Sport-specific nutrition

The bottom layer of the pyramid (basic nutrition) is important for all athletes and is the foundation for an optimal
nutrition. When basic nutrition (the basic diet) is not sufficient for an athlete and supplementation is needed, the
middle layer of the pyramid should be taken into consideration: sport-specific nutrition. Sport-specific nutrition
entails a dietary regime that will aid in optimizing sports performance. You can consider food products such as
sports drinks, sports bars, sports gels and protein shakes, but in most cases basic nutrition products are just as
good (or sometimes better). The top of the nutrition pyramid, sports supplements, can be beneficial when an
athlete’s basic nutrition and sport-specific nutrition have been optimized. This document is about the middle
layer of the nutrition pyramid.

1. Start with the basics

Research concerning well-trained Dutch athletes showed that the basic dietary pattern of many of them was
suboptimal. This results in a potential deficiency of vitamins A, B1, B2 and D. The studied athletes who did not use
sport-specific nutrition (sports bars, sports gels, sports drinks, etc., to which vitamins and minerals were often
added), additionally ran a small chance of a deficiency of vitamins B3 and C, and of the mineral Selenium. Well-
trained female athletes of child-bearing age also ran a risk of an iron deficiency (Wardernaar, et al., 2017). For
athletes who avoid certain food groups (such as meat and dairy), for example vegetarians and vegans, it is
important to monitor that they ingest enough vitamin B2, B12, D, and the minerals calcium, iron and zinc.
If you wonder whether you consume sufficient nutrients, you could monitor your food intake for 3 days (an
exercise day, a non-exercise weekday and a weekend day) to a whole week. See the document “Basic nutrition”
for more information.

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2. Which criteria should you meet before sports-specific foods become necessary?
Sport-specific nutrition entails all nutrition and nutritional regimes that can enhance sports performance. The
type, intensity and duration of the exertion determine whether sports-specific foods could be beneficial in your
situation. In this document athletes are classified in three groups, but sport-specific nutrition can only be optimal
if it is tailored to the individual athlete. The 3 classes are:
 Recreational athlete: An athlete who exercises up to 3 hours a week
 Competitive athlete: An athlete who exercises between 3 and 6 hours a week
 Professional athlete: An athlete with a top-level status

Recreational athlete
On training and game days, the recreational athlete needs slightly more energy and fluids (Wardenaar, et al.,
2014).
The energy expenditure can be calculated by multiplying the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with the Personal
Activity Level (PAL). See the document “Basic nutrition” for a more detailed explanation.
For exertions shorter than 1 hour, water is sufficient to cover the fluid requirements (Wardenaar, et al., 2014). An
isotonic thirst quencher1 can be appropriate when the exertion lasts longer than 1 hour.

Competitive athlete
In addition to the guidelines for a recreational athlete, a competitive athlete requires more energy in the form of
carbohydrates and proteins (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada & The American College of
Sports Medicine, 2016). The exact carbohydrate requirement depends on the duration and intensity of the bouts
of exercise in the training program. For challenging trainings and competitions longer than 1 hour in duration you
need an isotonic drink. Water is sufficient for training sessions less than 1 hour in duration.

Professional athlete
In addition to the guidelines for a competitive athlete, a professional athlete requires considerably more energy in
the form of carbohydrates and proteins as a professional athlete (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians
of Canada & The American College of Sports Medicine, 2016). A general advice is: 1 liter of an isotonic drink per
hour, if you do not consume any other form of carbohydrates outside the isotonic drink.

1An Isotonic sports drink (thirst quencher) contains 4-8% carbohydrate (4-8 gram of carbs per 100 ml). An isotonic drink has the same
osmolality as blood. This means that an isotonic drink contains an equal number of particles as blood does. Because of this, an isotonic
sports drink is easy to absorb during exercise and it diminishes the chance of gastrointestinal distress (McArdle, Katch, & Katch, 2015).
Examples: Aquarius, Isostar, lemonade (ratio of syrup and water 1 : 8-10, depending on the amount of carbohydrates in the syrup in
question), (orange/apple) juice mixed with water until the right carbohydrate-water ratio. For homemade isotonic drinks, add some salt to
supplement the loss of body salts.

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Hydration during and around exercise
The general guidelines to consume 150-350 ml of water every 15-20 minutes during exercise and to replenish
150% of fluid loss after exercise are applicable to recreational athletes, competitive athletes and top athletes
(Burke & Deakin, Clinical sports nutrition, 2015). Dehydration/hypohydration (but also overhydration/hyper-
hydration) can have a negative effect on your health and sports performance. The amount you need to drink
during exercise to avoid a decrease in sports performance is highly dependent on the individual athlete (Ayotte &
Corcoran, 2018) (Goulet & Hoffman, 2019) (Hoffman, Cotter, Coulet, & Laursen, 2016).
The amount of lost body fluid during exercise can be determined by weighing yourself before and after exercise.
In any case: start well hydrated (Goulet, Performance Effects of Dehydration, 2013); make sure that your urine is
light yellow in colour and doesn’t have a strong odor prior to training or competition.

3. The type, intensity and duration of the exertion determines the nutrient requirements
In this document a distinction is made between strength training and endurance training. Of course, you can
subdivide this into specific sports (e.g. game/team sports such as soccer, rugby, rowing and boxing), but this
document will not go into that much detail. As a player of game sports (combination of strength and endurance
sports) you can fall (to varying degrees) in both categories. Keep this in mind when you adjust your nutrition plan.
In strength sports there is an emphasis on the intake of sufficient protein, to stimulate muscle protein synthesis
(Phillips & Van Loon, 2011). In endurance sports there is an emphasis on the intake of carbohydrates, to restore
depleted glycogen reserves.

Strength sports
It is often said that the duration of an optimal strength training session does not last longer than 1 hour (Lewis-
McCormick, 2012). It should be mentioned that this is not set in stone. The optimal duration has to do with,
among other things, the type of training/sports (e.g., bodybuilding, power lifting, weightlifting, crossfit,
strongman training, etc.), the degree of training experience and the training intensity (for example, how much
rest you take between sets). In this document, the advice given is based on a training session of approximately
one hour.

 Prior to exercise, the basic nutrition is sufficient to provide the energy you need during the bout of exercise.
As a strength athlete you have a (slight) increased energy requirement (BMR x PAL), partially made up of an
increased protein requirement (see Table 1).

Table 1: Protein requirements for strength athletes

Source Strength sports (proteins in g/kg/day)
Phillips & Van Loon (2011) 1.3-1.8*
International Society of Sport-specific nutrition (2017) 1.2-2.0*
Morton, et al. (2018) ~ 1.6*
* = +20% for vegetarians who scarcely eat animal products, +30% for vegans (Health Council of the Netherlands, 2001)

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 ◦ Based on a requirement of 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight, a good distribution of protein intake
could be: 0.4 g of protein per kg body weight per meal, based on 4 (main) meals a day (Schoenfeld &
Aragon, 2018). In practice, depending on your body weight of course, it often comes down to a portion of
20-30 g of protein per meal. The most optimal distribution, however, depends on a multitude of factors,
such as time, practical options, personal preference for a certain meal frequency and social expectations/
circumstances. Find what is optimal within the recommendations, but is still sustainable for your personal
situation.

 During exercise, fluids in the form of water will generally suffice. The glycogen stores are not depleted during
a 1-hour strength training session (except maybe during intensive circuit training and crossfit workouts).

 After exercise, supplementing protein and fluids, with or without some carbohydrates, is recommended to
promote recovery (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada & The American College of Sports
Medicine, 2016). A few examples:
- Protein shake: whey protein2 (20 - 30 g protein) mixed with water or milk
- Pea protein3 (20-30 g protein) mixed with water or a plant-based beverage (e.g. almond, oat or soy drink)
- Low-fat cottage cheese or skyr with fruit and/or honey/sugar and fluids (water)
- Cottage cheese with fruit and fluids (water)
- Sandwiches with lean meat and a glass of milk
- Sandwiches with egg and fluids (water)
- Large portion of soy yogurt/soy quark
This meal/snack is part of your total energy intake for that day.

Endurance sports
With endurance training, there is a huge range in intensity as well the duration of the training (compare a short
training that is high in intensity with a long training that is low in intensity).

 Prior to exercise, basic nutrition is sufficient to provide the energy you need during the bout of exercise. As an
endurance athlete you have an increased carbohydrate requirement (see table 2) to replenish glycogen stores
in the muscles and an increased protein requirement (see Table 3).

2 Whey protein is generally superior to other protein powders due to its favorable amino acid profile; whey protein contains a lot of
leucine, which has an anabolic (muscle gain stimulating) effect in the body (Berrazaga, Micard, Gueugneau, & Walrand, 2019).
3 There are vegan variations of protein powders on the market with a modified amino acid profile, making them more equivalent to the

animal variants. Check the label.

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Table 2: Carbohydrate requirements for endurance athletes (Thomas, Erdman, & Burke, 2016)

Table 3: Protein requirements for endurance athletes

Source Endurance sports (protein as g/kg/day)
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and
1.2-2.0*
the American College of Sports Medicine (2016)
International Society of Sport-specific nutrition (2017) 1.4-2.0*
* = +20% for vegetarians who scarcely eat animal products, +30% for vegans (Health Council of the Netherlands, 2001)

 Carbohydrates serve as the main form of fuel for endurance athletes (fast and efficient form of energy).4
Carbohydrate stores are depleted after an intensive ~45- to 60-minute workout (specifically in the
used/exhausted muscles) (Burke, Wong, Hawley, & Jeukendrup, 2011). Table 4 shows what an optimal
supplement of carbohydrates during exercise would look like.

 Fluids, carbohydrates and protein are recommended to promote recovery post-exercise. An easy mnemonic
is:
◦ Rehydrate: water (fluids) (±150% per lost kg bodyweight during exercise)
◦ Replenish: carbohydrates
◦ Repair: protein

The combination of carbohydrates and proteins provide a better recovery than if only carbohydrates or proteins
would be consumed (Cintineao, Arent, Antonio, & Arent, 2018) (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of
Canada & The American College of Sports Medicine, 2016) (Wardenaar, et al., 2014). This can be achieved with for
instance a meal or snack that contains (at least) 0.8 g/kg of carbohydrates together with 0.25-0.4 g/kg of protein.
The exact amounts of carbohydrates and proteins will depend on the total carbohydrate and protein
requirements of an athlete, on the intensity of a workout and on how the meals are distributed during the day.
The effect of a carbohydrate-rich diet on the glycogen stores in the muscles and liver is shown in Figure 1.

A carbohydrate-rich diet optimally consists of products/foods that are recommended as basic nutrition, in
particular complex carbohydrates. In some cases, supplementation with fast carbohydrates may be needed.

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Low carbohydrate diets (50 to a maximum of 150 g carbohydrates per day) and ketogenic diets (20 to a maximum of 50 g carbohydrates
per day) seem popular among endurance athletes. However, there is no scientific evidence to date that this has a greater performance-
enhancing effect compared to carbohydrate-rich foods (Burke, et al., 2017).

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 Depending on the intensity of the bout of exercise, this may be recommended for competitive or top-level
athletes. If you decide to use sports drinks, sports bars and/or sports gels, carefully read the packaging of these
products to determine which products (and quantities) are suitable for you in which situation.

Table 4: Carbohydrates during exercise (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada & The American College of
Sports Medicine, 2016)
Activity Recommended
Type of carbohydrate Glucose Glucose + fructose
duration amount

< 45 min N/A N/A N/A N/A

Suitable/
45 – 75 min Mouth rinse Most types of carbohydrates Suitable
recommended
Suitable/
1 – 2.5 hours 30-60 g per hour Most types of carbohydrates Suitable
recommended
Combinations of glucose:fructose
or maltodextrin:fructose Suitable in
(approximate ratio 2:1) are combination with Suitable/
> 2.5 – 3 hours Up to 90 g per hour
sometimes better tolerated another form of recommended
than a single type of carbohydrates
carbohydrates

Figure 1: Restoration of carbohydrates (Senders, 2019)

Prolonged
effort Replenishment of glycogen stores
Glycogen content in muscle

Carbohydrate rich diet

No food
Fat + protein rich diet
(g/kg muscle mass)

(Low carbohydrate diet)

Recovery time 5 Days

Rest (hours)

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4. Protein for vegetarians and vegans
Depending on which type of vegetarian you are, achieving your protein requirement doesn’t have to be a
problem. It becomes more challenging if you only occasionally eat products of animal origin and have an
imbalanced diet. The Dutch Health Council recommends lacto-ovo vegetarians to increase their protein intakes by
20%, in comparison to people with an omnivorous diet (Health Council of the Netherlands, 2001). The advice for
vegans is to increase their protein intake by 30%, compared to omnivores. But everything stands or falls with the
composition of your daily diet (Berrazaga, Micard, Gueugneau, & Walrand, 2019). Both vegans and vegetarians
who barely consume animal products are advised to eat as varied as possible (Health Council of the Netherlands,
2001) (Van Vliet, Burd, & Van Loon, 2015). See the document “Basic nutrition” for more information on plant-
based protein.
Consult a (sports) dietician if you are unsure whether you are getting enough nutrient, or if you want to know
whether your diet can support the sports performance(s) you strive for.

5. Timing and distribution of nutrients

The timing of nutrients (in other words: the moments surrounding the training when you should consume
carbohydrates and proteins) is not essential for everyone. As for protein, the distribution of the daily protein
needs over several servings per day is the most important (International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2017), so that
your body has a continuous supply of proteins5. The timing (mainly of carbohydrates for the resynthesis of muscle
glycogen in endurance sports) only starts to play a role if:
- the effort is intense and lasts longer than an hour (see Table 3),
- you have to exert yourself again within 24 hours after the previous exercise bout (Burke, Van Loon, &
Hawley, 2017),
- you are not recovering sufficiently between training sessions (while other circumstances such as sleep, rest
and stress reduction are optimal).
The more advanced you are as an athlete, and/or the more intense and longer in duration your training sessions
are, the more important the timing of nutrients becomes for an optimal recovery (Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada & The American College of Sports Medicine, 2016). Timing may also be of
importance for athletes who have to make weight.

5 It is often thought that casein is the best protein source before sleep, but research reveals that this is not (always) the case. Animal based
protein enhances protein synthesis more when compared to plant-based-proteins, but the type of animal protein does not seem to
matter (Thomas, Erdman, & Burke, 2016).

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