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Sports Nutrition Basics

The Basics

If you want maximum return from your sport or exercise, don’t underestimate the positive impact of good nutrition. There is no substitute for hard work when it comes to achieving your goals, but a good diet will play a big part in helping you reach your potential. Or worst case, something lacking in your diet could directly impair your performance.

To be at its best your body needs the right type of fuel at the right time of the day. The foods and beverages you eat and drink provide the body with the essential nutrients required to:

  • Supply energy
  • Assist recovery and
  • Maintain optimal hydration

 

The Major Nutrients (Macronutrients)

Carbohydrates (CHO)

Carbohydrates are your body’s primary and most readily available source of energy, no matter what activity you do. You need carbohydrates because they:

  • Maintain/refuel your body’s energy stores
  • Enhance stamina and prevent fatigue
  • Prevent loss of muscle tissue (if lacking in carbohydrate, muscle is broken down to provide energy)

 To help maximise energy reserves prior to exercise and replenish those reserves during recovery, it is important that you match your daily carbohydrate intake with the amount of exercise you’re doing.

 

Carbohydrate Metabolism 101

  1. Carbohydrate foods like bread, rice, pasta, fruit, vegetables (especially potatoes, corn and beans (legumes)), cereals and sports drinks are digested and circulate in the blood as glucose
  2. Glucose is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen
  3. Your working muscles use glycogen as their primary source of energy
  4. Your body’s glycogen stores are small, and need regular replenishment
  5. During lengthy exercise or repeated bouts of activity, your glycogen stores become depleted. They must be replenished from the carbohydrate foods you eat. This helps fight fatigue and ensures optimum performance and recovery
Daily Exercise Daily CHO requirements per kg of body weight
Up to 60 minutes moderate to high intensity activity. (Golf, jogging, weight training) 5-6 g/kg
60 – 100 minutes moderate to high intensity activity. (Rugby, League, Rowing, Soccer, Netball, Racquet sports) 7-8 g/kg
Endurance training 2 – 5 hours or intense training. (Road cycling, running) 9-10 g/kg
Extreme training greater than 5 hours intense training (Ironman, Coast to Coast, Multisport/endurance events) 11-12 g/kg

 

Protein

Protein is the major functional and structural component of all cells in the body, and is essential to:

  • The development of all new tissues
  • Repair and strengthen muscles damaged by exercise/sport
  • Defend the body against disease (via antibodies and a healthy immune system)
  • Regulate and trigger reactions in your body (hormones and enzymes)
  • Provide energy to working muscles when carbohydrate stores become depleted
Population Group Recommended daily intake (g protein/kg body weight)
Inactive adults and those involved in low intensity exercise, e.g. lawn bowls, golf 0.81
Individuals involved in endurance type activity, e.g. running distances, cycling, triathlons 1.2 – 1.42
Resistance or strength training individuals, e.g. weight training, body-building 1.7 – 1.82

 

Individuals involved in moderate to high intensity exercise have increased protein requirements above those who are inactive. Protein can come from both animal and plant sources although animal sources tend to be more complete, containing all the essential protein building blocks (known as amino acids).

Protein Foods providing approx 10g protein
Animal Source Plant Source
¼ cooked chicken breast (skin off) ½ can (200g) baked beans
One slice lean roast beef (40g) 2 cups cooked pasta
2 small eggs 50g peanuts
200g non-fat yoghurt 100g tofu (raw)
1 scoop Horleys 100% Whey  
2 rounded scoops Lean Gain  

 

Fat

Fat is an essential part of the diet as it provides the body with a source of energy, essential vitamins and fatty acids. A high fat diet is not recommended for long-term health reasons. With the fat you do eat, try to:

Eat more mono-unsaturated fats from olive oil, avocado, and nuts and poly-unsaturated fats from fish, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sunflower oil.

Eat less saturated fat from butter, meat, pies, sausages, pastries and fast foods/fried foods. It is recommended that you buy lean cuts of meat; trim the excess fat from beef and pork; remove the skin from chicken and use low fat cooking techniques like grilling or baking food rather than frying.

Remember – it’s low fat, not no fat.

 

Fluids

Fluids are essential for many of the body’s functions. These include:

  • Temperature regulation
  • Transport of nutrients, oxygen and waste
  • Lubrication and cushioning around joints

Dehydration impairs the ability of the body to regulate temperature. Dehydration increases your heart rate, affects co-ordination and mental concentration. For these reasons dehydration can have a detrimental effect on both physical performance and health.

During exercise your body also loses minerals (electrolytes) through sweat and urine. The most important of these is sodium. Maintaining full hydration means not just drinking plenty of fluid, but also replacing lost sodium. Replacing lost sodium with a sodium-containing beverage helps:

  • Enhance glucose and water absorption
  • Promote fluid retention (decreases urine output)
  • Enhance palatability (taste) of your drink
  • Stimulate you to drink more

 

Which Fluids are Best?

Water: the best option when exercising at low intensities for 90 minutes or less. Water however does not provide the added benefits of carbohydrate and contains only a little sodium.

Sports Drinks: a properly formulated sports drink should be the beverage of choice in high intensity activities, hot environments or exercise of one hour and longer. This includes team sports like rugby, hockey, soccer and netball, as well as sports like tennis and golf. Sports drinks not only provide the body with fluid but also contain carbohydrate and sodium. Choose a sports drink containing 5-7.5% (50-75g) of carbohydrate and 50-70mg of sodium per litre.

Caffeine-containing drinks & alcohol: these types of beverages are not ideal hydration beverages as they may increase fluid losses and negatively affect performance and recovery.

Fluid loss of only 2% of body weight can impair performance by up to a staggering 20%

 

What to Eat and When

Many people only focus on ‘eating properly’ in the build-up to a major event or competition.

What you may not realise is that what you eat and drink during training or normal exercise can also affect how you perform. The timing and composition of your meals and snacks is important to help maximise energy reserves, repair muscles and ensure you stay fully hydrated.

Just as you plan your sports practice or training, you should also plan and practice your nutrition.

The following information relates to the specific timing of meals and snacks on training/practice days or competition/event days.

Pre-Exercise/Event Nutrition

The focus of the pre-exercise meal is not a last minute, all-out effort to repair days or weeks of bad eating habits!

Pre-Exercise/Event Nutrition Goals:

  • Maximise carbohydrate intake so energy stores are optimal
  • Maintain fluid intake so your body is well hydrated

 

Maximise Carbohydrate Intake
In the 2 – 3 hours leading up to a session, consume a snack containing 1-2g CHO per kg body weight (60-150g). To promote carbohydrate intake and minimize the risk of stomach upset, try to avoid foods that are high in fibre and fat.

Be practical when planning your pre-exercise meal or snack. If you train or exercise very early in the morning, have a high carbohydrate meal the night before and a light snack (e.g. 30-50 grams of carbohydrate) prior to training if possible.

 

Maintain Fluid Intake
During exercise, it can be very difficult to match your fluid intake with what you lose as sweat.

Therefore, it’s extremely important that you start any exercise session well hydrated. Try to drink as much fluid as comfortably possible with your pre-exercise meal (300-600ml). Then drink 150-300ml of fluid every 15-20 minutes up until about 45mins before your session.

Make sure you practice your event or competition nutrition during your training so you are comfortable with food choices and quantities.

 

During-Exercise/Event Nutrition

Physical effort is associated with an increased body temperature, decreased body water levels due to sweat loss, a fall in the body’s carbohydrate stores and a drop in blood glucose levels. All these factors can impair performance.

During Exercise/Event Nutritional Goals:

  • Provide the body with adequate carbohydrate to help delay the onset of fatigue
  • Prevent dehydration by supplying adequate amounts of fluid and electrolytes

 

Provide Carbohydrate

Consuming carbohydrate during exercise can reduce the early onset of fatigue by helping to prevent the depletion of energy stores and maintain blood glucose levels. When exercise sessions are going to last for longer than longer than 2 hours, plan to consume 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour during exercise. Using a sports drink (like Horleys Replace) allows you to meet carbohydrate and fluid needs simultaneously while also maintaining your sodium levels.

Smart Snacks (amount to provide approx 50g Carbohydrate)
250g creamed rice 2 medium sized bananas
A honey sandwich, made with 2 slices toast bread 50g jelly beans
Two small muesli bars Two small pita breads

 

Prevent Dehydration

During exercise, your body can become dehydrated in as little as 30 minutes. For this reason, you need to start drinking early and drink at regular intervals where possible. You should try to drink the same amount of fluid as your body is losing. Aim to drink around 600-1200ml of fluid every hour.

The hotter and more humid the environment, the more fluid and sodium you are likely to need. Remember thirst is not a good indicator of fluid needs. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

 

Recovery Nutrition

Exercise recovery is often a neglected area, although one of the most important to consider if you want maximum return from your exercise. Because exercise can be very destructive to muscles and tissues (depleting the body of essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein and fluids), recovery is as much about the right nutrition as it is about having a rest.

Well planned and executed recovery nutrition will pay off in your next exercise or training session, as you will be fully fuelled and ready to go.

The goals for a speedy recovery:

  • Restore fluids for maximum hydration
  • Replenish carbohydrate reserves so you have plenty of energy
  • Rebuild muscle protein, to maintain and grow muscle tissue

 

Restore Fluid
Replacing lost fluid and electrolytes is just as important after as it is during exercise. Aim to replace 1½ times the amount of fluid that is lost as sweat. For example:
If you weighed 75kg before exercise and due to sweat loss weighed 74kg after exercise, you would look to replace around 1½ litres of fluid (remember: a loss of one kilogram of body weight during exercise is equivalent to one litre of fluid).

For most people a guide is to drink around 1-1½ litres immediately after exercise. Continue to drink over the next 24 hours to help fully rehydrate the body.

The use of a sports drink or high carbohydrate drink after exercise will allow you to tackle a number of recovery goals simultaneously: promote rehydration, restore energy levels and replace lost sodium. Remember, alcohol and caffeine containing beverages are not suitable recovery fluids as they may actually delay re-hydration if consumed immediately after exercise.

 

Replenish Carbohydrate
For the first two hours after exercise your body is able to replenish energy stores much faster than usual. Aim to consume 1-1.5g of carbohydrate per kg body weight, with plenty of water/fluid immediately after exercise. Repeat after two hours or until you are back into your normal meal patterns.

When trying to build muscle you can train hard, and eat plenty of protein, but if you are not getting enough carbohydrate in your diet, lean body mass gains will be limited.

 

Rebuild Muscle Protein

Exercise increases protein requirements because:

  • During exercise muscle tissue is damaged both physically and by free radicals produced during exercise, so more protein is required for muscle growth and tissue repair
  • During prolonged exercise, muscle tissue is broken down to supply the body with energy

After exercise or competition, aim to eat 1 gram of protein for every 4 grams of carbohydrate.

Recovery Snacks (providing approximately 50g CHO & at least 10g protein)
200ml Horleys Protein Hit plus a ripe banana
1 cup of breakfast cereal, 200ml non-fat milk and one scoop Lean Gain
300g of fruit flavoured yoghurt
250g tin baked beans/spaghetti plus 2 slices of toast

 

References

  1. Dietary Intakes for Use in Australia, NHMRC, Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1991
  2. Lemon, P.W. Int J Sports Nutr 5(Suppl.): S39-61,1995
  3. Pearce, J., Eat to Compete Cookbook, 1999
  4. Burke, L. and Deakin, V. Clinical Sports Nutrition, McGraw Hill Australia, 2000
  5. Maughan, R.J. (ed), Nutrition in Sport, Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine VII, Blackwell Science, 2000
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