Staying Hot in a Cold World
For many athletes, wintertime provides an excellent opportunity to maintain fitness and complement off-season training with such cold weather activities as snowshoeing, Nordic and downhill skiing, and snowboarding. Frigid temperatures and challenges such as wind chill, snow and altitude, however, carry a number of unexpected nutritional implications that can put a damper on your winter adventures and present serious health consequences when proper fueling falls by the wayside. Below, I share the nutrition essentials that will keep your core warm and performance hot this winter.
Pre-Workout Nutrition Essentials
Winter sport adventures are often endurance endeavors that span several hours, and depending on your sport of choice may also include intermittent high-intensity bursts of energy that leave your muscles hungry for fuel. Failure to prime your engine with a balanced meal before heading out into the snow pack will elevate your risk for premature depletion of liver and muscle glycogen stores - triggering such symptoms as dizziness (not so good when you are traveling at high speeds downhill), muscle cramps, lethargy, and a decline in overall performance. This pre-slope meal increases internal heat production by about 10 percent, thereby helping to warm your core before exposure to the winter chill.
Sample Pre-Workout Meals
An ideal pre-slope meal will include 400-900 carbohydrate-focused calories with small amounts of protein (up to 25 grams) and fat (up to 20 grams), which help provide some staying power. Timing of the meal should extend two to three hours out before heading out to ensure adequate digestion. Heading out too soon after a meal can cause your hands and feet to get cold quickly, as blood and oxygen are drawn to the stomach to aid digestion and absorption. I've provided here some sample pre-workout meal ideas to help optimize energy levels prior to tackling your winter workout.
Healthy breakfast burrito: Sautee half a cup of chopped potatoes, two tablespoons of onions and two tablespoons of green pepper in one teaspoon of olive oil and one teaspoon fajita seasoning, on low heat, until the potato browns. Add half a cup of egg substitute and scramble. Stuff into a three-ounce flour tortilla. Serve with one cup orange juice.
Power oatmeal: Blend half a cup of quick oats with two tablespoons natural granola, two tablespoons chopped walnuts, three-quarters of a cup of frozen unsweetened berries, and top with one cup of vanilla soy milk. Prepare in microwave to desired consistency. Serve with one cup of 100 percent juice.
Power bagel: Spread one toasted power bagel (containing nuts/raisins) with one tablespoon of peanut butter and top with one small sliced banana. Drink one cup of low fat milk with meal.
Hot turkey & cranberry sandwich: Top two slices of toasted whole grain bread with two ounces warmed turkey breast and two tablespoons of reduced-sugar cranberry sauce. Serve with a baked sweet potato topped with a teaspoon of trans-free margarine spread and a drizzle of reduced-sugar maple syrup. Drink water with meal.
On-the-Go Fueling Essentials
Each and every muscle movement involved during winter sport activities burns calories, and when it is cold outside, the body must work harder to maintain its internal temperature - thereby increasing energy output and causing fatigue to occur some 50 percent faster than when you're training in warmer conditions. Shivering has been shown to increase carbohydrate utilization six fold, and altitude tends to exacerbate this response making depletion of your liver and muscle glycogen stores a profound risk during winter training.
Calorie Expenditure of Common Winter Sports
*Calories per pound per minute
Cross-Country Skiing
Skate Ski 0.10 - .125
Traditional 0.05 - 0.07
Downhill skiing
Recreational 0.04 - 0.05
Racing/Competitive 0.06
Snowboarding
Recreational 0.04
Vigorous 0.06
Snowshoeing 0.06
Beyond dressing appropriately and learning proper technique, nutrition will play an instrumental role in maintaining energy levels and optimizing muscle performance during winter sport activity. To elevate your performance, be sure to carry energy bars, energy gels, sport drinks or other snacks (peanut butter crackers, dried fruit/trail mixes, pretzels) in your pockets or in a camelback. A 180-pound recreational downhill skier should replace about 150 calories for every hour of skiing completed. During a break, choose warming carbohydrates such as hot cocoa, mulled cider, steaming soup or oatmeal, chili and pasta to help refuel as well as warm your core - but remember to allow some time for digestion before hitting the snow pack again.
Hydration on the Slopes
The winter chill can alter your thirst sensation by as much as 40 percent, due to a physiological response that occurs when the body does not feel hot. Because of this, many winter sport athletes fail to drink adequate amounts of fluid to support losses of respiratory water and sweating - thereby compromising performance as well as health, especially as it relates to thermoregulatory mechanisms. To intensify the problem, altitude, especially at levels above 8,000 feet, significantly increases your fluid needs and when an athlete fails to meet these needs, a mere 3 percent loss of body water can decrease physical performance by 15 percent, and significantly elevate the risk of frostbite. To avoid dehydration and mute frostbite risk, aim at consuming four to six ounces of fluid for every 15 minutes of activity.
Recovery Nutrition Essentials
The high energy and carbohydrate cost associated with winter activities (some research demonstrates a 50 percent reduction in muscle glycogen stores) makes nutrition essential for recovery. Within 30 minutes of completing your day's winter adventure, aim at drinking 200-400 carbohydrate-focused calories. A personal favorite of mine after being exposed to the cold is hot chocolate prepared with low fat milk. This beverage provides a healthy ratio of carbohydrate to protein for optimal muscle recovery, as well as a full cocktail of electrolytes for muscle rehydration. After liquid refueling, be sure to have a carbohydrate-focused meal with a small amount of protein (spaghetti with meatballs, chicken stir fry, turkey served with sweet potato and cranberries, fish served with rice and green beans) before getting the necessary sleep for another day in the winter sport wonderland!
Want more nutrition tips as you prepare for your next adventure? Kim Mueller, owner of Fuel Factor Nutrition (www.Fuel-Factor.com), is a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist who provides customized menu planning, nutrition coaching, and health/sport enhancement programs to active individuals worldwide. Kim can be contacted at kim@Fuel-Factor.com.
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