Nutrition plays a vital role in exercise performance and training. Literature frequently highlights the importance carb-loading and fully hydrating in the days leading up to a marathon however many articles neglect to mention the importance of nutrition in the weeks/ months build up to your big event. Getting your nutrition right from the start will help you to enhance training performance, boost immunity, maintain focus and increase recovery. The following nutritional marathon tips aim to provide you with quality examples of what to eat while training helping you to keep on top of your training and allow you to perform at your best on race day.
Carbohydrate is the main source of energy as you increase your activity levels. It is important to consume sufficient carbohydrates to compliment your exercise requirements. Follow the easy equation below to calculate your individual carbohydrate requirements:
Carbohydrates per day (training days)
6.0g CHO/kg body weigh / day
(70kg x 6.0g= 420g CHO)
It is important to start off your training session fully loaded with carbohydrates - try and eat a high carbohydrate meal 2-3hrs before to allow for full digestion.
- Pasta (med-large bowl)
- Chicken and salad sandwich with a banana (low fat spread)
- Medium baked potato (with tuna or beans)
Before Exercise eat a light meal 25-50g of carbohydrate 30min before you start
- Maxifuel Viper Active bars (37g carbs)
- Maxifuel Viper Active gels (25g carbs)
- Banana (26g carbs)
During exercise carbohydrates are depleted, to ensure you maintain top performance and reduce chances of fatigue it is important to replenish your carbohydrates (30-60g carbohydrates per hour). It is often hard for the body to digest heavy foods during exercise this is where gels and carbohydrate fluids come in handy.
- Maxifuel Viper Active bars (37g carbs per sachet)
- Maxifuel Viper Active gels (25g carbs per sachet)
- Maxifuel Viper Active (26g carbs per serving)
- Maxifuel Viper Boost (25g carbs and 100g of caffeine, ideal for tough training sessions or challenging parts of the run)
After exercise
It is extremely important to replenish and replace carbohydrate stores in the body. Aim to consume 1g of carbohydrate per 1kg of body weight within 30min of finishing exercise.
Maxifuel Recovermax (55g carbohydrates) + one slice of wholemeal bread (15g carbohydrate) = 70g carbohydrate
By Gwen Fitzpatrick, Maxifuel Performance Nutritionist
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