JERI CHUA

Ever felt tired or sluggish the day after a hard training session? Legs feel empty, like there’s nothing left in them? You’re putting in all the training, but are you recovering well? Recovery is an essential part of the process.

The foundation of recovery for sports performance is a good night's sleep and three well-balanced meals a day. But intense workouts place additional strain on your body, and especially the specific muscle groups that have been involved in that hard workout.

You should always aim to eat a good, balanced meal within two hours of your hard session (or any workout that deserves to be called a workout, really). For high training volume athletes with five or more workouts a week, the key to rapid recovery is consuming a post-workout snack or drink within 30 minutes of finishing an exercise session. If you travel to your training venue, bring something with you. There are no excuses for not being prepared. You remembered to pack your training kit and shoes, recovery should be an extension of your training session, not an afterthought.

The 30-minute post-workout ‘Window of Opportunity’ is when your body will most efficiently absorb the nutrients you're feeding it. Your recovery drink should include 30-60g of carbohydrates, 10-20g of protein (protein is vital to repairing and rebuilding damaged muscles, which is the reason you may be sore the next day), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, plus enough fluid to replace what you have sweated out and more. To put it simply – get some more carbs in, with a little bit of protein and electrolytes. Consume more after a heavy or long workout, and less after a short workout.

Recovery supplements aim to:

1) Replenish glycogen stores – Glycogen is the stored energy in your muscles that is used during exercise. Ideally, your recovery supplement will be comprised of simple sugars that are easy to digest and go straight to your bloodstream to take advantage of your body’s ability to efficiently replenish glycogen stores within 30-60 minutes after exercise. Be wary of products that incorporate maltodextrin or starches, complex chains of sugar that are difficult for your body to digest. If you’re an endurance athlete, you’ll find that feeding your muscles (with simple carbs) after a long session will ensure that your glycogen stores are replenished, allowing for a great workout the next day.

2) Rebuild muscles – Training breaks down muscle fibres and recovery periods allow them to rebuild and strengthen, ready for the next training onslaught. Your recovery supplement should incorporate a complete protein, to rebuild damaged muscle tissue and mitochondrial protein. Complete proteins are the only kind of protein that actually rebuild your muscles after exercise. A complete protein is one that contains all nine essential amino acids (Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, And Valine). You’d have to consume a much larger quantity of other protein-based products to get the same results as a complete protein.

But here’s an important note: high-protein recovery drinks are wasted if consumed in the Window of Opportunity. Your muscles are hungry. They will not discriminate between calories from carbs or protein. So your expensive protein shake will essentially be used to feed your muscles in the same way carbs would. Save the high-protein supplements for later.

3) Rehydrate and restore electrolytes – Electrolytes are minerals that have a vital in conducting nervous impulses, contracting muscles, keeping you hydrated and other processes that you’re your body functioning normally. You need to replace your body's levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium to restore electrolyte balance and replace what you've sweated out during your exercise.

There are easy recovery fixes you can pick up at the supermarket or make on your own, but at Red Dot Running Company, we’ve got some of the best options available, designed to aid optimal recovery. Try to choose:

1) products that meet the above requirements (and that's nearly everything we carry),
2) products that taste good to you and that you will therefore be happy to consume, and
3) products that are most cost-effective and fit within your budget, if you have one.

Some things to look at: Tailwind Rebuild (just add water, ask Maggie Guterl), Unived Elite Recovery Mix (Camille Herron’s choice), Veloforte energy bars (Forza has egg-white protein), and BIX Recovery Supplement (Vlad Ixel’s answer). There is detailed information (including all nutrition details) on our website for all these products, but what I recommend most is trying a few of them out. The Tailwind comes in small serving size to let you try it, but can be bought in larger, more cost-effective bags if you decide it's for you.

You should try different things to see what works for you, and of course feel free to  contact us at the shop any time (online, at the moment!) to ask more questions!

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The other day I saw an article headlined "Yes, You Can Make Your Own Electrolyte Drinks (and Gels!)". My first thought was, "Yes, you CAN, but why would you?"

The writer noted that making your own sports drinks (the recipes were for fruit juice-based drinks) and gels (mostly mashed up fruit and added sugar or honey) is "easy" and can save you some money. Saving money on fruit is a lot easier in California than it is in Singapore, but my main issue with the article was that the companies making sports nutrition products have spent tens of millions of dollars on research, figuring out the best way to help you perform at your best over several hours (or far longer).

As a trained nutritionist and ultrarunner I know from personal experience 1) how important it is to keep your tank full of fuel, and 2) how difficult it can be to get your digestive system to accept fuel while you're pushing your body hard, in a race or training.

What do I mean when I say "fuel"? Well, your body requires three things: 1) water, 2), electrolytes and 3) calories. Even if you're only sitting on the couch all day, your body requires those three things. If you're out doing sport, especially in Singapore heat, you require more of each.

Firstly, how much water do you need to consume every day? Water is the main component of blood, it cushions the spinal cord and brain, and it regulates body temperature. Maintaining fluid balance within your body is the single most important factor in sustaining a high level of athletic performance. You should aim to consume 1.5-2 litres of water daily.

Secondly, what are electrolytes? Electrolytes are chemicals that conduct electricity when mixed with water. The electrolytes in human bodies include: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, chloride and phosphate. They regulate nerve and muscle function, hydrate the body, balance blood acidity and pressure, and help rebuild damaged tissue. The symptoms of electrolyte imbalance can include twitching, weakness and, if unchecked, seizures and heart rhythm disturbances. Obviously, then, you need electrolytes!

Finally, calories. Exercising muscles rely on carbohydrates as their main source of fuel. In the body, all carbohydrate is eventually converted to blood glucose, or stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen, and any excess carbohydrate is stored as fat. The level of glycogen in your muscles before you start exercise is the most important fuel determinant of performance.

Can't your body rely on its stores of fat rather than replacement sports nutrition? Yes, and no. Your body has plenty of fat it can turn into energy, but fat is hard to burn. A typical athlete weighing 80 kilogrammes has body fat stores of 75,000 calories, enough to run 250 kilometres; at the same time, he has just 1800 calories of muscle glycogen, enough to run just 32 kilometres. So if you are trying to perform at a high level, you need to refuel faster than your body can tap into its reserves of energy stored in fat.

A final nutrition requirement is protein. Proteins are the body's building blocks, essential to building (and repairing) muscles. Inadequate protein intake can lead to over-training syndrome, overuse injuries, slow recovery, and a depressed immune system (leading to illness).

So, yes, you can try to DIY your sports nutrition, but if you do, I suggest you start reading up on the subject! A whole lot of research has gone into the development of products that allow athletes to perform at their peak, for hours on end, without stomach upset.

At Red Dot Running Company we're always happy to talk to customers about sports nutrition, and I frequently give talks on the subject, and am asked to consult in detail with customers who are undertaking tough multi-day events (such as the Marathon de Sables ultramarathon or the Race Across America (RAAM), "the world's toughest bicycle race”.

In the shop we carry sports nutrition products from Tailwind, Veloforte, Unived, Spring Energy, Muir Energy, Mag-On, Overstim.s and BIX. Contact us to have a chat about what might work best for you!

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Let’s say you’ve decided to run a marathon. You’ve run 5km and 10km events, but a marathon will be a big step up, and you’re not sure what to expect. What will happen when you hit “the wall”? Will you be able to finish?

An important part of preparing to attempt any athletic endeavour, whether it is pursuing an Olympic marathon gold medal or finishing your first 5km road race, is aligning your goals with your resources. Olympians prioritise training and competition over nearly everything else; the rest of us must fit in our training around work, family, friends and other commitments.

And so, as you prepare for your first marathon (or triathlon, or multi-day hike or whatever), it’s important to figure out how important this goal is to you, and what resources you are prepared to devote to your success.

If you aim to complete your first Ironman triathlon, for example, you will need to spend a lot of time on your bike. A lot of time. And obviously training for a marathon will require more time than training for a 5km.

An important factor in allocating your limited time and energy resources is the result you’re looking to achieve. For example, I like to ask aspiring marathon runners, “Are you hoping to complete a marathon? Or compete in one?” The difference in training commitment can be huge.

Most people can complete a marathon without training at all. A person walking briskly can complete a marathon in around 6.5 hours. Walk a bit slower and you can finish in 7-8 hours. The cut-off time to officially finish the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is 7.5 hours.

But if you want to compete, you will want to train. And the training for a five-hour marathon is different to that for a three-hour marathon. To get under three hours, you’ll have to put a lot more work than you will to cross the line in under five hours.

To help you decide how much you want to put into your next athletic goal (and how much time and energy you can realistically commit to that goal), talk to people who have been there – friends, family members and colleagues – or consider hiring a coach. Do your homework, realistically assess the commitment you’re prepared to make, and the rest is simple … follow your plan!

Give or take a degree or two, your core body temperature should be around 37°C. If it climbs (or drops) just a few degrees, you’re in trouble. Exercise in hot conditions triggers a number of bodily reactions – the most important are increased blood flow to the skin (you may have returned home with a red face after a run) and sweating (you’ve certainly returned home sweating!).

Sweating is the fastest and most effective way for your body to rid itself of heat, but sweat must evaporate to have any beneficial effect. In high humidity (found nearly all the time in Singapore) sweat evaporates less easily; the result is that although we runners sweat profusely, our bodies do not cool off as quickly as they would in less humid conditions.

And as you continue to run in hot conditions, with your body producing more and more heat that cannot be dissipated, your internal core temperature can rise. At a certain point – 38-40°C – your body will overheat, sometimes with serious consequences, but at the very least, impairing your performance.

So what’s the best strategy for coping with hot and humid conditions?

• Try to pick the coolest time of day. In Singapore there’s not always a coolest time, but a few degrees can make a big difference.

• Hydrate all the time. Since your body cannot replace the fluid it sweats away during a run quickly enough, you need to be well-hydrated before you go out.

• Carry water, even on runs of only an hour.

• On long runs, choose a course that takes you past a place where you can regularly find water fountains, or buy cold water or a sports drink.

• Wear clothing that “breathes” and pulls the sweat away from your body.

• If you find yourself running slower than you did when you set your PB in Tokyo in February, don’t worry. It’s hot, you’re running slower. So what? At least you’re out there.

• If you get in trouble, stop and walk. Then find water as fast as possible. Then, get home as quickly as possible. There’s no shame in carrying taxi money. Lots of top runners do.