My daughters run high school cross country. Most races are no more than 5 kilometers. They have tried using PowerBar® Performance bars and PowerBar® Gels 30 minutes before racing, but what do you advise for them to perform at their best?
A typical high school cross country event is a 5k or about 3 miles in length, and the majority of participants finish this distance within 20-25 minutes. In shorter-duration endurance events like this, the most important sports nutrition advice is to be fully recovered from prior workouts. That means starting the race well-rested, fully fueled, and fully hydrated. Being fully recovered is the focus because the race itself won’t be long enough to seriously tap muscle fuel stores if they were replenished to start with, and won’t lead to overt dehydration if your daughters were fully hydrated at the start of the race. Thus, attention to rehydration and a diet rich in carbs after workouts in the week prior to the race is what’s needed.
On the day of the race, the focus should be on staying hydrated and eating comfortably to top off carb fuel stores. Nerves may be an issue, in which case easily-digested liquid carb sources may be better tolerated than solid foods. Low-fat versions of yogurt, puddings, and flavored milks, and plain bagels work well before a race. Avoid high fat and high fiber foods before a race as they are more slowly digested and can lead to stomach upset during the race. Pre-race meals are usually best tolerated 2 or 3 hours before racing. For early-morning races where a pre-race meal isn’t feasible, a carb-rich snack can help keep hunger at bay and top off glycogen stores. PowerBar® Endurance sport drink, PowerBar® Performance bars, and PowerBar® Gels are all excellent sources of easily digested carbs that can be used as part of the pre-race meal or as a carb-rich snack leading up to a race. In hot and humid conditions, efforts should be made to replace sweat losses that occur prior to the race.
Finally, your daughters’ pre-race hydration and fueling strategy should ideally be something that they test and perfect during after-school training so they have it dialed in before a meet. Make sure they bring their trial-tested sports nutrition foods and beverages to school for consumption before practices and in their travel bags for meets. Finally, consider suggesting to the coach that a team captain or parent organize appropriate foods and beverages for away meets, so that everyone on the team has the right fuel and hydration to be their best out on the course.
I am training for a half-marathon. I currently use PowerBar® Endurance sport drink during my workouts. I want to incorporate PowerBar® Performance bars and PowerBar® Gels into my nutrition plan. Can I use all three products together?
Great question! Let’s clear up the confusion.
First of all, for endurance events like half-marathons, marathons, cycling road races, and triathlons, consuming carbs during the event can delay the onset of fatigue and extend your endurance. So carbs during endurance exercise is a great idea.
The ideal carb sources during exercise are highly digestible and quickly absorbed. This means high-fiber carb sources and those that contain lots of fat, are best avoided because they act to slow digestion. On the other hand, PowerBar sports nutrition products like PowerBar® Endurance sport drink, PowerBar® Gels, and PowerBar® Performance bars are specifically designed for quick digestion and absorption so that carbs are rapidly delivered to working muscles.
PowerBar sports nutrition products are used interchangeably by some athletes during endurance training or an event, but exactly which specific sports nutrition products to use is generally dictated by what is practical for you. For example, as a marathon runner, a sport drink is almost always a better option than plain water because a sport drink provides muscle-fueling carbs and helps replace sodium losses due to sweating. Furthermore, gels are usually preferred over bars when running simply because gels are easily swallowed and don’t require chewing. For many marathoners, PowerBar® Performance bars play more of a role as part of the meal or as a snack before training or competing.
For training sessions or events lasting up to 2-3 hours, the recommended carbohydrate intake per hour is your body weight in pounds multiplied by 0.32. So, for a 150 pound marathon runner (150 x 0.32), that would equate to about 48 grams of carbs per hour. Drinking 16 fl oz of PowerBar® Endurance sport drink per hour provides about 34 grams of carbs. The additional 14 grams of carbs needed can be provided by consuming one-half of PowerBar® Gel packet during each hour of exercise.
If you are involved in training sessions or events lasting longer than 2-3 hours, and you are using PowerBar sports nutrition products with C2 Max, the recommended carbohydrate intake per hour is your body weight in pounds times 0.45. C2 Max contains the breakthrough 2:1 blend of glucose to fructose that speeds the delivery of carbs to working muscles. For a 150 pound marathon runner (150 x 0.45), that would equate to about 68 grams of carbs per hour. As noted above, drinking 16 fl oz of PowerBar® Endurance sport drink per hour provides about 34 grams of carbs. Most of the additional 34 grams of carbs needed can be provided by consuming one PowerBar Gel packet during each hour of exercise.
Finally, remember to practice your fueling and hydration strategy during training so that on the day of a competition, you’re certain that your strategy is one that works for you.
After training for 4 months, I ran my first half-marathon shortly after arriving in Hawaii on vacation. Unexpectedly, I had to stop and walk a number of times during the race. However, a month later back at home in Northern California I ran another half-marathon and was able to run the entire way. I was equally trained for both and followed the same pre-race meals and use of PowerBar® Endurance sport drink during the races. Why was my performance so different in the two races?
Chances are the temperature and humidity differences between your home town where you trained and the half-marathon where you competed were quite different. The very same exercise you do in a moderate-temperature/humidity environment will be perceived by your body to be much harder when the conditions are high temperature and high humidity. The fatigue that forced you to slow down and walk during the race in Hawaii probably had more to do with your core body temperature rising due to your body’s inability to adequately cool itself (heat stress), rather than a low level of muscle glycogen.
Fluid ingestion is of major importance in delaying the rise in core body temperature that can occur during exercise in the heat. The best way to determine your fluid needs for an upcoming event is to train in the climate conditions that you are going to compete in, and make fluid intake adjustments to ensure that your body weight doesn’t decrease more than 1-2% during exercise due to fluid loses. The half-marathon back home was probably a better match for what your body was trained for and your rate of fluid ingestion was likely pretty close to matching your fluid losses. Thus you avoided the early onset of fatigue due to heat stress. In Hawaii, your fluid needs were probably much greater, but without having acclimated to the environment and trained in those conditions, you only had your sense of thirst to rely on to gauge fluid needs. Unfortunately, thirst isn’t a very sensitive indicator and so fluid intake was probably too low which then led to heat stress and the need to walk the race. Next time you have a race planned in a vacation destination that is quite different from where you train, plan the race for the tail end of your vacation. This will allow you to train in and better acclimate to the new environment before the race.
I just started running a couple of times a week as I would like to lose at least 25 pounds. What bar would you recommend using before a workout? Also, won't I just be burning calories from the bar rather than stored fat?
Research suggests that the combination of regular exercise and reduced calorie intake is most effective for achieving weight loss. To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume on a daily basis and exercise is a great way to increase the number of calories you burn each day. At the same time, you want to fuel your muscles so that your workouts are effective. If you are too tired to exercise, you may not work out for as long or maybe you’ll end up skipping workouts. Thus, it pays to fuel your workouts, but you want to do it without over consuming total daily calories.
You can fuel by consuming a
POWERBAR® Performance bar about an hour or two before working out. Each bar provides 41-45 grams of carbohydrates which will serve as muscle fuel. The calories from the bar, which range from 230 to 250 calories per bar, need to be accounted for in the total calorie intake for the day. For example, if you expend 2500 calories daily but take in only 1750 to 2000 each day, you will have achieved a calorie deficit of 500-750 calories. If you achieve this type of deficit on a regular basis you will start to see and feel the pounds come off.
In summary, time your carbohydrate intake so that you are fueled up but not training on an uncomfortably full stomach during a workout, and make sure your total calorie intake is 500-750 calories less than what you are burning each day. This strategy should help you fuel workouts and lose weight. Depending on your health, counseling with your doctor is advisable.
I am a 52 year old Ironman triathlete and my typical weight is 154 pounds. During a 3-hour training session I lose about 5 pounds, despite drinking 3-4 bottles of sport drink, and I feel that my performance suffers. I try to drink more but my stomach feels full. What can I do?
The first step is to know your hydration zone. You’re able to perform at your best and avoid the adverse health effects of over-hydration and dehydration when you avoid weight gain due to excess fluid intake during exercise, and you lose no more than 2% of your body weight due to fluid loss. At 154 pounds your hydration zone is between 151 to 154 pounds. So, despite your best efforts to hydrate, you are dropping down to 149 pounds by the end of a workout, which exceeds your hydration zone by 2 pounds. This degree of dehydration can cause your performance to suffer.
Realizing that it’s a challenge for you to consume fluids at a rate that keeps you in your hydration zone, the first suggestion is to ensure that you start each workout or competition fully hydrated. Avoid carrying fluid deficits from one exercise session to the next by consuming enough fluids between workouts to return to your usual pre-exercise weight of 154 pounds.
You can also train your digestive tract to increase the rate at which it absorbs fluids by gradually increasing your fluid intake per hour during exercise. The time to do this is during training. Since you are dropping below your hydration zone by 2 pounds over a 3-hour training session, you need an additional 32 ounces of fluid over and above what you have been consuming to stay in your hydration zone. However, it is important to gradually work up to that goal. Also, be sure to start re-hydrating early in your training sessions and be disciplined in the volume and frequency of your fluid intake. In addition, make certain that your sport drink is properly mixed and not overly concentrated, is a flavor you like, and is cool in temperature as opposed to ice-cold or room temperature. All of these factors can influence the volume of fluid you consume. Finally, keep a log of your fluid intake during training, as well as your pre- and post-exercise body weight. This type of log can help you track the progress you are making in training your digestive tract to absorb fluid at a faster rate.
CLICK HERE to calculate your sweat rate and recommended hydration requirements.
On my long runs I like to eat a PowerBar® Performance Bar along the way instead of gels. Late in a run I start to feel hungry and that’s why I like the bars over the gels. Is this okay even though they are especially created for pre-workout?
While PowerBar Performance Bars are designed to be consumed as pre-exercise fuel about an hour before a workout or competition, in point of fact many athletes consume them during long-duration exercise just like you do. This is most common and logistically feasible for cyclists on long rides. However, the bars are also frequently used by long-distance runners. The benefit of the bars is that they are solid and therefore can be helpful when you are on course and feeling hungry. The acceptability of solid foods during exercise varies from one athlete to the next. Some individuals have difficulty tolerating anything but fluids while running, whereas others like you can comfortably consume a bar. This type of issue is something to be worked out during training runs like you have done.
As for
PowerBar® Gels, and we can lump
PowerBar® Endurance sport drink into the discussion as well, these are typically recommended for consumption during exercise because they contain carbohydrate sources that are quickly and easily absorbed. This gets fuel to working muscles rapidly. Gels and sport drinks generally don’t contain nutrients like protein, fiber, or fat that can slow down the absorption process. Therefore, individuals who might have difficulty feeling comfortable eating a bar during endurance exercise generally have no problem consuming PowerBar® Endurance sport drink or a PowerBar® Gel with water during exercise.
Your question is a good one and underscores the point that needs vary between athletes, and trying out different sports nutrition approaches during training, as you have done, helps fine-tune your sports nutrition regimen so that it better fits your individual needs.
I’ve seen PowerBar® Gels in stores and they were handed out during the last marathon I was in, but I’m not exactly sure how to use them. Can you offer any advice on how to incorporate gels into my endurance training and competitions?
PowerBar® Gels are designed to deliver the carbohydrates and electrolytes of a sport drink. Simply tear off the top of the gel packet, squeeze out the contents into your mouth, and swallow. Chasing it down with a gulp or two of fluids completes the process.
PowerBar® Gels are typically utilized as a during-exercise fuel and electrolyte source. They provide quickly-digested carbs to help fuel your muscles right away. Each gel packet provides about 27 to 28 grams of carbs for a total of about 110 to 120 calories. Our gels also provide the electrolytes sodium (200 mg per packet), potassium (20 to 40 mg per packet), and chloride because these are the electrolytes lost in the greatest amounts in sweat.
All PowerBar® Gels contain pretty much the same amounts and types of carbs and electrolytes. They differ in flavor and caffeine content. PowerBar® Gels come in nine different flavors and contain either 0 mg, 25 mg, or 50 mg of caffeine. Pick the flavor/ caffeine level that best meets your needs. Go to
powerbar.com to see all the different gel flavor options and the nutrition facts for each one.
Gels are comparable to a sport drink when it comes to delivery of carbs and electrolytes, but your job is to provide the fluids. Taking gels with a fluid like water is important because the fluid in your digestive tract helps to dilute the carb and electrolyte concentrations to appropriate levels.
Gels are good options for athletes who don’t like the taste or have difficulty tolerating sport drinks, or simply want an alternative to a sport drink during exercise. You can use PowerBar® Gels with water throughout your event, from start to finish. Or, switch off periodically between a sports drink and gels plus water. Athletes can generally metabolize about 30-60 grams of ingested carbs per hour. Thus, one to two gel packets per hour is typically recommended. However, for long-duration events lasting more than two or three hours, the unique C2 MAX carbohydrate fuel system in PowerBar® Gels allows for faster energy delivery to muscles. So, for these types of events, up 90 grams of ingested carbs per hour can be metabolized which translates to up three gel packets per hour.
Finally, as with all sports nutrition strategies, dial in what works best for you by using PowerBar® Gels in training before you use them on race day.
I'm a middle distance runner and I train by running 60 miles per week. I always train in the mid-afternoon and I’d like to incorporate POWERBAR® Performance bars into my training diet, but I’m not sure whether to eat the bars before or after I train. I eat a very good breakfast and dinner and would like to eat something before and after training.
The ideal pre-exercise snack is high in easily-digested carbs to top off your muscle fuel stores, moderate in protein, and not overloaded with slower-to-digest fat and fiber. POWERBAR® Performance bars are an excellent choice for a pre-workout snack as they provide 41-45 grams of carbs per serving, 8-10 grams of protein, and are appropriately lower in fat and fiber. Millions of athletes use these bars every day to fuel their performance during training and events.
General sports nutrition recommendations suggest consuming a pre-exercise snack about an hour before exercise, but feel free to experiment with consuming the bar closer to or further away from the start of your workout to see what works best for you.
After training, you want to provide your body with the nutrients and fluids needed to for rapid recovery. Carbs, fluids, sodium and protein are the keys to focus on. Carbs are needed to help restore depleted reserves of glycogen muscle fuel. Fluids and the electrolyte sodium are needed to make up for losses that occur due to sweating. Sodium is the key electrolyte lost in sweat and consuming it after exercise helps stimulate your thirst and helps you retain the fluid you consume. Protein provides amino acids needed for the repair and building of muscle tissue. Consuming carbs with some protein as soon as possible after a workout has been shown to speed the restoration of glycogen stores and the rebuilding of muscle tissue.
PowerBar has two products specifically designed to meet your post-exercise nutrient needs for fast recovery:
POWERBAR® Recovery shake is a great tasting ready-to-drink beverage that packs 34-40 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein, and 180-220 mg sodium into each 10.6 fl oz serving. This shake comes in vanilla and creamy chocolate flavors.
For something lighter,orange-flavored POWERBAR® Recovery sport drink provides 40 grams of carbs, 6 grams of protein and 500 mg of sodium in 16 fl oz.
Pack your workout bag with a ready-to-drink POWERBAR® Recovery shake or a water bottle full of POWERBAR® Recovery sport drink and get a jump on recovery.
I recently started eating POWERBAR® Performance bars in conjunction with my weight training. How does this benefit my training? I would like to become toned and fit instead of developing big, bulky muscles.
Weight training provides the stimulus your muscles need to develop and get stronger. Research suggests that consuming some protein prior to engaging in weight training is best for supporting the building and repair of muscle tissue in response to exercise and
POWERBAR® Performance bars are ideal for this purpose, as each bar provides 8-10 grams of protein per serving. In addition to POWERBAR® Performance bars, another excellent source is
POWERBAR® PROTEINPLUS™, packed with 23g of high quality protein.
While nutrition is important in allowing your body to respond to the rigors and stress of training, the degree of weight training itself will be the major factor that determines whether you become toned and fit versus developing large, bulky muscles. As a general rule, the heavier and more rigorous the training you are engaged in, the more your muscles will develop in order to meet the requirements of training. Conversely, eating more protein in the absence of weight training will not cause you to increase muscle mass.
In summary, consuming a POWERBAR® Performance or POWERBAR® PROTEINPLUS™ bar before a workout is a great way to ensure that your muscles have the amino acids needed for the repair and building of lean tissue that occurs in response to working out, and your level of strength training rather than protein intake is the primary factor that influences degree of muscle development.
About an hour after a workout I experience severe fatigue. It happens after my easy workouts as well as the intense ones. What can I do to prevent this from happening?
The fatigue you are experiencing probably can be overcome from a different nutritional approach to both your training and recovery.
The ideal way to begin a workout is with adequate levels of blood glucose and full reserves of glycogen. Pre-exercise meals are appropriate for this but aren’t practical for your early morning workouts. Nonetheless, liver glycogen stores and blood glucose are probably on the low side after fasting overnight. To compensate for this, try consuming some amount of easily-digested carbs upon arising for your morning workouts.
POWERBAR® Gel or
POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink are options to consider. These easy-to-absorb carb sources can help boost liver glycogen stores and blood glucose levels prior to starting exercise.
There are also steps you can take during endurance training to help ward off fatigue. Long workouts require fluids to maintain optimal performance. During training sessions you want to restrict your fluid losses to no more than 2% of your pre-exercise body weight. You can use the
PowerBar Sweat Rate Calculator to help determine your fluid needs based on your sweat rate. Also, consuming carbs during exercise is important, especially for triathletes engaged in multiple daily workouts where glycogen stores may gradually get more and more depleted. Glucose circulating in the blood and from glycogen is your primary energy source for working muscles during exercise. Consuming carbs will help spare your limited stores of glycogen and help sustain blood glucose levels. Here again,
POWERBAR® Gel or
POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink are excellent carb sources during exercise. Consuming carbs at the rate of about 60 grams per hour is typically recommended for endurance athletes.
Jumpstart the recovery process after exercise by consuming carbs, along with some protein, as soon as you’ve completed a training session.
POWERBAR® Recovery bar,
POWERBAR® Recovery sports drink and the
POWERBAR® Recovery shake are great-tasting choices with the right combination of carbs and protein to promote recovery after exercise. Consume one as soon as your workout is over. This will help speed the reloading of glycogen and rebuilding and repair of muscle tissue. In addition, for long workouts that have significantly depleted your muscle glycogen levels, consume carbs on an hourly basis at the rate of 0.75 grams for every 2.2 pounds of bodyweight for 4-6 hours after exercise.
These nutritional approaches should help with the fatigue. Finally, keep in mind that rest is extremely important for recovery. As a general rule, athletes need a couple of rest days built into every 7-day training cycle. Some weeks you are going to need even more rest. If you find that fatigue persists from one day to the next. It’s a sign that a few extra rest days may be needed.
I am racing in an upcoming Ironman triathlon and POWERBAR® Performance bars are being served by race officials on the course. I already use POWERBAR® Endurance sports drinks during competition but have never used your bars or gels. The bike leg is where I am most comfortable eating, so should I consume the bars or gels along with your sports drink? By the way, I’d prefer not to have caffeine. Also, what do you recommend for the running segment of the competition as I normally just drink water?
In endurance events like a triathlon you definitely want to use sports nutrition to your advantage. That means consuming carbs to spare your limited stores of muscle glycogen and hydrating properly so that you avoid both dehydration and overhydration (“hyponatremia”).
You asked specifically about bars and gels during the bike portion of the event. PowerBar offers both
POWERBAR® Performance bars and
POWERBAR® Gel, and the good news is that they are available in a variety of flavors, and POWERBAR® Gel comes with or without caffeine. Individual preferences vary and we recommend that you try the products during your training sessions before using these in competition.
For long-duration exercise, a well-designed sports drink like
POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink offers significant hydration advantages over plain water. The sodium in the sports drink will help your body optimize your fluid absorption and prevent hyponatremia. In addition, the carbs in the beverage will help spare your stores of muscle glycogen. By avoiding dehydration and delaying the depletion of muscle glycogen stores, you can extend your endurance.
For specific PowerBar sports nutrition product recommendations that are tailored to your body weight, sweat rate and event, I strongly recommend that you use PowerBar’s online
Event Nutrition Planner. This easy-to-use tool will give you the individualized sports nutrition information needed for events like your triathlon. The Planner will instruct you on a simple method for determining your own individual sweat rate. In addition, based on the details of your specific triathlon, you will instantly get two sets of results to review and print – an individualized nutrition and hydration plan for daily training and an individualized plan for your event day.
The output you'll receive is intended to be used as a checklist. In the daily training output, the topics covered include everything needed before, during and after exercise to maximize the benefits of your training – pre-hydrating and checking urine color; pre-workout meal and snack; individualized hydration plan based on your individual sweat rate; target hydration zone; individualized fueling plan to boost performance during exercise based on your specific body weight; PowerBar product combinations individualized to your specific hydration and carbohydrate needs during exercise; muscle recovery strategy after exercise; and a rehydration plan after exercise.
The event day output covers the same topics as above but with two important additions. There is a section devoted to carbo-loading 3 – 4 days before your event with an individualized carb recommendation range based on your body weight. Also the event-specific hydration recommendations are tailored to your individual event.
Good luck with your competition!
I am a 35-year old Master's swimmer who trains around 20-25 miles per week (six times per week) with five dry sessions per week as well. While I endure the training sessions pretty well with sports drinks before and during, I would like to improve my recovery, especially muscular pain. What would you advise?
To improve your recovery, especially muscular pain, we recommend the following:
1. Consider more rest days in your training regimen. As a rule of thumb, every seven-day training cycle should ideally include two days of rest. You need sufficient rest to recovery from strenuous workouts.
2. Try stretching exercises that work the muscle areas where you feel pain. Stretching before and after training and then again before you go to bed at night may be the simple remedy to help alleviate the pain. A book on stretching might be helpful as well. Often these types of books will have sport-specific examples of stretches, includes ones that swimmers can do before and after swimming.
3. Consume some protein along with your carbs prior to strength-training sessions and immediately after strenuous exercise. Consuming some protein prior to strength training will help maximize the muscle development process in response to training. Also, protein and carbs together after strenuous training can help speed the recovery process.
POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE or
POWERBAR® PROTEINPLUS™ bars before lifting and a
POWERBAR® Recovery Sports Drink after exercise are products that may be particularly helpful to you.
I recently started a 12-week program to lose weight and gain muscle, incorporating POWERBAR® products in my diet. Over the course of 10 weeks I have lost 27 pounds. Soon I will be participating in a charity 5K run and I would like to know what and when to eat, specifically using POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE
and POWERBAR® GEL products, to improve my time.
Sports nutrition guidelines recommend consuming a pre-race meal about two to four hours before a race. These meals should be mostly carbs, with some protein, and low in fat and fiber. The idea is to replenish muscle fuel stores, keep blood sugar levels stable, and avoid gastrointestinal discomfort.
It's also recommended to drink 16 ounces of water or a sports drink about two to three hours before a race to ensure that you are fully hydrated, but have time to eliminate the fluid you don't need.
About an hour before your race you should consume a carb-rich snack. A
POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bar or
POWERBAR® GEL are ideal for this purpose. The carbs in these products are easy to digest and will help to ensure that you have the muscle fuel you need during your event. If your race is early in the morning, a full pre-race meal may not be feasible. In that case, the high-carb snack may have to serve as the pre-race meal.
During the race itself, you can consume
POWERBAR® Endurance Sports Drinks to meet your fluid and muscle fuel needs or
POWERBAR® GEL plus water. When using the
POWERBAR® GEL, a packet every 30 minutes is a good guideline.
For more information on calculating how much fluid to consume during your race, and what combination of water, gel, and sports drink are best for you, use PowerBar’s online
Event Nutrition Planner. The Planner will help you determine your fluid needs based on your sweat rate and will provide POWERBAR® product combination recommendations based on your event, sweat rate and body weight. It's a great tool so give it a try.
Finally, congratulations on your success in losing weight and becoming more fit, and good luck in the race!
I work out 4-5 days a week with weights and I am looking to gain a few extra pounds. What are some tips you can give to bulk up or put on muscle?
Gaining weight requires that you consistently take in more calories than you expend or burn until you meet your weight goal. Since you want to gain lean weight or muscle, the excess calories you consume must be combined with a resistance training program, which it sounds like you are doing.
The extra calories you consume should come from a mixture of carbs, protein and fat. It's common for strength athletes to consume all of their excess calories as protein because they think it will build muscle mass. However, protein consumed at a rate of more than about 1.8 grams for every 2.2 pounds of bodyweight is just used as a source of calories. In other words, consuming more protein than you need doesn't result in greater muscle gain, even with an intense resistance training program.
Replace calories burned during exercise as quickly as possible. POWERBAR® products such as POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bars, POWERBAR® GEL, POWERBAR® Beverage System and POWERBAR® PROTEINPLUS™ can help meet the calorie, carb, and protein needs of exercise. The bars make for convenient between-meal snacks as well.
Foods high in fat tend to be high in calories too. Healthy fat sources for extra calories include nuts, nut spreads, seeds, avocados and vegetable oils such as olive and canola oil. Use these items as snacks or in meals to get extra calories.
Choose calorie-containing beverages in lieu of non-calorie beverages such as coffee and tea.
Time your protein intake to maximize muscle development. Research shows that exercising muscle responds best to consuming protein before engaging in resistance training. Also, consuming some protein immediately following endurance exercise, and perhaps even during the latter stages of endurance workouts or events can help speed recovery and perhaps extends endurance. Research also suggests that a serving of about 20 grams of protein produces a maximal response in the muscle. Consuming more protein than this in a serving doesn't seem to offer much additional benefit. I have an 18-year-old son who plays high school football. What is the best way for him to prepare nutritionally before a game and what should he do during the game to help maintain his energy level?
Sports nutrition recommendations suggest that pre-game meals be consumed about 2 to 4 hours before a game. These meals should be mostly carbs, with some protein, and low in fat and fiber. The idea is to replenish muscle fuel stores, keep blood sugar levels stable, and avoid gastrointestinal discomfort.
It's also recommended to drink 16 ounces of water or a sports drink about 2 to 3 hours before a game to ensure optimal hydration, and to allow time to eliminate the fluid that is not needed.
A carb-rich snack is suggested about an hour before a game. Having a
POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bar is ideal for this purpose. The nutrients in the bar are easy to digest and will help ensure that your son has the muscle fuel he needs going into the game.
During a game, a beverage like
POWERBAR® BEVERAGE SYSTEM Endurance Sports Drink can provide fluids needed for hydration and carbs to fuel working muscles. If he finds that he gets hungry during games, a carb-rich snack like the
POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bar is a quick and convenient option.
Finally, it's always a good idea to try new things during practice before implementing them during a game. Therefore, you might suggest that he try this type of sports nutrition regimen prior to and during practices. If it proves to be helpful for practices, he can then give it a try on game days.
I am confused about how many calories I should take in daily. I’m a 5'11", 170-pound marathon runner. I have an active lifestyle and I run 70 miles per week. Through trial and error I have been consuming about 3,000 calories per day to cover “life in general” and an additional 1,100 calories per day to cover the running. I have not gained or lost any weight using this approach, but I feel like I’m lacking energy and I’m wondering if I’m consuming enough calories.
If you find that your body weight is stable over time and you aren't gaining or losing weight, then you can confidently conclude that you are consuming sufficient calories to meet your needs. As an endurance athlete, the type of calories you consume is important. You need to be consuming sufficient carbs every day to replenish muscle glycogen stores. But at 4,000+ calories a day, you are more than likely getting sufficient carbs.
Therefore, I suspect your fatigue may have more to do with needing more rest days between training days. If you find that you are consistently having to “gut through” your workouts, you probably need more rest to sufficiently recover. A good rule of thumb is that in a seven-day period, make sure two of those days are rest days. Exactly when and how to rest varies from athlete to athlete. To fully recover, you may require complete rest with little or no activity, or perhaps one of the rest days can be a low level of activity such as riding a stationary bike at a low level of difficulty. Experiment with different approaches to see what works best for you. As a general rule, a day or two of vigorous training should be followed by a rest day. In addition, vary the intensity or difficulty of your workouts. Instead of exhausting yourself every time you workout, follow a day or two of strenuous exercise with an easier workout day.
I sweat at the rate of about four pounds per hour during training. How do I determine what my sodium needs are per hour in an Ironman-distance race?
The sodium concentration of sweat varies from one athlete to another. Typically, the sodium concentration in sweat falls in the range of 460 to 1840 mg/L, which is a 4-fold difference. The amount of sodium in an athlete’s sweat can also vary based on heat and humidity. Thus, there is no “usual” sodium concentration of sweat that applies to all athletes and at present there are no readily available techniques for determining the sodium concentration of your sweat.
However, to help offset sodium losses in sweat, organizations like the
American College of Sports Medicine and
USA Track and Field suggest consuming “modest amounts” of sodium during exercise. The typical recommendation is for sodium at 500-700 mg per liter of fluid consumed. A well-designed sports drink, such as
POWERBAR® BEVERAGE SYSTEM Endurance Sports Drink, contains sodium within this recommended concentration range. In fact,
POWERBAR® BEVERAGE SYSTEM Endurance Sports Drink provides sodium at a level of 680 mg per liter. This level of sodium is both palatable and appropriate in concentration and this helps promote optimal fluid intake and absorption.
The latest sports nutrition recommendations also suggest tailoring your fluid intake during training and competitions to your sweat rate. So, if you are consuming adequate fluids in the form of a sport drink that contains sodium, you will also be helping to offset your sodium losses from sweat.
As noted above, some athletes have a relatively high concentration of sodium in their sweat. They may have a layer of salt caked on their skin during or after exercise. These individuals may benefit from sodium-containing foods during exercise. As a general rule, salt tablets are not a first choice as many athletes experience digestive upset when these tablets are taken.
Finally, PowerBar recently developed an online, easy-to-use tool to give athletes individualized sports nutrition information needed for endurance events like triathlons. If you are interested, check out
PowerBar’s Event Nutrition Planner.
When is the best time to begin taking a POWERBAR® GEL during a marathon? Gel stations are not usually available until mile 17 or higher. I usually take my first POWERBAR® GEL at the half, followed by one at 20 miles and another at 23. Is this an optimal plan?
Endurance athletes involved in vigorous training or competition can help spare their limited stores of carb muscle fuel by consuming carbs during exercise. Those carbs can come from sports drinks and bars or energy gels. These sports nutrition products can often be used interchangeably during exercise based on your needs and preferences. The key is to consume the right kind of carbs in amounts that are easily tolerated and readily digested. The optimal plan is the one that works best for you, and ideally, is one that you've tested and refined during training. Your plan of a gel at the half-way point and again at mile 20 and 23 seems reasonable, but for more information on sports nutrition for events like marathons, including how to use POWERBAR® GEL, check out PowerBar’s
Event Nutrition Planner.
I participate in sprint triathlons, and I usually have a POWERBAR® GEL before it starts, but then I feel hungry throughout the race. However, I am afraid to eat an energy bar before a race because it’s not always easy to keep down. What can you recommend for an energy boost before and during my event that will keep me full and won’t make me nauseous?
American College of Sports Medicine guidelines recommend that pre-event meals be consumed about 2 – 4 hours before the race. These meals should be mostly carbs, with some protein, and low in fat and fiber. The idea is to replenish muscle fuel stores and avoid gastrointestinal discomfort. In addition, it is recommended that you drink 16 ounces of water or a sports drink about 2 to 3 hours before the race to ensure that you are fully hydrated, but have time to eliminate the fluid you don't need.
A good rule of thumb is to also consume a carb-rich snack about an hour before your race. This helps ensure topped off muscle fuel stores and can help keep you from feeling hungry during the event. POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bars were originally designed for and are ideally suited for this purpose.
During endurance events, the carbs in POWERBAR® GEL are rapidly digested, absorbed and used by working muscles. If you’ve followed the pre-exercise regime suggested above and are consuming gels during the event but are still hungry, consider substituting/adding a solid food, such as a POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bar. Again, stick to foods that are mostly carbs, low in fat and fiber. Also, POWERBAR® Endurance Sports Drink would be an excellent beverage to consume during your competition. The combination of fluids, carbs and sodium in the product will help promote optimum hydration and provide carb muscle fuel.
It's always a good idea to implement these sports nutrition strategies and make necessary adjustments during training. That way, on the day of the event, you know that you’ll be comfortable, and won’t have the uncertainty of having to try something new.
Finally, for more information on sports nutrition to optimize your athletic performance, check out PowerBar’s
Event Nutrition Planner. This excellent online tool is easy to use and will help you develop a sports nutrition strategy specific to your body weight, sweat rate and to your event.
I am a PowerBar Team Elite™ member and just received your new POWERBAR® GEL with four times the sodium. I have a few questions:
- Does the new POWERBAR® GEL still provide the branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) blend that the others provided?
- Was this BCAA blend in the gel for stabilizing blood glucose?
- Do you think the new higher-caffeine POWERBAR® GEL will lead to dehydration?
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) have been eliminated from the new POWERBAR® GEL. While BCAA are the main amino acids used for energy in skeletal muscle, amino acids actually play a very minor role in terms of supplying energy to muscles during exercise. Instead, the dominant fuel sources during exercise are carbs and fats. Therefore, while early research on BCAA suggested some promise, the current scientific consensus indicates no significant benefit of BCAA during endurance exercise.
As for caffeine and endurance exercise, a scientific review on the subject indicates that caffeine doesn't pose much of a risk for dehydration. Caffeine consumption does stimulate a mild urinary excretion of fluid, similar to what occurs when you consume water, but there is no evidence that it leads to a fluid-electrolyte imbalance or that it is detrimental to exercise performance or health. These studies tested caffeine intakes of 100-680 mg.
The new POWERBAR® GEL comes without caffeine (Vanilla, Raspberry Cream, NEW Caramel and NEW Plain Energy), with 25 mg caffeine per packet (Chocolate, Green Apple, and Strawberry Banana) and with 50 mg caffeine per packet (Tangerine and NEW Double Latte).
I compete in professional beach volleyball tournaments, which can include playing up to five matches a day. What do you recommend eating the day of the event?
Hi Brad,
Volleyball requires short periods of intense activity and longer periods of less intense or even low-intensity effort. When you’re playing up to five matches a day you have a couple of sports nutrition challenges. First, dehydration is a risk. Second, carbohydrate fuel (glycogen) stored in muscles can be progressively depleted over the course of the day’s matches. Both of these can impair performance.
Given these challenges, make sure that your total energy and carb intakes leading up to these types of events are adequate, and that you have strategies in place to stay well hydrated and to replenish muscle fuel stores during and between matches. You want to accomplish all of this without causing digestive discomfort or impairing athletic performance.
POWERBAR® products that can be helpful just before, during and between matches include POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bars, POWERBAR® GEL and the POWERBAR® Endurance Sports Drink.
Pre-event meals should be consumed about 2-4 hours before exercise. These meals should be mostly carbs, with some protein. Steer clear of foods high in fat or fiber. The idea is to replenish muscle fuel stores, keep blood sugar levels stable, and avoid gastrointestinal discomfort.
To ensure that you are fully hydrated, drink 16 ounces of fluid about 2-3 hours before your event. This will allow time for you to eliminate any extra fluid.
Eat a carb-rich snack about an hour before a match. If matches are so early in the morning that you can't realistically eat a pre-match meal, the carb snack may be all that is feasible for you to consume. POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bars are ideal for this purpose. The carbs in the bar are easy to digest and will help ensure that you have the muscle fuel you need during your events. The protein in the bar will help keep your blood sugar level stable prior to the start of the match.
POWERBAR® Endurance Sports Drink would be an excellent beverage to consume during and between matches. The combination of fluids, carbs, and sodium in the product will help promote optimum hydration and provide carb muscle fuel. Drinking fluids every 10-15 minutes or so, or at every break in the action, is a good idea and can help to ensure that your fluid needs are met. Attention to hydration is especially important during hot and humid weather.
Between matches you want to stick with readily digestible foods that are rich in carbs and moderate in protein. Again, avoid fatty foods and foods with lots of fiber. Fruit, small sandwiches, dried fruit, yogurt, POWERBAR® Gels and POWERBAR® PERFORMANCE bars are all possible options to consider.
I am a coach and administrator of a competitive girls basketball program. Our girls can compete in 3 to 5 games a day on the weekend, sometimes with anywhere from no break to an hour or two between games. How is it best to manage top physical condition in between games? Am I correct to assume diet and nutrition for performance would be the same for girls' basketball as for running/cycling?
Basketball, hockey, volleyball, tennis, and soccer are examples of intermittent, high-intensity sports that require short-periods of sprinting and longer periods of less-intense or even low-intense effort. Both anaerobic and aerobic energy production are required for these activities. When you add on the fact that your athletes are playing 3 to 5 games in a single day, or even over a few days, dehydration is a risk. In addition, there may be little chance for muscle recovery, meaning carbohydrate fuel (glycogen) stored in muscles can be progressively depleted over the course of a day. This depletion of glycogen stores can also impair performance.
Given this scenario, these girls have many of the same needs as athletes in endurance sports such as distance running and cycling, and therefore, the sports nutrition recommendations will have a fair amount of overlap. The key will be to make sure their total energy and carb intakes leading up to games and tournaments is adequate, and that you have strategies in place to keep them well hydrated and to effectively replenish muscle fuel stores during and in between games. You want to accomplish this without causing digestive discomfort or impairing athletic performance. PowerBar products that can be helpful just before, during, and between games include the PowerBar® Performance bars, PowerBar® Gels, and the PowerBar® Endurance Sport Drink.
As a sprinter, what meals should I eat leading up to a meet?
Athletes performing high-intensity efforts for a brief period of time have dietary needs related to the actual event, in your case sprinting, as well needs related to your training or workouts before the event.
A high-intensity effort like sprinting relies primarily on anaerobic energy production, which is mostly the breakdown of creatine phosphate within muscle. As the duration of the sprint increases, your body also metabolizes carbohydrates for energy. For example, a 10-second sprint is about 97% anaerobically fueled, while a 30-second sprint is about 80% anaerobically fueled with 20% coming from carbohydrates. So, unlike with endurance athletes, where attention to carbohydrate intake is extremely important, sprinters aren’t nearly as heavily reliant on carbs as a fuel source during the event.
Having said that, what you eat can affect performance in high-intensity events. Consuming too few calories, for example as part of a weight loss diet, may negatively affect performance, so it would be wise to avoid restricting your energy intake leading up to a track meet.
Maximum power for high-intensity exercise is best maintained by consuming adequate amounts of fluid to avoid dehydration. A good way to check your hydration status is to make sure that you are at your usual weight prior to your track meet. A weight loss of more than 2% can mean that you’ve not fully replaced fluids lost during prior workouts.
While carbs are not the primary fuel for sprinting, a low-carb diet in the week leading up to your event can be detrimental. On the other hand, your event doesn’t require a super high-carbohydrate diet. Consuming at least 60% of your calories in the form of carbs (6 to 8 grams of carbs for each 2.2 lbs of body weight) is appropriate for your event. You may need to boost your carb intake if your training involves significant amounts of aerobic activity in addition to sprints. Also, consumption of carbs after your event will help to enhance the rate at which carbohydrate muscle fuel stores (called glycogen) are replenished.
The recommended protein intake for athletes involved in high-intensity events is about 1.2 g of protein for every 2.2 lbs of body weight. If your training involves resistance exercise, consuming some protein and carbs just before or after the exercise may help to optimize muscle growth in response to the exercise.
On the day of your track meet, it’s generally recommended that your pre-event meal be consumed at least 90 minutes before your event, with only fluid as the event draws closer. A low-fiber, low-fat meal is recommended because it will be digested more quickly and help you to avoid gastrointestinal distress during the event. Including some protein with carbs in the meal will help ensure that your blood sugar level will be at normal concentration leading up to the event. If you are competing in several sprinting events, a light snack between events may be needed. Here again, low-fat, low-fiber food choices are best.
I hope this information proves helpful. Good luck on the track!
How can a protein bar claiming a whopping 30 grams of protein provide less of the % Daily Value for protein than a bar that provides significantly fewer grams of protein?
The answer has to do with protein quality. Our bodies require about 20 different amino acids as building blocks to synthesize the proteins we need such as muscle. We’re able to make 11 of these amino acids and the other nine (called essential amino acids) we must get from the protein-containing foods we eat. Foods that contain all nine essential amino acids in the proportions we need are considered high-quality protein sources. Those foods that are low in one or more of the essential amino acids are low-quality protein sources. A protein bar may be loaded up with protein, but with much of it coming from a low-quality protein source, won’t be as effective at meeting our protein needs as another bar that offers less protein but higher quality protein. Therefore, it gets a lower % Daily Value rating.
Hydrolyzed collagen is an ingredient often found in those protein-packed bars. While the product label may have you convinced that you’re buying a cutting-edge protein source for building muscle, in reality, hydrolyzed collagen is nothing more than gelatin, a low-quality protein source that is chemically extracted from the leftover hides, hooves, bones, cartilage, and ligaments of animals such as cattle and pigs. As a food ingredient it is tasteless and inexpensive, and therefore tempting for manufacturers to put into food products. Unfortunately, as a protein source it falls short. It earns its low-quality rating because it lacks tryptophan, one of the important and essential amino acids, and is low in some others. So don’t be fooled by label claims that tout protein content in terms of grams alone. Check the ingredient list and the % Daily Value to gauge the quality of the protein source.
I eat right, I think. How will I know if I need some nutrition advice?
The general answer is — if you eat food, good nutrition advice is helpful. Speaking in terms of training or even during the off-season, a diet status check-up can be as important as a 100K tune up, financial assessment or annual physical exam. If you have any of the following goals for yourself: altering body composition, increasing workout quality, warding off illness, picking healthier snack ideas, finding proper fueling around workouts, or meeting your hydration needs, a nutrition expert is in order.
Nutrition guidance is especially important if you lose weight unexpectedly, gain weight involuntarily, feel lethargic or exhausted during a workout or event, find yourself slipping in performance, become tired of the same food every day, or stare blankly at the open refrigerator trying to figure out what to eat. All of these point to a breakdown in your nutrition regimen and are likely to result in diminished athletic performance. Seek nutrition help early in your training and commit to sticking to the new regimen.
It is not uncommon for athletes to seek a reputable nutrition expert in order to enhance their performance or meet their goals. The problem is —at every turn there is a well-intentioned (or not so well-intentioned) individual giving nutrition recommendations, guidance and meal plans touted as the latest and greatest advice. Nutrition information, like fast food, is everywhere; it’s persuasive, appealing, and full of promises of being satiating, but rarely is it healthy or good for you. When optimal performance is measured in milliseconds, milliliters of oxygen, or miles logged, accurate nutrition practices and advice is crucial.
Like finding a healthy meal instead of fast food, finding solid nutrition advice requires going to a reputable, practiced expert. Your best source is a registered dietitian. Registered dietitians (RD), like medical doctors, are upheld to national standards of education, ethics and practice. The RD ensures that you are speaking with an individual that completed a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and supervised practice before sitting for the national registration exam. In addition, this individual is required to maintain a record of continuing education and professional objectives—all while sticking to the scientific facts when practicing.
RDs specialize in areas that may suit your needs more than others. There are RDs that work primarily in hospitals, schools and clinics, while a large number focus their attention on sports and exercise. In order to sift through the 70,000+ Reds out there, the Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists (SCAN) Dietetic Practice group of the American Dietetic Association can help you navigate your way to a sports-minded RD. Visit
www.scandpg.org and click on
Find a SCAN Dietitian or visit
www.eatright.org and click on
Find a Nutrition Professional.
Should I train while I’m sick?
Since both the immune system and the muscles are fueled by the same nutrients, it is better to rest and allow the body to recover. If you have a mild illness, light exercise may make you feel better, but will not contribute to an increase in fitness. Moderate and strenuous exercise is fine when you are healthy, but can take fuel away from the immune system if you’re ill.
To know when you can return to easy exercise, perform a “neck check”. If your symptoms are isolated to above the neck (Ear infection, nasal congestion, sore throat) you can resume light training. If your symptoms feel better after 10 minutes, continue at an easy pace, but limit the session to less than an hour. If you feel worse after 10 minutes, end the session. For symptoms that are below the neck (cough, trouble breathing) or involve the whole body (fever, swollen glands), you should wait until you’re better before you continue with training.
In general, it is best to reserve training for when you can go hard. If you can’t give it your all, it’s best to allow your body to recover.
It’s also important to ask yourself why you got sick in the first place. Were you exposed to sick friends or family? Or was your body run-down, tired and unable to defend itself from an infection? Frequent infections are a warning sign of over-training, so be careful and allow your body to recover before resuming training.
Practicing good health prevention such as hand washing, getting a flu shot, only using your own water bottle and training well, will help to get you through the cold and flu season healthy and allow you to reach maximum performance.
I've been adventure racing for a few years now and have started to do longer and longer races. In my last 30-hour race it was hard to take anything other than water during the first 10 hours. When we finally had time to transition and grab something substantial to eat, my stomach was upset for the rest of the race. How can you eat enough and what is not too rich. Also, what’s easily accessible during an expedition race (especially when you’re paddling or biking)?
During endurance activity, carbohydrates are an important fuel source – run out and you’ll have to slow down. Storage of carbohydrates in the body is limited, but consuming carbohydrates during exercise supplements carbohydrates stored as glycogen and is proven to increase endurance performance. Unfortunately, delivery of carbohydrates ingested during exercise to working muscles is typically slower than the rate that carbohydrates are burned during exercise. That’s why it is recommended to start consuming carbohydrates early and keep ingesting them regularly during endurance exercise. The maximum rate that carbohydrates can be digested, absorbed and utilized by working muscles is approximately 60 grams per hour and so this serves as the recommended upper limit for carbohydrate intake during exercise. You can choose from liquid, gel or solid forms of carbohydrates depending on personal preference, gastrointestinal tolerance and availability. Put together a plan and practice/experiment in race-pace training to determine what works best for you.
You mention that you consumed only water during the first 10 hours of a recent 30-hour race. If liquids are all that you can handle during the early parts of a race, perhaps you should consider substituting a sports drink for water. 20 oz. (typical water bottle size) of
PowerBar® Endurance consumed over the course of an hour, will supply you with about 40 grams of carbs and will help you meet your fluid needs and help replace electrolyte losses. In terms of what is easily accessible while paddling or mountain biking, a back-mounted hydration system might best give you hands-free access to fluid and fuel. An important note relating to hydration and ultra-endurance is to learn your hydration needs so as not to drink too much. Hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, is a greater risk in longer duration activities and the critical means of prevention is to not drink too much. Weigh yourself occasionally pre and post-workout. The goal is to finish between your pre-exercise weight and 2% less (2-4 pounds for most people) so as to prevent both under- and over-hydration.
At the 2005 meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine there was a session devoted to nutrition and the ultra-endurance athlete. One important practical issue mentioned there is that after several hours of consuming carbohydrate-based foods, your taste buds will likely start asking for something else. Be creative about getting some alternatives in there while still meeting your primary nutritional needs. For example, Robyn Benincasa, a top PowerBar-sponsored adventure racer, snacks on olives during her races.
What is the new PowerBar® Triple Threat™?
Triple Threat is the great tasting, new snack bar that provides the nutrition you'd expect from an energy bar. Featuring great taste, energy and nutrition, POWERBAR TRIPLE THREAT comes in two varieties - Triple Threat Layered - a triple-layer bar with caramel and nuts - and Triple Threat Crisp - a crispy bar half dipped in chocolate. Each variety comes in two flavors. All Triple Threat bars provide at least 10 grams of high-quality protein, 4 grams of fiber and feature 100% of the daily requirement for the antioxidant vitamins C and E. In addition, Triple Threat also provides 50% of the daily requirement of all 8 B vitamins and it is a good source of iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and copper, too.
As opposed to the original PowerBar® Performance Bar, which is designed for use around hard-core exercise, POWERBAR TRIPLE THREAT was created as a snack for those who need a little extra energy to get them through the day. With that said, the word on the street is that some rather high-profile PowerBar athletes have taken a liking to Triple Threat, too.
Find out more about
POWERBAR TRIPLE THREATI’m a marathon runner in Texas and I lose between 3-4 lbs of weight each hour that I train or compete. For my weight, I have seen that I should consume up to 48 ounces of fluid for each hour to maintain hydration. I have tried and I just can't hold that much fluid in my stomach, especially at high intensity. Any suggestions?
-Carwyn, Galveston, TX
Losing 3-4 pounds per hour is not that unusual while running at race pace speeds up to the marathon distance. And, it makes sense that trying to match fluid losses would be challenging when you’re running at high intensity. The reason for trying to match fluid loss with fluid intake is to prevent dehydration, which can impact performance. But you don't necessarily have to replace every ounce to prevent an impact on your performance. It's a commonly held belief that performance begins to be detrimentally affected when about 2% of bodyweight is lost during an exercise session. For example, a 150-pound runner could stay reasonably well hydrated down to about 147 pounds.
So, if you could comfortably drink 24 oz per hour now and you were losing 4 pounds per hour in fluids (approx 48 oz), you could finish a 2-hour run at a deficit of about 24 oz/hr, which is about 48 oz total or about 3 pounds. If you weigh 150 pounds or more, you're fine. If you're running for 4 hours, perhaps your intensity and sweat rate are a bit lower, say 3 pounds lost/hour, so your deficit is just 12 oz/hour, or again 3 pounds total over the course of the run.
If you find that your deficit is greater than the examples above (you're losing more than 2% of your bodyweight over the course of the exercise session) and you're drinking as much as you can, there's good news: you can train your gut to tolerate more fluids. Think of it just like training your muscles. Slowly increase your fluid intake rate during workouts. Even if you aren't ever able to match your rate of fluid loss, don't give up because it would be better to close the gap a bit. And, of course, is it important to never hydrate at a rate greater than your losses in order to prevent hyponatremia.
An obvious piece of equipment to take advantage of this advice is a decent digital scale. We don't suggest getting crazy with keeping track of your weight from day-to-day, but occasionally weighing in and out pre and post-workout is a great and easy way to learn about yourself so that you can craft a sports nutrition plan specific to your particular physiology.
How can I train for an event, keep fueling during and recovering after my workouts, while still trying to lose a little weight in the process?
A number of you have written in asking about this. It is challenging to try and restrict calories while training intensely. However, fitness and weight-loss goals don't necessarily have to be at cross-purposes. And the good news is that while moderate levels of exercise won't drive weight loss without some caloric restriction, those who exercise have a better chance of keeping off the weight they lose. To lose weight, though, you do need to eat fewer calories than you expend. Just try to keep your rate of weight loss slow while in training - a couple of pounds per month at the most.
So, how do you eat for training while trying to cut back on total calories? The simple message is this: fuel both before and during your serious exercise sessions and cut back on calories, especially nutritionally devoid, empty calorie foods when you've got some time between serious workouts. You don't need to load up on carbs at every meal when your significant workouts are 2-3 days apart, or only on the weekends. When you are stacking up a couple of serious workouts in a day or in consecutive days, you should pay more attention to reloading your glycogen stores with more carbs between workouts as this will help you to get the most out of each of them. To make sure you are making your calories count, concentrate on keeping up your intake of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, fish, beans, nuts and low-fat dairy.
Finally, to get the most out of longer, harder workouts, you also want to keep the fuel coming in steadily during the workout. You don't need to go overboard - 30-60 grams of carbs per hour is all that is recommended. This will keep your energy levels up so you can work harder, so it pays for itself calorie-wise.
If you find it difficult to balance eating for training and achieving body composition goals, or if you otherwise would like some individualized attention, it may be helpful to seek the aid of a Registered Dietitian specializing in sports nutrition.
Let us know how it goes.
If you are looking to retain muscle that you have made while working out with weights, should you eat protein before, after, or during the actual workout?
While the total amount of protein athletes need per day – whether they’re endurance or strength athletes – remains controversial, consuming essential amino acids (EAA) before or soon after resistance training, increases the amount of muscle protein being made during the recovery period. The greatest benefits have been found from consuming EAA before strength training, but eating them soon after has significant benefits as well. And while the exact level of protein optimal dietary protocol has yet to be identified, significant increases in net muscle protein synthesis have been shown with 6 grams of EAA, which can be obtained from 15 or so grams of high quality protein. High quality protein sources include dairy (including whey and casein), soy, eggs and meat.
I am competing in my first Ironman-distance triathlon this year, and I have found conflicting information on nutrition strategies. Some sources recommend liquid-only calories/carbs, while others stress the importance of solid foods. Similar discrepancies exist for the importance of protein, carbohydrate concentration, carbohydrate intake on the bike (higher levels to account for lower run intake?), etc. What’s the right approach?
First of all, congrats on stepping up to the Ironman distance! Your primary fuel during the event will be carbohydrates. You need to consume 30-60 grams/hour. Lean towards the higher end if your weight is approaching 200 pounds, towards the lower end if you’re closer to 100 pounds. While you’ll be burning much more than this during each hour of the event, you’re limited by what you can take in, process and utilize. Studies show that the upper end here is around 60-70 grams/hour. More than that and you’re not fueling your muscles any faster and could run into gastrointestinal issues. So, if you get behind, you can’t really play catch up - this is why steady fueling is recommended.
Whether protein can help your endurance is being disputed on the scientific battlefields. We’ll probably know more in a few more years with the results of some additional clinical research studies. So far, no downside has been shown to consuming protein. But there’s no disagreement that hydrating properly (not over or under-hydrating) is your first priority and getting sufficient carbs is next.
In terms of whether to fuel with solid, liquid or gel comes down to personal preference and the endurance discipline. While cycling, it is much easier to tolerate solid foods especially for longer, less intense efforts at moderate temperatures. When the pace or temperature picks up, many prefer to get their carbs in gel or liquid form. For liquid fuel, the carbohydrate concentration you’re looking for is 6-8%, which means 60-80 grams of carbs per liter of fluid (14-19 grams of carbs per 8 oz). This level of carbs will get you to the carb recommendations in a reasonable amount of fluid and won’t slow the hydration process. More than an 8-10% carb concentration has been shown to slow absorption of fluid.
Most important, take the general guidelines and adapt them to your needs via trial and error in training. Check out our Event Nutrition Calculator to get a nutrition and hydration plan that’s tailored to your specific event and training needs.
Let us know how it goes!
How do the new USDA recommendations to reduce intake of added sugar and salt apply to endurance athletes?
In short: they don’t, at least not during the pre, during and post-workout period. Endurance athletes may lose 1 gram or more of sodium per hour of activity. At this rate, sodium loss would exceed the Dietary Guidelines for sodium intake, which is 2.3 grams per day, in less than 3 hours. Taking in sodium during exercise helps drive hydration and post-exercise it helps speed rehydration. The same applies to sugar. While sugar may contribute to American obesity, simple sugars, like glucose and fructose and the related complex carbohydrate, maltodextrin, are proven to help endurance athletes go further and faster when consumed during exercise. Likewise, when rapid recovery is called for after endurance exercise, these quick-digesting carbs offer a proven way to increase muscle glycogen fast.
How much carbohydrate should I be eating during the off-season/early season?
The latest recommendations for carbohydrate intake for endurance athletes are based on the number of grams of carbs needed per day. This is further refined by the athlete's bodyweight and intensity/duration of training. For the vast majority of athletes, off-season/early season carbohydrate needs will be significantly less than during the heart of the competitive season. The following recommendations are a starting point based on a large number of clinical studies and can be fine-tuned as needed:
- For light training, 2.5-3.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight per day (g/lb/day)
- For moderate-heavy training, 3.5-6 g/lb/day
- For extreme training (4-6+ hours/day), 5-6 g/lb/day
I've seen older sports nutrition information that recommends a low-carbohydrate diet for 2 to 3 days before carbohydrate loading. What are the current recommendations?
Twenty-five years ago, the conventional wisdom was that carbohydrate-loading should be preceded by several days of a low-carb diet combined with strenuous training. The thinking was that this diet-exercise regimen would charge up the metabolic machinery involved in making the muscle fuel glycogen. The problem was that, for most athletes, strenuous workouts on a low-carb diet were sheer torture.
Conventional wisdom changed in response to a study conducted by W. Michael Sherman, PhD, of Ohio State University. Sherman took athletes and put them on three different diets over the course of six days. One diet involved three days of low carbs (15% of calories) followed by three days of high carbs (70% of calories). The second dietary regimen called for three days of moderate carbs (50% of calories) followed by three days of high carbs. The last diet involved six straight days of moderate carbs. During these six days the athletes gradually tapered their workouts.
When researchers measured muscle glycogen levels following the diet-exercise regimens, they found that glycogen stores were essentially equal on the first two diets, and about 25% lower on the third diet. This study effectively debunked the notion that a low-carb diet phase needs to precede the carbo-loading phase. It also affirmed that carbo-loading is more effective at building up muscle glycogen levels than consuming your usual training diet.
Today, the conventional wisdom is that athletes should consume 50–60% of calories from carbs during routine training, and then shift to 75% of calories from carbs for carbo-loading. Prior to the carbo-loading phase, a few days of strenuous training is needed to deplete muscle-glycogen stores. Finally, carbo-loading is most effective when training is gradually tapered with a full day of rest the day before the event itself.
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