Quality training starts with the daily diet

 

Are you struggling with any of the following during your workouts?

• Low energy
• Slow recovery
• Dehydration
• Early fatigue
• Low blood sugar
• Hunger
• GI issues

A quality training session begins with the daily diet.

If you are going long hours without eating, restricting carbs, ignoring your hydration needs and/or not planning well-balanced meals or snacks, you will struggle to perform to your potential.

As a result, you may blame sport nutrition products or seek supplements to "fix" an issue that started well before you began your workout.

Because it's a lot easier to fuel and hydrate a body at rest than it is during exercise, take advantage of the many hours when you are not training to maximize your glycogen stores, provide your body with adequate calories, vitamins and minerals, supply your muscles with protein and meet your hydration needs.

A body that is well-hydrated and fueled going into a workout will outperform a body that begins a workout in a compromised state. 

Is fat burning undermining your performance?

Source

The media loves to make nutrition simple. Workout fasted and you burn more fat. If only it was this simple. 

When it comes to the physiology of the body during exercise, nutrition is a complex topic. Researchers are still studying the different effects of nutrients, nutrient timing and supplements on exercise and exercise performance. This isn't to say that fat burning doesn't work (it does!) but it's not as simple as not eating carbohydrates before and during a workout. 

There's a lot of debate about fasted training, training low, LCHF diets, keto and low carb. Unfortunately, with no middle ground, athletes tend to direct their energy and attention to what's most trendy and popular and for the past few years, carbohydrates have received a bad reputation from the media. 

I am a proponent of carbohydrates in the diet. I feel strongly for nutrient timing (eating before/after workouts) and I believe that the use of sport nutrition is critical in optimizing health and performance for endurance athletes. But this doesn't mean that I prescribe eating all the carbohydrates, anytime and of any kind. But I am also a proponent of fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water. In other words, fueling for sport performance is not black or white. If you sit on either end of the spectrum you could be sabotaging your performance and compromising your health. 

I'd like to start off with some not so breaking news that often gets overlooked when it comes to fat burning. 

• Through endurance training, you will increase fat oxidation by upregulating the enzymes of the fat oxidation pathways, increasing mitochondrial mass, increasing oxygen update and improving economy of movement. 
• To become a better athlete (ex. faster, stronger, more powerful), your physiology needs to change. While some individuals may experience a performance boost because of an improvement in health, the diet or body composition, a race weight means nothing if you haven't done the work to significantly change your physiology and to arrive to the race in an optimal state of mental and physical health. 
• Don't underestimate the importance of the relationship between your lactate threshold, economy of movement and VO2max. Having a lean or muscular body or performing workouts in a fasted state does not ensure that you are economic and able to quickly oxidize carbohydrates (without GI distress) to optimize performance. 
• Carbohydrates are the primary fuel produce ATP (energy). But you also need to keep up with your hydration (water and sodium) needs in the face of sweat losses induced by intensity, duration and the environment. 
• Don't rush the process. To truly change your physiology for performance, you have to continue to stress your body in different ways. Otherwise it gets comfortable and you no longer receive an adaptation. High intensity efforts and strength/power training are just as important as easy sessions, endurance sessions and recovery. And don't neglect skill and technique work. All of that training is for nothing if you can't hold good form under fatigue. 
  
• You have to fuel and hydrate on race day. There's no beating the system here. If you want to perform (and have some fun doing so), you need to take in carbohydrates, sodium and fluids - in proper amounts, frequently and consistently during your long distance event. And to figure out the best fueling and hydration strategy, you have to develop confidence (and the ability to digest/absorb nutrition) through training. More so, consuming carbohydrates teaches your body how to store and utilize carbohydrates more efficiently which will reduce the risk for GI issues on race day (while promoting more efficient use of carbs to delay fatigue).
  

If the majority of well-designed research clearly shows that the strategies to become a better fat burner does not show a direct correlation with improving athletic performance. So it's worth asking the question.....are you undermining your health and performance by restricting carbohydrates, performing fasted workouts and trying to complete workouts in an underfueled state?

For many athletes, the strategies applied to become a better fat burner for metabolic efficiency or to burn more fat to change body composition are nothing more than a form of underfueling - which means you are not eating enough to get the results that you desire. Yet scenarios play out all the time as athletes try to apply the weight loss methods for the non-athlete population, assuming that eating less carbs = fat burning and weight loss.

Sadly, far too many athletes are using endurance training as compensation or punishment in order to look a certain way or to justify eating patterns. You don't need to ride your bike for 3 hours in a fasted state just to "earn" a bagel. And you don't need to punish your body with a high intensity workout just because you ate a cookie. 

The methods that you are using to become a better fat burner (or to lose weight) are likely not working. I know this because I see it time and time again. Not eating adequate carbohydrates in the diet, not timing nutrition with training, not utilizing sport nutrition properly and having an unhealthy relationship with food (alongside body dissatisfaction) turns training into a method for weight loss, but it doesn't work. You are simply undermining your training, sabotaging your health and these methods have the exact opposite effect on your body composition than you are trying to achieve.

As a result, health is compromised, fitness improvements are slow to achieve (if at all) and all that training, time, energy, money and effort is for nothing come race day because the body is undernourished and overtrained. 

Fat burning is catchy, trendy and enticing. And some methods may work for improving performance in the short-term. But the long-term repercussions of not feeding your active body enough food and nutrients are concerning - from a weakened immune system, bone loss and nutrient deficiencies to gut issues, damaged endocrine, hormonal and metabolic health and psychological issues. 

With so much great research and science demonstrating a positive relationship with carbohydrates and performance, are your methods for weight loss and metabolic efficiency negatively impacting your health, performance and body composition?

Let's look into some of the reasons why fat burning is not all that it's cracked up to be. 

If this blog was helpful for you, please share, especially with your fat-burning obsessed training partners. 

The underfueling athlete

The goal of any training plan is to elicit performance gains which are best experienced on race day. 

Within any given training plan, there is a method and purpose to the workouts.

I often find that athletes have irrational and unrealistic approaches to fueling and it's now cool to not eat before or during workouts. This needs to change.

Athletes. you understand the importance of eating for fuel and for health but why is it that you can be so focused on your workouts but lose all good judgement when it comes to nourishing and fueling your body? 

I realize that a plant strong diet, rich in whole foods like fruits and veggies isn't very sexy. However, an extreme diet plan that restricts certain foods is really something to talk about with your training partners. 

Eating before a workout and consuming calories during workouts is now seen as bad. It's totally hard core to talk about how little you can consume during a workout and how much more metabolically efficient you are when you train by working out on an empty stomach. 

Interestingly, most fueling approaches come with risks and in my profession, athletes come to me when they express that they have "failed" with sport nutrition trends like trying to be a "fat burner" or sticking to a low carb diet (two of the most current trends among endurance athletes). 

So who are these athletes that contact me (not specific to any current athletes)? 

The athlete who has always struggled with body image issues is now training for an endurance event and is scared to eat more food. 

The athlete who is training for an event is wanting to lose weight but is struggling, despite training 10+ hours a week. 

The athlete who once lost weight by restricting sport nutrition before and during workout is now experiencing poor performance but is chasing a body image rather than performance gains. 

The athlete who was praised for being lean is now overcoming a stress fracture, amennorhea or an eating disorder. 

The athlete that once found success by restricting carbohydrates and sport nutrition is now struggling for low energy and lethargy and experiencing more sickness, injuries/niggles and fatigue than ever before. 

The athlete who tried to work out on an empty stomach for weeks is now afraid to eat before workouts for fear of gaining weight despite having low energy, bonking, dizziness and moodiness during workouts.

The athlete who has been wanting to lose weight is now struggling weight weight gain because the athlete feels sport nutrition isn't needed or doesn't understand how to fuel adequately. 

The athlete that tells me she/he needs to train more because they are not losing weight.

The athlete who tells me that weight loss will make him/her faster but the athlete is not consuming home cooked meals or getting adequate sleep.

The athlete who is spending 20 hours a week training is unable to find time to eat a healthy diet. 

As an athlete, your main focus is keeping your body in exceptional health while placing intentional training stress on your body to experience performance gains. To think that working out on an empty stomach or not consuming carbohydrates during a workout will help you perform better is absolutely absurd considering that the majority of athletes who train for an event have little understanding of how to plan and execute a healthy diet within an active lifestyle. Add in the extra time-commitment to training and now you have to make the decision on what is removed so that you can accomplish more miles each day.

The underfueling athlete will always underperform. Sadly, athletes get so accustomed to working out with a tired body from lack of consistent restful sleep and a body that is not properly nourished through daily diet and this "normal" feeling will never be fixed by eating restricting carbohydrates, working out on an empty stomach or not consuming sport nutrition during workouts.

If you want to perform well and consistently, you  must look at your lifestyle from the bottom up. If fat-burning workouts are on your mind, let's start at the bottom of the pyramid to evaluate what other areas in your life will physically, emotionally and mentally help you prepare for more quality workouts. 

If you are tired and sleep deprived, you will lose performance.
If your immune system is compromised from an unhealthy diet, you will lose performance.
If your hormones are disrupted from too much volume, you will lose performance.
If you underfuel during workouts and overfuel throughout the day, you will lose performance.
If your training plan can not be supported by good sleep and a good diet, you will lose performance. 

If you never get use to fueling before and during workouts, you will lose performance on race day. 

So, do you still want to debate with me and tell me that working out on an empty stomach, restricting sport nutrition during workouts or following a high volume training plan will improve your performance and help you change your body composition?

A well fueled and well trained body performs well. A conditioned athlete will accept training stress much better than a newbie athlete. Athletes must develop overtime and the training/nutrition methods of one athlete will not work for another if the athletes are in two different stages of their development and in life.

There are many lean bodies that can not perform on race day. There are also many undernouished bodies that you never see because the body is too tired, injured or sick to show up to the race. There are many bodies that perform amazingly well but do not fit society's image of an athlete's body.

If you want to perform well, you have to fuel smart and not chase a body image. You can  be extremely metabolically efficient and not be super lean and perform great and you can be super lean and feel as if not eating before workouts is helping you boost performance and fall short on this approach with an injury, sickness or tired body come race day.

 If you want your body composition to change, it can only do so if you have really great nutritional and training habits on a consistent basis.

The underfueling athlete is at risk for disordered eating. If you are trying to achieve or maintain a lower weight, you are likely not consuming enough calories or nutrients to allow your body to perform and function properly.

Just like any performance-enhancing tip, there will likely be favorable results at the beginning that some athletes experience and for others, poor results that frustrate the disciplined athlete. For athletes, bone loss/osteopenia, menstrual disturbances/hormone issues, amenorrhea (women), injuries, burn out and energy deficiency, result from weeks, months or even years of underfueling.

At first the diet change is sexy and hard core but the athlete that depletes their body's energy stores through overexercising is the cornerstone of the underfueling athlete.

Even worse, underfueling affects cognitive functions and can cause depression, anxiety, mood disturbances and inability to focus which can all cause serious health risks imposed by not fueling your body adequately. 

If you are underfueling, seek help by consulting with a Registered Dietitian who specializes in sport nutrition immediately so that you can reach your body composition and performance goals without compromising your health or performance.

Could you be underfuling?

-Anxiety/depression with eating
-Feeling fat and inentionally undereating throughout the day and before/during/after workouts
-Feeling obsessed with exercise/training
-Feeling controlled by food
-Always feeling hungry but not satisfying your hunger cues
-Never feeling hungry
-Difficulty concentrating during workouts
-Trouble sleeping, restless sleep (like your brain is awake and won't fall asleep)
-Preoccupation with eating, the scale or with the body image/eating habits of others
-Avoiding social situations relating to food
-Use of diet pills, cleanses, detox systems, energy drinks/pills or laxatives

-Ammenorrhea

-Hormone imbalances
-Dehydration
-Lethargy/fatigue
-Feeling cold, all the time
-Overuse injuries
-Stress fractures
-Significant weight loss
-Recent weight gain despite extreme calorie restriction and exercising daily
-Muscle cramps, weakness, heavy legs, fatigue
-Gastrointestinal problems

-Intentionally not eating for fear of gaining weight

-Trying to be a "fat burner" by not eating before workouts or consuming enough nutrition during workouts