FAT LOSS AND HEALTH NUTRITION, EXERCISE AND RECOVERY FROM BMF BEN COOMBER BENCOOMBER WEEK EIGHT

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1 FAT LOSS AND HEALTH NUTRITION, EXERCISE AND RECOVERY FROM BMF BEN COOMBER BENCOOMBER WEEK EIGHT

2 Published in collaboration with Ben Coomber and British Military Fitness wwwbencoomber.com Copyright Ben Coomber Limited

3 WEEK 8 NUTRITION, EXERCISE AND RECOVERY FROM BMF When people start talking and thinking about nutrition it s really common that they speak either about eating healthily, or eating for fat loss, but nutrition is much more than that. What you eat can have a direct and significant effect on how you perform during exercise and, of course, how you perform in each session is very closely tied to the results that you will ultimately get. On top of that, how you then recover from and adapt to that session can be helped by your nutritional approach. This week I am going to talk about how you should eat prior to a workout in order to get the best results possible, and some tips for optimal recovery. There are two halves to this conversation first we need to work with what we know, physiologically, and then we also need to work with your personal preference and how you personally feel after eating certain things. I ll talk in absolutes first and then move on to the individual stuff. Protein Circling back to the week on protein, I mentioned that consuming it prior to working out is a really important step to take in order to minimise muscle loss and/or maximise muscle growth by slowing down muscle protein breakdown and maximising muscle protein synthesis (even if your wanting to lose weight this is still REALLY important). The first thing, therefore, that you should focus on is a good protein source prior to when you train, eating around 25-30g as a good baseline amount, or as a minimum. As with all main meals I want you to be eating a good chunk of protein, as this is the foundation of good performance, recovery, and body composition. And to fuel training it is good practice to have a meal 1-4 hours prior to working out. When you exercise, blood is taken away from your digestive system for use in carrying nutrients to the working muscles in fact, digestion all but stops if you are hitting an intense session, meaning that consuming a wholefood meal too close to a session will result in it not being digested. This means you won t get the benefits which you wanted, and so a rapidly digesting liquid protein source such as a whey protein shake is far more effective. So if you are eating a few hours before training that s fine, continue to eat whole food meals with a good protein source in, if you are eating close to training it would be a good idea to take a liquid protein source, such as whey protein, 3

having this with a piece of fruit is perfect before a workout when pinched for time. Grab high quality, tasty whey protein here: http://store.awesomesupplements.co.

4 having this with a piece of fruit is perfect before a workout when pinched for time. Grab high quality, tasty whey protein here: #ref=52 A great thing to have in the cupboard for convenient, on the go protein. Fibre In much the same way as your protein source, the amount of fibre you have in your pre workout meal is going to be determined by how far out it is from your workout. If you re eating a while before training, say 90 minutes or more, then it doesn t matter all that much and the usual general recommendation of have some vegetables when you eat a meal stands. Fibre is very good for you and should be contained in most if not all meals which you eat. It s good for you. The exception to this is a pre workout meal which is relatively close to a workout. Fibre takes a long time to digest, and the last thing you want when performing HIIT hill climbers or BMF style burpees is a bloated stomach which is full of broccoli. Common sense should prevail here, and by using trial and error for a few days you should be able to work out how much fibre you can comfortably tolerate before exercise. Again opting for something low in fibre like a whey protein shake and a piece of fruit close before a workout would be a sensible option, or some yogurt and fruit, or a snack bar (just be wary of how dense the calories can be in some snack bars compared to the food volume you get, many snack bars might as well be called biscuits with how much sugar and junk they put in them). Carbohydrates And that leads us to carbohydrates. As I discussed briefly in week 4 on Macronutrients, carbohydrates are the primary fuel substrate for any intense training that you do meaning that forgoing carbs while looking to maximise performance (and therefore results) is a bad idea. I ll brush over how fuelling exercise works and thus why we need carbohydrates, then give my recommendations. 4

But it runs out quickly, usually in 8-10 seconds, and your body is constantly working through various systems to replace it again.

5 Within your muscle cells you have tiny molecules which act as energy units called ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate). When you want to do anything, it is ATP which provides your muscles with the energy needed to contract, moving your limbs. But it runs out quickly, usually in 8-10 seconds, and your body is constantly working through various systems to replace it again. One reason when we weight train, or do HIIT or interval based training, we have a quick rest, this allows us time to resynthesize some ATP to go again, otherwise we literally wouldn t move, and we ve all been there with interval training and needing a rest before we go again! By far the most effective method of replacing this energy is through carbohydrate metabolism, the process your body uses in order to make completely new ATP molecules out of the carbohydrates that you eat. We only actually store enough ATP for a few seconds of work at any one time so, as you can tell, this process needs to happen pretty quickly. Further to that, it s a good idea to have some carbohydrates pre workout. Choose something which sits easily on your stomach (and is, typically, lower in fibre). White rice is a really common option for whole food meals, or a wrap with some protein in it. Some fruit or a smoothie with whey protein are great ideas, too. In the same vein as protein, the closer to the workout you leave it, the more easily digestible it needs to be, and considering a liquid carb source like whey protein and fruit will do a good job, something as simple as an apple or banana, but if your eating 2+ hours before your workout, then just have a good mixed whole food meal. The total amount of carbohydrates you end up having throughout the whole day, and then in this pre workout meal, is going to be dependent on your calorie needs, of course, but having quite a bit of carbohydrates daily as a general rule is a very good thing for people who exercise. Why, cause it fuels exercise. And remember, carbs don t make us fat, eating too much does. So let s not demonise carbs, they are our friend, and they taste good! Carbohydrate metabolism can occur with or without oxygen, but whichever form happens the result is more ATP for use. Without carbohydrate, it s very difficult for your body to replace ATP (It can do so using fats, assuming oxygen is present, but this process is far slower so it isn t much use for exercise that takes place in short intense bursts), meaning that you run out of cellular energy, you get tired and get heavy legs, and you have to stop. Your pooped, you need a rest. As you can see, carbohydrates are going to be pretty vital if you re wanting to train with intensity (which you should) and this means that we need to make sure you include a good amount of carbohydrates within your diet. I ve already said in a previous week that I don t recommend that anyone has less than 100g of carbs per day in their diet, but this is a minimum recommendation, not an optimal one. Generally speaking, once you start to become a little fitter and more used to exercise, it s a pretty good rule of thumb to look to increase the proportion of carbohydrate in your diet a little. The individual Stuff So, to sum up the previous section, I would recommend that you consume protein within 1-4 hours before training in order to reduce muscle protein breakdown (ideally 1-3 hours, 4 hours and you might find your running low on beans to perform optimally), you keep fibre relatively low pre workout so you re not bloated if eating 1 hour prior to exercise, and you have a good amount of carbs in your diet to fuel intense activity, some of which come in before you train. Once this is all in place we can look to individualise your approach to make things as close to optimal as we can. 5

You can have more if you like, but this is a good figure to start with. That amounts to a small serving of rice, noodles, pasta or oats, a large banana, a single wrap or the bread in a sandwich.

6 The two variables you can play around with are the timing of your pre workout meal, and the amount of carbs you have in it. To keep things simple for now, though, we are going to go with the recommendation of having at least 30-40g carbs pre workout per hour of training that you re planning to do. You can have more if you like, but this is a good figure to start with. That amounts to a small serving of rice, noodles, pasta or oats, a large banana, a single wrap or the bread in a sandwich. As for timing, just like when we tested different breakfast options in week 3, a great move is to test out different options and record how you feel. Start off by having a pretty large meal 2 hours before training and see how you feel during your session. Are you energised? Hungry? Do you feel drained or shaky when you finish? Do you feel bloated or sick? Then try a moderate sized snack one hour out, such as a banana and nut butter in a wrap with a protein shake on the side, then try just having a whey protein shake 30 minutes out with a handful of raisins or a small apple. Play around with different variables (high carb or low carb, liquid or solid, short or a long time beforehand and everything in between) and always track or make note of whatever data you can. After a while you ll find the pre workout meal timing, size and form which makes you feel awesome, and you should stick to this as often as you can. Cause I want you to feel AWESOME when you exercise, it means you will get more out of your session and get better results. Please don t think that eating as little as possible before you exercise is a good thing, it s proven that the better you fuel your exercise the more calories you actually burn when you exercise. Remember that TV program called Food: Truth or Scare on BBC One a while back, one of the experiments they did was to give female football players a banana at half time, this banana caused them to burn 40% more calories during their game. A banana is only around 100 calories, so just by having a banana during half time they burnt the banana off, then burnt more calories again. Why? Cause they kept their fuel stores topped up which gave their muscles more raw fuel, and could work harder, causing them to burn more calories. The lesson here, food fuels exercise, don t think eating as little as possible around exercise is a good thing, being adequately fuelled allows you to burn more when you exercise. Keep in mind, though, that when you do find the right timing and a good meal pre exercise, that this meal is only optimal because it makes you feel good and not because it has any kind of inherent benefit over and above any other option. There isn t a magic food that you have eaten, its just down to timing and the ratios. It s important for me to mention because it s pretty common for people to get too hung up on finding the perfect pre workout meal in an attempt to cheat biology and get better results than they otherwise would. Let s nail timing, let s nail size, and then the ROUGH ratios that work for you. By improving your pre workout meal you should notice that your training sessions start to be of higher intensity and generally a better quality. You may sweat more, if performing resistance training you ll get a better pump and feel more energised towards the end of the session, and overall you ll feel better while doing your thing. Post workout: As for after your workout, this is a little simpler as it s less about fuelling, the damage has been done and it s now time to recover. The most important thing for recovery is protein, so ensure that when you eat after training you have protein. Again this can be just a normal whole foods meal, but if you are short on time, or need something conveniently before you get home later and eat properly, whey protein can again be used here with some fruit to tie you over till later. As I ve said, whey protein can serve many purposes, pre and post workout if short on time or need something convenient to have, can be used to add protein content to smoothies, porridge and baking, and is generally good as a snack or breakfast on the move. It s by no means essential, but beneficial to have a tub in the cupboard. 6

Grab a tub at http:// store.awesomesupplements.co.uk/#ref=52 if you think it would be beneficial for you, your lifestyle, and your training.

7 Grab a tub at store.awesomesupplements.co.uk/#ref=52 if you think it would be beneficial for you, your lifestyle, and your training. Back to the post workout meal, again its very similar to pre workout, and I don t want you to overthink it or get hung up on it being too special. We need protein, then we need nutrition (fruit and vegetables which should be eaten at all meals), after that it would be good to have a combination of carbs and fats that make you feel good. Unless you exercise twice per day, or train with very high intensity, you don t need carbs straight away in your post workout meal, it CAN wait till later in the day (doesn t mean it should), or the next day, it really is up to you. The body will resynthesize carbohydrates into your muscle tissue whenever it gets it, so it doesn t have to be immediately. But a meal similar to pre workout will work well, a good balance of protein, carbs and fat, will really do a great job. Recovery tips: When it comes to performance, recovery is the key variable. It your body recovers to the best of its ability it has the chance to perform to its best, so while the main tip I have for performance enhancement might be a few choice supplements from store.awesomesupplements.co.uk/#ref=52 like Performance Blend, a form of caffeine like Caffeine Tabs or coffee, possibly Awesome Pre- Workout (highly beneficial ingredients for training like BMF due to its high intensity nature), and some electrolytes, performance all comes from optimal recovery, having good flexibility and solid movement, and being well slept. But in saying that, on top of my dietary advice so far, what other tips do I have for optimal recovery: Get enough sleep, ideally 7-8 hours per night. Keep on top of your flexibility regime so your body, muscles and mind always feel ready to perform. Make sure you are eating enough, under eating is the #1 cause of poor recovery. Don t exercise too much, put too much stress on your body and it simply won t have enough time to recover before the next bout. This will depend on your fitness levels, the fitter you are and the more you provide your body the more efficient you will be at recovering. Ensure you are well hydrated. Balance working out with plenty of working in, like walking, stretching, meditation, yoga, and other more restorative practice. To improve muscular flexibility, ensure minimal muscle soreness from exercise and improve sleep, you can try Recovery Spray: store.awesomesupplements.co.uk/#ref=52 And that s it, eat well, eat consistently, be aware of your body and its needs, recovery well, and you ll be performing to your best at BMF in no time. 7

8 S u m m a r y: Star t to l i sten, exp eri m en t, an d ad ju st to f i n d th e ri g h t vari ab l es f o r yo u, b u t d o n t over th i n k i t to th e p o in t wh ere yo u are lo o kin g f o r th at p er fect p re o r p o st wo rko u t meal. Wo rk o n th e timin g, th e size, an d th e ratio s, an d tr y n ail a ro u g h set u p th at is g o o d fo r yo u, an d alo n g sid e h ittin g yo u r req u i red d ai l y en erg y req u i rem en ts f o r yo u r g o al s, yo u r o n to a wi n n er. I lo o k f o r ward to week 9 wh ere we ll talk ab o u t f lexib le d ietin g. Ben Coomber BMF Nu t r i t i o n i st 8

9 in partnership with BENCOOMBER 9

FUEL UP OR FALL DOWN: PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT WITH YOUR DIET.

FUEL UP OR FALL DOWN: PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT WITH YOUR DIET. At the end of last year, a handful of instructors and students attended a fantastic nutritional seminar and training session at The Strength Lab, led by CrossFit instructor and gym owner Huw Davis. Huw