Complement your 80/20 programme with these nutritional principles
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Focus less on the quantity of food and more on the quality of your food choices. High-quality foods are natural, unprocessed food types that humans have been eating for centuries. In the 80/20 classification system, there are six food types: vegetables; fruit; nuts, seeds and healthy oils; whole grains; dairy; and unprocessed meat and seafood. Tick these off every day. Look to avoid refined grains, sweets, processed meat and fried foods. Another quantity pointer: reduce carb intake on rest days.
DURING
Shorter sessions, whether they’re swim, bike or run, or high or low intensity, don’t require any extra fuelling. Your glycogen levels are sufficient to fuel your working muscles. That said, sip on a bottle, whether it’s water or electrolytes. When it comes to sessions over an hour, traditional fuelling advice applies, namely 60-90g of carbohydrates per hour. You could top up longer sessions with a protein gel to begin muscle repair.
AFTER
What you eat after training depends on intensity. If it’s a harder session, you should consume a healthy, carbohydrateand protein-rich snack within an hour after finishing. This could be a commercial protein/carb shake. Follow this with a healthy meal within two hours. If it’s an easier session, the choice is yours. You could follow this template or you could drop the shake and opt for a healthy meal.
OPTIONAL
A proven idea to rank up fat metabolism and spare precious glycogen stores is to undertake a fasted run or ride. On the 80/20 programme, trying this once every three weeks is fine. It’s usually easier to have a fasted training session first thing in the morning – before breakfast – and simply maintain your energy levels by refuelling on water. Keep the intensity low with the duration up to you, but one to two hours for biking is optimum. Take an energy bar with you in case you feel faint.
“High-quality foods are natural, unprocessed food types that humans have been eating for centuries”