Dietary Manipulations Concurrent to Endurance Training

Abstract

The role of an athlete’s dietary intake (both timing and food type) goes beyond simply providing fuel to support the body’s vital processes. Nutritional choices also have an impact on the metabolic adaptations to training. Over the past 20 years, research has suggested that strategically reducing carbohydrate (CHO) availability during an athlete’s training can modify the metabolic responses in lieu of simply maintaining a high CHO diet. Several methods have been explored to manipulate CHO availability and include: Low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diets, performing two-a-day training without glycogen restoration between sessions, and a “sleep-low” approach entailing a glycogen-depleting session in the evening without consuming CHO until after a morning training session performed in an overnight fasted state. Each of these methods can confer beneficial metabolic adaptations for the endurance athlete including increases in mitochondrial enzyme activity, mitochondrial content, and rates of fat oxidation, yet data showing a direct performance benefit is still unclear.

Effects of Dietary Supplements on Adaptations to Endurance Training

“…However, dietary intake can also impact adaptations to training by increasing the exercise stimulus and/or enhancing or blunting cellular responses to exercise-induced perturbations (Fig. 1) [6].…”

8 weeks of 2S-hesperidin prevents a decrease in pO2 at submaximal intensity in amateur cyclists in off-season: randomized controlled trial

“…2,3 The type of training, training status, and diet composition can affect the exercise response and adaptations in a positive or negative way. 4,5 In addition, the intake of ergogenic aids has been shown to modulate adaptations generated via training, like reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling, acid–base balance, redox state, training load, etc . 4 These physiological adaptations generally result in improvements in the athlete's performance.…”

“…2,3 The type of training, training status, and diet composition can affect the exercise response and adaptations in a positive or negative way. 4,5 In addition, the intake of ergogenic aids has been shown to modulate adaptations generated via training, like reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling, acid-base balance, redox state, training load, etc. 4 These physiological adaptations generally result in improvements in the athlete's performance.…”