Nutrition Requirements for Marathons - Coursework Example

Introduction The nutritional requirements that are associated with someone training for a marathon differ from other standards in everyday practices. The nutritional values are designed to help build stamina and efficiency for running longer distances while helping the body to have the right balance for a marathon. More importantly, the post training nutritional values can help the body to recover without having the wrong balance and diet that is associated with the marathon. Creating the right balance with the nutrition can provides a different effect with training for running long distances while helping the body to remain healthy for a marathon. Pre – Training Nutrition for Marathons The basic concept needed for pre – training nutrition when preparing for a marathon is based on the ability to store and burn larger amounts of energy over a longer period of time. The first part to this is the amount of carbohydrates and proteins that runners have to burn while training for a marathon and before they are beginning to prepare for the race. It is known that the muscles will store larger amounts of glycogen when there are controlled amounts of carbohydrates and proteins. When in pre – training, the amount of carbohydrate and protein intake needs to increase so the muscles have more glycogen to store. Typically, the carbohydrates and proteins should equal an average of 50% of the daily diet to raise glycogen levels in the muscles. Fibers and wheat is known to create the best response for storing glycogen in the muscles and should constitute half the diet with pre – training. After training starts, the glycogen levels will begin to fluctuate from 27% to 17% because of the longer distances. Maintaining the nutritional value of carbohydrates and proteins will then create a substantial difference in the effectiveness of training (Kirwan et al, 2601). While carbohydrates and proteins should consist of 50% of the diet for those that are about to move into training, there are also nutritional areas to avoid for training. Many marathon runners have been known to enter into a fat – rich diet that will help to burn more energy while training for distance. However, it has been found that fat rich diets don’t have the same response as carbohydrates. In a recent study (Pederson et al, 98), there was a noticed difference in two groups, one which had a carbohydrate rich diet and the other which had a fat rich diet. Those with the fat rich diet burned off the amount taken at a faster pace and didn’t have the support within the muscles to run at the same endurance. At the same time, the immunity from those with a fat rich diet decreased substantially. By the time the marathon training was over, the body functions from the fat rich diet had become a detriment to the training and had lowered the immunity and capability to run with endurance training levels (Pederson et al, 98). While eliminating fat induced foods, while increasing carbohydrates, other secondary supplements and nutritional factors can be considered. Higher amounts of hydration foods and beverages, for instance, should be added into regular training specifically because of the amount of water that may be burned while training for a marathon. A research study (Pitsiladis, 903), noted that marathon runners training for the Olympics and other world running training would supplement carbohydrates and substantial foods that would take longer to burn with a specific consistency with beverages. The marathon runners would only drink water and a milk tea, both which were known to sustain the body more effectively than other drinks. The beverages were added with ad libitum, which is designed to help the body maintain the same weight and mass throughout the day. These specific techniques would cause the body to maintain a consistency with the distance training through the day time and night, while allowing the metabolism, immunity and other functions in the body to remain the same in pre – training. Combining the beverage intake with carbohydrates then helps to sustain the body while burning energy (Pitsiladis, 903). Post – Training Nutritional Requirements The post – training effects that need to be considered for nutrition is based on the changes the body will go through after a marathon. Running for endurance, changes in the nutritional values during the pre – training and the alterations that the body goes through all require a change in the diet for the body. The marathon running and training is known to cause high levels of stress to the body which can lead to a loss of immune levels, oxidative stress and an imbalance within metabolic processes. The distance that is run as well as the endurance required, despite the nutritional expectations from before training, can then lead to an imbalance in the body. To rebalance, this, there are extra requirements for antioxidants that will boost the nutritional value in the body. Foods with vitamins A, E and C are known to provide effective results. Glutathione, Ubiquinone and flavonoids also help the body to move back into a balance within the metabolism and immune system (Urso, Clarkson, 41). The concept of eating a larger amount of vitamins and supplements not only helps to rebalance the body, but also helps the body to come out of shock from the high intensity that comes with endurance training and running at long distances. In current research (Zamora et al, 505), it was found that after those had run a marathon, the muscle tissues and fibers would often be damaged with changed amounts of mass. The tissue and fiber in the muscle would have increased by an average of 6% because of the endurance training. More importantly, the mitochondria in the muscles begin to change with the extreme amounts of exercise that are performed during training and throughout the marathon. The muscle will begin to swell and may lead to a dampening effect from the exercise. To balance this, it is required that athletes allow their bodies to move back to a normal muscle level after training. Supplements such as selenium can help the muscles to move out of the state of swelling and shock, while allowing the muscle fibers to move out of a state of stress after performance. Other nutritional supplements, such as glutathione peroxidase enzymes can also help to balance the muscles while assisting the metabolism to continue functioning at a normal pace (Zamora et al, 505). Conclusion For marathon runners to effectively work on endurance training and high performance is also the need to balance the body with different nutritional supplements. The focus of athletes is to support and assist the muscles for the overall performance of the marathon. This begins with the ability to support the building of muscles through high amounts of carbohydrates and proteins, followed by water and beverages that sustain the body. The ability to support the body at this level will then help with the endurance and strength required for marathon running. After training, athletes are required to help the muscle tissue move back to normal states through enzymes and increased amounts of vitamins. This will allow the muscle to stop swelling and will help the metabolism and immune system to change in their functions for a healthy and balanced body from post – training. Works Cited Kirwan, JP, DL Costill, JB Mitchell, JA Houmard, MG Flynn, WJ Fink, JD Beltz. “Carbohydrate Balance in Competitive Runners During Successive Days of Intense Training.” Journal of Applied Physiology (65), (6), 1988. Pederson, BK, JW Helge, EA Richter, T Rohde, B Kiens. “Training and Natural Immunity: Effects of Diets Rich in Fat or Carbohydrate.” European Journal of Applied Physiology (82), (1), 2000. Pitsiladis, Yannis Paul. “Elite Kenyan Endurance Runners, Diet, Hydration, Technology in Sport, Marathon Running.” Biomedial and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2009. Urso, Maria, Priscilla Clarkson. “Oxidative Stress, Exercise, and Antioxidant Supplementation.” Toxicology (189), (1), 2003. Zamora, AJ, F Tessier, P Marconnet, I Margaritis, J-F Marini. “Mitochondria Changes in Human Muscle After Prolonged Exercise, Endurance Training and Selenium Supplementation.” European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. (71), (6), 1995. Read More