Combined Events, Throws, Jumps – IAAF Nutrition for Athletics

This summary is from the IAAF 2nd International Consensus Conference on “Nutrition for Athletics“ held in Monaco from April 18-20, 2007. Copies of the CD and booklet are available from the IAAF website www.iaaf.org.

Combined Events, Throws, Jumps
Presenter: Linda Houtkooper (USA)

A pyramid was used as a visual tool to show the importance of the different aspects of sport nutrition. The base of the pyramid should be a healthy diet, the middle layer consists of nutrition around training and at the very top there is place for specific supplementation.

It is recommended that jumpers, throwers and combined-event athletes have a nutrition plan for competition days. This plan should be practiced in training. After a competition, there should be a debriefing to evaluate and improve the plan.

Limited studies have assessed the nutritional needs of jumpers, throwers and combined events athletes. Data on both intake and needs are scarce, so it is hard to draw conclusions. Extrapolation of data from exercise protocols that mimic these events should be used to come to specific recommendations. Micronutrient intake should meet at least DRI (daily recommended intake).

Goals for nutrition during training periods include:

1. meeting energy needs,
2. timing of consumption of adequate fluid and electrolyte before, during and after exercise to ensure proper hydration,
3. timing consumption of carbohydrate intake,
4. timing consumption of adequate protein intake,
5. consuming effective and safe nutritional and dietary supplements and ergogenic aids.

Adequate hydration can be achieved by taking about 500ml of cool fluid about two hours before exercise. The nature of these events often allows athletes to consume fluid in between attempts. Athletes should be warned not to over-consume fluid so that they gain weight. In fact, there might be a benefit from slight dehydration in the jumping events. This is often seen in practice. There is some rationale behind this, but definitive data are lacking at this time. If chosen, deliberate dehydration should be practiced in training, never be more than 3% body weight and be closely monitored. Heat cramps are associated with dehydration, so individuals prone to heat cramps should not dehydrate. After competition, athletes should adequately re-hydrate and refuel.

The supplements that can be of value to throwers, jumpers and combined-event athletes are caffeine, bicarbonate (for the 800 or 1500m in the heptathlon/decathlon), and creatine. Supplement use should be monitored closely and be checked for doping contamination.

The above summary was written by Peter Res

If you wish to download this handy Grams and Calorie Calculator for Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat, click here for the Excel spreadsheet.

This is part 6 of 14 in a series from the 2007 2nd IAAF International Consensus Conference “Nutrition for Athletics”