Nutrition Performance Strategies

 

General Nutrition Strategies

One of the most important nutritional concepts is maintaining as much consistency as possible. One of the most common reasons people fail to see the success after achieveing a body comp goal is because they fall off the plan that got you there and reverting to eating the foods that they know you shouldn't be having.

Regardless of how great a nutrtional strategy or diet is, if you don't stick with it, it's not going to produce the results that you're looking for. Adherence, more than anything else, is the top secret to success.

  • ALWAYS Eat a complex carb & complete protein with EVERY meal
  • Eliminate as much sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol & carbonated beverages as possible
  • Stay hydrated: drink a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of water/day.
  • REFUEL after workouts within 30-60 minutes after each workout with protein shake or snack
  • NEVER train on an empty stomach
  • Eliminate ALL junk food. “Not in the house…not in the mouth”
  • PLAN your meals. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
  • Don’t eat the same foods everyday
  • Eat WHOLE FOODS if possible
  • Use COMMON SENSE. Don’t make it more complicated than it really is.

Pre-Workout nutrition Strategies

The goal of a pre-workout meal is to give you the greatest potential energy throughout your training session

  • Don’t go into your workout on an empty stomach.
  • Consume a small balanced snack containing carbohydrate, fluid, and a small amount of protein about 1–2 hours before your workout.
  • Eat protein and complex carbs, minimize fat consumption prior to training.
  • Complex carbs and protein fuel muscle tissue and provide a steady release of energy throughout your training session. 
  • Fats are the slowest digesting and tend to “sit in your stomach” and cause discomfort throughout a workout. 
  • Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! 
    • 16oz of fluid on the night before exercise
    • 16oz in the morning
    • 16 to 32oz, 1 hour before exercise
    • 8 to 16oz, 20 minutes before exercise

Post-Workout nutrition Strategies

Generally, post-workout nutrition has three specific purposes:

  • Replenish glycogen (replenish their energy stores)
  • Decrease protein breakdown (increase muscle size and/or muscle quality)
  • Increase protein synthesis (repair any damage caused by the workout)

Benefits of good post-workout nutrition include:

  • Improved recovery
  • Less muscle soreness
  • Increased ability to build muscle
  • Improved immune function
  • Improved bone mass
  • Improved ability to utilize body fat

The sooner you get your post-workout nutrition, the quicker you recover. Think of your post-workout meal as eating to aid in recovery and tissue repair. Post workout nutrtion should idealy be consumed IMMEDIATELY or within 2 hours.

Immediately Post Workout:

After intense workouts/training, consume:

  • 30 grams of carbohydrate/hr of workout time. 

  • 15 grams of protein (in 500 ml water)/hr of workout time.     

You can either make your own post-workout drink or find a pre-formulated drink that contains rapidly digesting carbohydrates (e.g., maltodextrin, dextrose, glucose, etc) and proteins (e.g., protein hydrolysates or isolates).

1-2 hours Post Workout

  • Eat a whole food meal within 1-2 hours.

  • Weigh yourself before and after training. For every pound of weight you lose during activity, replace with 20 ounces of fluids.