 stores calories of fat, our 70kg / 15% body fat person should be able to run non-stop for 100 miles without any issue whatsoever!

Of course, it isn’t that simple. Competing in endurance events leads to muscle tissue damage and this is one of the main causes of slowing down. When we discuss carbohydrate and fat usage, we are simply discussing the manner in which we create energy. If your legs are physically damaged and unable to function, the ability to create energy becomes irrelevant. To compete for several hours, your body must be physically conditioned to the repetitive movement and impact. Combined with this, you must be capable of using fat as a fuel source.

What’s the catch with using fat?

Fat is a very poor standard fuel, it requires a lot of oxygen to break down each gram and is therefore very ‘uneconomical’. If you were to use fat as your main fuel source, it’s likely you would be moving very slowly.

By contrast carbohydrate is a much better fuel source. When you are moving quickly or working at higher intensities, a high percentage of your energy will come from your carbohydrate stores.

Why not just use carbohydrate for the full event?

Whilst our fat stores are relatively large, our carbohydrate stores are relatively limited and there’s not enough to last the length of most endurance events.

Throughout the event, your carbohydrate stores will be dropping continuously, leading to a ‘switch’ in energy provision from carbohydrate to fat. In the opening miles of any endurance event as your carbohydrate stores are full, 75% of your energy may come from carbohydrate and only 25% from fat. At the mid-way point as your stores run a little low, usage may change to the extent that only 50% of energy is supplied by carbohydrate. This figure may continue to decrease all the way to the finish as your carbohydrate stores progressively empty.

By contrast, whilst only 25% of your energy requirements may be provided by fat at the start of the event, this figure will continue to increase to counteract the reduction in carbohydrate usage. Ultimately fat becomes the major energy source in the second half of the event.

The problem can be summarised as follows:

1. Carbohydrate is limited and runs out quickly

2. As you run out of carbohydrate, you are forced to use fat as an alternative

3. As our bodies are not good at using fat, we slow down as a consequence

To resolve this problem there are 2 things we can do:

1. Keep stuffing carbohydrate rich foods into our bodies whilst we exercise and make sure the carbohydrate tanks don’t drop too low. The problem with this plan is that we can’t absorb enough carbohydrate to account for the usage (but it will slow down the ‘switch’).

2. We can teach our bodies to use fat more economically. If our bodies learn to love fat, we can use it with greater ease and save our precious carbohydrate stores.

Love the fat!

To enhance your endurance, your muscles need to ‘love the fat’ and your muscles must be more effective at using this calorie rich substance, which has had a fair bit of bad press.

Things to consider:

1. If you don’t practice burning fat you’ll never become good at it.

2. To burn fat you need to complete long duration and low intensity exercise.

3. If you give yourself carbohydrates, your body will gladly accept and always prefers to use them.

4. When your body is using fat, it’s likely that you will not feel great and you will feel as though you are travelling slow / under-performing (at least in the short term).

Things to do:

1. Long, low intensity, steady exercise sessions lasting several hours.

2. Eat low carbohydrate foods prior to exercising and choose low GI carbohydrates*.

3. Consider training in the morning before eating any breakfast.

4. During exercise avoid sports drinks and gels, which provide high amounts of instant carbohydrates.

5. Be wary of becoming psychologically attached to nutrition products i.e. ‘If I don’t take 3 gels per hour, I feel dreadful’.

6. Accept that you will feel ‘tired’, it doesn’t mean that you are ‘unfit’, you are doing this for a specific reason and the benefits will come later. You will notice a change over time as you body learns how to use fat more effectively, the pace and energy levels will rise.

7. Take some emergency food just in case you really need it. If you have been exercising for 1 hour or more and feel that you need some carbohydrates for energy, that’s fine. By this time your body will be using fat to the extent that a small amount of carbohydrate will not be enough to reverse the process.

*GI refers to glycaemic index. Foods are rated on how quickly they enter the blood stream. Low GI foods enter slowly and ‘drip feed’ the body, whilst high GI enter quickly and can cause sugar spikes in the blood stream.

Other things to consider:

1. Some research has shown that training in a ‘low carbohydrate state’ can suppress immune system function due to low ‘glutamine’ levels. Our advice is that you should only train in a low carbohydrate state for a limited time and at a low intensity. Longer or high intensity sessions should be done with supplemented carbohydrates to avoid negative effects upon immune system. You can also opt to take zero calorie electrolyte drinks to assist hydration, some of these come with added glutamine to prevent immune suppression.

Examples of training sessions are to run easy for 45-60 minutes or ride 1-2 hours before breakfast, without taking any other supplemental carbohydrate. The intensity should be low and consistent, avoiding spikes in intensity. If you are training in the evening, avoid food for 3-4 hours beforehand and at lunch choose low carbohydrate, higher fat and protein foods. If you are doing sessions reaching several hours, then you should supplement with carbohydrates. For breakfast prior to such long sessions avoid high GI carbohydrates. Higher intensity sessions such as track running or interval training should also be supplemented with carbohydrate before and during to ensure high quality training.

2. If your general daily diet is high in carbohydrate, in particular the high GI variety, you should change this pattern. Our belief is that changing your training techniques will have minimal impact if your general diet is conflicting. As endurance athletes we believe that it is necessary to eat a high amount of carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, cereals, pasta, rice and specific sports products. Eating such a high percentage of carbohydrates can alter your metabolism and reduce your ability to use fat as a fuel source.

Your diet should be balanced and consist of an split between 3 main sources which are good carbohydrates (40%), good proteins (30%) and good fats (30%). During harder training sessions you can supplement with quick carbohydrates and sports products.

Table 1

Good carbohydrates	Quick carbohydrates
MuesliAllbranFruit n fibre Porridge oats/oat cakes Bulgar wheat Quiona Brown/wild/basmati rice Wholemeal pasta Wholegrain bread Sweet potato Vegetables Fruit	Sports drinksSports gelsCereal bars Jelly sweets Jaffa cakes/fig rolls Pancakes/breads Sugar Cereals White bread or rolls White rice, pasta and noodles General potatoes, boiled/mashed/new/baked Rice cakes Milk chocolate

Table 2

Good proteins:	Good fats:
TurkeyChickenLean beef and lamb White fish Tinned tuna/salmon Oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, fresh tuna) Eggs Milk Plain yoghurts	Oily fish (other e.g. mackerel, sardines, herring, trout, pilchards) tinned varieties are ok.Olive oil/nut oilsNuts and seeds Avocado Flaxseed/linseed

Table 1 & 2 shows examples of each main source. Planning your weekly diet to enhance performance and recovery will be the focal topic for part 2 of this series.