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Copyright © 2005 Peak Performance. All Rights Reserved.
Eat well - Prevent Injury
Carbohydrate has been the victim of poor publicity since the beginning of the new millennium. It has also been a time of increased rates of injury among calorie conscious fitness enthusiasts. Eating for sport means following a carbohydrate rich diet – and one of the main reasons is to help minimize the risk of injury. What’s the connection between injury and carbohydrate intake?
First of all, eating carbohydrate rich foods pre-workout, during and post-workout help fight off the fatigue that comes with low muscle glycogen. Keeping both blood sugar and muscle glycogen stores topped up will minimize those injuries that happen from a lack of energy leading to fatigue and muscle soreness. There is ample evidence in the scientific community that links a well-stocked muscle with a decreased likelihood of injury. That is because muscles with low muscle glycogen stores are primed for fatigue – they lose their strength and thus their ability to protect the joints from injury. Ever wonder why so many injuries occur in the last 10 minutes of training and competition situations??
Who is most vulnerable to glycogen depletion-related injury?
In-line skaters who are training at moderate intensities for over an hour – that’s anyone getting ready for the National Capital Marathon in May. It's all too easy to gradually drain your glycogen stores if you're training without eating a diet high enough in carbohydrates. Trying a new skating technique or adding in a new component of training in an already fatigued muscle exposes those muscles to an unexpected demand – which makes joint injury even more likely. As a skater you may be focusing in on specific exercises to make you stronger, certain equipment to make sure that you can brake and/or turn well BUT your diet is a crucial factor – which if you neglect will mean that no matter how good your equipment or technique are, you still may get injured.
So what can you do to minimize injury?
The stress of trying to sustain a higher level of work output without sufficient fuel is thought to contribute to muscle damage. Eat a carbohydrate rich diet to ensure that you muscles are stocked up with energy BEFORE training. This ensures that you will be able to do more skating before you run out of fuel. Before exercising, eat a small carbohydrate rich snack or a liquid carbohydrate meal one hour beforehand.
Here are some examples:
- Latte with skim or 1% milk
- Carton of chocolate milk
- Small granola bar + water
- Piece of fruit (banana, orange, grapes)
- ¼ cup dried fruit + water
- Handful of salted pretzels + water
- 1-2 cups of sport drink
- GORP – easy on the peanuts – add some cereal instead + water
- ½ bagel with jam + cup of tea
Copyright © 2005 Peak Performance. All Rights Reserved.
