Competitive eating

Putting it into practice

Part I of the Competitive Eating series covered the purpose of sound nutrition for an athlete.

Part II is focused on clarifying when and how to incorporate sports nutrition into the mix. A worked example for a competitive age grouper is provided at the end.

Sports nutrition—What’s the deal?

Products such as energy bars, gels, chews, and drink mixes are an important part of the overall nutrition plan for the athlete. Most of the products contain a hefty amount of carbohydrates in the form of pure cane sugar, maltodextrin, or some other variation of sugar. The case for using sports nutrition is that they are a user-friendly way to ingest carbohydrates while training or racing. Typically, brands have tailored the product to be fast digesting or easy on the stomach and the serving sizes hover right around the 30 or 60-gram recommended threshold. Convenient.

If used daily, bars, gels, chews, and drinks can be expensive. Substituting real food in daily training and saving sports nutrition for important sessions and races can be a good strategy to make nutrition more cost-effective. Some real food options for training can be: 

• Dried fruit (dates, mangoes, apricots)

• Honey

• Maple syrup

• Bananas

• Fruit juices

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There is no denying that sugar can be hard on the gut, especially when ingested in large quantities. Training the gut is essential for longer-distance athletes to find a product—real food or sports nutrition—that works and is practical for race day. The only way to ensure smooth sailing on race day is to have practiced using a product multiple times in training.

It would be foolish to expect to run fast without having done fast running in training. Nutrition is no different. 

When to use:

Relying on real food and meals between sessions to power the training should be the first line of defense. Moreover, there will be many sessions that do not require any sports nutrition.

For a triathlete who is only training up to 90 minutes and once per day, no supplementation may be needed. Days that exceed two hours or include some intensity may permit the use of drink mixes, gels, bars, and chews.

Training twice in one day may also present a situation where sports nutrition is needed if meals are hard to come by during the day. Busy age group athletes often do not have time to slot in a pre-training meal, thus a handy gel or sports drink can be used during. It may also help with wanting to raid the fridge immediately after the session. For an athlete looking to make some body composition improvements, that is a habit worth avoiding and can be achieved by never letting the energy levels dip too much.

Finally, sports nutrition is most widely used in racing. Part III will cover how to navigate your race day experience.

Sample day

Navigating the grocery aisles to find the necessary fuel can be daunting for a first-time triathlete. The easiest way to ensure staying on a solid diet plan is to develop a low standard deviation from day to day. This means that there is a small rotation of foods that the athlete eats throughout the week that are dependable. Large swings in the overall contents of a diet can make eating more difficult than it needs to be. When in doubt, keep it simple. 

The following is a worked example of what a basic training day may look like for a competitive age grouper. This plan assumes that most days feature two training sessions. The foods included here are by no means special. If you have something you like instead or have found success with, add it into the mix.

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Wake up

• 12-16 oz (400-600 mL) water immediately

• 1/2 — ¾ cup of oatmeal with berries and honey

OR

• Two pieces of whole grain toast w/choice of nut butter + a banana

60-75 min swim session (no nutrition needed during, electrolyte beverage is optional)

Post-swim

• 1 cup Greek yogurt and whichever of the two above were not eaten before the swim

OR 

• 3 whole eggs and whichever of the two above were not eaten before the swim

Morning snack

• Whole piece of fruit and a handful of nuts

OR

• Whole piece of fruit and protein shake

Lunch

• 2-3 servings of vegetables + 1 cup potatoes or rice + 1 serving lean protein (chicken or fish)

• 12-16 oz (400-600 mL) water

• *Avocado or other healthy fat can be added if desired*

Afternoon snack (optional if PM session is early afternoon)

• Banana + scoop of nut butter

OR

• 1 name-brand energy bar (Larabar, ClifBar, etc.)

Afternoon training: 90 min bike ride with intensity + 30 min easy running off the bike

• One large bottle of electrolyte beverage + 2 gels OR 2 scoops drink mix (taken on bike)

OR

• One large bottle of electrolyte beverage + 4-6 pieces of dried fruit (taken on bike)

OR

• One large bottle of electrolyte beverage + 3 fl. oz. (90 mL) maple syrup (taken on bike)

Post training meal/dinner

• Optional protein shake immediately following the session

• 2-3 servings of vegetables + 1-2 cups potatoes or rice + 1-1.5 servings lean protein (chicken, fish, lean beef)

• Optional healthy fat source (avocado, olive oil, etc.)

Final snack (optional if dinner was late)

• 1 cup of berries + 2 squares dark chocolate

OR

• 1 cup berries + 1 cup cottage cheese/yogurt

OR

• Protein shake if not taken after the workout

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This worked example is devoid of items such as packaged snacks and processed foods. Most days of training do not require them, but they are not entirely off-limits. A focus on:

• Whole foods

• Fueling during exercise when indicated

• Protein intake

will get an athlete most of the way there in terms of a sound nutritional base. The example above may drop the quantity of carbohydrates for dinner if the athlete has only trained once that day, reflecting the idea of keeping the carbs flowing primarily before, during, and immediately after training.  You may also add coffee in the morning if that is what you like :)

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Part III of the series will take you to race day where sports nutrition is fair game all day long. There are some important points to consider when keeping the fuel tank topped up on the big day.