Dario Ruiz

MACRO CHEAT SHEET

The first of our Athlete Infographic Monday (AIM) Cheat Sheets!

Don't worry, we will have plenty more for you later in the year.

Here's your shopping list for next week. Make sure to save the post for future reference and tag a buddy to help them with their meal prep!

EAT THE RAINBOW

Do you consume enough colourful food?

We all know we should be eating around 5 fruits/ vegetables per day

Not only are they packed with vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, but they are easy to store and consume on the go as well as taste great

We've outlined x7 main food colours, highlighting some of their main health benefits and example foods that you can add to your next shopping list

That's one colour and one health goal for you to tick off every day this week!

Forget the copious amounts of pills and potions sitting in the cupboard

Fuel your body with some natural nutrients

Start your Monday off right and aim to eat at least one of these foods each day throughout the next week

MAXIMISING MACROS

- PROTEIN: As we all know by now, protein is used to build body tissues such as skin, bone, hair, muscle and internal organs
It is ingested and broken down into amino acids, which are used as precursors for nucleic acids, co-enzymes and hormones
9 essential amino acids (EAAs) exist, which humans cannot produce themselves, therefore, they must be obtained from the diet and foods we eat
Animal sources contain the full range of EAAs, with vegans and vegetarians able to obtain all the required AAs by combining plant protein sources e.g. cereal and pulses

- CARBOHYDRATE: Carbohydrate can come from nutritional sources such as (simple) sugars and (complex) starches, found in fruits, grains and vegetables
Carbohydrates are primary sources for glycogen and glucose in the body, which are used as fuel sources and stored within liver and muscle (glycogen)
Glycogen depletion is a main contributor to fatigue during exercise, especially during long duration activity

- FAT: Fat is the most dense macronutrient, serving as a fuel source, structural component of cells and carrier of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K)
Fat is stored within adipose tissue as a fuel reserve for long duration aerobic activity
It can be categorised into mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated and saturated fats, with the former two ideally comprising the main bulk of one's fat consumption to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and decrease low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels to support cardiovascular function and health
Are you currently maximising your micronutrients?

THE NUTRITION PYRAMID

Laying solid foundations and mastering the basics is a key part of your performance and recovery. This is no different for your nutrition.

ADHERENCE: At the most fundamental level, ensuring you have the correct support and guidance to achieve sustainable habits, behaviours and even accountability directed towards your goals is key

Without setting realistic expectations, the rest of the pyramid is meaningless

ENERGY BALANCE: Does your calorie intake and energy expenditure each day accurately reflect your goals? E.g. for (healthy) weight gain (hypertrophy) of lean body mass and new muscle tissue i.e. eating in a calorific surplus?

"What gets measured, gets managed" Are you tracking key aspects of your nutrition (Total daily calorie intake)?

MACROS & MICROS: The next level to this. Are you ensuring each component of your calorie intake is optimised for your (1) performance and (2) recovery?

When it comes to protein, we all know we should be consuming 1.6-20.g/kg/day... but the real question is, are you hitting this CONSISTENTLY, day after day, week after week, month after month?

NUTRIENT TIMING: Once you've ticked off the previous boxes, we can focus on further strategies for fuelling around training and performing, like timing of simple carbohydrates after training, or complex carbohydrate meals prior to training.

SUPPLEMENTATION: This is the tip of the iceberg, and by no means that most important. Supplementation is about "supplementing" everything else i.e. "The Basics" or bedrocks of your nutrition. Supplements help to "fill the gaps" left over and assist you with that final 5% (once everything else is locked in). Too many people start here on their nutrition, without ticking off the most fundamental, basic, yet important pieces first.

RECOVERY FUEL

What are your main aims when it comes to refueling after training and competing?

Steal these 4 R's of Refuelling Recovery

- REPAIR: Repair damaged muscle tissue to enable growth and development

Consume a range of plant and animal based foods high in protein/ amino acids (e.g. high leucine content foods)

A minimum target for competitive athletes and those engaging in high-intensity resistance training should be 2g/kg/day

It's time to start track. If you're not assessing, you're just guessing

- REPLENISH: Refill depleted glycogen stores in muscle and liver, particularly after long-duration of high-intensity activities

Opportunistically utilise simple and complex carbohydrates, each having their own benefits for energy release. N.B. This is context dependent i.e. before, during or after training. Carbohydrate quantities also depend on the type, intensity, frequency and duration of training.

- REPLACE: Replace fluid lost through sweat and breathing. Main goal here is to avoid dehydration which negatively impacts performance, often cited as a decrease in bodymass

RECOVER LIKE A PRO

If you liked our previous "Recovery Pyramid" post on mastering the basics and forgetting the fluff, we think this one will resonate with you too

We break recovery down into four main aspects:

- PHYSIOLOGICAL: Tissue recovery and regeneration

- SUBSTRATE: Replenishment of fuel sources

- NEUROMUSCULAR: Reduction of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and the perception of pain

- PSYCHOLOGICAL: Changes in stress, energy and mood levels

This is adapted from Bird (2011) and Jeffreys (2005)

To address each of these, we need:

- PHYSIOLOGICAL: Time and nutrients for tissue repair and growth

- SUBSTRATE: Calorific, macronutrient and micronutrient intake to replenish and restore fluid, glycogen and amino acids

- NEUROMUSCULAR: Mixture of active and passive recovery modalities

- PSYCHOLOGICAL: Better management, balancing and distribution of high-stress related activities and scenarios within the week

Three simple statements that wrap this up nicely:

- Sleep like a baby

- Eat like an adult

- All stress fills the same cup

Do you master recovery like a pro?

Source: Jeffreys (2005) A multi-dimensional approach to enhancing recovery