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Sports Nutrition Bible
Hey
I'm studying for a diploma in sports nutrition and i have to say it's been quite eye opening. Most of the stuff, i had touched upon from researching fitness websites etc...(like most people do i suppose) but the last few months have certainly opened my eyes to the fact that the popular magazines and websites contain quite a lot of useless information. It's almost like they're subconsciously trying to hold you back so you still have the need to buy their publications.
Anyway i will be using this thread to write up some sports nutrition articles for people to use (if they like). Some of the stuff in here might go against your conventional wisdom (it did mine) and for the clever buggers, some of the stuff might actually be 2nd nature.
Anyway i hope to touch on quite a few aspects of sports nutrition. I'll try to write an article each day (maybe difficult but i'l try). I want it to be very similar to the supplement dictionary started by Donny.
So if the experienced guys and gals (Salty, Sharla, Scrap, Donny, Adam, Youngsblood etc...) want to contribute with what works for them then it would be very much appreciated.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Oh-oh
I've been stickied.....the pressure is on
;D
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ono
Oh-oh
I've been stickied.....the pressure is on
;D
Fact:)
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Energy (ATP)
I was going to start off by talking about Protein, Carbs, Fats etc... but before we go into that i think it's important to explain how the body produces energy. Once you understand how the body produces energy, you will hopefully be able to see for yourself the importance of nutrients.
So....Energy!
Energy is produced by the splitting of a chemical bond in a substance called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP from here on...). ATP is produced in every cell of the body from the breakdown of carbs, protein, fat and alcohol (booze :D)
Ok so, what's ATP then?
It's a small molecule with an adenosine backbone with 3 phosphate groups attached. Basically think of a daddy long legs with only 3 legs (on the same side) and a body. The body is the adenosine backbone and the 3 legs are the phosphate groups (hope that makes sense).
What's this got to do with energy?
Energy is released when one of the phosphate groups splits off. So basically the poor daddy long legs only has 2 legs now. Now it has become adenosine diphosphate or ADP. Some of the released energy is used to carry out work (muscle contractions etc...) while the rest (in fact most of it) is given off as heat. That explains why you feel warm when you exercise. Anyways, once this happens ADP is converted back into ATP and a continual cycle takes place, in which ATP forms ADP and then becomes ATP again...
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
The Bodys a radiater. ;D. Great Thread good lad ono.
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continued....
ATP and ADP
So the body can only store very tiny amounts of ATP at any one time. Basically there is just about enough to keep up basic energy requirements while you're resting. Obviously when you start exercising, the demand for energy suddenly increases, and the supply of ATP is used up within seconds.
As more ATP must be produced to continue exercising, more fuel must be broken down.
So where does this fuel come from?
Well namely...
Carbohydrate
Protein
Fat
and Alcohol
When the above is eaten, they are broken down (in the digestive system) into their various constituents or building blocks. Then they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
Carbs are broken down into small, single sugar units: glucose, fructose and galactose. Fats are borken down into fatty acids and proteins are broken down into amino acids. Alcohol is evil and is mainly absorbed into the blood.
The ultimate fate of these 4 components is energy production.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
continued...
How is energy measured?
The short answer is.....in calories. I won't bore you with the science of it. Basically that's all you need to know. CALORIES is the answer :)
Energy Value of Different Food Components
1g provides...
Carbs 4 calories
fat 9 calories
protein 4 calories
alcohol 7 calories
So basically, 1 gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories, as does 1 gram of protein. 1 gram of booze contains 7 calories while 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories. Easy.
So from that list, you can gather than fat is the most concentrated form of energy. However, that doesn't make it the 'best' form of energy for exercise.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
How is energy produced?
The body has 3 main energy systems in which it can call upon depending on which type of physical activity is being undertaken. These are...
The ATP-PC system
The Anaerobic glyolytic/Lactid Acid System
and...
The Aerobic System
The ATP-PC System
This system uses ATP (as explained before) and phophocreatine (PC, hence the name 'ATP-PC') that is stored in the muscle cells, to generate energy for maximum bursts of strength and speed which last up to around 6 seconds. 20m sprint or near max lift at the gym are examples of maximum bursts.
Phosphocreatine (PC from here on...) is formed when creatine (which is a protein as it happens) is linked to a phosphate molecule. The job of PC is to regenerate ATP rapidly. When the creatine and the phosphate seperate, the free phosphate bond transfers to a molecule of ADP (remember the daddy long legs with only 2 legs). Once this happens, a new ATP molecule is formed (The daddy long legs with 3 legs, curtosy of the added phosphate bond).
Unfortunately the ATP-PC system is in very limited supply. Infact it can only provide around 4 calories of energy. After this, ATP must be produced from other fuels. When this happens other systems take over....
Anaerobic Glycolytic System
This system is activated as soon as you start high intensity activity. It dominates in events lasting upto 90 seconds. 400m-800m sprint is an example of this type of activity.
Anyway, in order to meet sudden large demands for energy glucose bypasses the energy producing pathways that would normally use oxygen. Hence the term 'anaerobic.'
After 30 seconds of this type of exercise, this system contributes up to 60% of your energy output. After around 2 mins, it's contribution falls to around 35%
This system uses carbs in the form of muscle glycogen or glucose as fuel. Glycogen is broken down into glucose, which because of the lack of oxygen present, quickly forms ATP and lactic acid. This is quite ineffective as muscle glycogen dwindles away quite rapdily. Fatigue will also set in due to the build up lactic acid.
lactic Acid and the 'burn'
Just to dispell a myth, it's not actually the lactic acid that causes the 'burn' feeling you can get during or after maximal exercise. The feeling is actually caused by the build up of Hydrogen Ions and acidity. Nice :p
I'll go into lactic acid later on at some point.....i'm sure :D
The Aerobic System
This is quite similar to the anaerobic one except ATP is generated from the breakdown of carbs and fats in the presence of oxygen. The process is slower (which means ATP isn't produced as rapidly) but it can produce larger amounts so it's all good.
The aerobic system comes into play after the previous 2 in this topic have pakced in, which only takes a couple of minutes. So after a few minutes energy supply dwitches to the aerobic system.
Basically without going into too much detail, the aerobic system provides the energy required for sub maximal, prolonged exercise.
Fats can be used to produce energy in this system.One fatty acid can produce as much as 200 ATP molecules which makes fats an even more efficient energy source than carbohydrates (glucose can create upto38 molecules of ATP in the same conditions). However fats can only broken down under aerobic conditions when energy demands are quite low. Carbs are more versatile in the sense that they can be broken down in anaerobic conditions.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Creatine
So i talked about Phosphocreatine earlier on. I explained that PC consisted of a phosphagen molecule and creatine. So,although most of you have probably supplemented or at least heard of creatine, i'd like to give you a brief breakdown of what the compound actually is.
So....What is Creatine?
It's basically a compound that's made naturally in our bodies to supply energy. It's mainly produced in the liver from 3 amino acids:- glycine, arginine and methionine. From the liver it's transported in the blood to the muscle cells where it is combined with phosphate to make phosphocreatine. Just like magic.
The muscle cells turn over around 2-3g of creatine a day. Once PC is broken down into ATP (energy, remember) it can be recycled into PC or converted into a naother substance called creatinine, which is then removed via the kidney in the urine (pee :D)
Creatine is typically obtained (in diet) from beef, fish and pork. The typical person stores around 120g of creatine. 60-70% is stored as PC while the remainder is sotred as free creatine.
Supplementation
While i'm on the subject, i might aswell go into the supplementation of creatine. I'm sure most of you have tried creatine monohydrate before, or CEE maybe...Probably with decent results.
The most common course of action is to saturate your muscles with a loading phase of creatine, followed by a maintenance phase. This method is effective, but it's not actually the best way of doing things. In fact it's quite a costly way of getting creatine into your muscles.
What should i do then?
Seen as though around two-thirds of this creatine (20g per day) actually ends up in your urine (wee) with only the remaining one-third ending up in your muscle cells.
To reape maximum benefits of creatine supplementation, a better idea would be to take smaller doses spaced throughout the day. The key is to try to slow down the absorption from the gut. This gives the maximum chance of all the creatine ending up in your muscle cells and not in your urine. To do this, try taking only 6g daily (instead of the 20g - for the loading phase), but instead of consuming it at once, in shake format, sprinkle it on your food. Sprinkle 1g at a time over the course of 6 meals which would give you a total of 6g per day. This will actually produce effects equivalent to taking 20g a day. After that, maintenance should only be 2g per day.
Not only will this method save you money, it will also produce less water retention which can only be a good thing. This loading strategy can be repeated every 8-12 weeks.
Cycle length
The maximum effectiveness, it's proposed that creatine is best taken is cycles lasting 3-5 months, followed by one month off cycle.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Lactic Acid - The Lactic Acid Shuttle
Contrary to popular belief, lactic acid produced by the muscles is not a wasted by-product. Infact it constitutes a valuable fuel (once exercise intensity is reduced).
Once intensity is reduced or stopped completely, lactic acid has two possible fates. Some may be converted into pyruvic acid, when then can be broken down into ATP (in the presence of oxygen). So basically lactic acid produces ATP and can be a valuable fuel for aerobic exercise.
The other fate is....
lactic acid may carried away from the muscle (in the bloodstream) to the liver where it can be converted back into glucose, released back into the bloodstream or stored as gylcogen in the liver. This mechanism for removing lactic acid from the muscle is called the lactic acid shuttle
This also explains why the muscle soreness brought on by hard training is not due to lactic acid. In fact, the lactic acid is usually cleared within 15 minutes of exercise.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
When i initially started this thread i was originally going to dive straight in at the deep end and explain the importance of carbohydrates, protein and fat. In the end i decided to give my best explanation of how the body's energy system works. This hopefully will give you a better understanding of why nutrients are important.
So now i think i have pretty much covered everything i wanted to go through so i'll move on to talk about carbohydrates. I get a feeling this chapter is going to be quite long so i'll try complete it in stages...;D
to be continued......
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
I think you've got the lactate shuttle a little wrong mate, the way I understood it worked was...
- Pyruvate (pyruvic acid) is formed when glycogen and glucose are being broken down at high rates in your muscles (called glycolysis which is the conversion of these into pyruvate). Pyruvate is then converted to Lactate (lactic acid) as it increases in the muscles.
- Lactate is now formed and transported away from the muscle cells into surrounding tissue and blood. This allows glycolysis to persist and thus continuing the supply of energy to our muscles.
- The muscle cells which the lactate is transported to can cause the lactate to be broken down to fuel (mainly ATP) or can be used to build glycogen.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Yeah sorry i missed out how pyruvic acid accumulates. Anyways i'll give it a go...
When pyruvic acid accumulates in our muscles (which normally occurs after a slight increase in exercise intensity) lactic dehydrogenase(spelling) converts it into lactate. Under moderate-to-high exercise intensity, lactate is converted back to pyruvic acid, which then can be broken into ATP (in the presence of oxygen, of course).
As far as i am aware, pyruvic acid does convert to lactate, but lactate can also be converted back into pyruvic acid.
I hope that explains it a little better...i was rushed for time trying to finish the chapter before my dinner ended at work :-)
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Carbohydrates
In a an age where low carb-high protein diets are 'the shit' one can be forgiven for not realising that carbohydrates play an essential part in everyday nutrition. The scary thing is, they play an even more important part in sports nutrition.
I say scary because an awful lot of fitness magazines give you allsorts of crazy advice about carbohydrates...
'don't eat fruit, it's full of sugar'
'carbs before bed will make you fat'
In this chapter i'm going to try to explain the importance of carbohydrate. I'm going to try to explain proper glycogen replenishment and why it's vitally importance. I'm going to go into 'carb loading'
I'm also going to go into the GI index, as well as touch upon pre and post exercise carbohydrate.
Finally i'll explain how to work out, how much carbohydrate you need for your particular sport while hopefully dispelling a few myths along the way.
to be continued....
ps, my pc isn't available for me to use at home so this thread may be slow for a few days. Please be patient ;D
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Some really good stuff there me freind.I'll be keeping tuned in!;)
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Top notch thread. CHeers.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the Carbohydrate info so hurry up and get a move on you workshy bastard! lol
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Carbohydrates
There are different types of carbohydrate and each type is treated differently by our bodies. For example, glucose and bran are both carbohydrates, but they are on different ends of the energy spectrum. Glucose enters the bloodstream quickly and initiates a high insulin response, while bran never makes it into the bloodstream because of it's indigestibility. It mediates the insulin response by slowing the rate that other energy sources enter the bloodtsream at.
So what does this mean for athletes?
It means that athletes should carefully consider which type of carbohydrate to fuel up. Glucose is the main source of fuel for muscular activity, so when glucose runs out, the athlete stops performing. Therefore, understanding how to prevent glucose from depleting should be the main focus of an athletes nutrition practice.
As stated before, they are different types of carbohydrates and they are split up into 2 categories.....simple and complex. (there is actually another category containing mannitol, sorbitol etc... which is the stuff found in sugar free chewing gum, but it's not so important for this topic).
Anyways...
Simple carbohydrates (sugars) are split up into the following...
Monosaccharides (single molecule carbs) - Glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose.
Disaccharides (two molecules) - sucrose, Lactose and Maltose.
Complex are split up into the following...
Oligosaccharides (3-20 molecules) - maltodextrins for example
Digestible polysaccharides (20 plus - molecule starch carbohydrate) - these complex carbohydrates should provide the main source of carbohydrate energy
Indigestible polysaccharides (20 plus molecule non starch carbohydrate) - these types of carbs provide fiber.
Now that complicated stuff is out of the way...
It's not really essential for any of you guys to know that stuff, it's just best that i cover it anyway.
So where do all the carbs go?
Humans can store somewhere in the region of 350grams in the form of muscle glycogen, and additional 90g in the liver and around 5g circulates in the blood. The larger the muscle mass, the greater storage capacity, but also the greater the potential need.
Once all glycogen replenishment is complete, excess carbohydrate may be transported to fat/muscle cells where it will be stored as fat.
Glycogen stores and replenishment
Sports nutrionists recommend that regular exercisers consume a diet which is relatively high in carbs and low in fat. This recommendation is based on the fact that carbohydrate is very important for endurance exercise since carbohydrate stores - as muscle and liver glycogen - are limited. Depletion of these stores results in fatigue and reduced performance. Think of a car that runs out of petrol/gas.
This is why pre-exercise glycogen stores need to be full. This is why you see boxers load up on carbs before a fight.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
So how much carbohydrate do i need?
I'm sure a few of you reading this are now thinking about your own carbohydrate intake. Could it be that you have severley under-estimnated your body's need for carbohydrate?
Below is a table to use and it shows how much carbohydrate is neede by an individual to support their own energy requirements.
Activity level---------------(g) carbs / kg bodyweight / day
3-5 hours/week---------------------- 4-5
5-7 hours/week---------------------- 5-6
1-2hours/day------------------------ 6-7 (number of hours of
2-4 hours/day----------------------- 7-8 moderate intensity
more than 4 hours/day--------------- 8-10 exercise or sport)
So that means that the average 70kg guy who exercises for one hour a day, would need 420g of carbohydrate per day, just to support his energy requirements. (70x6=420g). It's quite scary to think just how much is required for the guys who train for 2-4 hours per day at a high intensity.
But won't all these carbs get stored as fat?
Ultimately no, because exercise depletes glycogen stores. So the carbohydrates taken in would go towards replenishing lost glycogen. You see, glycogen replenishment is sorta like refuelling your car.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
So if Carbs don't make you fat, why do 'experts' recommend high protein, low carb diets?
There is a misconception (and it is actually one that i used to share) that cutting carbs out of your diet will result in fat loss. There is also a misconception that consumed protein can be stored directly as muscle.
Therefore, the advice of eating loads of protein and cutting carbs, will result in fat loss and muscle maintenence has become quite common.
The problem is, these diets are normally endorsed by some random celebrity (jade goody anyone?) who hasn't got the slightest idea of how to lose weight. Once the endorsement is there, the diet becomes popular. The truth gets lost and the dieters get frustrated as any weight they lose from the 'fad diets' returns almost as quickly as they lost it.
So why don't these diets work?
If you cut out all carbohydrates you will lose weight. That doesn't mean the diet works. You see, you will lose weight in the form of glycogen, water and lean tissue, yet the thing you most want to get rid of is still there (fat) and it's now harder to shift than ever.
For every gram of carbohydrate consumed, 3-4 times equivalent of water is also dragged into muscle cells. So when you drop carbohydrates from your diet, muscle glycogen becomes severley depleted, which in turn depletes all the water from muscle cells. So yeah, you will lose a lot of weight quickly, but it's not the right kind of weight.
On top of that, you will lose muscle tissue as you are not consuming enough carbohydrate to support your existing lean tissue. Protein will also be broken down and used for energy. To make matters worse, the less muscle mass you have, the harder it is to lose bodyfat.
Another problem with severly dropping calories (not just carbs) is your metabolism will slow right down which is also a very bad thing when you want to lose fat. The best dieting method for cutting fat is to decrease calorie intake by about 15%. Anyways i'll go into that a little bit later on.
to be continued...
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Ok, you've convinced me, i won't cut carbs...
But what kind of carbohydrates should i eat?
Ever heard of the Glycemic Index (GI index)? You probably have. The GI Index is used to describe the effect different foods have on your blood sugar levels. Low GI carbs are what you will want to base your diet around. High GI carbs may be useful during the Glycogen replenishment stage that takes place immediately after exercise (again i'll go through that later).
Not all carbohydrates are equal!
This will become apparent to you when you look at the GI Index (which i will go through soon). It's tempting to think that simple carbs are absorbed quicker than complex carbs, and that they produce a large and rapid rise in blood sugar. Unfortunately it's not that simple. For example, apples (containing simple carbs) produce a small and prolonged rise in blood sugar, despite being high in simple carbs. Many complex carbs such as bread and potatoes are digested and absorbed very quickly and give a rapid rise in blood sugar. So the old notion that simple carbs give you fast energy and complex carbs give you slow burning energy is actually misleading.
So why do some fitness websites tell you to lay off fruit when wanting to lose weight?
Because they have most likely got as far as seeing that fruit is made up of fructose and fructose is a simple carbohydrate. That's probably as far as they have thought it through.
to be continued...(because it's home time :D)
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
The GI Index
Glycaemic Index Tables
That is probably the most comprehensive GI index i have seen on the internet.
How is the GI worked out?
The GI value of a food is worked by out by feeding 10 or more healthy people a portion of food containing 50g of carbohydrate. For example, you would eat a 250g baked potato which contains 50g carbs. Over the next 2 hours a sample of blood is taken every 15 minutes and the blood sugar level is measured. On another occasion, the same 10 people consume 50g of glucose. Their response to the potato is compared with their blood sugar response to 50g of glucose.
50g of glucose equates to 100 on the GI index.
Glucose is used as the yardstick to measure everything against. A baked potato registers as 85 which means it produces a rise in blood sugar which is 85% as great as that produced after eating an equivalent amount of glucose.
So how do i integrate the GI Index into my diet?
Use the GI Index to select mainly low GI carbohydrate. Low GI should make up the bulk of your carbohydrate intake, with the exception of post workout where high GI carbs may come in handy (more on that later).
What are the drawbacks of the GI?
The biggest drawback is that GI Index doesn't take account of the portion size you are eating, For example, watermelon has a GI of 72 which makes it high, which would make it a no-no for the low GI seekers. However an average slice (120g) only contains around 6g of carbs. So you would need to eat around 8 slices to obtain around 50g of carbs - the amount used in the GI test.
Also many (not all) vegetables appear to have a high GI value. However their carbohydrate content is so low that you would have to eat an absolute mountain of it for it to have any significant effect on blood sugar.
Another drawback is that some foods that are high in fat have a low GI value. The GI of crisps or chips is lower than the GI of a baked potato. Fat reduces the rate at which food is digested but saturated and trans fats can push up heart disease risk.
The bottom line is this - Don't just select foods by their GI value. Check out their protein and fat content aswell. Watch out for saturated and trans fats!
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
So know you know about the glycemic index, so you should hopefully be able to select the right sources of carbohydrates to support your goals (low GI, pretty much all the way).
You also know how many grams of carbohydrates you need daily, to support your existing weight and exercise levels.
So taking into account that you should aim to eat a small meal every 3 hours (6 times per day, roughly), you should now be able to figure out just how much carbohydrates are required with each meal...
Before you simply divide you total intake by 6, please read on...
Pre-Exercise
Ideally you should consume a meal 2-4 hours before training. This will enable enough time for your stomach to feel settled which should help you to have a comfortable work out (not too full - not too hungry).
Obviously the time of the meal will very much depend on your daily schedule and the time of day you plan to train.
A little bit of trial and error may be necessary here to figure out what works best for you. Eating too close to your training session may make you feel too full and uncomfortable, whereas leaving too long an interval between eating and training puts you at risk of hypogylcemia (low blood sugar...pretty shitty feeling to be honest).
How much Carbohydrate?
Most studies seem to settle on around 2.5g carbohydrate/kg of bodyweight, around about 3 hours before exercise. This sounds like an awful lot, but when you consider that a 45 minutes weights session can deplete around 40% of total glycogen stores then the figure doesn't seem so ridiculous.
So the average 70k athlete would need to consume 175g carbohydrate 3 hours before exercise.
I know this may go against peoples conventional wisdom and a few skeptics are probably worried about fat gain from consuming too many carbohydrates, but maximum glycogen storage is very beneficial when you're about to embark on an intense bout of exercise.
Of course you may need to experiment to find the exact quanity and timings to suit yourself but following the above guidelines will stand you in very good stead.
to be continued...
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
During Exercise
For most activities lasting less than an hour, drinking anything other than water is unnecessary, provided your pre-exercise muscle glycogen levels are high. So basically if you've eaten a carbohydrate containing meal 2-4 hours before, then you'll be fine with just water.
If you are exercising for longer than 60 minutes ata moderate-high intensity, comsuming carbohydrate during exercise can be beneficial. During the first 60 minutes of exercise, most of your carbohydrate energy comes from muscle glycogen. After that, muscle glycogen stores deplete significantly, so the exercising muscles must use carbohydrates from other source. That's where blood sugar (glucose) comes into it. As you continue on, more and more glucose is taken from the bloodstream. Eventually, after around 2-3 hours, your muscles will be fuelled purely by glucose and fat. Unfortunately amino acids are now likely to be used for fuel aswell as liver glycogen. Once liver glycogen runs low, you may be in danger of experiencing hypoglycaemia...which is very unpleasant.
Clearly then, consuming additional carbohydrate whilst training, would stabilise blood glucose sugar levels thus allowing you to exercise longer.
So how much carbohydrate should i have?
Around 30-60g per hour is best. It's important to consume these carbohydrates before fatigue sets in. Don't wait for it! This is because it takes around 30 minutes for the carbohydrate to enter the bloodstream.
The best strategy would be to consume the carbohydrates soon after the start of your workout (30 minutes into it at the latest).
Note: continually consuming carbohydrates whilst training will not allow to train indefinately...pretty sure you'll have grasped that anyway :lickish:
Which foods or drinks are best?
High or Moderate GI carbs are best as they raise blood sugar levels and reach muscles more rapidly. Whether you choose liquids or solids makes very little difference to your performance, provided you drink water with your solid carbohydrate. Liquid forms of carbohydrates are probably more convenient. If you prefer to consume food aswell as drinks during exercise, energy pr sports nutrition bars, sports gels, ripe bananas, raisins or fruit bars are all perfectly fine. Just be sure to drink water at the same time. Whether you choose liquid or solid carbohydrate, aim to consume at least 1 litre fluid per hour.
to be continued....(sorry if it's moving slow, my comp at home is fooked):mad:
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Suitable foods and drinks to consume during exercise
I said before that 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour, whilst training would be very beneficial. Below is a table explaining the required quantities of different foods, required to consume 30g of carbohydrates.
Isotonic Sports Drink (6g carbs/100ml) - 500ml
Glucose Polymer Drink (12g carbs/100ml) - 250ml
Raisins or Sultanas - 1 Handful
Cereal or Breakfast Bar - 1 Bar
Energy Gel - 1 Sachet
Bananas - 1-2 Bananas, depending on size
Obviously to consume 60g of carbohydrate you would have to double the portion sizes shown above.
Just a quick note on energy gels
Be sure to drink plenty of water with energy gels. If you don't consume enough water with them, you will end up with a gelatinous goo in your belly, which will drag water into your stomach which increases the risk of dehydration. Aim to consume around 350-400ml of water along with it. Maybe split this up into two servings of 175ml-200ml per half sachet. This amount of water will give it a 7% solution (in your stomach) which is the equivalent to an isotonic sports drink. Stick to the above guidelines and try not to be too liberal with the water. Whilst dehydration is a risk when consuming insufficient amounts of water, comsume too much water and not enough carbs will get inside the muscles so you won't get that vital energy boost. So follow the above guidelines for maximum effectiveness.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
I've just spent an hour adding to this thread and the fucker timed out
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ono
I've just spent an hour adding to this thread and the fucker timed out
:mad:
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been there and done it. it sux. notepad or MS word is your friend.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Salty
I think you've got the lactate shuttle a little wrong mate, the way I understood it worked was...
- Pyruvate (pyruvic acid) is formed when glycogen and glucose are being broken down at high rates in your muscles (called glycolysis which is the conversion of these into pyruvate). Pyruvate is then converted to Lactate (lactic acid) as it increases in the muscles.
- Lactate is now formed and transported away from the muscle cells into surrounding tissue and blood. This allows glycolysis to persist and thus continuing the supply of energy to our muscles.
- The muscle cells which the lactate is transported to can cause the lactate to be broken down to fuel (mainly ATP) or can be used to build glycogen.
Everything Ive read says its Hydrogen,but keep in mind,those findings were only published a couple of years ago
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Post Exercise - carbohydrates
Glycogen Depletion
Intensive training severley depletes your body's glycogen stores. Just how much they're depleted depends very much on the intensity of the training session/event and the duration of it. Another factor that comes into it is - how full your glycogen stores were before exercise. For example, if you commenced training without adequately refuelling from the previous days exercise, you will reach glycogen depletion much more rapidly - as would a car that was running on half a fuel tank, as opposed to a car running on a full on. Simple.
The higher the intensity, the more glycogen you use. For example, explosive activities such as sprints, jumps or lifts and high intensity activities such as running will deplete glycogen stores much more quickly than low intensity exercise would.
The duration also has a bearing on how much glycogen is used. For example you would use more more glycogen running for one hour than you would if you ran at the same pace for only half an hour.
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Glycogen Replenishment and Muscle Damage
Certain activities which involve eccentric movements (heavy weight training, plyometrics or hard running) can cause muscle fibre damage. Muscle damage delays glycogen replenishment, so complete glycogen replenishment can take as long as 7-10 (when there is muscle damage).
Without muscle damage, glycogen replenishment takes around 20-22 hours provided you have an adequate nutrition plan
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
I've decided to use word for long messages now to prevent what happened yesterday happening again.
So the text looks different....and smaller for some reason.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
How much carbohydrate should I consume after exercise?
I’ll cut to the chase here. You need around 1g carbohydrate/kg of bodyweight immediately after exercise has ended. So the average 70kg athlete would require 70g of carbohydrate straight after training.
And after that….
After intensive training your body enters a period, which lasts around 6 hours, where the rate of glycogen replenishment is increased. It has 3 stages
0-2 hours after training – replenishment is approx 150% the normal rate
2-6 hours after training – replenishment slows down but still faster than normal
6+ hours after training – replenishment is back to normal
So clearly, refilling glycogen stores (with carbohydrate) would be very beneficial during this period.
Why is glycogen replenishment faster during this period?
Firstly, eating carbohydrate stimulates insulin release, which in turn, increases the amount of glucose taken up by the muscle cells from the bloodstream, and stimulates the action of the glycogen – manufacturing enzymes. Secondly, post-exercise, the muscle cell membranes are more permeable to glucose so they can take up more glucose than normal.
So what would be the ideal carbohydrate plan for after training?
Immediately after – 1g carbs/kg of bodyweight
1-2 hours later – 50g carbs (minimum)
1-2 hours later – 50g carbs (minimum)
The above is a guideline and some trial and error may be necessary. At the end of the day we’re all different and we all have different goals. Anyway the above plan would have the average athlete consuming around 170g of carbohydrate during the 6 hour period.
Are high GI or low GI carbohydrates best for recovery?
Since high GI foods cause a rapid increase in blood sugar levels, it seems logical that high GI foods would increase glycogen replenishment, during the initial post-exercise period. A shed load of studies have backed up this fact. So science suggests that high GI would be the way to go post-workout. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as that.
This is because after 24 hours, regardless of whether you’ve eaten low GI or high GI foods, muscle glycogen storage is about the same. So although high GI foods get you off to a fast start, low GI foods will result in the same level of recovery 24 hours after exercise. There are also performance benefits of a low GI recovery diet – it may improve your endurance the following day. So if you’re training every day, low GI may be the right way to go.
So what should I do?
The best thing to do would be to consume high GI foods during the first 2 hours after exercise. The remainder of your post-exercise recovery should be made up of /low GI foods. Once the 6 hour window has expired, you should be consuming low GI foods as normal.
So...
0-2 hours after exercise - 1g carbs/kg of bodyweight (high GI)
2-4 hours after exercise - 50g of low GI
4-6 hours after exercise - 50g of low GI
6+ hours after exercise - normal diet resumes.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Trainer Monkey
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Salty
I think you've got the lactate shuttle a little wrong mate, the way I understood it worked was...
- Pyruvate (pyruvic acid) is formed when glycogen and glucose are being broken down at high rates in your muscles (called glycolysis which is the conversion of these into pyruvate). Pyruvate is then converted to Lactate (lactic acid) as it increases in the muscles.
- Lactate is now formed and transported away from the muscle cells into surrounding tissue and blood. This allows glycolysis to persist and thus continuing the supply of energy to our muscles.
- The muscle cells which the lactate is transported to can cause the lactate to be broken down to fuel (mainly ATP) or can be used to build glycogen.
Everything Ive read says its Hydrogen,but keep in mind,those findings were only published a couple of years ago
You are right, although the definition of an acid is that it is a H+ donator. The strength of an acid is how easily it gives up a H+ ion, the stronger they are the more ions they give up. I think what you have read may be in regards to muscle failure where there is a drop in pH? Although I have read articles which say where the lactate is distributed depends on the concentration of the H+ however can't really remember too much.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Carbohydrate Loading
For those that don't know, carbohydrate loading is a technique devised in the 1960's to increase the muscles' glycogen stores above normal levels. The idea behind it being...the more glycogen you have available, the longer and harder you can exercise. This is potentially advantageous in endurance events lasting longer than 90 minutes and events which involve multiple heats or several short matches.
It is unlikely to benefit you if your event lasts less than 90 minutes as muscle gylcogen depletion would not be a limiting factor to your performance.
It is believed that carbohydrate loading increases time to exhaustion by around 20% and improves performance by 2-3%.
The classical 6 day regimen involved 2 bouts of of glycogen depleting exercise seperated by 3 days of low carbohydrate intake and followed by 3 days of high carbohydrate intake and minimal exercise.
The theory behind this 2 phase regimen is that glycogen depletion stimulates the activity of glycogen synthetase, the key enzyme involved in glycogen storage...resulting in above normal levels of muscle gylcogen.
Drawbacks
Not only did it interfere with exercise tapering, but the low carbohydrate diets left the athletes feeling rather shitty - weak, tired etc...
Add that to the fact that a lot of athletes never ended up achieving above normal glycogen levels. So the object was defeated really.
The correct way
The carbohydrate depletion stage isn't really required. It does more damage than good generally. A better way of loading would be to taper training on 6 consecutive days while following a normal diet during the first 3, followed by a carbohydrate rich diet during the next 3. That would leave you going into competition with above normal levels of muscle glycogen.
A clever way
You can also reach the same state of glycogen saturation by following this protocal...
High levels of glycogen can be achieved by taking in 10g of carbohydrate/1kg of bodyweight over the course of a single day, following a 3 minute bout of high intensity exercise. The rate of glycogen storage is greatly increased after such a workout. The advantage of this regimen is that only 1 day is required instead of 6, and very little change to our usual programme needs to be made.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
That pretty much brings me to the end of the carbohydrate chapter...
Time to go over a summary of the key points.
- A carbohydrate intake of 5-7g / kg bodyweight / day is recommended for regular exercisers, and 7-10g / kg bodyweight / day is recommended during periods of intense training.
- The GI Index is a more useful way of categorising carbohydrates for athletes, than the traditional 'complex' versus 'simple' classification.
- The GI is a ranking of carbohydrate based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. Carbohydrates with a high GI ratingproduce a rapid rise in blood sugar; those with a low GI rating produce a slow rise in blood sugar
- Pre-exercise meal should contain approx 2.5g carbohydrate / kg bodyweight and should be consumed 2-3 hours before exercise. Carbohydrate should be in the form of Low GI.
- For moderate-high intensity exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, consuming 30-60g of moderate or high GI carbohydrate (in solid or liquids) during exercise can help maintain exercise intensity for longer
- Glycogen recovery takes just over 20 hours but depends on the severity of glycogen depletion, extent of muscle damage and the amount, quality and timing of carbohydrate consumed.
- Replenishment is quicker than normal during the 6 hour post exercise window, although it tapers down and goes back to normal after the 6 hour period.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Protein
Ok in this topic i'm going to try to cover the following...
- The role of protein in the body
- Essential and non-essential amino acids
- Complete and incomplete proteins
- Protein requirements for athletes
- Working out your protein needs
- Meeting your protein needs
- What happens if you eat too much protein
- And anything else that comes up that i want to talk about. Hopefully i'll be able to dispell a few myths and give you a better idea of how to effectively fit protein into your diet.
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Protein and it's role in the body
The word protein means 'of primary importance' and is one of the essential food ingredients that plays a critical role in human metabolism
(metabolism: a term used to describe all biochemical reactions within an organsim - you for example)
Structure: Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids; a group of organic compounds that contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur...(yawn :-\.....;D)
The chains are formed by single amino acids bonding together as a peptide bond. If two amino acids combine together the result is a dipeptide and if three amino acids combine together the result is a (you guessed it...)tripeptide. Chains of 4-10 amino acids result in a peptide chain and 10-2,000 or more are referred to as polypeptides.
A protein may consist of only one polypeptide chain, or several that are folded together. The order of the amino acids along with the chain determines the nature and action of the protein.
There are between 20 and 25 protein amino acids that have been identified and in combination these can form an infinite number of proteins in the body in just the same way as the 26 letters of the alphabet are able to make up hundreds of thousands of words.
to be continued...
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
I'm hopefully going to crack on with this over the next few weeks. Sorry for the delay, i've been away from the board and been really busy with coursework.
:)
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Aha you fwockers though i'd forget all about this thread. I've been reeally busy with my coursework.
Ok anyway...protein...
So what is Protein i hear you ask, and why the hell do i need it?
Protein makes up part of the structure of every single cell and tissue in your body. Muscle tissue, organs, tendons, skin, hair, nails. Protein is needed for the growth and formation of new tissue (not kleenex), for tissue repair (not kleenex, i need new material i think), for energy production. It's also required to make up the various enzymes that speed up chemical reactions in the body, as well as being required to make hormones. Protein also plays a part in in maintaining water balance in tissues, transporting nutrients in and out of cells, carrying o2 and regulating blood clotting.
You see, it's not just a powder afterall. ;)
Like i said earlier
'Structure: Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids; a group of organic compounds that contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur...(yawn :-\.....;D)
The chains are formed by single amino acids bonding together as a peptide bond. If two amino acids combine together the result is a dipeptide and if three amino acids combine together the result is a (you guessed it...)tripeptide. Chains of 4-10 amino acids result in a peptide chain and 10-2,000 or more are referred to as polypeptides.
A protein may consist of only one polypeptide chain, or several that are folded together. The order of the amino acids along with the chain determines the nature and action of the protein.
There are between 20 and 25 protein amino acids that have been identified and in combination these can form an infinite number of proteins in the body in just the same way as the 26 letters of the alphabet are able to make up hundreds of thousands of words.'
Basically that's how proteins are made up. This next bit might not help you with your training goals but it's a fun video to watch as it explains how your body manufactures proteins and how it decides what to do with them once they are complete. It's amazing.
Quick explanation...
DNA has the instructions for building every single protein in your body
The DNA is unwound (process is called transcription) to expose the genetic instructions to assemble the specific protein
A machine copies this instruction to form a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA)
The mRNA pulls the genetic code out of the cell nucleus(where the DNA is) and takes it to a complex called a ribosome.
The process of translation now begins...
Inside the ribosome a molecular assembly line builds a specificly sequenced chain of amino acids. These amino acids are transported from other parts of the cell.
Their sequencial arrangement determines the type of protein manufactured
When the chain is finished it's moved and folded into a protein (the shape it's folded into depends on it's function). After it's folded into a protein it is released to travel to it's required location. It does this with the help of a shuttle.
Anyway...watch the video, it's amazing.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=983lhh...eature=related
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Re: Sports Nutrition Bible
Whoa, this stuff takes me back :)
Good advice been given here guys.
I'd personally be interested to hear more about polyols - Malitol, sorbitol etc They weren't about when I got my qualification in nutrition. (Or at least they weren't as used as they are today). I know they are an alcohol derivative but interested to know more about these interesting carbs.