Food and Fluid Guidelines Before, During, and After Exercise

Athletes who are properly fueled and hydrated before, during, and after exercise can improve training, increase performance, and decrease fatigue. Many commercial products are marketed to athletes and are designed to be consumed at specific periods: before, during, and after exercise. Are these products really necessary? This article reviews the research on nutrition support for the athlete surrounding exercise and discusses the different nutritional needs of the recreational athlete versus the elite athlete. Guidelines for macronutrient intake before, during, and after exercise are provided along with decision trees to help the practitioner guide the athlete to proper fueling strategies. Nutr Today. 2012;47(2):63Y69 D o athletes need to eat before, during, and after exercise for peak performance? Many new products, from bars to gels to drinks, tout the benefits of special foods and fluids to get the most out of a workout or sports competition, but are they necessary for all active people? This article looks at the science behind the recommendations on fueling before the workout, during the workout, and after the workout for recovery. It is important to note that most of the research on food and fluid consumption around exercise was done with competitive athletes, usually highly trained endurance athletes, who are exercising at high intensity for a long duration. Sports nutrition recommendations for elite athletes are extrapolated to recreational athletes who often have very different reasons for exercising. The goal of a competitive athlete is to win and set personal best records. Recreational athletes want to get fit, look good, improve body composition by losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass, and stay healthy. This is not to say that recreational athletes are not competitive; many want to improve their performance, but they usually do not have the time to train for several hours each day (often twice a day) and engage in high-level competitions. Therefore, the nutrition needs of recreational athletes are different than for elite athletes, and nutrition recommendations made for one population may not be appropriate for the other. Sports nutrition research is conducted with highly trained elite athletes, and nutrition recommendations are different for recreational athletes.