Cardio nutrition essentials: part 1
Once you begin running, cycling or swimming long distances, it’s easy to think adding an extra plate of pasta or a few carbohydrate gels will cover your nutrition needs.
What you may not realise is that optimising your nutritional intake will be a game changer as you add in the extra miles.
It will enhance performance, speed recovery, lower your injury risk and support training longevity, not to mention have you smashing those PB’s.
Personalising exercise nutrition
It’s impossible to provide a macronutrient split that will work for you because this is influenced by the type of exercise you do, the duration, the intensity, your digestive capacity and metabolic health.
Some individuals I work with perform best on low carb diets, whilst others thrive on good carb diets.
Before you get to that level of detail it’s important to consider what to eat and I’ve provided some basic research on how much.
Food quality first
Exercise is a beneficial stress to the body, the adaptive response makes you stronger and fitter, however, it also generates inflammatory processes and free radicals that, in excess, damage the cells in your body.
Transforming the quality of your meals with a wholefoods foundation, ensures you obtain the vital nutrients to buffer these potentially negative side effects.
With good nutrition your training primarily results in positive, physical adaptations which means you get fitter.
Maximising Nutrient Power
The following points outline how to ensure your diet improves your antioxidant status, balances inflammation and brings performance benefits by improving your endurance capacity and hydration.
What to eat: carbohydrates
Wholefood carbohydrates: sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, legumes and fruit.
Low fibre carbohydrates around exercise: white rice, white potatoes, pasta, tropical fruits, rice cakes, honey, dried fruits or Haribo.
A combination of glucose (bread, pasta potatoes and rice) and fructose (fruit, juices, honey and agave nectar) to replenish both muscle and liver glycogen
What to eat: protein
Meat, fish, tofu, eggs, dairy and legumes
Protein powders (whey, hemp, rice and pea) or amino acid supplements to meet requirements
What to eat: fats
Essential omega 3 fats e.g. oily fish or algae are best and you get some from flaxseed, walnuts, pumpkin seeds
Healthy monounsaturated fats e.g. virgin olive oil, seeds, nuts, avocados and olives
Healthy saturated fats, e.g. red meat, dairy, coconut oil, dark chocolate
Cardio nutrition wins
The following will also improve endurance fitness by regulating immune function, supporting digestion and optimising cardiovascular health:
Consume a rainbow of vegetables and fruits over the week
Load up on herbs and spices, especially garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, rosemary and oregano
Use mineral salts to promote electrolyte balance e.g. grey, pink or sea salt
Consume beverages rich in antioxidants including cocoa, coffee, black and green tea
Macronutrient Ratios
All three macronutrients play a role in steady state exercise. There’s no universal recommendations as it depends on the sport, training load, individual and timing of exercise.
Personalise your carbs
Carbohydrate requirements depend on your body composition, intensity and duration of your sport.
General recommendations of 0–3 g/kg/day for basic needs and fat loss may need to be increased to 5–10 g/kg/day for training needs or if training at high intensities and >12 hours a week you may need 5–12 g/kg/day.
Personalise your protein
Protein is essential to preserve muscle mass, support the fuelling of aerobic exercise, speed of recovery and lower your injury risk.
Optimal amounts of daily protein will range from 1.4–2.0 g/kg/day.
Once you’ve calculated carbohydrates and protein requirements, calories from fat would make up the remaining amount.
You can use an app like Cronometer to begin adapting macronutrients and keep an eye on your macronutrients.
Once you have these basics in place you can start to experiment with nutrient timing and pre/post exercise meal choices.
This is covered in Cardio nutrition essentials: part 2
