If you work out, you have a vested interest in figuring out how to best fuel for exercise. After all, you’re dedicating precious time to physical fitness, and you deserve to get the most out of your hard work and dedication! The truth is that when you fuel optimally for your activity, you will set yourself up to build more muscle mass, thereby improving your metabolism. Optimal fueling also improves performance, which is especially nice if you’re a competitive athlete, but it has benefits even for recreational athletes. After all, if you perform at a higher intensity level or for longer, you will improve your fitness level, burn more calories, and build more muscle.
How does this work? Let’s talk macronutrients! Muscles depend on carbohydrates as fuel. Muscles themselves store some amount of carbohydrate in the form of glycogen. The better we fuel with carbohydrates before, during and after exercise, the more fuel is available when we go to work out. Protein is the other key macronutrient when it comes to sports nutrition, not so much for energy, but for repairing and building muscle tissue. So, if you don’t consume adequate protein after your workout, your muscles will not have the components needed to repair tissue damage and grow. Not great!
The other aspect of fueling is water. While not itself a macronutrient, water is still a key aspect of fueling and sports performance. Evidence shows that dehydration negatively impacts sports performance and recovery time.
So, how do you achieve optimal fueling for your workouts? As a dietitian who helps busy clients reach their health goals, I like to keep things simple. The good news is that you don’t need complicated equations and spreadsheets to improve your sports nutrition. Start by following my top 3 tips to optimize fueling.
Eat a Mineral Rich Diet Every Day
Did you know that minerals are just electrolytes before they are dissolved in fluid, giving them an electrical charge? This isn’t just nutrition nerd trivia, It’s matters for sports nutrition. Getting minerals from your diet will improve your overall electrolyte status, and thus support your body’s ability to produce energy from ATP. So, what are the minerals and how do you get them in your diet? The main minerals of interest when it comes to sports nutrition are magnesium, potassium and sodium.
Foods you’ll want to include to enrich your diet with these minerals include:
- Fruits
- Leafy greens
- Black beans
- Root vegetables
Add Carbs to Your Hydration Beverage
Drinking water is great and it’s an important part of a hydration plan. Sometimes, however, adding a source of carbohydrate to your hydration can give you the boost you need to improve your performance. If you’re exercising for more than 45 minutes OR if you neglected that pre-exercise snack, it’s a good time to grab a drink with some carbs.
Fortunately, this can be simple: watered down juice, coconut water, a homemade or store-bought sports drink will do the job. Check out some tasty DIY recipes here!
Plan Ahead and Be Prepared
If you’re not already meal planning, now is the perfect time to start! Entering a sports event without adequate fuel on board is a sure way to undermine your performance. You need to have a light, carb-dense snack a couple of hours before your event. But let’s face it, things get busy and it’s easy to miss a meal or a snack. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to have a plan! To keep things simple, just create a list of go-to snack and meal options, plus an outline of your schedule. Make sure to have the foods from your list on hand or know how you’re going to get them at the right time in your schedule. Then, track your progress with a little food logging. Food journal apps, like MyFItnessPal, etc are certainly helpful, but you’ll get a lot out of just writing things down, too.
Fueling for your workouts is so important! But, it doesn’t need to be complicated. Get started with some of the tips above. If you want to dive deeper into your specific needs, I encourage you to work with a dietitian.
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