Common training mistakes - nutrition and hydration

Endurance athletes are all about their training. Speed workouts, intervals, hill reps, and long sessions are all they think about. They, mostly, put very little emphasis into what foods and drinks they put into their body.

This can have a big impact on their performance as well as their overall day.

Today, we will explore some common mistakes athletes make when it comes to hydration and nutrition.

Problem

Training sessions tend to be either amazing or a disaster (to some degree) for most athletes. When things go great, everyone is happy and athletes get on with their day with a big smile. When things don’t go too well the search for the cause starts. Did you get enough sleep? Was the session to hard? Was is too hot or too cold? One common mistake is to ignore nutrition and hydration which when not taken into consideration can slow down progress significantly.

Cause

Some of the most common mistakes that can make even an easy jog feel undoable are inadequate food intake, incorrect meal timing, overhydration, neglecting electrolytes, skipping post workout meals, and not taking care of individual needs. Let’s look at those issues in a little more detail.

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for endurance activities as they can quickly be turned into energy in your body. If you take too little you might not have the energy needed to sustain a certain level of performance during a training session.

Another common problem are foods that are rich in fats. Fats can cause two problems. They take long to digest and can’t give you the energy right away which in turn hinders your performance during training session. On the other hand it can lead to stomach issues because your body has to put a lot more effort in digesting your food which, again hinders your performance during training sessions.

Many also overhydrate before workouts but in the process dilute their blood too much and get into a state of hyponatremia which then can impact your muscle contraction and overall neurological wellbeing.

Symptoms

Some of the most common symptoms are sluggishness or nausea. Athletes simply don’t have the energy to execute a training session. They feel light headed and even light work because difficult.

If it’s hot and the athlete sweats a lot they can start getting cramps because of low electrolyte levels. Electrolytes are important for muscle contraction and neural activities and having low levels of potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium can make them feel like they don’t have limbs attached to their body.

Fix

Fortunately, fixing these issues is quite easy and it comes down to a few simple tips.

Have a meal rich in carbs and proteins before your workout and, even though you shouldn’t avoid it altogether, try avoid too much fats. Leave at least two to three hours between your pre workout meal and training session so that your body has enough time to digest everything and top up your glycogen levels. Drink some fluids topped of with electrolytes and, depending on the conditions where you train, have a bottle ready to drink if you are thirsty.

If you are doing a longer training sessions (pretty much anything over an hour), try having a gel or energy bar to replenish your carbohydrates. A general rule of thumb is to consume 60 grams of carbohydrates but feel free to go as high as a 100 grams if you are training for rally long distances.

Once you are done with your workout eat something rich in proteins and carbs to replenish everything you have used up after the training session and have a nice meal with carbs, fats, veggies, fats within 60 to 90 minutes after your training session to improve recovery and get ready for the next session.

Nutrition is a simple yet, very often, overlooked aspect of an athletes life but if taken as serious as training can help improve an athlete’s performance in amazing ways.