NOW that the the New Year is in full swing and your training is following suit, you might be feeling a bit full in the boots! The Holiday season was a great time to kick back, enjoy family, and put training on the side burner. For some of us anyway :) Now, with goals in mind and a record year planned ahead, you need to start melting the extra pounds and gaining lean muscle once again! So what's the best way to get back into race shape and become leaner and faster than ever before? Well, the first is obvious... a well thought out training program, of course! Another way, and the one I'd like to help you with today is how to develop a better lean muscle to fat ratio. Gaining lean muscle while shedding extra body fat. I think of it as becoming the "body builder" of endurance sports if you will. Everyone likes to look and feel strong, but the most important thing is to help you move your body forward faster by fighting gravity more efficiently. That's what it's all about isn't it? How to cover a race distance as fast as can while maintaining the exertion level you're capable of mentally and physically. For the most part your exertion level is always going to be the same, your "Best Effort" for the prescribed distance. Therefore, we look for other factors you can control like body weight in the form of fat. A coach once told me, "1 less lb of body weight equals 3-5 secs of faster running per mile." We'll if that's true, which I believe is, there's a Personal Record just waiting to happen! Keep in mind, I'm speaking of 1 lb less weight in fat, not muscle!
So how do we start? First, we need to make sure you accomplish two things when beginning an approach to eating for athletic performance. They are to sustain your energy for training & racing and at the same time, burn excess stored body fat. As most of us already know, total calories is what you consider for weight lose or gain. It's pretty much cut and dry when it comes to gaining weight versus losing weight. Eat more calories than you burn and you will gain weight. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight. However it's not that simple and it can get very complicated because calories come in three different forms; protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Hmmmm.... now what?? Well the truth is, if you eat too many calories in one form or too little of another you may hinder muscle gain and actually gain body fat. What!? In the last 30 years there have been hundreds of books written on the subject. The author of every book you read is going to tell you a different opinion of the percentages of Protein, Carbs, and Fat you need to eat to lose weight and/or maximize performance. In the 1980's it was low fat/ high carb diets and in the 90's it became Low carb/high fat diets! So how do you figure all this out? We find ourselves questioning what to do or where to start. I personally have survived each decade's approach and have found an easy way to help you get strong and lean and then prepare yourself for race day. In January, I do find that a training diet hovering around the percentages of 25 % protein, 25 % fat and 50% carbohydrates is a great early season approach. You're able to build lean muscle tissue, melt away excess body fat, and still have enough carbohydrates to sustain your energy for training. You're also teaching your body to recruit fat for energy and therefore start tapping into your fat stores. Anytime you can use fat storage for energy and spare the carbohydrates you're going to become a faster endurance athlete. Why is that? Because you're able to go farther with your carbo load and not have to ingest as many carbs in your race as your competitor. By not having to ingest extra carbs for fuel in a race situation, you're allowing your blood volume to remain in the working muscles where it is needed, instead of moving to your stomach to help with digestion. Blood is your oxygen carrier and your muscles require it to go fast,especially at higher heart rates!
So if you're a calorie counter and know how to figure calorie percentages do a 3 day food log and see where you stand. If you're Not a calorie counting expert and don't know how to interpret a nutritional label here are some key tips to get you moving in the right direction and burn some body fat.
#1 Train in the morning on an empty stomach. Helps promote the burning of fat stores. If training session is over an hour but less than two, add a Fluid replacement drink.
#2 Eat only when you're hungry! Eat smaller meals and snack 2-3 times per day to keep your metabolism cranking. Note: Don't let yourself go past the hunger pain during the day b/c your metabolic rate will decrease.
#3 Eliminate wheat and flour products as much as possible. In other words eat meals rich in lean meats and vegetables as much as possible. Products that contain Gluten are being proven to hinder performance. Save high carbohydrate meals for 2-3 days out from a race.
# Avoid sugar as much as possible! It's an empty calorie, promotes fat storage, and contributes to numerous health problems.
# 5 Make sure you're eating healthy fats daily, unsaturated fat (Almonds, seeds, olive oil, etc). They provide sustainable energy, help ward off hunger, and fight heart disease!
These tips should help you get you started down the right path and as you learn to figure out calories percentages, test out your plan and see if you're close to the 25%, 25%, 50%TRiYON Performance approach!
Here's an example of how to calculate a nutrition label!
Your key is:
1 g of Protein counts for 4 calories
1 g of Carbohydrates counts for 4 calories.
1 g of Fat counts for 9 calories.
Example: A NOW Energy bar is 284 calories.
11 g of protein
42 g of carbs
8 g of fat
Therefore do the math: ( 11 x 4 = 44 + 42 x 4 = 164, 8 x 9 = 72)
44 + 164 + 72 = 284
Good luck with training and make sure to Training Smart and Eat Healthy!
Coach Yon
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