Service: nutrition tips for the hobby racer

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Service: nutrition tips for the hobby racer
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Service: Nutrition tips for the hobby racer

Service: nutrition
Nutrition tips for the hobby racer

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After strength exercises and fitness tips in the first part of the series “Fit for the racetrack” the second part is about nutrition. What should a hobby racer eat before the race?? How do different foods affect physical performance? PS has the answers and provides effective nutrition tips.

Sebastian Lang

02/23/2010

They lurk on every women’s magazine cover, in every lifestyle magazine: nutrition tips, diets, new recipes. Now more than ever, but right now, never been there – it seems as if nutritional research is gaining revolutionary new findings month after month that turn everything that has existed up to now on its head.

Fine, but what does that have to do with motorcycling? More than you think! Sporty motorcycling is competitive sport. A pilot’s pulse is around 150 to 180 beats per minute during a race. The body burns vast amounts of energy.

And where does he get this energy from? From his own reserves. These in turn depend for better or for worse on the driver’s diet – the circle closes that quickly.

In contrast to the weight loss attempts of frustrated women during the menopause, a targeted diet helps motorcyclists to keep their bodies and brains efficient. Together with nutrition expert Sandra Rometsch from the Olympic training center in Stuttgart, PS explains what is important. The essential elements of this diet can be summarized in a few basic rules:

  • Lots of valuable carbohydrates in the morning, then increasingly more protein as the day progresses
  • At least four to five meals a day to keep blood sugar levels constant
  • Generally adjust the nutrition plan to the training plan
  • Drink a lot, at least three liters / day

The amount consumed of some foods can also be roughly determined using a rule of thumb:

  • Fruits and vegetables: at least 5-6 servings per day
  • Meat and fish: 3-4 times a week, at least twice of which is fish
  • No more than 3-4 eggs a week


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Fruit provides the body with valuable vitamins.

Let’s start at the beginning: Breakfast serves to prepare the body for the muscular demands of the day. Valuable carbohydrates, such as those contained in wholemeal oat flakes or wholemeal bread, are best suited to replenish the energy stores. The quality of the carbohydrates plays a crucial role. Sweets and white flour products provide the body with an energy boost in the form of a short-term rise in blood sugar levels. The effect fizzles out quickly and arouses cravings. So: hands off! During the course of the day, all kinds of stress destroy part of the muscle tissue and put a strain on the body – a completely natural process. The body needs proteins for regeneration and muscle rebuilding. These are mainly found in animal products such as fish, meat and dairy products. For this reason, meals should increasingly contain more protein and less carbohydrates throughout the day.

Animal protein has a problem, however: cholesterol. If a competitive athlete obtains his entire protein requirement from animal products, so-called LDL (low density lipoprotein), i.e. bad cholesterol, is deposited in the blood vessels over time. For this reason, in addition to animal proteins, the nutrition plan should also contain protein-rich vegetables such as legumes or soy products.

Back to the simpler facts of healthy eating. In order to keep the blood sugar level as constant as possible throughout the day, one should eat many small meals instead of a few large ones. In this way, the body remains efficient throughout the day and there is no feeling of hunger. However, with a healthy diet, preparation and consumption take some time: at least one hour per day. Therefore: Do not switch from two to five meals in one fell swoop. It is better to integrate the change in diet into the daily routine by continuously changing your eating habits.

Athletes must also make sure that their meals match the training plan. This means: If possible, do not eat anything one to two hours before the start of training. After training or running, you should take a short breather and then quickly replenish the glycogen stores with carbohydrates. Whey drinks or apple spritzer with instant flakes and small snacks or a banana are ideal here.


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Fish, meat and sausage products are important sources of protein, but they also increase cholesterol levels.

In addition to delivering carbohydrates, juice spritzers also fulfill two other functions. They provide the body with minerals that it has lost through sweating and provide it with fluids. The biggest difference between athletes and non-athletes is their energy requirements. While the body burns around 2000 kcal per day without stress, the energy consumption of a professional racing cyclist, for example, increases to up to 10,000 kcal per day. Nutritional and training intensity must match accordingly. On this double page you will find two examples of nutrition plans that cover the energy needs of a 70 kg athlete in one day with one (3200 kcal) or two (4500 kcal) training units.

In the last few days before a race, you should make sure to consume plenty of high-quality carbohydrates in order to completely fill your energy stores before the upcoming exercise. Regardless of your fitness level, every meal should contain fruit or vegetables. In general, the more varied the food, the better. A one-sided diet can cause deficiency symptoms under certain circumstances.

What about the typical staple foods in the paddock, schnitzel, bratwurst and beer? Alcohol puts a strain on the liver, which can no longer carry out its actual function of filtering toxins from the body – one of the reasons for the hangover the next morning. Due to the high proportion of grain, non-alcoholic beer provides valuable carbohydrates without burdening the liver. The Schnitzelweck also fails nutritionally. Lots of fat, lots of calories. A huge burden on the body, which draws its energy from the brain and instead focuses on digestion. That is why the expert recommends vegetable risotto. But let’s be honest: It’s more for the women’s magazines.

Nutritional tips


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This is what athletes’ sweets look like: honey instead of sugar, nuts and almonds instead of flips and chips. Pretzel sticks are allowed.

Tip 1: The evening before
Heavy alcohol consumption the evening before the race puts a strain on the liver, which can no longer carry out its actual task of filtering toxins out of the body. The result: a hangover the next morning. Alcohol-free beer provides good, multiple carbohydrates and can also be consumed in larger quantities in the evening.

Tip 2: before the race
If possible, stop eating large meals two hours before the race. This only unnecessarily burdens the gastrointestinal tract. But if the race takes place in the morning, make sure to have breakfast beforehand! For full performance, the body needs as many carbohydrates as possible in the hours and days before the race.

Tip 3: long haul
Long-distance races place special demands on nutrition: the driver should make sure to replenish his energy stores with high-quality carbohydrates such as apple juice spritzers or whole grain bars during the breaks. Juice spritzers also provide important minerals that the body has lost through sweating. Do not eat anything heavy during the race!

Tip 4: on tour
Long stretches also lead to symptoms of fatigue on country roads. In order not to put additional strain on the body, you should therefore avoid high-fat meals such as schnitzel with french fries and treat yourself to something lighter instead. Important on long tours: always drink enough!

Nutrition plan: day with 2 training units

Enjoy the meal

Protein g

Fat g

KH g

kcal

Cholesterol mg

breakfast

 30 – 40 g fresh grain muesli with yogurt

 16

 16

 104

 715

  1 spelled roll with jam

 0

 4th

 135

 736

Snack

 2 slices of wholemeal bread with cream cheese and tomato

 13th

 43

 265

 22nd

Having lunch

 Steak and pasta with vegetables

 5

 36

190

 1401

 108

 mixed salad with carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and dressing

 3

 6th

 7th

 108

 Plums (125 g)

 1

 13th

 60

snack

 150 g yogurt 1.5% fat with oat flakes and fruit

 9

 5

 50

 291

 7.5

While the training

 1 small granola bar (25 g)

 2

 5

 12th

 100

dinner

 2 slices of wholemeal bread with ham / cheese

 36

 56

 38

 810

 180

 1 yellow pepper

 2

 1

 6th

 40

total

 177

 129

 598

 4526

 318

 Calories per nutrient

 726

 1200

 2591

 4516

 Percent of daily calories

 16

 27

 57

Without moving, an athlete weighing 70 kilograms burns around 2000 kcal per day. The above nutrition plan is tailored to a hard training day with two training units, on which the athlete burns about 4500 kcal.

Nutrition plan: Day with 1 training session

Enjoy the meal

Protein g

Fat g

KH g

kcal

Cholesterol mg

breakfast

 Mixed grain muesli with yogurt and fruits, 1 glass of orange juice

 12.9

 10.2

 94.4

 574

 7.5

 1 whole wheat roll with jam

 4.0

 3.0

 34.0

 182

Snack

 2 slices of wholemeal spelled bread with cheese / ham

 25.3

 10.1

 44.1

 375

 27.0

Having lunch

 Pollack fillet with broccoli and basmati rice

 39.0

 25.0

 41.4

 554

 60.0

 mixed salad with carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and dressing

 3.0

 6.0

 7.0

 108

 Dessert: fruit with low-fat quark

 14.9

 0.1

 26.5

 183

 1.0

snack

 Semolina porridge with apple and blueberries

 11.0

 6.7

 66.7

 375

 10.0

1-2 hours before training

 1 small granola bar (25 g)

 2.0

 5.0

 12.0

 100

dinner

 2 slices of whole wheat bread with vegetables

 16.5

 13.2

 47.0

 387

 37.5

 small portion of fried potatoes (100 g potatoes)

 2.0

 4.0

 16.0

 305

total

 131

 83

 389

 3143

 143

 Calories per nutrient 

 537

 772

 1595

 2904

 Percent of daily calories

 18th

 27

 55

On a day with a training session, the energy requirement of the 70 kg athlete is around 3200 kcal. The percentages in the table below are important: Carbohydrates should cover 55–60 percent of the daily calories. Protein 15-20 percent.

The nutrition expert


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Sandra Rometsch, nutrition expert at the Olympic training center in Stuttgart.

Many Thanks:

Nutritional advice is not exactly one of the core topics of PS. Many thanks therefore to nutrition expert Sandra Rometsch for the professional support! Rometsch studied sports and health management at the University of Tubingen. Since 2004 she has been working as a medical supervisor for the squad athletes at the Olympic base in Stuttgart. She has been working there as a nutritionist since 2009.

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