Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Just because you can run fasted doesn’t mean you should.  The ongoing debate "to fast or not to fast" sparks passionate discussions within the running community, with proponents highlighting benefits like improved fat adaptation and weight loss, while opponents raise concerns about performance, health, and weight gain. Pro ultrarunner @kilianjornet has publicly discussed occasional use of fasting before easy, low-intensity runs to understand how his body adapts to running with depleted glycogen (carb) stores. Meanwhile, other elite ultrarunners, like @mountainroche  attribute the “high carb revolution” as the primary catalyst for the increasing rate at which endurance running records are being broken. So, what’s the real story behind fasted running, and is it a strategy worth considering for your training? Check out my full article at HERE.

The line separating fasted workouts from disordered eating can become blurry for athletes. Proponents claim that fasted workouts have several significant health and performance benefits. The main reasons why athletes perform fasted training include: Increasing the rate in which your muscles use fat for fuel  Sparing glycogen stores   Increasing mitochondrial density Fat oxidation refers to the process of breaking down fatty acids. To oxidize fat, you need:  Healthy mitochondria (the powerhouse of cells where chemical energy is generated to power the cell's biochemical reactions).  Fat molecules (specifically triglycerides) to be broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. Fatty acids are then transported to cells and undergo a series of reactions (beta-oxidation) to produce acetyl-CoA to enter the citric acid cycle to generate energy. Oxygen (transported to the muscles by blood). Fat cannot be burned (or oxidized) without the presence of oxygen.  While there...

  Proponents of training in a fasted (or carbohydrate-depleted state) claim that exercising when your body's glycogen stores are low (or depleted), will improve fat metabolism.  Teaching the body to rely on the massive energy supply that fat provides as a fuel source is often referred to as "metablic efficiency" or "fat adapted." These sexy terms are frequently used among endurance athletes and can be intriguing when associated with phrases like; Burn more fat.  Minimize the risk of bonking. Reduced relience on sport nutrition (ex. exogenous fuel sources) during training.  Minimize the incidence of GI issues.  Body composition changes.  Steady energy.  Sparing glycogen. It's understandable how the above claims of fasted training can be appealing to endurance athletes. But with much of the available literature studying the effects of fasted workouts and carbohydrate-restricted diets concluding that there is no correlation with enhanced performances in e...

Fasted workouts are stressful. By working out on an empty stomach, you are introducing another level of stress to your body. Even if research says you are teaching your body how to adapt to become better equipped to utilizing fat as a fuel source – this doesn’t mean this approach will work for you. For this marginal gain approach to truly work, you need to carefully program rest and proper nutrition around your fasted workout so you can recover and refuel properly for this approach to work. Additionally, training needs to be manipulated in a way that you are actually taping into fat burning during the workout - which can be difficult to quantitively measure. My advice: Nail the basics first. A well balanced diet, good sleep (at least 7-8 hours), mobility, good recovery – get all these things dialed in before you attempt incoroprating fasted workouts into your training. Without a solid foundation of nailing the basics, you risk under performing during your workouts and the risk f...

One of the greatest challenges for an endurance athlete is translating the fitness gained in training into a great race day result. Interestingly, far too many athletes don't compete based on repeated training-related decisions. As an example, many (if not most) athletes tend to underfuel in training and overfuel before and during race day. To feel confident for race day, you need to feel confident with your training-related nutrition decisions. Therefore, train like you want to compete. It seems obvious that if you want to excel on race day, you should make repeated decisions in training that help you prepare for your upcoming race. Rushed and busy schedules, poor planning, misguidance from social media "experts", a complicated relationship with food and the body and unhealthy lifestyle habits make it easy to check off workouts without making significant gains in performance. Unfortunately, athletic success doesn't occur when you are a dedicated exerciser wh...