Key nutritional information for the female athlete
A good place to start is the question that always arises regarding the nutritional needs of males versus females. When it comes to the nutrition needs of an athlete, it is more about body composition that will be the determining factor as opposed to the sex of the athlete. The two main keys to determining an athlete’s nutritional requirements is the athletes body fat percentage and the athletes goals/needs. Once you have some key answers to these questions you can begin to unravel the athlete specific requirements, then more importantly for the female athlete. Read on to find out more.
Let’s have a quick look at the female physiology, women are built to be naturally good at endurance, where they carry their muscle and how this translates into power, females also sweat differently. It doesn’t matter who you are this will all change over time and of course with age.
Through the combination of exercise and nutrition you are hoping to achieve your high performance weight therefore making lean muscle where you need it most. Woman tend to carry most of their lean tissue below the waist. Therefore their power comes from the hips and legs. Building strong bones is essential too boosting power and endurance. So we are now beginning to understand the difference for a female is around their protein consumption and when.
Protein is the answer to a lot of problems and can be your best friend! It helps you loose weight, make muscle, increase metabolism and recover from hard exercise. Studies have shown that most active woman aren’t eating enough, if they are following the current dietary guidelines, eating 0.8gram of protein per kilogram of body weight (1kg = 2.2 lbs) which equates to 45 / 50 grams for a 61kg (135 lbs) adult woman. Which is less protein than active woman really need.
As a woman, if you want to be active, maintain muscle and loose more weight, protein is a must. Protein is harder to digest therefore burns more calories to simply process it. We all know that protein is known for building lean muscle, but it also supports the immune system, hormones, enzymes, sleep, digestion and even ovulation.
The timing of the intake of protein is important for muscle recovery and muscle repair. As an athlete you are already eating a balanced diet most of the time. As your performance demands increase you are making better food choices to support the goals. As a woman this is when your nutrition needs to become even more specific.
Pre-workout snack, in general terms contains 2.8cal per kg bodyweight (1.3 calories per pound of body weight) which is about 170-200 calories for a 61kg (135lb) woman approx 30mins before exercise. This should ideally contain some carbohydrates but this is the difference, for woman aim to include approx 15-20 grams of protein before hard efforts.
During exercise this is the big one for the endurance athlete. It’s more important to remain focused on hydration, reducing the loss of blood volume keeping your stores topped up with small amounts of carbohydrates. For most active woman:
Running – 2-2.5 calories per kg of bodyweight (0.9-1.13 calories per pound of bodyweight) per hour
Cycling – 2.8-3.5 calories per kg of bodyweight (1.3-1.6 calories per pound) per hour.
The goal is to provide food, fuel for the muscles without causing GI issues. Add a little protein into the body as well (about 7-10 grams of protein per hour) as this will help to start the recovery process and hopefully stop the body breaking down muscles looking for energy needed to sustain the exercise.
Post exercise always look to balance exercise and recovery strategies with your normal daily diet. However, if you’ve had a hard session that has left you feeling fatigued or depleted that’s when you need something to stop muscle breakdown and to top up those glycogen stores. As a woman you need protein and quickly and this is when you need more due to the breakdown in muscle tissue. To protect those muscles, woman recover faster with 25-30 grams of protein within 30mins of a hard workout. This is also important after a hard strength session to build the quality of lean muscle tissue. Don’t forget to include carbs with your protein this will increase your glycogen storage rates.
Check out Helen Money’s Video on Women’s Nutrition.
As mentioned at the beginning, protein for the female athlete is all important to sustain muscle tissue, and to support the recovery process. Furthermore, as you get older, you need to be taking more of it on board as well but that is for another time.
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