So you decided to sign up for an Obstacle course race? That’s awesome, congrats! You will have a blast. There are a wealth of resources online about training for your first one. One area that seems have a lot less information for newcomers is nutrition.

What about nutrition?

Many first timers may have signed up for a race as motivation to lose weight. My advice would be to make only very basic changes to your diet for your first race. Starting a training program and sticking to it is hard work. You may enjoy it, but you will likely have a dip in motivation through parts of the training phase. Making major changes to your diet while also starting an exercise program will be really hard to maintain.

Major changes to your diet may also affect your performance. If you make too many changes at once, you will not know whether performance changes are due to your training or your diet. Therefore, I recommend the following for new racers:

Hydration: Research of activities lasting >30 seconds in duration showed that there was a significant decrease in performance with dehydration. Therefore consumption of adequate fluids before, during, and after exercise is recommended.1 A loss of more than 1-2% of body weight is a mark that hydration should be increased. If you don’t like water, consuming flavored water such as Gatorade and/or Powerade is a good alternative. GI Distress: If you find you are having GI distress during exercise, 2 hours before the event try avoiding high protein, fat, fiber, and milk products. In addition, hydrating is essential; being dehydrated makes individuals more likely to suffer from GI distress.2 A final tip is to avoid drinks that are hyperosmolar (e.g. Fruit Juice), while consuming an isotonic drink (such as Gatorade or Powerade) can help reduce GI Distress.2 Weight Loss: According to research, lowering energy intakes in hopes of weight loss during high intensity training can lead to a loss of muscle mass, increased risk of fatigue, injury, and illness; and a prolonged recovery process.3 Therefore, a balanced approach that offers adequate calories should be used. I recommend smaller high impact changes such as decreasing alcohol and added sugars while increasing fruits and vegetables.

A hypocaloric diet alone is ineffective in restoring normal body composition and can actually lead to further loss of lean mass if adequate protein is not provided.4 Multiple studies confirm that when individuals that are out of shape start a resistance training program and increase their protein, they are able to lose weight while increasing lean body mass.4,5 Therefore increasing protein intake beyond the RDA of 0.8gm/kg is recommended.

Supplementation:

I don’t recommend spending money on most supplements, especially for new racers. Many aren’t backed by research and the expense is typically not worth it. If you want to know more refer to my previous post here.

With that said, there are a few exceptions that may benefit the new racer:

Carbohydrate

Pre-Race: For events that are going to last >90 minutes of sustained exercise; carbohydrate loading (eating 10 gram of carbohydrate per kg of body mass) combined with physical inactivity for the 24 hours leading to the event can be an effective strategy towards maximizing muscle glycogen (and therefore energy during the run) before a race.6

During Race: Research shows that for races >2 hours, consuming 60gm of carbohydrate per hour can significantly improve endurance performance.7 GU and other similar products are typically used because of ease of storage and use. However, many candies such as gummies are good lower cost substitutes. Aim for 30-45gm carbohydrate per hour. If you decide to use anything during a race, the rule of thumb is to practice with it prior to a race to ensure your body can tolerate it.

Electrolytes:

For endurance events that cause sweating, water and electrolyte replenishment can enhance sports performance.8 Therefore drinks like Gatorade or mixes like Nuun in water can be beneficial.

Caffeine:

Caffeine supplementation in the range of 3-6mg/kg can significantly enhance both endurance and high-intensity performance in trained athletes.9 However, be sure to experiment with supplementation before the actual event to ensure you will tolerate it.

Protein:

Research in deconditioned individuals found that when restricting calories, increasing protein to 1.5gm/kg/day with a whey protein supplement caused an increase in Lean Body Mass (LBM) and significant weight loss; while diet restriction alone resulted in losses of fat free mass, but no gains in LBM.4 Therefore increasing protein by supplementation can be helpful.

Before everyone runs to the store to buy whey protein, let’s take a look at protein from different sources. Studies on milk and yogurt consumption as a protein supplement found that adding these to the diet as a protein supplement is a good low cost weight to increase LBM and performance.9,10,11 Further studies on protein supplementation found that both deadlift and bench press were significantly improved when beef, chicken, soy, or whey were ingested.12 Another study comparing soy versus whey supplementation found both resulted in a increase in lean tissue mass.13

Therefore the goal should be to add protein from any of these quality sources. If a whey supplement is convenient, then great. If you can cook eggs, soy, chicken, pork, or fish these are all good sources of protein that will provide similar benefits.14 Keep in mind that research shows that immediate consumption of protein after resistance exercise serves to maximize exercise-induced increases in muscle mass.15 20gm of protein after exercise is ideal for maximizing the anabolic response to resistance exercise.16

In Summary

In the previous paragraphs I have provided a research based review of nutrition for a new OCR racer. I hope this will help guide you to success in your future races. I welcome any questions or feedback in the comment section.

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