FEEDING STRATEGIES FOR ENDURANCE EVENTS

I have been asked to write about something a little new and today. I will be talking to you about feeding strategies for long distance events and in this case cycling. Now this is important during endurance events. If you do it wrong you could promote gastrointestinal discomfort (stomach pains) or even not have enough energy to sustain your activity level which would impair your performance.

Firstly I will talk to you about what foods. Well this is the easy part, you need carbohydrates. Something that is high in carbs but low in fat. Why? This is because carbs are full of sugar which will increase your energy levels while fats will store themselves. You need something easily carried so pasta would be stupid to bring along as you would have to stop to eat. Dried fruit, low fat cookies, energy bars, sports drinks etc are a great source of carbs. < all very easily bought in a sports shop.

After much research on this field I have found a lot of 'eat before you're hungry and drink before you're thirsty' which is good in theory but by the time you are starting to get hungry your glycogen stores have already dropped which is the first stage of fatigue. There is also the mistake of having large meals during the race. This is completely wrong due the high possibility of stomach cramps.

So step by step this is what I recommend:

The night before: Carbo-load - this is so you liver glycogen stores are full the next morning.

Breakfast: Eat a high carbohydrate breakfast.

During: Eat every 30 minutes during the race to keep your stores at a steady level. These must be little bite sized pieces of food. This way you will avoid cramps and you will keep a steady blood sugar level throughout the race. This is because there will not be much depletion in your glycogen levels meaning you will feel less fatigued during the race. You must also be sure to drink energy drinks with electrolytes. This way you become less dehydrated which will mean you become more mentally focused on the task ahead.

After: Eat a mixture of a protein rich and carb rich meal to replenish and repair your muscles. This will decrease your recovery time so you will feel much better the next day.

This was a very new subject for me to write on. All of the data is accurate to my knowledge and I hope it helps if you are about to compete in a long distance event.

This is me competing in my first half marathon last year for charity. 

PADDED LIFTING BELT

I decided I needed a belt. I wasn't at my bodybuilding gym anymore so there wasn't a belt to share around. I decided I needed one after I started deadlifting pretty heavy and I could feel the strain on my back. I picked up my padded lifting belt at bodymax performance fitness in Nottingham at £14.99.

It's not genuine leather but it looks the real deal. It is thick at steardy and has a two prong locking system on it like most belts have. It also has a cushiony pad at the back which is very comfortable.

There are pro's and con's to belts:

Pro's -

• Prevents injury
• Can actually increase performance
• Prevents the back from curving inward

Con's -

• Can make your back less strong
• Can diminish core strength 

Now after looking at both the pro's and the con's its fairly easy to understand that the pro's out weight the con's. You don't agree? Well let me persuade you. It prevents injury. This means I will not have to take any time out of the gym or my sport because I will be healthy and strong. No time will be wasted on recovering as my back will not be hurt. Now your back is one of your most important parts of your body. You don't want to be getting older and having a bad back because what i'v seen it doesn't look very nice. So take care of it!

I have seen significant differences in the way I lift with the belt. I can lift more and my technique increases; that's a win win. Before you get to this stage of loving your belt though you will hate it. Why? Because you have to wear it in. I don't know if this is with everyone but certainly with me it was painful. This is because the belt is becoming less ridged and more molded to your body. I came out with cuts and bruises around my waist from it but I got through it and now it is very comfortable. 

As I think most padded belts are the same i'm not going to rate a certain brand. there is no point. All I will say is if you are getting serious with your lifting a belt is a must.

YOU'VE STOPPED MAKING PROGRESS IN THE GYM OR IN YOUR SPORT.

I think we've all see that one guy or girl in the gym ALL the time that makes no progress. You could even be one of them. This could be from not gaining muscle to not losing weight. There is alot of mistakes, reasons and solutions why people hit walls and stop making progress. Alot of the time people stop making progress due to not having enough knowledge on what to do to reach they're goal. Although you can buy a personal trainer they can be abit pricey. Do not get me wrong some personal trainers can be experts in the field of fitness and can help you reach your goals, although people do not have the spare money to spend on them so i'm doing this post to help you reach your goals without spending any money. It'll take ten minutes to read but  i'm sure the gained knowledge will help you with all of your goals.

Basically alot of people start out exercising make substantial gains with muscle gain or weight loss and then carry on with the same routine because they saw it work for themselves so well previously. They will keep the same diet and the same exercise timetable and then no longer see any change, get disheartened and stop. The reason that the routine and diet plan works so well at the beginning is because your body is shocked into the new health style (beginner gains). This is the easiest weight to gain or lose. I feel even though you are making a substantial difference to your body there actually isn't that much change, it just seems that way due to everyone saying you look different etc. Now these beginner gains last up to six weeks (about the length of a training programme) it is different with everyone though.

If you stick with your programme for ages and ages you will reach something called a Plateau. Reaching a workout plateau is the point where your body stops responding to your exercise routine anymore. So what do you think you need to do? Obviously change it up. You'll see alot of stuff on the internet on what to do but through personal experience and learning off of guys in the gym that have been through it before I have narrowed it down to 4 key points.

1. Train outside your comfort zone/ up the intensity
Make things hard for yourself, if your there boshing out a set while holding a conversation with your gym partner you are not working hard enough. The only words I will say in the middle of a set will be 'ONE MORE REP' just to notify my spotter for what i'm going for (even saying that is a struggle). Up your intensity by decreasing rest periods, start timing them on a stop watch, start whacking in supersets and drop sets anything to tear that muscle up a little bit more.
2. Change rep & set range
So changing your rep range is a big deal. I used to do 3 sets of 8-10 reps for months when I first began last year, that was wrong of me but I knew no better. Start doing 4 or even 5 sets. Switch your reps up from anywhere between 4 and 14. I'm currently doing four weeks of 6-8 reps, and then two weeks of 8-10 and then four weeks of 12-14. It's just something new i'm trying.
3. Change the weight
Don't just stay on the same weight week in week out. Push yourself to go up a level. decrease the weight and up the reps or increase the weight and decrease the reps. The only way to gain lean substantial muscle is to lift them heavy weights but to get there you MUST mix it up and then in no time what you thought was a heavy weight will start becoming your light weight.
4. Up your intake
One of the most important aspects. How do you think you are going to be able to perform at your best without having alot of energy. The more food you consume the more energy will be available to your muscles to lift or exercise. Gradually add calories into your diet, not all at once though as you do not want your body to store the left over energy you do not use.

These four key points are essential to mixing things up and keeping your muscles confused. The reason behind these tips are that your muscles adapt. This is a survival thing that everyone has to make the body more efficient in what you do everyday. So if you do not change things up the muscle will adapt to the exercise because you do it all the time, the effect of this will be there will be a significant reduction in muscle soreness the next day. That sounds good but infact if you are trying to change the way you look it's bad. Muscle soreness shows us that our body is responding to the stress we are putting on it. It tells us that the muscle is tearing which leads to greater growth and strength.

These are my views from personal experience and communicating with many gym based friends. Although I have talked about the gym alot you can apply these tips to most sports very easily. I also know this is very male orientated so to any girls reading this applies to you also. Although I see guys doing it aswell I will always see a line of girls jogging on a treadmill 4 or 5 days a week. You will not get anywhere by doing this. How do I know? I see constant Facebook and twitter things about how you are not getting anywhere. All you have to do is stop being lazy in the gym start doing some explosive training like sprints and lightweight jump squats etc and you will soon be there. You have a whole gym full of people into fitness so ask them what to do instead of just plodding along on that running machine. Don't stop after the first week otherwise you will not make it. If you don't work hard you will not end up like the girls you compare yourselves too on the internet who have probably put years of training in. If you want it you are going to have to work for it. This is not a dig at all just something I see all the time & it's abit of advice to help you along.