The recipe for recovery
The two
nutrition priorities after a big training session or race are
rehydration and glycogen replacement. Endurance athletes are
well-aware of the need to replace fluids, but carbohydrate
consumption is equally important after a training or racing as
you will have depleted muscles of glycogen and the only way to
refuel them is to eat (or drink) carbohydrates.
Many athletes
suffer unnecessary fatigue for days after a training session or
event simply because they haven't refueled their muscles.
Inadequate carbohydrate consumption, in combination with muscle
fibre damage, may delay muscle glycogen repletion for up to a
week, resulting in poor training performance, fatigue and
lethargy.
Sugars are
equally as effective as traditional carbohydrate foods in
restoring glycogen stores immediately after an endurance event.
Aim to consume about 50 grams of carbohydrate within an hour of
your training session. This could come from either of these
choices: 800ml of sports drink or 500ml of fruit juice or 2
slices thick toast with jam or honey or 2 breakfast bars or 3
pieces of fruit (or a combination of these).
Once you have
recovered it is advisable to sit down to a carbohydrate rich
meal to further boost your glycogen stores. It is important that
you begin reloading immediately following the session because
this enables the body to resynthesise glycogen twice as quickly
as when feeding is delayed for more than two hours.
If you put
these ideas into practice, you will undoubtedly recover faster
and therefore be able to train more consistently between races,
which adds up to better performances. Train hard, race smart and
RECOVER well, you will notice the difference!
Kerith Duncanson
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