The 2PEAK nutrition plan shows you the ideal amount and composition of your meals in the daily view of the calendar. Input variables for the planning are your typical meal times, your base energy metabolic rate, which 2PEAK calculates based on your information, and the additional energy metabolic rate due to the planned training sessions. The 2PEAK approach lets you recover faster from training stress, making you more efficient for the next workout and keeps you properly balanced.
How to use the Nutrition Plan
If your typical meal times collide with your workout schedule, 2PEAK will automatically make adjustments and reschedule meals or insert snacks in between. If possible, you should follow these suggestions so that you neither train on a full stomach nor start your workout feeling energy deficient.
Starting the nutrition plan
The nutrition plan is currently only available on the web version of 2PEAK and is accessed from the Plans menu. When you first open it, you have to make some entries: First, your base metabolic rate must be calculated. This is the amount of energy that your body converts in the course of a normal day without physical activity. The base metabolic rate depends on your physical activity. You can monitor this very well by running a few numbers. After saving, you will see the base metabolic rate in kcal each time. You can overwrite these entries at any time. Only the most recent entry is ever saved.
Subsequently, we still need your weight, height and gender, which can be adjusted at any time in the settings. Next, please set your usual meal structure. When creating the meals, make sure that they do not overlap with your typical training times. In case of overlap, the system will reorder the meals or insert additional snacks. Now you still need to set your power range. This is very important because your energy expenditure during your workout depends on it. It makes a huge difference whether you train at 150 or 250 watts. The system works most accurately when you enter a power value over a workload of 8 minutes or more (MP8 or greater).
After entering the data, you will be shown the size and composition of meals throughout the day. If you change training volumes, this will be taken into account by the nutrition plan. The nutrition plan is recalculated in each day when you open it based on your training. This is generally valid for the planning and also for the documentation of the current day. For example, if you have trained less than planned, document the training session first and then go to the day view. You will then see the adjusted energy requirement for the documented training.
Elements of daily nutrition
Breakfast – high carbohydrate, medium
Snack – high carbohydrate, small (e.g. fruit/energy bar)
Lunch – high in protein, medium in size
Snack – high carbohydrate, small (e.g. fruit/energy bar)
Dinner – high carbohydrate, large
Add to this:
- Training nutrition (during all training sessions requiring more than 700 kcal of carbohydrates)
- Snacks – are suggested by the system and bridge “holes” in the Daily schedule or prepare the training after – high carbohydrate plus protein (eg Powerbar)
Nutritional composition
The main components of the diet are carbohydrates as the main supplier of energy, proteins and fats. The table in the appendix shows you the composition of typical foods. In addition, there are minerals, vitamins, trace elements and dietary fiber. Because most of our food is no longer natural and athletes can seldom consume these substances in sufficient quantities with normal food, you should therefore resort to dietary supplements – more on this in the appendix.
The basic structure of the diet is such that breakfast and dinner are rich in carbohydrates, while lunch focuses on protein. The composition varies if you are already training in the morning. The ideal food composition is presented to you in the plan. Of course, you can hardly follow the plan exactly to the gram, and that is not necessary. It is much more about the principle of nutrition than about the exact amount. If you eat the right things at the right time, the rest will almost regulate itself – this is especially true if you want to lose weight (see the Fat burning paragraph below)
The chosen structure supports the rapid filling of glycogen depots and good digestion. Proteins and carbohydrates get in each other’s way during digestion, which can lead to digestive problems, especially when larger amounts are consumed, as may be necessary for athletes, and prevent optimal absorption of food.
Size and timing of meals: The body is particularly receptive to carbohydrates after exercise – but only for a limited time. The most important carbohydrate meal is therefore the one after training and should be taken 0.5 to 2 hours after training, depending on the load. Important: Only carbohydrates can fill the empty glycogen depots!
Before training, large meals do not help, because the energy contained can not be stored in the muscle deposits in the short term. Under stress, you also can not digest and harness large amounts of food. It is much easier to keep blood sugar stable and upright by constantly replenishing suitable (long-chain) carbohydrates. This way, you can sustain yourself properly over long distances.
Nutritional intake during training
The body’s energy stores for endurance performance consist of glycogen (carbohydrates) stored in muscle and liver and body fat. Glycogen is the higher quality and much more limited fuel. Depending on training condition and weight, the amount of glycogen that can be stored in the body is 350 -700 grams (1500-3000 kcal). Glycogen is therefore the higher quality fuel because it requires less oxygen to burn than the abundant body fat, which also has more than twice the energy content. The higher the power, the more the body draws on its limited glycogen stores. When riding very fast and in weak state of fitness, so many carbohydrates are burned that the glycogen stores are then typically exhausted in 1.5 to 3 hours. The sudden end of carbohydrate reserves manifests itself in the phenomenon of “hitting the wall” – a sudden, drastic drop in performance. In practice, there is usually a mixed burning of fats and carbohydrates, whereby better trained athletes can cover a higher percentage through fat burning than poorly trained athletes. In this way they spare the valuable carbohydrates. The range in which fat burning is highest is called Fat Max and can be determined by spiroergometry.
Food intake during exercise is predominantly to exclusively from carbohydrates and minerals, if possible, as these are the most digestible. In which form carbohydrates are supplied on the way best, depends primarily on the intensity of the load.
In the basic endurance range, solid food in the form of bananas, dried fruit, fruit bars or power bars is okay. Diluted fruit juices are also a great source of energy. For higher loads from the upper Z3 range, energy gels that are washed down with water have proven to be effective. Gels are easy to take and are quickly absorbed by the body. They reliably prevent a drop in blood sugar levels and thus preserve the glycogen reserves of the muscles. Good products are listed in the appendix. Make sure you drink enough so that the carbohydrates can be absorbed. Rule of thumb: at least one liter per hour, more in the heat.
For any workout with an energy requirement of more than 700 kcal of carbohydrates, 2PEAK recommends eating during the workout. Carbohydrate requirements depend on your performance level and your fat metabolism percentage of energy supply in the workout area completed. 2PEAK strives for a full supply of carbohydrates during training to ensure that the training content can be implemented. Otherwise, the quality of the training would suffer. During high-intensity sessions and races, an optimal supply of nutrients is absolutely necessary. Stick to the specified amounts and you will see how much better you get over the course (competition food must be tested beforehand during hard training loads!).
If the focus of the training is exclusively on the training of the base metabolic area you can eat less than with intensive training. A slightly tighter carbohydrate intake will favor fat metabolism. However, you should still consume at least two-thirds of the designated amount. Most important when training fat metabolism is to keep the intensity low! Orient yourself to the lower end of the Z2 training range.
Immediately after training (especially after long training sessions and races), a high-glycemic drink prepares the body to optimally store the subsequent carbohydrates and thus refill the emptied carbohydrate stores. Drink a half liter of apple juice or special recovery drinks.
During very long training sessions/competitions, an unintentional caloric deficit can occur despite optimal supply, because during and after training, the necessary amount of energy can simply not be supplied to completely cover the demand. In this case, make sure that at least the burned carbohydrates are replaced – 2PEAK indicates these as a priority in the nutrition plan. Proteins can be replaced in half and fat also completely still the next day or in the following days.
Good and bad foods
Aside from the special case of post workout, all foods with a high glycemic index (GI) are more likely to be avoided. The glycemic index indicates how quickly carbohydrates enter the blood and spike blood sugar. Glucose sets the bar for the index at 100.
High-glycemic foods (especially white flour: white bread, cakes, etc.) cause insulin levels to skyrocket, preparing for the rapid absorption of carbohydrates into cells. This makes energy available for a short time, but the blood glucose level drops again after a short time just as steeply as it rose before. High-glycemic food thus stimulates hunger and craving.
This mechanism also causes the body to deal with the same quantity of food differently. This is particularly effective in diets: if carbohydrates follow sweets (high GI), they are optimally utilized, i.e. deposited. Anyone who abstains from sweets can therefore eat more and still lose weight.
The following table shows the GI for a selection of foods:
High GI (>70)
Glucose 100
Baguette 95
White rice 87
Baked potatoes 85
Cornflakes 81
Waffles 76
French fries 75
Toast 73
Medium GI (55-70)
Whole wheat bread fine 70
White sugar 68
Cola 63
Granola bar 61
Cereal 55
Oatmeal 55
Brown rice 55
Low GI (<55)
Whole grain bread (whole Grain) 52
Boiled potatoes 50
Parboiled rice 47
Spaghetti white (al dente – from durum wheat) 38
Whole wheat spaghetti 37
Lentils 30
Yogurt 27
Fat burning
2PEAK also supports you in finding your ideal weight. With the right timing and composition of food, you will often lose weight without counting calories. Or you will maintain the weight and convert fat into muscle. Some athletes even need to gain weight to get to their ideal weight.
If you want to speed up the process of losing weight, 2PEAK will help you with a fat burning program. For this purpose, you can define by when you want to achieve a specific target weight (creation of a fat burning phase). This should end at least three weeks before the next main competition!
2PEAK does not operate the trickery of diet providers! To lose weight sustainably, you need to lose weight slowly. That means a maximum of 2-3 kg in the first month, 1-2 kg in the second and no more than a 1 kg in the following months. During the fat burning phase, 2PEAK reduces the daily food amount by a maximum of 300 kcal. When dieting harder, the body stops certain metabolic processes and thus saves energy. This leads to the well-known Yo Yo effect after the end of a diet as soon as you start eating normally again. Within a very short time you weigh then more than before the diet!
What you eat plays a greater role in a diet than how much. So quality has priority over calorie counting – then the body regulates most of it all by itself. Foods to avoid are white sugar and any food with a high glycemic index. If you are used to sugar, you will find it a little more difficult at the beginning, as a real addiction to sweets can develop. After a period of change, however, you will hardly miss anything!
Carbohydrate-rich food for endurance athletes:
Pasta (weight: uncooked) – 100g: 361 kcal, 75g carbohydrates
Fruit cereal – 100g: 368 kcal, 61g carbohydrates
Lentils – 100g: 315 kcal, 52g carbohydrates
Whole grain bread – 100g: 231 kcal, 39.9g carbohydrates
Food rich in protein for endurance athletes:
Beef – 100g: 148 kcal, 21g protein, 7.1g fat
Poultry – 100g: 166 kcal, 19.9g protein, 9.6g fat
Fish 102 kcal, 19.5g protein, 2.7g fat
Fats and oils for endurance athletes:
Fats are important. Especially the polyunsaturated fatty acids, as they are found in the following foods, the body can not produce itself in part:
Nuts
Olive oil
Grape seed oil
Sunflower oil
Flaxseed oil
Soybean oil
Walnut oil
Rapeseed oil
In addition, fatty fish also contain essential, “good” fats
For a much more comprehensive overview of foods and their composition, see the Excel spreadsheet. There you will also find a table of non-recommended fast foods.
Typical training and competition food
Liquid:
Apple spritzer (juice: water = 1:1)
750 ml – 429 kcal
Recommended energy gels:
Sponser – 100g: 300 kcal
Squeezy – 100g: 258 kcal
PowerBar – 100g: 263 kcal
Inkospor – 100g: 270 kcal
Solid energy sources:
Bananas – 100g: 90 kcal
Fruit bars – 100g: approx. 300 kcal
Apricots, dried – 100g: 235 kcal
Powerbar – 100g: 353 kcal
Nutritional supplements
Some substances the endurance athlete can not absorb in sufficient quantities through normal food. These should therefore be supplied via nutritional supplements:
Daily:
Take extra vitamin C daily as an antioxidant (500 mg) and one to three grams of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil and/or flaxseed oil). The latter are especially important for female athletes.
Before and after every hard workout:
Before and after every workout< that hurts (Z4, Z5 intervals): take 2-3 grams each of amino acids (BCAA) and creatine. (Only via supplementation will you get the right amount without having to eat tons of regular food! We are trying to find cheap sources of nutrient supply).