GOLD Medal Nutrition in Beijing

By Dr. Gary Slater

Concerns over food and water quality in Beijing and recent media reports about restrictions on food being brought into the Olympic Village have left some athletes anxious. Rest assured, passionate supporters of our Aussie athletes, our Olympic committee and their army of committed professionals worked hard on this issue for some time... educating our athletes on safe food hygiene practices (bottled water only and if you can’t peel it or cook it… don’t eat it) while also supplementing the village dining hall food with some familiar foods that form the cornerstone of many athletes pre-competition and recovery nutrition strategies, And the Americans… well they imported all of their food and a small army of chefs from the USA, to prevent food contamination in Beijing from both a potential doping and hygiene perspective.

The importance of nutrition practices to the success of our athletes in Beijing is without question, fuelling Olympic performances and forming an important part of their overall competition preparation routines. Yet, unfortunately for some athletes, attention to detail in their meal plan only comes during the pre-competition period. The reality is the metabolic demands of heavy training far exceeds those of most Olympic events, suggesting a greater return on investment from a focused approach to diet during the heavy loading period in the months preceding the Olympics. Take for example our Olympic rowers preparing for Beijing; many of whom have undertaken six to eight hours of training on heavy loading days yet their competition day schedule might entail just a short, sharp 30 minute warm-up, six to eight minute race and another 20-30 minute warm-down. You soon see where the greatest fuel demands are. What’s more, it’s during training that fitness adaptations occur and where a focused application of an array of recovery strategies will pay dividends.

For our rowers above, the priority in competition is more about adequate fuel and fluid reserves while minimizing gut discomfort… basically getting to the line feeling comfortable and confident. The following sections describe important pre-competition, during event and post-event nutrition strategies for our Olympic athletes. You may not be on the start line at Olympic Games but these same principles can also be applied to your own meal plan the next time you come to compete.

Pre-Competition Nutrition

The pre-Olympic period for our athletes is a challenging one. Many will be undertaking the last of their heavy loading blocks, some in Australia with their support network close at hand, others in remote parts of the world adding the finishing touches to their preparation at altitude of heat acclimation camps. For those in weight category sports, body mass management may be a priority while others may be reviewing the impact of a training taper on their nutritional needs.

For almost all of out Olympic athletes, the one to two weeks of training before the opening ceremony will be characterized by moderate to large reductions in training volume; a classic training taper. This allows our athletes to freshen up and remove any residual fatigue while maintaining fitness adaptations acquired in the preceding heavy months of training. A reduction in training load ultimately demands a reduction in total energy intake if body mass is to remain stable. No worries I hear you say, "I’ll just be guided by my appetite and all should be good". If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, our appetite just isn't quite in-tune with our needs, at least in the short term when large adjustments in training loads (and thus energy requirements) occur. This leaves our Olympic athlete with an equally ferocious appetite but more time on their hands and 24 hour access to mountains of free food from cuisines around the globe in what has to be the world’s biggest buffet dining experience, the Olympic Village dining hall… and did I also mention free McDonalds 24/7 and freezers of free Magnum's to tempt you as you leave the dining hall after each meal? It might be an athlete’s idea of a dream but ask a coach of an athlete competing in a weight category or weight bearing sport at the Olympics their biggest fear and they’ll likely tell you "watching four years of preparation get lost in a dining hall feeding frenzy".

The following strategies are golden rules some of our elite athletes swear by to maintain energy reserves (and body weight) while on a tighter energy budget during a pre-competition taper:

• Volumise your diet - boosting the amount of fruit and vegetables in your meal plan not only increases intake of important nutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, they're also nature's appetite suppressants being rich in fìbre and water. Aim for both lunch and dinner to include a healthy serve of cooked vegetables (recognising the potential health issues concerning salad vegetables in Beijing but elsewhere, salad vegetables would be fine) while a few pieces of fruit could form the basis of mid-meal snacks during low training volume days. This will allow carbohydrate intake to moderate as training loads decrease (matching intake to needs) while maintaining the same volume of food to be consumed at meals and snacks, keeping hunger at bay.
• Don't drink your kilojoules - limit your use of energy containing drinks (like juices, cordials and soft drinks) wherever possible...you'll get more satisfaction from solid food as your energy budget drops off. While sports drinks remain the cornerstone of nutrition support during intensive and/or prolonged training sessions, water might be the beverage of choice during the shorter sessions that characterise a pre-competition taper.
• Include a small serve of protein rich food at meals and snacks - higher protein foods tend to be more filling. For example, add a slice of lean ham and low fat cheese to a sandwich at lunch, some cottage cheese on a fork split muffin mid morning and a tub of yoghurt with fruit at afternoon tea. It's not about large serves of protein rich food, just an even distribution throughout the day.

Endurance Events

Athletes competing in endurance events of longer than 90 minutes in which energy reserves are likely to be challenged (such as the running and swimming marathons, race walking, road cycling and mountain bike events) will likely benefit from carbohydrate loading, Unlike the original carbohydrate loading regime that included a fatiguing 'depletion phase', current protocols used by our athletes are characterized by an increase in carbohydrate intake in the 24 to 48 hours before competition .that coincides with a training taper, resulting in elevated muscle glycogen reserves and a body that is fatigue free, While it sounds simple, carbohydrate loading can be a challenge for some athletes.

• ‘Carbo load, don't garbo load'… carbohydrate loading isn't an excuse for gluttony or poor quality meal choices, Rather, focus on a meal plan based on carbohydrate rich food at each meal and snack while moderating both fat and protein intake, allowing more of the energy budget to go to carbohydrate rich food and fluids

• Cut back on high fìbre foods, allowing more space in the meal plan for compact, concentrated sources of carbohydrate such as cordials, juices, soft drinks, sports drinks, cereal and sports bars, extra thick spreads of jam or honey on bread/toast, and dried fruit to supplement intake of carbohydrate staples, like bread, in all of its forms – pasta, rice, noodles, cous cous and starchy vegetables.

• While carbohydrate loading boosts energy reserves, don’t discount the guaranteed performance boost gained from consuming carbs while racing. Sports drinks fit the bill perfectly as a valuable source of fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes.

Similarly, endurance athletes are also likely to challenge their body’s fluid levels competing in the heat and humidity of cities like Beijing. With the support of some of Australia’s best sports science professionals, some athletes have made use of specialized hydration supplements to help retain additional fluid in the body in the hours before competition, leaving them less open to the performance sapping effects of dehydration.

Skill Based Events

For athletes competing in skill based events (for example shooting, diving and archery) or shorter duration, high intensity Olympic events (like rowing, pool swimming and kayaking), the priority remains with intestinal comfort at the starting line. Larger meals are typically consumed two to four hours before competition while smaller meals or snacks can be tolerated as close as one to two hours before an event. Nutritionally the focus remains with carbohydrate rich, low fat choices with plenty of fluid to top up both energy and fluid levels while leaving out athletes feeling light and comfortable. Liquid meals can be particularly good choices for those vulnerable to pre-event butterflies, leaving the stomach faster than solid food. Specific choices and their timing may depend on intestinal sensitivity, individual taste preferences, location and timing of specific events but above all, the choice must be something the athlete feels comfortable with, enjoys, and forms part of their routine competition preparation schedule. During the Olympics, that has meant researching what’s on the eight day cyclic menu on specific days of competition, identifying preferred choices and ideally having the opportunity to trial these during training a week out.

Pre-event Meal Fuel Suggestions

• Breakfast cereal or porridge and reduced fat milk and juice
• Toast or muffins with jam, honey, peanut paste or Vegemite and a low fat smoothie… yes our medical headquarters will be carrying a supply of Vegemite!
• Baked beans or tinned spaghetti on toast with water or sports drink
• Pasta with a low fat tomato based sauce and water
• Sandwiches or rolls with lean ham and cheese plus juice
• Creamed rice and tinned fruit with water
• Pancakes with syrup and a juice
• Rice or noodles and low fat stir fry and cordial
• Low fat smoothies or liquid sports nutrition supplements (like Sustagen Sport or PowerBar Protein Plus

Spare a thought for our Olympic Swimmers… after years of refining their pre-race preparation for evening finals, the Beijing Olympics is the first to run finals during the morning, ensuring prime time viewing in the USA. Aware of the nuances associated with the change to race schedules, many of our swimmers have reviewed their pre-race strategies, including their fuelling, hydration, and supplementation protocols. Adaptability is the key… pre-race nutrition principles remain the same, it’s just the specific food and fluid choices that athletes have refined, often using early morning training sessions as a test run for specific meals.

Nutrition in Competition

Competition nutrition strategies vary markedly between Olympic events but for events lasting 60 minutes or more, like many of our Olympic team sports, endurance athletics events, triathlon, tennis, sailing and road cycling, the focus remains with replacement of lost fluid and electrolytes while topping up carbohydrate reserves As such, sports drinks became a priority during competition. Despite this, some athletes may prefer to use water (or have limited storage capacity to carry a sports drink) during competition. For these athletes, watch out for their use of sports gels washed down with a chaser of water as a quick carbohydrate and electrolyte hit. Any of our athletes forced to compete in the anticipated sweltering conditions of Beijing will almost certainly have undertaken some form of heat acclimation training prior to arrival in Beijing, While thss helps an athlete tolerate the conditions much better, it also potentially exposes them to the performance sapping effects of dehydration, especially if they haven’t got their drinking strategies just right given that sweating starts earlier and is more profuse after acclimatization. Thankfully, with the help of support staff many of our athletes will have the opportunity to measure their own sweat rates under Beijing conditions, enabling them to develop a targeted fluid intake plan specifically for their Beijing event.

Nutritional Recovery Strategies

The importance of nutritional recovery strategies for will vary depending on the event. For single event sports like the marathon and triathlon, recovery between training sessions prior to Beijing is critically important but come post-race it’s unlikely to be a high priority. However, for multi-event sports (like modern pentathlon or decathlon) or multiple round events (sailing, most team and combat sports) nutritional and other recovery strategies are critical to sustained performances throughout the Olympics. Recognising this, ‘recovery bars' are provided to our athletes at training and competition venues each day, ensuring they have ready access to the best food and fluid choices to meet individual needs for fluid and electrolytes, carbohydrates to restore energy reserves, and protein to start the rebuilding and resynthesis process.

While our Olympic athletes are well supported with some of the country’s best sports medicine and sports science personnel, the competition nutritional strategies discussed here will be just as applicable to you the next time you come to compete, As with any new strategy, your competition nutrition strategies need to be experimented with in training, and refined to meet your individual needs and dietary preferences. Good luck!

 

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Title	GOLDMEDAL Nutrition in Beijing
Author	Slater, Gary
Source	Ultra-fit Australia
Vol (iss)	(114)
Date	(2008)
Pages	22-25
SIRC ID #	S-1081239

 

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