Fuel up for exercise, ok what does that actually mean in the real world?
Whether we are looking to gain weight, maintain or lose ensuring we fuel correctly will keep our performance up whilst still ensuring goals are met.
Understanding how many calories we need is vital to performing and meeting our goals.
Last week we looked at how to set a weight loss goal and with that how to work out our maintenance calories. It is also equally important to ensure we are fuelled for exercise.
So can we be fuelled for exercise and still look to lose weight?
Yes, in short.
As always, there are somethings we need to consider.
The balance of our calories, is important as we will need more protein to help sustain performance. We also need to think about when to eat to ensure we have the appropriate amount of energy for the workout.
There are a lot of different methods for this, and each person will respond differently, some prefer to eat a little more the night before, some 90 minutes before a workout. Without going into the pro’s and con’s as these will vary for everyone, I would suggest trying the above and seeing what works best for you.
It’s also important to ensure that it works for different types of workout, as this may also affect performance, for example a morning run vs a morning weights workout.
Next up, hydration, this is super important, we need to be hydrated. When the body is dehydrated the stroke volume reduces, which causes less blood to be distributed, less blood flow means lactic and waste building up quicker. This is on top of extra lose due to sweating.
Easy tip here is to get a head start first thing in the morning, well, we say a head start , the reality is that we haven’t taken on any water over the last 6-8 hours.
Next up, sleep, our body recovers whilst we sleep, specifically our muscles and our central nervous system, having a good and sufficient sleep pattern is essential for performance while also managing our calorie intake.
Scaling our workouts to suit is another good way of maintaining performance, whilst we may not be able to sustain the volume of being in a calorie surplus, we can shape our workouts to help, keeping the larger compound movements and minimising the accessory movements (or super-setting them) is also a good tactic.
There are lot’s of variables to consider, and it will take time to find out what works for you. It’s also a balancing act that isn’t always perfect.
Looking at the act of fuelling up specifically, we should aim to take on board food to specifically help with the workout we are about to undertake:
Cardio – unrefined slow release carbs are a great option, slow release will help for the duration of your workout.
Strength – unrefined carbs and protein, our muscles will need the carbs for output, the protein will help with a head start on the rebuilding side.
Endurance is largely the same as cardio, the key difference is that we would undertake this in the days leading up to an event, otherwise known as carb loading and essentially the act of filling all of our energy stores.
There are lots of avenue to explore, and understanding how we perform best will take some trial and error to find out what works best for us.
Looking for a starting point with fuelling your workouts and finding the right balance? Chat to Team SF on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.