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January

NUTRITIONNoun:The process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.Food; nourishment.

ELITENoun:A group of people considered to be the best in a particular society or category, because of their power, talent, or wealth.

ATHLETENoun:A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.

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SprintingFor athletes performing in sprinting events, all prior foods should be fully digested before racing.

NUTRITIONDecember 2012

Attacking the nutritional needs of elite athletes by understanding the necessity of pre and post exercise nutrition.

FUELING FOR TRAININGAssessing the importance of good nutrition and maintaining good pre and post exercise nutrition.

Many elite athletes do not fully understanding the importance of pre and post exercise nutrition. As focus on technique, training and speed is prevalent in the workout space of the elite athlete, the ingestion of healthy foods is equally important and is commonly overlooked. An athlete must maintain a healthy nutritional diet, consisting of carbs, protein, fats, and sugars as appropriate to their athletic regiment. The nutrients and energy provided by food to their body is essential in improvement and being able to maintain sport performance.

Becoming an elite athlete requires great training, conditioning and a sensible

diet. Optimal nutrition is essential for peak performance and nutritional misinformation can do so much harm to the ambitious athlete as good nutrition can help. Furthermore, athletes achieve peak performance by training and eating a variety of foods, obtaining most of their energy from carbohydrates stored in the body, known as glycogen. Fat also provides body fuel; use of fat as fuel depends on the duration of the exercise and the condition of the athlete. Also, exercise increases the athlete's need for protein. Water is critical for athletes due to the fact that dehydration can cause muscle cramping and fatigue.

Elite athletes need to properly fuel

their body to allow for optimal physical gain and improvements.

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As a nutritional diet throughout the day is necessary for excelled performance, equally important is the ingestion of food or drink both before and immediately after having exercised. Athletes who worry about competition day fueling often neglect their day-to-day training diet. Hence, the real question should be "What should I eat before, during, and after I train?" After all, one can only compete at ones best if one can train at your best.

To begin, the importance of eating before exercising, whether that be for training or competition, will be determined.

Some athletes know they have to exercise on an empty stomach or else suffer abdominal distress. Confusion abounds regarding what, if anything, to eat before a workout or competitive event. Just as one would fill up one’s car gas tank before a road trip, it is vitally important to make sure your body has the correct fuel to sustain your body during workout.The importance of ingesting foods containing

caffeine, B-vitamins, amino acids and supplements containing creatine and beta-alanine before exercise was analyzed by Crowley, Kristy R., et al. The ingestion of caffeine before working out has ergogenic effects that attribute to the blocking of adenosine receptors and increases in neurotransmitter release and motor firing rate, resulting in improved exercise performance. . Woolf K, Manore has proven vitamin B-6 to play an important role in the metabolic pathways required in exercise, whereas vitamin B-12 assists with DNA synthesis, which is necessary for the formation of red blood cells.

Supplements containing beta-alanine and creatine delay the onset of neuromuscular fatigue and therefore potentially assist the ergogenic effects of caffeine. Pre-workout supplementation has become a fundamental component in nutrition programs and a growing interest in the sports nutrition industry. Energy drinks are the most popular sports

FUELING

Personal preference will determinewhat types of food and fluid you eat before you work out. Whether it be a smoothie, protein bar, or simply an apple, it is essential to supply your body with energy before exercise.

PRE EXERCISE NUTRITION

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supplement on the market today for young adults (18-35). Results in a a study on the effect of creatine and caffeine supplementation on sprint exercise performance and muscle metabolism was done by Snow RJ et al and proves that the pre-workout supplement significantly improved muscular endurance and choice reaction time. The athletes in this experiment were evaluated by determining their VO2 max performance on a treadmill, by using a calorimeter to determine their metabolic rate. Athletes were also asked to bench and leg press a maximum weight to conclude muscular strength from taking supplements. From this research, it can be concluded that by taking creatine and caffeine supplements before exercise, it can improve exercise productivity.

Of course, an athlete can receive the same pre exercise nutrition by eating foods high in carbohydrates. It is important to eat carbohydrates to build up your glycogen stores, which is energy your body will use

when working out. Pre workout carbohydrates are determined based on the kind of exercise one will be doing; whether it be a marathon, sprint, or merely woking out, different types of foods with carbohydrates should be eaten. In addition, despite popular belief, food eaten before exercise can be digested during exercise, except for extremely intense sprint-like activity (track work-out, time trials), at which point the stomach shuts down so that more blood can flow to the muscles.

In the case of sprinting, it is important to choose foods your body will digest before it is time to train, as the body limits digestion of foods as exercise is begun. A pre-workout shake it is also an excellent option, blending a cored apple or a peeled orange with skim milk and whey protein powder; apples and oranges are slow-digesting carbohydrates which will fuel you through your workout.

Eating before competing provides

the body with the energy necessary to

complete well.

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Eating post-exercise is the key to physical performance improvements.Even more important, is drinking water both before, during

and after having exercised. Water is an important as dehydration decreases your mental acuity and it will interrupt your body's ability to regulate your body temperature. Furthermore, a drop in blood volume due to dehydration impedes your body's ability to produce the energy you need for muscular contractions, decreasing your performance. It is recommended to drink 17 to 20 oz. of water 2 to 3 hours before starting a physical activity. Thirty minutes before, drink 8 oz., and then rehydrate with 7 to 8 oz. every half hour of physical exertion. For

activities lasting more than an hour, a sports drink replaces the loss of electrolytes which may hinder optimal performance during

an activity. Electrolytes are important to maintain voltages across cell membranes and carry electrical impulses ,

such as nerve impulses and muscle contractions, across themselves and to other cells. Loss of salts through sweating need can be easily replenished

through drinking workout drinks such as Gatorade™ or Powerade™.

During a workout, one’s body breaks down muscle glycogen and muscle protein structures. Therefore, following exercise,

SnacksLeave a post exercise nutritional snack, such as chocolate milk, in your workout bag to ensure you eat after your exercise. It is important to eat immediately after finishing the workout to ensure physical improvement.

POST EXERCISE FOODS CHOCOLATE MILK

WHOLE GRAIN BREAD

STRAWBERRIES GRANOLA BAR

Excellent post exercise snack: Provides the body with carbs and proteins.

Great post exercise snack:Provides body with carbs.

Okay post exercise snack:Low GI, not effective in quickly replenishing glycogen stores

Great post exercise snack:Provides body with carbs and sugars.

POST EXERCISE NUTRITION

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one’s body needs to replenish its energy stores and repair muscle tissue to allow for new growth. In order to do this, one needs to consume enough carbohydrates to promote substantial insulin release. Insulin is the enzyme responsible for adjusting blood glycogen levels by guiding glucose, carbohydrates and amino acids into the cells of one’s body.

Opposite to pre exercise, a post exercise meal is food and/or fluid ingested subsequent to working out. This exercise meal is critical to recovery and improves ones ability to train consistently. Post exercise nutrition is extremely important in replenishing glycogen stores in cells, used up while exercising. The first nutritional priority after exercise is to replenish the body with any fluids lost during exercise. It is therefore important to drink from 16-24 oz of water per every pound lost immediately after exercise. Drinks such as Gatorade™ or Powerade™ are also beneficial to consume post workout because they provide the body with fluid and electrolytes- lost in sweat. In addition, a high carbohydrate-protein food should be eaten within 20 minutes of exercise to restore glycogen stores.

The carbohydrates one eats after each exercise session should be fast-digesting foods, whose job it is to quickly replenish the stored glycogen in one’s muscle cells. Fast redevelopment of glycogen stores is aided by the immediate intake high

glycemic index carbohydrate foods. The glycemic index is a measurement of how quickly blood sugar rises after eating a particular food. Examples of foods with high glycemic index include bread, peanuts and potatoes. In general, one should consume about 0.8 grams of carbohydrate per 2.2 pounds of body weight. One would also want to take in about 0.2 to 0.4 grams of protein per 2.2 pounds of body weight.

Two very popular recovery beverages include chocolate milk and protein drinks; both of which provide the body with an adequate amount of carbohydrates and protein to replenish the body. Considered a ‘perfect’ recovery drink, they achieve recovery and aid improvement in the athlete’s workout. In a study where low fat chocolate milk and a commercial recovery beverage were compared with cyclists, it was determined that both beverages provided similar nutritional gain and recovery effectiveness. The experiment featured cyclists performing at 85% VO2 max and was compared between the two recovery drinks. It was determined that chocolate milk, as a recovery beverage, was just as effective as commercial recovery beverage

when comparing recovery and improvement.

-written by Alicia Webb

Foods with high GI are

ideal

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Works Cited

Postexercise Muscle Glycogen Recovery Enhanced with a Carbohydrate-protein Supplement. Europe PubMed Central. Exercise Nutrition Research Laboratory, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Kinesiology, The University of Western Ontario, Ontario, 2006. Web. <http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/16775553>.

Comparisons of Post-Exercise Chocolate Milk and a Commercial Recovery Beverage following Cycling Training on Recovery and Performance. Journal of Exercise Physiology. Official Research Journal of the American Society of OffEicxiaelrRciesesePahrcyhsioJolougrinsatsl, Dec. 2011. Web. <http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/asep/JEPonlineDecember2011_Pritchett.pdf>.

Nutrition for Post-exercise Recovery. Europe PubMed Central, n.d. Web. <http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/9127682>.

Correa, Tracie, et al. "Effects of 28 days of resistance exercise while consuming commercially available pre- and post-workout supplements, NO-Shotgun.sup.[R] .sup.and NO-Synthesize.sup.[R] .sup.on body composition, muscle strength and mass, markers of protein synthesis, and clinical safety markers in males." Nutrition & Metabolism 8 (2011): 78. Gale Science In Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

Clark, Nancy. "Fueling for training: what to eat before, during, and after you exercise." Palaestra Summer 2011: 41+. Gale Science In Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.

"Pre-exercise food." Palaestra Summer 1992: 12. Gale Science In Context. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.