--
The World's Leading
IC" il"..h
w
.lmm
y,t.rnl
port
cenm
www.sirc.ca
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher.
Any resale for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
Fast food: A look at
refuelling for recovery
What's the first thing to do after training - stretch, shower, relax?
According to jeanette Crosland you better start eating
I
<
RECOVERY between bouts of exercise is a big
factor in an athlete's ability to maintain their
training programme. In the competition situation
there are those who will have to perform several
times with breaks in between - relatively short
breaks in some cases. Endurance athletes will
perform over long distances but probably want
to return to training fairly soon afterwards.
Therefore, there are several aspects to refuelling
for recovery which are important to all athletes.
.The bodies' stores of glycogen must be
replaced to provide energy for the next session
Exercise causes damage to muscles and repair
is needed
Where muscle gain is an aim, the body needs
to resynthesis protein to assist muscle
development
Rehydration must be achieved by ensuring a
sufficient fluid and electrolyte replacement
REFUELLING
Refuelling is essential for athletes who train
repeatedly. During exercise the body uses its
reserves of glycogen (the bodies' store of
carbohydrate). It is important that these reserves
are topped up to allow the next training session
to take place. All athletes need carbohydrate as a
fuel for muscles or training will not take place or
will not be maintained at the standard needed
for improvement. Quantities will depend on the
discipline, time spent training and intensity of
the session, etc. And later in this article I provide
specific refuelling ideas for a variety of training
types.
HOW DOES REFUELLING OCCUR?
Eating and drinking as soon as possible after
training is the key. The body has a window of
opportunity after sport, whereby it is more
effective at turning carbohydrate into glycogen.!
This lasts for around two hours. Those who train
regularly need to take this opportunity if they are
to refuel before the next session and for athletes
who train twice a day this period is vital. Each
individual must refuel to their appropriate level.
Take a local club situation as an example to
illustrate this process. There may be members
who only train once or twice a week, and they
have no aspiration to extend their training or
competition level. Refuelling may not be a major
issue for these individuals - although if they have
missed a meal in order to train, some fuelling is
needed to ensure they can cope. If that
individual is a youngster, they may only train
twice a week but may also be taking part in
football and athletics at school, spend several
hours in-line skating as well as having swimming
lessons and entering the odd swimming
competition. On top of this they need extra
energy for growth. Without post training snacks
these youngsters will not maintain the sports
they are keen to do. Appropriate refuelling
should be considered for everyone. For some it
might affect competitive performance for others
it may affect their continuation in sport.
,
HOW AND WHEN TO REFUEL?
The two-hour window has already been
mentioned and the clock starts as soon as the
session ends. In an ideal world the time to start
The COACH 55
refuelling is straight after the session and
targeting the first half hour is a good idea. It is
easy to talk to friends, coach, change clothes,
take a shower, travel home and suddenly two
hours has vanished. Serious athletes should be
eating the next meal by this time.
Some individuals may even try to begin
refuelling prior to stretching. In practice this may
be uncomfortable if solid food is used but it may
be that the fluid consumed during this period
contains some carbohydrate - e.g. isotonic
sports drinks. In this case refuelling has begun.
The fastest rate of glycogen recovery will
happen in those individuals who have eaten
enough and eaten it within the right time scale.
56 The COACH
Over the first six hours following long or intense
training, this would mean taking one gram of
carbohydrate per kg body weight during the first
hour and repeating it every two hours until the
normal meal pattern is returned.
For those who have expended less energy
and/or have longer to recover such large
quantities are not required and the emphasis on
repeating the refuelling need not be so intense.
A good general target is to have a post training
snack immediately and a meal within two hours.
This needs to fit into a daily strategy for
refuelling which might provide 5-7g of
carbohydratelkg body weightlday for regular
training. This may rise to 7-12glkglday for
--
The World's Leading
IC" il"..h
w
.lmm
y,t.rnl
:,
'
port
cenm
www.sirc.ca
moderate to heavy endurance training and for
extreme exercise programmes (or those loading
carbohydrate prior to long endurance events) to
10-12glkglday.
The carbohydrate consumed post event
should have a high Glycaemic Index (GI). Foods
with a high GI enter the blood stream more
rapidly and are therefore available for use by the
body more quickly. This is a good principle
although it has to be remembered that post
exercise some athletes have problems eating and
drinking and, they may be picky about their
choice of food, the amount of carbohydrate is
the most important factor in refuelling.
L
MUSCLE REPAIR AND DEVELOPMENT
This necessitates an adequate intake of protein in
the diet. The subject of the quantity of protein
needed and the timing of protein intake is the
subject of much current research. However, there
are some key points.
The requirements for protein are raised in
athletes compared to non-athletes. Endurance
athletes need between 1.2 to 1.4g of proteinlkg
per day. However, during intense training
periods requirements may exceed this. Strength
and power athletes will normally need 1.4 to
1.8g of proteinlkg each day. These quantities of
protein can easily be provided by a well
balanced diet and supplements are not
necessary to achieve them.
There is some evidence that including protein
in post training snacks may enhance the recovery
and development of muscles by promoting
protein synthesis or retention. It may be that the
body is better at resynthesising protein post
exercise in a similar way to the process for
glycogen synthesis. However, the time scale for
this process is not yet defined.
It is important that protein is not allowed to
limit the amount of carbohydrate taken by the
athlete. Carbohydrate replacement is paramount
and by eating foods rich in carbohydrate the
athlete will be consuming some protein at the
same time as bread, flour based products,
cereals, etc. all contain some prcL-'-I.
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher.
Any m a l e for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
HYDRATION
Following exercise rehydration is vital. The
exercise is likely to have resulted in a mild to
moderate dehydration and individuals should be
aware of their own fluid status and sweat rates in
order to guide their fluid needs. Justas food
should be planned for recovery, so should fluid.
Leaving rehydration to chance rarely works
because the thirst mechanism is not adequate to
encourage the'body to drink sufficiently.
Generally, fluid is needed at the rate of 150% of
losses to ensure that rehydration occurs prior to
subsequent training. The fluid should ideally
contain sodium to replace the sodium lost in
sweat and to encourage more fluid to be drunk.
Sports drinks often contain sodium, although in
hot conditions extra salt may be needed. Sports
drinks also contain carbohydrate and therefore
rehydration strategies can be combined with
refuelling strategies to ensure good intakes of
carbohydrate and fluid. Next I'd like to make some
specific refuelling recommendations based on
the particular demands of the session completed.
REFUELLING FOR ENDURANCE
This is the group where there are the most
clearly defined guidelines because this is the
type of activity where energy expenditure is
consistently high.
@TheIOC Consensus conference (1) suggests
that in the post recovery period 1 to 1.2g of
carbohydratelkg body weightlhour are needed
particularly where training sessions are long or
hard, and where the athlete has to train again
within a short period (e.g. within eight hours)
@Theintake of carbohydrate needs to be
consumed at frequent intervals to ensure
refuelling
Hydration is essential (especially in hot
weather) in endurance events and carbohydrate
from fluid is likely to contribute to total
carbohydrate for recovery
S o m e protein may be beneficial in recovery
snacks but should not be allowed to prevent the
consumption of foods containing carbohydrate
The COACH 57
Sic
I-" ( * m h
I.*lll~-.C"lr.
Th=orM--sb.
www.sirc.ca
@Snacksshould be consumed quickly after the
end of training or competition - beginning with
drinking as soon as the session is over may be a
good tactic
REFLJELLINC FOR STRENGTH
Strength sessions will include intense bouts of
exercise of varying lengths. Carbohydrate
refuelling is important as this is the fuel needed
by the working muscles during high intensity
work.
8 Carbohydrate intake needs to cover the work
undertaken. One gram of carbohydratelkg body
weight as a post training snack would ensure
that carbohydrate is available quickly for the
resynthesis of glycogen stores
8 Protein in post training snacks may be
important to assist muscle recovery and
development
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher.
Any resale for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
68 With training, the body learns to use protein
more efficiently and the need for extra protein
may decrease with time. Therefore the key
period to remember protein is when training
begins or the workload is increased.
Periodisation is therefore important
g Heat may be a factor when working in the
gym and hydration should be remembered
during and after training during hot conditions
REFUELLllNC FOR SPEED
Whilst carbohydrate is an important fuel for the
muscles in speed sessions, the quantities used
may not be as high as in some other sessions. A
sprinter may for example have a technical session
which does not use massive amounts of energy.
Taking large quantities of carbohydrate (or
protein) in these circumstances would
encourage an increase in body weight which
might be detrimental to performance.
@ Post training snacks should be used to ensure
refuelling
Q Quantities of carbohydrate should reflect the
nature of the session
@ During competition
snacks are an essential
way of ensuring sufficient fuel levels and good
blood glucose levels to assist concentration
through the day of repeated performance
@ Development of muscle will be one of the
aims for this athlete and protein in the post
training snacks could be useful
8 Whilst dehydration is likely to be less of an
issue due to competition events, training needs
consideration. On competition days account
needs to be taken of time which may be spent
sitting in hot, sunny surroundings
Finally, some sample food guidelines that can be
used to assist with refuelling.
Snacks containing 50g of carbohydrate
500ml fruit juice
600-800 ml isotonic drink
80g fruit pastilles (two tubes)
1 crumpet plus jam plus 500ml isotonic sports
58 The COACH
--
The World's Leading
IC" il"..h
I.wmtle-C"lr.
port
cenm
This material has been copied under license from the Publisher.
Any resale for profit or further copying is strictly prohibited.
www.sirc.ca
drink
75-100g fruit cake
5 garibaldi or fig roll biscuits
2 cereal bars
3 rice cakes plus jam/honey/marmalade
5 Jaffacakes
A bagel plus jam or honey
Snacks containing 50g of carbohydrate and at
least 109 of protein
500ml milk shake
Smoothie - 1 medium banana, 1 tablespoon
honey, 1 pot yogurt, 200 ml milk
50-60g cereal and 200ml milk
3 slices of bread plus 30g ham/30g chicken1409
tuna
200g custard plus large banana
150g pot yogurt plus 60g dried fruit
One Pop Tart and 200 ml milk
300g rice pudding
Snacks containing 75g of carbohydrate
1 litre to 1.2 litres of isotonic sports drink
3 slices of bread with a generous spread of
jam/honey/marmalade
3 cereal bars
7-8 Jaffacakes
4 crumpets with jam
2 scones plus medium/ large banana
75g fruit cake plus 200 to 300ml isotonic sports
drink
3 slices malt loaf plus 30g jelly babies
Snacks containing 75g of carbohydrate and a t
least l o g of protein
500ml milk shake plus cereal bar
1-2 sports bars containing protein (check label
for content)
709 breakfast cereal plus 200ml milk
250g baked beans on 4 slices toast
4 slices bread plus 40g cheese or 30g haml30g
chicken/40g tuna plus fruit
2 bagels plus 409 peanut butter
180g baked potato plus (200g) half can baked
beans
150 g pot yoghurt and 2 large scones
--
On competition days sprinters should be sure
to refuel between heats and rounds
References
(1) journal of Sports Sciences, 22 (1), January
2004.
Note
Those interested in reviewing the scientific
evidence in this area may be interested in the
book by Mike Gleeson and Asker Juekendrupreviewed in the last edition of The Coach. For
more applied information on nutrition see,
Fuelling Fitness for Sports Performance, by Dr
Samantha Stear (available from the British
Olympic Association for f14.99). Email:
[email protected]
jeanette Crosland MSc SRD is an accredited
sports dietician, and has worked with track and
field/endurance athletes for nearly 25 years. She
has also worked with a wide range of athletes in
other sports and is currently the consultant sports
dietician to the British ParalympicsAssociation.
The COACH 59