Did you know that in addition to being delicious, coffee can have a wide range of performance and recovery benefits for athletes? Here are some takeaways from the International Society of Sports Nutrition's official position on coffee, after conducting a metareview of studies:
By under-fueling, you’re not only impacting your performance, but also risking your body responding to the colder environment in a less-than-ideal manner. You may even find yourself feeling colder or having more difficulty warming up as you venture outdoors when the temperature drops.
Getting key nutrients after training is critical to optimizing recovery from hard workout so you get full benefit from your workout and come back stronger for the next one. My latest recovery smoothie recipe includes the ingredients I’ve found to the most profound effect on decreasing inflammation and speeding tissue repair. It contains tart cherry juice, beet juice, plant-based protein, tumeric paste, cacao, and spinach amongst other fruits and vegetables.
Given your entire race / event season could be up in the air, you may find yourself riding, running, or training less than you normally would, which could lead you to wonder if you should make any changes to your food intake.
The short answer is: it depends.
There are a couple of things to consider when answering this question, and not all of them are based specifically on your fitness or training endeavors.
Geek out with elite coach and multi national champion Daniel Matheny and myself as we discuss nutrition, training, and racing in the first of our new series.
