Monday evening, 1 hour, medium-high intensity run session. What and when should I eat to give me the energy required to perform consistently to benefit from each training session?
The most likely contributors to fatigue for endurance exercise lasting 30 minutes or more are dehydration and carbohydrate depletion (Jeukendrup, 2011). Quite often we think about what we should eat before a training session especially with regards to carbohydrates; however we commonly tend to disregard our hydration levels.
A recent study has shown that an intervention program emphasizing increased fluid intake improved exercise performance in children exercising in the heat (Kavouras et al., 2012). Air-conditioned offices provide a comfortable working environment yet office workers are frequently unaware of the risks associated with dehydration (Rajiah, 2012). Ensuring that you are thoroughly hydrated before your endurance training session will allow you to push harder and achieve your goals.
References:
Jeukendrup, A. E. (2011). Nutrition for endurance sports: Marathon, triathlon, and road cycling. Journal of sports sciences, 29(sup1), S91-S99.
Kavouras, S., Arnaoutis, G., Makrillos, M., Garagouni, C., Nikolaou, E., Chira, O., . . . Sidossis, L. (2012). Educational intervention on water intake improves hydration status and enhances exercise performance in athletic youth. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 22(5), 684-689.
Rajiah, K. (2012). A cross sectional survey on knowledge, attitude and practice of staff members towards daily water intake during working hours in international medical university, Malaysia. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research, 5(4), 143-145