|
As an athlete you eat and drink to fuel and hydrate your body. What you consume and when you consume it in relation to training or competition is critically important to your athletic performance. Yet, as important as sports nutrition is, navigating the what, when and how can be daunting. That’s why POWERBAR® has developed the POWERBAR® Performance System– a unique 3-step system designed to help athletes develop their personal nutritional regimen.
When it comes to sports nutrition, endurance exercise has three phases: before, during and after exercise. To be your best you need to address the nutrition and hydration requirements of each exercise phase.1,2 The 3-step POWERBAR® Performance System coincides with the three phases of exercise:
POWERBAR® Performance System Product: POWERBAR® Performance
Before you begin any training session or competition, you need to be fully fueled. You also need to be hydrated. When both these needs are met, your muscles are energized and ready to work.
Most athletes feel best with a pre-workout meal somewhere between 2-4 hours before training begins. The idea is to replenish muscle fuel stores without overtaxing your digestive system. High carb foods with some protein mixed in work best. Steer clear of fatty foods or those packed full of fiber because they are slower to digest.
About an hour before you start your exercise, top off fuel supplies by eating a carb-rich snack. POWERBAR® Performance bars are ideal for this purpose. Hence, they carry the designator, STEP 1: ENERGIZE. The bars are also an effective option on those days when training starts very early in the morning and eating a pre-workout meal just isn’t realistic.
To ensure that you’re fully hydrated but have time to eliminate the fluid you don’t need, drink about 16 fluid ounces of water, sports drink, or similar beverage about 4 hours before a training session or competition if this is practical. If you are well hydrated this should lead to urine production. If it doesn’t, or the urine that is produced is dark in color, you can drink more fluids (about 12 fluid ounces) about 2 hours before the event. This will allow sufficient time for urine to be eliminated before starting the event.2
POWERBAR® Performance System Product: POWERBAR® Gel and POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink Being deliberate about refueling and maintaining hydration during training or a competition will allow you to perform longer and at a higher intensity. Even well trained athletes have only a very limited supply of muscle and liver glycogen fuel available, so consuming easily-digested carbs during exercise can help spare your glycogen reserves. Also, unreplaced fluid losses from sweating can impair your ability to perform physically and put your health at risk.
POWERBAR® Endurance sport drink and POWERBAR® Gel carry the STEP 2: REFUEL designator, meaning they are ideal products to consume during exercise. POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink offers fluids blended with an optimal concentration of carbs and electrolytes to refuel and rehydrate. POWERBAR® Gel comes in tasty flavors with or without caffeine and give you that extra energy boost when you need it most.
POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink, POWERBAR® Gel and POWERBAR® Performance bars all feature POWERBAR®’s own C2MAX, a research-proven blend of glucose and fructose that speeds the delivery of energy to working muscles.
POWERBAR® Performance System Product: POWERBAR® Recovery bar, POWERBAR® Recovery shake and POWERBAR® Recovery sports drink
The goal after exercise is to speed the recovery process by replenishing depleted glycogen stores, repairing and building muscle tissue and replacing lost fluids. A strategy for rapid recovery is especially important if you have a second training session or competitive event in the same day.
For optimal recovery, consuming carbohydrates as soon as possible after exercise is recommended to speed the process of replenishing muscle glycogen stores. Adding some protein will provide amino acids to help repair and build new muscle tissue.1
POWERBAR® Recovery bar, POWERBAR® Recovery shake and POWERBAR® Recovery sports drink carry the designator, STEP 3: REBUILD. The compact and easily transportable POWERBAR® Recovery bar contains 12g of protein and 30g of carbs per bar. And the POWERBAR® Recovery Shake takes the guesswork out of recovery, and best of all, it’s ready to drink just as soon as you are. Drink one right after training or competing and get started on the road to rapid recovery.
System Not Set in Stone
Although each POWERBAR® sports nutrition product has a system designator to indicate its primary usage timing in relation to training or competition, this is intended as a guide. It’s not a system set in stone and you will likely find other usage occasions for the products. For example, on long bike rides or races and during the biking phase of long triathlon competitions, many athletes want something easily-digested, yet solid, to eat. POWERBAR® Performance bars fit the bill and are commonly consumed in these settings. And just like with the POWERBAR® Performance bars, POWERBAR® Gels can serve as an excellent pre-exercise carb snack or as a source of carbs for glycogen resynthesis after exercise. Also, while POWERBAR® Endurance sports drink is the go-to fluid during exercise, it can also be used to hydrate before and rehydrate after exercise. The bottom line is that the three-step designators are designed to serve as guides and there are other appropriate uses for POWERBAR® sports nutrition products as shown below:
References
- American College of Sports Medicine, et al. Joint position statement. Nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2000;32:2130-2145.
- American College of Sports Medicine; Sawka MN, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007;39:377-390.
back to main | top |