Nutrition To Prevent Overtraining

Part 2

From elite to recreational athletes everyone wants to do and feel their best during training and competing. Most athletes spend a lot of time and money on training and their equipment. That is why it is important to also give a lot of thought to your energy needs, and not only concentrate on your post training nutrition but also your daily intake and what the needs are to optimize your fueling for every training session, competition and everyday living.

Daily needs are very individual and complex. What works for one athlete might not work for another and the end goals of each athlete might also be very different. Some athletes might try and lose weight while others are trying to gain or maintain weight.

Carb/Protein/Fat Needs for Normal Daily Living must look something like this:

45-55% carbohydrates [3.5g/kg/day]

10-15% protein [0.8-1.0g/kg/day]

25-35% fat [0.5-1.5g/kg/day]

Daily energy intake can be anything from 31kcal/kg/day to 58kcal/kg/day depending on your energy expenditure.

The general norm for a healthy active adult is usually around 45kcal/kg/day. An adult with the weight of 65kg will then consume around 2925 kcal a day.  

The latest data from the professional cycling world has revealed that the riders can eat up to 15-20g CHO/kg/day during a stage race like Tour De France. To give an idea, an average cyclist that weighs 65kg will eat 975-1300g of Carbohydrates. A 100g of cooked Spaghetti contains only 31g of carbohydrates. That means that the cyclist would have to eat about 4kg of cooked Spaghetti every day.

That is quite a lot of Carbohydrates to take in. And still, most of the cyclist will lose weight during The Tour.

But how does this information help an average person on an average day?

To know what your daily energy needs are and how much you must eat makes it easier to plan your daily meals and make sure that the right amount of nutrients is consumed as strenuous exercise can compromise the immune system. The immune system can be depressed, anything from 3 to 24 hours after training. During this depressed window it is more likely that viruses and bacteria can enter the system. But various nutritional factors have been identified for the effects of reducing immune response and inflammation caused by exercise. CHO is the one substance to have the biggest effect on the immune system and its response to exercise. Athletes with a strict training schedule can use CHO-based products (before, during and after training) to prevent the risk of infection and inflammation.

This strategy could be combined with others, like a healthy diet, avoid overtraining, sleeping well and avoid rapid weight loss.

Athletes that have a low body fat percentage is also more likely to struggle with upper-respiratory tract infections. Training in excess and insufficient energy intake can have long-term effects to health and well-being and consequently performance.

Athletes that are subjected to intense prolonged training are advised to exercise discipline with food. Eat healthy and regularly. Making sure that your energy needs are met.