Paleo for athletes
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lguy29
Posts: 131
BAre there any athletes here who do Paleo? I'm talking about 2+ hours of sports training happening on the daily. I'd love to hear how Paleo is working for you in terms of energy and strength for your sport. I am a softball player and want to ensure I will be "well fueled" to get into season in a few weeks.
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I can't . My marathons half iron mans or ultras I have to have easy dense carbs. I can get away on smaller stuff for smaller events but I have to be realistic. Raisins dates bananas sweet potatoes are higher carbs that are fine to eat. There is a paleo bread but I don't know anything about it. I'm gluten and dairy free so I just do what I can. Prior to a marathon I'll eat Gf noodles or a Gf pizza with no cheese. I turn to Gf pretzels and crackers and I have to have carb drinks during runs bikes etc over 2 hrs.
There is a paleo athlete book out there but I made it to page 2 b4 giving up. It's a hard read and the menu is crazy hard in the back.
I just got a dehydrator so I'm making my own dried bars. Oh and I love silk almond chocolate milk! Justine's alomd butter packets. Honey stinger energy line.0 -
Here is an excerpt from Mark Sisson's blog about Paleo for athletes. The entire article can be read at the link provided. There are many good resources for athletes at Mark's Daily Apple. Hope this helps!
"Right after a long training session or race, you’re in a critical period for glycogen refueling. That first hour offers the most efficient opportunity for glycogen storage, and it’s fine to refuel initially with simpler (faster uptake) sugars. Take it slow and go for drinks first until you think you can safely move onto solid food. When you’re ready, try some fruits or yogurt with honey to get both carbs and protein in that initial window. As you move past that first hour, tubers and more complex carb sources are good to include. As I tell everyone, try to avoid grain-products as much as possible when increasing carbs. Depending on the length and intensity of your workouts (and races) you’ll need anywhere between 60-100 extra grams of carbs (beyond what we discuss above on a low carb plan) each day per hour of intense endurance work. It’s well worth the trial and error efforts to gauge your personal need and dial it in precisely.
I’d also suggest redirecting your training toward long and slow stuff with occasional fast and intense interspersed. Doing so will allow you to keep building endurance capacity while better “training” your body in fat burning efficiency.
Races or any intensive training session lasting over 90 minutes often call for added carb refueling on the fly, too. Over the years coaching athletes, I’ve found that drinking 10-20 grams of sugars every 15 minutes after the first 60-90 minutes helps keep glucose in the bloodstream and thereby spares muscle glycogen. Any more than that and you run the risk of stomach upset. Once again, sports drinks are probably the most efficient source for carb energy, electrolytes and hydration. Though a piece of fruit might work for borderline training days, eating solid foods during a race generally backfires. Additionally, sport drinks have some advantages over straight juices. There’s a reason these drinks have been around for a while. I’d do some comparison shopping and personal trials to find one you prefer.
Finally, wise (i.e. comprehensive and potent) supplementation is an absolute must. In comparison with the average Joe or Jane, endurance training inevitably depletes the body. You’re doing more than the body was naturally designed to do. Moreover, the amount of oxidation (and free-radical damage) taking place during that time is tens or hundreds of times greater than what you experience at resting metabolic rates. Consequently, your nutrition needs will be higher – especially the need for extra antioxidants. It’s critical you refuel all nutrient stores and take in higher levels of anti-oxidants that can help repair the damage training (in addition to everyday living) causes."
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-athlete-compromises/#ixzz2H9BHdAfx0 -
Another blog post by Mark Sisson on Mark's Daily Apple:
"My advice, indeed, is different for intensive-training athletes than it is for regular folks. Let me first say that my athlete-directed advice will seem like a compromise compared to the rest of what I talk about on the blog, and that’s because, well, it is. As I mentioned in the Chronic Cardio post a couple weeks ago, I certainly understand the drive toward athletic competition and the intensive training that goes into it. That said, I also see it as a compromise – a compromise in which passion wins out over nature, so to speak. Our cavemen/women friends didn’t evolve with this kind of taxing routine; consequently, it takes some rather “unnatural” conditions to support this training model.
Because intensive athletic training typically exhausts the body’s glycogen stores, it needs a supplementary (albeit inferior fuel), which likely requires carbohydrate calories. (Yes, take a moment, if you need to.) The image of a runner loading up on carbs before a race isn’t for nothing. Unfortunately, getting these from veggies just won’t do the job this time. Ideally, you should look to natural starchy carbs first (yams, squash, etc.) and then to whole grains like wild rice or quinoa. The whole grains are, admittedly, a lesser second choice, but they’re better than just downing simple sugars. Try to keep the extra carb calories limited to pre-training and pre-competition times as much as possible. The primal diet still can (and should) be the center of your nutrition.
A rigorous athletic training regimen also requires more protein. You’ll inevitably incur inflammation as well as muscle damage. Make sure you get plenty of omega-3s and antioxidants. Because intensive training will deplete vitamins and minerals faster than a regular fitness routine, a high potency formula is imperative."
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/athlete-training-advice/#ixzz2H9CO7NND0
