According to Google.com nutrition is “the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth”. Pretty simple concept - basically nutrition is whatever you eat and drink.
So how can nutrition change performance? Quite simply, it can have a positive effect or a negative effect. As athletes we are striving for the best physical outcome and we want to have a positive effect on our performance. So we have to look into what foods are better than others to improve performance in training and competition. Not only what foods but when and how we should take them.
To get an idea of how to tweak what you are eating to improve performance you first need to now the basics. There are three macro nutrients, carbohydrates, protein and fats. Each of the different macro’s do different things to the body, carbohydrates basically are the main fuel of our bodies, proteins are like “building blocks” and primarily help repair muscles, and fats are usually stored for later days when running low on fuel. Although each macronutrient plays its own role, they are all essential in the body and having too little of one is just as bad as having too much. You need to find a balance of the three.
What we eat before a workout can affect performance. Although I think it generally comes down to personal preference. Myself I prefer to workout on an empty stomach, or no more than a shake consisting of berries, fruit and protein powder. I think what we take after our workout is what is going to help us more than anything for the next workout, recovery is key. So what to take to help optimal recovery? It isn’t going to be some expensive fancy overpriced product you see on TV or in men’s fitness magazines. My suggestions for post workout is to get in a shake, the shake should consist of nothing but 30 grams of unflavoured whey protein powder and 30 grams of high GI carbs (glucose is the best) about 10 minutes after your workout. This is the only time people should be eating high GI carbohydrates. After you have a shake you want to have a meal an hour or so later. The meal should consist of a healthy amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats.
“I’m going to run a marathon tomorrow what should I eat?” Ok. not just marathon runners ask this, I hear CrossFit athletes, local Football players and other endurance athletes asking the same question “should I eat a big meal of pasta the night before” the answer is 'no'. If you generally don’t eat pasta, rice, bread and potatoes then don’t eat these the night before a big event. Doing this is likely going to make you feel sick which is not going to improve performance.
Studies show that only events lasting longer than 90 minutes, like long distance running will benefit from carb loading. CrossFitters usually never have a workout lasting longer than 90 minutes. Even on competition day we only do short to medium length WOD’s then rest have a chance to refuel and replenish our muscle glycogen levels, relax, refocus and hit it again a few hours later. We don’t have to carb load, its unhealthy eating all the processed carbs anyway. We all know that and endurance athlete will run themselves into the ground and past any physical health. As a CrossFitter we strive to be healthy, so we stay away from the processed carbs because we listen to studies that show processed carbs are the cause of many metabolic disorders in the western diet.
To effectively carb load you have to deplete carbs for days before and then eat at the right time and load for a further 3-4 days before your event. Not a great thing to do to your body before an event. This increases muscle glycogen stores by maybe 3% at most (It is estimated that carbohydrate loading can improve performance over a set distance by 2-3%). If you’re a serious endurance athlete then go ahead and carb load before an event but not before training. Long story short, eating a big bowl of pasta the night before any event is not going to improve performance - in fact it’s probably going to make you feel crap the next day.
Every meal during the training week, the night before the event, event day and the day after the event should all consist of that healthy balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates. We should always eat a healthy range of foods as CrossFit.com says ” garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar” pretty simple follow that basic guideline and you will be healthier. Stay away from the processed carbohydrates like pasta, rice, bread and cereals.
Steve Bray
Owner - Specialised Fitness Training Perth
Level One CrossFit Trainer
Cert IV Personal Trainer
Steve is now offering complimentary sessions out of Range of Motion in Perth. Steve can be contacted on 0420 208 542 or sbray92@live.com. Don't forget to check out Specialised Fitness Training's FaceBook page.
Dan Williams
