MACRONUTRIENT GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING

Macronutrient Guidelines For Training

What makes nutrition unique and challenging is biochemical individuality. The optimal training diet for one person can be detrimental to the next. These guidelines are based on the current body of knowledge which will undoubtedly continue to evolve in the future. Clinicians should advise their patients to keep track of what foods work best during training. Athletes should never compete with diet strategies that have not been successfully explored in practice.

	MEAL PLAN	2 HOURS BEFORE TRAINING/ COMPETITION	DURING TRAINING/ COMPETITION	RECOVERY THE FIRST HOUR	EVENING (PM) BEDTIME SNACK
WEIGHT MAINTENANCE: STRENGTH ATHLETES¹	5 isocaloric, very high protein, moderate carbohydrate, low fat meals PCF*: 30-50-20	MRP** mixed with water and fruit or protein bar or small sandwich (turkey, chicken, tuna)	Water or sports drink	MRP mixed with sports drink	Small protein snack one hour before bed (cottage cheese, piece of chicken, protein bar)
WEIGHT GAIN: SIZE AND STRENGTH	6 hypercaloric, high protein, moderate carbohydrate, moderately low fat meals PCF: 25-50-25	MRP mixed with juice, or milk, and fruit, or a protein bar and a piece of fruit or a medium sandwich	Sports drink	MRP mixed with fruit juice, fresh or frozen fruit, juice drink, or a combination	Moderate-sized protein- carbohydrate meal; for example, protein smoothie or turkey sandwich
TRAINING FOR WEIGHT LOSS ONLY¹	5 hypocaloric, high protein, high fiber, low sugar, low fat meals PCF: 25-60-15	Coffee, tea, or water. For maximum fat mobilization, train on an empty stomach	Water	MRP mixed with water	No food 3 hours before bed
WEIGHT LOSS DURING COMPETITION²	5 hypocaloric, high protein, high fiber, high carbohydrate, very low fat meals PCF: 25-65-10	MRP mixed with water	Sports drink	MRP mixed with water	No food 3 hours before bed
ENDURANCE ATHLETES	6 iso caloric to hypercaloric moderate protein – high carbohydrate – moderate fat meals PCF 15-60-25	High Carbohydrate drink or sports bar	Sports drink	MRP with juice or sports drink	Moderate size P-C meal; ex Protein, smoothie, or turkey sandwich

*PCF is percentage of calories from protein, carbohydrate, and fat.
**MRP is meal-replacement powder
1 Example: Football, Basketball, Hockey, Track
2 Athletes with weight class restrictions or rules who must lose weight to compete, e.g., wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts

MACRONUTRIENT GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING
EXPLANATION OF CATAGORIES

WEIGHT MAINTENANCE/STRENGTH ATHLETES

-- Eat five or six meals daily. Consume the amount of food needed to neither gain or lose weight. A protein drink or a small sandwich does count as a meal.

WEIGHT GAIN/SIZE AND STRENGTH

-- Eat six meals a day. Consume 500 to 1,000 calories more than you need to maintain your weight. Although the percent of protein calories is lower than the weight maintenance category above, the total protein will be higher due to the extra calories consumed. If you are not gaining weight, continue to add 250 to 500 calories over the course of your six meals until you reach a level where you are gaining weight.

TRAINING FOR WEIGHT LOSS ONLY

-- This category is not designed for persons concerned with performance. These recommendations are for those whose number one concern is losing weight. This category should not be followed for those who want to lose weight without effecting strength, endurance or performance.

WEIGHT LOSS DURING COMPETITION

-- This is the low calorie category designed for athletes in competition. The high carbohydrate percentage is due to the fact that the low total calories can lead to a lack of energy, thus the percentage of calories from carbohydrate is increased. Therefore your total carbohydrates should be only slightly less than what you would consume with a normal calorie diet composed of 50 percent of the calories from carbohydrates. Diets that are low in total calories and total carbohydrates do not provide enough energy for most athletes.

ENDURANCE ATHLETES

-- Endurance athletes usually have high calorie requirements. Due to the type of training programs they follow, endurance athletes burn fat more efficiently. Even though 15 percent of calories from protein appears low, due to the high amount of total calories consumed this 15 percent will meet the requirements for endurance athletes. The higher amount of fat calories is recommended for both the higher energy requirements and to prevent weight loss. In most cases, weight gain is not an issue with endurance athletes.

One of the benefits of endurance exercise is the improved ability to burn fat during exercise. Short term increase in dietary fat (50% - 70%) two to three weeks prior to an endurance event before carbohydrate loading (65% - 75% of calories) in the final three or four days can improve endurance. The temporary high fate diet for endurance trained athletes can spare glycogen and promote fat utilization which, in turn, improves performance.

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