The Perfect Diet for a Sprinter

Diet and Nutrition
1

Hey Guys,

I am looking to improve my 100 and 200m times this summer, my coach knows his stuff so the training side is pretty good, but i’d like some advice from you guys about my diet so I can maximise training gains. It is pretty repetitive and i’m on quite a tight budget so no luxuries like fresh salmon. There are a load of conflicting opinions on diet so if you could justify any amendments it’ll help me understand better.

Height: 5’10
Weight: 150
Pro-Carb-Fat ratio: 20-55-25
Total calories: 2600-3000

8.30am: Porridge (125g), Semi Skim Milk & Multivit

11am: 2 Pcs Wholemeal Bread & 2 Fried Eggs

2pm: Pasta (100g), Tuna, Frozen Mixed Veg & Multivit

4.30pm: 1/2 Protein Shake (other half after sprints but before weights)

5-8pm: Training, Sprints followed by 1hr weights

8.30pm: 4 Weetabix & Semi Skim Milk

9.30pm: 3 Pcs Wholemeal Bread, 2 with Flora, 1 with peanut butter

11pm: ZMA then bed

Let me know if i’ve left anything vital out, thanks in advance for your input.

2

definitely need more protein for recovery! carb/protein/amino acid drinks throughout training, both sprints and weights help amazingly as does creatine. trying to have a protien/carb shake or something high in easily digestable proteins (like an ommlette, if protein powders are too expensive) asap after weights especially.

at 4.30 increase the protein, have a whole shake with carbs, mix it with oats raisens is a great way to eat it but thats individual to you as you may find that too heavy to train on, experiment!

more protein is a must though, how often a week are you training, are you training once or twice a day?

when i train (100-400m) it’s all about the carbs and protein, try to have protein at every meal. i usually keep a relatively low fat diet on training days.

3

It’s one big session each day mon-thursday at 5pm (speed is tues & thurs) and speed saturday morning.

I try to get an even portion of protein at every meal, and my total is based on the ‘twice your BW in kg’ calculation so ~140 grams.

I feel more comfortable training on an emptier stomach but I will give a whole protein shake and some raisins a go as that’s a manageable portion.

4

Your raios look good for a sprinter. You might get a lot of guys on here telling you to increase, but the grams per pound figure you’re using is fine for a non-physique athlete. I would consider the addition of a drink like Surge around workout time. You can also think about a quality whey maltodextrin mixture for a cheaper approach.

How fancy you get all depends on your budget, but bumping up the peri workout nutrition in the form of an easily digestible shake are minimum requirements.

I would definitely take creatine and beta alanine which will really help your 100 and 200 times noticeably.

5

I’ve heard that beta alanine makes more of an impact for 400m runners, but I would welcome anything that stops me dying 20 metres from the end and sticking an unwanted half second on my 200 time.

I threw in a handful of raisins with my last few protein shakes and it felt good, I take it carbs help absorption or something along those lines?

I found Surge Recovery, is that right? It does say pre or post workout, though i’m guessing it’s better for one than the other. I’d prefer something that gave me a (legal) boost before sprints so i can knock tenths off, rather than have mediocre runs followed by amazing recovery.

6

[quote]Fezz wrote:
I’ve heard that beta alanine makes more of an impact for 400m runners, but I would welcome anything that stops me dying 20 metres from the end and sticking an unwanted half second on my 200 time.

I threw in a handful of raisins with my last few protein shakes and it felt good, I take it carbs help absorption or something along those lines?

I found Surge Recovery, is that right? It does say pre or post workout, though i’m guessing it’s better for one than the other. I’d prefer something that gave me a (legal) boost before sprints so i can knock tenths off, rather than have mediocre runs followed by amazing recovery. [/quote]

Let me just stress the importance of pre/during/and post workout nutrition. Recovery is not only fostered through post workout nutrition. All nutrition directly pre, during, and post workout will help with recovery. Carbs during this time are also much more likely to be used for fuel. The carbs also will boost insulin which among other things decreases muscle protein breakdown. This has the indirect effect of making you faster over the course of a training phase. During this timeframe it will help you tremendously to take in a good dose of carbs and easily digestible protein.

I will admit that you are probably correct to say that Beta Alanine and creatine won’t help directly with your race performace on the 100-200 meter, especially if you are highly trained. Creatine and beta alanine will help mostly to help you with training, and will not help very much with if you were to just take a dose directly before a race, although i don’t see it helping in the slightest, especially if you have multiple events in one day. If you do have multiple events or even two events in a day, i see a slight benefit.

They will however help during your training phases leading up to peaking though, as I would assume you are doing some running at approx. 1 mile or greater, and additionally you probably hit the weights as well. I understand if these products don’t interest you that much. They may not make the significant increase in 100-200 meter performance I had previously suggested, so to that extent please forgive me and excuse my recomendations of creatine and beta alanine.

My recomendations for Surge recovery stand though. L-Leucine would also help significantly with helping prevent muscle catabolism during training, and it stacks very well with Surge. I’d consider adding a serving of Surge recovery and L-Leucine to your current pre or post workout nutrition. Perhaps adjust carbs at other parts of the day to compensate, and avoid fat gain.

I hope this helps. Sorry again for my blanket recomendation for beta-alanine! Best of luck.

7

Rabbits. Lots and lots of rabbits.

8

After reading the creatine article that was on this site last week i’m definitely getting on it for GPP in the winter, but for competition the water retention is less than ideal.

I have found the proper Surge Workout Fuel (it seems less available in the UK) and it’s about 50% pricier than the Surge Recovery, so if I was to save up for one which would give greater benefits to my sprinting?

Workout fuel claims

â?¢ Potentiates glucose transport into muscle!
â?¢ Scavengers hydrogen ions to extend anaerobic threshold!
â?¢ Combats muscle oxidation (burning) from intense exercise!
â?¢ Enhances intracellular electrolyte gradients and water balance to superhydrate working muscles!

Recovery claims

â?¢ Promotes Muscle Protein Synthesis!
â?¢ Promotes Anabolic Hormone (Insulin) Production!
â?¢ Accelerates Muscle Recovery!
â?¢ Provides Fuel for Muscular Energy During Intense Activity!

Is there a cheaper alternative that works almost as well (for either product)? We have an endless supply of electrolyte sachets at the track, but I like the sound of my anaerobic threshold being increased.

Surge Recovery is the one you can take both pre and post workout? I’d lean towards that for a first buy.

Tempo days are between 1600 and 2100m, so beta alanine could be put to good use there. My training group includes some 200/400 guys so i’ll ask them about the effects it has.

I’m also starting on HMB on weight training days as a suggestion from a friend, and my bread and flora is now the acquired taste of 30g pumpkin seeds.

9

I’m a fan of oatmeal for any intense activity. Eat 2-3 hours before and you will have plenty of energy.

10

[quote]Fezz wrote:
After reading the creatine article that was on this site last week i’m definitely getting on it for GPP in the winter, but for competition the water retention is less than ideal.

I have found the proper Surge Workout Fuel (it seems less available in the UK) and it’s about 50% pricier than the Surge Recovery, so if I was to save up for one which would give greater benefits to my sprinting?

Workout fuel claims

�¢?�¢ Potentiates glucose transport into muscle!
�¢?�¢ Scavengers hydrogen ions to extend anaerobic threshold!
�¢?�¢ Combats muscle oxidation (burning) from intense exercise!
�¢?�¢ Enhances intracellular electrolyte gradients and water balance to superhydrate working muscles!

Recovery claims

�¢?�¢ Promotes Muscle Protein Synthesis!
�¢?�¢ Promotes Anabolic Hormone (Insulin) Production!
�¢?�¢ Accelerates Muscle Recovery!
�¢?�¢ Provides Fuel for Muscular Energy During Intense Activity!

Is there a cheaper alternative that works almost as well (for either product)? We have an endless supply of electrolyte sachets at the track, but I like the sound of my anaerobic threshold being increased.

Surge Recovery is the one you can take both pre and post workout? I’d lean towards that for a first buy.

Tempo days are between 1600 and 2100m, so beta alanine could be put to good use there. My training group includes some 200/400 guys so i’ll ask them about the effects it has.

I’m also starting on HMB on weight training days as a suggestion from a friend, and my bread and flora is now the acquired taste of 30g pumpkin seeds.[/quote]

Surge Recovery is better for your situation than SWF. Surge Recovery is an extremely advanced product as far as peri-workout nutrition goes. You can get a more economical mix and have it be almost as effective but you have to mix stuff yourself (which means ordering about three seperate products: 1) Whey Isolate, 2) Dextrose or Maltodextrin (bulk powder), and 3) L-Leucine), and sometimes having an easy product is worth the additional cost.

If you’re interested in increasing anaerobic threshold, then your best bet is the product Beta-7, or some other beta alanine product. I thinkn Beta-7 is totally worth the money as it is time released. The claim on the SWF that it “increases anaerobic threshold” is due to the beta-alanine in the product (and the citruline malate to a lesser extent).

I think L-Leucine is much more effective than HMB. You can get the same results if not better for much less £ (due to cost/benefit you are able to take much more L-Leucine).

IMO electrolytes are only useful for long distance runners, but they certainly wouldn’t hurt you, especially if they have some B Vitamins.

11

Thanks, this is all good info.

I’m getting some beta alanine as I read an article on here that said it can contribute something to a weights session as well. As far as dosage goes am I right in thinking it’s one capsule about 45 minutes before the workout?

To start off i’m only going to use it on 2 days, Long Tempo (around 2000m then lots of medball/conditioning) and Speed Endurance (total of +400m sprinting then PL’s and auxiliary weights) then if I get much impact I can use it on the easier days as well.

Anyone know from experience if there is a particular rep range that it will have the most effect on in the gym? e.g. creatine would hit your ATP and help with 1-5 reps.

I’ve read some conflicting studies on its effectiveness depending on testing criteria, so I figure it’ll be more noticeable on certain days and i’ll be able to run an extra rep without fading or add more weight in the gym.

12

Creatine helps with all rep ranges and has even been shown to help long distance runners. Beta alanine will help when lactic acid builds up, which would be any range greater than 15-20 seconds. So I’m guessing with a normal tempo this is anything above 6 reps or so. Not much benefit for anything less than 15 seconds IMO

13

fish and rice cakes

14

make sure that pasta is whole grain.

Bulletproff during what phases of training do you reccommend taking creatine and what type and brand of creatine would be best.

15

I’ll keep it short and let you research the topic yourself to some degree. First of all you need to understand periodization as it applies to your sport. Training phases to take creatine in depend on your event, or goal. Creatine definitely helps with the explosive, anaerobic phase of an exercise, which lasts only 15-20 seconds. So in that regards creatine helps significantly for events that fall within that short duration.

But that’s not to say that creatine will not help with the 400M, or something like that which has a significant amount of anerobic effort involved. Creatine is also found to be very helpul in other sports have bursts of anerobic power requirements, i.e. wrestling, soccer, football.

Creatine puts on water weight, but i bet that the additional power offsets the weight gain in most if not all cases. If weight is an issue compare your results while on full time vs cycling off a couple days before the event.

For endurance sports, creatine can help in two main areas, pre season strength training, and event performance with finishing speed.

Try to get micronized creatine. The T-Nation store is really cheap for creatine.

16

Yehhhh 100m p.b. by 5 hundredths, this thread definitely contributed to my performance so thanks guys.

For anyone else in my situation - the protein shake taken with some high GI carbs, switching to wholemeal pasta, and lean beef/mackerel/turkey for lunch made noticeable impacts, and HMB helps me feel like I’m picking up where i left off the previous session in the weights room. Magic.