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Monday, April 2, 2012
Fueling Early Morning Workouts
Submitted by Dr. Cindy Dallow
Contact Cindy at cindy@t2coaching.com
Your alarm goes off at 5:00 AM (or earlier) and you have 30 mins to gulp down coffee, get your gear ready, and get out the door to swim, bike, or run. The 64 million dollar question is: should you eat and if so, what should you eat?
The quick answer is yes, you should eat something but what (and how much) you eat depends on several things.
First, think about what is going on inside that fine-tuned body of yours. If your last meal was several hours before you went to bed, chances are you have used up all the glycogen in your liver throughout the night (this is one of the ways we maintain blood sugar at night: we break down glycogen from the liver).
If this is the case and you don’t eat anything before attempting a high intensity workout (or a long workout), you will be starting this workout at a slight disadvantage because your liver glycogen is gone. This means you will only have muscle glycogen to supply your muscles with glucose (unless you want to break down muscle for amino acids to be converted to glucose or use the few free fatty acids floating around for energy). This is not good.
If you are only planning on a short, easy workout, you can easily get by with the aforementioned nutrients but if you are planning a longer, more intense workout, then keep reading.
If you decide to ingest a high carb food or beverage before your workout, these carbs will be in the bloodstream within 30 minutes and on their happy way to your fast-moving muscles. This is good.
If you decide to eat or drink something high in fat and/or protein and low in carbs, you’ll have a little energy to play with but not much.
It may help to know a few facts about digestion and “substrate utilization”:
When food is digested, it is broken down into fat, protein, or carbohydrate. These “macronutrients” are metabolized at different rates with carbs being the fastest (especially simple sugars), and protein and fat being the slowest: they can hang out in your stomach for several hours before moving on to the small intestine. While fat and protein help you to feel fuller longer, they’re not a good choice to consume prior to high-intensity exercise or you may end up with severe GI cramps.
Lower intensity exercise uses about 50/50 carbs and fat for energy so if you don’t eat breakfast before doing an easy workout, you probably won’t run out of glycogen because you’re not oxidizing that much carbohydrate for energy. But the total number of calories burned is much less than in high intensity activity so don’t fall for the myth that low intensity exercise is best for “fat-burning” because it is not. The percentage of fat being used for energy is higher in low intensity activity but the total number of calories burned is less than what is burned in high intensity activity.
High intensity activity uses 80 – 100% carbohydrate for energy, most of which comes from stored glycogen. You can use up a good portion of your glycogen with 30 - 60 minutes of high intensity training. This is why its important to eat or drink something high in carbs before an intense workout. You’ll have a lot more energy if you do.
The ideal situation is to eat a high carb breakfast 2 hours prior to a hard workout (or extra long workout) but if that is not possible, get something in your tummy before heading out the door.
What should you eat or drink? Here are a few real-food suggestions for quick high-energy snacks to eat within 30 mins of exercise:
Yogurt and juice (use 100% fruit juice for more nutrition)
Banana and half of a small bagel
Small muffin or lowfat cookie (Fig Newtons or homemade cookies) and juice
Handful of Cheerios and apple juice (for you parents out there!)
Drinkable yogurt and banana
Sports bar and juice or grapes
These also work for pre-race “meals” when you don’t have time to eat a full breakfast. By taking in some carbs before the workout, you will prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low and delay the depletion of your muscle glycogen stores.
Lastly, prepare your food/beverage the night before so that when you wake up, all you have to do is grab and go. Make those early morning workouts worth the effort by giving your body what it needs to do the job right!
Contact Cindy at cindy@t2coaching.com
Your alarm goes off at 5:00 AM (or earlier) and you have 30 mins to gulp down coffee, get your gear ready, and get out the door to swim, bike, or run. The 64 million dollar question is: should you eat and if so, what should you eat?
The quick answer is yes, you should eat something but what (and how much) you eat depends on several things.
First, think about what is going on inside that fine-tuned body of yours. If your last meal was several hours before you went to bed, chances are you have used up all the glycogen in your liver throughout the night (this is one of the ways we maintain blood sugar at night: we break down glycogen from the liver).
If this is the case and you don’t eat anything before attempting a high intensity workout (or a long workout), you will be starting this workout at a slight disadvantage because your liver glycogen is gone. This means you will only have muscle glycogen to supply your muscles with glucose (unless you want to break down muscle for amino acids to be converted to glucose or use the few free fatty acids floating around for energy). This is not good.
If you are only planning on a short, easy workout, you can easily get by with the aforementioned nutrients but if you are planning a longer, more intense workout, then keep reading.
If you decide to ingest a high carb food or beverage before your workout, these carbs will be in the bloodstream within 30 minutes and on their happy way to your fast-moving muscles. This is good.
If you decide to eat or drink something high in fat and/or protein and low in carbs, you’ll have a little energy to play with but not much.
It may help to know a few facts about digestion and “substrate utilization”:
When food is digested, it is broken down into fat, protein, or carbohydrate. These “macronutrients” are metabolized at different rates with carbs being the fastest (especially simple sugars), and protein and fat being the slowest: they can hang out in your stomach for several hours before moving on to the small intestine. While fat and protein help you to feel fuller longer, they’re not a good choice to consume prior to high-intensity exercise or you may end up with severe GI cramps.
Lower intensity exercise uses about 50/50 carbs and fat for energy so if you don’t eat breakfast before doing an easy workout, you probably won’t run out of glycogen because you’re not oxidizing that much carbohydrate for energy. But the total number of calories burned is much less than in high intensity activity so don’t fall for the myth that low intensity exercise is best for “fat-burning” because it is not. The percentage of fat being used for energy is higher in low intensity activity but the total number of calories burned is less than what is burned in high intensity activity.
High intensity activity uses 80 – 100% carbohydrate for energy, most of which comes from stored glycogen. You can use up a good portion of your glycogen with 30 - 60 minutes of high intensity training. This is why its important to eat or drink something high in carbs before an intense workout. You’ll have a lot more energy if you do.
The ideal situation is to eat a high carb breakfast 2 hours prior to a hard workout (or extra long workout) but if that is not possible, get something in your tummy before heading out the door.
What should you eat or drink? Here are a few real-food suggestions for quick high-energy snacks to eat within 30 mins of exercise:
Yogurt and juice (use 100% fruit juice for more nutrition)
Banana and half of a small bagel
Small muffin or lowfat cookie (Fig Newtons or homemade cookies) and juice
Handful of Cheerios and apple juice (for you parents out there!)
Drinkable yogurt and banana
Sports bar and juice or grapes
These also work for pre-race “meals” when you don’t have time to eat a full breakfast. By taking in some carbs before the workout, you will prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low and delay the depletion of your muscle glycogen stores.
Lastly, prepare your food/beverage the night before so that when you wake up, all you have to do is grab and go. Make those early morning workouts worth the effort by giving your body what it needs to do the job right!
Focus On Cycling Form too!
The first step in being efficient on your bike is to have a professional bike fit. A good fit may include changes in your saddle height, fore/aft position, stem length, seat angle, stack and reach. All are important for comfort, aerodynamics and producing more force to your pedals.
Once you know the bike fits you, balancing left- and right-leg strength with proper pedaling mechanics, you’re on your way to becoming more powerful and expending less effort. As with learning any new skill, focusing on various aspects of the pedal stroke is an important part of training. Just like in swimming and running, I recommend doing pedaling drills to help you to learn to efficiently apply force to the pedals.
An efficient cadence is around 85-95rpms. High-cadence pedaling works your cardiovascular system more, but reduces the relative intensity of the leg muscles. The key, then, is pedaling with enough cadence to keep your watts-per-pedal-stroke at a level that your muscles can handle, but at a cadence that will not overload your cardiovascular system. The optimal balance is different for every rider. Each athlete must experiment to find the cadence that works best for him. Your natural cadence can be changed with repetition in training.
Ultimately the choice should be based on what makes you go fast, while still leaving you with sufficient energy and speed for the run that follows. My recommendation for finding your optimal cadence is simple; count your stride rate during a run and match it on the bike. For most athletes this is 85 to 93 strides/ pedal strokes per minute.
There are four phases of the pedal stroke: The downstroke, backstroke, upstroke and over-the-top stroke. Practicing these can improve your movement and efficiency. For the most part, 360 degrees of various pressure points pf force.
Downstroke
The downstroke is where the foot and pedal move from 0 to 180 degrees (12 o’clock to 6 o’clock). The motion of the foot should be directed forward and downward during the downstroke.
Backstroke
The backstroke overlaps with the end of the downstroke and the beginning of the upstroke. The motion is mostly horizontal, and is made by pulling backward and upward from approximately 120 to 220 degrees (4 to 8 o’clock).Note that as the one foot and pedal are entering the downstroke, the other is entering the over-the-top stroke. I emphasize the backstroke in specific technique workouts.
Upstroke
The upstroke emphasizes pulling upward from 270 to 360 degrees, the last 90 degrees of the pedal rotation, from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock. This phase is easiest to focus on while riding out of the saddle on hills or in a high gear with high resistance on a trainer.
Over-the-top stroke
The over-the-top stroke precedes the downstroke. pressing forward over the top from about 320 to 20 degrees, or from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock.
As with swimming and running, drills are an important part cycling training, as part of your warm-up, a weekly indoor trainer workout, or during cool-down following your training rides.
As with swimming and running, technique-based cycling drills break down the stroke, allowing you to focus on and improve one piece of this complex movement at a time, helping you to learn to efficiently apply forces to the pedals. The four drills outlined below include pedaling aspect practice, horizontal focus, high-cadence drills and single-leg drills.
Pedaling Aspect Practice was designed to help you to become aware of and improve the different aspects of your pedal stroke and to work on improving how well you apply forces during the specific aspects. When pedaling, fully focus on moving one pedal through each of the following four distinct phases: downstroke, backstroke, upstroke, and over-the-top stroke.
While pedaling, focus on one leg at a time and say to yourself “Down, Back, Up, Over” as you complete each phase. Even though you are focusing on the movement of one leg, be aware that your actions at the opposite phase of your pedal stroke with your other leg, directly impact how well you are pedaling with the leg you are focusing on. For example, focus on a strong thrust of your right knee to your handlebars (upstroke) is aided by a strong downward push of the pedal (downstroke) with your left leg, and vice versa.
Downstroke. This part comes most naturally when riding. Focus on exerting a strong downward push of the pedals
Backstroke. As you feel your foot approaching the bottom of the downstroke, focus on pulling your foot backward parallel to the ground. This is often equated to the sensation of scraping mud off your shoes.
Upstroke. Don’t focus on pulling the pedal up. Rather, as soon as your foot approaches the end of the backstroke, focus on rapidly driving your knee towards your handlebars.
Over-the-top stroke. Focus simply on feeling the transition point where the momentum from your drive towards the handlebars just begins to cease. At this point, initiate the strong downward push of the pedal in the downstroke.
Horizontal Pedaling helps you improve the horizontal component of your pedal stroke, the transitions between the drive and recovery phase. Although your goal for efficient riding is to pedal in smooth, uninterrupted, continuous, circles, this drill helps you become aware of and improve how you apply forces during the more horizontal components of your pedaling. When pedaling, focus on moving your feet and the pedals in a forward and backward motion, the opposite of pedaling in an “up and down” fashion. When you are really doing this drill well, you will feel your feet moving back and forth in the small amount of room your bike shoe allows.
High-Cadence Pedaling allows you to move at maximal speeds while expending the least amount of energy. From a comfortable cadence, gradually pedal faster until you are just about to start bouncing around on your saddle. Back off, and ride at the highest cadence you can maintain, in 20- to 60-second segments, without bouncing around on your saddle.
Single-Leg Pedaling
Pedaling with a single leg allows you to isolate and correct weak spots in your 360-degree pedal stroke for each leg by taking away the assistance the opposite leg provides. Perform this drill on a stationary bike trainer. Remove one leg from the pedal and rest it on a chair placed to the side of your trainer. Pedal with your other leg, focusing on pedaling in smooth, uninterrupted, continuous circles. Work to eliminate “dead spots” in your pedal stroke where you lose circular momentum. Use a moderate rate of pedaling (85-95 RPM)
Whether in the pool, running, or riding, many times we’re tempted to just grind out the hours and miles as we train, but that overlooks the importance of technique – and, if you are training inefficiently, and racing inefficiently, you are costing yourself energy and time, as well as preventing yourself from being comfortable, competing better and having more fun.
Once you know the bike fits you, balancing left- and right-leg strength with proper pedaling mechanics, you’re on your way to becoming more powerful and expending less effort. As with learning any new skill, focusing on various aspects of the pedal stroke is an important part of training. Just like in swimming and running, I recommend doing pedaling drills to help you to learn to efficiently apply force to the pedals.
An efficient cadence is around 85-95rpms. High-cadence pedaling works your cardiovascular system more, but reduces the relative intensity of the leg muscles. The key, then, is pedaling with enough cadence to keep your watts-per-pedal-stroke at a level that your muscles can handle, but at a cadence that will not overload your cardiovascular system. The optimal balance is different for every rider. Each athlete must experiment to find the cadence that works best for him. Your natural cadence can be changed with repetition in training.
Ultimately the choice should be based on what makes you go fast, while still leaving you with sufficient energy and speed for the run that follows. My recommendation for finding your optimal cadence is simple; count your stride rate during a run and match it on the bike. For most athletes this is 85 to 93 strides/ pedal strokes per minute.
There are four phases of the pedal stroke: The downstroke, backstroke, upstroke and over-the-top stroke. Practicing these can improve your movement and efficiency. For the most part, 360 degrees of various pressure points pf force.
Downstroke
The downstroke is where the foot and pedal move from 0 to 180 degrees (12 o’clock to 6 o’clock). The motion of the foot should be directed forward and downward during the downstroke.
Backstroke
The backstroke overlaps with the end of the downstroke and the beginning of the upstroke. The motion is mostly horizontal, and is made by pulling backward and upward from approximately 120 to 220 degrees (4 to 8 o’clock).Note that as the one foot and pedal are entering the downstroke, the other is entering the over-the-top stroke. I emphasize the backstroke in specific technique workouts.
Upstroke
The upstroke emphasizes pulling upward from 270 to 360 degrees, the last 90 degrees of the pedal rotation, from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock. This phase is easiest to focus on while riding out of the saddle on hills or in a high gear with high resistance on a trainer.
Over-the-top stroke
The over-the-top stroke precedes the downstroke. pressing forward over the top from about 320 to 20 degrees, or from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock.
As with swimming and running, drills are an important part cycling training, as part of your warm-up, a weekly indoor trainer workout, or during cool-down following your training rides.
As with swimming and running, technique-based cycling drills break down the stroke, allowing you to focus on and improve one piece of this complex movement at a time, helping you to learn to efficiently apply forces to the pedals. The four drills outlined below include pedaling aspect practice, horizontal focus, high-cadence drills and single-leg drills.
Pedaling Aspect Practice was designed to help you to become aware of and improve the different aspects of your pedal stroke and to work on improving how well you apply forces during the specific aspects. When pedaling, fully focus on moving one pedal through each of the following four distinct phases: downstroke, backstroke, upstroke, and over-the-top stroke.
While pedaling, focus on one leg at a time and say to yourself “Down, Back, Up, Over” as you complete each phase. Even though you are focusing on the movement of one leg, be aware that your actions at the opposite phase of your pedal stroke with your other leg, directly impact how well you are pedaling with the leg you are focusing on. For example, focus on a strong thrust of your right knee to your handlebars (upstroke) is aided by a strong downward push of the pedal (downstroke) with your left leg, and vice versa.
Downstroke. This part comes most naturally when riding. Focus on exerting a strong downward push of the pedals
Backstroke. As you feel your foot approaching the bottom of the downstroke, focus on pulling your foot backward parallel to the ground. This is often equated to the sensation of scraping mud off your shoes.
Upstroke. Don’t focus on pulling the pedal up. Rather, as soon as your foot approaches the end of the backstroke, focus on rapidly driving your knee towards your handlebars.
Over-the-top stroke. Focus simply on feeling the transition point where the momentum from your drive towards the handlebars just begins to cease. At this point, initiate the strong downward push of the pedal in the downstroke.
Horizontal Pedaling helps you improve the horizontal component of your pedal stroke, the transitions between the drive and recovery phase. Although your goal for efficient riding is to pedal in smooth, uninterrupted, continuous, circles, this drill helps you become aware of and improve how you apply forces during the more horizontal components of your pedaling. When pedaling, focus on moving your feet and the pedals in a forward and backward motion, the opposite of pedaling in an “up and down” fashion. When you are really doing this drill well, you will feel your feet moving back and forth in the small amount of room your bike shoe allows.
High-Cadence Pedaling allows you to move at maximal speeds while expending the least amount of energy. From a comfortable cadence, gradually pedal faster until you are just about to start bouncing around on your saddle. Back off, and ride at the highest cadence you can maintain, in 20- to 60-second segments, without bouncing around on your saddle.
Single-Leg Pedaling
Pedaling with a single leg allows you to isolate and correct weak spots in your 360-degree pedal stroke for each leg by taking away the assistance the opposite leg provides. Perform this drill on a stationary bike trainer. Remove one leg from the pedal and rest it on a chair placed to the side of your trainer. Pedal with your other leg, focusing on pedaling in smooth, uninterrupted, continuous circles. Work to eliminate “dead spots” in your pedal stroke where you lose circular momentum. Use a moderate rate of pedaling (85-95 RPM)
Whether in the pool, running, or riding, many times we’re tempted to just grind out the hours and miles as we train, but that overlooks the importance of technique – and, if you are training inefficiently, and racing inefficiently, you are costing yourself energy and time, as well as preventing yourself from being comfortable, competing better and having more fun.
Take Action
With today’s overwhelming availability of nutrition and fitness information, the sharing of data, video, audio, there is no shortage of available knowledge; knowledge equaling potential change, potential weight loss, potential fitness. Still it’s potential. You need to take Action.
ACTION involves consistent follow through of a program, that ensures your ultimate outcome. Implementing what you have learned. Do you do it? Or do you read, concur that was a great idea and then move on without taking action.
In order to move towards what we do want with our health and fitness and away from what we don’t, it requires knowledge followed by consistent follow through until that goal is achieved. In order to stay consistent, try implementing a few of these tips to help you get on track and stay on target.
Create a mental image of what you want. Then focus on this image with positive intent (not with a fearful tone of “how the heck am I going to get there”) upon waking and going to sleep each night.
Tackle one workout at a time. Often accomplishing smaller goals will simultaneously lead to the accomplishment of your BIGGER goal along with the additional smaller ones. This thought process often keeps overwhelm at bay.
Act upon intuition. Even if you feel like you aren’t ready or aren’t prepared or aren’t good enough…DONT let that stop you. What are your options, to try it and know for sure, or never know cause you did not try.
Even if you feel like you will never make it or you are just too tired, keep going. Little by little, day by day, you will be building momentum that will carry you when necessary as long as you start.
There are no magic diets or fitness plans. When you have the passion to seek out the knowledge and accountability you will each your goal.
So don’t be intimidated by the amount of information available and whether or not you will be able to keep up, just keep it simple…decide, envision, act then act again and again and again and again until you get to where you wish to be.
Email me if you have questions.
Friend me on facebook
Wendy Mader (aka Wonder Women)
http://t2coaching.com
http://www.getfit-getstrong-getfast-getwendy.com
Colorado Women of Influence
Womens Sports Foundation
Refer a friend, get a gift
Hey All! Happy April! I'm pretty excited for the new month. I love April for the variability in weather here in Colorado. A perfect example was when the thermometer hit 83 yesterday and today it may snow up to 5 inches. It was a dry winter so I welcome the moisture.
I am launching the Springtime Referral Challenge. It is a chance for you to win a Tony Horton one on one DVD for each referral you send me and be entered in a drawing for either a bag of Shakeology or workout program.
The more friends you refer between now and June 20, the more Tony Horton one on one DVDs you get. Plus, your friends will be on the path to better nutrition.
For each friend you refer to sign up for a Team BeachBody account and order home direct Shakeology with me, your name will be entered in a raffle for a chance to win your choice of flavor Shakeology or your choice of Fitness Program. Refer ten or more friends between now and June 20th and win the Grand Prize: both program and Shakeology of your choice. I can send you and your friend some samples of Shakeology
When your friends sign up send me a message and let me know so I can confirm and I will send you a thank you One on One DVD. More referrals means more chances to win the workout program of your choice or a bag of Shakeology.
Thank you so much. Good luck with the challenge, I look forward to saying thanks!
A Referral Made Easy. Do you have a few friends in mind but are not sure how to tell them? No worries! Feel free to copy/paste the message below in an email:
---------------------------------------------------------
An amazing summer is on its way, get fit and the summer body you always wanted
Spring is here and summer is very soon on its way. Now is definitely the time to get geared up and healthy for your summertime adventures. If you sign up for an account with my Team Beachbody Coach Wendy at http://www.getfit-getstrong-getfast-getwendy.com, and order the most delicious meal replacement, Shakeology, t2coachwendy will be your nutrition and fitness coach and guide you to better health.
If your deep desire is to get strong and fit, if you want your body to be healthy and whole, contact t2coachwendy@beachbodycoach.com and find out what program is for you.
Thank you so much.
I am launching the Springtime Referral Challenge. It is a chance for you to win a Tony Horton one on one DVD for each referral you send me and be entered in a drawing for either a bag of Shakeology or workout program.
The more friends you refer between now and June 20, the more Tony Horton one on one DVDs you get. Plus, your friends will be on the path to better nutrition.
For each friend you refer to sign up for a Team BeachBody account and order home direct Shakeology with me, your name will be entered in a raffle for a chance to win your choice of flavor Shakeology or your choice of Fitness Program. Refer ten or more friends between now and June 20th and win the Grand Prize: both program and Shakeology of your choice. I can send you and your friend some samples of Shakeology
When your friends sign up send me a message and let me know so I can confirm and I will send you a thank you One on One DVD. More referrals means more chances to win the workout program of your choice or a bag of Shakeology.
Thank you so much. Good luck with the challenge, I look forward to saying thanks!
A Referral Made Easy. Do you have a few friends in mind but are not sure how to tell them? No worries! Feel free to copy/paste the message below in an email:
---------------------------------------------------------
An amazing summer is on its way, get fit and the summer body you always wanted
Spring is here and summer is very soon on its way. Now is definitely the time to get geared up and healthy for your summertime adventures. If you sign up for an account with my Team Beachbody Coach Wendy at http://www.getfit-getstrong-getfast-getwendy.com, and order the most delicious meal replacement, Shakeology, t2coachwendy will be your nutrition and fitness coach and guide you to better health.
If your deep desire is to get strong and fit, if you want your body to be healthy and whole, contact t2coachwendy@beachbodycoach.com and find out what program is for you.
Thank you so much.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Fueling Early Morning Workouts
Submitted by Cindy Dallow on Fri, 03/23/2012 - 1:23pm
Your alarm goes off at 5:00 AM (or earlier) and you have 30 mins to gulp down coffee, get your gear ready, and get out the door to swim, bike, or run. The 64 million dollar question is: should you eat and if so, what should you eat?
The quick answer is yes, you should eat something but what (and how much) you eat depends on several things.
First, think about what is going on inside that fine-tuned body of yours. If your last meal was several hours before you went to bed, chances are you have used up all the glycogen in your liver throughout the night (this is one of the ways we maintain blood sugar at night: we break down glycogen from the liver).
If this is the case and you don’t eat anything before attempting a high intensity workout (or a long workout), you will be starting this workout at a slight disadvantage because your liver glycogen is gone. This means you will only have muscle glycogen to supply your muscles with glucose (unless you want to break down muscle for amino acids to be converted to glucose or use the few free fatty acids floating around for energy). This is not good.
If you are only planning on a short, easy workout, you can easily get by with the aforementioned nutrients but if you are planning a longer, more intense workout, then keep reading.
If you decide to ingest a high carb food or beverage before your workout, these carbs will be in the bloodstream within 30 minutes and on their happy way to your fast-moving muscles. This is good.
If you decide to eat or drink something high in fat and/or protein and low in carbs, you’ll have a little energy to play with but not much.
It may help to know a few facts about digestion and “substrate utilization”:
When food is digested, it is broken down into fat, protein, or carbohydrate. These “macronutrients” are metabolized at different rates with carbs being the fastest (especially simple sugars), and protein and fat being the slowest: they can hang out in your stomach for several hours before moving on to the small intestine. While fat and protein help you to feel fuller longer, they’re not a good choice to consume prior to high-intensity exercise or you may end up with severe GI cramps.
Lower intensity exercise uses about 50/50 carbs and fat for energy so if you don’t eat breakfast before doing an easy workout, you probably won’t run out of glycogen because you’re not oxidizing that much carbohydrate for energy. But the total number of calories burned is much less than in high intensity activity so don’t fall for the myth that low intensity exercise is best for “fat-burning” because it is not. The percentage of fat being used for energy is higher in low intensity activity but the total number of calories burned is less than what is burned in high intensity activity.
High intensity activity uses 80 – 100% carbohydrate for energy, most of which comes from stored glycogen. You can use up a good portion of your glycogen with 30 - 60 minutes of high intensity training. This is why its important to eat or drink something high in carbs before an intense workout. You’ll have a lot more energy if you do.
The ideal situation is to eat a high carb breakfast 2 hours prior to a hard workout (or extra long workout) but if that is not possible, get something in your tummy before heading out the door.
What should you eat or drink? Here are a few real-food suggestions for quick high-energy snacks to eat within 30 mins of exercise:
Yogurt and juice (use 100% fruit juice for more nutrition)
Banana and half of a small bagel
Small muffin or lowfat cookie (Fig Newtons or homemade cookies) and juice
Handful of Cheerios and apple juice (for you parents out there!)
Drinkable yogurt and banana
Sports bar and juice or grapes
These also work for pre-race “meals” when you don’t have time to eat a full breakfast. By taking in some carbs before the workout, you will prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low and delay the depletion of your muscle glycogen stores.
Lastly, prepare your food/beverage the night before so that when you wake up, all you have to do is grab and go. Make those early morning workouts worth the effort by giving your body what it needs to do the job right!
Your alarm goes off at 5:00 AM (or earlier) and you have 30 mins to gulp down coffee, get your gear ready, and get out the door to swim, bike, or run. The 64 million dollar question is: should you eat and if so, what should you eat?
The quick answer is yes, you should eat something but what (and how much) you eat depends on several things.
First, think about what is going on inside that fine-tuned body of yours. If your last meal was several hours before you went to bed, chances are you have used up all the glycogen in your liver throughout the night (this is one of the ways we maintain blood sugar at night: we break down glycogen from the liver).
If this is the case and you don’t eat anything before attempting a high intensity workout (or a long workout), you will be starting this workout at a slight disadvantage because your liver glycogen is gone. This means you will only have muscle glycogen to supply your muscles with glucose (unless you want to break down muscle for amino acids to be converted to glucose or use the few free fatty acids floating around for energy). This is not good.
If you are only planning on a short, easy workout, you can easily get by with the aforementioned nutrients but if you are planning a longer, more intense workout, then keep reading.
If you decide to ingest a high carb food or beverage before your workout, these carbs will be in the bloodstream within 30 minutes and on their happy way to your fast-moving muscles. This is good.
If you decide to eat or drink something high in fat and/or protein and low in carbs, you’ll have a little energy to play with but not much.
It may help to know a few facts about digestion and “substrate utilization”:
When food is digested, it is broken down into fat, protein, or carbohydrate. These “macronutrients” are metabolized at different rates with carbs being the fastest (especially simple sugars), and protein and fat being the slowest: they can hang out in your stomach for several hours before moving on to the small intestine. While fat and protein help you to feel fuller longer, they’re not a good choice to consume prior to high-intensity exercise or you may end up with severe GI cramps.
Lower intensity exercise uses about 50/50 carbs and fat for energy so if you don’t eat breakfast before doing an easy workout, you probably won’t run out of glycogen because you’re not oxidizing that much carbohydrate for energy. But the total number of calories burned is much less than in high intensity activity so don’t fall for the myth that low intensity exercise is best for “fat-burning” because it is not. The percentage of fat being used for energy is higher in low intensity activity but the total number of calories burned is less than what is burned in high intensity activity.
High intensity activity uses 80 – 100% carbohydrate for energy, most of which comes from stored glycogen. You can use up a good portion of your glycogen with 30 - 60 minutes of high intensity training. This is why its important to eat or drink something high in carbs before an intense workout. You’ll have a lot more energy if you do.
The ideal situation is to eat a high carb breakfast 2 hours prior to a hard workout (or extra long workout) but if that is not possible, get something in your tummy before heading out the door.
What should you eat or drink? Here are a few real-food suggestions for quick high-energy snacks to eat within 30 mins of exercise:
Yogurt and juice (use 100% fruit juice for more nutrition)
Banana and half of a small bagel
Small muffin or lowfat cookie (Fig Newtons or homemade cookies) and juice
Handful of Cheerios and apple juice (for you parents out there!)
Drinkable yogurt and banana
Sports bar and juice or grapes
These also work for pre-race “meals” when you don’t have time to eat a full breakfast. By taking in some carbs before the workout, you will prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low and delay the depletion of your muscle glycogen stores.
Lastly, prepare your food/beverage the night before so that when you wake up, all you have to do is grab and go. Make those early morning workouts worth the effort by giving your body what it needs to do the job right!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Dialing in your nutrition
Submitted by Cindy Dallow on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 6:10pm
Contact Cindy at cindy@t2coaching.com
One of my clients is training for Ironman Arizona and recently he said "as soon as I get my nutrition dialed in, I'm ready to go".
When I asked him what "dialed in" meant to him, he stuttered and said "well, its where you tell me what to eat, isn't it?"
Well, sort of.
I can tell anyone what to eat - meal by meal - but obviously its better in the long run to acquire the knowledge necessary to make healthy food choices yourself. And essentially, this is what I love to do: help people learn enough about nutrition so that they have the confidence to plan their own meals and snacks for optimal health and performance.
Since March is National Nutrition Month, here are five nutrition tips to jumpstart your training plan.
1. Eat regular meals and snacks. Do NOT skip meals or just munch all day long on whatever is handy. Its too easy to over or undereat this way, which is what most female athletes do, and then they wonder why their race times are not improving. Ideally, you should eat 5 - 6 times a day and focus on nutrient-dense foods (more on that below).
2. Eat a light meal or snack before and after working out. Of course you can workout on an empty stomach - all of us do once in awhile - but chances are your workout will be mediocre in quality. Maximize that precious training time by having plenty of energy on hand to go the distance (for tips on recovery snacks and meals, see http://www.gotribalnow.com/expert/recovery-nutrition-101).
3. Focus on high quality carbs and protein. A Big Mac with fries and a large Pepsi is a high protein/carb meal but no one in their right mind would say this is a high quality meal. That's because the protein comes from low-grade, high fat ground beef and cheese, and the carbs come from white bread and sugar-filled Pepsi. A plateful of brown rice, veggies, lean beef (or tofu), and a glass of low-fat milk is also high in protein and carbs but contains a lot more vitamins, minerals, and fiber than the Mickey D meal.
Remember that each meal should have 2-4 oz of lean protein, 3 - 4 servings of grains and vegetables. Top it off with cold milk (regular or soy) and you've got yourself a turbo-charging good meal.
4. Avoid processed foods - Yes, this is a no-brainer but still worth mentioning. Packaged cookies, crackers, chips, donuts, frozen meals and the like are fine once in awhile but shouldn't be a staple of your daily eating plan.
5. Every meal or snack should have at least one fruit or veggie. This is the one thing most Americans (and many athletes) don't do enough of, which is ironic considering its also the one thing that people mention when asked what makes up a healthy diet. If you want to get serious about health and wellness, then you better get real familiar with the produce department and all it has to offer. Not only will fruits and veggies give you more energy, they're likely to keep you from getting sick by supplying lots of natural vitamin C, A, potassium, and other good stuff to make you a lean, mean, training machine.
Start dialing in your nutrition now and you'll be one step ahead to achieving your training and racing goals.
Contact Cindy at cindy@t2coaching.com
One of my clients is training for Ironman Arizona and recently he said "as soon as I get my nutrition dialed in, I'm ready to go".
When I asked him what "dialed in" meant to him, he stuttered and said "well, its where you tell me what to eat, isn't it?"
Well, sort of.
I can tell anyone what to eat - meal by meal - but obviously its better in the long run to acquire the knowledge necessary to make healthy food choices yourself. And essentially, this is what I love to do: help people learn enough about nutrition so that they have the confidence to plan their own meals and snacks for optimal health and performance.
Since March is National Nutrition Month, here are five nutrition tips to jumpstart your training plan.
1. Eat regular meals and snacks. Do NOT skip meals or just munch all day long on whatever is handy. Its too easy to over or undereat this way, which is what most female athletes do, and then they wonder why their race times are not improving. Ideally, you should eat 5 - 6 times a day and focus on nutrient-dense foods (more on that below).
2. Eat a light meal or snack before and after working out. Of course you can workout on an empty stomach - all of us do once in awhile - but chances are your workout will be mediocre in quality. Maximize that precious training time by having plenty of energy on hand to go the distance (for tips on recovery snacks and meals, see http://www.gotribalnow.com/expert/recovery-nutrition-101).
3. Focus on high quality carbs and protein. A Big Mac with fries and a large Pepsi is a high protein/carb meal but no one in their right mind would say this is a high quality meal. That's because the protein comes from low-grade, high fat ground beef and cheese, and the carbs come from white bread and sugar-filled Pepsi. A plateful of brown rice, veggies, lean beef (or tofu), and a glass of low-fat milk is also high in protein and carbs but contains a lot more vitamins, minerals, and fiber than the Mickey D meal.
Remember that each meal should have 2-4 oz of lean protein, 3 - 4 servings of grains and vegetables. Top it off with cold milk (regular or soy) and you've got yourself a turbo-charging good meal.
4. Avoid processed foods - Yes, this is a no-brainer but still worth mentioning. Packaged cookies, crackers, chips, donuts, frozen meals and the like are fine once in awhile but shouldn't be a staple of your daily eating plan.
5. Every meal or snack should have at least one fruit or veggie. This is the one thing most Americans (and many athletes) don't do enough of, which is ironic considering its also the one thing that people mention when asked what makes up a healthy diet. If you want to get serious about health and wellness, then you better get real familiar with the produce department and all it has to offer. Not only will fruits and veggies give you more energy, they're likely to keep you from getting sick by supplying lots of natural vitamin C, A, potassium, and other good stuff to make you a lean, mean, training machine.
Start dialing in your nutrition now and you'll be one step ahead to achieving your training and racing goals.
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