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FACT SHEET #5

Return to healthy living

Eating & Exercise

Need to know!

If you do not currently achieve a balanced diet (as discussed in fact sheet 1) and make no changes to your current eating habits, then your performance will not be effected. But, once you have sorted the balance of your daily intake of the main food groups out, there are two main dietary tools that you can 'play with' to improve your nutrition further - carbohydrate and fluid. You see, it is not only how much of these nutrients you consume which is important but also when you consume them. Consuming the correct amount of carbohydrate and fluid before, during and after exercise can enhance your workouts. The carbohydrate and fluid stores in your body are limited and are challenged during exercise therefore it is important to make sure that:

  • they are as full as possible prior to beginning exercise
  • that you keep them topped up during your session
  • once you have finished, try to eat within an hour. You need to make sure that you re-stock them ready for the next session.

Nice to know!

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail! If you want to get the most out of your training your pre-exercise diet needs to be planned.

  • Ideally, you should have a high carbohydrate meal 3-4 hours before exercise to stock up your carbohydrate stores, if this is not possible then remember that 'something is better than nothing'. (e.g a bowl of cereal or a sports drink). You also need to be well hydrated before starting - beginning exercise in a dehydrated state will be detrimental to your performance.)
  • Unless your CV session is over 40 minutes long and if you have prepared well, drinking water throughout should ensure that you are able to maintain your performance. For longer sessions you need to provide fuel as well as fluid and drinking a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution is the easiest way to do this. In normal conditions, 600-1200ml of fluid per hour is recommended but you will need more in the heat.
  • For performance to be reproducible, using the post exercise period is crucial - in essence you are starting your preparation for your next workout immediately. You should try to consume about 50 grams of carbohydrate ASAP - 750ml sports drink or 4 tablespoons of raisins or 60g jelly sweets - as this will kickstart the refilling of your stores. Your first meal should be eaten within an hour and this too should be high in carbohydrates. You also need to rehydrate yourself fully.

Fun facts

  1. According to a new study conducted by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, nearly half of exercisers arrive at the gym already dehydrated - researchers studied 300 gym users in the USA.
  2. Weighing yourself before and after exercise is a good way to find out how much fluid you have lost - 1kg weight = 1 litre of fluid.
  3. For every litre of water lost, your heart has to beat 8 times per minute more in order to meet your body's requirements.
  4. The adult human body contains 2.5 million sweat glands!
  5. Drinking a well formulated carbohydrate-electrolyte drink during prolonged exercise can increase endurance performance by one third