Beginner’s Guide to Sports Nutrition

If you’re new to the world of sports nutrition, it can seem like a lot to get your head around. What exactly does sports nutrition include, and how can you utilise it to power your performance? 

At OTE Sports, we want to help demystify what can be quite a complex subject area. This complete guide to sports nutrition will help you understand how proper nutrition can make you faster, fitter, and stronger.

What Are the Basics of Sports Nutrition for Beginners?

Any beginner's guide to nutrition worth reading should turn what seems like a complex subject into simple, accessible concepts, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Let’s simplify the science and identify the three core factors of sports nutrition. These are:

• Hydration
• Energy
• Recovery

Throughout this blog, we will look at each of these factors in closer detail. We will define each factor, identify how it impacts performance, and provide some expert advice on how you can ensure you are incorporating them into your nutrition plan.

Hydration

Hydration is a really important factor to consider, especially when exercising in warm environments or for long periods. The importance of hydration cannot be overstated, as drinking water is vital for replacing the fluid the body loses through sweat and for regulating its temperature during exercise.

The benefits of hydration in sport almost explain themselves. By staying hydrated, athletes can maintain their body’s fluid levels, ensuring they can continue sweating to stay cool. Hydrating also ensures that the body’s blood volume remains high, allowing it to pump oxygenated blood to both working muscles and sweating skin. In fact, as little as a 2% loss of body weight due to dehydration can result in around a 10% drop in performance.

But fluid levels aren’t the only reason hydration is important. Electrolytes like sodium and magnesium are lost through sweat, and rehydrating with hydration drinks replenishes them. Electrolytes play a variety of roles in the body; for example, sodium helps maintain extracellular fluid volume.

OTE Hydration Advice

• Sip drinks little and often during exercise, as this helps your body absorb the fluid better than big gulps.
• Use electrolyte drinks instead of water, as these are designed to replace electrolytes lost through sweating more effectively than water (which is especially important if you find yourself prone to cramping).
• Try to stay one step ahead of that feeling of thirst. If you feel thirsty, dehydration has already taken hold.
• Check your urine colour to monitor your hydration levels. A light, transparent colour is the aim.

Energy

Our bodies are very similar to vehicles in that they need the right fuel to work efficiently. Carbohydrates are our body’s energy source, and while people tend to avoid eating during training because this will cause GI distress (tummy issues), consuming the right amount of carb-rich food during exercise means you can push yourself harder for longer.

The human body has limited stores of carbohydrates, which are quickly depleted during exercise. The only way to sustain high energy levels for over 90 minutes, therefore, is to fuel during a workout and top up carbohydrate stores. To do this, you need to consume foods that are not only high in carbs but also light and easy to digest so as not to impact performance.

Our energy chews are a great example of this kind of snack. Lightweight, easy to eat, and even easier to digest, they pack 23g of fast-acting carbohydrates that you can enjoy while on the move.

OTE Energy Advice

• Maximise your energy stores before an event or training by having a high-carbohydrate meal around 2-3 hours beforehand.
• Remember that you typically need to eat 60g of carbohydrates per hour of exercising. This can change depending on your size and your exercise intensity.
• Our Duo Bars are an ideal solid-food fuelling option before or during exercise. Each pack contains two easy-to-eat pieces, delivering 20g of carbohydrates per piece, so you can conveniently track and top up your energy intake as you train or compete.

Recovery

It can be easy to forget about sports nutrition once your workout is over, but recovery is one of the most important factors of all. Eating the right foods immediately after a workout can be pivotal in helping your body repair itself for its next exercise.

Protein-based foods are the building blocks of recovery nutrition, as they supply the body with the amino acids required to repair muscles. However, just like with carbohydrates, our body can only process so much protein at one time. In fact, the body can only process 20-25g of protein, so eating any more than this is not beneficial. The best approach is to eat protein portions every 3-4 hours throughout the day to aid recovery.

Our protein anytime bars are the perfect recovery snack for this very reason. Containing 11g of protein in a 55g bar, they are the ideal food to keep in your backpack or shorts pocket and eat when the body enters its recovery.

OTE Recovery Advice

• Consume protein  within the first 30 minutes after exercise, as this is the best time to eat a snack or meal to kick-start recovery.
• The best nutrition for muscle recovery contains both protein and carbohydrates. OTE protein and recovery drinks tick both these boxes.

Frequently Asked Questions: Sports Nutrition

Do I Need Sports Nutrition Products?

While you can get the same energy from whole foods like bananas, products like energy gels and drinks are designed to supply your body with the energy it needs in the fastest and most efficient way possible. You can also be sure exactly how much carbohydrates or protein you are consuming, making it easy to calculate whether you are eating too little or even too much when exercising. This is particularly important during event and competition preparation when you need fast, reliable energy sources.

What Should I Eat Before, During, and After Exercise?

The three factors of sports nutrition are all important for optimal performance, but what do you eat when? It is important to hydrate before, during, and after exercise to help keep fluid and electrolyte levels as high as possible. The same can be said for energy products, as carbohydrates can power performance and support recovery. Protein products are best eaten after exercise when muscles can benefit most from them.

How Do I Create a Beginner-Friendly Sports Nutrition Plan?

If you’re looking to build from what you’ve learned in this blog to create a sports nutrition plan, here are some of our top tips:

• Prioritise balance when preparing meals, ensuring that protein, carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables, and healthy fats are all present.
• Schedule your meals to coincide with your workouts. For example, arrange to eat high-carb meals at least an hour before workouts or high-protein meals within the hour after you finish a workout. If you can’t have full meals at these times, carry an OTE carb or protein bar.
• Just because you’re focusing on nutrition doesn’t mean you need to eat the same meals. Eating the same meals every day will only disengage you, so be sure to add variety to your diet.

Master Your Sports Nutrition Here at OTE Sports

Understanding sports nutrition isn’t easy at first, but once you get to grips with the basics, the rewards are more than worth it. With the help of OTE Sports, you can fuel your workouts and enjoy better performances, replenishing your energy levels and recovering with vital protein easily.

Ready to start your sports nutrition journey? At OTE Sports, we’ve got the expertise and products you’ve been looking for. Whether you need a pre-workout snack with our Anytime Bars or an Energy Gel to help you finish with a flourish, be your best with OTE Sports.