Optimize your off-season nutrition to improve performance

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If you’re a runner taking some downtime from higher-volume training and racing, or if you plan to step up your efforts in a cross-season sport like skimo or cyclocross racing, winter is a great time to up your nutrition. out of season.

Focusing on your performance nutrition during the off-season can give you the mental capacity to apply information to your specific challenge areas and help you build a solid framework that you can work with as you increase the intensity and volume of your running. Off-season nutrition can also help set the stage for your peak training and racing season.

Work on your base

Like core training, developing a solid nutritional foundation can be helpful as you approach race season, when you may be short on time or tired from all the training. Fundamental nutritional skills such as planning, shopping, adjusting macronutrients for training days, and micronutrient diversity can contribute to building a strong, adaptable runner.

Flex your planning muscles

It’s hard to fuel up without a plan. Think ahead and prepare shopping and meal lists to make sure your nutritional choices align with your goals.

To get into a better routine, block out specific times on your calendar or set reminders on your phone each week. Keep planned meals and snacks simple and easy to prepare, especially for breakfast and lunch. This can make the process less daunting. Snacks, in particular, can be planned in a way that supports different training goals, such as pre- and post-workout snacks that are intended to promote energy levels and recovery. For example, graham crackers can be a great pre-workout option because they contain simple carbohydrates and chocolate milk provides a perfect balance of carbs and protein post-workout.

Planning your shopping list and meals can save you money and time by avoiding impulsive purchases and aimless wandering around the market.

Additionally, the off-season can be an opportune time to try new recipes that you may have needed more time to try during intense training. If you don’t like cooking, try exploring meal delivery services. Purple Carrot, Factor 75, Daily Harvest or Hello Fresh are great places to start. These can help you conveniently plan meals that fit your budget and dietary needs.

Macronutrient intake

Many runners focus strictly on energy intake when thinking about off-season or race season fueling. However, the off-season can be a good time to focus on the macronutrients you consume: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. While it may be tempting to start restricting your overall energy intake, you need to be cautious and aware that even in the off-season, any workout requires additional energy intake.

If you decrease your volume and intensity in the off-season, you may need fewer carbs than during race season. However, it is important to note that carbohydrate intake should match volume and intensity if not decreased off-season. He The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends Carbohydrate requirements of 5 to 12 g/kg/body weight per day for ultrarunners. (tTo get your weight in kilograms, take your body weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2). However, carbohydrate intake can be adjusted depending on training volume and intensity. This could be one cup of carbohydrates at each meal on light training days that are less than an hour long, or two cups at each meal on more intense training days that are longer than two hours.

Eat and train to reduce injuries

The offseason can be a good time to work on muscle strength and endurance to help avoid the risk of injury when preparing for a big race. Your off-season protein needs will depend on strength goals and training volume and intensity. For example, if you do more strength training during the offseason, you may want to keep your protein intake similar or even increase it slightly to help build muscle strength. Protein intake recommendations range from 1.6 to 2.5 g/kg body weight per day and, like carbohydrates, can be adjusted to fit off-season goals.

While runners often neglect fat consumption, it is important to remember that fats contain twice the energy compared to carbohydrates and proteins. In the off-season, fat needs may not be as high if you don’t train as much. However, they remain important dietary components for the consumption of fat-soluble vitamins, the functioning of cell membranes and the production of hormones.

Get into those buses

The intake of micronutrients, also known as vitamins and minerals, is essential for the physiological functioning of the body. From bone health and strength to immune system function and neurotransmitter production, its microbes keep the body running smoothly, reducing the risk of injury and illness.

A peak training period (approximately three months before a race) places greater stress and demands on the body’s systems, increasing the micronutrient requirements needed to function properly. Therefore, the offseason is a good time for runners to consider getting a basic athlete blood test to check under the hood and make sure no deficiencies need to be addressed.

Runners should pay attention to iron status (full panel of iron, including ferritin), vitamin D (important for bone health, muscle strength and immune function), red blood cell magnesium (affecting storage status of iron), B12 (an energy producer), and a basic complete blood count are good fundamental blood markers to look at. It is important to note that if you are having an athlete’s blood test, be sure to have professionals who understand laboratory reference ranges interpret them for you. The nutritional levels and needs of runners are different compared to non-runners, and athletes should seek out a medical team that understands their background and goals.

Some athletes may need or benefit from supplements for certain deficiencies. But the offseason is also a great opportunity to see how athletes can correct that imbalance through nutrition.

Focus on dietary diversity

Due to time constraints and training demands during racing season, you may find yourself drawn to eating the same foods for weeks or months. The extra time in the off-season can allow time to explore the growing diversity of plant foods.

To support your gut microbiome, increase the variety of plant-based foods in your diet. This will help maintain bacterial diversity in your gut, something that correlates with better cell signaling, better metabolism, modulation of inflammation and better glucose metabolism..

Additionally, increasing the diversity of antioxidant-rich foods, such as herbs, spices, teas, and plant-rich food colorings, may reduce the burden of oxidative stress caused by exercise (which can affect muscle contraction and lead to impaired performance) without inhibiting training adaptations. Cue green tea and dark chocolate consumption!

Keys to off-season nutrition

The racing offseason can be a good time for runners to focus on rest and recovery, and build a resilient foundation through nutrition. While it may seem tempting to go into restrictive eating mode, it may be beneficial for runners to view this time as the perfect opportunity to focus on delving deeper into blood biomarkers, overall macronutrient intake, and what to add to optimize performance and health. your future self.