Endurance athletes, like triathletes, need plenty of energy rich foods to maintain their stamina during long hours of training. Whether you are planning to train for a race, run in a triathlon or otherwise work on endurance, eating the proper foods is vital to your success. High-perfomance endurance athletes adhere strictly to diets of these types of foods and it makes all the difference. Kenyans eat more of these foods than most, and so do they win more than most. Fortunately, you too can stay healthy and maintain energy with an energy rich diet plan.
Load up on Carbohydrates:
An endurance athlete does not have the luxury of eating high-fat, high-protein foods that take time for your body to break down into useable energy. The best high-carbohydrate, low-fat food options include whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, cereal, fruit, rice, plain baked potatoes and juices. you want to avoid cheese-filled pastas, butter, ice cream, pizza and any other fat-rich foods. Even though the foods also have carbohydrates, they will not balance with the fats for optimal energy.
Drink Plenty of Fluids:
Endurance athletes need extra fluids to keep up the pace. Fluids should ideally include water and athletic drinks rather than just water. since endurance athletes are sweating and pushing their bodies for hours at a time, athletic drinks are a necessary component to replenishing the salt, potassium and other electrolytes in the body as well as providing hydration. Juices like Monavie are another fluid option to help replenish hydration and energy. Monavie active is particularly ideal for endurance athletes due to the acai berry ingredient.
When eating for an endurance event, you want to stick to tried and true foods in proper portion sizes. Eating foods that you are not sure will agree with your system might cause diarrhea or constipation, obviously impairing you ability to exercise or race.
Eat Fruits and Vegetables:
Fruits and vegetables are nutrient rich and full of healthy sugars and starches to give you energy. Furthermore, the fiber helps keep your internal system healthy and regular.
Avoid Electrolyte Products If you are not Active:
Electrolyte products, like athletic drinks or gels, are designed to help you before, during and immediately after a workout. If you are not currently active or have not just finished a training program, these products are just unneccesarily dense extra calories.
Eat During the Event:
While you are running a long race, eating food will help maintain your energy. this is also true of the training before the event. always bring carbohydrate rich foods to help get you through the event and keep your blood sugar in healthy ranges.
Nutrition for an endurance athlete requires high energy foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. By necessity, it must limit options like pizza, cheese and fatty foods that are harder to break down into energy. a healthy combination of foods and fluids will give you energy to complete the training or endurance race.