Can Nutrition Improve My Fitness?

We all know that protein is a key player when it comes to fitness nutrition, whether you are looking to build gains, improve endurance or reduce the risk of injury - protein is essential for building and repairing muscle.

But do you know how much of it you should eat? Or the times when consuming it will be most beneficial?

How about carbs? How important are they?

Or our little micronutrients? Does eating fruit and veg have any effect on our physical performance?

Well it turns out that there is a lot to take in when it comes to sports nutrition (pun intended sorry!) and I am going to go through this in a bit more detail...

PROTEIN

Let's start with this guy.

Protein is essential for maintenance and repair in the body (amongst other important roles), and so adaquate protein intake is important for your muscles to heal, repair and grow.

So what is an adaquate intake?

Basically it is calculated on weight depending on your activity level and weight in kg.

For the "normal" adult, 0.75g protein is recommended per kg of bodyweight.

Example - 70kg adult would require 52.5g protein per day.

If you are training, your requirements increase to 1.2-1.7g protein/ kg bodyweight depending on the intensity and duration of exercise.

Example - 70kg adult requires 84-119g protein per day.

Studies have shown that protein is best eaten throughout the day rather than in one meal, and fast absorbed protein (such as whey) significantly improves recovery time.

Top Tip!

Acidic foods (such as fruit) help absorption of protein.

CARBS

Ah the wonderful and confusing carbohydrate!

First of all, let me clarify that carbs are our body's preferred source of fuel.

Around 400g glycogen is stored in muscle cells (approx 1,600 kcals) and 100g (400 kcals) is stored in our liver.

That's 2,000 kcals in total which would fuel you for 1 day of rest without food.

When exercising, we can burn through that glycogen at serious speed!

That same amount of muscle glycogen is enough to fuel:

• 90-180 minutes endurance training

• 45-90 minutes high-intensity training

• 30-45 minutes of anaerobic training (sprints/weight lifting)

Adequate carb intake is vital to ensure we have fully loaded muscle glycogen stores to enable peak performance and reduce early onset fatigue.

So how much do we need?

Again, it's worked out in the same way as our protein intake - g/kg bodyweight.

• Low - moderate training (up to 1 hour)= 3-7g/kg bodyweight (example: for 70kg adult would be 210-490g carbs per day)

• Serious athlete (2 hour+ training) = 7-12g/kg bodyweight (intake for 70kg adult would be 490-840g carbs per day).

Timings

Pre-workout >> Aim for 1-4g/kg bodyweight 1-4 hours before exercise

Most studies suggest 2.5g/kg bodyweight approximately 2.5 hours before exercise.

Post-workout >> 1-1.5g/kg bodyweight within 2 hours of finishing workout

For optimal recovery, try mixing protein and carbs post workout at a ratio of 1:4

• Example for a 60-90kg adult >> 15-25g protein and 60-90g carbohydrate.

This could be a protein shake and a banana, cows milk and a cereal bar, chicken and pasta, dried fruit and nuts or a wholemeal sandwich with chicken/tuna.

Fats

Not a major player here I'm afraid.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 20-25% of total daily intake to come from healthy fats.

Omega-3 is important to mention though as it helps increase oxygen delivery to muscles and may improve endurance, speed up recovery and reduce inflammation.

Sources include nuts + seeds, plant based oils, oily fish and avocado.

The Diet

A high carb, low fat diet is recommended for people who are training.

Aim for lean meats, wholegrains and generally lower GI carbs to reduce a blood sugar spike after eating.

Low GI foods are associated with fat loss and endurance.

Some examples are oats, quinoa, bulgar wheat, noodles, basmati rice, beans, pulses, sourdough, seeded breads, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables, soya, eggs, poultry and lean meat.

If you are training intensly every day or twice a day, high GI foods can be more beneficial in the 2 hour window after exercise (rice cakes, bread, potatoes, rice, cereals, bread, Lucozade drink) to enable maximum refill of glycogen stores.

Training for less tham 45 mins?

Studies have shown that there are no real advantages to pre-workout carbohydrate fuel. If you are doing high-intensity training for 45 mins, very small amounts may be beneficial.

THE MICRONUTRIENTS

Not often heard about in a training diet, but there are a few key players here who need a mention...

>> B vitamins

These little vitamins are responsible for releasing energy from food so athletes need more of them than sedentary people.

Vitamins B5 and B6 are responsible for amino acid and protein metabolism and red blood cell production.

A deficiency in any of these would be detrimental to health and exercise performance.

Find them in wholegrain-carbohydrate rich foods, nuts, meat and eggs.

>> Vitamin D

Apparantly seems to linked to a growing number of things!

Fitness wise, studies have shown that a Vitamin D deficiency reduces muscle function, strength and performance, while potentially increasing your risk of injury. Not ideal.

Most of us in the UK do not have adequate vitamin D levels and they aren't easy to obtain through diet so go and get yourself a 10ug supplement to take daily.

>> Iron

Super important for athletes as it forms haemoglobin + myoglobin which transport oxygen around the body.

Studies show that athletes require a higher iron intake than sedentary people; and on top of this, foot-pounding activity such as running, aerobics HIIT can cause increased iron losses.

In the UK, standard recommendations for adult males is 8.7mg/day and 14.8mg for women.

Supplements are recommended if you are vegetarian or suffer with low iron levels.

>> Calcium

Important mineral for bone health, muscle formation and nerve transmissions.

Weight-bearing exercises such as weight lifting and running increase bone mass and calcium absorption, so it is important to get enough calcium in your diet.

The UK recommendations are 700mg for adults, which should be easily obtained through the diet.

Sources include: milk, cheese, yoghurt, leafy greens, pulses and fortified flour.

So there we go!

A super speedy lesson in the world of sports nutrition.

I hope some of this is helpful and easy enough to digest (I'm so sorry😂 ) and implement into your training diet.

If you have any sports nutrition questions, please feel free to ping me an email.

Good luck with your training!

The Qualified Nutritionist

References - Bean, A., 2013. The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition 7th Ed.