There’s a lot to break down here. Let’s start with the pros. Optimum Essential Amino Energy Nutrition Note: This article is supporting content to the Optimum Nutrition for Health and Performance course and is for educational purposes only. It does not reflect the opinion of Glanbia Performance Nutrition, nor is it intended for product marketing purposes.

Post workout: 1 to 2 servings (2 to 4 scoops) For a more intense burst of energy before the gym, the Gold Standard Optimum Nutrition Pre Workout might be a more suited pre-workout supplement for the more advanced gym goer. Dietary supplements are not intended to replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle overall. Of course, they also isolate the most important amino acids for building and maintaining lean muscle— leucine, isoleucine, and valine—in thirst-quenching drink powders that happen to taste like the sugary drinks that you might be craving anyway. The main reason for this is their ubiquitous whey powder Gold Standard, the most popular protein supplement on the market. But ON provides pills, powders, and potions for almost any requirement an athlete or a casual exerciser might need, and today we’re trying their branch chain amino acid supplement. It’s generally best not to regard fitness-focused supplements as ‘magic’ pills or powders that will work without any effort on your part.Make sure you test out all of your nutrition strategies extensively leading up to the race so you know what works for you. These contain between 75mg-150mg caffeine per serving or a piece or two of caffeine gum which contain 100mg of caffeine per piece. Again, this is very individual depending on your caffeine tolerance and body weight so I recommend testing what works in training leading up to the race.

Essential Amino Energy’s label says that it’s for “anytime muscle recovery” and “energy and focus,” and it has perhaps more ingredients than any other BCAA supplement we’ve seen. Are they bogus, or could it be the ultimate BCAA? There’s also 160 milligrams of caffeine (about as much as you’ll find in a cup and a half of coffee) made from green tea extract and green coffee extract. The green tea extract has been standardized for EGCG, which means it has retained a lot of the healthful phytonutrients found in green tea. BCAAs are so common these days that it's important to make sure the ones you choose have a good nutrient profile and aren't just glorified, sugar-filled sports drinks—and have flavors that make you excited to reach for them every day. We chose these specific products based on the following criteria: As with any nutrition strategy, race day nutrition should be practiced during a training run. This will give your client the opportunity to trial the foods you suggest and they prefer, on their digestion and fine-tune the timings of when they eat and drink to support their race. This should increase their confidence around their race strategy and have a positive physiological impact on their performance.

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If you struggle with pre-race nerves, and find it hard to digest solid food, a lighter liquid meal could be a good option for you such as my go-to pre-race smoothie: Assuming that your client has loaded their muscles in the 24-36 hours prior to their start time, the aim of race day nutrition is topping up liver and muscle glycogen stores and hydrating adequately, while ensuring your client is not hungry or overly full at the start line. Graham, T. E. et al. (1991). Performance and metabolic responses to a high caffeine dose during prolonged endurance exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 71, 2292-2298. With nutrition and hydration taken care of, the final thing to consider is supplementation. Caffeine is one of the most researched ergogenic aids and is regularly used to enhance endurance running performance [2]. Low-moderate dose of caffeine between 1-3mg/kg appears to be sufficient for enhancing endurance performance[3]. Concentrations are in the bloodstream after just 15 minutes and peak 1 hour after ingestion so aim to have you caffeine supplement within the final hour leading up to the race. You can then look to top up towards the end of the race to help power you through the final stages, around 60-90minsis a good time to take this on board, so if your target time is 4 hours, then around the 3 hour mark is fine. Essential Amino Energy doesn’t just contain the leucine, isoleucine, and valine that all BCAA supplements contain, amino acids that can prevent muscle breakdown and improve endurance. There’s citrulline, which may improve blood flow and provide a “muscle pump,” beta-alanine which may help delay fatigue, tyrosine which works as a stimulant, methionine which is used for bone strength, phenylalanine which may improve the function of the nervous system and have mood benefits…