2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

TRAINING

104 / /June 2019

ReaderLouellaenjoysa tipplebut

wants to know the effects on training...

“HELP ME

REHYDRATE

EFFECTIVELY

IN TRAINING”

Q

Myturbosessionsona Friday

nighttendtobefollowedby

redwineratherthanwater!I was

wonderingwhattheimplications

arefroma musclepointofview?

Doesthisundothewholesession

ordoesit meanthatI don’tget

thegainsI shouldhave?I’m

training12+hoursa weeksowant

tobalancelivinga littlewithout

implicationsontrainingtoomuch.

I havesomebigracesleadingup

toIMUKandthenthe70.3World

ChampsinNice,withthedream

ofa Konaqualification.Also,I’ll

beturning 50 thisyearsoI don’t

knowif theageingprocessadds

anotherdimension to all of this.

LouellaO’Herlihy

A

Thereality,asyoumightexpect

Louella,isthatalcohol

consumptionfollowingexercisehas

a deleteriouseffectonourbodies.

Ourbodyisina stateofrepair

followingexercise.Themore

strenuoustheexercise,thegreater

therepairrequired.Exercisecan

resultinmuscleproteindamage,

dehydrationandmuscleglycogen

depletion,whichallmeanweneed

tobekindtoourbodyafterexercise.

Being‘kind’canbeachievedby

providingthebestpossible

environmenttoenableappropriate

recoverybeforeourbodiesdealwith

the next training session and the

associatedstressthatthesession

willalsoproduceonthebody.

Sounfortunately,a tippleofred

winepost-sessionisnotadvisable

asalcoholconsumptionhasa

negativeimpactonallrepairand

recoveryprocesses.Whenourbody

sweatswithexertion,theblood

volumeandourelectrolytestores

arereduced,whichthenleadsto

dehydration.Alcoholactsasa

‘diuretic’,promotingfluidloss

andadvancingdehydration.

Imbibingalcoholalsohinders

musclerepairmechanisms,and

inthecaseofinjuryit actsasa

bloodvesseldilator– inessence,

potentiallyworseningthebleeding

atanyinjuredmuscle.Thisisn’tto

saythatit negatesallofthepositive

adaptationsfromthetraining

session,butalcoholconsumption

does reduce the gains. Drinking

alcoholalsooftengoeshand

inhandwitheatingsnackfood,

whichcanfurtherweakenthe

body’sinnaterepairmechanisms.

Researchhasalsoshownthat

drinkingalcoholhasa negative

effectonourabilitytofallasleep

aswellasthequalityofthesleep,

whichreducesperformance

potentialandoverallhealth.

Plus,furtherstudieshaveshowna

delayinthereturnofstrengthand

powerbyuptotwodaysafter

alcoholingestion.

Whenit comestohowthebody

handlesalcoholasweage,inshort,

asourmetabolismslowsour

toleranceofalcoholreduces,

meaningthatthesamequantity

ofalcoholwouldhavea more

potenteffectonthemature(50+yrs)

athleteversusthe 20 to30-year-old

athlete.It’salsoknownthatageing

womentendtobemoresensitive

toalcoholthanageingmen.Sorry.

Sowhenit comestorefuelling

andhydratingpost-exercise,

reachfora mixtureofcarbohydrate,

electrolyteandproteininorder

tooptimisetherecoveryprocess

andbereadyforthenext

training session.

reader

rescue

BRADBEER

Sportsand

exercisephysio

Bradis hostof

‘ThePhysical

Performance

Show’podcast,

authorofYou

CANRunPain

Free!andhead

physioforSuper

League Triathlon.

“To optimise

recovery,youneed

carbs, electrolyte

and protein”