RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport is a serious thing and something all endurance athletes should have a little bit of awareness of, as well as anyone who is active and looking to shed some body fat and change their body composition.
Studies suggest that 20-60% of endurance athletes may experience LEA which can then lead to RED-S. Female endurance athletes are at higher risk, but male athletes are also affected. Ironman triathletes and ultramarathon runners are particularly susceptible due to extremely high energy demands.
Definition:
RED-S refers to impaired physiological functioning caused by relative energy deficiency and includes, but is not limited to, impairments of metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, and cardiovascular health.
Evolution of the concept:
Originated from the Female Athlete Triad (disordered eating, amenorrhea, osteoporosis). *The Female Athlete Triad is a syndrome of the three interrelated conditions that was first recognised in the 1990s. It’s an important concept in sports medicine and women’s health
Expanded to include all athletes, regardless of gender.
Recognises a wider range of health and performance consequences.
Health consequences:
Menstrual function: Irregular or absent periods in females
Bone health: Decreased bone mineral density, increased fracture risk
RED-S is more prevalent in endurance athletes due to the potentially high training volumes, which is one of the key risk factors. It can also be seen in sports where leanness is seen as the ideal, and also sports utilising weight categories as these can lead to rapid weight loss practices. Other common risk factors are disordered eating, a lack of nutrition knowledge leading to excessive calorie deficits and also perfectionist personality traits.
Diagnosis and assessment:
There is no single diagnostic test, instead the usual routes to diagnosis involve: – Comprehensive assessment including building a detailed history of medical records, nutrition, psychological mapping, training history etc. – Physical examination – Laboratory tests ( hormones, bloods, bone density etc)
Challenges specific to endurance sports
As touched on above endurance athletes are an at risk group due to training volumes. The key to be aware of and manage to avoid LEA and RED-S is consuming enough calories during long training sessions and also proper management of pre and post fuelling.
Where some athletes struggle is: – Suffering gastrointestinal issues during prolonged exercise. – Having a suppressed appetite after intense endurance exercise. – Dealing with the pressure to maintain low body weight for perceived performance benefits.
Prevention strategies for endurance athletes:
Regular monitoring of energy intake, body composition, and performance
Emphasizing fueling for performance rather than weight loss
Incorporating strength training to maintain muscle mass and bone density
Periodizing nutrition to match training cycles
Education on nutrition and the importance of adequate fuelling during long training sessions and races
Final Thoughts
As we navigate the complex landscape of athletic performance and health, it’s crucial to remember that our bodies are not mere machines, but intricate systems requiring balance and care. RED-S serves as a stark reminder that the pursuit of athletic excellence should never come at the cost of long-term well-being. I hope that by fostering a culture of open communication, prioritising education, and embracing a holistic approach to training and nutrition, I can help create an environment where athletes thrive both on and off the field. The journey towards peak performance is a marathon, not a sprint, and maintaining energy balance is the fuel that will carry athletes through their careers and beyond. I want to champion a future where athletic achievement and vibrant health go hand in hand, creating a legacy of sustainable excellence in sports.
LEA occurs when an individual’s energy intake is insufficient to support the body’s functions after accounting for energy expended in exercise.
It’s essentially an energy deficit that can occur in both athletes and non-athletes.
It’s calculated as energy intake minus exercise energy expenditure, relative to fat-free mass. This can be a complex calculation involving a lot of monitoring but there is a simple explanation further below.
LEA can occur even when total calorie intake seems adequate, if exercise energy expenditure is high. It can lead to various physiological and performance issues, including REDs which we will discuss in the next post.
It can, paradoxically, lead to weight gain in some cases. This is most commonly seen in women and is definitely something active women should be aware of if they cut calories and or/up the activity levels.
Weight Gain
Consuming less calories and then gaining weight might seem counterintuitive, but there are several mechanisms through which this can occur:
Metabolic Adaptation: Chronic LEA can cause the body to lower its metabolic rate to conserve energy. When normal eating resumes, this lowered metabolism can result in weight gain.
Hormonal Changes: LEA can disrupt hormonal balance, particularly affecting thyroid hormones and cortisol. These hormonal changes can lead to increased fat storage and water retention.
Increased Appetite: After periods of restriction, the body may signal increased hunger, leading to overeating. This can result in rapid weight gain, often exceeding the original weight.
Changes in Body Composition: LEA can lead to loss of lean muscle mass. When weight is regained, it’s often in the form of fat rather than muscle, changing body composition.
Insulin Sensitivity: Prolonged LEA can affect insulin sensitivity, potentially leading to increased fat storage when normal eating resumes.
Disrupted Hunger and Fullness Cues: Chronic undereating can disrupt natural hunger and fullness signals, making it harder to regulate food intake.
Psychological Factors: The stress of restrictive eating can lead to binge eating episodes, contributing to weight gain.
Edema: In some cases, especially when LEA is severe, the body may retain water, leading to temporary weight gain.
Rebound Effect: When energy intake is increased after a period of LEA, the body may overcompensate by storing extra energy as fat.
It’s important to note that while LEA can sometimes lead to weight gain, the primary concern should be overall health and performance rather than weight alone.
All Impacts of LEA
Physiological impacts: Metabolic rate reduction Bone Mineral density decrease Impaired protein synthesis Cardiovascular changes; i.e. lower heart rate, blood pressure Hormonal disruptions; i.e. decreased estrogen, testosterone
Addressing LEA involves gradually increasing energy intake to support bodily functions and athletic performance, which may or may not result in weight changes.
How to calculate LEA
LEA is defined as dietary energy intake minus exercise energy expenditure, normalized to fat-free mass (FFM). The formula is: Energy Availability = (Energy Intake – Exercise Energy Expenditure) / Fat-Free Mass.
The Thresholds are: Optimal energy availability: >45 kcal/kg/FFM/day Reduced energy availability: 30-45 kcal/kg FFM/day Low energy availability: <30 kcal/kg FFM/day
Let’s look at an example of someone weighing 70 kg with 20 body fat%
Step 1: Calculate Fat-Free Mass (FFM): Body Fat Mass = 70 kg × 20% = 14 kg Fat-Free Mass (FFM) = 70 kg – 14 kg = 56 kg Step 2: Energy Availability (EA) Calculation EA = (Energy Intake – Exercise Energy Expenditure) / Fat-Free Mass
For our 56 kg FFM individual: Optimal EA threshold: 56 kg × 45 kcal/kg = 2,520 kcal/day Low EA threshold: 56 kg × 30 kcal/kg = 1,680 kcal/day
Example scenarios:
A. Optimal EA: Energy Intake: 3,000 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 400 kcal EA = (3,000 – 400) / 56 = 46.4 kcal/kg FFM/day (Optimal)
B. Reduced EA: Energy Intake: 2,500 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 600 kcal EA = (2,500 – 600) / 56 = 33.9 kcal/kg FFM/day (Reduced)
C. Low EA: Energy Intake: 2,000 kcal Exercise Energy Expenditure: 800 kcal EA = (2,000 – 800) / 56 = 21.4 kcal/kg FFM/day (Low)
These calculations demonstrate how increased exercise energy expenditure or decreased energy intake can lead to reduced or low energy availability, even when total calorie intake might seem adequate.
When you are looking to achieve a body composition change and loose fat the one key thing is a Calorie Deficit, which means burning more calories than you eat. When we think calorie burn, most of us will immediately think “Exercise” but thats just a small part of the puzzle.
Here are all the ways our bodies burn calories:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the energy your body uses to maintain basic life functions while at rest, such as breathing, circulation, and cell production. It accounts for the majority of calories burned daily.
Physical Activity: Any movement burns additional calories. This includes:
Exercise (e.g., running, swimming, weightlifting)
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): daily activities like walking, cleaning, fidgeting
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The energy used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food. It typically accounts for about 10% of total daily energy expenditure.
Adaptive Thermogenesis: The body’s ability to generate heat in response to environmental changes or diet.
Growth and Development: Children and adolescents burn extra calories for growth. Pregnant women also burn additional calories to support fetal development.
The component that contributes most to our daily calorie burn for most people is the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
BMR typically accounts for 60-75% of total daily energy expenditure for sedentary individuals. This means that even if you were to lie in bed all day, your body would still burn a significant number of calories just to keep your basic life functions operating.
The exact percentage can vary based on factors such as:
Age: BMR tends to decrease with age.
Body composition: More muscle mass increases BMR.
Gender: Men generally have a higher BMR than women due to greater muscle mass.
Genetics: Some people naturally have a higher or lower BMR.
Health conditions: Certain medical conditions can affect BMR.
It’s important to note that while BMR is the largest contributor to calorie burn for most people, physical activity can significantly increase total daily energy expenditure, especially for very active individuals. For athletes or people with physically demanding jobs, the calories burned through activity might approach or even exceed their BMR.
The one that generally gets overlooked but can actually end up having a BIG effect on your daily burn is NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
Tips for increasing NEAT in daily life:
At Work Use a standing desk or treadmill and vary your position throughout the day. Take walking meetings instead of sitting in a conference room. Set a timer and stand up at least once every hour. Add in a stretch if possible, or a walk around the building. Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
At Home Do more vigorous versions of chores (scrub the floor rather than mop for example). Stand or pace while using your phone. Do simple exercises or stretching during tv commercials, or between episodes. Dance while listening to music.
During Commutes / Errands: Park further away from entrances of buildings. Get off public transport one stop early and walk the rest of the way. Carry groceries instead of using trollies for small shops. Walk or bike instead of using your car wherever possible.
Social Activities: Suggest active things to do; mini golf, bowling etc. Play active video games that require movement.
Throughout the day: Fidget more; drum your fingers, tap your feet etc. Increase your daily step count wherever possible. Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
At Night: Do some light stretching or yoga before bed. Tidy your living spaces before going to bed.
Remember, the goal is to make movement a natural part of your day. Even small increases in activity can add up over time and contribute to higher overall calorie burn.
Whether you’re lining up for a marathon, ultra-endurance event, or all-day sufferfest, proper pre-race nutrition can be the difference between bonking at the wall and unlocking next-level performance.
While pretty much all endurance athletes understand the importance of staying fuelled during an event, I find that the actual understanding how to do this can be pretty lacking.
It can feel like a mindfield… so I’m going to break it down and make it as simple as I can for you.
In a nutshell it means optimising what you eat in the days beforehand and it is a massively underrated part of the high-performance equation.
By strategically carb-loading and topping off fuel stores through precise nutrient timing and food choices, you can start your biggest races topped up with maximum muscle glycogen levels – allowing you to go harder, longer, and put your training to its fullest test.
Carbohydrate loading to maximize glycogen stores
Glycogen stores can deplete relatively quickly during prolonged endurance events, which is why carbohydrate loading in the days leading up to the event is so important.
Here are the headlines:
Muscles store glycogen as the primary fuel source for high-intensity exercise lasting longer than 90-120 minutes.
A well-trained endurance athlete may have 350-700g of glycogen stored in their muscles prior to carb loading.
During a marathon or long endurance event, these glycogen stores can become depleted after about 2-3 hours of activity.
Glycogen depletion is a major cause of hitting “the wall” or bonking during prolonged exercise when the muscles run out of easily accessible carbohydrate fuel.
The carb loading protocol aims to maximize muscle and liver glycogen levels by tapering training and consuming a high-carb diet (7-12g/kg bodyweight) in the 1-3 days before the event.
Proper carb loading can increase the total glycogen stores by 50-90% over normal levels, delaying fatigue.
The timing of carb loading is important – loading too early results in glycogen depletion before the event.
Good Pre Race Foods to Include in your Carb Load Phase:
White rice or pasta with a simple tomato/marinara sauce
White or sweet potatoes
Bagels or English muffins with jam/honey
Bananas
Rice cakes or crisp breads
Sports drinks and electrolyte beverages
Low-fiber cereals such as porridge, Ready Brek or Shredded Wheat.
Simple Pre-Race Meal Examples:
Baked potato with salt, small side salad, and a sports beverage
Plate of pasta with marinara sauce and a banana
Bagel with peanut butter, a handful of pretzels, and a smoothie
White rice, grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and an electrolyte drink
Oatmeal with honey, a piece of toast with jam, and a fruit cup
The key things that make these “simple” are:
Easily digestible carb sources like rice, potatoes, pasta
Limited fiber, fat and protein to avoid GI distress
Hydrating fluids like sports drinks
Familiar, bland foods that the athlete tolerates well
Single-plate or bowl meals for easy consumption
The focus is on providing high-quality carbs to top off glycogen stores, along with some protein, antioxidants, and fluids – without overwhelming the system before the endurance event begins.
Other things to consider:
Optimal Timing and Composition of the Pre-Event Meal:
Timing is crucial – the pre-event meal should be consumed 3-4 hours before the start to allow for proper digestion and absorption
Composition should be high in easily digestible carbs (e.g. white rice, pasta, potatoes, bread) and low in fat/fiber to minimize GI distress
Fluids should be included to top off hydration levels
Some protein can be included, but the focus should be on carb-rich foods
Individualize based on personal tolerances – avoid any foods that typically cause GI issues
Portion sizes depend on the event duration but usually around 3-4g/kg carbs
Hydration Strategies Before the Event:
Begin hydrating heavily 2-3 days out by increasing fluid intake
Aim to consume 5-10mL per kg bodyweight about 2-4 hours pre-race
Include sodium in pre-race hydration to better retain fluids
Monitor urine color to ensure proper hydration levels
Don’t over-hydrate excessively, as this can cause hyponatremia
Customize hydration based on individual sweat rates and event conditions
Summary:
The key for pre-event fueling is to maximize carb/fuel stores through proper loading, time the final fuel intake for optimal digestion and utilization, and ensure adequate but not excessive hydration levels heading into the endurance event.
This primes the body’s energy systems for the upcoming demands. It ensures you have done everything you can via your nutrition to back up the hard work you have put in via your training.
If the race is important to you, nothing new on race day!
Do not be tempted to try that snack new bar in the vendor village. You have trained hard for this event so no point screwing up your chances by putting something in your system that may not agree with you, or not digest properly leaving you feeling sluggish, or worse, with digestive issues.
Breakfast
You will need to be prepared to consume a few hundred calories in the morning to ensure that you start the day right and end up properly fuelled to begin the event. *This may be hard for some athletes, so be sure to practice prior to the event.
Breakfast should be easy on the stomach so it needs to be low in fibre and easily digested. Stick with simple carbohydrates again like a bagel or even rice, possibly some fruit and just a little bit of easy to digest protein like egg or nut butter.
Include your normal coffee/caffeine routine.
In an ideal world you would finish breakfast 2 hours before race start and once you have eaten you should aim to consume 500ml of water every hour until you are out on course.
Race Start At the 10 minute countdown to race start, you should be drinking 1/2 to full bottle of sports drink or a sports gel plus water for a final carbohydrate boost. Do not take the gel without water as it will not digest well.
Avoid taking in this fuel in the 30-60 minute pre-start window as you will lose the benefit of the boost and are more likely to suffer a drop in blood sugar at race start.
Front Half of the Race In the “front half” of the race (especially the early stages) your gut is able to absorb the nutrients much easier than when your body begins to shut down blood flow completely to the gut in the closing stages of the race.
In the closing stages your body will be sending all blood flow to your working skeletal muscles, which means limited flow will be sent to the gut and this often results in those dreaded GI issues.
A common mistake people make is going too hard in the early stages and then failing to hydrate and refuel efficiently. This leads to a big drop off in performance thanks to the combination of fatigue, dehydration and low energy.
General Rule of Thumb Endurance athletes should aim to eat 60-90 grams of carbohydrate per hour during their event. You will need to practice and experiment to see what exact levels work for you.
Fluid Intake Your fluid intake plan needs to take into account the hourly amount of fluid you need (example, some athletes need about 1 litre/hour to match their sweat rate – others need half that amount and some need nearly double that). *The only accurate way to really know is to perform a sweat rate test which means taking pre and post body weight checks when racing in similar conditions and intensity as you have on race day
Ensure you have practiced with your chosen electrolyte fluids and that it has enough of the critical component; sodium 800 mg/litre of fluid is a good “starting” amount. If racing in particular hot conditions this may need to be closer to 1000-1,500mg/litre while some people suffice with only 400-500mg/litre,
Back Half of the Race The total fuel intake here is typically lower. However, you still need to ensure you are maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance (again – the importance of sodium) and going with more fluid energy intake, rather than eating bars/chews.
Consuming a caffeine liquid, such as a flat coke on the last couple of laps is common place in endurance sports such as Ironman and can be beneficial but I generally wouldn’t recommend starting to drink coke until you’re at least half way through the back half. Ideally you would, if needed, consume something like this in the last 10K to 10 miles.
There Three Big Mistakes
Not hydrating early enough. If you wait to start your hydration plan this can result in early dehydration. This can have a huge negative impact on your race as your body then has a reduced ability to process fluids and fuel for the rest of the day.
Not having enough sodium in your fluids. This means you do not ingest enough sodium which at best can cause bloating and at worst, potentially dangerous hyponatremia (low blood sodium) which can result in coma and even death.
Taking on too much fuel and/or taking on too much fuel in one go. If the body needs to work at digesting food it will divert blood flow away from the working muscles to the digestive system and your race will suffer.
As you are heading into your race week your training phase will be Competition Phase.
During the Competition Phase your macronutrient intake will switch slightly to slowly increase your carbohydrates and fully build your glycogen stores.
During the Prep Phases you will most likely sit somewhere around a 40%P, 30%C, 30%F split (as a guide) as we are looking to build lean muscle to increase power and speed as well as maintaining a strong base of muscular endurance and cardio ability.
In Competition Phase the split will be a little more carb heavy to ensure you are properly and fully fuelled for racing. Not the best for body composition but that’s not the concern now as that work has been done
A Competition phase will look more like 25%P, 50-55%C, 20-25%F (again as a guide, each athlete will have there individual needs).
Do not leave your carb loading until the night before and just eat all the carbs thinking you’ll be good… you won’t be!
Best Carbohydrate Sources
Increasing carb intake should be done smartly, using the best sources possible to maximise your results.
You don’t want to smash the chips, crisps and pizza thinking “hey, it’s carb loading!”
You want to include foods that are low on the Glycemic Index, especially the closer to race day you get as these are broken down more slowly in the body and do not cause spikes in blood sugar.
Some of the best food choices are: Bananas Berries Brown Rice or Quinoa Yogurt Oats
Avoid Food that causes inflammation
This sounds obvious but some people are not aware of the inflammatory actions of some foods. As you approach race day you want to reduce and ideally eliminate your intake of all these bad boys.
Biggest Offenders are:
Red Meat and Processed Meat Refined Grains including White Bread/Rice/Pasta and a lot Breakfast Cereals Snack Foods such as Crisps, Cookies, Pastries etc Dairy Products Fried Food Anything with added sugar Soda and Sweetened Drinks Alcohol
Focusing on recovery is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of proper sports nutrition.
An effective nutrition recovery plan supplies the body with the right nutrients at the right time.
Recovery is the body’s process of adapting to the previous workload and strengthening itself for the next physical challenge.
The key nutritional components of recovery are: Carbohydrates to replenish depleted fuel stores. Protein to help repair damaged muscle and develop new muscle tissue. Fluids and electrolytes to rehydrate.
A full, rapid nutritional recovery plan supplies more energy and hydration for the next workout or event, which improves performance and reduces the chance of injury, meaning we become fitter and improve our endurance.
Rapid recovery is especially crucial during periods of heavy overload training and anytime two or more training sessions happen within 12 hours
When to start replenishing carbs
Training will generally deplete muscle glycogen.
The first 30 minutes or so after exercise provide the best opportunity for nutritional recovery due to factors such as increased blood flow and insulin sensitivity, which boosts cellular glucose uptake and glycogen restoration.
To maximise muscle glycogen replacement, you should consume a carbohydrate-rich snack within this 30-minute window. Ideally this should include foods providing 1.0-1.5 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight. Since it can be difficult to eat whole foods so quickly after exercise liquid and bar supplements may be useful and convenient choice.
For endurance athletes especially, if you are going to do another intense session within 24 hours you should ideally repeat this carbohydrate load for 2-hour intervals for up to 6 hours,
Consuming smaller amounts of carbohydrates more frequently may be the way to go if the previous recommendation leaves you feeling too full.
Now on to Protein
Recovery nutrition is essential for muscle tissue repair and muscle growth. Whether you’re focusing on endurance or strength training – or both, taking on protein after your session provides the amino acid building blocks needed to repair muscle fibres that get damaged and promote the development of new muscle tissue.
As a rough guide, as protein requirements vary from person to person, consuming 15-25 g of protein within 1 hour after exercise can increase the muscle rebuilding and repair process and help you achieve those all important strength gains. It will also help those trying shift, or maintain, their body composition from fat to lean muscle and can be worked into a calorie restricted diet.
Effective Rehydration
Pretty much all weight lost during exercise is fluid, so weighing yourself (without clothes) before and after exercise can help gauge net fluid losses. Knowing this is something recommended for endurance athletes especially.
Be sure to replace fluids gradually and not by gulping down an entire litre of water as soon as you are done. The recommendation is, over the course of 4 to 6 hours drink 1/2 a litre of your chosen recovery fluid or water for every pound of weight lost.
It is essential, for performance levels, to properly rehydrate before your next exercise session. If your sessions are an hour or less as low to moderate intensity than water should suffice. However, if you are in hot or humid conditions, or undertaking long or high intensity sessions you will likely find rehydration more effective if sodium is included with the fluid and food consumed.
GET IT RIGHT
As with effective pre workout nutrition, post workout nutrition will need personal experimentation regarding the best fluids and foods to deliver the necessary nutrients.
Everything here is a guideline, a recommendation and a starting off point. There are no exact hard and fat rules that suit every individual.
Pay attention to how you feel during your sessions. Notice when you feel like you have no energy to being with or when you book really quickly on your runs and/or rides.
Play around with timings and quantities until you hit upon what really works for you and your body.
The main goal of eating before a workout is to replenish your glycogen, the short-term storage form of carbohydrate. Glycogen supplies immediate energy needs and is especially crucial for morning workouts, as the liver is glycogen depleted from fuelling the nervous system during sleep. The muscles, on the other hand, should be glycogen-loaded from proper recovery nutrition the previous day if you hit the post workout routine right.
The body does not necessarily need a lot (depending on the timing and type of session), but it does need something to prime the metabolism, provide a direct energy source, and allow you to perform the session at the planned intensity and for the given
As for what the something is, following the basic guidelines it is best to experiment with a few different snack and meal choices and see which works best for you.
What to Eat Before a Workout
As stated above, this will come down to personal preference.
The majority of nutrients in a pre workout meal should come from carbohydrates. You also need some protein, but not a significant amount as protein takes longer to digest and does not serve an immediate need at the beginning of your workout. Fat and dietary fibre also should be marginal to minimise the potential for gastrointestinal upset – we’ve all been there right!
Research has shown that the type of carbohydrate consumed does not directly affect performance across the board. Some thrive on regular foods (e.g., my personal favourite; a bagel with peanut butter). Some reach for the convenience options such as an energy bars or replacement shakes.
One crucial element that is often overlooked is Pre-workout fluid intake. This is critical to prevent dehydration, which results in a severe drop in performance as best and serious help issues at worst. Be sure to time your fluid intake so that you are not busting for the loo during your workout. Ideally start 4 hours before and aim for 5-7mls per kilo of bodyweight.
When to Eat Before a Workout
When is a huge consideration for pre workout nutrition and almost as important as what.
Eat too early and the calories are gone by the time the exercise begins. Eat too late and the stomach is stealing all your energy trying to do its digestion thing, and making you feel uncomfortable in the process.
As a general rule the ideal time for most people to eat is about 2-4 hours before activity. Again, you can play with this depending on the session/day you have and figure out in different situations, what works best.
If your meal time is 4 hours before your workout you can safely consume up to 1,000 calories. If the gaps between eating and training are much shorter (a pre-7 a.m. workout, for example), eating a smaller meal of around 300-400 calories or less, about an hour before the workout, can suffice.
A general recommendation that can be a good jumping off point to figure out what works for you is to consume about 1 gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight if working out 1 hour after eating, 2 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight if working out 2 hours after eating… and so on.
To avoid GI issues it is advised that anything consumed less than 1 hour before an event or workout be in liquid form, such as a sports drink or smoothie.
Get it Right
An effective pre workout nutrition plan should be planned based on the duration and intensity of session. You should also take into consideration your ability to supplement during the activity (if longer than 45-60 minutes), your personal energy needs and environmental factors; is it hot, humid, cold etc.
Determining how much is too much or too little and getting the timing right can be frustrating, but experimenting is vital for success.
The response to that interview has been big and a lot of you have positively responded to it, telling me that changing the way you think about it, and even just renaming it, has allowed you to build a better relationship with the rest day.
However, I know there are some of you that are either still not convinced, or still struggling to get your brain to get on board. You know its a good thing to do but still, that little voice inside your head is telling you to stop being lazy, get up, get out etc etc.
I decided to reach out to another one of the people inside my village to look at it from a slightly different angle. I asked my friend Louise, a Sports Therapist and owner of LP Sports Massage, to give me her thoughts.
Here’s what she had to say:
First off Louise, have you ever struggled with taking rest days or have you always embraced them?
I have actually always tried to have at least one day but definitely when I was new to the gym I would try and do a fitness class or my own hit session pretty much every day and it also became a routine. Its only now that I see the benefit of giving my body time to recover so I altered my routine and aim to have rest days on a Thursday and Sunday to split my week out. I try and listen to my body though and if I need to move a rest day around because I am feeling fatigued and aching I will, so I can hit my session hard the following day and get the most out of it.
If you struggled, why do you think that was?
Probably the fear of missing out on a workout because I enjoyed Group Exercise classes (pre CrossFit love). And I thought, initially before getting better educated about nutrition and the big part is has to play, that training every day was the way to get fit and lose weight.
Demi now thinks of them as Grow days, as these days off help her ‘grow her muscles’. For those that are still struggling with this idea… without getting too technical, can you break this down a little more?
Your muscles store carbs in the form of Glycogen which are used during exercises. Rest allows you to replenish these stores before your next bout of exercise. When they are depleted and the stores aren’t replaced you experience muscle fatigue and soreness know as DOMS.
Muscles also need rest to repair the microscopic tears that exercise causes, to help make them get stronger and also fight through plateaus in training. The rest days are actually when this magic happens!
If you try and workout whilst fatigued even the most basic movements feel hard work and your technique falls down. If you can’t do the basics then you definitely shouldn’t be pushing your body to add weights to the mix.
I talk to my clients all the time about the dangers of overtraining. The two big ones being 1) your performance will start to plateau or even worse, decline and 2) you’ll damage yourself!
Do you see a lot of injuries caused by people not taking enough recovery?
Yes!! The most common injuries I see are overuse – where people increase their volume too quickly and they haven’t been used to that amount of training, or they are just not resting enough/at all and letting their bodies recover.
In simple terms fatigued muscles make you susceptible to injuries.
For example fatigued Triceps from loads of push ups can cause strain on the joint (the elbow) as that aims to help take the load from the muscles that are struggling to still perform the movement. But this can result in inflammation within the joint, potentially causing a pinched nerve so tingling down the arm or reduced range of motion in your elbow. This consequently has a knock on effect on your training. You see where I am going…
Also tightness from not stretching post workout or a build up of knots (build up of muscle tissue) can restrict blood flow and oxygen to your muscles- basically depriving muscles from working at their full potential. If niggles or tightness are ignored the little issues get worse causing more problems or referred pain, and potentially bigger injuries so you end up being out of training longer anyway.
Anything specific people can do on their grow days to aid their recovery?
Making sure you keep up your water and protein intake. – protein for grown and repair of your muscles – water because it is a key nutrient in the makeup of the synovial fluid, which helps lubricate your joints and allows for ease of movement. Also it helps to reduce muscle cramping and can make you more alert and have more energy for workouts.
If you sit at a desk all day or even sit on the sofa a lot try to just get your body moving not vigorous exercise but more a gentle walk, utilising any free time to really stretch out your hips, shoulders and lower back especially. You’d be surprised how stiff these areas can get from sitting in the same position for approx. 8 hours a day. This will all help make the basic patterns easier anyway and you will soon notice the difference.
Thinking more in general – how often should someone stretch and can you stretch too much?
Doing 5-10 mins every day is great for improving flexibility and can alleviate tight muscles, but being realistic it is unlikely people would stick to that. A couple of times a week would be beneficial and probably more likely to stick to. So maybe instead of sitting on the sofa all evening you could do a bit of stretching on the floor whilst watching your programme on tv? Or focusing on doing longer stretching sessions on your rest days, whatever works best for you.
Using an app such as GOWOD can be a great tool as it can be tailored to your weaknesses and give you great stretches if you don’t know what to do for all different areas of the body.
Whats your best piece of advice for all us regular people who are just working hard to become better?
Enjoy the process, don’t push yourself so much you burn out physically and mentally you will soon see it isn’t sustainable powering through muscle pains and training exhausted!
Enjoy those days off training because you’ll appreciate how much harder you can hit your sessions after them and start seeing your performance in training improve and even hitting PBs which of course everyone gets excited about!
Rest Days. For anyone that really cares about their performance they are as important as Training Days… so why do so many people struggle with them?
I’m one of the lucky ones as I have never really struggled with taking my rest days.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been involved in various sports from a young age, maybe it’s because I work within the fitness industry and all my training has taught me well, or maybe I’m just a little bit lazy and just like the idea of taking a day off (this last one is only true once about every 4 months just FYI!)
As I say, I’m one of the lucky ones as I know that many of my clients, class members and training friends at CrossFit Iron Duke struggle with whole concept of taking a day off from training.
I’ve asked a few of them what the issue is and the things I get told range from “I can’t face taking a day off and hampering my progress” to “I need to exercise every day”
These are not good reasons not to take your rest days and actually there is no good reason not to take your rest days. It has been proven over and over again that rest days are as essential to your progress as the training you do.
My friend and fellow CrossFitter, Demi Stephens (also a qualified Nutrition Coach) recently wrote a post on Instagram about her ‘Grow Day’ and I instantly loved the concept. I could see that this different way of thinking might help other people so I decided to ask her a little more about it.
Here’s what she had to say…
How long did you struggle with the concept of the Rest Day?
Probably ever since I first really got into the gym and training… so it was probably about 10 years!
I am definitely someone that has over-trained in the past.
Why was that?
I used to think that I was ‘missing out’ on a workout, or that I needed to train every day to get fitter and stronger.
If my muscles weren’t hurting then what was I resting for? I didn’t realise that my overtraining was working against me and I just wasn’t given my body a chance to catch up with itself.
Even though I was pretty much injured all the time, I still trained. I couldn’t see that my lack of recovery was probably responsible.
You now call them ‘Grow Days’… how did this come about?
This actually evolved from a conversation with my Coach at CrossFit Iron Duke – Toby Cooley – a couple of years ago. He would programme me specific ‘rest days’ and more often than not (if I actually had one) the rest day would end up being a mentally low day too.
So back in March 2019 the idea of referring to them as a “Grow Day” was born … and the idea that when I am “growing” the magic is happening!
How does this change of name help you?
It took a bit of time but it shifted how I viewed the day, I wasn’t missing out. instead I was literally ‘growing my muscles’. So it began to feel like I was accomplishing something and working towards my goals.
Grow days then became a thing… If I had a day away from the gym due to work or to study, it was still ‘a grow day’.
If I couldn’t make it to the gym due to a niggle or an injury, it was just another grow day.
With your Nutrition Coach hat on, is there anything else you think is important to understand?
I honestly didn’t realise just how much recovery was part of the process.
If I could go back in time and have a word with my 30-something self I would!
Recovery is SO important.
Simply put, exercise = a stressor.
So even though we often use exercise to relieve our stresses, it also puts our body under physical stress.
All those body systems that we simply don’t see and take for granted have to work a little bit harder to restore a happy balance.
If you think of yourself as your mobile phone, once that battery starts getting nearer 0% and that red line appears you know you’re going to need to give it a full charge to get it working again.
Well that IS your body.
You know that feeling when you can’t perform the way you are used to, weights feel heavy, you feel achy, tired, moody and generally ‘meh’… this is your internal systems trying to get your attention as they are starting to struggle.
If you don’t give yourself a chance to recharge that battery (recover) then your body will end up deciding for you and force you to stop – usually with an illness or an injury.
Can you use your nutrition to enhance the effectiveness of your “Grow Day’?
There is that saying “muscles are torn in the gym and fed in the kitchen”. Well this is just as important on a ‘grow day’.
I make sure I hit my protein targets – so that my muscles can repair themselves.
I keep my water intake up – so that I remain hydrated.
I make sure I eat my carbs – so my glycogen levels are restored.
My body needs “feeding” so it can recover, repair and refuel itself so I can smash my next workout!
Do you ever still struggle to take the day off?
I actually now look forward to a ‘grow day’ and I treat myself to 2 a week!
I am still active on these days and will usually go for a nice walk to keep my body moving, but I see it as a day to give my muscles some TLC so that I am ready for the next day.
Fat is essential to our diet. We need to consume some fat as it contain important nutrients and essential fatty acids. Vitamins A, D, E are fat soluble, which means they can only be absorbed with the help of fat.
As with carbohydrates, fat has a lower TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) than Protein. In fact, carbs and fat have the same TEF. This means you will burn between 5 to 15% of the calories of the fat from the digestion process. Therefore you consume 200 calories of pure fat, around 10 to 30 calories will be burned by digestion.
Fat is the most calorie dense of the three macronutrients but as stated above it is needed and is not the enemy.
If fat loss is your goal, you will need to understand that fat comes at a high calorie cost. Calorie deficit is the key to fat loss so limiting your fat intake and making smart choices will be necessary.
There are two main types of fat; Saturated and Unsaturated. *Ideally no more than 10% of your daily calorie intake should come from saturated fat.
Saturated Fats are found in both sweet and savoury foods and are mainly found in animal products (meat and dairy) although there are exceptions such as coconut oil.
Examples of saturated fat include: Fatty cuts of meat Sausages Meat pies Butter, Lard and Ghee Cheese Cream and Ice Cream Biscuits, Cakes and Pastries Chocolate Bars
Unsaturated Fat is mostly found in oils from plants and fish.
To reduce your risk of heart disease and maintain healthy levels of cholesterol it would be wise to reduce your overall fat intake and try to ensure you consume mostly unsaturated fat.
Examples of unsaturated fat include: Olive oil and spreads made from olive oil Rapeseed oil Some nuts i.e. Brazil, Almond, Peanut Avocados Sunflower seeds Oily Fish i.e. Herring, Salmon, Sardines, Mackerel
Following on from my last post about Protein (Understanding Protein-the basics) now lets look at the next macronutrient – Carbohydrate or Carbs.
Now, Carbs get a really bad rep and a lot of fad diet trends will preach the virtues of removing carbs from your diet. The true fact is though, there is no good reason to remove carbs from your diet. Carbs are not the enemy. Carbs provide us our energy for exercise, and for general life and they help our brain function.
I am sure we all know at least one person that did some low carb diet and said how easy it was and how much weight they lost. Hell, I’m one of them – back in 2003 I did the Atkins diet and yep, I lost a tonne of weight… for a while.
The truth of it is any diet where you cut a quantity of food will work for weight loss in the short term, as you are creating a calorie deficit. But cutting carbs for a period of time means that your body becomes carb resistant and when you reintroduce carbs, your body has a hell of time trying to figure out what to do with them and in the main, this results in some pretty serious weight gain. 2004 was my fat year, after I couldn’t sustain Atkins any longer, and to be honest, nor did I want to.. I wanted Pizza!
The key to sustainable fat loss is calorie deficit. Not Keto, Not Paleo, Not Intermittent Fasting (especially not this for women as it has proven to have detrimental effects for women, especially menopausal women). You can achieve calorie deficit by those means and if thats your way then hell, you do you but for most of us, we want to enjoy our food, ALL our food and that includes the energy boosting, brain boosting carbohydrate.
We know, as I talked about it in my Protein blog, that the body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients. You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process. That figure drops to 5 to 15% for carbohydrate. Therefore you consume 200 calories of pure carbs, around 10 to 30 calories will be burned by digestion.
In the ideal your carbohydrate consumption should be based on food rich in fibre, as fibre helps keep you fuller for longer and has many benefits for gut health.
Wholefood carbohydrates such as grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables are also rich in micronutrients and have wide ranging benefits for body function.
Carbs are split into two types; Simple and Complex, based on their chemical structure and how easily they are absorbed by the body.
Simple carbs are easily absorbed by the body and include fruits and honey.
A lot of processed and refined foods are simple carbs and these are the ones that need to be limited within a diet to achieve fat loss. Think biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate bars.
Complex carbs take longer to digest and include things like rice, beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, potatoes parsnips, wholemeal bread and pasta and wholegrain cereal.
If you are trying to change your body composition then you need to get to grips with calorie deficit (you can read more about that here in a previous blog; Calorie Deficit ) AND balancing your macros.
Calorie deficit will equal weight loss. Balancing macros will ensure fat loss.
When it comes to fat loss, understanding protein is key so here are the simple facts about protein and fat loss.
1) We digest protein more slowly that the other macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats) which is the reason we feel fuller after eating protein. Including a good lean protein source at every meal will help you feel full and less prone to snacking due to hunger. Protein at breakfast is THE best way to start your day.
2) The body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients. You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process. As an example; you consume 200 calories of pure protein, around 40 to 70 calories will be burned just by digesting it. This means eating protein can both increases your energy expenditure and your calorie deficit. Win Win.
How much Protein should you be eating:
As a general rule of thumb you should be consuming 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. This will help keep you feeling full, support fat loss while also maintaining muscle mass.
If you are an athlete or you train heavily several times a week you will need to increase this to 2.2 to 3.4kg per kilogram of bodyweight.
Some Good sources of Lean Protein: Chicken / Turkey breast, 5% fat Beef Mince, Pork Fillet, Tuna, Cod, Prawns, Egg White, Low Fat Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Seitan, Edamame, Tofu, Tempah. *this list is not exhaustive
PLEASE, Please stop giving your hard earned money to lazy bloody Herbalife distributors! *This was originally a facebook post but deserves a space here 🙂
Yes, learning about nutrition and how to successfully manage your diet (which just means your daily intake of food and drink) may take a little more time and effort but it is worth it!
You will save money and have the knowledge and skills you need to control your own life.
Why on earth would you want to make someone else richer just because they tell you they’ll get you results (they claim) you can’t get on your own?
News Flash… of course you can!
Think about some of the bullshit lies these “coaches” (they are distributors, not coaches!) tell people:
1) Fruit and Veg has no real nutritional value anymore.
Seriously? You are buying this? You honestly believe you need to buy expensive supplements because it’ll be better for you than eating real fruit and veg
2) It’s not a meal replacement.
Yet they tell you to replace your breakfast with their product as it’ll be better for you… why? (And also, it says it right there on the product!)
WTF is wrong with eating actual food. Nothing, except they can’t make money from that!
3) Drink this “whizzy tea”. You’ll burn up to 80/100 calories.
Right, just fuck off now! How, and I mean seriously how, can you burn up to 100 calories just by drinking a tea
Also… did you know that in 2021, as a company, they still test on animals???
If this post gets one person currently wasting their hard earned money on Herbalife to stop and think it’s a win for me!
All we see is posts and stories from distributors showing how great their lives are, talking about how easy HL makes their lives (not your life by the way, theirs!) they care about money, not helping people.
Yes we see endless posts of people looking smaller holding up newspapers but guess what restrict calories by replacing meals with shakes and anyone can get those results. And, “anyone” does. You don’t have to learn anything about nutrition to become a seller.
I get tapped by a HL seller at least every 3 months “hey, I’ve got a great opportunity for you”
I occasionally entertain their enquires just to find out more (or I’m bored and fancy a laugh). I usually ask about the training I’d get and I get list upon list of all the sales training but not one mention about actual nutrition training.
Did you know those in the top echelons are reported to be earning +£400k a year from this pyramid scheme
Yup, they make that much money just from convincing others to sell and building up their “team”. Because that’s another fun piece of this ridiculous puzzle… if you try their products you can pretty much guarantee you’ll be tapped up to sell. You are a cash cow in so many ways!
Come on people!
Any Fit Pro selling HL is fucking just lazy. Don’t be lazy too and help them with their “blessed” lifestyle.
Put some effort in, learn about nutrition and make YOUR life better, not theirs.
If you want some help drop me a message and I’ll try and help you with the basics. It’s not as complicated as you maybe think.
If you want to read and learn, buy any of the books by The Fitness Chef (and give him a follow on social media)
If you need a protein supplement (and do you know that you do actually need it!) buy direct from a decent company that doesn’t still test on animals.
If you need Aloe Vera it’s about £8 a bottle from Holland & Barrett, and yes that’s 100% pure. Rather than the 40% stuff they sell for approx £30!
The same goes for most, if not all, of their supplements!
There is not 1 valid, viable reason to need Herbalife
One of the first things I knew I had to do as part of my IM journey is lose a bit of fat and get as lean as possible.
I am by no means big but by making myself as lean as possible I give myself another key for success, alongside my training.
This was one of the things I discussed with my coach, Kerry, in that initial meeting. Literally the week before I had signed up for the IM I had set new goals for all of my lifts and was going to focus on improving all things barbell related. Funny how things can change so quickly! All that had to go out the window and the focus now has to be using lighter weights and moving faster.
Anyway, back to the fat loss bit. I had my daily macro targets, I had the different targets for different days depending on how active I was on each day so now it was time to invest in the paid version of MyFitnessPal and get to work.
In my first 6 weeks this is the change in my body composition:
Weight: -1.5kg
Fat %: – 2.8%
Muscle %: – +1.8%
And, this is the change in my measurements:
Bust: -1 inch
Back: -+/- 0
Waist: – 1.5 inch
Stomach: – 1 inch
Hips: – 1.5 inch
Not a bad start, I still need to lose about another 4kg in total but it’s careful and slow process as quick weight loss usually means muscle loss and my goal is fat loss and becoming lean. It isn’t just about the number on the scale, nor should it ever be.
Although it’s careful and slow, it isn’t complicated. Companies like Slimming World and Weight Watchers make it complicated but they are businesses and their main aim is to make money. They thrive on repeat business and sadly, their businesses are booming. We all know roughly what we should and shouldn’t eat. We are generally all aware of foods that are nutritionally good and those that bring us little or no benefit.
If you want to lose some fat and change your body composition for the better you just need to do the following… and it’s all free! It’s simple, you can have the things you want, nothing is off limits, you just can’t have everything you want. Then you can take that money you give to these crappy “weight loss” companies and use it for something good.
Figure out your calorie deficit (read my previous blog post for more info)
Download the MyFitnessPal app and set up a free account
Track your daily consumption and be honest about it
Keep your daily macros at roughly 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein
Make sure that less than 10% of your daily calories come from junk food and things that have little or no nutritional benefit.
Give yourself a break if you have a day where it all goes wrong. Forget about it and make sure the next meal you have puts you back on track!
It really is that simple. No, it isn’t always easy but for the general population, it isn’t anymore complicated than this.
I’ll check back in in a month and update you with my progress 🙂
