Endurance Sports Nutrition: Keeping Yourself Hydrated And Fueled

What keeps a triathlon athlete going in spite of the heat and long hours of vigorous physical activity is a properly hydrated and fueled body. In endurance sports, nutrition is equivalent to keeping oneself hydrated at all times, especially during the game. If you don’t give yourself the proper nutrition it needs, your game performance will suffer.

Sports that require special attention to endurance nutrition (and thus help you level up your performance) are: running, swimming, triathlon, cycling, rowing, mountain biking, adventure racing, cross-country skiing, mountaineering and trekking.

Let us say that you have prepared yourself for an endurance sport. Your nutrition focuses on giving you enough fuel to last you a day of vigorous physical activity. You eat foods rich in protein to keep your muscles fit for the game and carbohydrates to give you enough energy and fuel your muscles to run fast, steady, and consistently. What else can you do to perform much better in endurance sports?

Here are some endurance sports nutrition suggested by athletes and trainers:

Endurance Sports Nutrition Tip – Hydrate Yourself

1. Start the day with a full tank of water.

Athletes don’t eat during a game. But they do drink water. Studies show, of which common people now know, that humans can last a month without eating but will die immediately without water for 3 days to one week. That is how important water is to our body.

Many people die of diarrhea because of dehydration. Hydration is an important nutrition component to humans, most especially to athletes involved in endurance sports. So the endurance sports nutrition tip from athletes and trainers: drink lots of water before the game.

Hydration is the key to winning endurance sports competition. And drinking water before the game starts puts you in a great headstart.

2. Hydrate yourself regularly during the game.

Drink often during the game. Most endurance sports nutrition guide books will tell you the same thing. Athletes in endurance sports sweat off two quarts of water per hour especially in hot and humid weather. So, you must drink at least four up to eight ounces of water every fifteen to twenty minutes. Sports drink may also replace water.

Here’s some tip that endurance sports nutrition guide books may not have told you: to know when it is time to gulp on your water or sports drink bottle, set your timer to alarm every 15 or 20 minutes within 24 hours.

Freeze your drinking bottles and then pack them up in insulated foams to keep it cool. Even if you don’t sweat still do gulp down the liquid in your drinking bottle. You may not know it and may not notice it but you may have sweat more than you think of.

3. Pack up extra bottles.

Carry more drinking bottles if you can. Don’t be afraid to look like a camel with extra hump at your back. You need all those liquids in your endurance sport. It will keep you going and in shape.

Besides, you will drain these drinking bottles one at a time every 15 or 20 minutes. At that rate, you may not even know that your endurance sports drinks have been drained down your esophageal pipes.

Endurance sport nutrition question: Water or sports drink?

In endurance sports nutrition, it has debated whether water or sports drink should be consumed by an athlete competing in endurance sports.

Researches have shown that endurance sports athletes (competing under the sweltering heat of the sun) who were provided with water as a means of hydrating themselves replace only one and half to two thirds of fluid loss, while those who were given with sports drink have shown hydration nearly to a hundred percent.

The reason for this is that sports drink contains electrolytes (sodium, potassium and magnesium) which help retain fluid in the body and balance the presence of these minerals that are vital in normal bodily function.

We lose electrolytes when we sweat. Dizziness, muscle cramps, extreme exhaustion, and irregular heartbeat are the symptoms of electrolytes loss in the body.

According to endurance nutrition experts, many athletes lose endurance due to low level of electrolytes. In fact, according to endurance sports nutrition magazines, some athletes even die due to electrolytes loss.

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Sports nutrition and exercise in the ancient times

Believe it or not, sports nutrition and exercise have been part of man's life and his culture since the earliest time. Of course, sports during this time was known as athletics. Earliest forms of athletics, however, were part of man's basic need for survival, either to gather food or protect his family from physical harm.

To a simple cave man who knows nothing about martial arts, a sturdy bone from his last dinner may serve as a weapon against wild animals. This bone remnant, coupled with some sharpened stone chips from his cave, is used for hunting. Eventually, his regular hunting activities had developed into some form of physical acts, without so much need to hunt.

Athletics was thus born. Athletics eventually developed into a contest of strength, speed, and other skills. Sports would later developed out of this, with the simple contest developing into a more complicated form of physical activity, and with it the need for sustenance, completing the equation of sports nutrition and exercise.

But even during the earliest time, athletics or sports was never a monopoly of the male sex. In the Heraen Games for instance, women raced in honor of the goddess Hera. The Egyptians had their acrobatic gymnastics for their temple related activities. And, of course, the sports dance had evolved from religious related dance performed in every major temple in antiquity.

To the early Greeks however, belongs the honor of elevating the sports into an art form. The Olympic Games is the strongest argument for this. Also, the Greeks, apparently knows that sports nutrition and exercise are two important factors in any physical exercise. Even during this time, the Greeks had special set of foods for their athletes.

Nutrition patterns of the early Greeks

In the Mediterranean world, Greeks particularly, goats is the most common source of meat, and occasionally, beef from sacrificed cattle. Just like in the modern day, milk was also considered as a must for a good meal, especially for the athletes. Sports nutrition and exercise among the early Greeks meant also the inclusion of other source of protein, fish for instance, which the seas of Mediterranean is known for in the ancient times. Poultry was also part of the early Greeks' diet.

Vegetables and carbohydrates were also considered as important element of sports nutrition and exercise among the ancient people. Even among the soldiers of the Roman Empire, a balance diet is important to maintain their strength, both in the battlefield and during exercise.

Alexander the Great was known to have discovered the nutritional value of onions that from Egypt, he brought some specimens and had these planted and later cultivated in other parts of his empire. The Romans, just like the Greeks, used cabbage not only as food, but also as antidote for their drunken soldiers. Beets, turnips, artichokes, and radishes also form the long list of edible vegetables cultivated and used during this period.

The ancient athlete's diet

Just like today's coaches, trainers during the ancient times occupied an exalted place among their people, and also among the athletes themselves. They not only provide exercise regimen for their athletes but also directly involve in the preparation of foods for their charges. Sports nutrition and exercise apparently, is a concept not lost to the early coaches and athletes.

From the foods that consisted the regular diet of the ancient athletes, such as cheese, figs, and meal cakes, the attempt of the ancient trainers to developed special meal for their athletes were apparent.

Though meat was not consumed in large quantities by the athletes during originally, it was observed later that athletes who are given regular dosage of meat for protein source, had more long lasting strength. It was in the fifth century BC, when meat became a craze among the ancient athletes.

During this time, Slymphalos, an Olympic champion in the in the long-distance race, introduced the meat diet to help athletes in their exercises. It was the earliest attempt of a professional athlete to come up with a systematized sports nutrition and exercise. Milo of Croton, won five Olympic awards from 536 to 520 B.C., was reputed to have consumed 9 kilogram of meat during his training period.

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9 Reasons Why You Should Use Optimum Sports Nutrition

Sports nutrition plays a central role in any exercise regimen. Even if you're born with natural physical prowess, this won't sustain you in your workouts. A diet with enough nutrition will not only help you during exercise but will stimulate the feeling well-being, inspiring you to continue with your regimen.

1. During workout, your body undergoes a tremendous activity unmatched by any man-made machine. It is during this exercise that your manifest the genius of its design. But it comes with a great price. Your body uses all of the strength it can use, depleting in the process the energy reserves in your body. This is the reason why you need optimum sports nutrition.

2. The harder you exercise, the faster the reserve energy depletion is. It follows that during this heavy physical activity, you will be exhausted tremendously. Worst, you wouldn't have enough reserve energy to sustain you during the exercise. If you are using optimum sports nutrition, your body will sustain itself, and will help to stabilize the sugar level in your body to help it recover faster after the exercise.

3. Hours after a workout, it is natural to feel a lingering fatigue, particularly if you are not taking optimum sports nutrition. This not only slows your muscles' recovery but also will affect you psychologically. When this happens, your entire body is affected, whose care is the very reason why you're into sports in the first place.

4. Optimum sports nutrition was designed and formulated specifically to suit your need before and during the workout. Optimum sports nutrition, aside from giving you sustenance during the workout, will also give you "extra" nutrients left for you to work with as the body heals itself.

But why engage in heavy workout and optimum sports nutrition in the first place? Because your body will "learn" from this activities, boosting your immune system in the process. Optimum sports nutrition also means optimal capacity for your body to heal itself faster, bringing your body into next level higher each time.

5. Optimum sports nutrition contains complex and simple carbohydrates blended into maximum amount to give an exhaustible nutrients source. This perfect blend carbs will help your body utilize energy without depleting your reserve energy necessary for recovery. Many commercial sports nutrition uses calories for their formula using simple carbohydrates that easily results in unstable flow of blood sugar in your body.

If the sugar content in your blood is at the optimal level, oxygen consumption assured, helping your body to sustain during intense exercise. Oxygen consumption also helps in preserving the tissues, which need doubled amount of oxygen during your regimen

Optimum sports nutrition after exercise

6. Optimal recovery is just as important as optimum energy during exercise. Your fast and efficient recovery will help your body to heal faster and prepare itself fort he next schedule. This is where optimum sports nutrition comes in after your exercise.

7. After the heavy regimen, your body will automatically use all available energy it can utilize. A nutritional supplement high in quality protein is important to give your body the raw materials for muscle growth and repair.

8. Remember the early Greek athletes? They usually consume large quantities of meat after every contest in sports. They already knew by then, that something in the meat helps the body to recover after the unbelievably hard exercise. This importance of the protein is not lost to our modern day bodybuilders. It is not lost to them that protein goes a long way in maintaining health during and after intense exercise.

This is also the right time to do away with what some sports "experts" today proposes that high protein content in your sports nutrition will harm you. If protein did not harm the early Greeks, so are you.

9. Last is the quality. Optimum sports nutrition gives you the highest in quality standards, against commercially available nutrition sports. This is your last safeguard against consuming substandard sports nutrition products, which will put your training in jeopardy. This will also help you to realize that quality is more important than taste. Don't look for ice-cream tasting sports nutrients because taste is a matter of practice, just like your exercise regimen.

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Charts on sports nutrition: Guides for a healthier, sportier bod

Athletics is an endeavor that has become increasingly lucrative as time goes by. The modern world has come up with more and more ways to expound the potential of athletes in the most convenient ways possible. A wide variety of exercise and diet programs have been conceived to make sure that the body achieves its highest potential.

To aid the athletes in becoming the demi-gods of physical fitness, business have launched many products such as vitamins and exercise gadgets. Media has provided lots of information that can assist anyone who is into getting fit. Resources such as books, videos and other instructional materials have bombarded their way right into cyberspace.

As examples, here are some very helpful knowledge from several charts on sports nutrition which disseminates information coming from some experts in physical fitness.

The web site of the University of Illinois Extension featured a food guide system that helps in evaluating the effectiveness of one's diet. This pyramid training table guide provided five divisions of food groups, each division equipped with the list of major nutrients supplied by those foods included in the group.

Here are the food groups from the chart that can help enhance a diet:

1. Milk, cheese and yogurt Group

Gives calcium, protein, riboflavin and vitamin A.

2. Vegetable Group

Sources of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins C and A. Includes veggies such as spinach, tomatoes and broccoli.

3. Meat, fish, eggs, nuts and beans Group

Primary protein source. Also contains iron, thiamin and zinc.

Another useful chart on sports nutrition gives off the main functions of the four main nutrients needed by the body and the recommended intake for each.

Carbohydrates - It is the primary source of energy which is especially needed for the majority of bodily functions. Carbs are essential for high-intensity exercise.

Water - the most important nutrient mainly because the human body is composed of sixty percent of it. Water reduces body fat, eliminates toxins and waste, aids in the maintenance of muscle tone and also keeps the skin moist and healthy. It helps regulate body temperature especially during intense workouts.

Protein - Responsible for the growth of body tissue and the creation of hormones, enzymes and antibodies. It is also responsible for the balance of electrolytes and fluid in the body.

Fat - It also provides energy and also maintains body temperature. Fats protect the organs and carries fatty acids essential to the body.

Another chart on sports nutrition gives great food alternatives for those who want to knock off considerable amount of calories from their diet. Here are examples:

-Have English muffins or half portion of a bagel instead of donuts for snacks or breakfast.

-Use 2 egg whites instead of 1 whole egg for cooking.

-Drink water in place of sodas or canned fizzy beverages.

-Opt for skinless chicken instead of the deep-fried variety.

-Put in non-fat dry milk in coffee instead of regular creamers.

-Enjoy jams in place of butter when having bagels and toasts.

-Use light dressings, oils or vinegars over regular dressings when making salads.

-Order pizza with lots of veggies instead of the ones with loads of cheese.

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Get your year-round supply of discount sports nutrition

Why insist on buying costly sports nutrition if you can have discount sports nutrition?

Discount sports nutrition products and discount sports nutrition supplements are logical choices. Not cheap, mind you, but, actually clever. You will find products that are reasonably within your reach in discount sports nutrition stores.

Whether you’re into marathon, cycling, running, swimming, or weightlifting, discount sports nutrition stores give you a wide array of products to choose from. Discount sports nutrition offers all types of supplements, energy bar gels, sports energy drinks and other beverages, muscle development supplements, and other elements in the world of sports nutrition. Frankly, staying fit does not really mean breaking the bank.

For particular nutritional products, discount sports nutrition is a best source for the best available quality, like Amino acids, multi-nutrition content bars, muscle enhancing milk products, carb products, endurance enhancing producsts, whey supplements, and other specialized sports nutrient products.

Muscle-building package available at discount sports nutrition store

You can accelerate your training results by choosing the appropriate sports nutrition available on discount. It is for no reason that sports scientists have spent millions of dollars for research and development of supplements specifically targeted at people with special on muscle-building.

If you’re into weights or just athletically involved, you should be taking supplements right to supports your body’s particular need on building muscle fiber. While it is true than you can have results in your body even without the benefit of supplements, the extra works is by logic, needs extra nutrients, i.e., supplements. Particularly after workouts, the needs extra nutrients to repair its damaged muscle tissue, and it is here that the need for supplements is very obvious. Of course, dramatic results are also possible only when you’re using supplements.

Human growth hormone products

Also available at discount sports nutrition store are Human growth hormone products, better known as HGH. Bodybuilders, and other athletes that are into strength or resistance exercise can have immense benefit from HGH based products. There’s nothing to worry about taking HGH. Human growth hormone is a hormone that can be found naturally in our body. What HGH based products do is nothing but add a little bit more of this hormone.

This hormone also serves as a buffer whenever our muscles undergo extreme stress during exercise. Muscles also use this hormone to repair itself, during rest period. This hormone also produces lean muscles, which is one of the most coveted result in any other fitness program. Developing lean muscles will also result in decreasing body fat percentage. Endurance, energy production, and overall athletic performance will also improve by taking this hormone.

Protein and nitrogen products

Discount sports nutrition stores are also good sources of Glutamine products. Glutamine products are important to support any exercise regimen. This micronutrient enhances the ability of our muscles to recover after intense exercise. Glutamine also increases HGH production, thus, further improving the ability of the body recover after regimen. Glutamine also increases protein synthesis and nitrogen retention. This retention is important for the body to have a standby nutrient for emergency needs.

Other micronutrients in their elemental forms are also available in discount sports nutrition stores. Some of the micronutrients that make up the long list are vitamin C, vitamin E, bee honey and nutrients in concentrated form needed by athletes to build their strength and endurance.

Discount sports nutrition stores normally maintain a huge selection of bodybuilding supplements, sports nutritional supplements, general health and fitness nutrition goods, and other nutrients such as creatine, whey protein, weight loss supplements and weight gainers supplements. Other products with specific role are also available.

Countless studies had proven that taking these nutrients in combination improves absorption. Vitamins and other micronutrients are particularly known to exhibit these properties. Latest research also points to the positive synergy created by taking these micronutrients in combination. This synergy type of working has been observed also in other compound nutrients containing these micronutrients.

And because we’re talking about discount sports nutrition, we’re talking about discounted products. So, whether you want to lose some of the excess weight, or gain much needed muscle mass, you don't really need to stress over how much their little helpers will cost you -- discount sports nutrition is your ultimate answer.

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Sports Nutrition: Energy Levels and High-vitamin Diets.

Good nutrition is very important regardless of which sport you do. A variety of nutrients are needed in your daily diet to keep fit and healthy.

A balanced diet should provide the right proportions of carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals, water and dietary fiber.

Energy is the most important nutritional factor for any form of physical activity. Carbohydrate and fat are the main fuels used by exercising muscles. Vitamins and minerals are also crucial in energy metabolism. A diet deficient in vitamin and minerals can compromise sporting performance.

The importance of a high-vitamin diet

In order to obtain vitamins and minerals, athletes need to eat a wide assortment of nutrient-dense foods in amounts that will maintain energy balance. This means that a person must consume 1,200 to1,500 kilo-calories a day.

Meeting vitamin and mineral requirements when energy intake is 3,000 kcal/day or higher (as is among male and female ice hockey and cross country skiers) is actually easy. Even athletes whose energy intakes may be about 2,000 kcal/day can meet their vitamin and mineral needs from food alone.

As long as a wide variety of foods are eaten, vitamin and mineral intake is adequate. Supplementation therefore is not necessary.

High in vitamins are fruits and vegetables. Many of these are good antioxidants sources as well. High-color food choices mean high vitamin content thus high energy storage. Look for yellow-orange, red, deep green, and blue in your food. For athletes, five to nine fruit and vegetable servings are recommended each day. Grains also contain both vitamins and minerals.

Is more better?

Athletes usually meet two-thirds or more of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamins and minerals. Athletes who have high calorie intakes of about 5,000 to 6,000 kcal/day may achieve 200% or more of the RDA for some vitamins and minerals just from foods they eat.

Despite this fact, most of the athletes who are concerned with sports nutrition take supplements to boost performance. While vitamin and mineral deficiencies impair physical performance, research indicates that supplementation of a nutritionally adequate sports diet does not improve physical work capacity, endurance, oxygen consumption, cardiovascular function, muscle strength, or resistance to fatigue.

For example, because B-vitamins release energy from nutrients, athletes with high energy expenditures have increased requirements for B-vitamins. However, eating more food provides the needed extra B-vitamins.

When are vitamin supplements needed?

Vitamin supplements are commonly used if an athlete’s diet is not enough for his energy requirements. Vitamin supplements provide "health insurance," as sort of back-up to ensure optimal sports nutrition.

Multivitamin supplements with no more than 100% of the Daily Value (DV.) provide a safe and adequate balance of vitamins. However, it should not be forgotten that the goal is still to eat a wide variety of foods. Food contains fiber and a multitude of phytochemicals that provide many health benefits.

Supplements should never be replacements for food. While many sports supplements contain the antioxidant beta carotene, at least 450 carotenoids are only found in food. Antioxidant value exists in other carotenoids as well.

Minerals for injury prevention

Minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc are especially important for athletes.

Recommendations of calcium intake are based on levels than can promote calcium retention, maximize bone mineral density, and inhibit bone loss. Lower calcium intake subjects the athlete to increased risk of stress fracture. Food that provide good calcium stores are the following: dairy products, fish with bones, broccoli, and fortified cereals and juices.

Iron makes up hemoglobin, myoglobin and oxidative enzymes and affects oxygen transport and aerobic metabolism. To achieve optimal aereobic endurance, consuming adequate amounts is a must. Iron depletion, the first stage of iron deficiency is the most common type of iron deficiency among athletes. Lean red meats, dark poultry, fortified cereals, whole grains, and legumes are good iron sources.

Zinc, which is found in meat, poultry, seafood, and whole grains, is essential for protein synthesis, healing, and immune function. Zinc is also found in antioxidant enzymes and enzymes involved in energy metabolism.

Although minerals are needed to work hand-in-hand with vitamins to ensure good sports nutrition, we must remember that consuming any mineral excessively can interfere with digestion and the absorption of other minerals. This may lead to mineral imbalances. Also, all minerals can be toxic in large doses.

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Sports Nutrition And Athletic Health

To those who do not know, it is quite a pleasure to announce that sports nutrition health is extremely detrimental to an athlete’s performance. Why detrimental? This is what drives athletes to prioritize their health and maintain a healthy lifestyle to be able to excel in their sport. How can you play your sport well if you do not have the energy nor do you have the muscle strength to run fast or to jump high?

However, there are certain factors that can prevent you from attaining that sports nutrition health that is deemed to appropriate for your status.

You, assuming that you are an athlete or thinking of becoming one, must, first and foremost, understand the principles of sports nutrition completely. What is the point of staying healthy when you do not even know what being healthy is all about?

You must also avoid engaging yourself in false beliefs and misconceptions. Myths are completely different from facts, and your sports nutrition health is indeed a fact so do not, under any circumstances, mix unreal and unproven principles with facts. Doing so will do a great deal in compromising your health, thus, your career as an athlete.

You must also take note of nutrition requirements that are related to your training program. Failure to recognize these said requirements would bring bad effects to your health status. Why? You might be taking carbohydrates all right but not in the right amount or in the amount that is appropriate for you. So there will either be an excess or a lack, and neither is helpful for your health status.

There is a fine line between having a good sports nutrition health and dieting to lose fat. In fact, it is not just a fine line but a huge line. Do not mistake them to be the same thing or else your health will be compromised.

You may have an extremely busy schedule, being an athlete and all, but you must still consume appropriate amount of food. So you must manage your time well to have an adequate time for eating. Time management is definitely the key.

For starters, you may not be financially stable right away, but that is how it always is when you are just beginning. However, this scarcity of finances might be a factor for you not to be able to attain adequate food supplies.

For those who are already making it big, your sports nutrition health should always come first. This means you have to manage your money efficiently so that you can have the appropriate supply of food, and still have enough to spend on those blings.

Frequent travelling might also be a factor to a faltering sports nutrition health. Aside from the fact that it is expensive, there is also a huge tendency that you will be taking your food on the road.

This will then minimize the selection of your food to those that are portable, which will leave out the food that are difficult for you to carry but important for your sports nutrition health. The time for eating shoud also not be modified.

Sports nutrition health experts break sports nutrition health down to what food is basically made up of, that would be protein, carbohydrates and fats. These compononents are very important but an excess would be a cause of a nutritional downfall.

Fats are the things that you should be more concerned about since these are the ones that “decide” what kind of figure to give your body. You must not lose more than one half pound of fat in a week because if this happens, your body will individually think that you are undergoing a fasting, trying to starve yourself. If this is the case, your metabolism slows down since there is a need to conserve calories that have been used and also since your muscles will be used as sources of energy.

So listen to these tips and you will be on your way to stardom as a successful athlete, but still keep your sports nutrition health very much intact. Why? It is because without proper sports nutrition health, you will not have a chance or an opportunity to be a successful athlete. An athlete yes, but a successful one? Think again.

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