hydration


Hydration and Nutrition for Long Distance Athletes

A thank you for this information to: Lynsey Wilson

General Training Diet

The general diet should consist of:

  • 60% Carbohydrates (CHO, mainly low GI = pasta, potato, bread, brown/wholegrain if possible)
  • 20% Protein (mainly from meat, but also from vegetables such as spinach, broccoli)
  • 20% Fat

Immediately post training (within 2 hours) try to consume high GI foods (jelly, lucozade, jaffa cakes etc) containing 50g of carbohydrate.

Keep hydrated during training by consuming a standard bottle of water 2-3 hours prior to exercising and half a bottle of sports drink/water 30mins prior to exercising. Try to consume a standard sports drink/water during every 30 mins of exercise. Post exercise; try to consume the same amount of fluid that has been lost during exercise through sweating by drinking a sports drink/water with added glucose and salt (6 – 8% CHO).

To determine a drink’s percentage CHO, divide the CHO content (g) by the fluid volume (mL) and multiply by 100. E.g. Lucozade sport has 32g CHO ÷ 500mL = 0.064 x 100 = 6.4%.

To determine g/kg body weight simply multiply g by body weight (kg). Eg. 10g of CHO of a 70kg person = 10 x 70 = 700g CHO per day.

Pre-event

There should be a window between 36 – 48 hours between your last exercise session and the event in which you should ‘Carbo load’ (10 – 12g CHO per kg body weight per day) and rest. The 24 hours prior to the event may focus on low-fibre and low-residue eating if gastrointestinal stress is a problem.

  • 3 – 4 hrs pre-race breakfast containing 1.4g per kg body weight CHO
  • 3 hours pre-race – 250ml water
  • 1 hr pre-race 1L sports drink mixed with 3mg/kg body weight of pure caffeine and 300mg/kg body weight bicarbonate

During Event

  • 250mL fluid every 15 mins containing 5 – 8% CHO and ¼ teaspoon salt

Post-event

0 –2 hours post-race: Consume 1 – 1.2g/kg body weight CHO immediately after exercise and repeat every hour until meal schedule is resumed. Achieve this by consuming small snacks, such as jelly, jaffa cakes, jelly sweets, every 15-20mins. Rehydrate with a sports drink with added salt, replenishing all sweat loss.

2hrs – next training session: Consume 7 – 12g per kg body weight per day CHO. Consume 1.2 – 1.6g per kg body weight per day Protein vente libre viagra.


A PDF document of the slides for the Armada Athletic Forum Workshop on Nutrition and Hydration for Athletics presented by our club member Lynsey Wilson (MSc, BSc, ISAK): Nutrition and Hydration for Athletics (PDF)