Common Nutrition Mistakes and How To Fix Them

Nutrition may be your missing link in training. Here are some common nutrition mistakes many athletes make with tips and recipes for how to solve them.

Post-exercise Food

At the end of a hard workout, you haven't finished your training until you have refueled. Don't rush off to work or school, with "no time to eat" as the excuse.

Solution: Plan ahead, so you have recovery foods readily available. Even in a time-crunch, you should be able refuel your muscles properly. "No time" is no excuse.

Recovering With Both Carbs + Protein

Recovery foods should offer a foundation of carbs with protein as the accompaniment. A reasonable target is about 240 calories of carbs (60 g carb) and about 80 calories (20 g) of protein. Some popular choices include Greek yogurt with honey, chocolate milk and oatmeal with protein powder and fruit.

Note that recovery foods can be eaten pre-exercise. That is, a pre-exercise yogurt gets digested into amino acids and glucose; those food components will be ready and waiting to be put into use when you stop exercising. In a 10-week study with recreational body builders, those who consumed a protein-carb supplement both immediately before and right after the mid-afternoon strength training session gained 2.3 pounds more muscle and 7 pounds more in strength (as measured by bench press), compared to the group without the pre- and post-exercise fuel. (2)

Adequate Fluids

Athletes who stay well hydrated can train harder and perform better. For each one percent of body weight lost via sweat, your heart has to beat three to five more times per minute (4). This creates needless fatigue.

Solution: If you are well-hydrated, you will need to urinate every two to four hours, and your urine will be a light color. If you are sweat heavily, you really should learn how much sweat you lose (and thereby need to replace) during a workout. Do this my weighing yourself naked before and after exercise. For each pound (16 oz.) of sweat, you should drink at least 16 to 24 oz. of fluid.

Rest Days for Muscles to Refuel

Rest is an important part of a training program; muscles need time to refuel and heal. Depleted muscles may need more than 24 hours to replace glycogen stores. Hence, rest days with little or no exercise enhance a training program.

Athletes who want to lose weight commonly hesitate to take a rest day; they fear they will "get fat." These athletes need to understand:

1) On a rest day, they will feel just as hungry because the muscles need food to refuel.

2) They will gain (water) weight. For each 1 oz. of glycogen, the muscles store about 3 oz. water. This water gets released during exercise; it is beneficial.

Solution: Plan one to two rest days a week. Notice how much better you are able to perform the day after a rest day.

Boot campers! Keep these in mind when planning out your eating (and water drinking schedule) for the day. It will give you optimal results!