Karting 1 | Karl Bickley on Nutrition For Karters

Nutrition is a key part of every individual’s performance. As the age old proverb states “you are what you eat”. This applies even more so to sportsmen and women regardless of the level of competition. No matter how hard you train and prepare, if you don’t feed your body the energy it needs…in the right form… it is the same as forgetting to put the race fuel in your kart. Put in the wrong foods and it’s like trying to race with diesel instead of petrol in your kart.

Energy is rated in kilojoules or kilocals, both give you a good indication as to the level of energy the food you are eating provides. Just how much you need is very much dependant on the individual (age, gender, weight, and activity level).There is no way to be accurate in estimation on how much energy you need without taking into account your individual basal metabolic rate. This is the level of energy your body needs per day to ensure normal body function only. Your BMR does not take into account any additional requirements for exercise or energy expenditure above what is needed to survive. Basal metabolic rates vary, but are typically between 1600 and 1800kcals per day as a bare minimum requirement, the more active you are, the higher then the overall need for energy is.

Eating to an optimum is hard and often a daunting task for many, but if you get it right it can be invaluable to performance and recovery. Getting the basics right from the start will help you ensure your body is fuelled not just for the stress and strains of daily life, but feeding your energy requirement throughout your training and competition!
To start with try to adapt these simple guidelines into your eating habits:

Go back to basic food – eat less refined and more natural foods. These are often easier to digest and release energy quicker

Balance your meals – make sure each meal contains a well rounded supply of fat, proteins and simple carbohydrates

Never Skip Breakfast - it is the most important meal of the day!!! It is the basis of not only your intake for the day, but also your energy release

Take the rights fats – avoid the fatty acids and go for the omega 3’s from seeds, nuts and fish, ditch the pastries, crisps and cakes!

Eat your greens – and of course the other fruits and vegetables that are essential for the natural supply of vitamins and minerals our body desires for a healthy lifestyle and combating illness

Take time to eat – don’t rush or multi task through your meal. And don’t rush off after it. It can take your body 20 mins to realize you’re eating and tell you that you are fuelled, so rushing can mean you often overeat or feel bloated.

Reduce your stimulants – try to limit your caffeine and carbonated drinks intake to a minimum.

Stay Hydrated- make sure you get your daily allowance of useable fluid (water and natural fruit juices) recent surveys suggest the average requirement is now closer to 3 litres per day

Get back to the kitchen – Avoid convenience foods and quick fixes, eat smart and clean by taking the time to source, plan and cook your own food.

Take the recovery snack after training – it is essential to replenish your energy lost but also to stimulate recovery. A strong carbohydrate and protein source are they key

Eat Little and Often – keep your cravings down and your energy high by reducing meal portions and snacking sensible in between

Straighten out your RDA’s - Recommended daily allowances (RDA’s) exist to help you understand just what a well balanced and nutritious diet your body requires. Obviously the amount you personally require dependant on the age, sex, and physical activity of each person.

Eating right on event isn’t going to be as effective if you only start it on the Friday or Saturday of a meeting. Planning and preparing your food, and eating for the event a few days in advance will give you a massive advantage when it comes to your sports nutrition. Carbohydrate loading and healthy eating the night before a race will not make the gains to outweigh what you may have not done through the week. Start carb loading throughout the day from the Thursday before the race weekend, and cut out the junk throughout the week. Start to hydrate yourself from the middle of the week with 2 litres of fluid a day and think about the food you will have available of the weekend.

Carbohydrate provides the main source of energy the body uses during physical exertion. Even when you are training at the higher level of the anaerobic training zone, the rate of energy demand from your muscles will far outweigh the level that can be provided by fats or proteins. Every individual will differ and their specific energy requirement is obviously dependant on characteristics and intensity of performance. It is for this reason that it is so important to match the requirements of the sport and associated training plus the requirements of the individual athlete to calculate the level of energy your body requires to work to its optimum.

Typically, pastas, bananas, and cereals are good sources of carbohydrate, but eating a variety of different carbohydrate sources is useful. Bread, potatoes, vegetables, fresh fruit, porridge are important as they all supply a different range of vitamins and minerals in addition to their carbohydrate energy source. If an athlete were to eat only one or two types of carbs, they would miss out on key vitamins and minerals.

As mentioned earlier, the amount of carbohydrate required depends upon the level of activity and intensity. The more glucose your muscles use the more carbohydrate you need to eat to replenish your stores. General daily carbohydrate targets can be provided in terms of body size and training level. See the table below to work out the amount of carbohydrate – expressed in grams per day for every kilogram you weigh – your training programme requires.

Training level	Carbohydrate g/kg/d
Regular levels of activity (3-5 hours a week)	4-5
Moderate duration / low intensity training (1-2 hours a day)	5-7
Moderate to heavy endurance training (2-4 + hours a day)	7-12
Extreme exercise programme (4-6 + hours a day)	10-12

If you are training frequently then your daily carbohydrate requirements will be high and may infact means meals need to be subsidized by the addition of carbohydrate rich snacks.

Snacking for Energy at the track and between races can give you the winning formula to your sports nutrition needs. Throughout a meeting or a race day it is essential to keep your energy levels high and replenish your energy and stores after heats and races. Taking a little and often approach favors some, or you can take on regular snacks between meals to help maintain energy levels. Both of these approaches will leave the body fully vitalized for the whole meeting.

For snacking to be successful it is important to put in the effort to choose your snacks wisely. You should avoid foods that will only give you a short term fix or only deliver short term satisfaction and instead go for snacks high in fibre, protein or natural sugars. If you are looking for some ideal snacks, then why not try the following list…

Nuts ( brazil, cashews), dried fruit, banana or berries, fruit salad, natural yoghurt, fruit or banana loaf, mixed seeds, granola, bowl of cereal, oats or porridge.

As a break to the rule, for quick fixes on energy before races or heats…try jelly babies or beans, jaffa cakes or some dark chocolate.

For more advice or information on your nutrition needs and sports nutrition check out the nutrition section on the fit2race website. To keep a check on your nutrition why not use a daily food diary to see what you eat, when and where you are going wrong.