Posted on NaturalStrength.com on July 4, 1999

THE ATHLETE'S KITCHEN ~ Copyright: Nancy Clark 8/99

As a sports nutritionist, I commonly listen to active people describe their (sub-optimal) fueling patterns. They then state with frustration "Something must be wrong with my diet ... I'm just notgetting what I want out of my exercise program!!!"

The following article highlights common fueling blunders that weaken the workouts of noviceexercisers and elite athletes alike. Hopefully, this article will deter you from making the same mistakes.

Somewhere in sports nutrition history, the idea was born that pre -exercise food sits in the stomach and hinders athletic performance. To this day, numerous casual exercisers and competitive athletes alike go to great efforts to avoid food for at least three or four hours before exercise. By doing so, they miss out on the performance benefits associated with being well fueled. The "first put gas in your car, then go" theory that works so well for automobiles also works well for active people. You'll have far greater stamina and endurance when you run on fuel, not fumes. The following study confirms this point:

On two occasions, seven cyclists exercised to exhaustion, maintaining a moderately hard pace (70% VO2max). In one trial, they ate a 400 calorie meal (breakfast) three hours before exercising. In the second trial, they simply had a dinner the night before, but no breakfast. When they exercised "on empty," they biked for only 109 minutes, as compared to 136 minutes with the breakfast. That's almost half an hour longer! Exercising "on empty" left them lagging. (Med Sci Sports Exerc 31 (3):464, 1999)

Whether you're going for a one -hour run, climbing the StairMaster for 45 minutes, or skating hard during the 50 minutes of allotted ice -time, you may be tempted to "not bother" to bring a water bottle, to say nothing of a sports drink. After all, you're unlikely to get dehydrated in that short amount of time...right?

Think again. Despite popular belief, what you drink during a short (1 hour or less), intense workout or competitive event does have a significant effect upon performance.

Here's what the latest research shows:

Athletes were asked to complete, on three occasions, an exercise test designed to simulate a 25 mile bicycling race. They biked hard for 50 minutes (80% VO2 max) and then completed a 10 minute sprint-to-the-finish, during which they worked as hard as they could. When the athletes drank lots of water (48 oz., the amount needed to offset dehydration), they sprinted 6% faster compared to the baseline trial during which they drank only 7 oz. of water in the initial 50 minutes of riding. When they drank 300 calories of a sports drink during the first 50 minutes of riding, they improved 12% over baseline during the sprint. (Med Sci Sports Exer 27:200, 1995)

Be you an ordinary athlete or an olympic hopeful, this study means: Consuming an easily digested combination of water + carbs (such as a sports drink or water + hard candies, defizzed cola, figs, gel, etc.) will help you exercise harder and better at the end of an hour. Wouldn't you want to be 12% better than your (poorly fueled) opponent when the event is down to the wire?

Runners, cyclists, skaters, and soccer players alike --as well as many female athletes and myriads of health club members--sincerely believe they'll be able to exercise better if they could shed some

body fat. Yes, trimming excess flab does lighten the load and having less to lug around can help you exercise better. But starving yourself to shed the few pounds that resist leaving your thighs or abdomen will NOT transform you into an Olympian! The cost of dieting to a "perfect" weight is often greater than any benefits gained by being lighter. Skimping on calories to lose body fat simultaneously results in skimping on:

· carbohydrates your muscles and brain need to perform well.

· protein your muscles need for growth & repair.

· vitamins and minerals to help your body's engine run well.

Athletic performance only improves when you exercise longer or harder. When dieting, you are unlikely to exercise neither longer nor harder. And if you have to severely cut calories in order to see any weight loss, what makes you think you'll be able to keep off those resistant pounds once you do manage to lose them?

Weight is more than a matter of will power. If you are far leaner than other members of your genetic  family, think again about trying to lose to the "perfect" weight. If you are already lean but want to be leaner-yet, pay more attention to improving performance with optimal fueling and training. Trust that appropriate eating + appropriate exercise will pave the way to an appropriate weight for your body.

No proof exists in the literature that the leanest athlete is the best athlete. You just can't expect to train at your best, nor compete at your best, if you are dieting too hard and have poorly fueled muscles. Athletes perform better when well fed!

Wrestlers Diet

With the start of every season, there is always renewed interest in nutrition. Whether the focus

is on dropping to a lower weight or staying strong through a proper diet, wrestlers always have

many questions on what they should eat.

Judy Nelson, Nutrition Coordinator for the United States Olympic Committee helps America’s

elite athletes achieve success at the highest levels of competition. USA Wrestling’s coaching

staff relies on her expertise on a regular basis. Her suggestions should be high priorities for

wrestlers and coaches trying to establish proper nutrition in a daily diet.

Step one: Switch to skim

individual. In an eight ounce glass of reduced fat 2% milk there is 122 calories with 4.7 grams

of fat. In low fat 1% milk, there is 102 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. A wrestler that switches to

skim milk takes in 86 calories and .4 grams of fat per eight ounce glass.

Clearly there is a benefit in switching over to skim milk. An eight ounce glass is generally

smaller than what most people consume in a sitting these days. So, the benefit can be even

further magnified.

Step tw Lots of fruit

In speaking to Ms Nelson about the importance of fruit in a diet, she sees benefits varying from

variety can be an important factor to consider.

Step three: Juice over pop

digest. Further, youthful consumers have gotten hooked on oversized drinks. A wrestler should

definitely consider the numbers before they grab a soda. Eight ounces of pop has about 140

calories. The “average” pop serving has increased in size, with many people drinking as much

as 24 ounces of pop in one sitting. Using a caloric intake of 4200 calories a day, 24 ounces of

pop would be 420 calories or nearly 20 percent of the energy intake for the day. Throw in the

fact that it has no nutritional value, coaches and wrestlers should see that fruit juice is a much

better beverage to reach for.

Step four: Baked Potatoes

the potato. Wrestlers know that baked potatoes can be dry, so the best thing to do is rehydrate

it. After breaking it open and smashing it with a fork pour a little more water on it and it

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won’t taste as dry.

Step five: Maintain Variety.

Once again Judy Nelson’s nutritional point is very simple. “No one food has everything a

wrestler needs.” Variety in food, even in a specific food group is important. Don’t rely on one

food, to supply all of the vitamins and nutrients needed for day to day health. Remove the junk

from the diet, but maintain variety.

Step six: Lots of water.

Staying properly hydrated is difficult for the average person. For an active athlete it can be very

hard to stay hydrated without a conscious effort. Nelson offers that fluid needs can be

standard is 64 ounces of water consumption a day. Although Nelson states that this is not very

scientific, it is probably well above what most wrestlers are consuming daily. Clearly wrestlers

Step seven: The secret of egg whites

example, are broken down quickly after consumption. So, while a candy bar might taste good,

its satisfaction is limited because it is broken down before other foods that contain higher

amounts of protein.

whites contain no fat. Throw the yolk away, that’s a whole other topic.

Wrestlers can prepare egg whites easily by boiling up a dozen eggs and storing them in the

use of this source of protein.

Step eight: High fiber is highly important

Again variety is certainly important for wrestlers focusing on proper nutrition. Fiber is one part

check the nutritional outline.

Step Nine: Don’t rely on meat

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variety can help in nutrition and make it easier to maintain a positive outlook when a person

watches what they eat.

Step Ten: Plan for after the weigh-in

Reaching a high level of achievement requires mental focus on all aspects of a wrestler’s

BACK TO USAWCT

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