Top 10 Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make

BY : BRIAN FRANK, with help from STEVE BORN

This is where it all started. Over 30 years ago, I wrote this, inspired by David Letterman’s “Top 10”. This content was later re-purposed and expanded in the huge Guide to Success, then simplified and condensed in 5 Secrets to Success. So, take a stroll down memory lane and see how many of these you’ve experienced in the past. However, we don’t just tell you what can go wrong; each of the ten topics also provides the appropriate corrective action. Follow our “Less is Best” protocols and you’ll be able to Fuel Right and Feel Great, no matter what you do.

Mistake #1: Excess Hydration

When it comes to hydration, you can neither overload nor undersupply your body without compromising athletic performance and causing detrimental results. If you don’t drink enough, you’ll suffer from unpleasant, performance-ruining dehydration. Drink too much, however, and you’ll not only impair performance, but you may also be flirting with potentially life-threatening water intoxication.

RECOMMENDATION: A fluid intake of 475–770 mlper hour.

Depending on conditions and body weight, 473–532 ml per hour may be quite acceptable. A larger athlete in hot temperatures might need up to 830 ml per hour. Our position, however, is that the risk of dilutional hyponatraemia increases substantially when an athlete repeatedly consumes more than 880 ml per hour.

Mistake #2: Simple Sugar Consumption

Fructose, sucrose, glucose and other simple sugars (mono- and disaccharides) are poor carbohydrate sources for fuelling your body during exercise. Simple sugar-based drinks or gels have to be mixed and consumed at very dilute, calorically weak concentrations to be digested with any efficiency. A simple sugar-based product used at an acceptable concentration cannot provide enough calories to sustain energy production, and the energy it does supply is very short-lived and fluctuates wildly. Any way you look at it, fuels containing simple sugars are inefficient and therefore not recommended during prolonged exercise.

RECOMMENDATION: Complex carbohydrates instead of simple sugars.

To get the proper amount of easily digested calories, rely on fuels that use complex carbohydrates (maltodextrin only, with no added simple sugar) as their carbohydrate source. Hammer Gel and HEED are ideal for workouts and races up to three hours, and sometimes slightly longer under certain circumstances. For longer workouts and races, select Perpetuem or Sustained Energy as your primary fuel choice.

Mistake #3: Improper Amounts of Calories

Athletes who try to replace “calories out” with an equal or near-equal amount of “calories in” will suffer unpleasant digestive problems, with the inevitable poorer-than-expected outcome, and possibly the dreaded DNF (“Did Not Finish”). Body fat and glycogen stores easily fill the gap between energy output and fuel intake, so it is unnecessary overkill to attempt calorie-for-calorie replacement.

RECOMMENDATION: 120–180 calories per hour is typically sufficient for most athletes. A good starting point is 1 calorie per pound of body weight, adjusting slightly if needed.

Lighter athletes may need even less than 120 calories per hour, while heavier athletes over 86kg may need slightly more on occasion, the key word being “may”.

Mistake #4: Inconsistent Electrolyte Supplementation

Consistent electrolyte supplementation is just as important as calories and fluids during exercise. Just as your car’s engine requires sufficient oil to keep its many parts running smoothly, your body requires electrolytic minerals to maintain optimal performance in many important functions, such as smooth and efficient muscle contraction. Athletes who neglect this important component of fuelling will impair their performance and will usually suffer painful, debilitating cramping and spasms, a sure way to ruin a workout or race.

RECOMMENDATION: Replenish electrolytes with impeccably balanced, highly effective Endurolytes products.

Endurolytes, Endurolytes Extreme, Endurolytes Extreme Powder and Endurolytes Fizz are inexpensive, easy-to-dose and easy-to-consume ways to meet your electrolyte mineral needs with balance and precision. Use one of the Endurolytes products consistently during workouts and races to fulfil this crucial fuelling need.

Mistake #5: No Protein During Prolonged Exercise

When exercise extends beyond about two hours, your body begins to use some protein to fulfil its energy requirements, as it starts deriving glucose from amino acids. This metabolic process helps satisfy 5–15% of your energy needs. If you fail to include protein in your fuel, your body has only one other choice: your muscle. Called “muscle cannibalisation”, this process devastates performance through muscle deterioration and increased fatigue-causing ammonia accumulation, and it also negatively affects the immune system and recovery.

RECOMMENDATION: Fuel with one of Hammer Nutrition’s healthy, gluten-free complex carbohydrate + protein fuels for longer training sessions and races.

Using Perpetuem as your primary fuel during workouts and races lasting longer than two to three hours will satisfy energy requirements through a precise ratio of complex carbohydrates and soy protein, the latter of which helps protect against excess muscle breakdown. You stay healthier, reduce soreness and decrease recovery time.

Note: Whey protein is not recommended for use during exercise due to its possible contribution to muscle fatigue during initial digestion.

Mistake #6: Too Much Solid Food During Exercise

Solid food, for the most part, cannot match the precision or nutrient density of the best liquid fuels. In addition, too much solid food diverts blood from working muscles to support digestion. This, along with the digestive enzymes, fluids and time required to break down the components of solid food, can cause bloating, nausea and/or lethargy.

RECOMMENDATION: Use solid foods very sparingly, treating them more as a luxury than a necessity, and rely on Hammer Nutrition’s liquid fuels for rapid, sustained energy and easy digestion.

Use Hammer Gel, HEED, or Perpetuem as your primary fuel source during exercise. These provide precise amounts of specific nutrients and are designed for easy digestion, rapid nutrient utilisation and less chance of stomach distress. If solid food is desired during longer workouts or races, use Perpetuem Solids or Hammer Bars.

Mistake #7: Using Something New in a Race Without Having Tested It in Training

The title is pretty self-explanatory; it is one of the cardinal rules for all athletes, yet you’d be amazed at how many still break it. Are you guilty as well? Unless you’re desperate and willing to accept the consequences, do not try anything new in competition, whether equipment, fuel or tactics. These all must be tested and refined in training.

RECOMMENDATION: Train with Hammer Nutrition fuels well in advance of your event.

Because all Hammer Nutrition fuels are complementary — they all work well alone or in combination — you have all the flexibility you need to tailor a fuelling programme for any length of race, regardless of the conditions. You’ll never have to guess or grab something from an aid station table in the hope of keeping going for another hour.

Mistake #8: Sticking With Your Game Plan Even When It’s Not Working

Endurance athletes tend to be strong-willed and uncompromising. Most strive to have a “game plan” in place for their training, and smart athletes also have a strategy for their supplements and fuelling. However, what works in terms of fuelling — your hourly intake of fluids, calories and electrolytes — during training at a slower pace and lower overall energy output may not be ideal during competition. Athletes who stubbornly maintain the same fuel intake hour after hour, even when it is clearly not working, end up with poorer results, if they finish at all.

RECOMMENDATION: Have a race-day game plan, but be flexible and listen to your body’s needs.

It is good practice to have a game plan that includes a fuelling protocol refined during training, but you need to stay flexible. Evaluate and adjust accordingly as race pace and weather dictate. Have a game plan, but “write it in pencil, not in ink”.

Mistake #9: Inadequate Post-Workout Nutrition

Performance improvement depends on a programme of exercise that stimulates muscular and cardiovascular adaptation, followed by a recovery period in which the body rebuilds itself slightly fitter than before. Thus, the real gain from exercise occurs during recovery, but only in the presence of adequate rest and nutritional support. Athletes who fail to replenish carbohydrates and protein shortly after workouts will never obtain full value from their efforts.

RECOMMENDATION: As soon as possible after exercise — no more than 30 minutes after finishing your workout or race — kick-start the recovery process with a serving of Recoverite.

Depending on several factors, such as body size and the length/intensity of the workout, consume 30–90 grams of complex carbohydrates and 10–30 grams of protein (a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein) immediately after workouts. This is easily accomplished with Recoverite , the all-in-one, complex carbohydrate/glutamine-fortified whey protein isolate recovery drinks. Recommended supplements for providing cell-protecting antioxidant support and enhanced recovery are Premium Insurance Caps, Race Caps Supreme, Mito Caps, and Xobaline.

Mistake #10: Improper Pre-Workout/Race Fuelling

Far too often, athletes put themselves at a “metabolic disadvantage” during a workout or race by fuelling improperly beforehand:

Overconsuming food the night before a race or workout in the hope of “carbo loading” – It would be nice if you could maximise muscle glycogen stores the night before a race or tough workout; unfortunately, human physiology doesn’t work that way. Increasing and maximising muscle glycogen stores takes many weeks of consistent training and post-workout fuel replenishment. Carbohydrates consumed in excess the night before will only be eliminated or stored as body fat (dead weight).

Overconsuming calories in your pre-workout/race meal – The goal of pre-exercise calorie consumption is to top up your liver glycogen, which has been slightly depleted during sleep. You cannot add anything to muscle glycogen stores at this time, so stuffing yourself is counterproductive, especially if you have an early morning workout or race start.

Eating a pre-race meal at the wrong time – As a result of hard training and replenishing your body with the necessary nutrients immediately after exercise, you have now built up a nice 60–90-minute reservoir of muscle glycogen, the first fuel your body will use when the race begins. A sure way to deplete those hard-earned glycogen stores far too quickly is to eat a meal — or an energy bar, gel or sports drink — sooner than three hours before the start of the race.

RECOMMENDATION: Don’t go overboard with your food consumption the night before a workout or race. Adhere to these two simple rules:

• Eat clean, which means high-quality carbs, protein and fat. No refined sugar (skip dessert or eat fruit), and no alcohol.
• Eat until you are satisfied, but no more.

If you are going to have a meal on the morning of your race, eat an appropriate amount (200–400 calories) and finish all calorie consumption at least three hours before the start of the race. If that is not logistically feasible, have a small amount of easily digested complex fuel (for example, a serving of Hammer Gel or a swig from your Perpetuem bottle) 5–10 minutes before the start. Either of these strategies will help top up liver glycogen stores without negatively affecting how your body burns its muscle glycogen.