Prepare, Perform & Recover: Customize Your Nutrition for Each Stage of Your Workout

We know that achieving your goal—your new personal best or the winning shot—is a moment in time. There’s a before, an after, and a how.  As a sport nutrition brand, we created a comprehensive system designed to fit the three nutritional categories any active person needs – Prepare, Perform and Recover (PPR), and each Honey Stinger product combines specific and thoughtful ingredients to fuel these stages. 

Protecting the Bookends: Your PPR Resource

To help you know what steps to take and what resources to use to achieve your goals, we connected with Registered Dietitian, Lindsay Langford. Lindsay works with athletes of all kinds, levels, and ages, and PPR is a big topic. She uses the metaphor “Protecting the Bookends” to help her athletes bookend their training with proper nutrition - so they can reap maximum benefits from their workouts.

Use the information below alongside the linked table and worksheet to tailor your nutrition to your specific performance needs. 

(Downloadable worksheets at the end of the blog.) 

Prepare

The right fuel is the energy you need to push yourself and successfully finish each practice, training session, or workout. Your focal point for the Prepare is carbs.

• Carbs equal fuel. 2-4 hours prior to training, consume 2-4g of carbs per kg body weight. If you have enough time, your first choice should be eating a full meal made up of whole, real foods. But Honey Stinger has delicious options to help you on-the-go.
• If you have 3 hours before your workout for your body to digest, shoot for 3 grams of carb per kg. Example: 154lbs = 70kg x 3g carb = 210g carb.
• If you have 2 hours before your workout for your body to digest, focus on 2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight. For example: 154lbs = 70kg x 2g carb = 140g carb.
• If you have 30 – 60 minutes or less, shoot for 0.5-1 gram of carb per kg. For example: 30 minutes prior: 154lbs = 70kg x 0.5carb = 35g carb.
• Or - if numbers aren't your thing: Another commonly used recommendation is to go into your workout or competition "well fueled" (half plate carbs, 1/4 color, 1/4 protein) and then top off carbohydrate stores with 100 – 300 calories (~25-75 grams of carb) of carbohydrate rich foods prior to training.

Let’s touch on hydration. 

1. Fluid is important for muscle saturation and performance. Aim for a rate of consuming 1/2 your body weight in fluid oz per day (150lb = 75oz per day).
2. Plan ahead and make sure to include electrolytes on hot days and/or harder workouts since you’ll be sweating out a lot of them. Sodium is the key electrolyte lost. Use the sodium ranges below (low sweat = lower range (250-500mg), high sweat = higher range (500-1000 mg).

Perform

Your focal point for Perform is hydration and electrolytes.

• The general recommendation is to consume 16 – 24 ounces per hour of training. You can get very scientific on your hydration needs if you conduct a sweat rate calculation.
• Make sure to add electrolytes if you have a long training session and/or it’s especially hot.

Let's talk about carbs:

• If your activity is longer than 60 minutes, your intake of carbohydrates per hour should be 30 – 60 grams. If your activity is multiple hours (like an ultra-endurance event), your intake should be 60 – 90 grams of carbs per hour.

Recover

Help your body take in and gain from all the training you just endured. There are 3 Rs to Recover.

• Repair exercise induced muscle damage. This is where protein comes in. A general recommendation is to consume 20 – 40 grams of protein after your training session. The actual amount varies depending on your body size (using the lower range for smaller individuals and the higher range for larger athletes).
• Replenish glycogen stores. This is where carbohydrates come in. Carbs should be matched based on the athlete’s goals. This means you should consume anywhere from a 1:1 to a 4:1 carb to protein ratio.
• The 1:1 carb/protein ratio is for athletes with a lower energy expenditure, athletes who need or want to focus on being lean, or those who know they’ll be able to consume plenty of carbohydrates with their normal daily intake.
• The 4:1 carb/protein ratio is for athletes working at high intensity or volume. This could be endurance or ultra-endurance athletes as well as those who need help consuming an adequate amount of carbohydrates in their daily intake.
• 3. Rehydrate. This is where fluid and electrolytes come in. Added electrolytes can come from convenient sports drinks, a post workout meal, or even added table salt. Consume 16-20oz for every pound lost in your training session.  If you didn't weigh in & out, it's safe to assume you likely lost between 1-2lbs per hr of training.

About Lindsay

Lindsay Langford is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and a board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics.  Lindsay received her Bachelor’s degree from University of Alabama and Masters from Louisiana Tech University.  Lindsay has been with Ascension St. Vincent Sports Performance (ASVSP) for 13 years working with athletes from middle school to the professional level.  Through ASVSP, she consults or has consulted with teams such as:  Indiana Pacers, Butler University, Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Fever and US Soccer Women’s National Team.  Lindsay is married with two young boys and enjoys all things outdoors, traveling and house projects (and Davids Buddah Blend Tea)

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Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016 Mar;116(3):501-528