Nutrition tips
Sports bring a lot to everyday life, whether practised intensively or just for fun. They have the power to provide a healthy lifestyle, improve cardiac performance, and confer a feeling of well-being. They also help make better use of fats and strengthen muscle mass to support the skeleton thus favouring better posture.
As you can see, practising sport is essential for physical and psychological well-being. However, there are two major points to respect both in training and sporting events: nutrition and hydration.
Indeed, they must be suited to the pace and intensity of the sports practice. In these articles, you’ll find the answers to the questions that many sports enthusiasts ask themselves…
What are the basic nutrition principles for an athlete? How to combine hydration and sports performance? And finally, what are the facts on nutrition during the competition period: before, during, after?
These tips can help you in your sports practice, but keep in mind that eating should always be enjoyable.
How can I hydrate over long distance?
How can good hydration protect my body? Water plays a number of roles during physical exertion, for example, heat regulation. Basically, muscles give off heat while they are active, so water lets them regulate their temperature. Water also helps the metabolic reactions to work, not only carrying glucose but also helping carry vitamins and minerals […]
Get back into good habits after holidays
Rebalance your diet Every day, a balanced diet provides your body with the protein (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products etc.), carbohydrate (pasta, rice), fats (oil, butter), vitamins, minerals and fibre. After the holiday season when you eat particularly rich meals, you have to return to a balanced diet, but without your meals getting boring! Vary […]
What should you eat before a race?
Should you really finish your meal 3 hours before a race or long training? One of the most applied rules, and probably one of the least well-founded! A full meal actually takes much longer to digest. In 3 hours, the digestive effort is at its maximum… and the available energy at its minimum! In fact, […]
Cramp What causes it and what you can do
LOOKING FOR THE CAUSE: 1 – First of all the sportsperson and their entourage can have a think: • Did I drink enough before and during my exercise? The minimum intake must be 500 ml per hour of exercise (in all sports except if they really are low-intensity sports). • Is my mineral intake sufficient […]
Antioxidants and their role in sports
These aggressions caused by our surroundings lead to the production of free radicals, which can destroy our cells and damage our body; in practical terms, this means poor recovery, fatigue, injuries. Physical activity increases the production of free radicals. But not to worry: at the same time, the body raises its defences by producing antioxidants […]
Sports products
Before a sporting activity Nutrition before a sporting activity is important, as it will ensure your energy capacity during your exercise. If the duration of the activity runs longer than one hour, you will have to build reserves of carbohydrate fuel during the preceding hours. If the sporting activity involves heavy muscle load (hilly course, […]
THE 6 GOLDEN RULES FOR GOOD HYDRATION
1 Never drink more than 10cl at a time The bigger the quantity of liquid absorbed in one go, the longer gastric emptying will take and rehydration will therefore be less effective. For good absorption, drink one mouthful (maximum two) at a time (5 to 10cl). 2 Drink right from the start Dehydration begins […]
Training on empty: a false good idea?
Fasted training: for experienced athletes Only a careful, consistent athlete, trained in fasted training can optimise fat loss and teach the body to engage in lipolysis (the breakdown of lipids to produce energy). It is necessary to know oneself well; it’s better to loop around the home (so you can go back quickly…), leaving with […]
Savoury energy
Why are sports drinks important? While the main fuel is still carbohydrates, simply feeling nauseated by sugar should not stop you from refuelling your sports energy. Because plain water, although thirst-quenching, does not compensate for mineral losses or bring energy during the activity. Especially since exercising in hot weather increases sweat losses, which increases the […]
The benefits of honey for athletes
Several studies attest to the effectiveness of honey for athletes Comparative studies between water and a sports drink with acacia honey (the honey used in the Organic Energix gel) have shown that it is effective in maintaining sports performance (1). This efficacy comes from the ingredients in acacia honey, which contains 29% glucose that can directly […]
Which recovery drink is best?
“Muscles are destroyed during physical activity, the fibres are torn and the most delicate cells are replaced by new, more resistant ones. During the recovery phase, which can last several days after the event, is when the muscle needs food intake to promote its reconstruction. ” Manuel, Dietician This recovery drink ensures that hydro-electrolytic balance […]
Nutrition and training
Why adopt a nutritional strategy for training? Training nutrition is important, as it not only prepares the body for the event, it especially keeps it in shape during this period and leads to a better series of sessions. Proper training must prepare athletes for the intense physical exertion of the event, as well as regularly […]
Hyponatremia: how to optimize hydration and salt intake during endurance sports?
Salt and endurance Endurance sports trigger salt loss through perspiration, and it can often be considerable (1). Someone moderately trained, who practices 1 to 2 hours of activity every 2-3 days, loses between 1.8 and 3.6 grams of sodium chloride (NaCl) during the activity. That means 700mg of sodium every hour. Most waters naturally have […]
Drinking during an activity, an absolute necessity?
What is the consequence of poor hydration during an activity? Every hour, an athlete can lose an average of 1 litre of water, or even more depending on certain factors (waterproof clothing, environmental conditions, beginner or unfamiliar athlete). Inadequate hydration can then lead to a significant decrease in physical performance. Hence, it has been shown […]
The Modified Dissociated Diet, how to eat 1 week before your event: advice and mistakes to avoid
Scandinavian dissociated diet or Modified Dissociated Diet? You know the Scandinavian dissociated diet (SDD) that has been followed for almost 35 years. Its aim is to reduce the body’s glycogen reserves for 3 days in order to create a state where the body is depleted of them. Then we increase our intake of carbohydrates for […]
Dehydration
Reflexes are diminished, and headaches can occur. In the event of insufficient water, the muscles heat up while less hydrated fibres can be torn. Poorly hydrated tendons get inflamed – this is called tendinitis. If less fluid circulates in the blood, blood gets thicker, and thus the perfusion of muscles during exercise is less efficient. […]
The headache of the last meal before your event
Schedule your last meal Have you ever had to spend the night in a hotel before your event and did not know what to eat for breakfast? Although a croissant, bread and jam, orange juice and coffee are comfortable habits, they do not really provide the ideal diet strategy before an event. The first rule […]
Energy gels: everything you need to know to understand how they work and how to use them
What are the advantages of OVERSTIM.s energy gels? The gels have many advantages: They provide calories in the form of carbohydrates, which are the main energy source used during a sporting activity to ensure your performance They contain sodium, vitamins and minerals to compensate for mineral losses from sweating They are practical and easy to […]