One of my favourite places to find the latest on sports nutrition research is the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN). Today I thought I’d do a quick roundup of studies published recently that either provide further confirmations on the benefits of foods I’ve been advocating for a while now; or offer a new nutritional insight in …
Can Medium-Chain Triglycerides Improve Performance?
As a dedicated marathon runner always chasing down a new PB / PR, I’m all over ergogenic aids and using food strategically to enhance my performance. For example, using caffeine and beet juice have turned out to be quite advantageous to my race results. So when I began my latest round of fat-loading (also a strategy that’s benefited my performance in the past), where I …
Fat-Loading for Race Performance (part 1)
I’ve put off writing about fat-loading for some time now because each time I’ve gone to blog on it, the topic felt too large. Instead of continuing to sidestep it, I’ve decided to write about it in 3 parts: first, why you’d want to fat-load; second, the science behind fat-loading; and finally, how to fat-load. I first learned of “fat-loading” …
Preparing to Race: The Importance of Carb-Loading
Today I began a 3-day carb-loading protocol (also known as carbo loading, or more formally as CHO-loading). I’m doing this because carb-loading has been shown to enhance endurance and the performance of prolonged exercise events (Clinical Sports Nutrition, L. Burke, 2010). And I’m attempting to do it with 100% accuracy because supposedly many runners don’t get it right. Keep in mind that carb-loading is considered …
3 Reasons to Consider a Glutamine Supplement
Glutamine. Have you heard of it? Do you use it? It’s a nutritional supplement – specifically, an amino acid that some athletes use to recover more quickly after workouts and to prevent getting sick. I’ve used it in the past regularly. These days I use it strategically and sparingly. How do you know whether or not to supplement with glutamine? Let’s look …
Should you Eat Before a Morning Run?
Last year I got out the door early to run and did so on an empty stomach or just a bit of sports drink. But this year I decided I wanted to eat breakfast before I head out for my morning run. It doesn’t seem like it should work so well… After all, you need to allow time for food …
Will Run for Beer
Have you ever finished a run or a race and then thought, “I really deserve a ______” (beer, glass of wine, ice cream cone – you fill in the blank). I’m not going to talk ice cream cones today, but I do want to talk alcohol. Does a glass of wine or a cold beer affect our running performance? And, …