When you push your car harder, faster, and more often, it requires more fuel. Not the diluted cheap stuff, but the good stuff.
Our bodies are no different. Our bodies are machines. Yet as we push harder to get to our goals faster, we sometimes forget the importance of fuel. Or we're just not sure what's what, and what is best, when it comes to eating.
The fuel balance can be especially tricky with two-a-day workouts, which are putting demands on your body - and glycogen stores - within 12 hours or so, far less recovery time than is typical.
The two-a-days are a staple in competitive college and professional sports, typically in pre-season training. For "mere mortals," exercise sessions in the morning and again in the evening can be done a couple days a week (more than that and beware of overtraining) to break up cardio and strength training (not uncommon for bodybuilders or just to accommodate work schedules) or to boost calories burned for those trying to lose weight.
If your two-a-days are simply your typical 90-minute morning workout broken into two 45-minute sessions, odds are you don't need extra calories because you aren't burning more - you're merely burning them over two intervals. But you might need to time your meals and snacks a bit differently to ensure your furnace stays fueled.
And for those trying to lose weight: if that second session of the day equates to extra sweat and muscle burn time, you need to find the balance between fueling your muscles to keep them from breaking down, while maintaining the slight calorie deficit you need for steady, healthy weight loss. Because if you just keep exercising more and eating less, your body can feel too deprived. When that happens, the metabolism slows and you will not see the scale move how you want it to.
So, here are a few pointers for those days when you're hitting the gym, pavement, swim lane, clay courts, or roads more than once:
Two-A-Day Eating Tips
1. C,P,F: Carbs, protein, fat. Your body needs all three. Without all three, you DO NOT have a nutritious eating plan and you will not see maximum performance. Eating just a bagel after your morning workout will spike your sugar and leave you hungry because your body wants the protein. Eating just two eggs before a cycling class will leave you ready to throw in the towel midway through because your muscles need glycogen (carbs) to meet the intense demands of the class. So for your main three meals, shoot for 30 grams of carbs minimum; at least 20 grams of protein; and at least 10 grams of fat.
"Carbs" doesn't mean white toast or sugary cereal. It means oatmeal (complex carbs) cooked with skim milk (protein) and topped with a handful of berries (carbs) and walnut (healthy fats). Or a whole wheat wrap (carbs) smeared with hummus or avocado (healthy fats) and filled with three ounces of chicken (protein) and lots of veggies. Snacks can also be a mix, but smaller portions, like a small apple (carbs) and a piece of string cheese (fat, protein); a handful of almonds (fat, protein) plus half a banana (carbs); or a small 100-calorie wheat pita (carbs) stuffed with a slice of tomato, and a slice of swiss cheese (protein, fat).
2. Don't miss the post-exercise window: In the 30 minutes after an intense cardio session - be it a cycle class, intense swim or boot camp - your body really is a machine quenched for fuel. Your metabolism is still smoking, and this is the window when you want to re-fuel. Go for a mix of carbs plus protein - ideally in easily digestible liquid form like a smoothie or protein shake that will absorb quickly. The carbs restore your glycogen levels, and the protein helps rebuild your muscles and speed up your recovery. I like the EAS Myoplex, which tastes great and is a low fat 170 calories with a great blend of carbs (23 grams) and protein (25 grams).
3. Eat your antioxidants: Intense exercise is taxing to your system. Weight training tears muscles so that they can grow stronger. Distance running puts a lot of strain on the joints and muscles. The antioxidants in fruits and greens and vegetables will go a long way toward your body's recovery. So snack on fruits and vegetables with protein like hummus, peanut butter, and low-fat cheeses. And give vegetables a starring role in lunch and dinner.
4. Eat clean, but reevaluate the portion sizes: If you typically eat one slice of whole wheat bread as an open-faced sandwich for lunch, consider adding just a slice to help keep you satisfied through that second workout. Usually put a tablespoon of peanut butter on your mid-afternoon apple slices? Add a second tablespoon. The tweaks needed for two-a-days are just that, tweaks. Depending on the workout, you do not need what amounts to an additional meal.
5. The math still matters: An athlete like Dara Torres or Michael Phelps needs thousands of calories. One of the most common missteps among those of us "mere mortals" trying to reach fitness goals - be it muscle building or weight loss - is that we overestimate calories burned and underestimate the calories in what we eat.
If your second workout of the day is half an hour of weight training without cardio bursts or plyometrics in between, and you're trying to shed pounds while getting lean, odds are you do not need to chase this session by eating a 350-calorie protein bar or gulping down a 20-ounce smoothie that weighs in - as many do - at 500 calories or more, and then eating dinner an hour later. So do the math. Track calories burned. Track what you're eating. Do the math.
6. Hydrate: Water, water, water. You need to stay especially mindful of your water intake (yes, I said water - not juice, not soda) when you're doing two-a-days.
7. Listen to your body: If your stomach is growling, and if you know it's not just dehydration (which is often mistaken for hunger), feed your empty tank. Don't gorge it, feed it. All it takes is 200 or so calories as a snack to keep you going. That's a piece of toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or fruit and string cheese, or hummus with a small pita.
So hardboil a dozen eggs on Sunday. Bake 5 chicken breasts for weekday lunches. Make a huge bowl of salad and pull from it throughout the week for lunches. (Yes, I do all of this) Pack fruit, almonds, etc. for snacks. Make protein bars for a sweet but healthy pre-workout pickup. Whatever works.
If any of you 2-a-day veterans have found strategies that work, please share in the comments section below or by email to [email protected].
Coming this week: An 8x8 workout for shoulders/ bi's/ tri's with the TRX...