Abstract
This paper examines the various nutritional challenges which athletes encounter in preparing for and participating in ultra-endurance walking and running events. Special attention is paid to energy level, performance, and recovery within the context of athletes’ intake of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and various vitamins and minerals. It outlines, by way of a review of literature, those factors which promote optimal performance for the ultra-endurance athlete and provides recommendations from multiple researchers concerned with the nutrition and performance of ultra-endurance athletes. Despite the availability of some research about the subject, there is a paucity of longitudinal material which examines athletes by nature and type of ultra-endurance event, gender, age, race, and unique physiological characteristics. Optimal nutrition results in a decreased risk of energy depletion, better performance, and quicker full-recovery.
Highlights
As a crucial aspect of the life of athletes, and a basic element of physical fitness, endurance is significantly impacted by physiological characteristics but very importantly, the body’s capacity to effectively utilize nutrients to sustain performance, during ultra-endurance events
There is a paucity of agreed-on and concrete nutrition best practices for ultraendurance runners and even less demarcating such by event type
Carbohydrate, protein, and fat recommendations are 8–12 g of CHO/kg body weight/day, ≥20 g at 3–4 h intervals and 20–35% of energy intake, respectively, and athletes should strive to minimize the gap between energy intake and energy expenditure to optimize performance
Summary
As a crucial aspect of the life of athletes, and a basic element of physical fitness, endurance is significantly impacted by physiological characteristics but very importantly, the body’s capacity to effectively utilize nutrients to sustain performance, during ultra-endurance events. It is not a concern of athletes’ about consuming too much as almost all ultra-endurance walking and running events result in a deficit (as shown in Table 1) and narrowing the gap between energy intake and expenditure correlates positively with performance, rather it is a question of whether to pack carbohydrates or fat as the fuel source if they are carrying their own food.
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