My approach to Hybrid Training (Part 2: Nutrition Methods)
Everything you need to know about fueling your body for peak performance
Welcome to Part 2 of my Hybrid Training Series! Part 1 was all about how to structure your training to become a hybrid athlete. I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t.
For this article, I’ll be discussing everything I’ve learned about fueling my body for peak performance in both lifting & cardiovascular exercise. Let’s dive in.
Your Overall Diet
We can discuss carbohydrate & protein timing, electrolytes, and plenty other hyper specific nutrition protocols (and I will later in this article) but the #1 thing that will effect your performance is the general makeup of your diet.
I learned very quickly into my Ironman training that nutrition matters 10x more for your performance than it does in strength training.
Obviously good nutrition will help you make bigger strides in the gym, but you have significantly more leeway than you do in endurance. Here’s what I mean…
It’s Friday night and I have a hard leg day planned Saturday morning. I eat a big burger, some fries, and finish the night ice cream. I wake up Saturday with my body fueled full of carbs and sodium and proceed to get an incredible lift.
Now the endurance scenario…
It’s Friday night and I have a 4 hour bike planned Saturday morning. I eat a big burger, some fries, and finish the night ice cream. I wake up Saturday, get on the bike, and feel sluggish the entire 4 hours.
7 months of Ironman prep taught me this important lesson: The longer the duration of activity, the more your daily nutrition matters.
I know plenty of powerlifters/strongman athletes who are elite in their sport, but have terrible nutrition. I know very few elite endurance athletes that have poor nutrition.
All of this to say, if you are training like a hybrid athlete, your nutrition must be dialed in.
Now does this mean you have to be 100% perfect 100% of the time? No.
But you do need to shoot for 85-90%, if you expect your body to hold up to the training volume.
Keep most of your meals simple and nutritious:
Lean protein
Complex carbohydrate
Fruit or vegetable
Then on occasion, “splurge” and eat what you want! But understand how it’ll effect your training. I do my best to keep these meals before a lift, instead of a cardio workout, knowing that it won’t impact my performance as much.
Last thing I’ll add, stay as routine as possible. This plays into what I said in the previous article about how your body responds to different stimulus. The more variety we have with our training stimulus, the harder it is to recover from. Therefore, adding in too much variety in your nutrition will add to this difficulty.
The Importance of Electrolytes
As an athlete, you NEED a high sodium intake, in addition to potassium & magnesium. Your performance will suffer from being in an electrolyte deficit.
Upon reflection, I realized I’ve been significantly lacking in my electrolyte consumption for most of my athletic career. But NO LONGER!
During a LONG endurance workout (2+ hours) I shoot for:
1000mg sodium
40oz of water
(I use the supplements LMNT and Liquid IV to hit my sodium targets)
I am someone who sweats profusely during exercise, so keep that in mind if you aren’t as sweaty (You can decrease quantities if so…).
As for lifting, I’m not too worried about electrolytes during the workout, so long as I get them before. About 30 minutes before my lift I’ll start drinking 32oz of water and 500mg of sodium. Since starting this, I feel much more energized during my lifts and the pumps are insane!
CARBS
Carbohydrates are the bodies preferred fuel source, so as athletes participating in multiple disciplines, it’s crucial we consume enough of them at the right moments.
For cardio sessions longer than 60 minutes, I try to consume 30-60g of carbs per hour.
This keeps my glucose stores replenished, and leads to a much stronger performance.
My go to sources:
Gels & Gel blocks
Energy bars
Powders
For lifting sessions, I try to take down 15-30g of carbs immediately following my main lifts.
Again, keeping my glucose stores full.
My go to sources:
Honey (can’t beat it!)
Protein
Last, but certainly not least…PROTEIN!
Protein holds a lot of weight in the lifting community (LOL) but the moment people start talking endurance, the focus seems to shift entirely to carbs. While you may not have the goal of hypertrophy if you’re interested in running long distances, protein is still important for your durability. And if you’re trying to be a hybrid athlete, it’s crucial for your success.
Specifically for endurance activities, consuming enough protein will help to prevent unwanted muscular breakdown. Over the course of a long race or train session, the constant work your muscles perform will lead to said breakdown. The amino acids that make up proteins will help to keep up with muscular repair.
I try to have 10-20g of protein before my longer cardiovascular s
essions (2+ hours) and a 30-50g after.
More importantly, I make sure my total diet is high in protein. I am for 1-1.2g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
I truly believe this played a crucial role in my ability to preserve most of my muscle mass during the switch from lifter to triathlete.
Nutrition is a very individualized science, as every body is different. I encourage you to take from my experiences and use them a starting point. Then continue to refine your protocol until you find what’s optimal for YOU. If you need help with this, feel free to reach out!
-Mike