17: Fuelling 2-a-Day Workouts

In today’s episode we dive into strategies for fuelling effectively on days when triathletes are inevitably faced with two training sessions. We talk about how to fuel for performance and optimal recovery. It is days like this that recovery nutrition is extra important. Two-a-days can provide an extra demand on the body in terms of requiring extra fuel, fluids and can deplete muscle glycogen stores when both sessions are long or hard. Tune in to this episode to start thinking about how you can stay well fuelled on these days.

Join the Free 7 Day Run & Recover Challenge!

Full transcript of the episode:

Welcome back to another episode of the fueled triathlete. I’m your host, Andrea. And today we’re talking about how to fuel two a day workouts. So that’s when you have multiple training sessions in one day. So this can be very common as triathletes, especially as we get into. More training sessions, right.

Getting closer to our races. Or maybe as someone that incorporate strength training, You may do strength training on the same day as a swim bike or run. So it’s really important, as you know, we’ve kind of talked about the importance of fueling and making sure that we’re not under fueling. And two a day sessions, it just adds even more importance to that. And it just makes us also need to be more cognizant that we are fueling enough. Because the challenge can be that. Yeah, not only do we have multiple training sessions to get through, we have higher energy expenditure. So we have a higher energy needs and things that we need to take in through fueling.

But the thing to remember is that when we have two training sessions, there’s just less hours in the day to eat. So I also find that sometimes to be a challenge for clients, because maybe some training sessions are over a lunch break or over dinner, or just over periods where they may usually be eating.

So I’m going to give you some strategies today. We’re going to go over different types of scenarios, what to do when you have back-to-back training sessions. What to do if you have two training sessions in a day that are a couple hours apart, and then what to do when you have, say a morning or lunch hour, and then something later on. So there’s more than four hours to air eight hours apart in between these training sessions.

So what happens if we don’t fuel enough on these two-day training sessions? I know sometimes we can feel like we can still get through the workouts. But you may feel especially more exhausted or more tired the next day. And it, it all adds up and it compounds and you start to feel a lot more tired by the end of the week.

And you can’t get all of your training sessions in. So when you have two-day training sessions, if we’re not keeping up on top of our fueling, it can result in a calorie deficit potentially too large of a calorie deficit can lead to some issues. It can result in, maybe we don’t consume enough protein specifically that day to help with the repair process.

So again, that’s where that feeling of by the end of the day, feeling more, sore, more tired, more fatigued. Also these can be symptoms of not enough carbohydrates to replenish glycogen for your next session the next day or the next second one that day. So with all that said, what you eat has a purpose on these days. What you eat after your first training session is going to help to replenish nutrients that you lost. So lost some carbohydrates.

We maybe lost some sodium, some sweat. Those nutrients as well are also going to start the repair process. So both those carbohydrates in that protein together are helping you to start repairing from that first training session so that you can head to the next training session recovered as well. And then also what you eat afterwards and in between those two training sessions is giving you some fuel for the next training session coming up. So I have a podcast also about recovery nutrition. Talked about the importance of eating carbs and protein afterwards. It’s important to keep in

recovery nutrition just becomes so much more important when you have less than 24 hours in between your training sessions. Because you have less time to recover in between.

I want to also touch on that these two day training sessions may include a swim bike and run, but they also may include lifting.

And I want to talk about this a little bit, because I have had some clients talk to me before who say that if they lift first thing in the morning, they don’t feel that they necessarily need to consume carbohydrates, in the sense that feeling like their body’s not using as much carbohydrates for fuel as they would during a more of an endurance training session.

So when you’re lifting your body is still using glucose or carbohydrates for fuel, especially if you’re trying to push the intensity, lift heavier, maybe doing some type of plyometrics, your heart, rate’s getting up. This is challenging your body. When you’re doing some type of high intensity lifting for more than 45 minutes, it can also start to tap into those muscle glycogen stores.

So it is important to before lifting, especially if it’s first thing in the morning. We are consuming some carbohydrates, at least about 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates. And this is going to help you maintain your blood sugars and your energy levels through that lifting session.

We’re going to focus in this next section now on how to fuel around these training sessions, how to eat before and after that first training session. And then also eating before to get ready to the next session. And we’re going to go over a couple of different scenarios. When one, you have two training sessions back to back. Two, when you have a training session and then your next one is maybe around four to six hours later. And then when you have two training sessions that are more spaced apart.

So back to back training sessions, let’s say this is in the morning. So if it’s first thing in the morning, you haven’t eaten all night. You want to make sure that you’re consuming at least 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates before that first training session. And if you are going to be doing something that is greater than 75 minutes. So that first training session, you do want to bump that up, maybe more like at least 50 grams of carbs .But let’s say you’re doing 45 minute lifts and then you’re going to be going for a run, a bike or swim after. First consume 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates. If you’re someone that likes to get up and go, then this could be something like a sports drink it could be an energy gel, a granola bars, fig Newtons, Graham crackers. Applesauce, baby food pouches, dried fruit quick and easy to digest carbohydrates is what you’re going to want to go for.

If you do have some time to wake up, eat a breakfast, digest it and go. Then you can more of like bagel, some toast, that type of stuff. It just really depends on the length of time that you have to be able to digest something. So you get through that first training session and then pretty much immediately after you have another training session.

If that second training session is around an hour, then consume carbohydrates in between. Okay. So super again, easy to digest carbohydrates, those things that I just mentioned, you can do some chews, you can do a gel, at least 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates. Double that at least again, if it’s a longer training session that’s going to be over 75 minutes. So again, quick and easy to digest carbohydrates. If you want more ideas, you can go into the show notes and I do have a free guide.

It’s a pre and post-workout nutrition guide and in the pre-workout section, it talks about foods that are really good to have just before or close to before training sessions that are quick and easy to digest. So you can go ahead and download that.

So we’re fueling before refueling in the middle of those two training sessions.

And then we are going to have a good recovery meal after. So we’ve got through our two training sessions back to back. We’re going to have a good recovery meal. So, when it comes to protein, that may be anywhere from around 20 to 40 grams of carbohydrates, depending what your needs are. And then also some carbohydrates.

So big training session, at least 50 grams or more. Of carbohydrates and then make sure to keep up on top of your fueling. You have your meal, you have a snack, a few hours later, your lunch snack, dinner snack. So again, you have the rest of the day to recover, but you want to also surround those two workouts with fueling so you’re not getting too far into a deficit.

So you may feel like I can get through those training sessions without any fuel. I’m good. But then you just have so much more to play catch up on. So I did talk about how, you know, if you have, if any of those training sessions are going to be longer, Than seventy-five minutes consume additional carbohydrates. You may need to in that second session.

So let’s say you’re doing, you know, a 45 minute lift and then a 90 minute run. If in between it feels like a lot to have safe, 50 grams, 60 grams of carbohydrates. How about 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates and then continue to fuel your run throughout. With some, either gels, sports strength. It can be candy, fruit, gummies.

We can keep that protein mainly for after but the goal is that we’re consuming these quick and easy carbs to keep our blood sugar stable and to prevent, completely depleting our muscle glycogen, keep our energy up. The goal of is not just to keep our muscle glycogen stores fully topped up, but it’s maintaining that blood sugar balance through the day. This will help you feel more alert, more focused in your training sessions, help you make sure that you can focus on form which is also really important when it comes to that injury risk reduction.

Okay. So let’s say you’ve got a training session and then maybe an hour or two later, you’re going to go for your next training session.

So keeping in mind, beforehand, before that first training session, having at least 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates, if it’s an hour or less. So if that’s first thing in the morning, or if it’s later in the day, Ask yourself, has it been more than two to three hours since I’ve had something to eat?

If yes. Have some, some carbohydrates . Let’s say you then do your training session and you have a couple of hours in between. So I said one hour or two hour, but maybe it’s up to four hours. There are some specific guidelines on how much carbohydrates and protein to consume in between these training sessions.

If you really need to maximize your muscle glycogen replenishment. So these are guidelines that you would want to follow. If you have your first training session, which is pretty hard and then your next training session as well, which is going to be a pretty moderate to high intensity. So for example, Myself, usually on Wednesdays, I meet with a running group and around six o’clock. We do an interval run. This is my hard training session of the week of my run. And then I’ll try to do a lift earlier on it. Doesn’t always happen. First thing in the morning, just depending how work is going. Sometimes it happens at noon. Sometimes it happens like three o’clock or when I can fit that in.

So I would follow these recommendations when I’m figuring out my fueling. So these are some recommendations that are in a position stand by the international society of sports nutrition about nutrient timing.

And I can link that in the show notes, if it’s something that you would. I’d like to look into. But the suggestion is that. So you do your first trading session and then in between, let’s say you have three hours in between your two training sessions. What you want to try to consume again, if you’re trying to maximize your muscle glycogen storage, recover rapidly for another hard training session. Then there’s a certain amount of carbohydrates and protein to consume based on your body weight.

So I’ll run through an example. So the recommendation is to have 0.8 grams per kilogram of your body weight in carbohydrates per hour in between. And then 0.2 to 0.4 grams of protein per kilogram, per hour in between. So it doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to eat every single hour on the hour.

You can space this how you would like, if I was, for example, having three hours in between, I would probably do a good, decent sized recovery snack after that lift. So let’s say I’m doing a lift around two to three o’clock and then I’d have a pretty good high carb with protein recovery snacks.

Maybe bagel, some yogurt and some fruit. Or, banana with some oatmeal and some peanut butter, maybe mixing a little bit of protein powder. Could be a sandwich. So, and then I would look at, you know, an hour or so before my run or 30 minutes before my run, having some quick and easy to digest carbohydrates.

If having trouble in that three hours, meeting all your needs, you could look at doing some sports drinks as well to kind of get some additional carbohydrates. So using this example, so for a 60 kilogram athlete, there’s three hours in between you want rapid recovery we’re looking at how we’re using those calculations.

That’s about 144 grams of carbohydrates and 36 grams of protein. So I would try to get most of that protein after that first training session because one it’s going to help kind of that muscle recovery from that workout. But two a lot of protein, really close to going for a hard run later on is probably going to be a little bit upsetting to the stomach sometimes.

And just doesn’t give you enough time to let that digest. have something within 30 minutes after that first training session, and then another option an hour and a half, two hours later.

So however you kind of want to space that through the day. And obviously, if you have more time in between those training sessions, you could do something like a quick recovery option within 30 minutes as soon as possible because we want to really start that recovery process. Follow it up with a meal and there’s another snack in between.

So every couple of hours that you’re still eating. And making sure we’re having carbs and protein in between those sessions.

So that’s if you are someone who wants to calculate, but in terms of just looking at some practical strategies, if you’re doing a workout, first thing in the morning Have some quick and easy to address carbohydrates, do that workout and then have a good breakfast. That has high amount of carbohydrates and protein as well. And then if you’re going to do a mid morning snack carbs and protein together, a lunch, which is a good balance of healthy fats, carbohydrates, protein some vegetables do an afternoon snack.

Maybe that’s your pre-training stack, which is going to be high carb. And then you’re going to go ahead and do your next training session. So maybe if it’s before dinner, then your dinner meal can be kind of part of your recovery. So I guess in terms of how to plan this, plugging into your day ,when are my training sessions? If there’s a long time in the part and making sure I can fit in my adequate meals and snacks. So think of that meal after that first workout is is really important to get in ASAP. And then you want to think of your next training session that you also have some carbs beforehand, at least 20 to 30 grams within that 30 minutes beforehand.

So a lot of different options, some numbers, some calculations hope that helps. And just gives you at least an idea of thinking of how to fuel these. I will say that if two of these workouts become long training sessions and it’s really important to be fueling your training session. If any of these training sessions are going to be longer than 75 minutes I would look at consuming at least 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. And really again that’s so that you can stay on top of those fueling needs. Prevent a lot of muscle glycogen depletion because you probably have another training session the next day. And make sure that we’re not doing any of these training sessions fasted.

And our back-to-back training sessions. We’re making sure that we’re fueling in between so really , easy to digest carbohydrates, this is going to help you keep that blood sugar stable, keep your energy up between these two training sessions.

Another piece to look at, is also the hydration piece. So two training sessions, we’re sweating more. We probably need more electrolytes and more fluids as well. So this is really something to keep in mind. And maybe you wouldn’t necessarily drink during one hour run or one hour bike, a one hour swim. Maybe you typically wouldn’t drink during some of these sessions, but if you have two day sessions, consider bringing some , electrolytes.

You can use these as opportunities, just like the carbohydrates, not falling behind on your fueling we’re hydrating during so that we’re keeping on top of those losses.

So you could also look at other hydrating hydrating foods. Yogurt can be hydrating. Maybe that’s part of your recovery, having some fruit, high water content fruits, like melons, watermelon, berries, but this is going to help to contribute to your fluid needs. And it also can provide some of those carbohydrates in between.

So you could also use you’re recovery meal in liquid form, which can also help with hydration. So, one thing I didn’t mention is sometimes when you only have maybe an hour in between your training sessions, sometimes it can be hard to think of having a full meal at that time so you can make a smoothie. You can do, chocolate milk. You can use , nutrition products that have recovery blends. So Skratch, for example, has a recovery blend option, which is, different from something you would use during training, but it actually has carbs and protein together.

I also recommend, on these long training days, it could be good to have something to eat before bed. If you need to get help getting in some extra calories and some nutrition, some carbs and protein. And it can help continue that recovery nutrition process overnight.

So that’s all for me. If you have any questions, you need help planning this, send me a message. In my nutrition coaching we teach you all about how to fuel different types of days, different training sessions and how to fuel your workouts to make sure that you’re getting through them, you’re getting stronger. And I think it’s really important to keep in mind that your day to day, nutrition is still so important and related to your performance on race day. So I know that definitely it’s important to focus on how you’re going to fuel, how you’re going to hydrate on race day, how you’re going to carb load, what your breakfast is.

This is still very key and tied to your performance. But what you eat on a daily basis is going to help determine that you get to race day healthy, you get to race day not injured, you’re making progress with your training, and you’re feeling good and you’re enjoying the process as well. So if you have any questions, concerns about your nutrition:

am I fueling enough? Am I feeling too much? Am I fuelling properly at the right times? I can really help you clear up a lot of this confusion. So, all you have to do is either send me a message @andreadietitian. I have also an application for nutrition coaching. You can fill out that if you’re interested in learning more and we can book a call and chat to see how I can help you. So, thanks again for listening today. I would really appreciate it. If you could leave me a rating and review. If you’re someone who’s been listening to the podcast for a bit, that feedback really helps me continue to grow the podcast and get more listeners. Or if you know someone who may benefit from the podcast, please share it with them. So hope you guys have a great day!