Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

The unfortunate truth is that most endurance athletes underfuel in training and overfuel on race day. Sure you completed your training sessions but did your physiology change? Did you get stronger, more resilient, fitter or faster? Were you able to recover properly to gain the necessary fitness for your upcoming event? Did you gain confidence in your race day fueling and pacing plan? Underfueling can be from many reasons: Fear of gaining weight A desire to lose weight Trying to be more "metabolically efficient" Not knowing how to use sport nutrition products appropriately Worrying about the sugar from sport nutrition because its not "healthy"  Not feeling that (more) calories are needed during training session Getting by with minimal nutrition Not planning stops accordingly to refill bottles Poor meal planning/feeling rushed to get in a workout Not knowing how much energy/fluids are needed to support the trianing session  Underfueling does not enhance performance an...

Training for an endurance or ultra endurance event is similar to a dose-response assessment.  The goal of this type of scientific test is to determine the required dose to produce a specific outcome (or response). Sadly, when it comes to endurance athletes, far too many athletes are doing work without eliciting a positive or beneficial response.  As it relates to training, the right amount of stress can produce significant fitness gains but too much stress results in high risk of injury, sickness, overtraining and burnout. Not enough stress is simply exercising and doesn't induce favorable change in physiology for race readiness. Training stress shouldn't be associated just with weekly volume as the athlete training 8 hours a week can be as vulnerable to overtraining as the athlete training 20 hours a week.  So why is it that so many endurance and ultra endurance athletes are training so much and so hard but struggling with recovery, body composition, health issues and/or...

  Should we be surprised in our diet crazed, body image obsessed society? Research shows that almost 75% of athletes do not eat enough calories to fuel workouts and to perform to full capabilities on event day. Some of this is unintentional as many athletes underestimate how much food/calories are needed to keep the metabolic processes functioning well with the added load that exercise brings to the body. But undereating is not always unintentional. For a large number of athletes, undereating is intentional and purposeful.  Asking your energy-deprived body to perform doesn't make much sense but sadly, far too many athletes intentionally restrict food intake (specifically carbohydrates) - often to lose weight, become more metabolically efficient or to change body composition.  Although it's clear that committing to adequately fuel your body can improve performance, reduce the risk for injury and enhance well-being, far too many athletes are more motivated to undereat - tha...

Do you intentionally underfuel during workouts and/or on race day?  Intentional calorie/carb/fluid/sodium deprivation is not uncommon. As a Board Certified Sport Dietitian, I often work with athletes who struggle with their relationship with food and the body. There's a fear of consuming calories around/during workouts and often train and race with the mindset of "how low can I go??" In other words, the athlete tries to complete a given workout or event with the least amount of calories/carbs possible. Although many athletes learn the hard way through a performance or health decline, it's a wonderful "ah ha" moment when an athlete experiences what a body can do when it is well fueled.  For many athletes, the desire to lose weight and/or change body composition or to become more "metabolically" efficient are the primary motives for underfueling. Intentional insufficient fueling is often the result of a desire to lose weight (or to avoid gaining weig...

The goal of any training plan is to elicit performance gains which are best experienced on race day.  Within any given training plan, there is a method and purpose to the workouts. I often find that athletes have irrational and unrealistic approaches to fueling and it's now cool to not eat before or during workouts. This needs to change. Athletes. you understand the importance of eating for fuel and for health but why is it that you can be so focused on your workouts but lose all good judgement when it comes to nourishing and fueling your body?  I realize that a plant strong diet, rich in whole foods like fruits and veggies isn't very sexy. However, an extreme diet plan that restricts certain foods is really something to talk about with your training partners.  Eating before a workout and consuming calories during workouts is now seen as bad. It's totally hard core to talk about how little you can consume during a workout and how much more metabolic...