Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

Nick Clayton, MS, CSCS, MBA

Owner, NJC Fitness Solutions, www.njcfit.com

Fueling for endurance athletes is critical, not just in the days leading up to a race but throughout your training.  Food should be thought of as fuel for the body and periodized, or scheduled to meet the changing needs of your training plan.  This article will discuss the concepts of fueling your training and some general fueling and hydration strategies.

Periodized Training

A training program should be broken down into cycles throughout the year, allowing you to peak for a given event, maximize results, and prevent overuse injury.  In general, a periodized program looks like this.

Fuel During General Conditioning — focus of this phase should be low-moderate intensity, building an aerobic base, and maintaining or decreasing body weight.

• Eat 5-7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight (to find kg’s, divide weight in lbs by 2.2).  For longer duration training (>4 hours day) bump the carbs up to 10 g/kg.
• Protein:  1.2-1.7 g/kg
• Fat:  0.8-1.0 g/kg

Let’s say you train 1-2 hours 3-4 times per week and train longer on weekends.  Eat the 5-7 g/kg carb count during the weekdays and bump your carb count up to the 10 g/kg on the weekends.

Fuel During Intense Race Prep Phase — Multi-day race, Ironman, Adventure Race

• Carbs:  7-13 g/kg
• Protein:  1.4-2.0 g/kg
• Fat:  0.8-3.0 g/kg

Fuel During Intense Training/Racing — Multi-day race, Ironman, Adventure Race

• Carbs:  5-10 g/kg
• Protein:  1.2-3.0 g/kg
• Fat:  0.8-3.0 g/kg

Fueling Your Ride

• Eat a high carb meal 4 hours before your training session (longer than 2 hours in duration) consisting of 1-4 g/kg of carb and moderate protein.
• Drink 15-30 oz of fluid 2 hours before training, 7-10 oz of sports drink 15 min before training, consume 30-60 g/kg of carb per hour of training, drink 7-10 oz every 15 min of training.
• Recovery:  Within 30 minutes of finishing your session (lasting >90 minutes) eat 1-1.2 g of carb and 10-20 g of protein.  At 2 hours, eat 1-1.2 g/kg of carb with moderate protein and low fat.

General Nutrition Tips

• Choose foods high in phyto-nutrients, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc to support your immune system.  Carrots and sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene; vitamin C is found in oranges, kiwis, strawberries, and grapefruit.  Vitamin E is found in dark green leafy veggies, nuts.  Zinc is found in red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, and dairy.
• Choose poly and monounsaturated fats.  Choose olive oil, avocados, salmon, mackerel, tofu, almonds, walnuts, flax products, and canola oil.
• Use a generic multivitamin with no more than 100% daily value for nutrients.  Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) are stored in the body and can become toxic.  Same goes for iron.
• Try new foods early on in training program.  Determine what foods work best for you individually.

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