Part 2: Eating and Competing!

March 11, 2019 CHALKBOX - TRAIN FOR HEALTH

In the last post we covered things to consider when eating the night before and the morning of a competition. But what about during the competition itself, and recovery afterwards …

Through the day

In a typical CrossFit comp, you are going to be expending a lot of energy in short bursts as you move from event to event through the day. If you can stomach it, try and consume some carbohydrate to replenish blood glucose and muscle and liver glycogen after each event to fuel you for the next event. A small amount of protein through the day may also help support muscle maintenance and recovery after the event – look for fast digesting proteins such as whey and whey hydrolysates that will not slow the digestion of the carbs you take in. Importantly, keep fat low to avoid slowing digestion and feeling sluggish and nauseas as you go out for your later event

We know that typically you don’t want to eat less than 2 hours before exercise, and certainly not less than 60 minutes before an intense training session. This is to avoid the risk of rebound hypoglycemia, where the combination of insulin in response to feeding and increased cellular uptake of glucose to fuel exercise results in a severe blood sugar and energy crash (see Wikipedia for a great summary!). However, in a situation such as a multi event competition where you are using energy in high intensity bursts throughout the day, you need to refuel even if it means taking in energy less than 60 minutes before your next event – otherwise your blood sugar will likely drop low anyway!! It is a similar principle to consuming carbs during endurance events! The trick is to take in enough to refuel, but not so much that you feel over full or over spike your blood sugar for your next event.

If your next event is more than an hour away, try and consume up to 1g/kg bodyweight of high glycemic load carbohydrate, such as banana and honey. For many this is easiest and most palatable in liquid form. If you get more than an hour break across lunch, try and eat a little of more complex carbs such as potato or rice and a little of a lean protein source such as chicken – these will support a more sustained and steady blood sugar release. Typically, don’t try for these foods if you have less time between events however, as they will sit in your stomach and slow you down.

You are likely to be sweating buckets out there as you give the floor your all! Drinking 50 percent more fluid than you lost in sweat will enhance rapid and complete recovery from dehydration; aim to sip fluids regularly through the day – as this will retain more fluid in the body than gulping large amounts in one sitting. We have already spoken about the fine balance of hydration and over-hydration. Many athletes find that the easiest way to do this to drink electrolyte sports drinks instead of pure water, as these are designed to mimic the electrolyte concentration of the blood once consumed … thus keeping you the right side of hydrated!

Typical ‘during the comp’ eats:

Bananas
Whey protein shakes
Pureed fruits and sweet potato aka ‘baby’ food
Low fat yoghurt and honey
If you have a lunch break: chicken, sweet potato and tomatoes!

Post competition

I am sure that for many of you, this is going to be a meal of indulgence as a reward for the hard work of the day and potentially strict nutrition leading up to the comp. Go for it!! The key principle post competition is to eat enough carbohydrate to replenish muscle and liver glycogen and enough protein to support muscle repair and recovery.

Before you dive into a full meal, consume 1g/kg bodyweight in high glycaemic index carbohydrate and up to 40g fast digesting protein within 60 minutes of your final event. A fruit and whey shake is one way to do this! After this, continue to eat your typical training day intake of carbohydrate, protein and fat spread at regular intervals across the following 24 hours (see position statements by the American College of Sports Medicine, the International Olympic Committee and the English Institute of Sports for commentary relating to energy intake in general, and its division across the macronutrients). It is important to reintroduce fats to ensure you take in the full spectrum of micronutrients needed for repair and recovery from the competition.

As in the competition, it is also important to ensure you continue to take in salts immediately after and in the ensuing hours and days post competition, to restore and maintain your blood electrolyte balance. It can take the body 24-48 hours to replace all that was lost in sweat, and so do pay attention to drinking frequently for the next day or two, to help your body recover from any dehydration.

If you did reduce your fibre in the days leading up to the event, reintroduce it just as gradually to avoid gastro distress.

Summary

These are general principles! Every body is different, with a different rate of digestion, capacity for fat versus carbohydrate utilization and different energy output during exercise. For these reasons it is important that you take these principles and experiment with them to find what works best for you, and what works best for you on days where nerves and stress cause your stomach to behave quite differently your typical training day!! To learn more about the principles behind fueling for training and competition described in this post, check out the textbooks and references in the further reading section below!

And one final thing – if your competition spans multiple days, repeat the night before, morning and in event fueling across the days of the competition – making sure you have a serious refeed each night, particularly if you struggle to eat during the competition days!

Through the day

Post competition

Summary

Further Reading …