Sports nutrition is a key area of any sporting individuals understanding and awareness to perfectly fuel your body before and during activity and repair your body after activity. Correct sports nutrition can help reduce injury by helping your muscles hold the power required to maintain exercise.
Please note that this is a general guide and we recommend you seek independent nutritional advice if you are unsure.
Modern nutrition products are;
- Energy Bars
- Energy Gels
- Energy Tablets
- Energy Powders
All are convenient and easy to carry. Require very little prep. Most of the products are ready to go out of the packet or simply require mixing with water. They are just on the taste buds and stomach so they don't repeat on you during exercise.
Pre-event nutrition
- Carbohydrates are key to exercise as they are a macro-nutrient that provide energy to the blood stream and glycogen to your muscles.
Mid-event nutrition
- As the body can only store a limited number of carbohydrates, it is important to replenish your energy stores to maintain the intensity of your work out. When glycogen levels decrease your muscles will begin to use fat as its main fuel source. This is recognisable as a loss of energy and a feeling of tiredness. A wide range of gels, bars, and drinks to top up your energy levels during exercise are available from a number of brands. They are designed to deliver fast absorbing carbohydrates to the muscles to maintain your energy and improve performance during work outs.
Post-event nutrition
- Your body needs to be cared for post exercise as your body will need to be re hydrated and re energised. Most recovery products contain carbohydrates for glycogen renewal, protein and glutamine for muscle repair and also electrolytes to aid your hydration.
Energy Powders
Energy drinks usually come in the form of an easily mixed powder, the purpose of energy drinks is to deliver carbohydrates to your body to maintain performance during exercise. They are designed to give a mix of fast and slow release carbohydrates as well as salts and electrolytes to help with hydration levels. Caffeine energy drinks help reduce fatigue and improve awareness. There are lots of flavours available and most taste great – it really is down to personal preference on taste.
Recovery drinks are also in powder form for easy mixing. Flavour choice can be a little harder to choose with recovery drinks and your taste buds change after a vigorous workout. We recommend trying some single sachets before buying the larger tubs. Vanilla and Chocolate are amongst the bestselling flavours but there are loads out there to try. The recovery drinks are best taken within 20 minutes of your exercise although these recommendations change all the time as new reports on recovery come out all the time. The idea is to replenish the body with quality carbohydrates, electrolytes and proteins to re-hydrate, help repair muscle fatigue and refuel those exhausted nutrients.