SPORTS DIET: For Endurance Athletes

The diet I most closely follow is the whole foods diet.

Moderate Protein, low fat and high carbohydrate diet (within reason) has been known to be the best.

There is also a sports nutrition diet the helps athletes reduce inflammation recommended by Dr. NV Perricone.

I prefer to eat more complex carbohydrates and not eat protein. My performance suffers however when I go this route. Everyone has to find a balance. I now try to follow the guidelines below recommended by Dr. Bill Misner from Hammer Nutrition.

There is one more crucial article to take a look at in regards to diet: Athlete Diet Menu Mistakes.

Avoiding these mistakes could change your performance and move you to the next level.

Check out these performance enhancing sports diets:

Inflamation Reducing Diet

Protein

Whole Foods Diet

Endurance Diet

VEGETERIAN DIET

When I moved to endurance sports I had to consider diet or possibly get a DNF (did not finish). It is one thing to run for 90 minutes and bonk, but another to go 10 days on poor nutrition.

Scott Jurrek, the great ultra-runner, follows a vegetarian diet, while Ian Adamson (arguably the best adventure racer of all times), recommends protein and carbohydrates, with no supplements(Adventure Racing, Runners World).

Carl Lewis and Ambrose Burfoot follow a macrobiotic diet.

Following an even stricter diet is Brendan Brasier pro Ironman triathlete. He follows a vegan diet and it works wonders for him.

Just follow any of these links to learn about what a vegetarian diet can do for you.

Vegan Diet

Vegetarian Diet

Macrobiotic Diet

WEIGHT LOSS FOR ENDURANCE ATHLETES

Carbohydrates should take up 60 to 70 % of the total amount of calories that you eat. This means that things like whole-grain pasta, potatoes, and oatmeal are great for the endurance athlete's diet. If you are trying to lose weight you should cut this by 25%. This is tough during competition season and best done in the off-season.

Dr. Bill Misner of Hammer has a good weight loss guide.

For in and out of season. Hammer also has a really good supplement for weight loss

Weight Loss Guide

Supplement for Weight Loss.

PROTEIN and RECOVERY

Protein is also important and is the fuel that builds are muscles. Protein can be found in lots of food, especially nuts and beans and meat. Whey protein is my favorite source of protein. About 15 % of the calories eaten every day should come from protein alone. It helps to rebuild muscle and spur growth and faster healing.

For heavy workout days, fat should consume less than 30% of your total calories. On the flip side, saturated fat should contribute to less than fifteen percent of your calories. A high fat diet works against the sports nutrition diet, and lots of fatty foods can slow you and your performance down.

Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Avocados, and EFA Oil are great ways to add fats to your diet.

When to eat is so important. This can affect your race greatly. Our article on the Pre-Race Meal

goes into detail about this. Following this protocol helped so much with my performance.

Most athletes know that recovery time after exercising is important. We spend a lot of time perfecting our work out plans, but not our recovery plans.

Eating within two hours is crucial to recover the muscles and restore glycogen. Eating within the first 30 minutes is even better. To fully do this, you need to to eat protein and carbohydrates in the correct balance.

You should have a 3:1 carb to protein meal. The ideal meal would be 30-60 grams of high quality complex carbohydrates and 10-30 grams of protein, preferably whey isolate.

Supplements, proper diet, active recovery and rest can rebuild your body much stronger than when you began. Massage, ice baths, and saunas other great ways to recover.

You might also consider a diet that reduces inflammation, if you suffer from inflammation and pain in the joints. It is a simple diet with some guidelines that reduce inflammation by certain foods.This is still a hard one for me. I don't put enough time into planning my recovery meals or drinks. I am trying to be more conscious of this and bring a recovery drink with me, when I'll be away from the house.

Recovery though is where you see the gain. You tear your body down during training and racing, and to come back stronger you must let it recover.

Reducing Inflamation

Protein

Recovery

Sports Nutrition Bars