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		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Nutrition - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest nutrition articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Dillon brings Megaburn to the UK]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3328.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Michelle Dillon may not have been racing much this year owing to her back problems, but she hasn&#039;t been sitting around idle! She is now part of the team that&#039;s bringing Australia&#039;s sporting nutrition secret, Megaburn, into the UK and is in the process of setting up a distribution network to get it out into sports shops. What follows is their launch press release:

Megaburn&rsquo;s functional food products has been a secret of many an elite athlete chasing an edge on the competition. Their range of products has assisted the likes of Michelle Dillon, Stuart Hayes, Emma Snowsill, Craig Walton, Emma Carney and Clint Robinson in achieving their goals and has become core component in each of their training and nutrition 
regimes.

Stuart Hayes Olympian and professional triathlete believes Megaburn is a cornerstone of his success and keeps him at the top of his field of endeavour. &ldquo;In the world of triathlon, you are presented with a vast array of supplements and products all promising the world. Megaburn is different. It works, I&rsquo;m addicted.&rdquo; he said.

Michelle Dillon, Olympian and professional triathlete understands the body and the need to put into it only the best fuel. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a serious business, what goes in the mouth can effect performance in a big way. You need to become part chemist, part dietician and full time guard dog. I know when I use Megaburn products I am protected and I am only putting the right nutrients in to the body to maximise performance.&rdquo;

Australian Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer Neil Brooks has lost an amazing 52 kilograms since supplementing his diet with Megaburn products; Neil understands the commitment to succeed at an elite level but now swears by Megaburn not for its sporting benefits but more for the benefits it provides in dealing with a hectic life. &ldquo;At 46 years of age I thought my days of feeling fit and healthy were over, now age is just a number...thanks Megaburn&rdquo;!

Megaburn is an Australian-owned company which has been operating since 1997. Their focus is developing &#039;Functional Foods&#039; that deliver a natural approach to health and well being. Megaburn is one of the only companies that are dedicated to functional foods; these are products that contain &lsquo;bio active&rsquo; food components derived from natural resources such as calcium, folic acid, beneficial bacteria and plant sterols that are considered to assist in good health. Aside from their health benefits, functional foods offer other benefits including taste, packaging and convenience. Megaburn products contain a range of gluten and dairy free items, as well as having beneficial bacteria such as multi strain lactobacillus, which helps with nutrient absorption, increasing the production of vitamins, increases the resistance to disease and helps to prevent the development of colon cancer and candida. It also helps to maintain a normal balance in the lower intestines and kills yeast on contact.

The announcement of Megaburn&rsquo;s availability in Europe has the elite athletic world buzzing, but this unique product range has benefits to all interested in boosting health and wellbeing. For further details on Megaburn visit www.megaburn.co.uk]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[EAS Nutrition tips: May]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3295.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[




As part of monthly feature sponsored by EAS (www.eas-uk.info/eas), Tri247 is going to be providing regular nutritional tips and information. EAS sponsor many top athletes, among them Tim Don and Nicole Cooke.



Chewing over race-day nutrition! 
Most athletes know that eating or drinking something new on race day is a big &#039;faux pas&#039;, always &#039;try before you fly&#039; in case the product settles in your stomach like a brick, tastes awful, doesn&#039;t sustain you etc. However, gut problems on race day are still extremely common and can steal a PB right from under your nose regardless of how fit and prepared you are. Not eating and drinking certainly isn&#039;t the solution, so what else can you do?


What many don&#039;t realise is that dealing with food and drink at race pace is totally different to digesting and absorbing it at training pace. When you exercise hard, blood supply to the stomach is significantly reduced and diverted to working muscles.
In addition, the nerves that fire off when we are stressed sit right next to those which govern our digestive tract. So its no wonder race day nerves and excitement also make our stomach rather sensitive.


So, lesson one is to test your fuel and fluid choices in race intensity workouts and/or low priority races.
Lesson two - if you get overly nervous before a race, make it your mission to learn some relaxation techniques and give yourself slightly longer to digest your pre-race meal. Rather than say two hours, give yourself perhaps three hours and top up your blood sugar with a gel or sports drink 10 mins before you start (of course, trial this in training!)


Other things which may be a perfectly normal part of your diet, but may be giving you issues on race day include:

High dose vitamin C supplements
Aspirin
Spicy food 
Too much alcohol or caffeine
Cruciferous vegetables (eg kale, turnip, cabbage or broccoli) 
Too much fructose (fruit juices, some sports drinks, honey)


Note: these are not blanket recommendations! Individuals differ so detective work is required to find out what is right for YOU so that you can fuel up with confidence.



&amp;nbsp;





Why is breakfast important? Many of us will have heard the message countless times that &quot;breakfast is the most important meal of the day&quot;. For once this &#039;old wives tale&#039; has many elements of truth in it, but why?

Well firstly let&#039;s talk about the athlete&#039;s friend, glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and the liver. Liver glycogen is the main source of glucose that keeps our brain alert, motivated and focused. Now even if you had a big plate of pasta for dinner, by breakfast time the next day, liver glycogen will have been depleted during your overnight fast. So breakfast gets the old grey matter back into gear.

Next, breakfast fires up your metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories). Our body functions best if we eat about every 3-4 hours. Obviously we can&#039;t do that overnight so by breakfast time it can be 12 or more hours since we last ate. Without a morning meal, your metabolism stays in slumber mode.

Thirdly, don&#039;t fall into the trap of thinking that skipping breakfast will help you to lose weight. Studies have shown that when you miss breakfast you tend to over-compensate later in the day eg that mid-morning latte and pastry contains three times the calories of a bowl of porridge and a banana! Breakfast-eaters tend to be leaner and lighter than breakfast-skippers.

A well balanced breakfast of a high fibre cereal or porridge with low fat milk and some fruit or unsweetened juice takes five minutes to eat and could give you a quarter of your daily requirements for a significant number of vitamins and minerals; that&#039;s definitely worth making time for!


&amp;nbsp;






When the going gets tough for Tim, he tears into an EAS Energy Gel. This little pouch packs an immediate energy burst to get you through &amp;lsquo;the wall&amp;rsquo;. Tim has one when on the bike &amp;ndash; and sometimes while running too, depending how the race is going. This concentrated gel sustains energy by delivering simple and complex carbohydrates supported by taurine and chromium. With 40% RDA of antioxidant vitamins C and E, it helps combat free radicals released during intensive
exercise.

What&amp;rsquo;s more it has BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids) to replace those sacrificed during intense exercise. BCAAs comprise 1/3 of muscle tissue and they are the first to be used during strenuous activity but are essential to muscle health and strength. EAS Energy Gel also has Taurine and Chromium to enable the carbohydrates to be taken up by the body. Its low acid formula guards against any digestive
discomfort - so, you can literally take Energy Gel on the move &amp;ndash; even if, like Tim, you&amp;rsquo;re moving pretty fast!






]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nuun gets fifth flavour]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3285.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[nuun, creator of the sugar-free quick-dissolving electrolyte sports drink tablet, has added a new flavour to its family in 2008; orange ginger. Orange ginger is nuun&rsquo;s fifth flavour, it joins lemon+lime, tri-berry, citrus fruit and kona cola and gives athletes and active people a wide variety of choices in the replenishing electrolyte drink.

Each tablet of nuun makes 16 ounces/500ml of drink, approximately the size of a bicycle bottle. The company has also announced &#039;bigger nuun&#039; (which we may not see in the UK) that has a larger tablet size specifically formatted for ease of use in larger 32-ounce or litre-sized bottles and hydration packs. nuun was the first electrolyte drink ideally suited for use in hydration systems, because its sugar-free formula rinses cleanly and will not fuel the growth of bacteria.

When nuun came to market in 2004, it offered active people a new way to hydrate. nuun&rsquo;s concept&mdash;to separate what you drink to stay hydrated from what you eat for energy&mdash;defined a new way to replenish electrolytes in a convenient, easy-to-use form. Simply add a tablet to water, let it dissolve for two minutes, and you have a drink containing calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium&mdash;the essential electrolytes that aid hydration. For more information see their website: www.nuun.com]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Review: New-Whey liquid protein]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3153.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Jo Haley, aka Blue Shark, took on the task of testing IDS&#039;s New-Whey protein supplement for Tri247 - after all, it was her that found it for us on the Fluid Force stand at the TCR Show!



Whilst taking a break from training hard for Ironman Lanzarote, the Pink Shark and I were meandering around the TCR Show when we stumbled upon what could only be described as rather large test tubes filled with brightly coloured liquids. [Ed: that&#039;s not actually what they described them as at the time...] On further investigation, it was revealed that these strange phenomena were in fact vials of &lsquo;New-Whey Liquid Protein&rsquo;, a product relatively new to the UK market containing 25g of whey protein and 100 kcal but no sugar and no fat.

Intrigued, we decided to we&rsquo;d like to trial them in order to determine whether or not this would be a product worthy of parting you from your hard earned cash. However, before this decision can be made it is necessary to understand the role of protein in human body and, in particular, why it is important to the triathlete.

The importance of protein &ndash; in brief!
Protein is important to all human beings. We, as athletes, are most interested in its role in energy metabolism and tissue growth and repair but its functions also include assisting in the formation of body enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, components of the immune system and helping to maintain the fluid balance in body tissues.

Put very simply, the longer and harder you train, the greater your protein requirements. Endurance athletes are one group who may have significantly higher protein requirements than the average Joe or Josephine, as are people on intense strength training programmes (especially in the first three months of their programme), teenage athletes who are still growing and those on weight-loss programmes. This is, in part, because protein is used as fuel to a greater extent when glycogen stores are low (eg, at the end of a long training session or when the calorific content of the diet is too low) and also because it is significant in the repair, recovery and building of muscle and other tissues.

So... How much is enough?
Actual protein requirements are complicated by the fact that there are two types of protein &ndash; complete and incomplete. All proteins are composed of amino acids; complete sources contain all nine essential amino acids whereas incomplete sources may be deficient in one or more of these. Essential amino acids are those which cannot be synthesised in the human body and therefore must be obtained through dietary sources. Animal sources of protein are complete whereas plant sources may not be. Vegetarians, and especially vegans, should, therefore, aim for the upper end of the recommended protein intake ranges and take in a wide variety of plant proteins so as to ensure they take in adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids.

The recommended guideline amounts (RDAs) for protein consumption in the UK vary:
 

For a sedentary person, the RDA is 0.9g protein per Kg bodyweight per day.
For endurance athlete that figure increases to 1.2 to 1.4g protein per Kg bodyweight. 
For athletes in the first three months of an intense strength training programme, or who are trying to lose weight, this figure increases further to up to 1.7g protein per Kg bodyweight.


The trial
We were given a week&rsquo;s worth of New-Whey Liquid Protein each and took two a day &ndash; one with lunch and one with dinner. (The guidelines on the side of the pack state up to three per day to be taken with meals).

The verdict
The vials of New-Whey Liquid Protein are certainly an easy and hassle free way of increasing the protein in your diet. The liquid is a complete protein and, therefore, may be especially useful to vegetarians, such as myself. Although the bright colours may put some off, the taste is sweet and palatable.

One instant observation was that, unlike other protein supplements, which tend to be in the form of a &#039;shake&#039;, the New-Whey didn&#039;t make you feel &#039;filled up&#039; and so not actually want to eat the meal that you were supposed to be supplementing. 

The containers are resealable, easily storeable and transportable. They are robust, but I would dispute the &lsquo;virtually unbreakable&rsquo; claim that they make as I accidentally dropped the first one I picked up and, yes, you guessed it, it broke! Actually it was the cap that broke, rather than the container, so maybe you have to drop them the other way up!

New-Whey isn&#039;t cheap, the 12-pack of 25gm shots lists at &pound;29.99 but you can find it online for around &pound;10 less. The advantages of having it pre-mixed and ready to use whenever you need it, it doesn&#039;t need to be kept in a &#039;fridge, and the fact that it&#039;s non-filling make this a very attractive way of getting protein in during that critical one-hour window after an intense training session or a race. Just be prepared for some odd looks in transition!

It&rsquo;s worth noting, however, that protein supplements are only beneficial if your diet is lacking in protein and that excess protein in the diet can actually be harmful to your health especially if you have liver or kidney problems. If you are thinking about supplementing your diet with extra protein and you have any reservations it may be worth consulting a nutritionist or your GP before continuing.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Infinit does Ironman ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3200.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[To be honest we&#039;ve known about this for a while but were sworn to secrecy until a formal announcement could be made. Trouble is, looks like the Americans weren&#039;t - the story came out on a US website yesterday during an interview with Michael Folan, the company&#039;s owner...

Infinit Nutrition, providers of the &#039;create your own mix&#039; nutrition system, have pulled off a remarkable deal with Triangle for all their European Ironman and 70.3 races. They will be providing the energy drinks for both the bike and the run at the Monaco 70.3 this year and then all of their races including Ironman South Africa, Ironman France and Ironman Austria from 2009. When we heard the news we jokingly asked Michael Hanreck, the man behind Infinit over here, if that means that you can specify your own personal mix for both the bike and the run... We won&#039;t repeat the answer he gave but, if their standard mixes are good enough for Mark Allen Coaching and Joe Friel then they are definitely good enough for us.

Expect a proper announcement in a few days with details of what the mixes will actually be and we&#039;re sure that Michael will be coming up with some deals for people taking part in the races so they can try them product out in advance. Check out the website: www.infinitnutrition.eu]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[TheTriathlonCoach.com and Gatorade team up for 2008]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3183.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[TheTriathlonCoach.com (TheTriathlonCoach.com) are pleased to announce that Gatorade have signed up to be their official sports drink supplier for the 2008 season.

The relationship will see TheTriathlonCoach.com receive both product and direct access to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute information and resources to support the development of their age group, junior and elite athletes in their training and at training camps. Additionally, the most improved athlete at the end of the year will be selected to visit the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Barrington, Illinois, USA. (www.gssiweb.org)

Additionally, the relationships will see TheTriathlonCoach.com continue to work with Gatorade to provide world class tips and learning opportunities for UK triathletes by expanding on the seminar and information programme that kicked off with the &#039;Gatorade Theatre&#039; at this year TCR show.

TTC founder Simon Ward said of the deal &quot;Gatorade is one of the major forces in sports nutrition and we are extremely proud that they have chosen to partner with us. Their support means that we are able to offer even greater benefits to our athletes in 2008 and hopefully beyond.&quot;

To find out more about the Gatorade range of products please click on the link below.

www.gatorade.co.uk

You can also visit the Gatorade Sports Science Institute website which provides articles, tips, research, educational tools, and interactive presentations on sports nutrition and exercise science.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[EAS Nutrition Tips: April]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3036.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[




As part of monthly feature sponsored by EAS (www.eas-uk.info/eas), Tri247 is going to be providing regular nutritional tips and information. EAS sponsor many top athletes, among them Tim Don and Nicole Cooke.



Cycle jerseys have pockets for a reason
As well as an inner tube, house keys, mobile phone, maybe a map and some emergency money, your cycle jersey pockets should include some food! Gels, bars, sweets, cakes, biscuits and malt loaf can all be carried (but probably not all in the same pocket...) and easily reached as you get the training miles in.

Dehydration is a well known detractor of performance so water bottles full of fluid are essential but food, and that really means some form of carbohydrate, that you can eat as you ride can delay the onset of fatigue but not mean you have to stop to eat it. On long rides you will have to stop from time to time to go to the loo and you might be tempted not to drink so much to avoid this as stopping can disrupt your rhythm. Whilst one needs to keep hydrated, being over-hydrated can be unhelpful. That said, if you are not stopping to urinate every 2/2&amp;frac12; hours, then you&rsquo;re not drinking enough.

Sprint distance (and below) competitors can get away with just water in their bottles, but racing for longer than 1&amp;frac12;/2 hours requires more fuel than your muscles can store. Long weekend rides are the perfect time to start working out what your body will tolerate when in the saddle.

And don&rsquo;t only stick to sweet snacks. Being pressed against a warm body can turn some confectionery into a gooey mess and, conversely, some bars can hurt your teeth when they are rock hard on a cold winter&rsquo;s day. Savoury snacks can prevent taste fatigue, a common problem in longer distance athletes. Pretzels, crackers, bread rolls and even slices of pizza have become the preferred snack of many an Ironman finisher.


&amp;nbsp;





How long do water bottles last? It mostly depends on how you clean them &ndash; how soon and how well. The sooner you can clean your bottles after use, the better. Sugary (and salty) energy drinks speed up the deterioration process so removing the last drops from the bottom of the bottle is essential. Dishwashers are water bottle friendly, but not on a hot setting. Sterilizing tablets are also useful when you have left your bottle dirty for a couple of days. If there is any sign of mould or the &#039;nipple&#039; has become pitted or discoloured there&#039;s only one place for them - the bin. Last cleaning tip, make sure the nipple is open when washing your bottles to make sure the water can run through it and clean it.

How can I get a better mix in the bottle? If you have ever experienced the problems of a powdered drink  not properly dissolving no matter how hard you shake the bottle - some protein mixes are prone to this problem - why not try dropping a small marble into the bottle first. This will help to agitate the mix properly and stop the powder &#039;clumping&#039;.


&amp;nbsp;






Tim Don takes an EAS Myoplex Energy Bar on every ride, his favorite flavour is Banana. This fruity, tasty 65g bar packs 44g of carbohydrate and its mix of fast and slow release carbohydrates make it ideal to take during long and intensive periods of exercise to maintain a steady flow of energy. It gives a quick energy kick thanks to 75mg of caffeine plus key nutrients for endurance athletes including 50% RDA of B complex vitamins, Vitamin C and E. And that&rsquo;s not all; there&rsquo;s added Taurine and Chromium, to ensure optimum carbohydrate metabolism, and Glutamine, to help protect muscles and support the body&rsquo;s immune system during and after the exercise. 75% of the energy is from fructose-glucose syrup, rice flour, oat flakes, fructose, sugar and other fruit and there&rsquo;s just 5.5% fat.





]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Review: Hammer Nutrition]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3020.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[If we said we were going to take a look at products from a nutrition company that had been around for 20 years then you could easily be forgiven for jumping to the wrong conclusion! Unlike the global behemoth that is Powerbar, Hammer Nutrition (formerly known as E-Caps &amp; Hammer Nutrition) has been virtually unknown and unavailable outside the US. In 2008 they have set up a distribution arrangement that covers Europe and the UK and we can expect to see a lot more of them over the coming months. The UK Hammer Nutrition website is now up and running and has both an online store and a copy of most of the background material from the US site. There&#039;s a lot of interesting nutrition information here - although it is all obviously centred around the company&#039;s own product.

A couple of things set them apart from the rest of the energy food suppliers; the breadth of product that they have to offer and their approach to the way that product is made. Although we only got to sample the basics; energy bars, gels and their HEED energy/electrolyte drink, the range extends to endurance formulas (Sustained Energy and Perpeteum), electrolyte replenishment (Endurolyte as capsules and powder), recovery products (Recoverite) and protein supplements (HammerWhey and HammerSoy). Add to this a bewildering array of supplements that go far beyond anything offered by any UK energy food company and you&#039;ll begin to realise that Hammer are not just another &#039;me too&#039; bar maker.

With the current trend in the industry to &#039;dual carbohydrate&#039; mixes it&#039;s interesting to see that Hammer are not only not following that trend but standing by their reasons with a significant amount of documentation. As to whether anyone is right or wrong in this debate is something that we will leave to the scientists - our mission is much simpler: do they taste good and do they do you good?

Taking the bars first, Hammer have two flavours on offer; Almond Raisin and Chocolate Chip. Given that Jenny is gluten intolerant and both these bars are vegetarian, gluten free and are mainly built from organic ingredients, they hit a mark few other bars manage to reach. The 50gm bar has 220 calories (80 from fat) and delivers 25gm of carbohydrate, 9gm of fat, 4gm of fibre and 10gm of protein. There are also 18mg of sodium and traces of vitamins A and C plus calcium and iron in there. However, the result is a very soft, slightly sweet bar that you can break down without even chewing - in other words, something very different to what you are used to. It&#039;s certainly not unpleasant, indeed you can definitely taste the things it&#039;s made from; almonds, dates and raisins come through strongly in the Almond Raisin, but we aren&#039;t so sure what it will look like after a day stuffed in a back pocket or a bento box. At &pound;2.05 per bar or &pound;22.80 for a box of 12 they are expensive compared to most other brands.

The gels come in a conventional foil pouch, although someone hasn&#039;t been able to resist the temptation to make the tear-off bit into a hammer head shape... And that tear-off is not something that you&#039;ll miss as it takes two hands to get into one! Hammer do bulk versions which we suspect will work out better value for endurance athletes who can decant the stuff into gel flasks. Unlike the rest of gel-dom which seems to be getting thinner and runnier largely, we suspect, because of the new dual carbohydrate mixes, Hammer&#039;s gel is really quite thick and needs to be eased out of the pouch with some gentle pressure. The 36gm serving delivers 90 calories from 23gm of carbohydrate along with 30mg of sodium. The majority of the carbs here are long chain, only 2gm comes from sugars, and the flavours are perfectly OK - the banana actually tasted of proper banana (as it should, given they use banana puree) rather than that awful chemical taste that banana flavoured products often have.

Of the flavours we tried; Orange, Raspberry, Vanilla, Banana and Apple Cinnamon, all were prefectly palatable but the Orange did leave a quite definite aftertaste that lingered for a considerable time. Hammer also offer two caffeinated gels; Espresso with 50mg and Tropical with 25mg, but we didn&#039;t get to try either of those. At &pound;1.35 each these are slightly more expensive than other brands but you can get them in a bulk bottle at &pound;18 for 26 servings.

The third product we tried was HEED, their High Energy Electrolyte Drink. Based on complex carbs sweetened with stevia and xylitol (they use that in chewing gum because it helps with oral health) it includes electrolytes and L-Carnosine and Chromium Polynicotinate help to buffer lactic acid and support stable blood glucose levels. A 29gm sachet delivers 100 calories in a bottle, they suggest a weight-based dosage of between one and three sachets per hour. The powder dissolves pretty easily and the resulting drink is perfectly palatable but the flavours are definitely not that interesting. Either we have become so used to the flavours that we regularly use or the Hammer ones are so subtle that we just can&#039;t tell what they were supposed to be, but they definitely didn&#039;t jump out and say &quot;Lemon Lime&quot; or &quot;Mandarin Orange&quot;. Perhaps putting three sachets in a bottle would have upped the flavour but we only got one of each to try... HEED sachets cost &pound;1.70 per single or &pound;22.60 for a 32-serving tub.

So, what&#039;s the overall verdict?
Tri247 says: To have survived for 20 years in such a highly competitive market one has to assume that Hammer are doing something right and, based on our admittedly limited and non-scientific testing, they are offering a well-argued case for why their products don&#039;t need to follow the current trends. The trick with all energy foods is to find something that works for you; something that you can train and race with that doesn&#039;t upset your metabolism and tastes nice. Trust us, sucking on the same flavour gel for an Ironman-distance race is not to be recommended! Only time will tell if Hammer can deliver what the UK market wants but it&#039;s certainly a brand that&#039;s worth giving a go.

The legal stuff
We couldn&#039;t review the company&#039;s product without reference to the current legal action that&#039;s been initiated by three athletes; Australian triathlete Rebekah Keat, US cyclist Amber Neben and Canadian triathlete Mike Vine, who allege that a Hammer Nutrition product, specifically Endurolytes, was contaminated with banned substances which led to the athletes&rsquo; positive drug tests in 2002-2004. Hammer&#039;s website states that: &quot;Hammer Nutrition exists to help all athletes reach their highest levels of performance and health. In 1987 Hammer Nutrition became the first manufacturer of a full range of nutritional and supplemental products for athletes before, during and after training and competition. Since then our formula of 100% natural products has proved ever more successful. Our products never have and never will contain added simple sugars, artificial colours, stimulants, hormones, steroids, or banned substances. All of our products are safe, legal and optimally healthy.&quot;

All this is in the public domain; as to whether there is any substance to the claim is something that only a court of law can determine.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Triathletes from Venus, and Mars...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2995.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Two young Olympic hopefuls have received the backing of leading recovery drink, MARS&reg; Refuel.  As part of a year-long sponsorship deal, triathletes Helen Tucker and Ritchie Nicholls have secured the monetary and product support of MARS&reg; Refuel.

Michelle Frost, Mars Consumer Drinks comments: &ldquo;MARS&reg; Refuel is pleased to be in the position to support such dedicated and aspiring athletes.  We look forward to monitoring their races over the next year and fingers crossed for Beijing and 2012!&rdquo;

Scientists at Northumbria University completed a study investigating the effect of MARS&reg; Refuel drink which proved that MARS&reg; Refuel increases exercise recovery rate when compared with other special sports drinks. In fact, it can help to keep you going for up to 50% longer and it is believed that this is because MARS&reg; Refuel has the optimal ratio of carbohydrates and protein, plus the glucose and malt. MARS&reg; Refuel will help keep Helen and Ritchie in peak condition after training to ensure they can improve their performance from one race to the next.

Richard Downey, Zellus Management comments: &ldquo;Securing this funding has proved a real bonus for both triathletes.  It will help them enormously and the great drink will give them the boost they require to keep going to achieve those all important ITU points.  Both Helen and Ritchie are delighted with the association.&rdquo;

The sponsorship reaffirms MARS&reg; Refuel&rsquo;s commitment to supporting some of Britain&rsquo;s most inspiring athletes.  In addition to Helen and Ritchie, MARS&reg; Refuel sponsors Great Britain&rsquo;s finest 2010 Paralympics hopefuls: Double Blind Speed Skiing world record holder, Kevin Alderton and paraplegic skiing athlete, Tim Farr.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Getting to racing weight for triathletes]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2936.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Carrying a couple of extra kilograms of bodyweight a few weeks out from your first major race leaves no time to reduce the deficit in a healthy and performance enhancing way. The fat or obese person can probably just increase their exercise level and hey, the fat count will drop off. However, you are probably a different animal, training hard or at the very least above &#039;normal&#039; and for the most part eating quite well. So how do you go about hitting your optimal weight?

Weight (fat) loss from an athletic perspective cannot just be about nil by mouth as this will limit your performance in training, and anyway 95% of &#039;crash&#039; diets fail in the first few weeks. Instead you must attack fat loss with an holistic approach with optimum nutrition and exercise intensity. We know that fat loss will only occur when energy output exceeds energy intake, regardless of the diet&rsquo;s macro nutrient mixture (fad diets that will not work long term).

So, why don&rsquo;t the diets work?
A prudent dietary approach to weight loss unbalances the energy equation just enough to cause change. Therefore, by reducing energy intake by around 500 kcal below daily energy expenditure will produce greater fat loss in relation to the energy deficit (you must be able to train/ recover) than a more severe energy-restricted diet. It has also been show that to crash diet the body restricts the amount of fat being burnt (which is after all our aim).
 
So, should you just go out and train as hard as you can, eating as little as possible? It&rsquo;s so much easier than that, especially for your first two phases of training (base I &amp; base II).

These phases teach the body to utilise its own fat stores for energy production. This can only be done (initially), at a moderate to low intensity (aerobic/ LSD). Once you start exercising hard (breathing hard) your body will predominantly use the energy stored in the muscles (glycogen).

Benefits of harder workouts
The benefit of harder sessions with regards to weight loss is that your metabolic rate will stay higher for longer post hard workouts; however this is again using the calories that are readily available at the time.

Fat/carbohydrate: From a calorific perspective as you know, fat yields much more energy than carbohydrate and will only be burnt in the presents of oxygen (aerobic). This is one of the reasons we really start to use it during longer and longer endurance events (effort has to be moderate).  Importantly it&rsquo;s also why, if you work too hard during endurance events without refueling, you will bonk due to running out of readily available energy (glycogen) and not being able to tap into your abundance of fat stores.

A body&#039;s daily calorific requirements are determined by three factors:
Resting metabolic rate (RMR),
Thermogenesis (calories required for heat production)
Physical activity


Water then fat
In a generalized trend, during the first week of a calorie controlled diet around 70% of the weight loss is water. In weeks 2-3 it becomes 70% fat loss, 20% water and 10% protein and finally in week 4 it can be 85% fat loss with around 15% from protein (McArdle, Katch and Katch 2001).

Weight in muscle
As triathletes, if we go from a couple of weeks of pre-winter recovery into winter training increasing our exercise levels, we will inevitably increase our muscle tone. If we were to go through a heavy period of strength training or a power phase the effect could be to increase muscle bulk (this should only be minimal) and thus possibly see increase in weight. This could be seen as detrimental to our performance (decreased economy), however don&rsquo;t react negatively to muscle tone/ bulk if it is going to increase your performance - check the clock!

The opposite side to the above situation is when you restrict your calorie intake so much that you start to loose fat-free mass and this can lead to a drop off in performance/strength, Again, check the clock/ power meter.

The nitty gritty
So how do we go about calculating the number of calories we need per day?  This is a tough one, as most normalized tables take into account your BMI (Body Mass Index), which in my view is a load of cods wallop! For example, a 5ft5 body builder with 6% body fat weighing in at 80kgs would come up as obese on a BMI scale, so as you can see this does not work for athletes.

Another method that can be used provides a couple of &#039;intensity levels&#039; you have to mark yourself against;
1 being low, 2 is moderate and 3 is heavy. However, &#039;heavy&#039; could be manual labour...  So what about the age-group triathlete who goes to work all day on a building site and still trains 12 hours per week?  Or the ironman athlete doing 20-30+ hours of endurance training per week? It&#039;s far too generic a method and does not give a good indication of the true work load carried out per day.

So we need to be a little bit more specific; the example below is the method I have used for some time now and it works quite well.

Weight goal for performance
Please note, this is just an example to show the figures and not a prescription! The optimum percentage figures for fat in male and female elite triathletes were given as 5-12% and 8-15% respectively by Wilmore and Costill in 1999.


Weight
72.6kg


Relative fat
25% (measured with calipers or underwater weighing is the most effective)


Fat weight
18.2kg (weight x 25%)


Fat free weight
54.4kg (weight &ndash; fat weight)


Relative fat goal
18% (= 82% fat-free)


Weight goal
66.3kg (fat-free weight &divide; 81%)


Weight loss goal
6.3kg



Healthy deficit
Athletes should aim to lose no more than 0.5 &ndash; 1kg per week, losing more weight could lead to losses in fat-free mass. Once you reach your upper limit of your goal weight you should look for supervision form a professional to help reduce weigh further and this should be done at an even slower rate (less that 0.5kg per week, again not to have a detrimental effect on performance).  In order to change your weight by 0.5kg per week you must decrease your intake by 200 &ndash; 500 kcal per day.
 
Holistic approach
You do not have to start counting and measuring out each potion of food like a body builder.  If you feel you are over fat (weight), get a professional to measure your body fat percentage (use calipers or underwater weighing), then make some basic changes.

Simply eat a well balanced diet
Snack on fruit/ veg, health snacks (low GI if not training)
Cut down on carbs prior to bed (salad/veg/protein is energy enough)
Eat little and often (never eat until you are full or stuffed)
Keep blood sugar balanced throughout the day (little and often)
Eat as naturally as possible (no hydrogenated fat, E numbers, etc)
Cut down on booze (one small glass of wine is 90 calories)
Get into good sleep patterns (you only release growth hormone during sleep)
De-stress
Stay hydrated


As soon as you stop over-eating (as per the majority of the western population), which is what you must have been doing if you are carrying too much fat, give it a bit of time and you will see your fat-weight start to come down.

It still takes discipline not to say &ldquo;Oh that was a hard bike session, I&rsquo;ll have some chocolate or other high calorific treat now,&rdquo; which means you fill yourself up on foods with low nutritional benefit instead of healthy/good stuff. The other killer, if you don&rsquo;t replenish energy during long rides/ runs and bonk, is that you get back home and gorge yourself on sweet stuff!

Insulin spike
Foods with a high glycemic (GI) index (white rice, pasta, cakes, sweets) are often accompanied by a spike of insulin. The excessive insulin pulls too much glucose from the blood causing fatigue, hunger, and usually additional sugar cravings. This cycle continues throughout the day impeding the use of fats as a fuel and ultimately leading to weight gain. This does not mean all high GI carbohydrates are bad and should be avoided. High glycemic index foods are very beneficial when consumed prior to, during, and following exercise (Thomas W. Nesser, PhD, CSCS).

Look after the nutritional part of your day to day life as this is where you will make a massive difference to your performance long term. The bottom line is that you need to be happy to perform and if not having any treats or crash dieting is not going to make you happy, be sensible and seek professional advice if you feel you need it.

Please keep in mind that I am not an expert on nutrition and these are just my thoughts (with some research) as a coach, on how to get to race weight sensibly. If there are experts out there who are doing things differently I would love to hear about it.
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