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Cited by 40Sports Performance and TrainingMuscle metabolism and nutritionNutrition, Health and Food Behavior

Self-reported periodization of nutrition in elite female and male runners and race walkers

Open access
Heikura, Ida Aliisa, Stellingwerff, Trent, Burke, Louise Mary·2018·Frontiers in Physiology
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2018.01732PMC PMC6286987
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Abstract

Athletes should achieve event-specific physiological requirements through careful periodization of training, underpinned by individualized and targeted nutrition strategies. However, evidence of whether, and how, elite endurance athletes periodize nutrition is scarce. Accordingly, elite international female (n=67) and male (n=37) middle/long-distance athletes (IAAF score:1129±54, corresponds to 13:22.49 [males] and 15:17.93 [females] in the 5000m) completed an online survey (February-May 2018) examining self-reported practices of dietary periodization for micro (within/between-days), meso (weeks/months) and macro (across the year) contexts. Data are shown as the percentage of all athletes practicing a given strategy followed by the % of athletes reporting various beliefs or practices within this strategy. Differences according to sex, event (middle-distance [800m/1500m] vs track-distance [3000m-10000m] vs road-distance [marathon/race walks]), caliber (high [major championship qualifier] vs lower), and training volume (low/moderate/high male and female tertiles) were analyzed using Chi-square test or Kruskal-Wallis Test and indicated statistically different when p≤0.05. Most athletes reported eating more on hard training days (92%) and focusing on nutrition before (84%; carbohydrate intake [63%] and timing [58%]) and after (95%; protein goals [59%], timing [55%], carbohydrate goals [50%]) key sessions. Road-distance were the most (62% and 57%), and middle-distance the least (30% and 30%) likely to train fasted (p=0.037) or restrict carbohydrates periodically (p=0.050), respectively. Carbohydrate intake during training (58% of total) was more common in males (79%; p=0.004) and road-distance (90%; p<0.001) than females (53%) or middle/track-distance (48% and 37%). Most athletes (83%) reported following a specific diet before and during race day, with half of the athletes focusing on carbohydrates. Nearly all (97%) road-distance athletes reported following a during-race nutrition plan (carbohydrates/fluids:89%). Only 32% reported taking advice from a dietitian/nutritionist. Based on our analysis: 1) Road-distance athletes periodize carbohydrate availability while track/middle-distance avoid low carbohydrate availability; 2) Middle-distance runners emphasize physique goals to guide their nutrition strategies; 3) Females seem to be more cautious of increasing energy/carbohydrate intake; 4) Among all athletes, nutrition strategies are chosen primarily to improve performance, followed by reasons related to physique, adaptation and health outcomes. Overall, these athletes appear to possess good knowledge of nutrition for supporting training and competition performance.

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  • Elite athletes include various versions of train high, train low, and gut training within their training programs, both accidentally and intentionally.

    “In the meantime, it appears that elite athletes include various versions of “train high,” “train low,” and “gut training” within their training programs, both accidentally and intentionally (Heikura et al., 2018;Stellingwerff, 2012).”

    From Contemporary Nutrition Strategies to Optimize Performance in Distance Runners and Race Walkers (2019) · cites this paper as Heikura et al., 2018

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Related

Authors
Heikura, I. A., Stellingwerff, T., & Burke, L. M.
Affiliations
  • Australian Catholic University (AU)
  • Canadian Sport Centre Pacific (CA)
Corresponding author
Heikura, Ida Aliisa
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Physiology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-12-03
Volume
9
Pages
1732-1732
ISSN
1664-042X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fphys.2018.01732
PMC
PMC6286987
OpenAlex
W2903002607
Cited by
40
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3
FWCI
4.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Physiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Keywords
endurance athletes, elite runners, sex differences, carbohydrate intake, training volume, carbohydrate restriction, protein intake, fluid intake, meal timing, middle-distance running

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