Better Rowing Through Food Science

The American College of Sports Medicine is a professional organization for sport-science researchers, educators, exercise physiologists, sports dietitians and doctors. At its annual meeting in May, more than 4,500 members from around the globe presented their latest research.

Here are some highlights of the session hosted by the Professionals in Nutrition for Exercise & Sport:

Fueling endurance: How much carb is enough?

When athletes consume the recommended 30 to 90 grams of carbohydrate every hour during endurance exercise, they tend to perform better than athletes who fail to maximize their carb intake. Given that muscle might be able to take up 120 to 140 grams of carbohydrate per hour if the carbs can get through the gut, the question arises: Would more than 100 grams of carbohydrate per hour be even more beneficial, despite the risk of gastrointestinal distress?

Training the gut to tolerate a higher carb intake might take about a month or more. Hence, endurance athletes should practice their fueling strategies during training sessions to figure out their individual fueling and hydration sweet spot. The type of carb (liquid, solid, sports drink, energy bar) used for fuel doesn’t matter as long as you’re drinking enough fluid.

Caffeine for performance: How much is enough?

Caffeine is a popular pre-exercise energy booster, with some athletes being more sensitive to caffeine’s effects than others. About 45 percent of athletes have genes that metabolize caffeine quickly; 45 percent, moderately; and 10 percent, slowly, meaning it stays in the system longer.

Despite this, caffeine’s rate of metabolism doesn’t dictate its ergogenic effect. Caffeine stays in the system for hours, even among fast metabolizers. There’s no solid evidence to suggest that other genotypes influence caffeine’s performance-enhancing effects. Given that caffeine’s benefits appear unrelated to a specific gene, athletes needn’t spend money getting “caffeine genotyped.”

Athletes can take caffeine in the form of pills (three to six grams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight; 200 to 400 milligrams for a 150-pound athlete) or drink some coffee (about 150 to 200 milligrams per 12-ounce cup) an hour before exercise—though be aware that coffee’s caffeine content is highly variable.

For a quicker fix, caffeinated gum (developed by the military) gets caffeine into the system within 15 minutes. Words of wisdom: More caffeine is not better; high doses can hurt performance, so plan to keep that upper limit to six grams per kilogram.

Placebos are powerful.

When translated from Latin, placebo means I shall please.  A placebo offers a pleasing effect and can enhance performance in its own right. For example, if you take a supplement that you believe in (it pleases you), chances are good you’ll be able to perform better, even if research suggests the supplement doesn’t work. The stronger your belief, the larger the effect.

The supplement industry commonly exploits the placebo effect. Some companies make a lot of money from supplements proven not to work. That said, all supplements come with risks. Just because it works doesn’t mean it’s safe. Use supplements wisely.

Collagen supplements for tendons—questionable!

Collagen supplements are supposed to strengthen tendons and ligaments so such connective tissue is less prone to injury. Research suggests tendons can get bigger and stiffer with collagen supplements, but this has been shown to happen also with whey supplements. In muscle connective tissue, whey and collagen supplements are equally effective. Using collagen supplements to enhance skin, hair, knees, joints, and other collagen-dense tissues is also questionable. If any small effect is seen, it’s more likely from having boosted your protein intake. Consuming adequate protein is essential for proper muscle, tendon, ligament, and joint health.

Hydration for performance

Several studies suggest that over 50 percent of NBA players start games under-hydrated, as well as 50 to 80 percent of other athletes. Does this impact performance? No doubt—just as it’s quite plausible that athletes would improve their performance if they were better hydrated. Most important: drinking enough water in hot weather.

  Some athletes test their urine routinely to determine hydration status based on the concentration of metabolites. Given that each athlete is an experiment of one, having concentrated urine doesn’t mean necessarily that an athlete is dehydrated. For example, muscular athletes, like rugby players, tend to have darker, more concentrated urine than runners. Urine tests should be adjusted according to each individual’s baseline measurement.

Effect of menstrual cycle on performance

Empowering a woman to track her cycle and monitor how it affects her is a big step forward for the sports world; only recently has menstruation been discussed by coaches and trainers.

Although recent research has found no definitive impact of the menstrual cycle on the ability of female athletes to perform, some women talk about symptoms, ranging from mild to very severe, that can lead to suboptimal results.

Cycle syncing—tailoring food and exercise to menstrual-cycle phase—is practiced currently by some athletes and teams, but there’s no strong evidence to support it, nor are there any firm physiological reasons to do it. Since belief is so powerful, we don’t want athletes to believe that at certain times of their cycle, they’ll perform worse.

If a team believes cycle-syncing offers benefits, it will. 

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