Six Tips for Fuelling your Training

Triathlon Ireland’s Official Food Ordering App, Just Eat, give their advice for nutrition and recovery throughout the triathlon season.

Whether you have signed up for your first triathlon or are a seasoned triathlete, knowing how to fuel your training is really important. We have enlisted the help of Michelle in Spectrum Nutrition Clinics to explain things to consider when fuelling your triathlon training.

Let’s take a look at six strategies you can employ to help with your triathlon training.

6 strategies for fuelling your triathlon training

1)    Overestimating how many calories were burned during training

It is common for people to train and then feel as though “they can eat what they want.” Remember that although you will be burning calories in a workout, it is often much less than what we assume. On the flipside, “eating what we want” can result in taking in hundreds or thousands of extra calories depending on your food choices.

It can be helpful to use an online calculator such as My Fitness Pal to estimate your calorie requirements and then track what you are eating and drinking for 5-7 days to see if what you are eating matches what you need. If you notice that you are taking in more calories than you need, then you can make simple adjustments to your diet to get things back in balance. Remember it is helpful to base your diet on fruit, vegetables, complex carbs, protein and healthy fats with some treats thrown in.

2)    Inconsistency with training

Yes, training can burn calories, but sometimes what we plan to do and what we end up doing might not match. For instance, if you plan to train 4-5 times a week, and then suddenly you are busier with work/ social events/ family commitments and don’t get your training in, then you could end up taking in too many calories if you don’t adjust your food accordingly. 

To overcome this, think about how many sessions of exercise that you can commit to as a minimum on a weekly basis and base your food around this activity level. Then you can increase your food slightly if you are more active than expected at the last minute. I don’t think anyone has a problem adding in extra food, but it is harder to reduce your intake at the end of the week if you suddenly realise that, oops, you didn’t do as much exercise as planned!

3)    Increased hunger

When you increase your training, especially if it is your first triathlon, you may experience ravenous hunger like never before. This is common and can lead to overeating in an effort to satiate what seems like uncontrollable hunger. If this happens it can be very easy to lose control over your food intake and take in more energy than is needed. 

To overcome this, try to pre-plan out your food, particularly in the early days, to make sure that you are taking in a balance of food groups. You can track your food in advance on My Fitness Pal to give your eating some structure.  Bulking up on protein rich foods, fruit and vegetables can be an excellent way to relieve that feeling of hunger by adding bulk to your diet without adding unnecessary calories. Think chicken, eggs, meat, turkey, beans, lentils etc. Make sure that you are eating enough to account for the increased exercise and remember that this hunger does tend to settle down.

4)    Understand body composition

When you increase exercise, you might stand on the scales after a few weeks and see that they are creeping up! Don’t panic. You may have gained muscle. How would you know if you have gained muscle and not fat? Generally, if your increased weight is down to increases in muscle, then you will notice that your clothes either fit the same or looser. If you stand on the scales and they are heavier and your clothes are also tighter, then it is more likely that you may be increasing fat stores and might need to adjust your diet. Your muscle has stores of glycogen, or stored energy, which can also attribute to a falsesense of feeling as if you have gained weight. The only weight we should be concerned about gaining is fat. Muscle gains will be beneficial for your health so ignore the scales if your clothes are fitting well.

5)    Over consuming  sports supplements

When training for a triathlon, many people turn to energy drinks/bars/gels and jellies/chocolate to fuel the training and event. Although all these foods and supplements can be very helpful for fuelling performance, there is generally not a need for them during training, especially for shorter distances or sessions, unless you are experimenting with your tolerance levels for gels etc. A well-balanced diet should be perfectly adequate for training and even on the race day with gels and bars used as a top up. Remember that supplements will be giving you a concentrated source of sugar and can be anywhere from 200- 600 calories depending on which brand you use and how much you consume. 

In training, aim to move your current meals around so that they fit in timing wise with your training so that you get the energy you need without going overboard on calorie intake. Also, using dried fruit and nuts, bananas and other every day food options may be all that is needed to fuel your training, even for longer sessions, or bring an easily digestible snack. Some pre-planning really is the key here so that you have an idea of how many calories you are consuming.

6)    Prioritise Recovery

Training for triathlons can be heavy going on your body. Failing to prioritise recovery between training sessions may leave you feeling fatigued and reaching for sugary treats for an energy fix.

Aim to get 6-8 hours of sleep a night, stay well hydrated and fit in some rest days to help your body recover.

At the end of the day, training for a triathlon requires some planning to make sure that you are not only meeting your increased calorie requirements but that you are also meeting your nutritional requirements. You can’t go wrong with eating mostly nutritious meals packed with fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats and then adding in some treats a few times in the week. 

Here are some of our restaurants with healthy options where you can order a balanced meal on Just Eat: 

Mao at Home locations across Dublin

Lotts & Co Dublin

Shaka Poke Blackrock

Chopped locations across Dublin & Limerick

Freshii Locations across Dublin & Galway

Saba To Go locations across Dublin

Bombay Pantry locations across Dublin & Wicklow