Once you’ve figured your Daily Caloric Needs, it’s important to determine what percentage of nutrients you’ll use for a guideline each day. What specific percentage of Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats make up your daily intake? I use a simple 45% CHO, 35% PRO and 20% Fat breakdown right now. Unless I’m really trying to ‘lean out’ I use this for most of the year. Occasionally I’ll have a day or two with a slightly higher CHO percentage for when I know I’m going to have an increased level of exertion on that particular day or am trying to have a ‘re-feed’ meal. Please do not take the percentages I’ve listed as a “rule”, they’re only what I’ve found that works for me. The recommended percentage of each is different for everyone and should be tailored and monitored by a Professional (Nutritionist or Certified Personal Trainer) to be most effective.
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| Egg 'mix', toast and Arabic Coffee @ Algebra Tea House |
I recently had 3 weeks straight of training, coaching and competing (including 4 races on back to back weekends). As a result, I actually sustained the higher CHO percentage consistently throughout as there were steady extra demands and stresses placed on my body (and mind/nervous system). My activity level stayed the same though as there were some days that I missed in the gym due to travel for competitions.
If I had started to lose weight over the past few weeks I would have changed the activity level so that my Kcal total increased to keep my weight constant. But this (loosing weight) example shouldn’t have happened since I already had selected an activity level that matched the demands of my current athletic endeavors when calculating my Kcal requirements.
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| 'Chopper' Salad w/ Chicken and Garlic Cilantro Dressing |
You’re probably asking yourself right now “I thought there was some seasonal aspect to nutrition that was supposed to be the focus of these posts”. You’re right – time to talk seasonality.
Coming up in Part #3: the ‘Seasonality” effect on Nutritional Needs for the Mountain Athlete.
Hi Jb. Great posts. Looking forward to the final two posts in this series.
ReplyDeleteAs I am getting older (and more sedentary - lol) I am interested in learning more about the basics of nutrition to support strength training as well. During the various seasons (golf for me), I'd like to focus on different physical training programs that can help overall (I know, your readers are probably going to wonder why I'm mentioning golf to a mountain athlete, lol).
There are so many strength training programs out here, but I want to ensure that I'm also focused on nutrition as well, so that my efforts are both effective and efficient.
Would love to see a series on strength training nutrition as well - for example, what are basic targets for CHO, PRO and FAT? Would be great to read your approach. I've always been impressed with your dedication to nutrition and getting the results that you set out to achieve.
And finally, what's the pics of great looking food with no recipes? :-)
Can't wait to read more.
C,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to check out the blog and reading the recent series on Seasonal Nutrition for the Mountain Athlete. If you go to the 'Ask Coach Jb' Page, it lists my email (send me a message) and we can discuss strength and nutrition elements applied to your specific sport needs.
Recipes could be something I add as a page sometime down the line. Do you have any you want to share?
Coach Jb