What is the perfect pre-race meal?
This is a question I was recently asked, and I am not sure I have a straight answer to the question. It certainly got me thinking about the world we live in where it is even possible to suggest that there is a perfect pre exercise meal.
As if to suggest that the cheetah wandering through the savannah must have eaten a specific meal with calculated macro and micro nutrient value if he is to hunt his prey.
If I had been asked the question ten years ago, I would have given a very 'sports science' / Ancel Keys-esk answer. Through educational marketing I had come to an appreciation that carbohydrates were the key to performance, and therefore the perfect meal would be pasta, or some other form of complex and processed carbohydrates. This is most certainly not my suggestion now, and if you are still heading down this route, I suggest that you reach out so that we can have a conversation.
If I had been asked the question five years ago, I would have suggested that if you wanted to be light and fast as an athlete, then the foods that you ate prior to exercise must also be light and easy to digest as well as high in micro nutrient value. This might be something more akin to a Mediterranean style salad. Much, if not all of this belief still holds true.
The challenge I have with the question, is that I don't believe that you need a specific pre-exercise meal. You should feel just as confident/comfortable going for a run immediately after a meal, as you should having not eaten. If you couldn't go for a run immediately after eating, then I suggest that you reach out so that we can have a conversation about what you are eating, and/or what is going on in your gut.
You can accuse me of wearing a tin foil hat if you like, though I suggest that you/we have been cleverly educated to believe that we must at a certain time, in a certain way, with a certain number of specific nutrients.
Food for thought.
Find out how James Kuegler Coaching can help you with your training.
This is a question I was recently asked, and I am not sure I have a straight answer to the question. It certainly got me thinking about the world we live in where it is even possible to suggest that there is a perfect pre exercise meal.
As if to suggest that the cheetah wandering through the savannah must have eaten a specific meal with calculated macro and micro nutrient value if he is to hunt his prey.
If I had been asked the question ten years ago, I would have given a very 'sports science' / Ancel Keys-esk answer. Through educational marketing I had come to an appreciation that carbohydrates were the key to performance, and therefore the perfect meal would be pasta, or some other form of complex and processed carbohydrates. This is most certainly not my suggestion now, and if you are still heading down this route, I suggest that you reach out so that we can have a conversation.
If I had been asked the question five years ago, I would have suggested that if you wanted to be light and fast as an athlete, then the foods that you ate prior to exercise must also be light and easy to digest as well as high in micro nutrient value. This might be something more akin to a Mediterranean style salad. Much, if not all of this belief still holds true.
The challenge I have with the question, is that I don't believe that you need a specific pre-exercise meal. You should feel just as confident/comfortable going for a run immediately after a meal, as you should having not eaten. If you couldn't go for a run immediately after eating, then I suggest that you reach out so that we can have a conversation about what you are eating, and/or what is going on in your gut.
You can accuse me of wearing a tin foil hat if you like, though I suggest that you/we have been cleverly educated to believe that we must at a certain time, in a certain way, with a certain number of specific nutrients.
Food for thought.
Find out how James Kuegler Coaching can help you with your training.
