Over the last few days I've felt unusually tired. In addition, during my last two runs I felt very sluggish. I've been thinking about what might be the cause. The only thing I can come up with is the change that I started in my diet about a week ago.In response to continued reading about performance nutrition I decided to change my ratio of carbs to protein/fat from 70/30 to 60/40. The thinking was that I needed more protein and fats in my system in order to help with recovery. However, since I made the change I've noticed that my energy level has dropped and that my runs are much harder. In addition, I wasn't having any issues with recovery. So I probably tried to fix something that wasn't broke.
I am going to switch back to 70/30 to see if my energy returns. I am learning that the recommendations that the experts provide for optimum performance nutrition need to be adapted for each individual. And I need to find my optimum combination to ensure top performance.
The only way I will learn what is best for me is to experiment.
What have you found as the best way to fuel your body?
I find the more plant-based my diet is, the faster I recover. I have no idea if it's physiologial or just mental, but it ain't broke so I'm not going to mess with it!
ReplyDeleteWill be interested to know if that 70/30 shift will make a difference!
I had a simular problem resently when changing my diet to try and shift the last few kilos before my first ultra in a few more weeks and within a few days i felt like i had hit a wall, I was sooo tired and struggled to maintain any pace or form even on my shortest run I thought i was suffering fatigue from to quick a build up of mileage but after a few easy days and basically stuffing my face I felt great and went back to my previous daily food intake which is normally around a 80/20 mix since my mileage started exceeding 55 miles a week. I have found that over 60 miles a week my recovery and energy levels have been far better than when i was on a 60/40 mix of a few years ago. I am not saying this is the only reason because i have changed so much about my training in the last 5 months but i do believe that my better nutricien has make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a researcher from Cambridge (UK) after exercise 20g of proteine is sufficient for recovery.
ReplyDelete