Understanding Periodised Sports Nutrition: A Comprehensive Guide

What is Periodised Sports Nutrition?

Periodised sports nutrition is a sophisticated approach to fueling your body, which goes beyond basic dietary guidelines. Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all plan, it's a dynamic strategy where your nutritional intake is tailored to meet the varying demands of your training and competition cycles.

Think of it this way: your training isn’t static. It consists of phases such as high intensity, lower volume, recovery, and competition. Periodised nutrition ensures that your fuel aligns with these changing demands. By leveraging principles like progressive overload, specificity, variation, recovery, and individualization, we can optimize adaptations and enhance performance.

This approach differs significantly from generic sports nutrition. It actively manipulates macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and their timing. This optimization aims for specific physiological outcomes at precise times rather than just fulfilling daily needs consistently.

The Science Behind It: Why It Works

Periodised nutrition is not just about eating correctly; it's about eating intelligently to harness your body's adaptations. Here are some key strategies involved:

• "Training Low" (Carbohydrate Availability): This concept involves performing some training sessions with low carbohydrate availability. The aim is to stimulate specific metabolic adaptations, such as enhancing fat oxidation, which can greatly benefit endurance.
  
  
• "Training High" (Carbohydrate Availability): On the flip side, this strategy ensures high carbohydrate availability, especially before and during high-intensity or high-volume training. Rapid replenishment post-exercise is also crucial. This can maximize performance, delay fatigue, and ensure quality training.
  
  
• "Training the Gut": This approach focuses on improving your gut's capacity to tolerate and absorb fluids and carbohydrates during prolonged exercise. This strategy prevents gastrointestinal distress and optimizes nutrient delivery during events.
  
  

These strategies transform nutrition into a powerful signaling mechanism, significantly influencing how your body adapts to the stress of training.

The Benefits of Periodised Sports Nutrition

Implementing a well-structured periodised nutrition plan presents various advantages for athletes:

Optimized Physiological Adaptations

• Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy: Strategic protein intake (e.g., 1.6-2.2 g/kg/day during growth phases) directly supports muscle growth and strength gains.
• Enhanced Fueling and Glycogen Management: Ensuring ample carbohydrates during high-intensity efforts optimizes muscle glycogen stores.
  
  
• Optimal Body Composition: This approach allows for targeted fat loss or lean mass gains depending on training phases and an athlete's goals. For instance, an elite swimmer might strategically reduce fat mass while increasing lean mass.
  
  
• Prevention of Overtraining and Injury: Adequate and timely nutrient intake supports recovery. This reduces the risk of overtraining syndrome and related injuries.
  
  

Enhanced Athletic Performance

• Targeted Fueling: Nutrient intake is matched with specific training demands, facilitating better performance in each session.
  
  
• Improved Recovery: Strategic intake of carbohydrates and protein post-exercise (e.g., 0.6-1.0 g/kg carbohydrates and 20-40g protein) accelerates muscle repair and glycogen replenishment.
  
  
• Better Gut Health: "Training the gut" enhances tolerance to race-day nutrition, minimizing gastrointestinal issues during competition.
  
  

Overall Health and Longevity

• Preventing Nutrient Deficiencies: A dynamic plan helps avoid chronic imbalances and deficiencies that can result from rigid diets during demanding training.
  
  
• Supporting Immune Function: Essential nutrients help bolster the immune system, particularly crucial during intense training periods that can suppress immunity.
  
  
• Fostering Sustainable Habits: Encourages a flexible and responsive approach to eating, which promotes long-term healthy habits.
  
  
• Individualized Care: This addresses unique metabolic, physiological, and lifestyle needs. It mitigates risks like Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which is especially critical for female athletes.
  
  

How to Include It in Your Daily Routine

Incorporating periodised nutrition into your lifestyle requires understanding your training cycles and necessitating daily changes:

1. Understand Training Cycles

• Macrocycle (Year/Season): This defines overarching nutritional goals, such as building muscle during the off-season or maintaining peak performance during the competitive season.
  
  
• Mesocycle (Weeks/Months): Breaks down the macrocycle into specific training blocks (e.g., hypertrophy, strength, endurance, tapering). Your nutrition should adapt to the requirements of each block.
  
  
• Microcycle (Days/Weeks): Implement daily and weekly adjustments based on the intensity, duration, and type of workouts.
  
  

2. Adjust Macronutrients Strategically

• Carbohydrates (3-12 g/kg body weight/day): This is the most adaptable macronutrient. Higher amounts are consumed on high-intensity days, while lower amounts are recommended on recovery days. For a 70kg athlete, this could mean consuming 560-700g of carbohydrates on a high day and 210-350g on a recovery day.
  
  
• Protein (1.2-2.5 g/kg body weight/day): This remains consistently high across most phases to support muscle repair, growth, and immune function. However, it may be at the higher end during hypertrophy or energy deficit phases.
  
  
• Fats (0.8-1.5 g/kg body weight/day): Typically stays moderate, providing essential fatty acids and supporting hormone health.
  
  

3. Implement Nutrient Timing

• Pre-Workout (1-4 hours before): Emphasize easily digestible carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores, along with moderate protein.
  
  
• Intra-Workout (during exercise >60 minutes): Consume carbohydrates (30-60g/hour or more for ultra-endurance) and fluids/electrolytes for energy and hydration.
  
  
• Post-Workout (within 30 minutes to 2 hours): Prioritize carbohydrate intake to replenish glycogen stores, along with 20-40g of protein for muscle repair.
  
  

4. Meal Planning

This is where the principles translate into action. On a high-intensity day, meals might consist of whole grains, fruits, starchy vegetables, and lean proteins, with frequent carbohydrate fueling. On recovery days, focus shifts to smaller portions of carbohydrates and nutrient-dense vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

Challenges

Adhering to this approach may be challenging due to individual preferences, busy schedules, and the complexity of calculating macronutrient needs. Additionally, there's a risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) if energy intake is too low over extended periods—especially in female athletes. Consulting with a qualified sports dietitian is highly recommended.

How to Measure Results

Evaluating the effectiveness of your periodised nutrition plan entails a multi-faceted approach that combines objective data with subjective feedback:

1. Performance Metrics

• Strength: Track your 1-Repetition Max (1RM) for essential lifts or performance in bodyweight exercises such as push-ups.
  
  
• Power: Monitor vertical jump height, broad jump distance, and medicine ball throw velocity.
  
  
• Endurance: Assess VO2max, lactate threshold, timed trials (e.g., 5k run), and repeated sprint tests.
  
  
• Training Load: Use tools like Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or GPS data to observe how you respond to training.
  
  

2. Body Composition

Regular assessments of body weight, fat mass, and lean mass can provide insights. Methods may include skinfold measurements or DXA scans for more precision. Remember, the goal isn't always weight loss but optimizing body composition for your sport.

3. Subjective Feedback

• Wellness Questionnaires: Use validated tools such as the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) to track well-being.
  
  
• Daily Monitoring: Log fatigue levels, sleep quality, muscle soreness, mood, and perceived recovery. These subjective indicators are vital for understanding nutrition adequacy.
  
  

4. Biochemical Markers

Regular blood tests can offer insights into your nutritional status. Important markers include:

• Iron Status: Monitoring ferritin levels (optimal for athletes typically >35 µg/L).
  
  
• Vitamin D and B12: Essential for overall health and performance.
  
  
• Hormone Health: Monitoring hormones like estradiol, testosterone, and thyroid (T3) can help address concerns such as RED-S.
  
  

By consistently integrating these strategies and monitoring your progress, you can fully harness the potential of periodised sports nutrition to meet your athletic goals while ensuring your long-term health.

For further details on achieving your periodisation nutrition goals, connect with me directly for a free 15-minute consultation.

Craig Elliott

Certified Advanced Sports Nutritionist

07736 477531

www.noominds.com